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Missing My Friends

2010-03-02T13:18:00.001-05:00

I am missing all of my stamping friends like crazy. I have been so busy with life lately that I am not sure when my days are ending and when my next one is starting. It seems as though I am currently running through my life and I need an end to my current marathon. Things have been good for us. We are doing well with things, the kids are all doing very well, we have jumped both feet into our church and we seems to have a plan for things lately. This being said, I can't seem to find any free time to stamp, sew, bake, or even nap... I want so much to get back into the swing of things and I truly hope that I will be able to do that soon. Please know that I have all of you in my thoughts and prayers and I am hoping that things are going well for all of you. I look forward to getting back into the swing of things and hope that you will still continue to follow my blog and give me the same encouragements that you have in the past. Thank you so much and many blessings upon all of you....

DDIC

2010-01-07T11:35:00.001-05:00

Experiencing some minor difficulties this morning so my DDIC card will be uploaded shortly... Please stop back to see my first card of the New Year... :)

Blesings,

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-02T00:48:00.002-05:00

So with the New Year comes more time right? I seem to have gotten lost the last year. I failed to find time for myself and put all my time and energy into Church, my house and my kids. This is a great thing don't get me wrong, but I really am burnt out and NEED time for me. I am resolving to find time for me this year along with maintaining time for the kids. The house will just have to be what it is so long as we don't have bugs.. :) In my "me" time, I plan to stamp again. It seems as though it has been ages and I am starting over a new stamper. I don't know where to start or what to work with. I feel so behind the times with what is new and fresh and have no idea what is out there. I just found out today that Hanna Stamps went out of business... You have no idea how sad this makes me. I absolutely fell in love with Kristi and her Riley and Hanna line. It just won't feel the same ordering from someone else. I am truly saddened by this news.

I hope very much to get back into the swing of things in the next week... But putting Christmas stuff away will definitely have to come first. LOL... Thank you so much for your continued support and your faithfulness to my blog and me. I am truly grateful.

Blessings for a happy and healthy 2010,

DDIC 15

2009-11-05T10:11:00.004-05:00

It is an ABSOLUTE MIRACLE that this card is up today... My computer has been fritzed out for several weeks and it is finally back to normal. I have missed so many challenges and I am so sorry to all who have wondered where I was. I promise you I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth :)

Without further delay... This week's Divine Divas Inspiration Challenge was a rough one for me since I haven't been stamping due to computer failures and I am also deathly afraid of the bright color families. I wanted to use the colors of the challenge piece but I had a dickens of a time working with them. I will try my best to get a better card this afternoon. Here is the inspiration piece for this week:

Here is my card for this challenge... Again I am sorry it isn't up to par.... I will work on this later...

Color Dare 38

2009-10-14T00:40:00.004-04:00

This is my attempt at this week's color dare challenge. The colors were...

Crushed Curry
Mambo Melon
Taken W/ Teal
Basic Gray

I had been so busy lately that I have zero time to stamp. I am dealing with a massive flea infestation in my home, 2 sick kiddos and a sick hubby, my parents were in to visit last week and of course I had to get sick when they left, we had to get rid of our puppy, and I am knee deep in a bible study that is consuming my life right now ( it's a great thing!) Needless to say, I can't find time to sit and relax let alone stamp. I am trying to make my schedule calm down a bit, but I feel that until the twins start school, they need my attention more than my stamp room does. :( (Oh the responsibilities of a good parent)

I hope you like what I was able to make for today. I am not happy with this card at all, but only found a wee 30 minutes to sit and finish this. I wish I could find more energy to stay up later and stamp when the kids go to bed, but that seems to be my cleaning time now. Thank you all for stopping by and looking at my work. I really appreciate the love and support

Blessings,

DDIC Again

2009-10-01T03:38:00.004-04:00

This is a great inspiration piece. I loved the look of the 3x3 squares so that is the route I took when creating my card this week. I really thought of going more toward the browns and neutrals when I ran across some awesome retired DSP from Stampin' Up! and decided to use it. Here is my take on this week's inspiration piece.

Please make sure to check out what the rest of the team has created for you today. I know you won't be disappointed. We encourage you to play along with us and we want to see what you create. Please leave a comment here and link your project.

Blessings,

Sketch Challenge 248

2009-09-30T08:34:00.002-04:00

Here is a quick card I whipped up for today's challenge. I haven't had much time to play lately and I am really starting to miss my stamp room. I was hoping the twins would start school this year, but they are still on a waiting list. I had hoped to get some more free time to do the things I enjoy. As it stands now, I find whatever time I can when I am not running an errand here, or dropping a child there or running my home. So this morning I was able to find a nice quiet few moments all to myself and of course you know I sat down to stamp.

So here is my card for today's sketch...

I hope you will find time to let me know what you think. I absolutely love hearing your comments. Have a Blessed day!

Blessings,

Color Dare 36

2009-09-30T01:42:00.003-04:00

Well this was an interesting week for the Color Dare. The colors truly scared me when I first put them together. Then I started brainstorming and realized they were great colors and would work perfectly together. So I sat down and go to work. I love these colors and I think you will too. Here is my card for this week's Color Dare

Colors:

Creamy Caramel
Bermuda Bay
Barely Banana

Make sure you check out what the rest of the Design team has done with these colors. You won't be disappointed by what you see. The team is amazing and always rocks out with the most wonderful of projects. We hope that you will join us and play along this week. We'd love to see what you come up with.

Blessings,

DDIC Do-Over :)

2009-09-17T15:25:00.002-04:00

Here is a much better card to take from today's inspiration challenge. I think the first card was from sleep deprivation. I put the twins down for a nap and had a chance to play over. I really like how this card turned out. The cuttlebug seems to work nicely to show the delicate details and really show off the beauty of this cake.

I hope you like what I have done the second time around and I hope that you too will feel that I have improved upon my mistake. :) Check out the rest of the DT, they have all made such wonderful creations... You don't want to miss any of them.

Blessings,

DDIC

2009-09-17T13:56:00.004-04:00

This is the challenge piece for this week:

This is my card for this challenge:

I am not at all crazy about this card. I tried to go with the look of the flowers cut out... My thought looked so much better in my head. I plan to sit down and try to rework this card before the end of the day so please check back for a better take on this week's challenge piece

Make sure you check out what the rest of the DT has done for you. I am positive you won't be disappointed with what you see.

Blessings,

Color Dare 34

2009-09-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

Here is my card for this week's Color Dare challenge. I really had a hard time with these colors. Blush Blossom, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip. Seems I would have had better luck if it were Pretty in Pink or Pink Pirouette.... But I guess that is why they call it a Color "Dare." I hope you will play along with us this week so that I can see what I could have done better with these 3 colors. :D

Check out what the rest of the Color Dare Team has done by going to the Color Dare website or clicking on each individual blog along the left sidebar of my blog. I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Blessings

Your Red Because?

2009-09-11T01:24:00.001-04:00

Ok so I absolutely love this card.. I made up the sketch by accident and had so much fun with the different DP's. Thank you so much for a WONDERFUL challenge... I am so glad that I was able to play along... Even if it is in the wee hours of Friday morning already... :)

Please let me know what you think... :)

Blessings

Happy Halloween

2009-09-10T00:32:00.003-04:00

I haven't had any time to stamp lately and I have definitely been feeling the effects. I put the kids to bed a little early this evening so that I could adjourn to my stamp room and play. I decided to combine yesterday's color challenge with today's sketch challenge. I love Faith's cards and I can always CASE one of her cards so this sketch was easy for me. Not to mention that I love layers on my cards too. I had fun making this one...

The colors used here were Elegant Eggplant, Basic Black, Old Olive. To see the sketch for this week, you can go to the weekly challenges on SCS. I hope you like what I have done with this sketch and these colors. Please feel free to leave your comments so I know what you think.

Blessings,

Just for Fun

2009-09-09T07:54:00.002-04:00

I wanted to sit down to stamp and the last few weeks that has been a challenge in and of itself. It seems as though I can't find the time to do for myself and I find that I feel the need to spend more time with my family. I made this card last night after everyone went to sleep. I have been having trouble sleeping and this night I decided to embrace the problems and just stamp. Here is the outcome...

I hope that you will find that my late night affairs are worth the lack of sleep on my part. :) Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you will leave a comment to let me know how I am doing. I always love to hear from my followers, new and old.

Blessings,

Color Dare 33

2009-09-09T07:50:00.003-04:00

So I LOVE this week's choice for colors. I am a huge purple fan so I had no problems using Rich Razzleberry. I hope you will choose to play along with us this week. I know many of you aren't stamping or finding it hard to stamp with the chaos that Stampin' Up! has created. Please know that by uploading to a challenge only blog you are in no way in violation of any of Stampin' Up! policies. We do not link to companies and do not promote any other companies products. We only want to see what you can created using a select palette of colors. This being said, I hope that you will still be able to play along with us.

This week's Color Dare combination is:

Rich Razzleberry
Pale Plum
Old Olive
Very Vanilla

Here is what I came up with for these colors. I hope you enjoy:

Also please give a warm welcome to the new team... Some faces are old and some are new. I know you will enjoy what this new team has to offer. A huge welcome to our new Color Dare Team members, I am so glad to be working with all of you..

Lori Padberg
http://lorispurplegiraffes.blogspot.com

Christi Bryant
http://christibryant.blogspot.com/

Anita Hovey
http://hoveyhut.blogspot.com/

Keri Brown
http://gotstamps.blogspot.com

Kristin Dunker
http://cottagestamping.blogspot.com

Sheri Barkhimer
http://croppinontopofthemountain.blogspot.com

Deb Felts
http://withastampandasong.blogspot.com

Laura Lin
http://www.lauraglin.blogspot.com/

Julie Ranae
http://juliesopenwindow.blogspot.com

Divine Divas Inspiration

2009-09-03T00:54:00.005-04:00

Here is my piece for this week's DDIC. I have been so busy lately that I am still not sure if I am coming or going. It seems that I don't have time to stop and eat let alone stamp anything. When I saw this weeks inspiration, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Now yes I know that I didn't make a card, but I saw the buttons and instantly I thought of Stampin' Up! build a brads. Here is the inspiration piece for this week:

Here is my take on this piece. I had a lot of fun building this bracelet. The only problem is that I don't want to wear if for fear it will get ruined. :) I hope you like what I did this week. Don't forget to check out what the rest of the DT has dones with this piece. I know you won't be disappointed. Please join along and create whatever your heart feels when you see this piece.
CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

Very Vintage

2009-08-27T10:49:00.001-04:00

This is my card for today's challenge at Splitcoast. saw today's challenged and had to think for a moment. "How do I do vintage?" This is clearly not my style and I very rarely use it so this was a challenge for me. I sat down at my stamp table and decided that I was going to distress. Of course distress is ALWAYS a sign of vintage. At least it is to me. I found this awesome DSP that I thought looked vintage and took my card from there. I absolutely love how this card turned out from the distressing, DSP and layout. I hope you will agree.

I used some buttons that a friend of mine recently sent me in a White Elephant Gift Exchange. Thank you so much Sara, they came in very handy today. I love them. I just love buttons really, but I am sure you already knew that. :)

I hope you enjoy my card today. Please feel free to let me know what you think. I love hearing from all of you!

Blessings

Give Thanks for Life

2009-08-26T09:23:00.002-04:00

Here is my take on today's sketch challenge. I thought this was a wonderful sketch. There are so many possibilities with these layers and my favorite cards have a lot of layers. I had this great dp setting on my table and knew I wanted to pull out some Rich Razzleberry and play. So today's card came together quite nicely and quickly.

If you have any questions about my card please don't hesitate to ask. I stamped my image on Whisper White with Pink Pirouette that I stamped off and then again with Pink Pirouette and Rich Razzleberry a smidge off to the side. It is hard to see from the photo but I think it looks great IRL!

Thank you so much for stopping by... Hope to hear from all of you soon.

Blessings,

Color Dare 31

2009-08-26T08:09:00.003-04:00

I had a hard time with these 4 colors. Well at least from first glance... Mustard and Bashful Blue? Uh oh!!!! Here are this week's 4 colors.

Chocolate Chip
Bashful Blue
More Mustard
Kraft

After looking at the colors for a little while I realized it wasn't as difficult as first glance. I decided to use the Mustard simply as an accent and made a sun setting sort of effect around the lighthouse. I immediately thought these colors were meant for a masculine card so that is the route I went with it. I love the Chocolate and Kraft and The Bashful Blue just adds something to these browns that I love. I really had a fun time with this color dare challenge. I am really pleased with the way this card came together. I especially have a difficult time making masculine cards and I think this one came together nicely.

Thank you so much for stopping by. Your comments are always welcomed and appreciated. Don't be afraid to let me know you were here and what you think.

Blessings,

DDIC10

2009-08-20T01:48:00.000-04:00

This is my card for this week's DDIC challenge. I know I am late in posting my card, but things haven't been slow around here. Not to mention that I couldn't get my digital camera to work to save my life and my hubby hasn't added my photoshop to the laptop so I can't edit my cards or add watermarks.

It has been very had to get back into stamping after being out for so long and I have had a tough time adjusting to school life again. (Not the kids being gone but rather them having homework and schedules and such... And now there are 3 of them)

I hope you enjoy my take on this challenge... I really didn't do the photographed bedding justice and it is just so beautiful. I really tried to capture the look of the colored leaves under the Chocolate. It was very hard to mute down the brightness of the undertones so I ended up leaving them as they are. I hope that you will find my return up to par and not lacking. Don't forget to check out the creations from our other awesome DT members and please welcome Anne to our team... Welcome Anne!!!!
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE!

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my creations and I hope that I have inspired you to keep coming back to see what is new. Your comments are always welcomed and appreciated.

Blessings...

HE Understands

2009-08-13T11:22:00.003-04:00

This is my attempt at today's variegated challenge. I wanted to use some of my kaleidoscope inks, but my twins lost the brayer handle. I remembered that I had some of the old rainbow organdy ribbon left from Stampin Up! so I thought I would use that. I hope you enjoy my attemp today... I am not completely thrilled with the outcome, but I do like the circle nestie mounted a top the pansy nestie. I think it gives it a nice pop. I also still like this ribbon but can never find a use for it.

I hope you enjoy what I have done here. I am just so happy to be back in my stamp room and doing what I love.

Blessings,

Be True

2009-08-13T11:19:00.001-04:00

I made this late last night but never had the opportunity to upload it. So I thought rather than just letting is sit in my stamp room, I would take photos today and upload is "stylishly" late.

I am so thankful to Jessie Rone for sending me some of the new in colors to play with. I used the Rich Razzleberry on this card. I hope you like what I did..

I hope to get more of a chance to play around with these new colors. I am not a big fan yet and really miss my Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss, but I hope to become attached to the new colors as well.

Blessings,

Great To Be Back!!!!

2009-08-11T09:14:00.002-04:00

I have been dying to get back into my stamp room and I had decided that this was the week to do it. So here I am on my favorite challenge day and I have finally created a card. It has been so hard to be away and even harder to recover from this surgery. I am hopeful that the worst is behind me now and that I can continue to share my projects with you on a daily basis.

Today's card is using one of the preset color combinations and I do not have any bleach in my home. I really need to go get some with having a mound of whites to wash. Anyway, I chose to use Old Olive and So Saffron.

As soon as I saw these colors I knew exactly what I wanted to do. My youngest son started kindergarten this year and I love his teacher. She is a doll to say the least. Her classroom is Frazier's Fantastic Frogs... So guess what I made her?

Acetate Hanna

2009-07-06T22:48:00.001-04:00

Will post info about this card in a little while...

Shop At Hanna

2009-07-06T19:35:00.004-04:00

Here is another great sneak peak card for the hanna stamps release party starting tonight at 9:00 EST. All the new sets will be available for purchase at 11:00 EST. You don't want to miss out on all the great new sets. Check out the Hanna forum of splitcoast for more sneak peaks from the hanna DT. There are some awesome cards for your viewing...

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

I hope you like what I have done for you... Don't forget to stop by the forum tonight to get your hands on some new sets and some fun chatting with friends...

Blessings,

Perfect Present Hanna

2009-07-05T22:03:00.003-04:00

Here is another fabulouse sneak peak card from hanna stamps.. This is the retro set for the month... It's not new, but it could be new to you.... So stop by the forum at splitcoast tomorrow night from 9:00-11:00 EST so you can order your set. There are a lot of other awesome sets being released so you definitely don't want to miss out... Hope to see you there...

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

I don't know if you can see the shimmer of the cardstock but IRL it's just beautiful... I love the colors of this card too. They came from the gorgeous cardstock that I covered.. LOL!!! Hope you like this card too...

Blessings,

Mermaid Hanna

2009-07-05T16:15:00.006-04:00

Here is another fun sneak peak card for the Hanna Stamps Release Party tomorrow night.. This is one release you don't wanna miss... This new set is so cute and so fun to work with.. Check out all the other cards the Design Team has made using this set... So fun...

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE!!

I used my Cuttlebug to make the background for my scene using the bubbles and I used my Martha Stewart branch punch to make coral reefs... I thought they worked out awesome here... I hope you can see the stickles I added to my mermaid.. Mermaids are gorgeous mythical creatures and I felt like she needs to sparkle...

Thanks for looking and I hope to see you tomorrow night at the release party in the Hanna Stamps Forum of splitcoast at 9:00 EST

Blessings,

Workout Mix

2009-07-04T02:03:00.010-04:00

I was fi1nally able to stamp for a while today.. It was definitely a task and took forever to get 2 cards done, but I wanted to relax and this is my way. I made my family some GORP to snack on yesterday and got me thinking about a gift bag. I am going to stamp a cute topper for a bag tomorrow and call it my "moose mix", but for today, I made a cute little bag and since Riley just got done with his tennis workout, this is his "workout mix."

Those of you that don't know what gorp is, it's
G-granola
O-oatmeal
R-raisins
P-peanuts

We add a little more to "fun" it up...

We also use M&M's, chocolate chips, chocolate covered raisins, dried cherries, and cashews... This is an awesome trail mix snack for you kids.. And it's so fun to make. Beware though... It won't last..

Thank you so much for stopping by.. I hope you enjoy my goody bag...

Riley's Ice Cream is Melting

2009-07-03T22:21:00.004-04:00

Here is my second sneak peak for the Hanna Stamps release party... Check out the Hanna forum in Splitcoast for all the sneak peaks available. I absolutely love this Riley.. I hope you like what I did with him...

I found this awesome ice cream designer paper at my LSS and knew it was perfect for this image.. I was a little worried about the colors, but I think it came together nicely.. Thank you for taking the time to look... Stay tuned for more...

Blessings,

OMG!!! You can't even imagine!!!

2009-07-03T21:53:00.004-04:00

Ok so what am I talking about? I am so glad you asked...

I am a guest designer this month for HANNA STAMPS!!!! I have been dying to tell someone for so long and I am so glad that I can finally go to the tops of the highest building and shout it out for all to hear... I love Hanna Stamps and can't get enough of them... I am so excited to finally show you some previews of what you can expect at the release party on Monday, July 6th.. Please join us in the Hanna forum from 9:00 -11:00 EST. You won't want to miss out on this release..

Here is my first item. I made a bracelet using the Cyber Hanna and Ice Cream Riley sets to be released.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

The charms are from Hanna Stamps too, so check out the store.. She has a ton of awesome charms to use on all your stamping projects...

Color Dare 23

2009-07-01T02:27:00.004-04:00

WOW!!!!

Handsome Hunter
Blush Blossom
Bashful Blue
Kraft

These colors definitely took me for a loop. I had the hardest time putting these colors together. Oddly enough once I started putting the colors down on my page I realized that the Handsome Hunter would be the color of stems for flowers and that the blush could be the flowers.. The Bashful Blue and Kraft I would use as background colors.. To my surprise these colors came together rather nicely and I really love how this card turned out..

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by. I am hoping to get back to a more regular stamping schedule, but it has really been a long and stressful recovery for me. I am still off my feet until August 12th so it is very difficult for me to stamp. I am trying my best and I really appreciate the dedication from all of you. I promise you I will be back full force just as soon as I am capable...

Blessings,

Color Dare 22

2009-06-24T00:00:00.001-04:00

This is my card for this week's Color Dare Challenge. The colors this week were awesome and work so wonderfully together.

Pink Passion
Apricot Appeal
Kiwi Kiss

These stuck out to me as wonderful flower colors. I don't use the brights color group hardly at all and I am very often intimidated by this group of colors. I do however like Pink Passion when used with good coordinating colors.. I think that the apricot and kiwi were perfect here..

I hope you enjoy my card and don't forget we would love to see what you can come up with from these colors... Please check out the other DT member's work for inspiration. You can view the Color Dare Challenge here. Thank you so much for stopping by... Can't wait to see where your creativity takes you.

Blessings,

Divine Divas Inspiration Challenge

2009-06-18T02:53:00.007-04:00

Welcome to another Divine Divas Inspiration Challenge day. This week's challenge is amazing. With such a clean and fresh image, this is the week you all need to play along with us. This is the piece we had as our inspiration.

Here is my take on this week's challenge...

I immediately chose the clean white look and the white flowers. I wanted to bring in just a small amount of red to accent a bit. I saw the footstool in the bottom left corner and used that as inspiration to make my background. I used the negative cuttlebug technique to achieve this look. I hope you enjoy what I have done for you this week and I hope that you too will be inspired to join in and play along with all of us.

Check out the other DT member's creations:

Lori
Julie
Angela
Chat
Chris

You can find the links to their blog under the DT link on the left side of my blog.
Can't wait to see what you come up with for this challenge.

Blessings,

Hanna Design Team Contest

2009-06-17T02:45:00.006-04:00

Hanna Stamps is having a contest for a 2 month Guest DT member. They are looking for 6 people and I hope that I will be one of them. Hanna Stamps has such a wonderful line of images that are so fun to work with and even more fun to see. Stop by their store today to get your new images. You won't be sorry.

So here is my first entry for the DT contest. I wanted to use some of the more masculine Riley's hoping to find a good card for Father's Day. My children have fallen in love with Riley and wanted to use them to make daddy's father's day card so I decided I would to. I also thought the sentiment was appropriate for the image. I hope you will agree.

Thank you so much for looking and wish me luck... I hope this to be the beginning of a long journey with the Hanna DT!!!

Blessings,

Color Dare 21

2009-06-17T02:38:00.001-04:00

Today is our Color Dare 21. I have to admit that when I saw these colors I thought for sure I was gonna get the boot from the DT... LOL!!! The colors for this week's challenge are

Riding Hood Red
Pumpkin Pie
So Saffron
Bashful Blue

I started this card with the Red and Orange and was easily able to add the Saffron. I loved the look of this card before I even added the blue. I sat for a while and tried to figure out how to add the blue without going overboard and making the blue work. I added the row of brads thinking that the subtle of the blue would work. I didn't like the brads alone and felt it needed just a touch more blue so I added 2 blue primas. This was the touch it needed. I am so pleased with how this card turned out and am really liking this combination of colors now. I hope that you will join along and play with these colors as well. Don't forget to check out the projects from the other DT members.

Thank you so much for stopping by

Blessings,

Color Dare 20

2009-06-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to announce that I was picked as one of the new DT members for Riley's Color Dare Team. I was suppose to make a card last week, but under the circumstances, Riley let me slide to this week. Thank you so much Riley.. So let me explain to you how hard it was to make this card....

I am still "living" in a hospital bed in my living room and am barely able to get to the bathroom and back let alone get up and play in my stamp room. We all know what work it is getting up and down to get the supplies, stamps, ink, etc. that we need to create 1 card. Well since I can't get to my stamp room, I had to rely on my husband to be my legs. He set up a table next to my bed and then proceeded to get me everything from my stamp room that I needed for this card. (Trying to explain to him where everything was would be like your hubby asking you for his 1/4 socket set and 10 mm locking washers from the garage.) Well... I started off with a simple design and did a lot of sitting and staring at my card before I realized I needed to use the cuttlebug or the wizard and some embellishments. So hubby was in and out of my stamp room at least 10 times getting me everything. He did such an awesome job.

Thank you hubby for enabling me to stamp for the first time in 2 weeks.. I REALLY needed it... I wonder if he will do this for me today too. I'll keep you posted there.

Blessings,

This is why I am Not Currently Stamping

2009-06-05T20:43:00.007-04:00

I thought I would share with you why I haven't been stamping lately. This blog has been set up mostly for my stamping and creating, but also for family to keep updated on important family events. Most of you know that I have had a recurring knee problem for the last 2 yrs. I finally had a surgery that we are hopeful will resolve my problems and allow me to lead a pain free life for the next 5-10 years before having to undergo an total knee replacement. If you have a weak stomach or don't like medical photos then please don't view the following photos from my surgery. I am sharing these with my family as well since they are so far away and can't be here to help.

I had what is called "High Tibial Osteotomy." Following is a description of what that is.
Knee osteotomy is commonly used to realign arthritic damage on one side of the knee. The goal is to shift the patient's body weight off the damaged area to the other side of the knee, where the cartilage is still healthy. Surgeons remove a wedge of the shinbone from underneath the healthy side of the knee, which allows the shinbone and thighbone to bend away from the damaged cartilage.

A model for this is the hinges on a door. When the door is shut, the hinges are flush against the wall. As the door swings open, one side of the door remains pressed against the wall as space opens up on the other side. Removing just a small wedge of bone can "swing" the knee open, pressing the healthy tissue together as space opens up between the thighbone and shinbone on the damaged side so that the arthritic surfaces do not rub against each other.

Osteotomy is also used as an alternative treatment to total knee replacement in younger and active patients. Because prosthetic knees may wear out over time, an osteotomy procedure can enable younger, active osteoarthritis patients to continue using the healthy portion of their knee. The procedure can delay the need for a total knee replacement for up to ten years.

Surgery

The location of the removed wedge of bone depends on where osteoarthritis has damaged the knee cartilage. The most common type of osteotomy performed on arthritic knees is a high tibial osteotomy, which addresses cartilage damage on the inside (medial) portion of the knee. The procedure usually takes 60 to 90 minutes to perform.

During a high tibial osteotomy, surgeons remove a wedge of bone from the outside of the knee, which causes the leg to bend slightly inward. This resembles the realigning of a bowlegged knee to a knock-kneed position. The patient's weight is transferred to the outside (lateral) portion of the knee, where the cartilage is still healthy.

After regional or general anesthesia is administered, the surgical team sterilizes the leg with antibacterial solution. Surgeons map out the exact size of the bone wedge they will remove, using an X-ray, CT scan, or 3D computer modeling. A four- to five-inch incision is made down the front and outside of the knee, starting below the kneecap and extending below the top of the shinbone.

Guide wires are drilled into the top of the shinbone (tibia plateau) from the outside (lateral side) of the knee. The wires usually outline a triangle form in the shinbone.

A standard oscillating saw is run along the guide wires, removing most of the bone wedge from underneath the outside of the knee, below the healthy cartilage. The cartilage surface on the top of the outside (lateral side) of the shinbone is left intact. The top of the shinbone is then lowered on the outside and attached with surgical staples or screws, depending on the size of the wedge that was removed. The layers of tissue in the knee are stitched together, usually with absorbable sutures.

This was taken on Saturday the 30th. Just 3 days after surgery

This photo was taken on Monday while being readmitted to the hospital with complications.

This photo was also taken on Monday while being readmitted to the hospital.

This is a printed out xray of the plate and screws used during surgery.

Another xray of the plate and screws.

I'm going to be away for a bit

2009-05-26T16:41:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to let all of you know that I will be unable to post to my blog for a little while but I appreciate all of your support. I am having knee surgery tomorrow in hopes of finally correcting a 2 year problem. I will be off my feet for quite a while but I promise you that I will be back posting as soon as I can. I really appreciate the support and loyalty that each one of you has given me as well as all the kind words you have left. I love stamping and I am so glad that I am able to share my creations with each and every one of you...

Blessings,

Happily Ever After

2009-05-26T16:33:00.004-04:00

This is my card for today's color challenge:

Pumpkin Pie
So Saffron
Bashful Blue

It's funny to be working with these colors today because if you look at my previous blog post you will see that yesterday I made a card for a DT in the colors of

Tangerine Tango
Summer Sun
Pacific Point

I didn't think I like these colors together but after playing with them, I really do like the way they look together. I added just a small amount of the bashful blue by coloring white grosgrain ribbon with my stampin write marker, and I added a small blue rhinestone brad to the flower center. Also I stamped the ribbon around the flower stems in bashful blue.

This card is for my parent's anniversary on the 31st and they will be celebrating their 35th anniversary... WOW!!!! Can you believe I'm that old? LOL Anyway, please let me know what you think..

Blessings,

Riley's Color Dare Challenge

2009-05-25T17:12:00.006-04:00

So I figured I could post this today since it's the last day for challenge submissions. Riley is the host and creator of the Color Dare Challenges found here. Anyway, she is having open auditions if you will for a spot on her team. She is a dear friend of mine from Splitcoast and she knows I love the color challenges posted there on Tuesdays, so I love her Color Dare Challenges. Her requirements for cards are a follows.

The following color combinations had to be made and submitted by today for consideration for her team. Here are the color combinations and my creations. I hope you like what I did with these 3 color combos. Thanks so much for looking.

Pacific Point
Tangerine Tango
Summer Sun
Any Neutral

Rose Red
So Saffron
Sage Shadow
Any Neutral

Pink Pirouette
Elegant Eggplant
Kiwi Kiss
Regal Rose (opt)
Any Neutral

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by. I hope to hear from all of you soon...

Blessings

Give Thanks

2009-05-24T15:16:00.002-04:00

This is my card for today's FS challenge... I chose 3 cards from Mercy's gallery to case but this one stuck out the most to me...

Mercy's Card

I kept the stamp set and layout. I changed the colors and added flowers where the brads were and omitted the rhinestone. I had so much fun making this card. I really like the color combination I used here and I think the sweet pea look good enough for me to want to now plant some in my yard...

I love hearing your comments so please feel free to leave them for me... I will only be stamping for a few more days and then I am having surgery and will be out for a few weeks... I will get back to my blog as soon as I can. I hope you will still continue to follow along awaiting for my next post. I will miss all of you and I can't wait to get back. Thank you so much for your loyalty.

Blessings,

Lemonade Stand Award

2009-05-23T16:54:00.002-04:00

I got this award from a wonderful stamper that continues to inspire me on a daily basis.Thank you so much Chat for thinking of me and passing this award onto me. You are truly and AWESOME stamper !!! See her beautiful creation on her blog:
She gave me this for showing great blogging "attitude and gratitude".

My turn to pass this on to some of my blogging friends. Make sure you pass the lemonade stand with your blogging friends.

1) Deb
2) Connie
3) Riley
4) Kristen
5) Caroll Ann

You are all so deserving of this award... Spread the cheer...

Blessings,

Hibiscus Purse Inspiration

2009-05-23T13:56:00.003-04:00

Here is my inspiration card for today's challenge.. I chose to use the colors of the purse you see here:

I also liked the quarter circles at the bottom corners of the bag so in incorporated that into my sketch.. Other than the basics there really isn't much to say about this card.. It was super simple to put together and the colors and layout came immediately upon seeing the inspiration piece. I definitely think that these colors would make for a great color challenge.. So here ya go Emily... Try this one on for size...

Pink Pirouette
Going Gray
Summer Sun

I hope you like what I have done with this week's inspiration piece. Please feel free to leave me your comments and let me know what you think... I am interested to hear your thoughts...

Blessings,

DDIC #4

2009-05-21T08:00:00.001-04:00

So this is my card for our 4th DDIC challenge... I am so sorry that this card isn't up to par with the others you have seen me do.. I have a lot on my mind and an upcoming surgery that I am worried about so I can't concentrate the way I should. I really apologize and hope that you can understand. Please check out the inspiration piece found here and play along.

Make sure you check out the other team member's creations. I think you will love what you see. We would love for you to play along and if you do please leave me a comment with a link to you post. If you upload to SCS please use keyword DDIC4. Thank you so much and I hope to see some of you finally playing along with us...

Blessings,

Tri Shutter Card

2009-05-18T13:38:00.004-04:00

Here is my feeble attempt at today's card challenge... I really feel like this card is missing something but I went with the less is more idea. I love the colors and I really love the primas so it works well for me. I hope you all enjoy what I have created today... This was a super easy and super fun card to make and I am sure it would be even more fun to receive... :)

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope to hear from all of you soon...

Blessings,

For Joan

2009-05-17T21:02:00.002-04:00

This is my card for today's FS challenge.. Joan has a truly wonderful gallery and to pick just one card is impossible. I chose this card from her gallery. Joan's Card

I kept the layout and the flowers for the main panel the same. I chose to change the color combination. I used Raspberry Tart Dp for my inspiration. I also made my sentiment panel using the scallop punch from stampin up. I hope you like what I have done here.. I had fun making this card... And Joan you have an amazing gallery hun.. I faved a few of your cards for future use...

Please feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think.. I always love hearing your feedback..

Blessings,

Happy Butterfly

2009-05-17T20:58:00.002-04:00

I made this card for the sketch challenge. I am so late with everything this week it a wonder I am finding time to upload and update my blog. This was a super fun sketch to work with and the layers are awesome. I used my absolutely favorite DP the Raspberry Tart. I used the Fiskars corner punch for my corners and added some bling. I used Pretty in Pink, Cameo Coral and Rose Red stampin write markers to stamp the butterfly and cut out. I added some silver half balls down the center, added some dimensionals and made it look like the butterfly would fly off my card. I stamped the sentiment under the butterfly just to make it pop a little more. I added my polka dot organdy and my card was completed... I loved this sketch

Hanna Loves Cool Caribbean

2009-05-17T20:54:00.002-04:00

I made this card for fun when these flowers happen to land together by chance. I loved the color combination and had to make a card using these colors..

Orchid Opulence
Taken With Teal
Cool Caribbean

Noone seems to like Orchid Opulence but I love purple and any purple will do for me.. Including Orchid Opulence. I hope you like what I have done with Hanna.. She was so fun to paper piece. I pieced her hat and added a flower and bling, I pieced her glove and also her pants. Enjoy

Blessings,

Green With Envy

2009-05-16T20:24:00.001-04:00

I am the hostess for one of the VSN challenges this weekend and my challenge is called Green is the Color of Money... I challenge you to use only green on your card with 1 neutral. Check out the VSN thread to play along with my challenge as well as all the other awesome challenges being posted this weekend... I know you will have a blast.

If you have any questions about my card feel free to ask... I hope you all come play along...

Blessings,

DDIC #3

2009-05-07T08:00:00.002-04:00

Here is my card for today's Divine Divas Inspiration Challenge. This is our third challenge and I think by far the best one so far. I absolutely love this inspiration piece and couldn't wait for this week to play along with the rest of the team. Take a look at these pillows from the Pottery Barn.

Here is my take on this challenge. I hope you enjoy what I did with this piece..

As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by and look at my work. I hope you have enjoyed seeing the things I have made. Please leave me a comment letting me know what you think and don't forget to check out the other team members' creations as well.. I am sure they will knock your socks off with this inspiration..

Blessings,

Your Old When...

2009-05-05T18:46:00.001-04:00

I was messing around a little bit and came up with this Designer Paper that is really close to today's colors for the Color Challenge... I decided to play around and make a card using a stamp set from Hanna Stamps that I haven't yet had the opportunity to ink up... I think this old lady is such a trip... I made her skin pale cuz we all know old ladies don't tan and I made her dress and handbag the ugly colors that don't match cuz lets face it ladies.... When we are that old who cares about matching.. LOL

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think....

Blessings,

Sweet Pea

2009-05-05T13:34:00.002-04:00

Here is my card for today's color challenge... I was really worried about how these colors would come together and I was a bit afraid to try this challenge but I found some great designer paper to use and this sparked my creativity. I colored the sweet peas with my stampin write markers twice and cut out one set of the flowers and popped them up with dimensionals. The border of the Sweet Pea was created by using the Cameo Coral Stampin Write Marker to color in the actual Labels Four Die. I colored in the groove before I embossed the frame. The color transfers from the die to the cardstock when you emboss. I would recommend huffing on your ink before embossing and going fairly quickly as to avoid the ink drying and not transferring completely... Thank you so much for looking and as always your comments are welcomed and greatly appreciated..

Blessings,

Flower Soft Tree

2009-05-04T21:38:00.000-04:00

Well this weeks seems to be a little more relaxed so far. I was able to sit down and stamp today's challenge. I really wanted to use my new flower soft and I also really like today's technique.. It is one of my faves... There really isn't anything exciting in this card but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.. I will be more than happy to share with you.

As always your comments are welcomed.

Blessings,

So Sorry for the Mia

2009-05-01T13:52:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to make a post to let everyone know what's been happening and why I haven't had time to stamp lately. First off let me tell you all how much I miss stamping... It is so hard to find the time to sit down this week with all the running and appointments. So this is what is going on... I have had problems with my knee for 2 1/2 years now with no solutions. I developed a bad varicose vein 3 years ago when I was pregnant with the twins and they originally thought that it might be some pain from that and not my knee but decided to do so tests anyway... To make a long story short, I have had 3 surgeries with 5 torn meniscus in the last 2 years. I decided to see a vascular surgeon a month ago to see if they could take care of the vein. Again long story short, and after several appointments and ultrasounds, I am having surgery on the 8th of May to close off the vein. Then this past week I have had appointment on top of appointment for my knee. I was finally referred to a structural surgeon who has determined that the alignment from my hip to my ankle is off which is causing the pain in my knee as well as lack of cartilage from so many previous surgeries. Again making a long story short, I am scheduled for a series of appointments from x-rays, to follow ups to pre op and then surgery. I am having surgery on the 27th of May for my knee which will put me out of commission for 6-8 weeks. I will be non weight bearing for those weeks as that is how long it takes for bone to heal. I hope to be back to stamping this weekend now that I don't have anymore appointments until next week late. Thank you all for understanding and still following my blog even though I haven't posted... I really appreciate the faithfulness...

Blessings,

Favorite Sunflower

2009-04-23T09:43:00.002-04:00

Here is my card for today's challenge, white,white,white. We could only use white cardstock today. Any embellishments were fine and and colors of ink were fine but only white cardstock.

The green border on my frame is NOT cardstock. I used a stampin up marker to color the inside nested part of my label nestie and then ran it through the wizard to emboss and color the border. I only used white cardstock. The flower was created using only Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write markers. The image was then cut out and popped up with dimensionals... I think this card turned out okay... Never was a big fan of the only white... But it worked here I think.

Feel free to leave me your comments.
Blessings,

Mommies To Be

2009-04-22T13:34:00.001-04:00

I wanted to sit down and create another card for today's challenge and since my cousin i pregnant, I figured she would like to get a cute little card. This is her first baby and I know how excited she and her husband are.. I just hope she likes this card. I hope you enjoy my second card for today.. Thanks again Rox for a wonderful sketch.. Glad I was able to play along....twice...

Please feel free to leave a comment.. Your opinions are very important to me...

Blessings,

Green Thank You

2009-04-22T10:20:00.003-04:00

Here is my card for today's sketch challenge.. I just love this sketch... Great one Rox.. So I chose my card colors from the DSP that I used. I am not sure if you can see it of not but I used Fresh Cuts on my main panel. There really isn't anything to tell you about this card.. It was really simple to create and there are no hidden secrets.. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.. As always your comments are very welcomed...

Blessings,

Beautiful Thank You

2009-04-20T08:58:00.003-04:00

I am so sorry I was MIA this weekend. I ended up with some bug on Friday and I just couldn't get out of bed. By Saturday evening I was pretty much back to normal but it took a lot out of me and I spent most of the weekend lounging around. We did take the family to the strawberry patch and picked some strawberries. We had so much fun. We plan to go back this weekend with some friends of our. We do this and apple picking every year. Sort of a family fun time for us. We all love it..

Anyway... About my card today. I sat down this morning to do today's challenge and found out I didn't have the necessary item to do the challenge "gesso." I actually have never heard of it, but I went looking and it's pretty expensive; at least it is online. So I decided I would sit down and just stamp something for fun. It seems I don't really get the opportunity to do that very often any more. So I made a thank you card using my new stamp set from Flourishes and my new Label Four Nestabilities. This label will be worn out in a week.. Just beautiful.. If you don't have it.... You need it!!!

I hope you enjoy what I did with my card today. I hope to get some more free time to sit down and stamp a cute little box I saw in the FS gallery yesterday. I do have to catch up on some house work first though. Check back later...

Blessings,

Divine Divas Inspiration Challenge 2

2009-04-16T08:00:00.002-04:00

Here is the inspiration piece for this week.

So here is the second Divine Divas Inspiration Challenge. I really hope you can find time to play along with us this week. I think the inspiration piece is one that will get your creative juices flowing. It definitely got mine going. I absolutely love anything that has to do with grapes or purple.. Both favorites of mine. My entire kitchen and dining room is done with grapes and vines... I absolutely love it...

Angela is giving away a $15.00 set from There She Goes to one lucky participant in this week's challenge.Stop by her blog for more information. She will be choosing a winner randomly so your chances of winning are just as good as the next person, but if you don't play you know you won't win... Also make sure you upload your creation to your splitcoast gallery using Keyword DDIC2. We want to see what you come up with.

Check out the other DT creations too:

Angela
Chat
Chris
Julie
Lori

Blessings,

Mother's Day Early?

2009-04-15T23:41:00.000-04:00

I was messing around in my stamp room this evening. (Can you believe I actually had some free time?) Anyway, I wanted to ink up this new stamp set I got from Flourishes. I love it... So many possibilities here.. I stamped the flower twice colored the bottom with copic markers to get the yellow and left the second one uncolored for the white center. I really like the look of this flower.. I hope you like what I did here...

Blessings,

Birthday Violets

2009-04-15T14:17:00.000-04:00

Here is my card for today's sketch. I had a tough time with this one. I knew what I wanted to do but then when I got it to paper, it just wasn't quite right. So I had to redo my idea and thought. This was the outcome. I like the colors and I like the lace strips, but I am not sure this is the best card I could do for this challenge.

I hope you enjoy what I have done with this sketch. Please feel free to leave me a comment letting me know what you think.

Blessings,

Sow The Seeds

2009-04-14T13:30:00.000-04:00

I was lucky I had time to play today. I have some things I have to get done before I get my son and my DH from work. I also need to get a week's worth of laundry done. I am swamped... Luckily for me the twins are locked to the television today and Twilight. Can you believe they ask to watch that over Anastasia? Crazy.. I tell ya.. Edward just has that power over all of us.. Including my 3 year olds...

I hope you like what I did with today's colors. I think these colors are beautiful together and wish I had time to make another card with them. Such beautiful spring flower colors. Maybe later....

Blessings,

Kind Words

2009-04-11T13:05:00.000-04:00

This is my card for today's inspiration challenge. It's a wonder I can even think straight today as I didn't get to sleep until 6:30. I tried to get to sleep around 3:30 and one of the twins woke up with a fever and couldn't settle down to go back to sleep. WOW!!! I am tired... Luckily for me I can still stamp on little sleep.. LOL

I hope you like my version of the piece. I chose the stripes, the lacey look and the colors...
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/fo...p;d=12394203

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think

Blessings,

Best Friends

2009-04-10T20:19:00.000-04:00

I just felt like stamping this evening and this is a result of my attempt. I am so thrilled with how this card turned out. I am not sure how well this shows up in the photo but I made a diagonal score across the background of the white oval. IRL this really pops. I also stamped the butterflies each 2 times and popped up the top butterfly for added dimension. I hope this shows up in the card for you to see .

Just Because

2009-04-10T14:45:00.000-04:00

I made this for today's limited supply challenge "triple play"

I hope I did this right. I am in a haze today and had a hard time with the rules of this one so here is my explanation..

We had to use 3 layer not including our base. My dp is the base, the cross bands is layer 1, the nestie is layer 2 and the flowers are my 3rd layer.

We had to use 3 colors. I used Red, Pink and Green.

And I think I got this right. We had to use 3 items for focal. I used ribbon (tied 3 times) the pearls and the sentiment.

I hope I did this right today...

Blessings,

Make A Wish

2009-04-09T14:37:00.000-04:00

I made this card for the Hanna Stamps challenge to make a Birthday Card for a coworker. I also chose to use yesterday's sketch challenge to start this card. Well seeing as I don't work outside the home, I chose to make it for a friend of mine. She is just drop dead gorgeous and seems to get everything handed to her on a plate. It really ought to be nice to have a bod like this... Here's to still dreaming... :)

Anyway... There really isn't much to this card really. I colored the image with copic markers and cut her out. I stamped the purse, dress and shoes onto dp and cut them out to once again use paper piecing. (I love the look) I then used yesterday's sketch to lay out my pieces as I wanted them. The primas I felt were the perfect touch and a wonderful color to accent this card. I hope you agree. Please feel free to let me know what you think...

Blessings

Twin Easter Dresses

2009-04-06T16:07:00.000-04:00

I finished making these today though they were for yesterday's FS challenge.. I absolutely adore Julie and I love her gallery... She has inspired me to make these little dresses for my cousin's 12 yr old daughter and her 6 yr old twins as well as for my 3 yr old twins... These are the ones I made for my girls. I ABSOLUTELY love this DP for these dresses.

If you are interested in trying one of these absolutely adorable little dresses you can find the pattern here: Dress Pattern

Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you have a Blessed day...

Easter Dress

2009-04-05T14:33:00.001-04:00

Here is my second upload for today's AWESOME FS... I have wanted to try one of these dresses for the longest time and never really took the time. So when I saw this photo in Julie's gallery:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...;ppuser=137985 I knew I had to give them a try. I plan to make these for my twin girls for Easter as well as my cousin's twin girls.. I think they will love them...

I can't show you in the photo but the ribbon is tied around the back into a bow with the ribbon ends hanging down the back of the dress... These really are easy to make and too darling!!!

For Julie's Day

2009-04-05T12:10:00.000-04:00

So here is my card for today's FS challenge... Julie Write. Her gallery is absolutely amazing... You will have no problem casing something from the "write" gallery...

I chose to case this card of Julie's

I loved her main flower image so that was the inspiration for my card... I just loved the way she put this one together with just a few colors and only 1 repeated DP. Just a beautiful card Julie and I am very happy to be casing you today...

Don't Do Moosework

2009-04-03T20:16:00.000-04:00

This is my card for today's challenge. Seems I am stamping later and later these days... I guess I am grateful to atleast be able to stamp at all...

Any way...

My 1 color of cardstock is Kiwi Kiss

My 2 DP's are from Raspberry Tart

My 3 embellies are ribbon, brads and primas

Please feel free to let me know what you think. I always love to hear your comments... Thank you so much for stopping by...

Blessings,

Missing My Soldier

2009-04-02T22:41:00.000-04:00

I felt like stamping today. This started out as the aluminum card for today's challenge and I realized I had no foil of any kind, no foil papers or anything I could have used.. So I decided to go into my stamp room and do something metallic instead. I figured aluminum foil was metallic so something metallic would work for me...

I was thumbing through my Hanna Stamps and came across G.I. Jon and everything just fell into place. I hope noone objects to me uploading this as my card for today's challenge. If anyone has a problem then please pm me and I will remove it from the challenge gallery immediately.

DDIC #1

2009-04-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

This is my card for the very first Divine Divas Inspiration Challenge. This is the link for the first DDIC challenge. Feel free to play along and post to your blog or splitcoast gallery. When you upload your card please use keywork DDIC1. We would love to see what you have done.

Please check out the other Design Team members galleries and blogs. You can find all of their names on the left side of my blog under Divine Divas Inspiration Challenge link. I hope you will choose to play along with us. We have a ton of awesome challenges in the works for you to play with..

Blessings

I Moosed Up

2009-04-01T12:10:00.000-04:00

Here is my card for today's sketch challenge. I love the simplicity of this layout. I think the uneven rectangle gives this layout so much life. I never think to "****" things as I seem to be a perfectionist and everything needs to be clean and level for me... But I really do love this layout. Took me out of my comfort zone...

I have another date with Edward Cullen this afternoon but I would love to make another card with this sketch... :D

I hope you like what I have done.. Please let me know what you think

Blessings

True Friend

2009-03-31T12:30:00.001-04:00

This is my card for today's challenge. The colors we had to use were Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette. These colors came straight from the Bella Rose DP from Stampin' Up! I really fell in love with this paper the moment I saw it so I knew these colors would look great together.

I hope you enjoy what I have done here... Please let me know what you think

Blessings,

Happy Mother's Day

2009-03-30T11:14:00.000-04:00

I will leave better post details later, but right now I have a date with Twilight and Edward Cullen.

I hope you enjoy my card today. I needed to break my gloom and this was such a cheery colored card... I hope it helps me get out from the grayness I have been under recently...

Please let me know what you think...

Blessings

You Make Me Smile

2009-03-22T08:42:00.000-04:00

I will post a description for my card later but I am on my way out the door to the airport. I will be gone until Tuesday but don't worry I will still update my blog with some more goodies... Enjoy this one...

Honey of a Day

2009-03-21T22:50:00.001-04:00

I got this stamp set and wanted to ink it up. I think it is one of the cutest sets in the new catty and I just had to have it. I hope you like what I did with this fun image. I love the grass paper behind my hive. I really put quite a bit of thought into this card.. I chose these colors from one of the dresses in the Little Daisy Designs Etsy shop. The inspiration challenge was from this shop today.

Inky Impressions 1st Design Team Call

2009-03-18T14:27:00.000-04:00

These are the two cards I am choosing to send to Inky Impressions for their DT call. I really love to color and line art images are my favorites. I hope you enjoy the cards I have uploaded for the Design Team.

Blessings,
Keri :)

Birthday Flowers and Bling

2009-03-18T09:45:00.000-04:00

This is my card for today's sketch challenge.. This was a great sketch for scraps. I don't have many scraps left since I use them all with my nestabilities so this was a fresh sheet of DP but I am rather pleased with the outcome. I really like how all of the elements tie together with silver. I added silver rhinestones to the flowers, silver cording to the organdy bow and silver rhinestones along the bottom edge. I really like this card.. I especially love the colors...

I think you should challenge yourself to use this color combo. I think it is truly a gorgeous one...

Perfect Plum
Going Gray
Kraft

If you do decide to try these colors, please come back here and leave a comment with a link to your gallery of blog post with the item you made with these colors. I would love to see what you come up with.. Thank you so much for stopping by...Have a truly blessed day!

Blessings,
Keri :)

One Sad Puppy

2009-03-17T11:54:00.000-04:00

WOW!!! This WAS a challenge. I had absolutely NO idea how to incorporate the Summer Sun into this card.. I love kraft and red together but trying to add the yellow just seemed impossible. Well... Not impossible, but you won't find much of it here... I used yellow rhinestone brads for my flower centers. I can't wait to see how other used the Summer Sun on their cards... Good luck ladies!!!

I will have to try another card with these colors to see if I can find another way to incorporate the Summer Sun. This really was a challenging color combination. I hope you all like what I have done with these colors.. Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and please remember I would love to hear your comments and thoughts. Please take a second to let me know what you think!!!

Blessings,
Keri :)

Fabulous Ribbon Frame

2009-03-16T16:49:00.000-04:00

My son finally fell asleep with the twins so I had some time to play some more. You will notice that this is all the same paper as my first card. I am on borrowed time so I used what was never cleaned up from the first card today. :) I really love these little frames and there are so many possibilities... I hope you like what I have done here...

Tangerine Ribbon Frame

2009-03-16T14:24:00.001-04:00

This is my card for today's Ribbon frame challenge. I had an extremely busy morning with a 5 yr old at the dentist getting some work done. He needs extra attention as a result today so when I saw the challenge, I honestly wasn't going to play along. Luckily I found a cartoon that he was really in to so I was able to whip this up really quickly. It only took me 25 minutes to make this card. I am not usually a brights person, but I had this gorgeous dp and wanted to use it. So the colors came from that. I really love this orange and green together. Gawgeous... I am REALLY glad I was able to find some time today to play. Now I am off to spend some time with my kiddo....

To see how these Ribbon Frames are made check out this blog post by Claire. I can tell you that this is such an easy technique. Try it out for yourself.

Have a Beary Good Birthday

2009-03-15T14:20:00.000-04:00

I love this set and unfortunately the newer ones always come first. I decided to show this set some love today and ink it up for the FS challenge. Stacy and I have had this "feud" going back and forth for some time now because she is a Colts fan and I am a Cowboys fan. I really wanted to case her Romo, Oh Romo card, but I didn't.. I decided to be nice and cased one of my faves... So congrats Stacy on being the FS this week. You are so deserving hun...

Oh and may the feud start back up in about 8 months.. WHAHAHAHA!!!

I chose to case this card of Stacy's:
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ga...p;ppuser=60960

I changed the colors and stamp set.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope to hear from all of you soon,
Blessings,
Keri :)

Easter Treats Riley Style

2009-03-14T20:48:00.000-04:00

I am not sure how this little project came about, but I was shopping at wal mart and found a bunch of fun Easter stuff so I decided to get it and play. I made all the baggies and tubes of candy except for the drink mix. That came that way from wal mart. I colored Eggshell Riley and added some white gel pen for highlighting. I tied a colorful ribbon around the pail and attached Riley to the ribbon. I am going to make something like this for my 5 kiddos for Easter. My 5 year old and my 3 year old twins know exactly who Riley is because I use him all the time. I think it would be cute for them to see Riley on Easter morning.

I hope you like these. I had fun making it and I am sure I will have fun making the rest of them. I hope that Kristi (owner of Hanna Stamps) likes what I did with Riley here too. She knows how much I love the little bugger. :)

Blessings,
Keri :)

Better late than never?

2009-03-14T17:16:00.000-04:00

I had intended on posting this once the Spellbinder's team was chosen and I completely forgot. Or maybe I was scared to show my projects as they obviously weren't good. But I decided that they were my work and I am happy with them. I really love my layout and I think my card was great too. Unfortunately I didn't get picked for the team... I will definitely try a LOT harder next year.

Here are my official submissions:

My Kind Friend

2009-03-14T17:04:00.000-04:00

So here is the cool thing about this card. I had a dream last night that I can sware was in color and this was the card... I got up this morning and saw the inspiration challenge and this flower. I made my card and it turned out exactly how I wanted it. I only wish I could have more dreams like this one. I am sure I would be a better stamper then.

I started with Apricot Appeal for my base and layered with some gorgeous DP. I used the oval nesties to make the sentiment box. I added a ribbon around the sentiment, colored my image with copic markers, cut out and placed flowers over the already existing stamped flower. Lastly I added a few half back pearls to the right hand side of my sentiment as well as one larger one in my flower center. I truly am thrilled with the outcome of this card.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by. Please let me know what you think.

Blessings,
Keri :)

Easter With Friends

2009-03-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

I made this for the Easter Eyelet challenge over at Hanna Stamps. Thank you Amanda for a great challenge.. I bet you are looking at my card, scratching your head and asking yourself where my eyelets are? LOL!!! I attached the circles with eyelets and put small pink pearls in the centers. I thought it was a cute little touch.. But I assure you there are eyelets on this card... :) I also couldn't help but cut out all these cute Riley heads to use.. I paper pieced the egg and also paper pieced the ribbon around the egg. SO MUCH FUN!!! I popped the ribbon up on dimensionals and I popped Riley's head up on dimensionals. I had a blast making this card.. Too totally fun!!! I just hope Kristi likes it... ;)

Thank you all so much for supporting my blog... I really do try to make the best I can. I know I am not as seasoned as most of the other ladies on here, but I really am trying to be better. I feel that the better I do, the more opportunities will come knocking at my door. I am patiently waiting for "THE" one.. I just keep praying that she notices me and swipes me up. I am going to keep doing my best and one day it will happen... ONE DAY!!!

Blessings,
Keri :)

Take a Deep Breath

2009-03-12T18:13:00.000-04:00

I was out running some errands today and when I got home, there was a package in my mailbox from Kelli... She was so kind as to send me a couple MFT stamp sets because I don't own any. Well... I can't say that anymore. I now have 3 and 2 more on the way.. WOOHOO!!! Thank you so much for everything Kelli. You have no idea what I have been going through lately and how much stress I have been under. You kindness and generosity hit me in the right spot and the absolute PERFECT moment. I don't know how to thank you, but please know that from the bottom of my heart, I am truly grateful...

Dear Friend

2009-03-12T11:58:00.000-04:00

This is my "green" card for today's challenge. I chose to go with the "use green" idea. I was playing around with colors for my flowers and settled on these. I picked the greens to accentuate the flowers. I love the combination here. I used one of the Martha Stewart border punches. I punched out the first side and didn't like how it looked, so I chose to punch both sides to see if it would look any better and I decided it was exactly what my card needed. I love the elegance of the punched piece and it makes the flowers look that much softer. I also decided to cuttlebug the green layer so it didn't look so plain. I used a simply detailed cuttlebug for this as well. I really wanted to make sure that my flowers stood out on this card... I definitely think they do. I hope you like it... I needed to make a card after all the 3-d items and tutorials I have been doing lately...

Blessings,
Keri :)

Easter Box Tutorial

2009-03-09T22:16:00.001-04:00

So I promised I would post a tutorial on how I made my Easter Box. Bear with me as this was equally as hard to photograph as the tubes. I hope this doesn't look crappy. I did my best with this and I hope that you will find it helpful and go off and make one of these for yourself. If you do, please come back and leave me a comment with a link to your blog or gallery showing me what you made. I would love to see what you have done...

These are the items you will need for this tutorial:

Acetate (Transparency Sheet)
Sticky Strip/Scor Tape
Satin Ribbon
Rubber Band
Border Punch
Crop a Dile
Cardstock
Stamps
Ink

Ok let's get started. Cut your sheet of acetate to 5.5 X 4.24

Next you will need to score your acetate at 2", 4", 6" and 8". Make sure you score really well.

Run a strip of sticky strip/scor tape down the 1/2" flap and adhere to first rectangle to make your box.

Next cut your base piece of cardstock to 3" X 3"

Cut in on the small flaps as show in the picture. Make sure you cut them both in the same direction.

Place your cardstock base in the acetate box sideways for easier turning to get base into place. Base should fit snugly.

Slide your base down into the box with the opening facing down or to the outside of the box. This should make a "platform" for your goodies to sit on.

Finish your box as desired. You can add any embellishments to your box that you choose. I chose to limit mine so the focus was on the box itself and the goodies inside. *TIP* (To make the ribbon so straight, tie around a rubber band and attach the rubber band to the box top. Perfect bow everytime. You can also use bow easy.)

I hope you enjoy this tutorial enough to try one of these cute little boxes. I would love to see what you come up with, so please send me a link to your box...

Blessings,
Keri :)

Treat Purse

2009-03-09T12:53:00.000-04:00

I made this for today's "treat purse" challenge.. I don't really have a lot of time to stamp today being Monday and tons to do, so this was a quickie... I know I can do this better... I will try another one later this afternoon or tomorrow. FOr directions on how to make these adorable little gifts, please check out Julie's Blog

Have a wonderful day and stop back later for my Easter Box tutorial...

Blessings,
Keri :)

Riley's Easter Box

2009-03-08T22:42:00.000-04:00

I am having so much fun altering stuff lately. I am not sure what has gotten into me, but I am having a blast. I was on my way home from Wal Mart this evening and got to thinking about things for the kiddos for Easter, and into my head popped this little box. I wasn't even sure I could do it. I had to really think about the bottom of the box (which by the way is inside the box). I got this new MS border punch and thought it was the perfect addition. Stay tuned tomorrow for the matching card as well.. :) I will post a tutorial on my blog tomorrow. I really hope you like this...

Blessings,
Keri :)

Sugar Coating Tin

2009-03-08T16:08:00.001-04:00

I made this for the MFT Idol challenge. They are giving away a $250.00 MFT shopping spree. I don't own any MFT images and Jada (hobbydiva) was nice enough to send me some for this contest. I am hoping to win so that I can start my MFT collection. It is so hard in today's society to get all the things we want... There is more out there to buy and not enough money to buy it with. Having 5 kids doesn't make it any easier either. So I am hoping that I can possibly win this contest and get some of the stamps that I have so badly been wanting.

I am so glad that the sugar coating actually showed up in my photo. It seems that every time I try to get the glitter and glam to show up, it never seems to work for me...So I am happy that this one photographed nicely for me...

Let me know what you think

Blessings,
Keri :)

Candy Tube Tutorial

2009-03-07T19:52:00.001-05:00

I have had several people ask me how I made my Riley's Diet Candy Tube. So I decided to try another tutorial in hope of helping you guys out. It was very hard to photograph because it is clear, but I did the best I could and I hope that it turns out well enough for you ladies to run right out and try one of these...

You will need the following supplies:

Acetate (Transparency Sheet)
Sticky Strip/ Scor Tape
Crystal Effects
Scissors
Crop A Dile
Round Tab Punch
Scallop Punch
Various stamps, inks and embellishments...

Ok.. Now that we have everything we need, lets get started... You start with a 4.25 X 5.5 sheet of acetate. Adhere a line of Sticky Strip to the long side of your acetate and roll together to make a tube. Shown here..

Then you want to use your scallop punch (nestabilities circles will work too) and punch out for the bottom of your tube. Take a small amount of Crystal Effects and add to the rim of the tube. (I couldn't get this to photograph) Place the scallop onto the bottom of the tube and let dry about 5 minutes. I promise it will hold.

Cut yourself a strip of DP 1 X 4.5 and wrap around the base of the tube. Attach with either sticky strip or mono adhesive. Bet you can't believe that is all that's too it...

Decorate your tube as desired. I chose to attach the Round Tab Punch to the top to close the tube and I added eyelets to hold it onto the acetate. I decorated and had a blast filling these... Here is my finished product.

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I hope you will try one of these. If you do, please leave a comment for me in this post with a link to your blog or your gallery so that I can see what you have created. Happy stamping..

Blessings,
Keri :)

Riley's Diet?

2009-03-07T19:50:00.001-05:00

I made this candy tube for the one of the Hanna Stamps monthly challenges. This one was hosted by Jocelyn (Stamps'nCoffee). She is an amazing stamper and I just lover her style. Her challenge was to make anything BUT a card. I love challenges like this because they help me get out of my comfort zone of making cards exclusively. So I say thank you...

Thank you goes out to Brenda (cadnileb) for the wonderful idea to make these treat tubes... What an adorable idea...

Thank you so much for stopping by.. I hope you like what you see. If you do, please let me know..

Blessings,
Keri :)

Moosed Be Love

2009-03-06T09:26:00.001-05:00

So here is my card for today's challenge. This was truly a challenge for me because I really like to take my time coloring and I love to cut out my images. Well not today. You will notice little to no shading and no cut out images. None the less, I still love the turnout of this card and it only took me 25 minutes to make.. Yes you heard that correct, 25 minutes.

I started with Pretty In Pink for my base and layered with some beautiful DP. I stamped Riley (or in this case I think I made him Sophie with the colors.) with Ranger distress black soot and colored with various copic markers.

E29, E31, E35, E37, E55, G20, G82, R81, R83

I used the curved rectangle and oval nesties for my main panel and mounted them with dimensionals. I added satin ribbon, some primas and a sentiment. Super cute and super simple... All in under 30 minutes. EVERYONE has time to stamp now!!!

Thank you all so much for stopping by...

Blessings,
Keri :)

SIgn of Hope

2009-03-06T09:20:00.000-05:00

I have a really good family friend that has been battling cancer for many years now. She has been in the hospital for about 2 weeks now and in the ICU. She was having problems breathing so they put her on a ventilator. The doctors have tried to remover her from the ventilator 3 different times and they have determined that her body has lost the ability to release the carbon dioxide from her body. There is nothing more they can do for her. They told her yesterday that she was terminal and it was up to her to make the ultimate decision to end her life. My family is beside themselves as she is a very good friend of our family and an EXTREMELY Christian woman. Her love for God is amazing and I hope that he takes care of her and ends her suffering.

"May God be with you Belinda!!"

ATC / Gone Card

2009-03-05T18:26:00.001-05:00

Today's challenge was to create an ATC. I have to admit, I am better at create these than cards. So I made this ATC card and then thought what in the world am I going to do with it? So after sitting and waiting for 2 hours for Splitcoast to come up, I decided to turn the ATC into a card that I could use...

This is my completed card. I love the border punch here. I just got it today and I thought it would be the perfect accent to this card... I chose the entire project from this gorgeous DP and I will definitely be going back to the LSS to get more...
I hope you like what I did here...

As always, thank you so much for stopping by and I hope to hear from all of you soon.

Blessings,
Keri :)

Sketch Challenge on Splitcoast

2009-03-04T12:09:00.000-05:00

I did 2 cards for this challenge today.. My first one started off on a completely different track...I started this card last night because I saw this dp sitting on my desk with the blue cuttlebug piece laying on top and I really liked the colors. Thought it would make a great Easter card. I had this card all put together and got so frustrated because it looked awful. So I looked at the sketch and off to bed to dream... I woke up this morning, pushed my unfinished card aside and started the wheels turning for the sketch challenge. I immediately went back to the card that I had started last night, took it apart and fixed it to work with today's sketch. The original design had two rows of 1/4 grosgrain tied around the nestie rectangle. I changed that using a wider organdy and made the ribbons my horizontal rows. I am pleased with the final outcome. If you had seen it last night you'd know why. LOL!!!
Very simple card, but I really love the colors.

My second card was so much fun to make and color. I saw the skirt and new instantly that I wanted to paper piece this image. I chose the colors and then lo and behold I have the perfect dp's. The stripes is from Stampin' Up! cerise and the other is unknown. But I thought it was great. I colored the image with various copic markers. I added silver half balls to her earrings and on the narrow horizontal panels. I wanted something to sparkle since a uniform has silver all over it. I even had the after thought to stamp the handcuff stamp onto polyshrink and add real ones to her uniform... Actually keep an eye out because I think that is exactly what I plan to do.. I will post the updated card soon..

Enjoy and TFL!!!!

Blessings,
Keri :)

Treat Yourself

2009-03-03T12:25:00.001-05:00

This is my card for the color challenge (Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip and Pink Passion) as well as the Hanna Stamps Release challenge. We had to create a card using anything that looks like glass, clear embossing powder, crystal effects, clear flowers,clear dew drops, etc. I chose to use crystal effects. I had a hard time photographing this card so I decided to give you a picture in picture view so that you can see the card and also the glassy effect on the gumball machine. I hope you like what I have done here. This was a fun card to make...

This card was very simple to create. I cut the ovals from nestabilities. The dp is from a stack pack which is very glittery. I love it... I stamped the gumball machine with ranger distress walnut stain and colored with copic markers. I cut the image out and added crystal effects to the "glass" bowl. I added a sentiment, some ribbon and some gumballs. Simple yet it's so cute. IMHO!!!