Christmas, blabber, and blog candy!!!

I made this for the My Favorite Challenge this week. We were to create a Christmas decoration. I had this chalkboard in my alterables drawer and decided to make a countdown calendar. I love Advent calendars and countdown calendars. I must have 5 that I put up with our Christmas decorations. So I decided to make one for my son's room - he loves activities like this - and it's an opportunity to practice numbers in a fun way!
After much playing around, I decided to selectively ink the Peppermint Cats stamp and stamp the stars only repeatedly across the top. Then I inked the cats, omitting the frame, and stamped them. I used Palette New Canvas ink and heat set it - it worked beautifully! I pulled out my Bling bet again (I use that alphabet a ton!) and stamped it in Riding Hood red and used silver stickles to fill in the holes. I also used the stickles in the stars across the top. The paper is Basic Grey Figgy Pudding, left over from last year. I used my Karen Foster snap stamps to create the banner at the bottom, which reads "to chill till Christmas". As of Tuesday there were 115 days left until Christmas - crazy!!

I've been feeling a little down lately. In fact, today was a cr@ppy day! Can I pour my heart out here? There's lots going on, but the one thing I can talk about is stamping related.

I started stamping after my 2nd child was born and I was struggling to find my place. I had given up my position at work and felt like I had no identity other than being a mom. Stamping gave me back my sanity and forced me to take some time for myself. I find creating rewarding - I enjoy the feeling I get when I finish something that I love. But lately, I have this longing to be more or do more, or truthfully, maybe it's just to be recognized more. Does that sound lame?

I would love to be on a design team. At one time I thought I was good enough, now I'm not so sure. Part of my problem is that I love to play the comparison game. I'll look at so and so's work and think that my work looks to be the same quality - and she's on 2 design teams. But when I look at the design team calls, they just don't appeal to me. I'll look at the online stores for the design team calls, and I'll like some of the images... but I don't love them, and some of them I don't even like. I can't bring myself to apply for them. Blah - I don't even know what my point is! I just want to improve, be better, get better, enjoy the process and have fun. But I get caught up in the hype I guess. Do you ever feel that way?

Well if you've stuck with me this long - you deserve a big reward! I wish I could give you all something (all 3 of you that are reading this - tee hee!) - but I only have one package and I thought I'd offer up some blog candy. I have 4 sets of clear stamps from AdornIt.

Fun Flowers
Swirly Stitches
Sophisticated Tags
Stitch Alphabet
I'll throw some other fun stuff into the package as well!

So... leave me a comment and if you don't have a blog, make sure I have some way to contact you. Sorry - US and Canadian residents only. I would love it if you would consider becoming a follower - but I'm not going to make that a condition of entering. I'll use random.org to choose a winner on the evening of Sept. 12th.

Thanks for reading friends! Good luck!!

Yummy Ambassador Challenge

This month's ambassador challenge over in the MFT Forum on Splitcoast was to use a food or drink image.
I often print recipes off the web - from Allrecipes or Pioneer Woman and various other sources. If we like the recipe, I shove the paper into my pantry. I can't tell you how many times the whole pile has fallen out of the cupboard! I finally got my act together and gathered all the recipes into a 3 ring binder. So for the challenge - I decided to make a page to slip into the front of the binder. The finished size is 8 1/2 x 11". I used some Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday paper and a whole bunch of MFT sets. I also used the Bling bet - love that alphabet - I get a ton of use out of it! The whole thing is stitched and I used some Doodlebug rub ons for my name.
Hope you're having a good week! We're keeping busy here - making pear jam and getting ready for school next week!

Brayered Roses

I'm still without a camera, but found a pic of something I hadn't shared here. I have had the honor of being a guest stamper over on my Stampin Up demo Jenn's blog for the last couple months. This is one of the projects I created for her.
I used a technique that I found on Patty Bennett's blog for Brayered Roses. Basically you use the Manhattan Flower embossing folder and flip it to the reverse side. Then you brayer a couple of different colours lightly (I think I used Pretty in Pink and Rose Red). The debossed areas stay white - which is so pretty in real life. I also used shimmery white cardstock so it's got a soft sparkle. I cut out the flowers and adhered them to another piece of shimmery white.
Hope you're having a great weekend! I'm trying to meet a tight work deadline and have been putting in some mega hours which leaves no time for stamping.
Can I share something else? For the past couple years I've used the website www.organizedchristmas.com to get ready for the holidays. I know it seems really early to think about it - but the complete plans actually begin today! (this year I'm using the Houseworks Holiday Plan, last year I used the Holiday Grand Plan) The plans are 18 weeks and are designed to get your house decluttered, organized, and deep cleaned in time for Christmas. They also address all the Christmas tasks as well. It's well worth a look and I know a lot of people are trying to watch what they spend - starting now is a great way to do that!
Later taters!

Ack!

I'm in mourning. I dropped my camera yesterday while it was in zoom mode and now the lens won't retract. So I have nothing to show you! Here's hoping it's a quick fix!

MFT Customer Blog Hop!

I'm so excited to have been asked to participate in this month's My Favorite Things customer blog hop!! I love MFT stamps and have so enjoyed getting to know other MFT fans and make friends in the MFT forum over on Splitcoast.

Hopefully you've arrived here via Gretchen's blog! If not - you'll want to go to the beginning and start at Joanne's blog!

I was inspired by last week's My Favorite Challenge which was to make a school themed project. I was also inspired by the most recent Dirty Dozen gallery - in particular a project by Carolina where she decorated a retro lunch tin and filled it with notes.

My son who is entering grade 2 this year, is not what you would call a natural student. He works hard, and we spend extra time every day at home, but it doesn't come easy for him. I decided that this year, I wanted to give him some extra encouragement during the day - while he's at school. I created some 3.5"x3.5" cards that I call lunch box love notes. I also made a box to store them in - I will keep the box in the cupboard that I use to store our school lunch supplies.

I used the pizza box tutorial over at Splitcoast to make the box. I just had to use my Feelin' Fruity set for most of this project - those fruity faces make me happy! The patterned paper is from a DCWV citrus stack and I used some Doodlebug Paper Frills along the side of the box. I used some letter stickers for the "Lunch Box" but the "Love Note" is actually from Essential Sentiments. It originally read "Little Love Note", but I selectively inked the part I wanted to use.

The first three cards use Feelin Fruity. I kept the cards simple - cause let's face it - My son is a boy, and this is going in his lunch box. All of the fruit has been covered with Crystal Effects to make it dimensional and shiny!



Love this yummy cupcake from A Cupcake Kind of Day and the sentiment is from Cupcake Flopsey.
I had to sneak in one of those cute Hooga Boogas! He's paper pieced, and I inked him so that I could leave out the flower that is normally on top of its head.

And finally a set I've been getting a ton of use out of the Teacher, Teacher label set. The sentiment was stamped in Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.

I'm super pleased with how these turned out, and I'm ahead of the game since we don't start school until after Labor Day. Hope you've enjoyed this stop - you're now on your way to Leesa's blog!! I know she'll have something absolutely fabulous for you to see! Thanks for hopping by!

Sketchy Thoughtful Mice

Hey y'all (hee hee - can you tell I've been spending time in the south??)!! Today I wanted to share a card I made for the MFT sketch challenge a couple of weeks ago. I used MFT's Tea for Two set and some Bo Bunny paper. I am just loving buttons lately - and I just received my Everyday Button Bits set from Papertrey so I'm excited to get it inky!
We're traveling home today. We've had a great vacation and visit, but I'm ready to sleep in my own bed and to be done living out of a suitcase.
Hope you had a wonderful weekend friends!

Stitched Clean and Simple

Hey y'all!! We're on vacation in Georgia so the greeting seemed appropriate! Man it's hot down here! We're having an especially damp, cold summer so it seems especially warm here!

I made this card last week for both the colour challenge and clean and simple challenge over at Splitcoast. The colours were blush blossom, coral, celery, chocolate chip and white. The clean and simple challenge was to use stitching. I pulled out some Doodlebug rubon stitches that I've been hoarding and they worked beautifully - time to use up the rest of the packs!

The woodgrain stamp is from Hero Arts and the flowers are from Papertrey. This is different for me - but I'm pleased with it. I am really wanting the new woodgrain bg stamp from Stampin' Up, but not sure if I can justify it, seeing as I already have a stamp (albeit much smaller).

I'm off to Archivers today (so excited!) so I'm going to vamoose! Hope you're having a great week!

Taylored Friendship

Two posts in one day - what the heck's going on??? Don't get too used to it - this post is to squeak my entry in for Taylor's sketch challenge! I used Quilter's Sampler by Papertrey and some more of that yummy Scenic Route paper (Sonoma). This is actually a very late thank you for a RAK that I received a long while back. The person getting it is amazing with sewing and fabric, so it totally suits! I pleated the ribbon, which also qualifies for today's Ways to use it Challenge over on Splitcoast! Later taters!!

My Favorite Clean and Simple Challenge

This week's My Favorite Challenge over in the MFT forum on Splitcoast was to make a clean and simple card. Less layers than usual and embrace the white space. This was my take. I was dying to use more of my new fruit stamps so I made a card for my son's new teacher. We don't start back to school until after Labour Day - but you can never be too prepared right (wink!)?!
I paper pieced the apple and paired it with the Teacher, Teacher label set. I added some ribbon, a clip, and some clear adorn-its and called it a day!
I'm pleased with this card - it's hard for me to do clean and simple so I fell like I won the battle! Plus I won the weekly challenge - so that feels good too!
Alrighty friends - I'm off to tackle laundry! Have a great day! Later taters!!

A Berry Special Friend

I finally had a chance to stamp this weekend!! It felt so good after a couple of weeks break. I made this card for MFT's One Click Challenge. The challenge was to use gingham. I just got this new MFT set in the mail - Feelin Fruity - and wanted to get it inky.
I used a couple of techniques, but you can't really get a good look at them. For the berry on the left, I coloured it with my copics, and then put some blender solution on a rag and blotted the berry. The texture from the rag (washcloth) transferred to the berry. For the berry on the right, I coloured it with my copics, then ran it through my Cuttlebug with the swiss dots folder. Then I touched my blender to each raised bump to remove some of the colour. Then I coated them both with Crystal Effects. You can really see the detail in person but it's lost in the picture. Alrighty friends - I'm off to bed! Have a great week!

For Sale!

I need to make some room in my stamping area and have some Stampin Up sets for sale (if you click on the name of the stamp set it will take you to the set gallery over at Splitcoast so you can see pictures and examples).

Best Bar Codes $5
Crab & Company $12
Friendship Flowers $12
Mixed Bouquet $15
Petal Prints $15
Simple Sayings II $5
Terrific Tags $10
Tags So Much $10

Small and Large SU tag punches $15 each
(take both tag sets and both punches for $40)

Very Punny $7 (sayings mounted on sides of blocks)
Buyer pays shipping. I am in Canada, but am soon going to the US and can ship from within the US if you wish. Contact me and we can work out the details. If you're local to me I'll deliver!
Leave a comment or email me if you're interested! Thanks for looking!

Javabella Birthday

Hello there!! Remember me? I finally made myself stamp the other day. Mainly because I needed a birthday card for a close friend, and a store bought one or one out of my stash just wouldn't do! My friend and I share a love of coffee - so Javabellas seemed totally appropriate. I used some Amy Butler paper (my friend loves Amy Butler fabric!) and some pretty trim I picked up a while ago. I was originally going to put the trim behind the image, but just couldn't bring myself to do it. I think it looks o.k. over the image - or am I totally out of touch??

Anyways, my best friend was here visiting from Calgary all week and we had a blast! I finally got to see the Harry Potter movie (loved it!) and got the house put back together again. Next time I'll show you pics of what we got accomplished on my blogging break!! Have a great one!

FYI

Just wanted you to know I'm taking a bit of a blog break as we try and get some stuff done around the house. Hubby is off on holiday but it's a working holiday! We've already pulled up our patio and relaid it - doubled its size (whew - I'm sore!!). Now we're painting a couple of rooms! Hopefully I'll have something to post next week! Have a good one friends!

Top Note Rag Quilt

Here's another Stampin Up only card I made last week. I've been seeing all these incredible quilt cards and wanted to try my hand. Not sure if you remember this card - where I made a rag quilt for my card - so I decided to try it again for this technique. I used a square punch to make my squares and then used the distressing tool to rough up all 4 edges. I then adhered them to another piece of cardstock butting them up so they were touching. I then ran my completed piece through my Cuttlebug with the top note die and distressed around the edges of the shape as well. The cardstock doesn't distress nearly as well as the designer series paper, but I didn't have any current paper to use. It still looks good though - although most of the texture is lost in the picture.

Well we had a busy weekend - hubby and I were away in Portland, OR while my mother in law stayed with our kids. It was packed full of great times though. Hope you're having a great week! Later taters!

Lockhart Sympathy

One of my best friends recently lost someone very close to her and she asked me to make a sympathy card for the family. Although this might not seem like a typical sympathy image, it actually totally fit the occasion and the sentiment. The colours were chosen to match a small gift that accompanied the card.
The paper is BoBunny and the sentiment is from Papertrey (Out on a Limb - original version).

Hope you're having a great week! I've been busy doing some contract work and haven't had as much time lately to stamp. Hopefully I'll be able to sneak down to my stamps soon! Later taters!