Love!

Good Tuesday Morning to you!!! 

SO, it seems that I am a huge fan of creating Valentine's Day Cards :) 

After all these years, I finally found my favorite time of year to create cards, lol! 

There is just something about pink hearts, doilies, flowers and lacy things that really just calls to me - makes me happy!!! Which means, I have a ton of Valentine's Day cards, lol, which also means, that I should get thee to thy post office soon ;) hee hee! 

Today is week 2 of Sparkle Creations latest sketch challenge: 

You have until this Sunday, January 29th 9pm PST to play along!! !

I decided to use the latest released Karber Clear Stamp Set, Fashion... 

Here is the other fashionista that comes in this stamp set! 

I decided to do some fun paper-piecing and Copic coloring... 

The sentiment is actually a part of a stamp that says: 

Love! Smile! Enjoy! 

SCRS Challenges are open to everyone, 

BUT, in order to win the prize, you must use a stamp from the 

Sparkle Creations Rubber Stamp Store! 

...and here is what is up for grabs this week: 

"Snow Angel Ruby" 

Be sure to check out what the rest of the DT created too :) 

Kerri Michaud

Margie Cortina 

Savannah O'Gwynn 

Simonne Clay 

Sparkle Smith

Thanks so much for stopping by today!
Have fun!!! xoxo

Bees and Cutie Pies... w/MFT!

Good Tuesday to you :) 

It is freeeeeezing! and wiiiindy!!! 

I am hiding on the couch with a warm blanket and my Copics with a few images to color until I have to pick up my boys from the bus stop later - and I will be taking the car there, lol! It is waaay too cold to be walking anywhere... which reminds me, I should make a stop at the mailbox too ;) 

Today, I decided to join in on My Favorite Things latest sketch
and January Guest Designer Contest!!! 

For the sketch challenge {MFTWSC52} I decided to finally ink up one of my favorite Bee stamps, Just Bee Yourself by Claire Keay... I had a bit of fun paper piecing too using my new to me 6x6 pad from my sister, My Mind's Eye Jack/Jill Quite Contrary - to which I just learned is retired! Eeek! 

and then did some Copic coloring over the DP too :) I really wanted to make sure she looked like a bumble-y bee! 

Here's the sketch and Die-namics that I used: 

My next card is for this month's MFT Guest Designer Contest... 

the theme was to do some Paper Piecing!!! My favorite!!! 

I just had to use this sweet Pure Innocence little girl, 

"Being Cute Is What I Do" 

She makes the perfect Valentine, especially with those little pigtails :) 

I used my most fave 6x6 pad right now, My Mind's Eye Love Me and 

a few of MFT's Die-namics, Flower/Leaf Trio and Open Scallop Edge.
And of course I went a bit crazy with my Paper Pen again ;)
Love this stuff for pearls!!!
and don't look to closely! because if you do, you can see that in the left hand corner I smudged a bit because I always forget that this is wet stuff that needs to dry before taking pics, lol! 

I had so much fun trying to stay warm while creating these lovelies!
I hope you like them too!!!

Good luck to all who are playing along :) 

and thanks for stopping by today!!! 

xoxo 

My Fave Cards from 2011 :)

Happy New Years EVE everyone!!!
I noticed that some bloggy friends where doing a Top-somethnig for 2011 and 

I couldn't resist joining in with my version too :) 

I have been so very blessed this year with so many wonderful opportunities, DTs , accomplishments and dreams come true this past year! I've been a very lucky girl and couldn't be happier! 

A huge thank you to all of you for your support! 

Now I get to 'toot my own horn' a bit {hee, hee!} with my own faves of 2011 :)  

January 

February 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 

I hope that you liked them as much as I enjoyed creating them :) 

Wishing you all a wonderful and safe night!!!
See you next year ;)

xoxo 

"You've Got Mail"

Happy M-day everyone!!! How was your Christmas??? 

Ours was beautiful! I just love seeing my sweet boys faces light up with all the Christmas magic! It's so wonderful to be able to experience everything through their eyes :)  

I know that the majority of us are on our full-time Holiday mode :) 

I really thought that I would have a moment to create a card for today's 

Monday Fun-day challenge at The Greeting Farm blog today :( 

So sorry! I have been too busy playing with my boys and their new Christmas toys ;) hee, hee!!! So please be sure to stop over and see the fun "Song Inspired" challenge is all about, thanks!!! 

I do have a quick little happy card that I created last Thursday to share with you today!!! 

I dusted off another one of my MFT Pure Innocence stamps called Happy Mail... 

She has to be one of the cutest ones ever!!! 

The last time I went food shopping, I saw a little girl in a shopping card and she looked and reminded me so much of a Pure Innocence girlie! She had this beautiful straight hair cut right up to her chin just like this, and it was a bit static-y too, lol! I just had to give my PI girl some wisps of static hair too :) 

AND, did you see my pearls!? 

I used my new Viva Decor Opal Paper Pen from Taylored Expressions - and I am truly in shock with the awesome results!!! Look at all those little pearls!!! Yes, I did go a bit over-board with it, lol! but I just love the way this stuff pearled up and added so much sweetness to my card :)  I must get more colors!!! 

ALSO, I neeeed to try to get myself another one of these My Mind's Eye Love Me 6x6 pad! I'm just about almost done with mine! and it usually takes me about a year to use up my 6x6 pads!!! 

Thanks for letting me share today :) 

Have a wonderful M-day!!! 

xoxo 

A pair of Thank You cards...

Hello again!!! I hope you're enjoying your Monday :)
I just wanted to stop in real quick to share a couple of Thank You cards I created this weekend - and then I'm off to both of my boys Parent/Teacher Conferences! I looove hearing what the teachers have to say about them, and I will also be receiving their first report cards for this year :)  Will probably have to stop somewhere and get them a treat on the way home, I have a feeling that they're both doing exceptionally well ;) hee hee!!!

Back to my cards ;)
I had a bit of time this weekend and wanted to stock up on some Thank You cards...
It's been a looong time since I've used some of my older stamps, and I came across my very small box of Pure Innocence stamps from MFT - I just had to let them come out and play for a bit!

I then when in search of a few challenges to play along with :)
It's been a while since I've done that too!
I used the following challenges on my cards:
- MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge #147
- Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Tag You're It!
- That's Kraft Thursday Challenge #56
- Raise The Bar Challenge #85: Thank You/Grateful
- Card Makin Mamas Challenge #34: Sentiment
- Crafty Sprouts Challenge: Tag It

I had my pad of My Mind's Eye Darling Dear sitting in from of me, and decided to use up all the scraps that I had saved up in there :) This little girlie is called "Being Cute Is What I Do".
I just looove her pigtails - so girlie and sweet :)


For my next card, I used "Apple For You"...

This little PI cutie was one of the first Pure Innocence stamps I ever got - and she is still my all time favorite out of the whole collection :) 

I used up some more of my scraps! and had a bit of fun with the button, lol! 

This button has a large hole in the middle and just a lil piece of plastic in the back, I couldn't figure out what to do with it, and then 'duh!' it hit me - it's like one of those old fashion belt buckles where you just need to slip the ribbon through and there you go ;) hee hee! geesh! I must be getting old ;) 

OH! and I'm just realizing now that I paper pieced them both with the same DP! LOL! 

I hope you likey my cards!

Tonight is the "almost 8yo's" first night of basketball training! 

He's a bit on the fence on trying out a new sport! Cross your fingers that all goes well ;) 

Thanks for looking today!!! xoxoxo 

The Last Day of School!!!

School is officially over for us!!! Woo hoo!!! 

My lil guy is all done with Pre K and is FIVE today!!! 

My big boy is all done with 1st grade and is SO excited for the fall :) 

Of course, they're more excited for all the summertime fun first!

For their first week off at home, they have requested to do absolutely nothing but eat cookies, watch movies and play video games, LOL! 

Here are the cards that I created for their Teachers :) 

I used some more of the Provocraft DP and I still have a lil more than a 6x6 square left!!! LOL! 

Here's my first card using Riley and Company's "School Boy Riley"... 

For my next card, I used The Greeting Farm's "Teacher Anya"... 

... and for this one, I used MFT's a la modes "You Rule"... 

AND, I just had to use "Teacher Anya" again ;) 

I hope they liked them! :) 

Enjoy your weekend!!! 

Shabby Chic...

Take a look! Is this "Shabby Chic"???

After much research and a ton of time thinking of what to use, lol,

I'm pretty pleased with my Shabby Chic card ;)
Actually, I LOVE it :) hee hee! but I don't like to toot too much...

You're going to notice a lot of "NOT ME" stuffs on this card too, LMBO!!!

PURPLE?! Yup, I went there... flowers too!!! eek!!!
Very girly girly :) :) :)

I'm entering my card into MFT's "Shabby Chic" Challenge this month!

Who can resist the grand prize of being a part of their team for a month!

Whoot!!!
and have you seen their sneak peeks?!?!
OMyGoodness!!! I'm going to have to rent out the dog or something!
I want EVERYTHING!!! ha!!!

I inked up and paper pieced my sweet Pure Innocence Stamp

called "Being Cute Is What I Do!"

and used some more of my "Mitten Weather" Cosmo Cricket DP...

I also used 2 of my Die-namics, Scalloped-Scallop and Button Quartet...

DO YOU SEE SOMETHING NEW THAT I USED?!

(well, on the outside of my card, that is, hee hee!)

I SEWED ON MY CARD!!!

and it was SO easy! I don't know why I've been so afraid to try it out, LOL!

I can't wait to try other stitches!

and I'm thinking that I may need some more noticable/thicker thread,

this one seems to thin (???) Will have to look into this ;)

Wish me luck :)
and

Thanks so much for stopping by today :)

Happy Monday!!!

Card Details:

Stamp(s): MFT Pure Innocence "Being Cute Is What I Do!" Clear Stamp

Paper(s): Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather DP, Papertrey Ink CS

Ink(s): Memento Tuxedo Black, SU Chocolate Chip for Distressing, Copic Markers

Accessories: MFT Die-namics Scalloped-Scallop and Button Quartet Dies,

White Paper Doilie, White Lace, Brown Ribbon, The Twinery Baker's Twine

K&Company Flower Gem, Prima Flowers and Pearls, Martha Stewart Small White Doilie

Buzz Buzz, Honey Bee

Oh dear Monday, please be kind to us today :)

Most of you know that I have a love/hate relationship with Sketches of any kind, lol!
I have a hard time following sketches to exactly what they look like, but I DO find a whole lotta inspiration from them!

I finally got to ink up my lil "Honey Bee" from MFT's Pure Innocence

and I was very inspired by their sketch this week :)

Now y'all must know what papers these are! hee hee

I have been milking my Nikki Sivils Willowbee 6x6 pad for SO long!

and I still have a tiny bit more :)  I loooove it! I think I'm going to cry when it's all done :(

I'm in search for more of it! or any other kind of "bumble bee themed" DP!!!

Please let me know if you know of any, thanks ;)

I even had a bit of fun on the inside of the card too!

The giant bumble bee stamps are from the Willowbee stamp set :)

The sentiment is part of the MFT stamp set... Making Memories Black Lace

and The Robin's Nest Dew Drops (remember when these were popular? LOL!)

Thanks for stopping by today!!!

My poor lil 4yo has been sick all weekend long with some sort of virus,

he's doing better now, but we will be doing some extra snuggling today just to be sure ;)

Later gators!

Oh, Alice! Chapter 45: Remembering Holiday Dreams

Oh, Alice Chapter 45: Remembering Holiday Dreams...

"Oh, I've had such a curious dream!' said Alice, and she told her sister, as well as she could remember them, all these strange Adventures of hers that you have just been reading about; and when she had finished, her sister kissed her, and said, `It WAS a curious dream, dear, certainly: but now run in to your tea; it's getting late.' So Alice got up and ran off, thinking while she ran, as well she might, what a wonderful dream it had been."

-- Chapter 12, Alice in Wonderland

I hope you have some wonderful holiday dreams to remember! We are still locked in winter in the northern hemisphere, and that makes me think of an icy blue color scheme. It is also time to start scrappng those Christmas and New Year memories!

Our generous sponsor, Nikki Sivils, is offering a huge prize to help you capture those memories! One randomly drawn winner will receive a 6x6 inch pad, 12x12 inch designer paper, and burlap covered buttons from the Happy Holly-Days Collection!

So the challenge this week, should you choose to accept it, is to share something that helps you capture your holiday memories, like a layout, mini-album or picture holder of some kind, OR to use an icy blue and white color scheme!

The design team this week will be showing off some fabulous paper from our generous sponsor, Nikki Sivils. They will be using the wonderful "Something for Everyone" collection in beautiful Alice blue or the Happy Holly-Days collection.

I have 2 cards today using Nikki Sivils' "Something for Everyone" Collection :)

For my first card,

I just had to use my newest stamp from My Favorite Things called "Splish, Splash"...

isn't he the cutest lil guy?! I stamped the sentiment on NS' Cardstock Sticker... and I also used MFTs Die-namics Notebook Edge...

... and on the inside,

I used the Open-Scallop Border Die-namic with another sentiment from the set :)

For my next card, I used the same Nikki Sivils DP and this time I used one of their matching courdory brads! It has been so long since I've used any type of brads - and these are awesome! I'm going to need to get me a bunch more ;)

For this card,

I used another My Favorite Things stamp set, "Apple for You" and their Scallop-Scalloped Die-namic :)
Doesn't lil Miss Apple look like a 3yo version of Alice? hee hee
I'm also entering this card to the That's Kraft Thursday Challenge #45!

Thanks everyone for stopping by today :)

You have until Friday, January 14th, 8 p.m. CST to submit your creations using the link on the Oh, Alice Challenge blog. Remember you can either share a holiday memory or use an icy blue color scheme, so show us your stuff and one luck winner will walk away with the prize pack from Nikki Sivils!

And don't forget to stop by and visit the rest of the DT and see their wonderful creations :)

Have a fab weekend!!!

Oh, Alice! Chapter 41: Off With Their Heads!!!

I'm sorry I'm late with my post for today!!!
Please don't "off" my head for it ;)

Here is today's Oh, Alice! Chapter 41 Challenge...

"Let's go on with the game,' the Queen said to Alice;
and Alice was too much frightened to say a word, but slowly followed her back to the croquet-ground.
The other guests had taken advantage of the Queen's absence, and were resting in the shade: however, the moment they saw her, they hurried back to the game, the Queen merely remarking that a moment's delay would cost them their lives.
All the time they were playing the Queen never left off quarrelling with the other players, and shouting `Off with his head!' or `Off with her head!' Those whom she sentenced were taken into custody by the soldiers, who of course had to leave off being arches to do this, so that by the end of half an hour or so there were no arches left, and all the players, except the King, the Queen, and Alice, were in custody and under sentence of execution."

Welcome back to the land of wonder and where the saying, 'Off with her head' is a regular statement!

Well here on Oh, Alice! this week, that is exactly what we want you to do.

This week we want you to take your stamps and yep you guessed it,

'Off with their heads'

So we are asking you to alter your stamps and mix it up a little by giving them a new head or body.

Ohhh this is going to be sooo much fun seeing what you come up with!!!

Up for grabs this week is a Scor Buddy from the lovely people at scrappingreatdeals.com.

So off with their heads for your chance to win this awesome prize.

You have until the 3rd of December to play along with us.

Here's my card...

Woo hoo! I just noticed that this is my 800th post! Wow! Took a lil over 4years to get to this one, LOL!

This was a really good challenge for me ;)  I have never attempted to alter a stamp/image before (always too scared to try, lol!) and I just knew that I had to give in and try it out! Took me a looong time, but I think I succeeded... even though I had to cheat a little and use some of my clear stamps for this, hee hee!

First I stamped MFT's Pure Innocence "Happy Mail" Stamp and then I used another Pure Innocence Stamp called "Being Cute is What I Do" - I decided to add a lil blue to her outfit and color her hair blonde for a bit of an Alice-look to her and added some paper piecing using my new October Afternoon "Modern Homemaker" papers from my yummy TE Key Ingredients Kit and put my card together using the latest SFYTT Sketch Challenge :) Thank goodness for awesome sketches, right?!

After I had finished my card, I realized that maybe I should have wiped off the letters that she's holding behind her back too, lol, oh well! Maybe she's mailing her letter to Santa then since my card does have a Christmas-y feel to it ;) 

Please be sure to visit the rest of the DT to see their amazing and inspiring creations too!
Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Saturday :)

Card Details:

Stamp(s): My Favorite Things - Pure Innocence "Happy Mail" and "Being Cute is What I Do" Clear Stamps

Paper(s): October Afternoon "Modern Homemaker" DP, Cardstock from November TE Key Ingredients Kit

Ink(s): Memento Tuxedo Black

Copic Markers: E00, E21, R20, Y15, Y17, G14, B00, R35, C1, 0

Accessories: My Favorite Things Scalloped Scallops Die-namics, October Afternoon Letter Stickers, "Swiss Dots" Embossing Folder, Spellbinders Small Circles Nesties, CM Corner Rounder Punch, Ribbon, Button, Baker's Twine, Red Gems

You Make My World Happy!

TGIF!!! We have just a lil over a week before school starts and we're on the hunt for school supplies, clothes, sneakers, etc! We ordered Nick some cool new Spong Bob glasses yesterday - they're really cute and no, they're not yellow! lol! Both kiddos have their backpacks ready with half their supplies! Matt only goes 1/2 day so he won't need a lunch bag, but we're on the hunt for a Wii Mario themed lunch bag to match Nick's backpack today! Geesh! The things we'll do to make our kids happy to go to school ;)

Ok, well, I have a lil confession... I'm in loooove with these Pure Innocence images/stamps!!! or did you guess that already ;)

A long while ago, I found Heather Ellis' Etsy full of these adorable digitals! and then her images popped up as clear stamps over at My Favorite Things! Still squee-ing about it! I want them ALL! but I must pace myself and be a good girl ;)

Here's a new stamp that I won {yippee!} during one of MFT's release fab parties :) "Being Cute Is What I Do" - ain't that the truth!!! She is so cuuuuute!!!

These lil pigtails kill me! :)

I used some more of my Echo Park DP form my TE August Key Ingredients Kit... my MFT Scalloped-Scallops Die-namics and I paper pieced her pants! Yes, piecing is now becoming a habit for me!

Did I mention those pigtails!? ;)

I'm entering my card into the following challenges:

- My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club Challenge: Floral Fantasy

- Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Paper Piecing

- Kaboodle Doodles Challenge #38: 2 Patterns, 2 Plain, Flowers or Lace

I hope you likey this one too!

Thanks for all your comments and visits everyone :*) 

Enjoy your Friday!  

OH! and don't forget to enter my and my little sister, Sara's blog candies ;)

hugs!!!