Thursday, March 31, 2011

Hangin' with the JiFFy girls...

I was so excited to be asked by my friend Carole to play along with the JiFFy girls this month. The JiFFy girls do challenges once a month --one person sends out stamped images and another person sends out some patterned paper and everyone has to work them into a card. This month, Carole chose the paper - Little Girl: Madison Plaid (by Echo Park) and Julie sent out the stamped image and sentiment- Unity Stamp Co: Sweetest Day (Jillibean Itty Bitty). Ekkk....I LOVE them both.
Here is what I came up with: Julie kindly sent out three stamped images of the strawberry and so I popped up the stem of one over another after coloring them. I cropped the sentiment super close (thanks to a mishap)and layered it on the other side of the patterned paper. I added a bit of pink highlight on the word "sweetest" to tie it into the pink in the background. I had some black circle epoxy stickers in my stash and they were a perfect fit for the seeds on the strawberry. This was so much fun.


Thanks Carole and Jiffy girls for asking me to join you this month!!!
Here is the list of (the immensely talented) JiFFy girls so you can go see what they created with the same supplies:

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Blog Candy Winner

Since Random.Cara was asleep when I remembered to pick for the MFT Oopsie Daisy set, I used Random.Org this time. Random.org selected number 106.


Congratulations to: marshmallow12 who said... Super cute card. I have a soft spot in my heart for bears, even the real live ones! I would love to add this set to my collection. My favorite color is sky blue, especially the color of the sky in winter when it's so cold out but the sun is shining bright or in the early spring when the sun is shining bright and the apple trees are in blossom (it will happen soon!- go away snow!) March 29, 2011 4:14 PM


Congratulations!!! Please email me with your mailing address so I can send this set to you. Thanks to everyone for playing along...I promise more giveaways are coming! :)


Monday, March 28, 2011

One for me and one for you TOO!

Hello! Hope you are having a good week. I cannot believe it but this is the first thing I have stamped in almost 2 weeks---ekk! I only had a half hour to play around before the kids were getting off the bus so I grabbed this fun set--Oopsie Daisies by My Favorite Things. He's a cutie and so fun to color! I paired him with a SRM sticker and some Echo Park stickers and patterned paper--- Easy and fast! Materials used- Stamps- Oopsie Daisies Fred Bear (My Favorite Things); Copic markers- Stickers- element stickers Springtime (Echo Park); sentiment sticker- Sweet (SRM stickers); Patterned paper- Springtime: Spring Feathers, Seasonal Stripe (Echo Park); ribbon (SU!); pearls (Martha Stewart Crafts); Corner rounder punch.
Wanna win this stamp set?
I have an extra for one of my readers! Just leave a comment telling me your favorite color and Random.Cara will select a winner on Wednesday night (3/30) at 8 p.m. central time. Subscribers can post twice! The winner will have three days to get back to me before Cara picks another number. Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Saturday Scrappin'

....I have been waiting to find the perfect papers to scrap these adorable pictures of my youngest huddled up with her two best friends telling secrets while on their class trip- Secret Friends: I love the interaction between them and wanted to keep that as the focus. I spelled out secret with a combination of corrugated letters and stickers from Jillibean Soup. I layered some of the letters on Sprouts for more dimension.

Here is a picture of the page lying down so you can see some of the dimension:
I used a butterfly by the title and then two others by the opposite edge:
All supplies are by Jillibean Soup: Die Cut shapes- Spotted Owl Soup, Dutch Mustard Soup; Cardstock stickers- Blossom soup; Patterned paper- Blossom Soup: Cornmeal , Blossom Soup paper pad; Kraft; Jillibean Soup Sprouts-assorted; Bean stalks twill & twine- blue/green.

Other- pearl accents (Recollections-Michael's); heart punch (Marvy); cardstock-white; sewing machine; tab punch (SU!).


Thank you for your kind words on my last post. I am so grateful for all of you and for the happiness you bring to my life :)


Thanks for stopping by today!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Just breathe....

----> this was my advice to myself this week.

I do not like change. Never have and never will. So moving SIX times in almost 10 years of marriage was not the life I envisioned for myself. Don't get me wrong---being in the army has been a great experience. We have been so many places and met fabulous life-time friends along the way. But it has also been tough.

My husband and I just returned from a trip to Pennsylvania to buy a house.... A house that we plan to move into in just a little over two months and a house we plan to stay in for the foreseeable future. We had several days to accomplish our goal and actually put a bid on a house at one point that we both really liked and it was in the school district I really wanted my kids to be in. But, our bid ended up causing a bidding war between us an another couple who had put in a much lower bid a few days earlier.

At that point, they came back higher and we just walked. After all, there were a few things that made us reticent about the property. Going back to the drawing board after that excitement and after already putting in a contract late the previous night was not easy. We did have another house that I really liked but my husband was not as excited about at first. After another visit, he came around a bit. The only thing problem with it (in my mind) was that the two car garage was a tight fit. But everything else was perfect.

And....this is the house we eventually settled on. We are back home now and the reality of the move has set in. My kids flip from being excited to lamenting that "I have 50 friends here and none there and now I have to leave my 50 friends here." Although this made me laugh, it also made me painfully aware at how difficult the next few months will be.

Changing homes.

Changing states.

Changing climates.

Changing schools.

Leaving friends.

Leaving comfort.

We will get through it. We always do. After all....we all have each other AND we are moving close to my little sister, which will be so much fun to have family close by.

...just breathe!

Monday, March 21, 2011

Just a little love note!

.... * Echo Park-For the Record patterned paper and element stickers.

Have a great day!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Photo cube and the hunt is on!

Hello! Busy week. My parents are in town watching our kiddos while my husband and I are on the East coast house hunting. Yep---the time has come.....YIPES!

Wish us luck!!!

In the meantime, I have a cute little photo cube holder to share with you: Here is a close up of the top:

I used some new Jillibean Soup product to create this--Blossom Soup Coordinating die cut shapes; Chilled Strawberry Soup Coordinating Cardstock stickers; Patterned paper- Blossom Soup.
Love creating little gifts like this. Hope you have a GREAT week!!
Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Shadow Box Winner!

Thanks so much to everyone who played along in the Shadow box give away! Random.Cara picked # 47 as the lucky winner.


Congratulations to
stampyng who said...
"2nd post for being a subscriber. Thanks for the chance - this looks like a great product! "

Please email me for directions on how to claim your beautiful shadow box. Cannot wait to see what you create with it.


Thanks for stopping by!


Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Birthday Fishes

Happy Wednesday! I am spending the day cleaning --- which is not as bad as it sounds!

Just a reminder: You have until tomorrow night to enter the Shadowbox giveaway...you can find the details HERE!


Today I have a card featuring some of the new Paper Smooches stamps! In case you didn't know....the amazing Kim Hughes started her own line of stamps and they are whimsical, clever and so FUN!

I designed this card awhile ago for a call and forgot to post it. So here it is:
I cut the card shape from some patterned paper and inked the edges. The branch was die cut from some patterned paper. I stamped the fish on white cardstock, colored it with Copics and then added glitter all over the fins (kinda like rainbow fish!)

I used my Cropadile to punch some bubbles and added them to the card. A peice of hemp finishes it off!

Materials used: Stamps- Birthday Buddies (Paper Smooches); Memento tuxedo black ink; markers- pumpkin pie, black (Stampin' UP!); Copic markers; Designer paper- Monster Stew- Bunch of Monsters (Jillibean Soup), Little Boy: Rad Plaid (Echo Park); stickles (Ranger); Tea dye distress ink (Ranger); Sizzlits die- branch with leaves (Sizzix); Cropadile (We R Memory Keepers).

Thanks for stopping by today!

Monday, March 14, 2011

Shadow Box Give-Away!

Hello!!! Happy Monday! I am so excited to share this with you today----> What is it? It is a customizable shadow box by My Shadow Box Creation. These shadowboxes are BEAUTIFULLY made, 100% wood , and come in black, white, pink or blue. You can have the front glass panel engraved with whatever you want. There are so many fonts and styles to choose from. Best of all, the front door is magnetized so your pictures or projects stay safe inside.

Jon from My Shadow Box Creation contacted me several weeks ago and asked if I would like to play with one and I gladly agreed with the understanding that I would only blog about it IF I thought it was a good product. IT IS!! For this shadowbox, I had my name engraved on the front with beautiful swirls around it. (I hope you can see it in this photo- it is really difficult to photograph glass!):
I thought this would be a beautiful accent piece for my office. I can use it to display cards I have created, projects or a recent scrapbook page. When I get tired of the display----I can simply change it. I used some removable Velcro to adhere to cards to the beautiful canvas backing that the box has.
I also can use the box at local craft fairs or other places I want to display my work and I can ensure that the projects inside won't be damaged.
The inside depth is 2", much deeper than standard boxes, which allow altered projects to sit inside easily. (I have a little altered project sitting inside this one so you can see!)

The other thing I LOVE about these is that I have always created a "frame" from our family vacations. These frames are all around our game room so we can always be reminded of trips we have taken. They feature a collage of pictures and sometimes other memorabilia (like coins from Honduras, etc.) These boxes would have been perfect to use (AND you can have the trip and year engraved right on the front!)
So.....Want to try one for free?? Jon has graciously allowed me to offer one to a lucky blog reader today. So....if you would like to see how beautiful these are for yourself....and have a great customized display for your office/home, just leave a comment and let me know what you would use your Shadow Box for. (Subscribers can enter twice!) Random.Cara will pick a winner. You have until Thursday, March 17 at 8 p.m. central time to enter. The winner must contact me within three days or another winner will be selected.
AND..... here is a special code for my blog readers. Just enter SCRAP10 at checkout to receive 10% off your order!!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Spellbinders Thank You Hop!

The Gina K Design team would like to welcome to you this special Spellbinders Thank You Blog Hop!! Recently Spellbinders generously gifted each member of our design team with the amazing new Grand Calibur!!! What an amazing gift and we are absolutely enjoying this fabulous machine!! We have made some special cards and projects to showcase the new Grand Calibur and why we love it !! Thank you Spellbinders!!!


**If you are following the blog hop, you should have come here from Carolina's BLOG.**

Here is the card I created for today's hop:
I created this card using images from Gina K Designs- Dream Birds (the bird), Smile (sentiment), and Sent with Love (tree). I used some Jillibean soup paper to add some super big hearts to the tree.

What I love most about the Grand Calibur is that it is EFFORTLESS. The extra large plates move through the machine smoothly and easily. I can use several dies on a run-through and it cuts well every time. I definitely recommend this machine. And, although I LOVE the new Grand dies for the large size for scrap booking...they are also great for creating cards.

What I love most about this card is the card shape, which was created by folding a piece of white cardstock in half and die cutting it with the Grand Big Scalloped Circles and the Grand Calibur. After running the die through, I had the basic card shape. I sliced the bottom of the circle off to create a flat bottom for the card...as shown below.

To create this card shape, fold a piece of white cardstock in half. (The fold should be at the top) Place your die as shown:

Run through the Grand Calibur:


When you take the cut shape out, place it on your cutter, fold to the left. You will be cutting off the bottom part of the scallops so that the card will stand nicely when opened. Tip: Line up the left side of the card with the grid lines on your paper cutter so that you can ensure a straight cut:

The card is ready for you to embellish:
Thanks again Spellbinders for the generous gift. I am lovin' my Grand Calibur!


**The next blog on the hop is the fabulous Cat!! So head on over there to be dazzled!**

Thanks for stopping by! See you back here tomorrow for something FUN!!!!!!!!

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Just sharing...

Hello!!! Today I am sharing a tag from the March/April Paper Crafts Magazine, Page 60.

Instructions and supplies are in the magazine. You can find this issue HERE or at your local bookstore or craft store.

Have a great day!

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Nurse THANKS!

Hello!!! Today I have a little treat container I created for the AWESOME nurse at the elementary school. The past few weeks have been rough there---she has had to deal with gastrointestinal yucks, the stomach bug, colds and pink eye---->> and that is just my kids!

So I thought she could use a little pick me up---and this is what I came up with: I painted a little mini pot and then decorated it with a strip of patterned paper (Jillibean Soup). I cut out the strawberries from patterned paper and added one to the outside of the pot and used two to decorate some Hershey's chocolate nuggets. I covered some other nuggets with some green patterned paper.

I cut the little flowers from the same patterned paper as the strawberries and popped them on two of the strawberries.

I created a little banner with some corrugated shapes and a piece of a flag stick that I broke and then painted. I used a sticker that says "You make life so sweet" and stuck it on the banner. I added another little flower to the banner to tie it together.

I finished off the project with some brown pearl dots on the sentiment flag and in the flower centers. I tied a piece of brown thread on one strawberry.

Here is a picture of a few of the chocolates outside of the pot so you can see how I decorated them:


Supplies: mini pot (Michael's); acrylic paint, brown; Designer paper- Chilled Strawberry collection: Frozen strawberries; Blossom Soup: Corn Kernels (Jillibean Soup); Chilled strawberry soup cardstock sticker (Jillibean soup); corrugated shape-butterflies (Jillibean Soup); pearl accents (Recollections: Michael's); Hershey's nuggets; flag stick.

This was so fun to make and I was so happy to surprise the nurse with it. That has got to be a tough job these days!

Have a great day! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Sunday Scrappin!

Hello!!! Happy Sunday. Today is a busy one here---- have to get three kids in three different places and sometimes at the same time...gonna be a fun one!

Today, I have a scrapbook page to share. Instead of my own kids, this one is of my niece-Carly. She is my little sister's baby and she is named Carolyn after me. They call her Carly.
Here is some detail on the page. On this shot you can see the stitching and sponging around the edges a bit better: And here is the page---Just a little Carly!
Pretty much everything on this page (minus the baby) is by Jillibean Soup!
Finally, here is the view from my front door yesterday morning. Notice the white stuff----it's NOT snow. We woke up at 6:30 to the pounding of HAIL against the windows. Some crazy weather.....by the afternoon it was sunny! ONLY in Texas :)

Have a WONDERFUL day!!
Thanks for stopping by!


Friday, March 4, 2011

Friday already??

Hello! Happy Friday!
Life is going way to fast these days. Keeping the house PERFECT is taking its toll. Hopefully, it will sell quickly.
I started P90X this week. (It is an intense workout and, although it is tough, I love it!) It is kicking my butt....in a good way. Hopefully it kicks it completely off in the coming weeks. I will keep you posted.

Anyway....had a chance to play with some of the beautiful Echo Park For the Record papers and added some fun SRM stickers--
Materials used: Ivory cardstock (Gina K Designs); Designer paper- For the Record: Newsprint, Borders (Echo park Paper); Element stickers- For the Record (Echo Park Paper); SRM stickers- Thanks (54003), Congratulations (S1013); Jumbo Pebble brads (Making Memories); vintage lace; black pearls (Want2Scrap); lace.

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

SRM Stickers Winner

Hello!!! The SRM Stickers blog candy winner is # 27 (as selected by Random.Cara).

Congratulations to Tina Gilliland who said...
"So....I haven't used stickers in years... not sure how I'd act with them.. but... my favorite card was the bannered one and the school card. LOVE them both!!! I am not sure what part is the sticker though? LOL are they like the old flat stickers we use to use in scrapbooking???"

Congrats Tina! And--to answer your question---- yes....they are stickers but they are clear, simple to work with and are ADDICTIVE! The sentiments on all the cards (as well as the decorative design on the first card) are all SRM stickers. Cannot wait for you to try them. Please email me your address :)

Thanks for stopping by!