Sorry

If you have stopped by here you have noticed I havent been on in quite some time. I apoligize for that. My youngest son has been having medical issues and my father was recently diagnosed with cancer and then had some major issues(he coded at the hospital almost 2 weeks ago, thank god for a quick response by the team there) and is now back home. However, my heart just hasnt been into stamping or any craft lately. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll get something done. I have discovered that even though I made Christmas cards all year I am running out! How can that be??

Clean and Simple Snowflake

This week I start off my projects with the latest Clean and Simple Challenge over at Splitcoast. I chose to use a snowflake, which is appropriate since we just received our first snowfall here in southcentral Alaska last night! I am SO happy to finally have snow! I love,love,love snow!!!

The challenge was to use white with just one other color, so I chose Night of Navy. The snowflake is embossed with a dark blue powder and then Night of Navy ink was used for the sentiment.

And just a few pics of what inspired me,hehehehe:

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: The Snowflake Spot

Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy

Ink: Night of Navy

Accessories: CB Swiss Dots folder, whisper white ribbon, dark blue embossing power from Stampendous,Versamark, sponge

Sunday Stamps and Color Challenge

I've gotten behind on the challenges over at Holly Beary Creations so I combined 2 of them today to try and get myself back on track. For this card I did the Sunday Stamps challenge, letter 'I' and I used the In Everything Give Thanks set. Then I used the colors from Holly's color challenge, which were Basic Gray/Basic Black, Crushed Curry, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White and Green Galore. I used a layout shown in the current SU catalog, on page 23.


I think right now there is so much to be thankful for, so thats why I chose this set. I live in a beautiful state, I've got wonderful friends and family, and the net allows me to meet fellow stampers and check out the wonderful creations of everyone. When I am feeling down I just remember all of this and how truly lucky I am!

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: In Everything Give Thanks

Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black, Crushed Curry, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore

Ink: StazOn Black, Crushed Curry, Basic Black, Basic Brown, Close to Cocoa, Ruby Red, Versamark

Accessories: Basic Black ribbon, dimensionals

Clean and Simple

Today we have a very simple, easy card. This week over at the Clean and Simple challenge on Splitcoast the challenge was to use brads or eyelets and I combined it with Holly's alphabet challenge. The letter this week was 'H', so you could use a set that begins with that letter or do a card for a holiday. I did both! I used the Holiday Woodcuts set, one of my favs and of course I made another Christmas card...like I need more of those, right? ;) The red cardstock is popped up with dimensionals to give the card some depth.

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Holiday Woodcuts

Paper: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red

Ink: Night of Navy, Basic Gray, Ruby Red,Summer Sun

Accessories: Eyelets, Dimensionals, Blender Pen

It's a Twilight Tuesday Blog Hop!

I love Twilight. I resisted it for a while, telling people I had no interest in it whatsoever. I've never been much of a vampire fan and I didnt think this series was something that I'd like. Then one day my daughter brought home a copy of Twilight from the library and I said what the heck, I've got nothing else to read. Ever since then I've been hooked! I've read all the books numerous times and cant get enough of Edward :)

Then my friend Holly introduced me to the Twilight Tuesday Challenge Blog. Oh man, what more could a Twilight fan ask for!? Now the blog is celebrating its first anniversary and what better way to celebrate than with a blog hop!!

There is a whole year of challenges to choose from and I decided to do 2 of them.

The first challenge I did was #11, A Cullen Christmas. I love Christmas, and I love the Cullens, so what better challenge than this one for me to try my hand at!

I decided to do a Christmas card the way I thought Alice would envision Christmas. At times Alice annoys me a bit because she is so dang perky, but on the other hand you know you can always count on her. Anyway, back to Christmas :) I see Alice having a very traditional Christmas, with large wreaths,lots of bows and a big Christmas tree with tons of presents under it. I chose this stamp because I like the simplicity of the house, but yet you still get the warm feeling of the holidays from it. Although Alice has the tendency to go overboard on things I can totally see her doing a simple outdoor display such as this. The image is watercolored and its hard to see, but I used white craft ink for the snow and a blender pen with gray to create the way the sky looks when snow is moving in.

My 2nd card is for a more recent challenge....#51, Edward and what that character means to you. Personally, when I think Edward I think of eternal love and someone who is there for you no matter what. In the movie where Edward and Bella are dancing in the gazebo and he leans down to brush his lips against her neck....that scene right there is a wonderful example of Edward. His tenderness, the love he has for Bella and how much he wants her to retain her soul and human life.((sigh)) I ♥ Edward. My card is a representation of how he sparkles, both inside and out. The chipboard was sponged in Riding Hood Red, then I added Dazzling Diamonds to it. Along the right side I used my Edward stamp to make a watermark image down the side,and then added the 'Forever' over it.

Now that you've stopped by my little spot on the net, and hopefully enjoyed yourself!, its time to go check out the next blog in the hop. Please go check out Julie over at her blog, Stars Fall Designs (and she also a sponsor for the hop, wooohooo Julie!)!

Dont forget to check out these awesome sites that sponsored the Twilight Tuesday Blog Hop!

Stamp Happens Shop http://www.stamphappens.com/shop
Stamp Insanity Stamps http://www.stampinsanity.com/
The Greeting Farm http://www.thegreetingfarm.com/shop
Unity Stamp Co. http://www.unitystampco.com/
Die Cuts R Us http://www.diecutsrus.com/
Sassy Studio Designs http://www.buysassystudiodesigns.blogspot.com/
Stars Fall Designs http://www.starsfalldesigns.etsy.com/

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

1st card-

Stamps:image unknown, sentiment by Uptown Rubbert Stamps

Paper: Watercolor paper, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Holiday Traditions DSP

Ink: StazOn Black, White Craft Ink, Basic Black, Basic Gray, Real Red, Riding Hood Red, Soft Suede, Close To Cocoa, Handsome Hunter, Bravo Burgundy, Forest Foilage, So Saffron

Accessories: Aqua Painter, Blender Pen

2nd Card-

Stamps: Broadstroke Alphabet, Twilight Stamp Set

Paper:Basic Black, Riding Hood Red

Ink: Basic Black, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Versamark, Basic Black Ribbon, Chipboard, Dazzling Diamonds

HollyBeary Creations-Color Challenge #1

My friend Holly over at HollyBeary Creations(formerly Inka Dinka Doodle) has started another challenge, and this one is a color challenge. Seriously folks, if you havent been to her blog check it out! She is an awesome stamper and I love seeing the stuff she comes up with!

These are the colors to work with( Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Always Artichoke and Lavendar Lace):

I think these are awesome colors, although the purple scared me! I'm not a purple fan so anytime I have to incorporate that color I get a bit nervous. I think I did ok though. For the purple I used Lovely Lilac ink to stamp the bird on Lavendar Lace paper, and then Lovely Lilac again for the sentiment(I didnt have any Lavendar Lace ink). The cardstock base is Always Artichoke and then I used DSP in Soft Suede for the top layer and a small layer of Dusty Durango across the bottom, along with some Very Vanilla Ribbon.

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Season of Friendship

Paper: Always Artichoke, Dusty Durango, Autumn Traditions DSP, Very Vanilla

Ink: Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Lovely Lilac,Always Artichoke

Accessories: Very Vanilla Ribbon, dimensionals

Some glitter mixed with Mojo

As I play catch-up I am combining challenges again. This time its the sketch from Mojo Monday and then Sunday Stamps, from HollyBeary Creations(formerly known as Inka Dinka Doodle). This week the letter is 'G', or you could also do something with glitter. I did both. My stamp is from the set Gifts of Joy, and then Santa can always use glitter right? So one of my favorite things to use, Stickles, was brought out.

Supplies used are all Stampin'Up unless otherwise noted:

Stamps: Gifts of Joy

Paper: Whisper White, Old Olive,Riding Hood Red, SEI PP

Ink: Black StazOn, Glorious Green, Real Red, Ruby Red

Accessories: 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, rub-ons by SEI(sentiment), ribbon by SEI, Stickles(Candy Cane Red, Xmas Red, Gold), Dimensionals, Fun Flock

3-1 Today

Life got in the way as it often does, and so I havent gotten much stamping done. Today I really had to force myself to stop thinking so hard about other things and just sit down and stamp. I'm behind on several challenges and would really love to get caught up!

One of the main challenges I wanted to work on was Twilight Tuesday Challenge #50, Charlie.

“One of the best things about Charlie is that he doesn’t hover.”

This has to be one of the most memorable lines from both Twilight the novel and Twilight the movie…

Let’s face it, we all love Charlie….. And Stephanie describes this quite and thoughtful man’s personality and temperament in this one single sentence. As we all know, Charlie’s relationship with Bella changes from starting out as strangers thrown together in an awkward situation and then slowly grows into a bond that any father and daughter would be envious of.

So, this week my challenge to you is simple…

Craft Portion: Create a project that represents Charlie’s and Bella’s relationship or a relationship you have with a ‘father’ figure in your life.

Comment Portion: Tell us about your relationship with a ‘father’ figure and why this bond is so special to you


For my card I decided to to make something that represented my grandfather, who passed away this past May. A girl couldnt have asked for a better Grandpa. He was always there for me and was just someone who really enjoyed life and all it had to offer. I was the first grandchild, and the first girl(my grandparents had 3 boys, the oldest is my awesome Dad!) so I had a very special relationship with my Grandpa and Grandma. Grandpa was a retired railroad man and he and Grandma travelled all across the US on Amtrak. When I was a little girl growing up in Massachusetts we used to take train trips to NYC, Philly, Washington,D.C.,etc. Everytime I see a train I think of my Grandpa, so when I saw this SU set I knew I had to have it! Sadly I lost my Grandpa before I could make him a card with it :(

Thats me and my grandparents, Christmas 1973. I was just a tad over 2 months old!



Here is the card I made:



This card also incorporates 2 challenges from Splitcoast, the color challenge for this week and also the sketch challenge.

Wanna know the weird thing? We have railroad tracks that run behind the house, and when I started on this card this morning a train came through and stopped on the tracks behind us. I felt like my Grandpa was saying hello :)

Supplies used:

Stamps:Happiness Is A Journey,Small Script

Paper: Bravo Burgundy,Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Cameo Coral,Always Artichoke DSP

Ink: Bravo Burgundy,Always Artichoke

Accessories: Brads,Dimensionals

Sunday Stamps-f

Why is it that I think I can get caught up on challenges and stay caught up? It just doesnt happen like that! I did manage to finish this card before Sunday though, so I am still caught up on Holly's card challenge...for now anyway :) I also used this weeks color challenge over at Splitcoast.

This week the letter is 'F' and if you dont want to use a stamp set that begins with that letter than you could make something related to 'f'ood. I considered making some recipe cards but just havent had the time this week, so maybe I'll try that later :) For now I went ahead and used the set Fresh Cuts to make a thank you card for one of my co-workers. My birthday was this past Sunday and when I went into work on Monday she had left me a baggie full of all kinds of yummy goodies! How nice was that?

Supplies used(all supplies SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps-Fresh Cuts

Paper-Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal, Apricot Appeal, Very Vanilla

Ink-Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal, Always Artichoke,Versamark

Accessories: D'Vine Swirls CB folder,Chocolate Chip ribbon, dimensionals, hodgepodge hardware,oval punch

CSAYL #37

This week the CSAYL challenge is from Debbie of The Paper Garden and its a color challenge!

Here are the colors she wants us to use:

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about incorporating all of these together, but all in all, I dont think my card came out too badly. Its hard to see but I used versamark to put an image on the upper night of navy half, and the snowflake in the word 'joy' is popped up with dimensionals. Sorry the photos arent too great. Its was a rainy day here in southcentral Alaska and I just could not get good lighting no matter where I took the picture.

Here it is:

Supplies are all SU unless otherwise noted:

Stamps: Season of Joy

Paper: Whisper White, Night of Navy, Chocolate Chip, Glorious Green, Rich Razzleberry,Cool Caribbean

Ink: same as paper

Accessories: dimensionals,brads, CB Snow Dots folder, Versamark

Twilight Tuesday and CC239

My friend Holly introduced me to this site,Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge. After blowing off peoples opinions of the Twilight book series I decided to read them for myself one day when my daughter brought home the first book. Totally not my type of book but what can I say, I was hooked! Team Edward all the way :) I'm always looking for challenges that get me thinking outside of my comfort zone so I figured I'd give this one a shot! I also combined it with this weeks color challenge over at Splitcoast.

The challenge was to create a craft based on one of the homes discussed in the series, or just what home means to you. As soon as I read the challenge I knew what I wanted to do. I've had this stamp since about 1993 and I thought it would be perfect for representing Edward and Bellas cottage in the woods, which was given to them as a wedding present. I was going for something that would blend in with its surroundings and not stand out.

The color challenge was to use mellow moss, white and kraft(or a similar color). I ran out of kraft so I used close to cocoa instead. I figured it was close enough :)

As always, thanks for looking!


Supplies are all SU unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: main image unknown, Small Sayings
Paper: Mellow Moss, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, watercolor paper
Ink: various SU colors
Accessories: CB Swiss Dots folder, aquapainter,blender pen, scallop border punch,dimensionals,Mellow Moss ribbon

Sunday Stamps-E

This week over at Inka Dinka Doodle the letter for Sunday Stamps is 'E'. Once again you could either use a set that begins with 'E', or you could do something that is good for the 'e'nviroment.

I only have 1 set that begins with E, so I decided to see what I could come up with that would fit under good for the enviroment.

I love,love,love Christmas and Christmas cards(if you have been to my blog before this wont come as a shock to you,hehehe) and have a tendency to hold onto cards for yrs. I went through my stash and found some old snowman Christmas party invites that we had used back in the late 90's/early 2000's, when we were living in CT! I took the invites, cut the snowman out and adhered it to cardstock to make a new Christmas card for this year. I recycled :0) and plus its a nice, easy card that would be great for mass production, which I think I just might do since I have several of these invites left!

Supplies used(all supples SU unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Many Merry Messages

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Holiday Treasures DSP

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Ribbon from Michaels, recycled Christmas invitation,sponge

Sunday Stamps- D

Last week the challenge over at Sunday Stamps was the letter 'D' and you could either use sets that began with 'D' or put some Dazzle on your card. I did both, although my dazzle is just a little bit! I made a very simple card. Those are my favorites...I love clean, simple cards that dont overwhelm me and I feel like I havent done much of those lately!

Here is what I came up with:

Supplies are all SU unless otherwise noted:

Stamps:Daring Dots,Best Yet

Paper: Whisper White, White(Bazzill), Melon Mambo

Ink: Melon Mabo, Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: 13/8" square punch,Dazzling Diamond, Dimensionals, glue pen,paper piercing set, white gel pen

Back on track....

Woooohooo, I'm back on track when it comes to the challenges over at CSAYL. Vicki of Summerthyme Studio is hosting this weeks challenge and she says to "create a Christmas scene using at least two different stamp sets or stamps".

Now, I thought that sounded really simple and instantly knew which 2 sets I was going to use. However it proved to be one of those days where the image in my mind didnt translate to paper so well, grrrrr! My biggest problem actually ended up being the cardstock used. I just could not find a color combo that made me happy, and I didnt want to use anything "loud".

I was going for a very peaceful image and so I decided against using any DSP/PP and used paper piercing as my only embellishment, in order to keep the eye focused on the winter scene depicted. After spending the afternoon staring at different cardstock I finally chose the green and brown to showcase the image. Overall I am happy with the colors I chose, I just wish it hadnt taken half the day to pick them out((pulls out hair)).

I blended old with new, putting together 'Winter Wonderland'(an older,retired SU set) with a set thats in the current SU catalog, 'Scenic Season'. I love both of these and thought they would work well together. On the trees I took a white gel pen and just kind of doodled on them to give the appearance of snow sitting on branches. I then used Versamark, heat and stick powder and Dazzling Diamonds to create the winter wonderland surrounding the cabin. Using a blender pen and a Bashful Blue watercolor crayon I colored the sky very lightly, trying to give it that cloudy, almost hazy look the sky takes on when its going to snow. Those that live in in snow country know what I am talking about!

Here is my card(sorry the pics arent the best. I didnt have good light inside or outside today. You can click on the photos to see the detail):

Supplies(all supplies Stampin'Up! unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Scenic Season, Winter Wonderland

Paper: Handsome Hunter, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White

Ink: Handsome Hunter, Forest Foilage, Basic Brown, StazOn Black, Real Red

Accessories: Paper Piercer, SU markers and watercolor crayons, Dazzling Diamonds, Heat and Stick Powder, Versamark, Blender Pen,Sponge,White gel pen,Dimensionals