Cards for the world's greatest Dad's!

Don't you find it insanely hard to make a card for a man?!?! Am I the only one?!?! Luckily the SCS challenges keep us on our toes and they teach us how to make fabulous folded shirts that make PERFECT Dad's Day cards!!! Don't ya think???

This card was inspired by Cambria Turnbow who makes some amazing cards! I just LOVED the cuttlebug embossing folder she used as a background, I never even thought to use them for a man's card!! I used the new cuttlebug design Traffic Jam, Certainly Celery cardstock with So Saffron and the argyle patterned paper from the SU Designer Paper Preview Pack...say that three times fast! HAHAHA

I think my brother-in-law(s) and my grumpy ol' dad might really enjoy this card. Finally something that fits them. Their birthday cards were Cosmobella saying "Cheers!" and they all had funny looking expressions when they opened them. I mean come on....the Bella was supposed to be ME!!! Duhh! ;)

A little vacation...

What a fabulous weekend I had! We left Thursday night and got down to Cayucos just before midnight, got settled into our beach condo and passed out.

Why is it when you're on vacation your body insists on waking up early?? The one time I can sleep in and my body says "WAKE UP!".

We took a tour of Hearst Castle, what an amazing place! I have way too many pics so just thought I'd pick my favorite....care to take a dip?

We spent 3 days wandering the coast between Cayucos, Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo and even Solvang (what a cute little Dutch town!). The plan was to leave on Sunday and head back home so we could use Monday to recoop. Yea, well....didn't happen. We stumbled into Carmel and that was the end of that!

It was so wonderful there! The shops, the restaurants, the homes, the beach, the people...the DOGS!!! Seriously, if you don't have a dog then you won't fit in Carmel. EVERYONE was walking around town with their pup, the restaurants even had separate Pet menus!!!! Once the shops close down everyone heads to the beach to walk along the gorgeous white sand and, you guessed it, let the dogs run free along the beach. So next time we visit Carmel, I'll have to rent a dog!

But you know what I noticed?! There is not one scrapbook/stamp store in the entire town!!! Can you believe it?!?! All those adorable stores, all that tourism...it would be the perfect fit!!

I can't wait to get back to some of my projects, I have a Stamp Play night coming up on Friday and then Stampers 10 club meeting is on Saturday....so much to look forward to. AND the new catty is almost here! Can you believe it?!?!?! Time is just flying by!

Easy as 1, 2, bleach...

Sometimes I forget to KISS....Keep It Simple Silly! Some of the most fabulous cards I've given and received over the years have always been the most simple. I made this one for my mom, just to remind her that I love her and hopefully that I'm still just a young girl in her eyes. :) Thankfully Summer by the Sea is not on the retiring list this year, I was in a panic when I saw so many sets on there!!!

I used French Flair (which I SO love and hope that it's in the new catty) with So Saffron for the background. I stamped the young girl and sentiment with Versamark on So Saffron paper and then heat embossed with clear ep. Next I used a watercolor brush and bleach and just went all over the image and highlighted the grass and flowers along the bottom. I left the 'Thinking of You' unbleached just so it would add a little dimension. I distressed the edges and layered onto More Mustard. I think it took about 15 minutes total, gotta love that!!!

Mmm...tasty treats!

I wanted to make something fun for my coworkers since we all had to drag our feet back into work after a long, fabulous holiday weekend. I couldn't decide between making coconut covered cupcakes or marshmallow flowers....so I made both!
I was at the Le Gourmet Chef store a few months ago and found the most bright and wonderful sugar crystals in every color you can imagine. So I've been dying to use them on something and this was PERFECT! Ok, so here's the trick to the Plumeria Flowers....

Cut jumbo marshmallows using damp kitchen scissors into slices. Sprinkle the sitcky insides with colored sugar sprinkles. Arrange on cupcakes in a flower shape! SO simple and SO adorable, don't ya think?? You could even put a candle in the middle if it was for a birthday, or those little pastel colored candies to make a flower center!! Love it!!

Oh and they were a BIG hit....I think they were all gone by 10am. What a great breakfast, eh? ;)

Bubblebella "Spoil Yourself"

Here she is!!! Don't ya just love her?!?!!

My only question is to doodle or not to doodle...around the circle?? Whatcha think?!?!

Ok, gotta go stamp some more. The extra long weekend is nearly over!!! ACK!

I finished it!!!!

It took FOREVAH but it was SO well worth it. I cased the book design from Leigh O'Brien who makes those fab books for the SCS 100 color challenges. I was searching for ages for the PERFECT paper to cover my Bella Book with. I swear I went to 100 different scrapbook stores within a 50 mile radius and I still couldn't find anything I wanted. Then I was checking out the photos of how she covered her SU ATC books and I gasped at this gorgeous hawaiian style paper in my favorite colors!!! I HAD TO HAVE IT!! So I emailed her and she was such a doll, she tracked down the paper AND the website for me so I ordered it!!!! Next was getting my hands on the perfect matching prima flowers, the jumbo book plates and the ribbon. When everything arrived in the mail, I went to work!

Isn't it just adorable?!?!?!?!?! Ok so here is a looksie on what wonders await inside. :)

Oh I could have shown you each page but I think you get the idea. It holds 30 bellas!!!!! YIPPEEEE! So there you have it, my final Bella Book! Ahhhhh, now I must go stamp!!!

Class Projects

When I scheduled this class I had no idea it was on Easter weekend otherwise I would have planned an egg hunt!! 4 fun projects and we even finished 15 minutes early!!!! I have such a great time with all my gals that it never even feels like I'm "working". The directions are typed out for them, they holler if they have questions but I find that most of the time I get to socialize and get caught up on who's doing what, how their kids are doing, the latest vacation stories, who found what on sale and where!!!! HAHAHA....It takes so much time to plan everything, cut every single layer and package it all up but in the end, it's SO worth it!! I got a few great ideas from my fellow stampers and ran with them.

This was a fun new folding idea I cased from another stamper, I changed the colors and a few little things, but isn't it fun?!?! I just love it!

Then, of course we had a Bella night....actually two this week!!!! And another one planned for Friday night!! I just can't get enough of these gals...and oddly, I have a few friends that have the same issue! HAHAHHAH

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I've posted. Life has a way of running off and leaving you in the dust! My hubby started his new job this week, FINALLY. They had been pushing back his start date every week and we were starting to wonder if it was going to fall through. But, he's down there right now as I type this, sitting in training and being taken out to Sushi for lunch. How unfair is that?!?! The fun part is that he's training in Walnut Creek and staying through Saturday so guess who will be joining him on Friday night? ME! I get to shop and explore and shop and eat....and SHOP!!!! I'm going to do a little research and see if there are any good scrapbook and stamp stores while I'm down there...I love checking out new craft shops! So since I haven't had a chance to stamp anything new I still wanted to post something. Simple, sassy and springy. :)
I have fallen in love with these Sassy Stems. They are great to use with watercolor crayons, inkpad pallete coloring or even just the markers. I always add a little Crystal Effects to the water vase, just to add a bit of dimension.

Hopefully I can post my Bella creations soon....I've been holding off for quite some time now due to swap-secrecy. But I just can't take it much longer. Last night, Margaret came over and we began our Bella Book! Oh don't worry....you'll see soon enough. ;)

It's Spring Time!

My favorite part of this card was coloring the flower buds and creating different shades (so saffron, pretty in pink, rose red). I also love my new texture plates!!! The Big Shot Impressions Starter Kit can be used with the Cuttlebug so you can emboss any brass template and get even more backgrounds by using texture plates. The plate used here was by Fiskars. I find texture plates to be a great alternative to the embossed folders or images because they aren't as drastic and defined. They are very subtle and don't take away from the true focal point of the project. And as always, I can't seem to get enough of the distressing or paper piercing. I LOVE IT!

This was the final project for my Spring Sensation class this weekend and sadly due to time contraints a few missed out making it so I thought I would highlight it in my blog for the weekend. After my class (which was SO much fun!!!), the hubby and I went to the Folsom outlets to do a bit of shopping, then of course stopped by Michael's since I had 3 coupons and just couldn't waste those. Then we had dinner at Outback (delish!) and finally a movie. We saw Wild Hogs and I thought it was a hoot! Kinda slap-schtick but overall very delightful. The weather was simply amazing this weekend, I couldn't get enough of it! Winter makes you appreciate Spring, if that makes sense. :) Sunday was by far the best (minus losing an hour)....Scott & I went to the spa for a massage and then La Bou for a light lunch. We felt like 'buttah' the entire day and I think we've decided we should do that more frequently....we're worth it! So I hope all of you got to enjoy the sunshine this weekend, Spring is most definitely here!!!!

Keep it Simple

I have fallen in love with the Spring Mini catalog!!! I spent my Friday night stamping with a friend of mine and we were up until midnight working on fun stuff. I didn't want to use my new designer series paper just yet so I decided to make my own. :) Then we had some fun layering and making flower petals using just punches and of course I had to add the paper piercing...I can't seem to get enough of it!!! It's simple, clean and sweet. Sometimes we can get so mixed up into making layer after layer, adding more and more, and we lose track of why we love this craft in the first place. It's sweet, simple and handmade....and I love it!