Birthday balloons for Jodi!!!

"Birthdays ain't for sissies!"...and ain't that the truth?!?! Well, today it's the fantabulous Jodi's birthday and my job was to bring the balloons!!! I don't care what age you are, everyone MUST have balloons for their birthday so I've made these especially for our Jodi girl!! Let's just hope she stays outta trouble during the partay...hmm, well I guess it all depends on who brought the drinks, Jessica tends to spike things once in a while. Always trying to get me and Jodi in trouble. *lol*

Now have you said hello to all the other party guests? Well head over to Jackie's place and see what she brought along to this schindig....

Xmas is almost here...

Oh what a whirlwind of a holiday season this has been. I'm sure everyone thought I had been kidnapped, never to be heard from again. But, alas I am here! Can I just tell you that going through all your xmas boxes when they are covered by baseboards and shoved in the corner of the garage, blocked in by various other boxes is a CHORE! Kinda put me in a Bah-Humbug mood this year....but luckily the bright lights, the glittery ornaments and the smell of xmas cookies has filled the air this week and I'm starting to get excited for Xmas in our new home.

So this week I'm showing off Gliding By Sophia, the January SOTM over at Paper Pretties...only a few days left for you to sign up otherwise you'll have to wait until February for this gorgeous gal. I just got some of the white snow Martha glitter and I'm in LOVE with it!!! It glistens rather than sparkles....perfect for snowflakes! Her ear muffs scream for white flocking and of course, copics for the coloring. Do you see the light stripe texture on the white card? I'm really starting to enjoy the subtleness of the texture plates rather than embossing folders. Granted, I have to own it all but I enjoy the lightness of a soft texture these days.

I'll be stuck in the kitchen for the next two days baking up a storm and then off to the bay area to visit my in-laws. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with lots of love, joy and STAMPS! What are your plans for the holiday??

Those who can't, shop

Yea, so I've had no free time whatsoever to do any stamping. Still no word on the new position I applied for at work but no news is good news right?!?! So since I'm working so much, I find myself online shopping for craft stuff during my lunch and breaks so I feel like I'm not falling so far behind, I still will own all the cool new stuff therefore I'm still up on all the latest and greatest (yea right). I have tons of new goodies that I have accumulated in the past few weeks and NONE have seen the light of day just yet. But here I sit, browsing and shopping in hopes that someday soon I'll be able to have a clear stamp table and actually get to STAMP.

So they say "Those that cant, teach" well I'm guessing the same goes for us crazy busy stampers....can't stamp? Then shop!

BAD GIRL!

So I've been insanely busy with life at the moment....Chloe is doing well for those that needed an update. The training tips REALLY helped and I'm proud to say we are notified when the little princess needs to go out for a #1 & #2!!! Unfortunately if I'm in the shower and hubby is still in bed the whimper goes unheard and "uh-oh" becomes the phrase of the day. The crate training is going well also, it still breaks our hearts to hear her howl but when we leave for work she's learning to calm down and just go in there and fall asleep.

As for stamping...yea right! My Xmas tree & decorations still aren't up...but I do have outside lights so at least the rest of the world thinks we're festive. ;) The guest room floor is done just need to put in the baseboards and then put the desk together & shelving units so I can finally unpack some crap....right now it's back to a pile of boxes and things and I'm pulling out my hair. My stamp room has the dismantled computer and desk at the moment so no chance of me getting in there even if I could find the time.

So I just wanted to check in to let everyone know that I'm not dead AND that this weeks Prettie Challenger is...me! So I'm challenging everyone to "put a hole in it". Not a pierce, but a hole...minimum of 1/8" and you can't add a brad or fill it...the hole MUST be visible. :) Good luck! Hopefully I'll be able to complete something one day soon so everyone doesn't get bored ready about life dramas. LOL

This sale is INSANE!!! Up to 50% off various stampin' & scrappin' bundles!! If you've been waiting to order from the current Stampin' Up! catalog, now is a great time. Just head over to my website and click SHOP NOW at the very top....I even had to throw some items in my own cart this morning just so I didn't miss out on the sale!!! It's only good for a few days so get over there soon.

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend....we've been busy raising our little princess so I've had no time to myself at all this week. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone that left some words of wisdom, we got a crate and began the training on Monday night. Thus far we've only been able to leave her alone for about 2 hours and then she has to have a potty break. My work is ready to fire me but hey, she's my kid!!! Sometimes the potty ends up being our tile floor but oh well, it happens. She was howling this morning when we left but I'm guessing that's normal, right? Here's another photo of Chloe just in case you need a smile this morning. ;)

HAPPY TURKEY DAY EVERYONE!!!!!

Indroducing......Chloe!

I have no idea what spirit moved me this past Friday but I'm glad that it did! Ladies, I'd like for you to meet the newest addition to the Winters clan.....Chloe Noel Winters. She's 8 weeks old and full of energy (for about 15 minutes then she crashes out for an hour...rinse and repeat)

I am SO not a dog person, hence why I have no clue what came over me. Scott (DH) has been wanting a dog and we always get into a tiff over it. Well I can officially say that I AM now a dog person, I didn't even break a sweat when she piddled on our carpet (the brand new carpet). Oh would you like to see how she sleeps??
If I could have taken a picture of her snuggled up with me, I would have....but that's just NOT a good thing for you to see in the mornings. ;) So no stamping, no running errands, just lots of playing, running around, peeing and pooping for me this weekend. YAY! I have no idea how I'm going to get through an entire workday without my little girl....*sigh* Believe me when I say she is just THE most adorable little puppy on the planet!!!

Oh and any puppy training words of wisdom are more than welcome here.... ;)

Prettie *late* Wednesday

I've been so busy at work training on the new systems AND applying for a new position (fingers crossed for me ladies) that I completely forgot to post the weekly Pretties challenge this morning. The challenge was to make an "interactive card". I first thought it meant we needed to hook up a battery and make something move or light up! (hey....could that be a challenge girls??) LMAO

Ok, ok so it really just means that it's not your traditional card, it needs to pull, roll, twirl, shake....anything to make the receiver "interact" with the card. Well, seeing that my sister has been fighting a nasty bug for over a week now, I decided I would use her sickness for inspiration.

I broke out that fabulous Sweets for the Sweet set and Sassy Circles to create this sweet little get well pull card. The only trick was to find a "get well" sentiment...can you believe I don't have one?!?! Seriously?!?! So I poked around my Pretties stash and sure enough....the Cozy In sentiment had EXACTLY what I needed, just had to omit the words I didn't want to use. ;)

Did you check out the other Prettie blogs to see what they made for this challenge....me either. Let's go hop around and see what they came up with!!!

Skip the LSS...make your own!

I found this adorable holiday paper at my local scrap store and quickly added it to my paper collection (which will never be used otherwise it wouldn't be called a "collection", right ladies?) So I decided I would use the paper for inspiration and create my own. I first stamped the large snowburst image from my new Snow Swirled stamp set using Celery, then I rubbed the entire piece of paper lightly with a stamp sponge dipped in celery ink. Next I used the smaller snowburst and Little Red Riding Hood red ink, I have to say I really like this new color. It's much richer than Real Red and definitely gave my paper the feel of Christmas.

Lastly, I added some Martha red glitter to the centers of the bursts, just needed a touch of sparkle. Granted, I could have made an entire sheet of this "paper" so I could crank out a ton of cards but unfortunately I don't work that way....hindsight is 20/20 but driving blind is priceless. (you can quote me on that!)

This is also one of the cards from my Xmas card class, I can't show them all otherwise the girls coming on Dec 6th would have no surprises to look forward to! Sorry ladies, you're just gonna have to wait!!! ;)

A Prettie AWESOME bloghop day.

Well I would have posted sooner but I was busy getting rid of the toxins I put into my body last night. ;) Ewww right? LOL So I staggered into the computer room and decided to check around to see what my fellow Pretties were up to and what do I find?!?! A Prettie Blog Hop Birthday Party......FOR ME!!!!! I just about fell over, actually I think I did but just that once. ;) All the girls came to my party and brought FANTABULOUS goodies...did ya see?? Adorable cards, super cute goodie bags, amazing cakes...a box filled with chocolate (they know me well). I just am SO thrilled to celebrate my 30th *ahem* birthday with the bestest stamp pals on the planet!!!! Thank you all for the bday wishes, guess I'd better get crackin on some thank you notes!!!! XOXOXO

Just one???

So this weeks Prettie challenge came from Jules...one layer and you had to score something. One layer?? You never think it's hard until you actually try to do it. Well...it's only one layer and I had to score all the tag punches to fold them into flower petals. That qualifies right? ;) Here's an up close look at the petals. Stampin' Up! has great tips & tricks in our demo magazines each month and this was one of them....don't ya love it?

Sorry this is so short, but gotta get to work early....and stay late. Seems like a pattern this week, but at least there will be a nice overtime check in my hands in time for the PTI release on Sat! Thanks for stopping in to say hi....be sure you check out the other Prettie girls blogs to see their one-layer-score-something-card as well! ;)

For unto you is born this day....

This stamp is from one of the new sets just released Nov 1st from Paper Pretties called The Nativity. I decided to just use the sentiment for this card and limit the use of embellishments so it wouldn't take away from the wording. I actually intended to use silver brads in the corners but once I pierced them I liked it just as it was. Isn't the paper just dreamy??? A few snowflakes have glitter on them so it's a very subtle sparkle. The paper is by Heidi Grace, I got it from the Boutique. Not sure if there is any left since the 75% off sale is still going on. Have you taken a peek to see if there is anything you need to add to your own stamp stash?? Everything (except the Prettie stamps & swarovski crystals) is on sale!!!

This weekend is my monthly stamp club so I should get some time to stamp. This last week was rough, I caught a bug last Friday so I didn't get to play at the Prettie party Sat night, I just chatted while I was wrapped up in my heated throw. Work has been insane, we were in training last week and then this week we got all new programs & computer systems to work on so by the time I got home at night my brain was just fried! Next weekend is my annual Christmas Card frenzy class, so I'll be spending each night this coming week cutting paper for that.....last year I had to cut supplies for 800 cards. I think I could hardly feel my hands once I was done. LOL

They're creepy and their kooky....

Mysterious and spooky....HAPPY HALLOWEEN fellow stampers!!! I can't believe I've been so busy at work that I haven't had time to stamp, blog or even return many emails (sorry about that, catching up this weekend I promise). We're changing to an entire new computer system and we've all been stuck in trainings or covering for those in training and my brain just goes to sleep by the time I get home from work. Although I have to say Thank You to Jess for keeping me entertained via text message....I was losing my mind there for a few days!

Luckily tomorrow is the first of the month, which means PJ PARTY so I'll get to break loose and relax!!!!! Yep, it's that time once again, the Paper Pretties girls will be Stampin in their Jammies over at the Prettie Forum so be sure to mark some time off tomorrow night (7pm CST) to come join us. There will be stamp challenges posted each hour, new stamps released AND a new Cutie Pie!!!

Here's the deets:
Simply upload one of your creations using Paper Pretties stamps on the Paper Pretties forum, and Christie will chose a winner from the entries. Besides being able to call yourself a Cutie Pie, you will also win the entire release!! You have until October 31st at 8pmCST to get your entries in!!

And don't forget to check out their RIDICULOUS sale. 75% off!!! Is that not just nuts?!?!? It's practically giving it away at that point. So get over there before it's all gone. (sale excludes Paper Pretties stamps)

Friends are hard to find...

And when you find one when you're not looking, that's the best!! Recently I've become close friends with Jessica and yesterday I got this card in the mail and I just had to show it off. We both share an addiction to PTI stamps but this is one that I don't have. I just love how these colors look together, I'm thinking I just might have to add this set to my collection! Thanks Jess!!!

So I'm gearing up for our garage sale this weekend and I went through my craft room and cleaned house. I'll be posting a list on here first so be sure to check back this week to see if there's any goodies you guys would like to get your hands on. :)

xoxo

More simple, quick & cute cards....

I completely forgot to show you the other cards from my WCMD event a few weekends ago! *bad Jill* I just adore this one because it can be used for any occasion and even for guys!!! Just switch the sentiment to happy birthday or thinking of you and you're done!

Ok, it's Wednesday and what better to get you through the mid-week slump than comedy. I was surfing the net at work *shock* and ran across this photo....

*ROTFL*

Welcome to the Winters house....

Does anyone remember what it used to look like?? The brass fixtures everywhere....nasty carpet & linoleum....beige, beige and more beige!!! We ripped it all down and started over (pics during facelift)....

The walls are now a warm custard, new carpet & baseboards have been installed, new fixtures, new tile floors....

I swear the bathroom is a soft mocha with white & chocolate accents....not sure why it's so yellow in the pic. :( We put oil-rubbed bronze fixtures and towel bars up, the bronze faucet will be going once we actually remodel the cabinets (next year, we need a break). The large vent thingy at the top of our hallway is our whole house fan, do you have any idea how flippin cool this thing is?!?!?! We didn't! But after our $300 electric bill dropped to $90, we figured it out! The house cools off in literally seconds with this thing. LOVE IT! Oh and that's the master at the end of the hall, didn't go in there for pics because it's not done yet. I haven't chosen bedroom furniture yet and the door frames haven't been primed and painted, so I have a little bit of work to do this xmas...but I'll get there. ;)

Never again will my stamp room be this clean, it took over 2 hours to clear things up in there. But it's MINE MINE MINE!!! Hubby won't let me play until after this weekend....I promised that once the house warming was over that I would go through everything and we'd have a garage sale the next weekend. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?! There are more rooms to take pics of, but this was all I took apparently. LOL Was too busy at the cupcake buffet to bother with photo taking. LOL

Still recovering...

The party was fantastic!!! The house looked perfect (well, still a few pending projects but those don't count). The food was wonderful (mini sliders, fries, shrimp & a cupcake buffet for dessert! Thank you to my amazing sister!) Drinks were flowing (especially the Margarita punch....mmmmm) and the night ended around 1am when the final guests left and Scott & I were snoring before our heads hit the pillow.

Pics will be posted soon, I took a few myself but didn't have the energy to move yesterday to download them. Now I'm at work and then running errands this evening, so hopefully tomorrow you'll be back to browse the new house. :) xoxo

Look who's turning 29.....again!!!

It's a very prettie day today because our very beloved Jessie is turning the big 30! So we're hosting a virtual bday party for her to show her how much we adore her and that turning thirty is not that bad. Heck, I kinda like it myself!!! ;)

I was in charge of bringing some presents....At first I panicked because my stamp room is currently our storage room (I about died when I had to give it up) and all my stamps & ink are in hiding. The only thing I have access to is paper & ribbon. Since I always keep things on the simple side, I chopped up a few pieces of the SU Petals & Paislies paper, stacked them up and tied it off with a bow!! HAPPY BDAY JESSIE!!! Please stop by her blog and wish her a fabulous 30th! And be sure to visit the other prettie pages to see how the party is going. :)

Christie, Jules, Jodi, Charlie, Danielle, Jackie P, Jackie R, Joni & Jess

Don't forget that October is breast cancer awareness month and Paper Pretties is having a PINK sale, everything PINK is on sale 40% off!!! So get on over to the Prettie Boutique to do some shoppin!

Our house warming is tomorrow night so I have some serious cleaning to do...I need to find my stamp room again!!! *tears welling up* I was told it was "only for a few days" but it's been over a week now and I'm going a little crazy without it.

Eeek!

Oct 14th already?!?! Where did summer go?? Well we've been buckling down at the house getting ready for our house warming this weekend. It looked so lovely just two weeks ago, a little naked but clean and livable. Then the bomb went off...clothing EVERYWHERE! Boxes, bags, pictures, candles, halloween decor. OMG! We pulled out so much stuff from the garage and the closets that I thought I was going to need to rent a hotel room just to have somewhere to live & sleep!!! I had to fill the holes in the closet walls and paint, hence why the clothing was everywhere. Over the months I had purchased all kinds of fun photo frames, candles, vases, etc and just kept putting them away.....hubby pulled them all out and my god. I wish I had taken a picture. WOW! So I might be a little absent this week because I'm "not allowed in the stamp room" at all unless my tasks are completed first (yea right).

But I do need to shout something from the rooftops

JESSICA IS A PRETTIE GIRL!!!!!

My long lost sistah (not literally, we just have tons in common, can chat for hours and we get along like sistahs) Jessica Diedrich has accepted a spot on the Prettie team, so watch out folks....together we are T-R-O-U-B-L-E. ;) Debbie Lee, aren't you just jumping out of your chair?!?!?!

So please drop by her blog and give her some high-fives on her new Prettie position! Here's a peak at some of her fabulous cards....

You light up my life...

Happy Friday folks! Did you watch Grey's last night?!?! I actually got the chance to flop in front of the tv and veg for an hour, well 45 minutes really because I didn't watch it until 10:30pm when I got home (yikes) and I zipped past the commercials with my semi-wonderful Tivo. I only love it when it's working properly. ;)

Today I want to share a card that I just adore!!! I got this fabulous embossing template from Paper Pretties and decided to pair it up with some fun new paper I've been hoarding. I first embossed the lamps on vanilla paper and then embossed the shades on various patterned paper. I lightly scuffed them up using my paper scuffers, it's easier to scuff these small images before you cut them out. I left the template on my vanilla paper and used chalk to lightly shade the lamp bases. Then I trimmed out the shade and popped them on top!!

I'm trying to make it a goal to start using all these items that I just HAD to have. I know there are fellow hoarders out there....will you pledge to start using your stuff too?? Please?? ;)

A few cards to share...

All this Gourd talk and I completely neglected to post some of the cards from WCMD last Saturday! *smacks her own hand*

We cranked out 10 cards total so they had to be simple but still eye catching. I used my Big Shot to knock out the circles & scallops (3 pieces of cardstock at once!) using my Nesties Classic Circle & Scallop Circle dies. I used textured white cardstock for the card base and layered a cute pink striped paper on the base, a small strip of lighter pink just above it and pierced double lines all the way across. I used this same layout but switched up the colors & stamps for another card (show ya tomorrow) and I just love them both!

This next one is great for anyone...guys, girls, youngsters, co-workers. It's hard sometimes to create a basic birthday card, I tend to get too foofy or girly. I used textured Chocolate Chip (I really have fallen in love with all the textured cardstock for card bases, it allows even the most simple card to look fantastic) and added this fun striped paper along the bottom. I layered that strip onto bashful blue, which now I realize I didn't even have to do since it looks like the paper! The ribbon is looped through the side of the card and knotted, but the Bday layer is popped up on dimensionals to cover the ribbon slot punch.

I'll be showing the other cards in the coming days, can't reveal EVERYTHING at once or there's not reason to come back, right? ;)

FYI for Tracy, the Gourds are from a local craft fair in California and she doesn't have a website nor sell online. You can email me privately and I'm sure we can work out a pix text while at the craft faire shopping kinda thing. That goes for everyone who's interested...but you must be able to get pix messages on your cell phone. We can do this people! Enablers Untie! errr Unite!! LOL

Gobble til you Wobble

Words to live by I tell ya!!! Here is my Turkey Gourdzook, I got him at the craft fair last fall but it was after turkey day so he's been sitting in his packaging for quite some time. But this year when I pulled out my fall box, he was the first thing to be opened. Just had to share my Gobbly gourd as I promised in the last post. ;) Can't wait to get a new one this year....last weekend in November so keep your eyes peeled for my post!!!

A very special gift

If you've been reading my blog for a while then you know my excitement over holiday Gourds. Last year I added this adorable little guy to my collection, created by Donna Massey owner of Gourdzooks.

She makes the most adorable little characters using gourds. It's the one holiday craft splurge I look forward to each year (they are PRICEY, this guy was $40!!!). Usually after a stamp day, a large group of us will hoof it down to the annual craft fair to shop, eat & browse the goodies...and my $$ always goes towards a new gourd. So my jaw hit the ground this weekend when one of the gals showed up bearing gifts (too sweet!) and when I opened up the package this is what I found....

I flipped out!!! I was so excited!!!!

1. I love these gourd characters!!! (she had no idea, my reaction was a shock to her, I was screaming)
2. I didn't have any Halloween ones yet and I had looked at them last year, but opted for a turkey (show ya that tomorrow).
3. It had a little black kitty on the pumpkin which looked like my little Mouse (our cat, our princess...yes, we don't have kids yet so therefore our pets are like our children)
4. She MADE IT!!!! OMG!!! I nearly fell over!!!

So I just HAD to share this with everyone, I'm sure you crafty Sue's are used to seeing Gourds and fun stuff but I'm new to them and I just get dumbfounded at the things people can do with them. Just wait til you see the other fun guys I got my hands on!!! Oh and I'll also post the projects we made for World Card Making Day....did anyone else spend the day stamping on Saturday????

The morning after..

Last night was the monthly SIYJ party over at Paper Pretties, I was so thrilled to finally get the chance to attend this time!! Last month I JUST had my internet installed and it wasn't functioning so I missed the party. Turned out my hard drive was frying and had to be replaced, guess I should have been a little nicer to the internet tech support, eh? LOL


So here is my Pick A Patch Cooper card that I made for the third challenge, sadly I got home from work right as the party started so I was late in starting the card challenges. I just love this spiderweb embossing folder, I can't stop using it! That and my Martha black glitter, nothing screams Halloween quite like black glitter and spider webs right?? So I bugg'd the white paper but left the bottom portion untouched so I could stamp my greeting. I used the rectangle nesties for Cooper, Copics for the coloring as always. I wanted to make a border of black glitter so I took sticky tape and taped off all the edges, dipped it in the black glitter and tah dah! Guess it doesn't show up well in this photo, click on it to enlarge it, perhaps you can see it then! :) Lastly I used my new spider die cut to finish off the card. We'll keep you posted on when this adorable little guy will be available for purchase, should be sometime next week so keep checking back!!

Also, a big round of applause for this month's Cutie Pie, my pal Jess was crowned last night at the party, her card was simply gorgeous and she won all the new stamps that were released last night! Her challenge cards were really cute too, if you get a chance head over to the Gallery and check out everyone's cards....there are a few sneak peeks for what's coming up next month!!!!

Trick or Treat!

Since treats are by far the best part of Halloween, I made this quick little treat bag featuring Whiskers, the new Sophia that was just released! I really wanted to find some cheetah print paper for her leotard but couldn't find ANY for the life of me. So....when you can't buy it, make it! I chopped off the top of the treat bag so that it was card size and ran it through my cuttlebug using white craft ink and the spider web folder. It actually embosses the entire bag so it looks really cute on all sides! Her ears, bowtie, shoes & tail are all glittah'd with Martha's black glitter, it was on sale last week so I stocked up on black, orange, green & red. You'd think the holidays were close or something ;)

Want to get your hands on Whiskers? Submit your entry for the Cutie Pie contest before Sept 30th at 8pmEST to get your shot at winning Whiskers AND Falling for You AND Howdy Girlfriend Sophia!! Then mark your calendar and plan to join us for Stampin In Your Jammies on Oct 1st at 7pm CST.

Stamps - Whiskars Sophia, Karen Foster Snap Stamps
Cardstock - White, Black
Ink - Memento
Accessories - Kraft bag, Tissue, Cuttlebug Spiderweb, Copics

Seriously?!

How amazing are these?? I was absolutely stunned when I got my mail yesterday. Joni, the artist who creates all of the Paper Pretties stamps drew this for little ol' me. And she sent me all of these cards!! What's funny is when we met her last February she had never even stamped before. The Pretties got to witness her first card making at our SIYJ night at the hotel, now look at her creations!!! Joni is beautiful, talented and just an amazing person and I can't thank her enough for this wonderful work of art (Thanks Joni!!!). I even went to IKEA last night to get a spotlight for it! I obviously had free time to run errands since my cable froze up 10 minutes into the Grey's premiere!! Seriously?...seriously. So don't anyone tell me what happened!!!

Touched by an angel

There are angels all around us each and every day, some of them we see and some just linger above us making sure we're ok. Sweet little Sophia is one of these angels, she's next month's SOTM over at Paper Pretties so if you want to be one of the first to get your hands on her then head over there and sign up. I just love coloring her...there's something calming about it. Ok, I'm a whack job, I know. I used my copics (as always) and my new Scor-Pal to make the embossed lines above & below the ribbon. At first I just made one score line but it was just kinda blah....so I put the kraft cardstock back on my Scor-pal and moved it just slightly off from the first line and scored it again. LOVED IT! You might have to click the photo to enlarge it to see what I mean.

I really like the look of faux embossed greetings so I stamped "blessings" first in Sahara Sand and then again in White Craft. Soft Sky is still one of my favorite colors ever, so naturally I used it for my little Angel. ;)

And if you haven't heard by now, Cammie's Heart to Heart blog candy is just amazing....so head over there to check it out. It's for an amazing cause!!!

Mine's the cutest!

Ok so maybe not, but I think so! Kinda like how parents think that THEIR child is always way more adorable than any other child out there.....well, that's how I feel about my Frankie. Sure, he's just about everywhere lately but each one comes to life a little differently *heh, comes to life...get it?* ;) So I took my favorite treat bag template and switched it up a bit to make Frank-n-Treat. That's MISTER Frank-n-Treat to you!! Just flip up his hair to reveal the treats inside! Mmmmm tasty treats. Can you tell that I started my diet last Monday? 4 pounds down but cravings are at an all time high. And why must Halloween candy be SO tempting?!?! Is it because they are bite-size so we don't feel as guilty by eating a few? It's not a full size candy bar so it must be ok?! NOT!!!

I WANT CANDY!!! *breathe Jill, breathe*

Last two SOTM projects

Arrrrrrrg!!! You'll have to forgive my horrible pictures, I still can't seem to get perfect lighting in the new house. Plus I have yet to unpack my good lamps and photo cube (hmm, weekend project perhaps?). So here are the final 2 projects we did for my Stamp of the Month class, the top one is quite pretty in person. I stamped the flower image in Pretty in Pink craft ink onto Pink Pirouette paper and then embossed them with clear embossing powder. The greeting was embossed with white powder to tie in the white trim. The Kiwi Kiss card base was stamped with the sanded background stamp using Always Artichoke ink, ya can't even see it in the photo. :( White textured paper (cause it's my fav) for the scallop trim along the bottom and then finally I used the ticket corner punch on the top corners to add some white brads.

This has got to be one of my favs. I just love dry embossing a frame around my main images, keeps things simple but elegant in my opinion. I used markers for the flowers and then misted with water to re-moisten and stamped onto Baja Breeze card stock. Add a sentiment, border & brads and I was done!

This weekend we're working on the master bathroom, closets & hallway. We set the date for our house warming so now we have to make sure we stick to our weekend projects so it's presentable in time. 4 weeks...which sounds like a long time but really, it's only 8 days since we only have free time on the weekends. Anyone wanna put on your paint smocks and come help? ;)

XOXO

p.s. did you notice my "Arrrrg"?? Today is National Talk Like a Pirate Day! My co-workers are ready to throw me out the window! LMBO

Happy Mail Day!!!

I love having a rough day at work and then coming home to a big package of goodies!!! I got all of this from Polka Dot Plaza, they have the new JustRite stamps and they were about 50 cents cheaper than everywhere else, so I stocked up!! I got the new Christmas set, the rectangle stamper (so cool!), some new Inkadinkado snowflake stamps, two brass templates (I figured the gift could be used for Xmas cards and birthdays and I couldn't resist the high heel, too cute!). I also got a pack of the Basic Gray magnetic snaps I've been seeing on various blogs, the Scor Pal (which I ripped open and LOVE), some colored fun flock and Basic Gray pretty paper! And this is just the beginning....my PTI, Bella and Paper Pretties orders are all scheduled to be here this week too!!! It's like Xmas!!!! Do you have any idea how hard it was NOT to call in to work sick today?!?! I can't wait to come home and play!!! Perhaps I'll have a new creation to share tomorrow.....check back!

Stella quick card

So when you need a card in literally seconds, here's what ya do. Get your stash of pre-stamped images (you should always have a small stack, if anyone needs some just let me know!), give it a quick color with some Copics, throw it onto some scrap cardstock and find a fun piece of patterned paper for a background. Cut, layer done!

I completely forgot my girlfriends birthday and she was stopping by to pick up her stamp order and I only had 10 minutes until she was there. So I grabbed Stella, some pieces of left over cardstock and paper from my last stamp night with the girls and threw this together. I love how fun Stella is....Margaret can't stand Stella but just you wait, once my new Stella stamps arrive she'll be begging to borrow her!!!

Stamps - Stella w/Olive, Here's to You sentiment
Cardstock - Regal Rose, Rose Red
Ink - Memento
Accessories - Copics, Ribbon

Another SOTM card

Yes, as with everyone else on the planet that got this new SU set, I too am addicted to it. This Upsy Daisy was the featured set this month for my SOTM (stamp of the month) class and here is another one of the cards we made. I love how this set can be the focus or just an accent, just depends where it's stamped. For this card I used Apricot Appeal for my main card, I don't seem to use that color enough and I just adore it. I wanted to use the grass from Inspired by Nature but didn't want it to take over the card so I stamped it first onto the Apricot and then layered vellum cardstock on top of it with the daisies stamped in Pumpkin Pie & So Saffron. I hid the adhesive with some white taffeta ribbon and then added the greeting to the top right corner.

I'm almost at 60,000 hits so keep checking back for some tasty treats once I hit that big number!!! xoxo

Stamps - Upsy Daisy, Pocket Silhouettes sentiment
Cardstock - Apricot Appeal, Vellum cardstock, Pumpkin Pie
Ink - Apricot Appeal, So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories - Paper Piercer, Oval Punches, Taffeta Ribbon

Saffron Daisies **LINK ADDED**

Here is a sneak peek at one of the projects for my SOTM class this Saturday. I just adore using textured white for my card bases, they add a very clean yet elegant feel to the card. The main image is faux embossed using craft White and More Mustard. I used my pal Joanne's trick (the link works now) with the slot punch for the ribbon. Funny thing about this card is that when I showed my hubby he said "I think it needs a small strip of yellow on the bottom"....so there you have it, pigs are officially flying because my hubby is now helping to design my cards!!! You shoulda seen the monkey that flew outta my.........well, you get the idea.

So I went to use my Crop-A-Dile last night to set some eyelets and I kept flipping the top knob around to find the setter for 1/8" eyelets. Hmmm where is it? I know I'm supposed to use a certain one (can you tell I don't use it much for eyelets?). As I looked closer to side "C" I saw a white mark in the center of the hole....hole?!?! Um shouldn't there be a small rod thingy on the C side?!?! Well yes, it's officially broken and I have no idea when or how it broke. Do you think Memory Keepers has a warranty on these?? It's metal! I'm pretty sure it's NOT supposed to pop off, eh? So there's my tragedy of the week. Poor little crop-a-dile... such a short, unfulfilled life.

Stamps - Upsy Daisy, All Holidays
Cardstock - Textured White, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron
Ink - Whisper White craft, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip
Accessories - Chocolate Ribbon, Scallop Circle Punch,

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!

How amazing are all these goodies?!?! The Prettie Girls sent me a package filled with handmade love!!! I just sat in awe as I opened each special item made just for our new home, I even got all teary. And everything was made with my all time favorite paper (Crate Paper, Seaweed collection) and it matches our house perfectly!! I'm guessing you weren't actually painting your house and needing color suggestions, eh Prettie Mama?? ;)

Charlie embroidered the adorable tea towels with our initials (Scott & Jillian Winters), Jules made the precious little house that has the date we officially owned our home, Danielle stamped some fantastic tiles (always wanted a set of those!) and the phrases she picked were SO us!!! Jana made a super cute photo frame with matching journal (which I can't wait to use) and Jesse gave us two big coffee mugs with my fav rub-ons on them (even the hubby said "sweet!") and an amazing 'welcome' sign that just took my breath away. Even my hubster said to tell you all thank you, he was extremely surprised and impressed with such thoughtful and tasteful goodies. I can't wait to hang them up and put them all to use! THANK YOU GUYS SO VERY MUCH!!!! XOXOXOXO to the Prettiest Girls in the world!