MY BIG SECRET REVEALED–and a Personal Invitation for YOU!!

 

Yay!!

 

I can finally share the secret that has been KILLING me to keep inside!  I am thrilled out of my mind to tell you that I am one of the new members of the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Design Team!!!  Can you believe it?!  Seriously, I just keep pinching myself at the thought of working alongside my incredibly talented designer teammates.  I mean, these women are GENIUSES and ROCK STARS!!  And boy do we have some super fun clean and simple (CAS) challenges in store for you all, beginning next Friday, May 6th.

 

 

Here’s a list of the entire DT:

Julie Ranae – designer/coordinator

Michele Gross – designer/coordinator

Karen Baker

Virginia Lu

Laurie Willison

Kryssi Ng

Jacyln Miller

Dana Seymour

Laura Davis

Julie Day

Karolyn Loncon (REALLY?!)

 

Brilliant, right?!!  So here’s what I’d love for you to do – RUN, don’t walk, to “follow” and/or sign up for an email subscription to the CAS-ual Fridays Challenge Blog found HERE.  Oh, and you can “LIKE” us on Facebook HERE, too!  LOL  That way you won’t miss out on any of the upcoming news and/or challenges, as well as the delicious and inspirational samples that the DT will be providing for you.  I know there are some fabulous prizes in store (thank you CAS-ual Fridays Challenge sponsors!!), as well, so I know you don’t want to miss out on what I KNOW will be THE place to be every Friday!!

 

I have a little card that I made up, just for you all – consider it your personal invitation to COME AND HANG OUT WITH US next Friday for our very first CAS-ual Fridays Challenge.  Check out that swingin’ squirrel – isn’t he just the cutest thing EVER?!!  LOL  He’s just one of the amazingly fun images from the new Paper Smooches stamp set called Hang Ups (available May 1st).

 

Okay, kids, that’s it for me tonight.  I’ll be back soon, although if I’m a bit scarce over the next few days it’s because we’re having a boat load of people over for dinner on Saturday, and we head back to “sunny” Washington on Monday.  I’ll pop in when I can, but at the very latest next Friday with some inspiration for the first CAS-ual Fridays Challenge.  Hope you’ll join us!!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!!

Have a Beautiful Day!

Hola Chicas!!

How is your week going so far?  Mine’s been pretty busy, but a good busy.  We are slowly but surely getting everything ready to head back to Washington for the “summer” (hahaha), so that’s good, I guess.  I really should be packing all of my craft supplies that I’m taking back with me, but I just can’t bring myself to do it just yet.  It’s actually 3:00 a.m. and I woke up out of a dead sleep, having dreamt of this card.  So I figured I might as well get up and create it before I forget it in the morning.  Sick, right?!  LOL

 
I created this for the Play Date Café Color Challenge #78, as well as this week’s Clean and Simple Challenge on Splitcoast Stampers (CAS116 – Rule of Threes).  I created the window by using a new die that I got from Papertrey Ink last week.  It’s meant to cut out letter blocks, but I thought it would make a great window die.  And how sweet are those kids playing outside?  I just love silhouettes.  The image is from Great Impressions, and the sentiment is from A Muse Artstamps (before they became A Muse Studio).  I stitched around the outside of the window to ground it, and had to add some pretty satin ribbon, just to add to the sweet playfulness of the card.  I think there’s still a little bit of time to play along with the Play Date Café Color Challenge – and I think there’s a prize involved, so be sure and check it out!

Okay, I guess that’s enough rambling . . . think I’ll head back to bed.  LOL  Hope your day is a beautiful one, and thanks so much for stopping by today!  Oh, and before I forget, I might just have a little secret to share with you all, very, very soon.

School Is Cool and a Blog Award!!

 

Hey!!

 

How’s your week going so far?  I’ve had another fantastic  week so far.  Monday was pretty quiet, Tuesday was spent cropping with the sweetest girl I know, and my hot air balloon card was announced yesterday as one of the five winners of THIS challenge.  Oh, and I got some really great happy mail yesterday, too . . . more on that at a later date.  Just can’t imagine that this week could possibly get any better.  Can it?!  LOL

 

 

I wanted to share a card that I made for a recent CARDS Magazine pub call – it was RE-JECTED!  LOL  But I thought it was pretty stinkin’ cute, regardless.  I cut it out using my Silhouette SD – do you have any idea how much I am LOVING that baby?!!  The cut file was purchased from Silhouette Studio (for $.75 cents!!)  I think I’ll send this off to my daughter, who is working as a long-term sub for a middle school English class for the rest of the school year . . . pretty sure she can use a little pick-me-up, right?!  Oh, and my heart wasn’t too broken that this card wasn’t picked up – I had two others that were!!  YAY!!

 

 

Lastly, my sweet blogging friend, Jen W. over at Jenerally Speaking, sent me a blog award.  Jen is so kind and generous with her comments.  She is forever bringing a smile to my face, and she’s pretty stinkin’ talented to boot!  Be sure and stop by her blog to leave her some love.

In accepting the award I have to complete a few tasks:

1.  Thank the person who gave you the award.

Thanks so much, Jen!!

2.  Post this award on your blog

You're looking at it, sistah!

3.  List 3 things that you love about yourself

I love that I can identify just about any reality TV star (you’re impressed, right?!), I love that I can flip my eyelids inside out, and I love that I can fit into the same size jeans as both of my daughters (most days).  LOL

4.  Post a picture that you love

I not only love this picture . . . I love the little boy in it.  This is my sweet grandson, Brecken, who will be a year old in a few weeks!!  Seriously?!  I swear he was just born last week!!  Ugh!!

5.  Tag 5 people to receive this award

There are way more than 5 people who I would love to give this award to but I've managed to whittle down my list.  Here are the 5 fabulous ladies I'm passing the Cherry on Top Award to, in no particular order.

Terri – Fresh Cut Flours

Lori  – Stamp Scents

Ashley – One In the SAHM

Courtney – This Was Supposed to Be Easy

Michele – Studio MSG

Be sure to check out these talented ladies and leave them some love.  :)

 

Okay, that’s it for me today, friends.  I hope that your week is turning out as fabulously as mine is.  I’ll be back soon with more crafty sharing for you!!  Thanks so much for stopping by today . . . I so appreciate it.

What an Amazing Week It’s Been!

 

Hello Sweet Friends!!

 

First, I want to thank you all for your very kind and generous words about my Stamping Royalty win.  I continue to feel the warmth and love shared by all of you with me, and hope that this feeling never goes away.  As each group of winners was announced, I felt more and more honored as many of the winners are women whose work I have admired and been inspired by for a very long time.  The idea that I stand next to them in this journey fills me with a sense of awe and humility . . . many of these women are stamping celebrities!!  To be in the company of these women is a total and complete honor for me.

 

Second, I want to share the cards that I submitted for the Stamping Royalty contest that didn’t make the cut.  I still like them, so I’m hoping that you’ll look at them and say to yourself, “Hey, I can do THAT!”   Here ya go:

 

Thinking of You/Hello
(I think I already shared this one with you)

 

Holiday/Season’s Greetings

 

Birthday

 

Love #1

 

Love #2 (this was my fave)

Thank You

 

There ya have it!  I’ll be entering these in the Reject Blog Hop that Dr. Amber (another of the Stamping Royalty winners!) is holding over at her blog, Damask Love.  Check it out – there’s some yummy inspiration there for you!!

 

Now, I want to tell you a little story about these cards.  A good majority of them are RE-WORKED cards that I had either created for challenges or had previously submitted (but were rejected!).  The SR entries could not have been seen on line at all . . . but with a little tweaking, they were “official.”   So I changed color schemes or added additional elements so that they differed from the original cards.  Only two of them were new creations – Love #2 and the Birthday cards.  I tell you this why?  Because I am a testament to the fact that you don’t have to be a brilliant, super creative stamper to win!  If you have projects that you love, and they haven’t been shown online (or have been previously shown or submitted, but can be reworked), it’s very possible that your submission will be chosen!!  The only way to know is to ENTER!!!  So please, friends, when you see the advertisement for next year’s Stamping Royalty contest, I hope that you’ll enter.  You can’t win if you don’t enter, right?!!

 

Okay, that’s it for me today, kids!.  Thanks again for all your kind words . . . they mean more to me than you’ll ever know.  We’re off to have dinner with some sweet friends.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend – I know I will!!

Not In My Wildest Dreams . . .

 

. . . did I imagine that I would be sharing this secret (that has absolutely been KILLING me!) with you all.  When I say that, I’m seriously not fishing for compliments . . . I truly did not imagine that what I do (stamping) would even come close to being worthy of winning a contest.  But in fact, I have won . . . and now I get to share the most amazing news with you all.

 

Yes, my sweet crafty friends, I’m one of the three winners in the Thinking of You/Hello category of the 2011 Stamping Royalty Contest (there are 15 winners in all)!!  You can find the official announcement HERE.  Can you believe it?!!  I am still floating on cloud nine since I received that amazing email from P. Kelly Smith last week.  I screamed, then I cried, and then I screamed again!!  LOL  Sadly, no one was home when I got the email, and I had VERY EXPLICIT instructions to not tell a soul.  Are you KIDDING me?!!  LOL  Luckily, I got ahold of my hubby on the phone, who was on his way to the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, GA.  Here’s how our conversation went:

ME:  Honey!  Guess what?!!

HUBBY:  What?

ME:  I won!!  I won the Stamping Royalty Contest!!  Can you believe it?!!

HUBBY:  Great!!  But what does that mean?  Is it like you won the local club championship (yes – hubby is a golf freak)?

ME:  Ummm . . . NOOOOOO!!  It’s like I won the freakin’ MASTERS!!

HUBBY:  Oh!!  Well, that’s just great then!!  Congratulations, sweetie!!

Yeah . . . he doesn’t REALLY get it.  LOL  But that’s okay.  I am thrilled beyond belief, regardless.  I can’t share my winning card with you just yet – that’ll have to wait until the November/December issue of Paper Crafts Magazine comes out (on October 11th!).  But I will be sharing the other cards that didn’t make the cut with you in the next several days.

 

I am so incredibly humbled to be included among the other winners that have been revealed so far, and all the great stamping geniuses that came before us.  I’d like to thank the editors of Paper Crafts Magazine who chose my card . . . you’ll never know how much this incredible honor means to me.  I’d also like to thank all of you who have left me sweet comments that served to encourage me in my stamping journey.  I love what I do . . . I dream about stamping, I obsess about it, and I study others who inspire me so that I can become the best stamper that I can be.  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

 

 

In honor of you all, I’ve created a card to thank you.  Consider this my personal thanks to you for all that you do to inspire me each and every day.  I’ll also be submitting this for the Moxie Fab World current challenge, In My Beautiful Balloon.

Source: None via allegra on Pinterest

 

I was inspired by this amazing photograph that I found on Pinterest (another obsession! LOL).  I love how the balloon is floating over the fog-covered cityscape, and knew that I would combine my love of cityscapes with this challenge.

 

Well, that’s it for my big news today.  Thank you, again, for all of your encouragement and support . . . it means the world to me.  Thanks, too, for stopping in today!

Thinking of You!

 

Hola Peeps!

 

Happy Friday!  I’ve had an amazing week, so I wanted to pop in and share a card with you all that I made a few weeks ago.  It’s actually a remix of a card that I made for the last Paper Crafts Magazine Go-To Sketches for Card Makers 2 call.

 

 

This card was created using one of my fave-a-lave clear stamp sets from WPlus9 Designs called Mehndi Medallions.  I stamped different sized medallions in the pattern according to Sketch #40 using Fresh Ink pigment inks.  I stamped three of the medallions off a second time and punched out the centers using a circle punch, and then popped them up with dimensional squares.  I added a little bling in the centers for more dimension.  I love the color combo, and will definitely use that again.

 

I hope you have a great weekend.  My sweet neighbor is coming over to stamp for a bit this afternoon, so I hope to get some crafting done today.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

CARDS Gallery Challenge–Easter Cards!

 

Hello Crafty Friends!!

 

Popping in today to share two cards that I made for this week’s CARDS Magazine Gallery Challenge – Easter Cards!  I adore Paige’s challenges because they always inspire me to create something unexpected for me.  Today’s  cards are no exception.  Both cards were created using my brand spankin’ new Silhouette SD.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!  The cut files were purchased from the Silhouette Studio.

My first card was a bunny shaped card that cut out like a dream.  I embellished it with some fun polka dots using Papertrey Ink’s Polka Dot Basics II and some Fresh Snow pigment ink.  The gingham bunny tails are some brads that I picked up at Hobby Lobby a hundred years ago.  The tag was created using the new Tiny Tags die cut from Papertrey Ink, and the sentiment is from the PTI Mixed Messages set.  The tag is tied around the bunny’s neck with Cotton Candy Baker’s Twine.  Cute, right?!

My second card can also be used as a treat holder – isn’t he stinkin’ adorable?!  Again, my Silhouette cut this baby out like it was buttah, I tell ya!  The pink polka dot paper is from Papertrey Ink and is called Happy Spots.  More Cotton Candy Baker’s Twine for his whiskers, and the sweet tag is again from the Tiny Tags Die Cut and coordinating Stamp set.  How fun would it be to create a bunch of these with some yummy Cadbury Chocolate Easter Eggs wrapped up inside?  Yummmm!!

 

I thought I’d share a picture from the wedding that I was in this past weekend.  My sweet friend, Kim Hughes, got married to the love of her life, and I was blessed and honored to be her Matron of Honor.  Isn’t she beautiful?!!  I also had the great pleasure of meeting one of Kim’s friends, Becky Olson, whose work I have admired for a while now.  The other cute face in the pic is Lori Barnett (far left), our fun and silly cropping buddy.  Love these girls!!

 

That’s it for me today, folks.  Thanks so much for stopping by today.  I hope you have a great day!

Goin’ to the Chapel and we’re gonna get married!

 

 

Nooooo, not me!!  I’m already married to my darling hubby – for over 30 years now!!  LOL  But a sweet friend will be marrying the love of her life, and I’m so blessed and honored to be a part of her amazing day . . . which is tomorrow!  Eeeekkkk!!  So much to do, and so little time!  So I need to make this quick.  Wanted to post a yummy wedding card that I made for my neighbor’s son a few weeks ago.  They had a pink theme . . . loves me some pink and gray.

 

Hopefully I’ll have my wits about me enough to take a few pics of the wedding tomorrow . . . if so, I’ll share just as soon as I recover from all the excitement!  LOL  Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  Thanks so much for stopping by!