Celebrate the Month - Flower Challenge

It is my turn to be hostess at The Sisterhood of Crafters, this is my first time to host. This week as our theme is Celebrate the Month. For those of you who do not know, the flower for the month of July is the Delphinium, Larkspur or Water Lily.

The challenge this week is to create any type of project using one of these flowers.
I chose the WaterLilly and used a digital stamp by Delicious Doodles. She also has a beautiful Delphinium. I love the Delphinium she made but I totally butchered it when coloring it. Some of our Sisters though used it and did a beautiful job on it.

Since I am hosting this week, I decided to offer up a prize. It will given by random draw to all who participate in the challenge. For the prize, I have 9 sets of clear stamps.
So check out The Sisterhood of Crafters, the beautiful projects the sisters created then join in on the challenge for your chance to win all these stamps. :D

Stamp by Step - July Guest Designer

I am honored to be the Guest Designer for July at Stamp-by-Step. I have some fabulous products from their store to use for my designs. Throughout the month I will showing you all the items I made. You can go to Stamp-By-Step and click on the Guest Designer and see all my projects at once but I will be showing you a couple each week of this month.

The first 2 items I made were thank you cards that I can use for my kids teachers next year.I used the stamps Lilly & Billy Sweethearts on both cards. I know these are Valentine's stamps but I like to be able to use them for more than just Valentines so I just used some rub on sentiments and but the "thank" above the image and the "you" inside the heart. Both cards used paper from October Afternoon "Fly A Kite" . On this girl one I used a Dazzlers Florette and I love the way this flower sparkles.

Both cards have grosgrain ribbon on them and images were colored with Copic markers. I love that I already have 2 cards ready for the next school year. I'll be showing a couple of more items next week. Be sure to stop by Stamp-By-Step and check out all the cool products she has.

The Sisterhood Of Crafters - Social

I'm finally back in the game!! I'm going to start posting more frequently which means I am crafting again. To start back I'm joining my sisters at The Sisterhood of Crafters for the social and challenge this week. It couldn't be a more time appropriate challenge, well at least it is for me. The social is to talk about our favorite movie and the challenge is to make something that represents the movie. Well H... E.. L... L... O..... of course it's TWILIGHT for me! This is a planner that I made the end of last year and I showed the cover but don't think I ever showed the finish project. So here it is....

The black flourishes and wings are grungeboard that I inked up. I used my Twilight stamps to make the Team Edward, Cullen banner and the word Twilight. The birds were on the paper as well as the "A Beautiful Distraction". How stinking appropriate is that???!!!!!! : D

Front Inside Cover

Back Inside Cover

I had to give some room to the wolves. Although I'm Team Edward, you can't deny the hunky wolves. ; )

Back CoverI hope you stop by The Sisterhood of Crafters and check out the other sister's projects.Would love to hear what your favorite movie is even if it's not Twilight. ; )

Hear is my motto about the Twilight Saga:
I'm Team Edward not Rob
I'm Team Taylor not Jacob

BTW is Taylor legal yet???!! ; )

Blog Candy and more

One of my online scrap friends is offering some blog candy. Go check it out at: Paper Crafting with Erica. She has 2 different packages you can win. It's open until June 18th.

Also wanted to mention another online scrap friend of mine - Kim, just started a new sketch challenge. It's sketches to use for your LO's. It's called a Sketches in Thyme. They have their first challenge up right now.

One more thing to mention. I have been asked to e the Guest Designer by Cheryl over at Stamp-by-Step. So I will be the guest designer for July. I just receieved some products from her to use and they are fabby. Can't wait to get started.

Teacher's Gift

I can't believe it's been 2 months since I've blogged. It's been that long since I've been crafting too. I am beginning to miss it now so I'm going to get started again real soon.

Thought I'd share with you real quick about the only thing I have created in a while and it's not much. For teacher appreciation I got these roses.
The only thing I did to dress it up a little was stamped on the card and add a little ribbon to it. Then on the front of the pot I added a flower. Simple, yet the teachers loved it.

That's is for now. We are going on a family vacation to Play Del Carmen, Mexico this Saturday. I'm so excited. This is the first time the kids will ride in a plane and their first beach experience. Nothing like spoiling them with one of the most beautiful beaches in the world!!

I hope to start creating again once we are back from vacation. I want to get back in the game and start playing along with my sisters over at The Sisterhood of Crafters.

The Sisterhood Of Crafters Challenge

Today starts the 2nd challenge over at our new challenge blog - The Sisterhood of Crafters. This week is "Tips, Techniques and Tutorials" and our hostess Kim has a great tutorial to help you think outside the box when using stamps. Here is the card Kim created by using egg stamps to make this pretty flower.

Check out her tutorial HERE and then see what our other DT's did with their "out of the box" ideas. This week I did not create anything myself for this challenge. Spring break was last week for us and it was kind of crazy with my hubby out of town all week on business.

Altered Composition Notebooks

One of my favorite gifts to make for people is to cover a composition notebook. I try to buy a lot of them after school starts and you can get them for around $.25 each. But if you can't find them on sale they are only $1 regular price.

This first one was for a friends daughter who is in high school.

This next one I have made but haven't given it to anyone yet. I see there was a smudge on the camera lense when I took these pics because it is on each of the pictures. Ooops!

I like to add a bookmark to each of these too.

The Sisterhood Of Crafters - 1st Challenge

Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping by today. Today is our first challenge over at The Sisterhood of Crafters. The theme for this challenge is Around the World and our hostess this week is Darlene. Since today is St. Patrick's day she chose Ireland as our destination. You are to create any type of project using Ireland as the theme. It could be from the culture, colors of the their flag or anything that reminds you of Ireland. I have never been to Ireland but I would love to go one day. It looks like it would be so beautiful!

For my project, I went with the obvious St. Patty's day card theme. Not to original but I thought this image was so cute. I just made the back of the card look like the flag of Ireland.

I hope you get a chance to join in on the The Sisterhood challenge. We will have a new challenge each Wednesday.

Ideas for Kids Schools Pictures

After my last post for the SSDS design team, I took a little break. But I'm back now and have several things to share that I did for Christmas gifts and never posted.

I have made these frames in the past as gifts to the grandparents. I take the wallet size of the kids school pictures and mat them with coordinating paper and slide into a double 5x7 acrylic frame. It's quick, easy and inexpensive.
The buttons and the flowers in the corners are attached on the outside of the frame but the rest is protected under the acrylic. So far these have been a hit when I make them for the family. This is good if you don't have enough of the big size pics to go around. It makes the wallet size look more substantial.

SSDS - Sparkle Challenge & DT Call

Hi everyone! I wanted to let you know that this is my last post as a DT for Scrap, Stamp and Doodle Saturday challenge blog. I have had a great 6 months with these gals but I'm stepping down now. Thanks girls for a great ride! There are a few spots open now for their DT so they are having a DT call. Link at bottom of post for details on DT call. But now on to this weeks challenge at SSDS. What you need to do for this weeks challenge is to create a project with sparkle and shine.

Here is what I came up with for it. I used TGF Anya stamp and colored it with Copics. To make the sparkle I used a Gelly Roll Stardust pen. I colored in the guitar and I probably should have just outlined it. It lost definitition with it all sparkly but hindsight and all that. ; )

Our sponsor this week is Digi Stamp Characters. Be sure to stop by her etsy shop, Digi Stamp Characters! The winner will receive 3 digis of their choice!
Check out SSDS for the other DTs sparkle creations and enter your own sparkle creation. Now on to the DT call info. SSDS is looking for at least 4 more ladies to add to the team. Check out all the details right HERE. This is a fun group and I highly recommend you try out for it.

SSDS - So Charmed

At Scrap, Stamp and Doodle Saturday challenge blog is a fun challenge this week. The challenge is to use a charm on a card. I love the look of charms but rarely if ever have I used them myself. I didn't want to go out and buy a charm so I looked in my stash of broken and old jewelry to see what I could find. Here is what I came up with for the challenge.

Be sure to check out SSDS to see what the other DT's made and to get in on the challenge. Our sponsor for this week is Ellephantastic Cards & Crafts.

Helpful tip that I bet you didn't know...

First let me tell you that this has absolutely nothing to do with scrapbooking or crafts in any way. But I bet you will find this helpful. Ever been in a rental or borrowed car and not know which side the gas tank was on? What about the first few times you fill up your brand new car. You pull in the gas station and strain to look out both side mirrors to try and see the gas tank? Well guess what?? You can usually tell which side the gas tank is on by looking at the gas gauge. There’s an arrow or it says right or left.

What?? I didn't know that, did you? My husband shared that with me last night and I thought it was such a revelation that I had to share with everyone else too. I told Eric that if everyone read the manual that actually came with their car they would know that too. But what does anyone ever use the manual for except maybe to figure out how to set the clock or radio. : )

SSDS - Sketch Challenge

At Scrap, Stamp and Doodle Saturday challenge even with the blog hop going on we are still having a challenge for the week. This week is a sketch challenge.

Tiddly Inks is the sponsor this week and I used one of their designs for my card.

I colored the image in Copics and used the sketch (below).

You have several chances to win from SSDS. Get in on the blog hop and do the challenge for this week. Check out the images you can win from Tiddly Inks on the SSDS blog and what the other DT's did with the sketch also.

SSDS - Love is in the Air - Blog Hop

Welcome to SSDS's Love is in the Air Blog Hop! You should have just come here from Lisa Vaughan. If you didn't you need to start at Scrap, Stamp and Doodle Saturday challenge blog so you can get in on all the fun and prizes.

For my "Love is in the Air" theme, I made a card for my MIL's birthday. Her birthday is on Valentine's day.

3 Prizes Up for Grabs:

* For someone who leaves a comment on every blog in the hop.

* For a new follower of SSDS.
* For someone who completes the sketch (below) by the end of the hop.

Thanks for stopping by on the hop and your next stop on the hop is Cheri Graves. Don't forget to leave a comment if you want to get in on one of the prizes. : )

SSDS - Valentines with a Twist...No Red

Love is in the air... oh no, wait not yet. hehe That is our blog hop coming up next weekend. See my blinkie on the top right hand side of the blog. Be sure to join us for some love, fun and prizes. This weeks' challenge at Scrap, Stamp & Doodle Saturday is also about Valentines but with a twist. The twist is to create a Valentine without using any red.

My camera is not working so I had to scan my project so it looks a little funny. What the real bummer is about my camera not working is that is stopped working the day we got 6" of snow. I was so pretty outside and the kids played in it but I didn't get any pics. : (

I used a Magnolia image and colored it with Copics. I can't remember the line of papers I used.
I went ahead a decorated a little bit on the inside of the card because I wanted to add the sentiment that I printed out. It says "Sending you the sweetest thoughts on this special day". A great card for a friend. Now let's see if I ever get it mailed out. : P

See what our other DTs did for the project and also join in on the challenge at SSDS. This weeks sponsor is Michelle Perkett Studio. She is a wonderful artist and she turns her art into digital stamps. Be sure to check out her Etsy Shop, her art is almost magical.

A Sweet Blog Award

I received this sweet blog award from one of my sweet online friends Kathy - Stitchy. Stitchy is starting a new challenge blog called One Stitch at a Time. The grand opening for the blog is on February 14th, so be sure to go check out my friends new blog and her assortment of digi stamps that she offers.

Now I'm suppose to name 10 things that make me happy.
1. Hearing my children laugh.
2. Laying on a beach.
3. Scrapping - of course!
4. Vegging out and watching tv.
5. Hanging out with my girlfriends.
6. Shopping - retail therapy ; )
7. Organizing just about anything.
8. Eating a really good dessert. Yummm
9. My online friends. : )
10. The Twilight books, movies and Edward. Sigh.....

I have such sweet online friends that several of them had already rec'd this award like Boni and Micki. Hugs to you girls!

The award goes to:
Christine - a good friend I met on CafeMom and ended up meeting in person too.
Michelle Zindorf - she does the most beautiful cards and I was able to take one of her classes last fall and loved it. She is super busy doing tutorials for her blog and going around the country teaching classes so she may not have time to pass on the award but she deserves it all the same.
Kristy - Also a CafeMom friend, fellow DT member at one time and now she has opened her own online digi store called Some Odd Girl
I guess that is all for now but I have many more online buddies. Divas of the Digis -- I'm talking about you. : )

SSDS - Anything goes

The challenge at Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturday challenge is well basically anything you want to make. My Favorite Things is our sponsor for this week and they were so kind give the design team a digital stamp of our choice to use on our project. I choose the Digi Kit - The Boo Crew to work with for my project. I know it's way past Halloween and a long time before it comes around again but I wanted it anyway. This year in our neighborhood someone started the "Booing" the houses and it was a lot of fun. I'm sure this will become a tradition, so I thought I would make this door hanger for us to put out after we have been booed.

I'll might try and laminate this since it will be on the outside to protect it from the elements.

Go to SSDS and check out what else our other DT's made this week and enter your own project for a chance to win from this week's sponsor, My Favorite Things.

SSDS - Spring Card

Last week Austin had strep then this week the stomache bug. It's so hard to watch your kids be sick and you can't fix it. : ( It's Saturday morning and Austin is feeling much better today. Kids sure bounce back quicker than us adults.

Ok so this week at Scrap, Stamp and Doodle Saturday challenge blog is a very easy challenge. Just make a Spring themed card. We've had fog the last week or so and rain today so thinking about spring is nice. My card is a 3x3 that I ended up using in a swap. The patterned paper is from Sassafrass.

See the other DT's creations over at SSDS and then enter your own spring card. This week's sponsor is Revidevi and if you are the winner you have your choice of one of her digi stamp sets.

SSDS - Celebration Card

I've been without my computer for too long. Finally it's back and working great. Had 9 viruses, 30 malware or spyware and 1 root something or other removed. There are some really bored people out there just creating crap to put on our computers to make it difficult on us. Ok so make a virus that you can steal a bazillion dollars with, I get that, but just to cause people you don't even know problems. UGH!! I think a lot of them are young, immature teenagers just getting their kicks out of it because they CAN do it. Ok, sorry, I'm off my soap box now.

This week's challenge at Scrap, Stamp and Doodle Saturday challenge is to make a card for a celebration. It can be birthday, new baby, wedding, new home or what else you may be celebrating. Our sponsor this week is Sweet Pea Stamps and they were very generous and gave the DT stamps to use for the this challenge. This image and the sentiment are both from Sweet Pea Stamps.
I colored the image with Copics and I think this may be the first time I have colored and entire image including the backgroud. I will say though don't use Quick Quotes chalk ink if you are going to use Copics to color. I wasn't even thinking when I did it and as soon as I started coloring I noticed it bleeding. I didn't go back and redo them but hopefully covered up or fixed all the areas where it bleed or smeared. Oh yeah she's got some dark smoldering eyes there doesn't she? : ) Well that was another case of me just going over board.
I ended up coloring over all the sentiment only because it looked a little smeared anyways. Then I colored the background of that because the white just stood out too much. I should have just stamped the sentiment on a colored piece of paper but I had already put my stamp, pad and cleaner away and didn't want to get it out again. I know, wow, I was kind of lazy on this one wasn't I? : O
Go check out SSDS challenge and what all our fabby DT's made for this. Also if you participate in this challenge, which come on, this one is easy, you will be up for a prize from our sponsor Sweet Pea Stamps.

SSDS - Use a Picture Challenge (Twilight)

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a fun New Years! It's still almost hard to believe that it's 2010!!! I remember when it turned 1999 and thinking WOW it's 1999 just like in Prince's song! Then we had the 2000 computer scare and everyone thought the whole computer world would shut down because of the date. Now it's 2010!

I don't usually make new year's resolutions but this year I did. I have resloved to declutter my ENTIRE house. I mean everything!!! In every room, closet, cabinet, drawer and even in the attic and the garage. My closet, master bath, Austin's room, kitchen cabinets and pantry are all done. I've already taken several boxes to the Good Will store and thrown out several bags of junk and trash. The other thing I'm doing is making my own planner and trying to keep a daily schedule in hopes of staying more organized and use my time wisely and effeciently. We'll see how that goes. Ok sooooooo now how does this all relate to Scrap, Stamp and Doodle Saturday challenge? Oh it does because for this week's challenge you are to use a photograph on a card. Well, I fudged a little and used a couple of photos on the cover of my planner instead of a card. ; )
Since this picture was taken I have added more to the front cover and have finished the back cover and both inside covers. I have pictures but on my other computer which I am having trouble with once again. Getting blue screen with message on it, twice tonight. : O So once I have it up and running again I'll post the updated pics and hopefully finish the project soon.

Check out SSDS for the this weeks challenge and see what our other DT's did for the challenge. This weeks sponsor is Phindy's Place Etsy shop. She has some adorable digital images.