........and I'm back!

Who's the slacker and the one not keeping up with her blogs? Yes, that would be me. I don't really have much of an excuse other than life takes over sometimes! I've REALLY missed posting though and I'm going to do my best at posting more often. Hopefully at least once a week, since I think that's what I can handle for now. But ya never know, maybe I'll surprise myself and post more :) I have been making some cards, in fact I just got done with a big project! I made 80 graduation announcements for a friend of mine, so that took up a lot of my creativity time the past couple weeks. I'm so glad that I had the opportunity to do that and it really was fun! Ran into a few snags along the way, but I consider it a learning experience and I'm thankful for that! I'll do a separate post about that along with some tips on doing bulk orders. Today I would like to share a few cards that I've done during my absence! There will be more to follow in the coming days!

You know how much I love simple cards, and you can't much simpler than this! I made this one for Tim for Valentine's day this year. This card takes less than 5 minutes to make!

Supplies:

Stamps: Like it a Latte, Short & Sweet (both Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Real Red, Basic Black (both Stampin' Up!)
Paper: White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Pocket Silhouettes. It's a versatile set, and I like to use it a lot. You can use it for so many different occasions. My small group at church did a small ministry project in that we purchased a couple grocery gift cards to give to a couple neighbors in the neighborhood that was had our weekly meeting. We figured we parked in front of their houses so much, that we thought it would be nice gesture to give something back to them and also have an opportunity to pray for them and invite them to our group! I offered to make a couple cards for us to all sign, and this is what I came up with.
Supplies:
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes, Itty Bitty Backgrounds (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Bravo Burgandy, Taken with Teal (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, So Saffron, Bravo Burgandy (Stampin' Up!), White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Circle Punch, Computer/Printer for sentiment, Twine, Dimensionals

Buttons! Oh how I love buttons and need to use them more. They just add a whole other dimension to cards. On the cupcake I used a sponge dauber to sponged yo yo yellow to get the effect of the candle glowing. For the scallops on the designer paper, I took the corner guide off of a corner rounder punch and made the scallops that way instead of using a scallop punch (which a really wish I had!). Here's a tutorial on how to do that technique!
Supplies:
Stamps: Set from Inkadinkado (don't remember the name...), Studio G Stamp ($1 at Michaels!)
Ink: Jet Black (Stazon), Old Olive, Basic Black, Yoyo Yellow (Stampin' Up!)
Paper: Brilliant Blue, Old Olive, DP (Stampin' Up!), White (Papertrey Ink)
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Buttons, Twine, Corner Punch, Dimensionals, Sponge Dauber

*love*

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all that Jazz

What a busy time it's been at our house as of late! Christmas has come, and it has gone. It's amazing how fast it seems to fly by each year. We had a really awesome Christmas. We spent Christmas eve with Tim's family, and we spent Christmas day with my family. There were special things about each day and I will always cherish those memories. We weren't able to go to church for Christmas this year, but we were able to celebrate the birth of Christ with each family and were able to honor Him as our Lord and savior through Christmas carols and the reading of the Christmas story.

This week I will be able to spend time with family and friends that are in town! I am so glad that I am off work all week so that I will have the time to visit with everyone. I'm looking forward to it :)

Today I am going to post the last 3 Christmas cards that I made this year. I duplicated these and most people I sent Christmas cards to received one of these.

The stamps used on this one are $1 stamps from Michael's! I love the $1 section...you can really find some great stuff!


I originally started with the green and brown pictured below, but I thought, hmm..maybe I should try red and brown! The ribbon I had just bought from Hobby Lobby matched perfectly. This is one of my favorite color combination's this year, and if I had more Real Red paper, I would've made more of them!


And here's the beauty. I came up with this card on a whim because being the procrastinator that I am, it was the week before Christmas and I still had a ton of cards to make. This card is elegant and simple all at once. It's easy to duplicate and was a life saver. It's one of my favorites! Once again, I used Stampin' Ups Snow Swirled set. It's a beautiful set and I am so glad I purchased it.

Thanks so much for taking a look! I hope everyone had a fabulous Christmas and has a Happy New Years!

*love*

I'm alive!

Yes, I am alive! Sorry for my absence, it's been one of those weeks. Well, I guess 11 days. Just some things going on that have kept me away from posting, but here I am at last!

I have a card to share today, but before I do that, I wanted to update you on another little something I started. When I originally started this blog, I wanted it to be focused mainly on my cards and other various projects. I want this blog to be a reflection of who I am through my art and my creative side as well as be an inspiration to others. I never wanted this particular blog to focus so much on my personal life, current events, etc. Not that the things posted here arn't personal, but as far as day-to-day happenings and what not, I don't want that to be the main focus here. So I started a new blog: with Words and Lattes
So if you are interested in reading up on my life, thoughts on current events, thoughts in general, recipes, etc. don't be a stranger and stop on by ;)

This is a card I made a few weeks ago and just never got around to posting it. This is what you would call: a simple card. I love it so much though. The fact that the image is stamped on white and there are absolutely NO layers makes the color of the image pop right out at you. I did a blending technique using Prismacolor pencils (gotta love them!), goo gone (yes, I said goo gone), and a stump. Who would've thought that you could use goo gone for something other than taking the stickies off of a picture frame? It blends the color beautifully...it is the best technique I've learned thus far.

Now, I think I am going to go make some tea and curl up on the couch and read a book....ah....

*love*

Masculine Cards

I have to be honest and say, that ever since I started stamping, I have had a difficult time with masculine cards! Maybe that's because I'm such a girly-girl, but man...that's when I really have to dig deep into my creativity. Thank goodness for good ideas from splitcoaststampers; what would I do without that site? :)

Tim's birthday was on November 2, and he turned the big 3-0! This is the card I finally came up with and I like how it came out! Lots and lots of distressing...I did a lot of sponging. The best thing is, that he really liked and appreciated the card, so that makes me happy :) We had a really fun day. We went to the Joe Pool Lake dam to go walking and enjoy the gorgeous weather! I was able to take some good pictures of the fall foliage here in Texas.

We also went out to dinner at Red, Hot, and Blue, which has amazing bar-b-que. We ate way too much, but of course, we had to go have dessert. So we headed to the cheesecake factory where I ordered the ultimate sinful dessert out there -- Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake. Holy cow...it's amazing. If you are a chocaholic like I am, you have to get that dessert. You will fall in love! It is sinfully rich. Tim got the Turtle Cheesecake, which he said was also amazing. Needless to say, we had to get to-go boxes, so we were able enjoy them the next day :)

One last card to share with you...still working on those Christmas cards! I've really become a fan of the simple cards -- minimal layers, not too much fluff, but still looks good. Sometimes I feel if I go to over the top, it just does'nt end up looking as good. Still learning, learning, learning! And having fun doing it :)

Thank you for taking a look, and hope you have a blessed weekend. We're going to spend time at a friends house this evening battling it out with a game of Settlers of Catan. Oh yeah!

*love*

Happy Halloween!

Everyone all sugared up on candy yet? Or are you recovering from your kids getting all sugared up on candy? We didn't have any trick or treaters in our neighborhood. I'm asuming they all went to one of the many 'trunk-or-treats' we have around at area churches. So since Tim and I arn't really into Halloween, we decided to watch the pilot episode of the X-Files (oh great, yet another series to get into...). Then we decided it was really nice outside, so we pulled out our lawn chairs and sat outside looking at the stars (or what we could see of them...we do live a little too close to the city...). I've enjoyed getting to see pics of my neices and nephews and of my friends kids all dressed up in their costumes! So cute! I can't wait to be able to dress my future little ones up one day....and also get to steal some of that candy they aquire, of course.

Well, it's too bad I don't really have any Halloween-ish type stamps quite yet, or else I would definitely share a card or two related to tonight. In due time :) However, here are a couple more cards that I've worked on recently.

I made this for one of my co-workers birthdays, and I think she liked it. I love the colors on this one. This is one of my favorite, simpler cards I've made.

Another Christmas Card! This was a quick one to put together. The 3 images stamped are from a Stampin' Up! set called 'Winter Patches'. I am a huge fan of the country look, so you gotta know that I love this card.

I hope everyone had a great and safe Halloween, and that you have a fabulous weekend!

*love*

Snow Swirled Christmas

Just a quick post for tonight to show you what I worked on. SCS had their Sketch Challenge today, so I decided to play :) And here is what I came up with!

This was a fun one to do, especially since I got to try embossing again. It just adds a whole other element to card making. Once again, the picture does not do the card justice. It's too bad I can't photograph all the sparkles very well. If you have a tip on how to do that, let me know!

In other news, Tim and I did our duty and voted today. I'm very glad to have it done early, and am anxious for next Tuesday! We shall see what happens...... Also, our cat, Garbanzo, is VERY pregnant. Every day I come home from work expecting there to be a litter of kittens. I'm very...very afraid. I'm sure I will love them and adore them, and then as they get older and destroy my house, I will want to wring their little necks :) We're planning to keep one of them and then do everything in our power to find homes for the rest (and Garbanzo's getting spayed!) Ah...life with a kitty!

*love*

Birthday Wishes

Hello! I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. This week just kind of got away from me, and here we are on Sunday, and it's been a week since I posted last. My sincerest apologies (life happens right?). Things have been going well this week, for the most part, and now here I am relaxing after having a great weekend! Yesterday was my sister, Beth's, 21st (and 19 years..) birthday! It was a collaborative effort between my brother in law, Tim, me and many others to help throw a surprise party for her. It ended up being a huge success and she was incredibly surprised :) I love my sister, and I know there couldn't of been a better way to celebrate her birthday then with close friends and family. I made her a 'Diva Kit' as her gift. I was looking at all these gag gift ideas for when people turn 40, and I was thinking 'ya know...she'll never use most of this stuff!'. It just seemed kind of like a waste of money in my opinion. So, I thought of doing a gift basket with items such as a bottle of Wine, Lotion, Celestial Seasonings Tea, one of those personal sized Betty Crocker dessert bowls, Lindt Truffles (mmmm..), Softlips chapstick, and of course, candles. All the things you need to make you feel like a diva, if just for a moment :) Anyways, it was fun to shop for and make! Too bad I didn't take a picture of it! But I did take a picture of this fun card I made for her.

I love this new set I got from Inkadinkado. Isn't the cupcake cute?! I did a heat emboss on this one with a transparent glitter embossing powder. This picture does not do the card justice. It is really shimmery in person!

Well, I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend, and please come back this week! I plan on showcasing some more of my cards to make up for last week :)

*love*