Hot Cocoa for Christmas

For my sister Susie and her hubby Rick for Christmas.... who doesn't need more chocolate! Adapted from a Starbucks frappuccino 4 pack, designer paper, ribbon, punches, and my beloved "Karen Foster Snap stamps" for the lettering. The jars contain: Hot cocoa powder, mini marshmallows, red hots (cinnamon), and Christmas colored M & M's.

A couple of cards that have been hiding in my camera

What happens when it's too hot to go into your stamp room and then you also can't find the cord that you use to upload pictures from your camera to your blog? It means you don't post anything for a very long time. I finally found my camera cord yesterday, (darn those kids!) so here are a few cards from the past few months.

This card is for my new friend Lilly, who just turned 4. Her dad is my "boss" and one of our new pastors at church, and Lilly's mom is a new friend that I really love hanging out with! Lilly is fun and smart and adorable, has blond hair and loves looking cute, so I made this card with my brand new "Cricuit" machine for her for her birthday. :)

This card was made for Karra and Craig for their engagement. I've known Karra for 10 years, and have watched her grow up from high schooler, to college student to young adult, from being my kids first babysitter here in California, to one of my day camp counselors, then one of my day camp directors, to now having her own classroom as a teacher.... and now I get to help celebrate her marriage to a great guy named Craig! This card is made on Basic Gray cardstock, with printed vellum on top of it. The black strip is punched with the Martha Stewart eyelet punch, then I added some rhinestones,buttons, and a few different kinds of ribbon. Congratulations you two! I am so happy for you!

And finally, this card is for my friend Chuck that lives in Atlanta. He and his wife (Pam my very best friend!) share the same birthday!!! I didn't have a guy card that looked like Chuck's personality, so I thought this goofy pair of monkeys said it all. The DP is called "East Coast Prep" from Stampin up! and the cardstock is More Mustard, Riding Hood Red, and Tempting Turquoise. The sentiment is a separate stamp, but made to coordinate. Cool huh! I think I'll get lots of use out of these 2 stamps. (From Stampendous!)

Happy STamping... hope you don't lose your camera card anytime soon. It's not a good thing!

TECC70

A fun layout for Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #70! Uses one of my standby favorite sets: All About U and one of the newer sets from saleabration. Colors are Bashful Blue and Celery. Twine is from PaperTreyInk.

Parisian Quilt Card

First of all, let me share something with you that was NOT made by me... a beautiful gorgeous, quilt given to me by a wonderful family at my church.

This was a thank you gift for working these past few years with their son in my children's choir program, our Wed. night club program, etc. They wanted to express their appreciation for my time and love. Wow! I was/am overwhelmed! I have made one quilt in my life, when I was in my 20's, and it didn't turn out too well. I was proud of it, but it was far from perfection. So I know how much time and energy this took. When I make cards for people, or small handmade paper-crafting gifts like photo frames, candy tins, etc, they might take 1-2 hours per item... 3 at the most, but a QUILT? Seriously? I can't even imagine how much time this took. Here's another view... every square is DIFFERENT! How amazing is that?

So now, here's my card, made with the Quilter's Sampler set from PaperTreyInk , which has been on my wish list for a very long time. I kept wavering back and forth, waiting for the wallet to cooperate. Well, obviously, when I received this quilt, I knew I had to have this set to make a thank you card, right? I know quite a few quilters, so I know I will get a lot of use out of this set. I also got the additional phrases, called "Quilters Sampler Sentiments," and boy, oh boy, are there a ton of sentiments in these 2 sets.

The base of the card is Kraft cardstock from Stampin Up, then a layer of Parisian Breeze designer paper. The quilt images are stamped on Vanilla paper, and then layered onto Baja Breeze, and colored with a combination of Copic makers and SU markers. Some piercing, some faux stitching, and a button (tied with PaperTreyInk's new rustic twine!) completes the project. I'm anxious to get this into the mail to this sweet family... and even though my card didn't take as many hours to make as their wonderful gift to me, it is still filled with love and appreciation!

A couple of challenge cards

Emily was away this weekend on a Carnival Cruise with her choir group (Madrigals) to Catalina (supposedly to Mexico, but that didn't happen!) so I had a very quiet house... TOO QUIET actually... but at least I was able to squeeze in a little stamping time. Here are two challenge cards: The Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge card and the "Sketch for You To Try" card.

Here is TECC69:

The base of the card is "Lovely Lilac" followed by a layer of Green Galore, and then the FUN paper from DCWV called "Nana's Kids." It's already covered with sparkle and texture, so it really packs a punch! This is for a couple at church who is expecting their first baby, and they don't know the sex of the baby yet, so I was going for "gender neutral." The buggy is colored with an SU marker, then highlighted with a glaze pen, some Tiny Twinkles from the Taylored Expressions store, & some blue star buttons. The green dotted ribbon adds some finishing fun!

The next card is for "A Sketch for You To Try" from iheart2stamp.com. This is the first time I've posted to this sketch, so I'm so happy that I had some extra time this weekend to play along. The "trick" was to do something unique with the right hand edge of the card, so I decided to use pearls along that edge and make this into a wedding card. I also used by brand new background stamp from StampinUp! called "Bella Toile." The BG is stamped once on white paper and once on Pink Pirouette paper, and then the layers are "matched up" and adhered on top of each other. The cake stamp is from "Fun and Fast Notes." (SU!) one of my favorite sets. There are also mini pearls on the scalloped oval punch (marvy), some glitter pen and stickles on the cake image, and a stick on flower (I think I got it at Big Lots.)

Hope you all had a fantastic Memorial Day Weekend! (even if it didn't include a Carnival Cruise!)

Dearest Friend

Here's a simple card using the new SU set "Forest Friends" from the Spring Mini. The deer is stamped with Sahara Sand, (I think the first time I've used this stamp pad) and one of the individual stamps from the back of the caty! It says, "So Glad You Are One of My Dearest Friends." A special family just recently got laid off (the dad) and I am really hurting for them, so this is just to give them a little extra encouragement. Thanks for stopping by!

Chocolate Sky!!!

Wouldn't that be awesome? (Remember the song, "If all the snowflakes were Hershey Bars and Milkshakes?") This is for Taylor's Cupcake Challenge, TECC68. Here's the original post so you can see the sketch first hand. It's a great sketch, and fun to work with. I love this beautiful loopy flower stamp from Stampendous, and thought it would be perfect for the circle image in the sketch. The paper used is Chocolate Chip, Vanilla, Soft Sky, and Baja Breeze. The chocolate layer is clear embossed using chocolate chip craft ink (SU!) and the Filigree Background Stamp (retired SU). Several layers are pierced and the scalloped Baja Breeze layer is made with a corner rounder.

Make it a Grande

As soon as I saw this new set "A Little Caffeine Set" from Just Rite Stampers I had to have it! I usually wait a long time and think about my stamp purchases for a while before jumping in, but not this one! I ran right over to Taylored Expressions and got me some adorable coffee stamps! I put some ink on it right away, even though I didn't have the right size of wooden mount. So what did I make? A gift card holder for a Starbucks card, of course!

I used Chocolate Chip and Groovy Guava paper, along with Vanilla from SU! The Designer Paper is called "Paisley & Petals" from SEI. A super simple layout, with just a few simple additions: ribbon, scalloped punch, corner elements, and scalloped scissors (for the circle around the main image on front of card. ) I'm really looking forward to getting ink on the rest of the images in this set!

Prom Night

My daughter Emily is off to the prom tonight at the Disneyland Hotel with a friend from her Madrigal singing group, Scott. A huge group of her friends met at one of the girls' house to catch the limo/bus thing. Biggest thing I've ever seen! Emily found her dress on clearance at Windsor, and I was very proud of her for being such a good shopper. My mom took it in (because it was way too big) and I added the sequin trim. But by the time you add Limo, dinner, prom tickets, flowers, shoes, nails, hair, spray tan, jewelry, and photo's (and whatever else I'm forgetting), and oh yeah, did I mention HAIR??? it's still a very expensive evening and more than most of us spend on a family vacation or a month's worth of groceries! It's crazy! But they sure looked beautiful and I'm sure they are having a blast.

Fabulous Riding Rood Friend! TECC65

Another Cupcake Challenge from Taylored Expessions (TECC65) using Riding Hood Red, and Pink Pirouette. What are we gonna do when those colors retire in a few short months? I love them paired with the Bella Rose paper. This card also used the "Friendly Words" jumbo wheel, and the new set "Oval All" and scalloped oval punch. There is a double layer of the scallop border, the one underneath is "Riding Hood Red" and the one on top with the "Friendly Words" wheel using R.H.R. ink. The final touches: Pink Pirouette ribbon, and some paper piercing in the corners. Thanks for another fabulous sketch Taylor! This week was so full of birthday celebrations, preparation for our children's choir musical at church (which happens next Sunday, May 3, which I direct), and a potluck dinner for single moms, that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to squeeze in some stamping time or not..... Yeah for stamping! A weekend without stamping is never a good weekend! I just wish the weekend could be longer, don't you???

Happy Birthday Sweet Emily

Yesterday was my daughter Emily's 17th Birthday! For those of you who know Emily, you know what a delight she is. She is beautiful both inside and out, she is helpful, kind, passionate about life, music, theater, dance, math :) Spanish, coffee, Chipotle, Jesus, her friends, her friends, and her friends! I had a blast planning some special surprises for her birthday, and loved making her this card. She LOVES the beach, just learned to surf over spring break, has a teal and beach "theme" in her bedroom, so I loved how all this came together. (Starting with the scrapbook sticker from Tall Mouse.) The base of the card is a full sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 "Lovely Lilac", then layered with Tempting Turquoise, and Whisper White. The blue hawaiin paper is called "Aloha Chic" from Star Fish & Dreams. The Happy Birthday sticker is from "Me & My Big Ideas" and it is layered on top of an oval cut from Yo Yo Yellow, and then layered on Lovely Lilac. This is the first time I've tried putting gems all around an oval scallop like this, but I've seen Taylor and Jami do it all the time, so I had to try it.

Not fun! I tried both self stick jewels and tiny taylor twinkles, but not having really good tweezers made it quite a challenge! Three flowers were stamped with the flower from "Do The Hula" (retired SU!) using Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise, and Cool Caribbean Ink, cut out and mounted with dimentionals, and highlighted with a stardust pen. Some bright turquoise ribbon adds the finishing touch!

Here are a few more birthday pictures... I surprised her at school at lunch time with pizza for her and her friends and some giant balloons. She was pretty surprised at the balloons, and because she got to carry them around with her the rest of the afternoon at school, she said everyone wished her a happy birthday for the rest of the day, even people she didn't know! Bonus happiness!

This picture needs a tiny bit of explanation. No, she doesn't still play with dolls, but next week, she is starring as "Sharpay" in High School Musical at her school, Lakewood High School. (May 1,2,7,9 if you're interested!) So my little neice Grace, who is 4 years old, thought Emily should have a SHARPAY DOLL, complete with a singing microphone. Of course, I agree! That's my mom next to Emily last night at PF Changs, where we had a very yummy dinner before rushing over to Disneyland for a quick visit. It was a full, and very fun day. Happy Birthday Sweet Em! You are an amazing young lady, and I couldn't be more proud to be your mom!

Two "Challenging Cards"

Since Emily was on Spring Break this past week, I took a few days off myself, and in between driving her to her friends' houses, or shopping for "Sharpay" outfits for her upcoming show "High School Musical," and some major house cleaning (I guess you'd call it reorganizing) I was actually able to do some "Splitcoast Challenges!" I haven't been able to do those in a long time!

The first one was the color challenge.... CC214.... Bordering Blue, So Saffron, and Pink Piriouette). When I laid all 3 colors out on my desk, they made me think "Baby Card."

The background of the card is stamped with the dots and daisy background stamp, using pink pirouette ink. The scallop is made with the fiskars "Threading Water" border punch, and the saffron layer is scalloped on the edge with scalloped scissors, and then "poked" with a paper piercer. The giraffe is stamped double and popped up with tiny pieces of foam tape, and tied around "her" neck with pink gingham. Three little buttons from my huge collection of buttons and some saffron grossgrain ribbon add the finishing touches.

Deets: Cardstock (all SU!) Pink Pirouette, So Saffron, Bordering Blue, Whisper White, Threading Water Punch and scalloped scissors (Fiskars), Buttons, floss (DMC) Saffron Grossgrain Ribbon (SU!) Paper Piercer, Dimentionals, Pink Gingham Ribbon.

The next challenge was the "Sketch Challenge" (SC224)

This was a little difficult because I couldn't find a large/ tall image that would fit the layout exactly, so I turned it on its side. The 2 stripes in the layout are "mimicked" with the saffron layer covered with the black ribbon layer. Black and Saffron are great together, don't you agree? The bird is a RUB-ON! Cool, huh! It's a little hard to photograph though.
The deets: Black and Saffron Cardstock (SU), Saffron Designer Paper, BasicGrey Periphery Rub-ons, Ticket Corner punch, black micron pen, dimentionals, silver heart charm, black organdy ribbon, saffron colored yarn.

When did these kids become grownups?

Here is the picture I took of Stephen and Emily
right before we left for church last Sunday (Easter/ April 12). What is amazing is that less than a year ago, Emily was about 6 inches taller than Stephen. For those of you who have known Stephen his whole life, or at least most of it, can attest to the fact that he has drastically changed in appearance! Stephen had to leave to go back to Indiana right after church on Sunday, so we didn't have a very traditional day (didn't do a lunch or anything... in fact, Stephen and I ate California Pizza Kitchen at the airport and Emily at Pick Up Stix with her girlfriend Sharday!)

Church was amazing and glorious, our choir and orchestra was phenominal, Brent presented the gospel so powerfully, and it was so great to be in church with my kids and my mom. I hated to see Stephen leave again, but summer will be here before we know it and he'll be back again! :)

A Word From Romans 12

This is my card for this week's Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge. This is a great layout for so many images. I had this sheet of flowers already water colored with the set "In Full Bloom" (on Very Vanilla paper... which turns out YUMMY!) The colors used are Saffron, Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, and Vanilla cardstock (SU!) and Regal Rose DP. The flowers and bees are outlined in glaze pen, the edges of the Bible Verse are distressed with the edge of my scissors, and then a piece of Saffron ribbon is attached with a silver swirl clip. This is such a simple, yet profound verse of Scripture. I've had my share of hardships and afflictions in life, but nothing compared to many other friends I know. And obviously nothing compared to the people Paul was writing this letter to when he penned these words through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But this verse gives such basic instructions... by JOYFUL in hope, PATIENT in affliction, and FAITHFUL in prayer. If we did those 3 simple things each day, I think our lives would be transormed! :)

Happy Easter!

I needed to make a few Easter Card yesterday, so I was happy to see Taylor's quick, easy, and simple layout featured this week on Taylored Expressions. This is Cupcake Challenge #63. Where has the time gone??? The image is from a RAK I received from Joy and Daisy at eclecticPaperie. I think it's from Stampendous. Isn't that the sweetest little bunny? The DP (from DCWV) provided the inspiration for all the colors I used: Certain Celery, Bashful Blue, Regal Rose, and Lovely Lilac. The blue twill is from Taylor's store, and the coloring is done mostly with markers, and a little bit of aquapainters. The buttons are from my big stash of buttons. I also added a little bit of Sakura Glaze pen to the flowers and Stardust pen to the border around the image.

We're on our way to our Youth Pastor's wedding this afternoon which is being held at the Japanese Gardens at Long Beach State. I'll be back later to share the wedding card I made for he and his bride. In the meantime, have a wonderful Easter weekend! He Is Risen! He Is Risen Indeed!!!!!

Pomegranate Wish

This is probably the quickest easiest card I've ever made... or at least in a very long time. It helps when you are provide with the sketch, (Thanks to Taylor and her weekly Cupcake Sketch Challenge!) and helps even more when you are using a little bit (or a lot) of designer paper. I've had this beautiful "Making Memories" paper, called "Maddi Paisley" for a very long time because I'm always drawn to peaches and corals... I loved the fact that it looked so great with Purly Pomegranate (an 08 in-color from SU!), plus it looked like it was MADE to go with Groovy Guava. The "Whimsey" wheel is wheeled with Groovy Guava ink onto the G.G. layer, and then the designer paper is mounted onto P.P. squares. Isn't that yummy?

The butterfly from "Garden Whimsey" is stamped twice, cut out once with a coluzzle, and then just the butterfly is cut out with scissors and mounted on top of the first butterfly with the wings bent up just a tiny little bit. I also tried something new for the scallops around the butterfly circle. I refuse to buy "nestabilities" and other big "wish list" items until I'm out of debt for a large expense I had to make last year, so I keep playing around with things I already have to get the same look. This is the corner rounder punch used to go all the way around the pomegranate layer to get the scalloped look. A little time consuming, and not "perfect" but hey, it's a handmade one of a kind piece of art, right???

Final details: Star Dust Stickles, white brads, "Small Script" stamp in the corner, paper pierceing "swirly thing" in the upper right hand corner (I drew it on a piece of paper and then pierced on top of that as my pattern onto the Groovy Guava layer), and glaze pen on the butterfly antaenna.

Here's one more card that doesn't need much explanation... just that is uses DCWV "Nana's Kids" Paper that I am in love with!

Lovin Me Some Baja Breeze

Baja Breeze (from SU!) is such a peaceful, warm, relaxing color... and since I can't go to Baja in person, I'll just have to stick to using it on my cards! Cardstock is Baja Breeze and Basic Gray. This flower stamp is from Stampendous; and it is water colored with an aquapainter using Baja Breeze stamp pad. The circles are cut with a coluzzle, and the scalloped edge around the flower image and the oval image at the bottom are cut by hand with scalloped fiskars scissons. The thank you image (rub on) and the designer paper are both from the SU "Hand Drawn Bundle." And for the finishing touches: 2 prima flowers, a rhinestone brad, some basic gray ribbon (from Fabric Barn) some paper piercing around the edge of the cirlce image, and some Taylor's Tiny Twinkles in the middle of the flower. (Click here for a link to Taylor's Store.) Thanks for stopping by today for a look. My son just arrived this morning for his Spring Break visit, so I'm looking forward to hanging out with him this week (not to mention a few days off work!) I'm sure I'll get some stamping in somehow! Have a great weekend!

Boatloads of Love

I've been having a lot of fun with "Boatloads of Love" the past few days. I started out with the smaller (one boat) image and then when I went to put it on the card, I wanted to use the sentiment "I'm pulling for you." to send to my friend Mike who just lost his job after 10+ years at Disneyland, and I realized that that sentiment didn't make much sense with just the one boat, so I started over with the 2 boats hooked together. That obviously led to a much bigger card/ layout so that card grew to a full size 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 size card (1 piece of cardstock folded in half.

The one image card turned into Taylor's Cupcake Sketch: TECC61, (www.tayloredexpressions.blogspot.com) using Real Red and Bordering Blue and Bordering Blue designer paper from the Saleabration Set. The main image is stamped with black craft ink and embossed with black embossing powder (both cards) which made coloring so much easier and makes it really POP when you see it. This card is also part of the Stamp Simply #80 challenge "Let's Forget the Rules" http://notimetostamp.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/ Take a close look and you'll notice: white gel pen dots around the red cardstock, white gel pen doodles on the scalloped circle punch, black faux stitching on the main image, crystal effects on the water and the life preservers, silver pen on the anchor, and a stipe of white ribbon to add to the "nautical" look. I love that bordering blue color. I don't use it nearly enough and I love the way it looks with red and white!

The larger card uses Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, and More Mustard Cardstock, East Coast Prep designer paper. The "I'm pulling for you" sentiment is punched out with the circle punch, and mounted on the round tab punch on the side of the stamped image. There is also paper piercing around the turquoise layer, silver brads in the corners, and some red and turquoise ribbon. The main image has crystal effects on the water and life savers on the side of the boat, some silver pen on the anchor, paper piecing on the heart inside the 2nd boat and the puffs of smoke coming out of the smokestack are double stamped and mounted on tiny little pieces of dimentionals. I don't think I've ever worked so long on 2 cards as I did these, but I had so much FUN!

Cards for Kristin

A few weeks ago, our very sweet, wonderful, talented pastor's wife, and friend, Kristin, took some amazing photos of my daughter Emily for her headshots she needed for an audition. Here is a link to Kristin's blog and the post with Emily's pictures. (Look for the Feb. 22 and the Feb. 24 posts... several amazing pictures of Emily in both posts) http://kristineldridge.com/blog/?p=1043

I've been wanting to do something extra special for Kristin, so I decided to make her a set of notecards that she can hopefully use when corresponding with her clients. There are 6 cards and even though they all use Wild Wasabi and Not Quite Navy Cardstock, along with Porcelain Prints Designer Series Paper, they are each individually unique. Each card also uses the monogram from "Just Right Stampers."

Now I just need to go out and find some ivory colored envelopes before packaging up the whole set so I can give them to her on Sunday. I'll be back tomorrow to share some fun cards I made with "Boatloads of Love." I've had a bad sore throat for a few days, and have missed a lot of work, but I sure have enjoyed my stamping time!

Here's What Happens

.... when you combine a sore throat, a few sick days home from work, and a big box of brand new supplies from Stamp Club (I'm in Jami's once a month Stamp Club and it was my turn to earn the hostess rewards... can you say SCORE!?!?) All that equals a bunch of new cards!

Here's what I've been working on..

Card #1: from the Level 3 Hostess set called "Hand Drawn Bundle" which comes with adorable paper, 4 stamps, and 2 huge sheets of rub-ons. I love it! Super easy to create! I think this would be something good to pack when you're going on a trip and want to take some stamping fun with you, since the paper and stamps and rubons already match. Just throw in a few stamp pads and some Riding Hood Red and Baja Breeze and White cardstock, and you've got yourself a party!.

Card #2 also uses Riding Hood Red cardstock and the Designer Paper: "Bella Rose." Another new toy I got in my order was the Jumbo Wheel called "Friendly Words." Isn't it cool? The little Thank You stamp is a single stamp from page 208 of the caty, which you can actually get for FREE right now if you spend $40 from the new occassions mini. I used my Marvy Square Scalloped punch, and since I didn't have multiple sizes of this punch, I just layered the Kiwi square's underneath the Riding Hood Red Square.

Card #3 uses a set I've been craving for a long time: Garden Whimsey. The card is CASED from a card we did at Jami's Club last year and I've been hanging on to it ever since. Here's Jami's original: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/648273?cat=500&ppuser=5896&perpage=96

Mine uses Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, and Wild Wasabi paper as well as some More Mustard Ink, and East Coast Prep Paper (retired) and Wild Wasabi striped ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by.... time to go back and dig a little deeper in that magical box. Stop back tomorrow for a look at a beautiful set of cards I made for a wonderful friend. Have a great day!

Elegant Wedding Shower

My friends at work and I are giving a bridal shower next week for our Youth Pastor's Bride-to-be, Lauren. We're going with a red rose theme... elegant and classic. Here are the invitations and the wedding dress favors.

The invitations are made with SU Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White, and vellum, as well as the rose paper from "The Paper Factory." The scalloped trim is made from a pearlized shimmery paper from Michaels, punched with the Martha Stewart lace punch. The beautiful red swirly ribbon is from the TayloredExpressions store! I love it... it adds just the elegance I was looking for. The Bible verse, I Corinthians 13 is from the SU set, "Elegant Inspirations." This is a pocket card and the actual invitation was printed on regular white cardstock, front and back, and then the corners were rounded with the corner rounder, with a black sheer ribbon on the top, attached through a round 1" circle folded over the top.

The wedding dress favors are also from Taylor's store... they come flat, and I found them quite easy to stamp on and fold up. I used some swirly stamps I believe I got at Michael's, with Real Red ink and more of the swirly red ribbon. Inside the dresses are a few pieces of Dove Chocolate. Then I folded in the side and attached them together with a dimentional. I'll be sure to post some photos in a few days of the shower, so you can see the whole thing all put together. My friend Michelle is doing the flower centerpieces, so it's going to be gorgeous!