What's this? A Mojo Monday card posted ON Monday!?!?

Don't fall over from the shock you are suffering...lol

I needed a card for something and while checking my blogs early this morning I saw that Julee had posted this weeks Mojo Monday :) AWESOME sketch! I'm sure this won't be my only card done using it.


Papers are Basic Grey Cardstock is Stampin' Up! (that's actually Very Vanilla, not Whisper White. I don't know if you can tell.) *Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Flowers are Bazzill and Prima *Stamps are Autumn Leaves and Stampin' Up! *Ribbon is Stampin' Up!
Small grommet is from my Big Bite *Rhinestones from Walmart
Dew Drops from The Robin's Nest Clear *Spica Glitter pen used to accent flower stems

If you look closely in the second picture you should be able to see a tiny little bit of sparkle. This is done with the Spica Glitter pen. I absolutely LOVE these pens! My second favorite purchase in the last few months. (My first is still the Verve Visual Anniversary Birds. I just pull them out and look at them and smile. Yup, I'm a dork!)

Shrinking Me

I started a new diet last Monday. :)

I didn't want to say anything incase I quit before I got into it....lol But I've done pretty well! As of yesterday morning I was already down 5 pounds!!

As a heart patient, my Grandpa once had to do the Cabbage Soup Diet. I remember him losing a lot of weight fast and started looking to the recipe for the diet.

They've changed the diet a little, so I thought I'd give it a try as a jump start. I'm happy to say that I've hardly had any trouble following it! :) The first night I felt hungry (I worked 7 days straight this last week, so I was doing this on my night shift schedule) but I got thru it. The second night was worse. I really wanted to quit! But I got distracted from the hunger pangs and made it thru to the next morning. Every day since, I've been doing fine. I haven't really had any cravings, and the only time I "cheated" was on the second morning when I added some Equal to my strawberries :)

My coworkers even ate Sweet Maui Onion chips(these things are soooo yummy!) and cookies infront of me last night and I didn't even wince or reach for either, even though they sat right next to me on my desk!

I've got two more days to go on this diet and then I plan on switching over to The South Beach Diet to continue. Compared to the Cabbage Soup, South Beach will be even tastier and I figure I'll be able to follow that one more religiously since their recipes are a step up from the restrictions of the Cabbage Soup Diet.

5 pounds down....wayyyyyyyy more than I care to admit, to go! ;)

A new ink to love

I posted this last week on a thread at the Shack, but thought I'd share it here also.

In my packge from Hanna Stamps from a couple of weeks ago, was this

Black Noir Palette ink pad. I've heard of it, but never seen it anywhere.

Then while checking out the Riley stamps and accesories, I saw that they sold it.

I have to say, it is AWESOME ink!

I'm totally sold and looking to see when I can get some other colors.

It has 100% coverage, even in solid parts of stamps, as you can see be the photo above.

Plus it's waterproof so watercoloring is easy and alcohol inks don't affect it.

My poor Stampin' Up pad will probably never see the light of day, or night, again!

Riley in Paradise

As I sit here at 4am, in flannel pajamas, wrapped in a blanket, snuggled into my flannel sheets, while it's 43* outside (expected high of 48* today...ewww), I'm envious of Mr. Riley about now. I'm not sure what beach he's enjoying himself on, but he looks to be pretty relaxed and enjoying himself. And I don't see a blanket (or clothes...he he) anywhere in sight, so it MUST be warm!

My time is coming though. Next month at this time, I'll be spending some days in near 80* weather and enjoying every moment without cold feet and hands!

Happy Birthday, Cupcake

Trying to use up some scraps on my desk. You may recognize the paper from my earlier post about the penguin ATCs.

Super simple, just grabbed some scraps and stitched them together. Then used the smaller pieces to cut out the cupcake (a Sizzix die) in my Cuttlebug. I then paper pieced that together and added some shine with a pink Spica glitter pen.

The birthday stamp is from a SU! set that I just bought from a fellow Shackie.

Wanna be a Verve Visual Guest Designer??

I DO!!!

So I visted the Verve Visual Blog and checked out this post to see how!

Ok, so to be honest, I really didn't want to tell you about it at all.

Cuz then MY odds are increased...lol

But the requirement is to upload a card somewhere and send a link to it. And I show

everything here first :)

All products are Stampin' Up! (including the large sentiment) except for the Verve Visual stamp (small sentiment and small star) and the dew drops.

A great sketch and some machine stitching made this come together really easily!

It was fun and I love how it turned out.

More vintage feel

Or should I say my attempt? lol
A card and a tag I did using the items my Secret Sister sent. The image on the card is the wood mounted stamp she sent :) The image on the tag is a stamp I had (see SS, I do have SOME stuff like that...he he) but everything but the ribbon and the rommet were sent to me.
You'll also see a pretty scallop punched border on the card. That's a new border punch by Fiskars. I was in search of the Threading Water punch (if you see one or have an extra, please contact me!!!) and could only get this one instead.

Spoiled again by my Secret Sister

Monday, the ONLY thing in my mailbox was this GIANT 6x9 envelope stuffed to the gills with lots of goodies from my Secret Sister. Lots of neat stuff in there including several unmounted stamps, one wood mounted stamp, card/envie sets, big paper scraps, some applique items, epoxy stickers, and some other small stuff.

She's been watching me that's for sure! And noticed that "cutesy" is my comfort zone. So everything she sent me was exactly the opposite! :o And my challenge was to do some things with a vintage feel to them. I have such a hard time with that style. I think it looks amazing, but I have a hard time achieving good results.

This first card is my favorite of the group I think. I dont think this is what she had in mind though, because it's still very linear. I tried though! And you'll see a better attempt if you check back tomorrow to see a tag I did :)

Isn't this a pretty stamp? This is one of the unmounted stamps.

I stamped her with the Marvy ink that sweet SS provided and then colored in the hat, flower, and lips with Prismacolor pencils. I went over the flower edges with a clear Spica glitter pen and over the lips with the red Spica glitter pen.

The pretty sparkly ribbon was also included as well as the epoxy sticker.

I used my SU punches to create a base for the sticker.

Paper and card base also provided by SS :)

Thank you sister for the wonderful products. I hope these make you smile :) Check back tomorrow to see more!

Penguin Fun

I just got this cute little Memory Box Penguin in the mail a couple of days ago. I bought him (her?) specifically so I could join a penguin swap over at the Shack. That seems to be a reoccuring theme for me lately. Don't have stamps to join a swap? Just buy 'em! I did the same thing for a Hedgehog swap too...he he

I started out building the ATC first and then cut the Whisper White cardstock to rectangle to fit the left over area. I then stamped the penguin in Noir black ink (first time using this stuff...its GREAT!) I colored him in using my Spica glitter pens. Once I knew all the glitter ink was dry, I used a glue pen to color in the black part of the penguin and added some black fun flock (also a first use here! :) ). Half of an oval punch and a little rhinestone and I called it good! Love these, think they turned out SOO fun!

Poetic Artistry Mojo Monday Sketch 31

Well, it is technically Friday, but it's MY Monday. Tonight marks night #1 of 7 in a row. Yup, that's 84 hours this week! EEK! Since no one else is volunteering to pay for my vacation, I gotta do it myself ;)
Anyway, here is one of the cards I did for Mojo Monday. I got so preoccupied with finishing it up that I forgot to add a sentiment! Oh well, now my options are open :)
I used Stampin' Up! cardstock and Autumn Leaves papers (self adhesive from Target) to make this. Ribbon is from May Arts. That cute little moose is, of course, Riley from Hanna Stamps! One of my first (I bought 5), and this one ties in first place as favorite with the one of Riley in the hammock (you'll see that one later).
I used my Marvy Oval punch to punch out an oval in the center of my cardstock. Then I stamped Riley on another piece of paper and then pop dotted the oval layer up over him. Sponged the oval layer with Baroque Burgandy and then added some details with a grey marker and the black Spica Glitter pen.
If you click on this picture, you should be able to see where I also added some sparkle with the clear Spica glitter pen on the cupcake icing and cherry, and some dimention on the coffee mug. You'll also notice that the polka dot paper underneath is embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. My favorite one ever!

Another swap down....and a hint of spring!

Well my miniature daffodils have been up for a couple of weeks now, and the fruit trees started to bloom their pretty little white or pink flowers and then we had a few days of snow (snow in MARCH in EVERETT?? Crazy!!!) that set them back.

But no fear! In February I put up a swap with a spring theme. I love when stuff starts to bloom, and I love blooms on my cards!

In honor of our poor little fruit trees and their shrivelled up blooms, I used the Artfully Asian set by SU! to make these branches.

My attempt here was to make it look almost like a photograph in macro mode, with the hint of other branches of flowers in the background. Didn't work exactly as planned but it was fun to do! I stamped the branches in Purely Pomegranate, then covered the paper in Lil' Davis clear glitter glue. Before the glue dried I added a layer of tissue paper that I had cut to size and crumpled up before placing it. Then I stamped another branch in Versamark and sprinkled with SU! gold embossing powder. I then went back with a water pen and inks and colored in. Mounted on matching cardstock and placed on a card front that had been embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. I used my Scor Pal to make the two lines at the bottom. The tag was cut with a Cuttlebug die and stamped using some acrylic stamps I can't remember the name of. I tied the tag on with SU! ribbon. I also used a clear Spica glitter pen to write over the sentiment to give a little sparkle too.

Baby Update!

Only 32 days left until Baby Girl is due to arrive!
But I just got an email from my brother last night that said that every day she drops lower and lower so they are thinking that momma won't make it until May 5th, which is her due date.
This auntie is still holding onto hope that she wants to debut on April 30th, which is also my 30th birthday! Although I'll love her all the same if she's got plans of her own ;)
I'm sooo excited to get this month over with and be able to see her! I'll be out in her neck of the woods for two weeks in May, so I'm hoping she arrives before or just after I arrive.
I'm still waiting on a return email to see if they've picked another name.

Nice Matters Award

Ethel was nice enough to send me this cute little award to add to my blog, the other day.

She wanted to do this because "You were so quick and willing to respond to Teresa's fundraiser, and I am honored to know you. Thank you so much for adding a link on your blog."

Isn't that sweet!?!?

And over on the right there, there is a link to Ethel's other blog, Baskets for the Cause. Check it out! She's donating ALL 5 of those Longerberger baskets. Proceeds go right to Teresa's 3 Day Walk funds.

On a stamping note, I do have some stuff to share, and I'm still working on others. I'll be back later today to set up some posts. I'm trying to get all my swaps done BEFORE going on vacation at the end of the month. And some of them aren't due until June! So I'll have several things for you to peek at in the upcoming week.

A sweet Secret Sister gift

I'm currently in a Secret Sister Swap over at the Shack and have received my second package from my SS. To say I was excited and surprised is an understatement. Only a couple of days before it arrived, I had been looking at this SAME stuff! I don't know how she knew that, but I'm glad she did :)

So this morning I set to working on some stuff.

Here are two of the cards I made using the papers and the stamp set, which was sold out when I was looking at getting it!

The horizontal card uses both the papers and the stamps. The background paper is my favorite paper in this stack. I'm not sure what it is about it that makes me love it, but I do.

I also used the Monday Mojo #30 sketch from Poetic Artistry for the layout. The "pink" on the card is actually SU Purely Pomegranite. I stamped the flowers randomly on a piece of Whisper White and then sponged the edges. I stamped two extra flowers and cut them out as well as the "stamen" stamp. On the stamen stamp I used some clear Stickles to make it sparkle. I also used a large brad for the flower center. The brad was yellow though and I wanted it to match, so I rolled it around in my PP ink and heat set it, then coated it in some clear embossing powder. I then covered it with some more Stickles. The leaves of the flower are the same stamp but with green ink (It's SU, I just cant think which one I used right now). I took my paper piercer and used it to curl the ends of the flower tips so they'd stick out a little.

Another Mojo Monday Sketch here, I think it was #1. LOTS of layers here...this card weighs a lot! But I love these colors together.....Groovy Guava and River Rock.

For the flower background I first stamped in RR, followed by GG(stamped off once), and then used the flower outline stamp in GG again. Verve Visuals clear stamps make it easy to line up so easily!

A Chance to win beautiful Longerberger Baskets!

Want a chance to win these beautiful baskets?
Just visit Ethel's blog, Baskets For the Cure, and place your bid for these great baskets from a great company!
Ethel has so generously donated these baskets to help out Theresa, who is doing the Michigan 3 day Walk For the Cure in September. All proceeds from the basket auction will go to Theresa. How cool!
I've put links to both pages on my blog off to the right so you won't have to come back and search for this info.
Please help Theresa raise the required $2200, or make her a super star by putting her over that amount!
Thanks Theresa for your dedication!!!! You rock!!!!

Classic Easter cartoon

This is still a favorite of mine that pops up at this time of year in emails, messageboards, and posters.

I still remember getting these kinds of bunnies in my Easter basket when I was a kid. The chocolate is/was awful! It either had a very waxy texture, or was so incredible sweet I could only eat a small piece at a time. Most times it started to turn white (you know how chocolate gets, something to do with the fat in it) before I finished it and it would go in the trash.

I'm off this afternoon to spend the day with my friend and her 4 daughters. Lunch followed by Angel Food Cake, strawberries, and whipped cream....YUM! Anyone know if Costco is open today? LOL I forgot to go yesterday :o

Oh, and if you want to see an Easter card from me, this is my one and only that I made this year! And I just finished making it at that...lol

Last spring I bought two Hydrangea bushes and my friend oogled them all spring/summer. The size that they got over the summer led me to believe that they'd grow too big too fast to be out on my deck and I told her she could have them for her yard. But then fall came and the blooms died and I cut them off. And now this spring I have tiny little buds coming up and I think they'll be about the same size. So I'm keeping them...lol When I move to CA, I told her she could have the planters they are in, so she can have the Hydrangeas too and something to remember me by :)

In the mean time, I'm going to make a quick stop at Walmart before going to her house to see if they have them again this year. That'll will be her's and the girl's Easter gift from me.

The inside of the card is decorated also.

Papers are Basic Grey Blush line.
SU! cardstock, watercolor crayons, and ribbon(I rubbed the ink pad on the ribbon to tone down the brightness)
Distress Ink
Bunny stamp is from Inkadinkadoo (I think)
Machine stitching

Hospitality

I love this new set from Stampin' Up! She's all sassy and has some great sayings to go along with her attitude. The inside says "So I've decided to move in". I tried to make her look like me....lol I think the closest I got was the brown hair and the boring outfit :PMy plan, which of course, involves me remembering, is to bring this with me on vacation and leave it for my aunt and uncle to find when I leave their house.Although this may make them a tad too excited. They've been asking me for years to move down and live with them until I can get established on my own. And I keep turning them down.My aunt seems to think that when I do move down there, that I'll live with them until I find a house to buy or an apartment to rent. I think she's nuts...lol At that point I will have lived on my own for about 10 years. I think that would be too hard to do. Plus, my cat would have to be locked in the bedroom 24/7 because they don't want pets in their house. Not fair to him after having the run of the house.Wow, off topic much? lolAll products SU! except for some alcohol ink markers I've trying out. A cheaper answer to Copics. Not sure that I like them much though. They've got chisel tips (the only way they come) that make it a little difficult to color with.

First time folder

Beth did this tutorial on her blog the other day on the Dahlia fold and she made it look so simple! So of course I had to try it. It was pretty simple and except for a couple of minor spacing issues I think this card turned out pretty good :)

The paper's are Crate Paper. I love the texture they use! The ribbon and the stamps are new from Stampin' Up! This ribbon is awesome. A silky feeling with the durablity of grograin.

I also got the Janome Sew Mini last week so I've been playing with that more too. Not the best machine out there, but it gets the job done!

Clothes, clothes, and more clothes

Shhhhh, don't tell my managers, but last night at work I was sooo bored, I did a little shopping in prep for my vacation next month I ran into a good sale at Lane Bryant online where I ended up with 10 shirts and a pair of capri's. Because of the sale I ended up saving $80, plus I found a coupon code online to save an extra $75 when you spend $225......totalling a savings of $155! Wow! My favorite shirt in that order was this one (I can't get the picture to work for some reason). I can't wait to get it. I hope it fits me as nicely as it fits the model.

Then in my search for a cool purse from LeSport Sac (which I didnt find), I ended up at the Lane Bryant Outlet where I ran into another sale....40% off everything in the store! In the end I ended up saving another $80 there and getting 4 pairs of jean shorts, 2 shirts, and 3 tank tops. And I spent half the money that I spent online. Score!

Last stop was Famous Footwear. I ended up getting 4 pairs of shoes there.

These, these, these, and these. Their sale was buy 1 get 1 half off. Couldn't resist!

All set for vacation now. Just need to finish up some stuff for my little niece who will be here in about 6 weeks and I'm done.

Happy Thursday everyone! I'll be back tomorrow with another card or two. I didn't have time yesterday to make one and post it.

Just For You

Those of you who visit the gallery at the Shack have already seen this. But I wanted to add it to the blog for those of you who don't go there.

Ive been coveting this stamp since it's debut sometime last year.

While in CA last month I bumped into it by accident at a store called Beverly's in Modesto.

One left, and it was allllll mine!

K&Co papers

Prima Flowers

Stickles

SU Watercolors

Creative Imaginations rhinestone brads