I'm published!!!!!!

Woohoooooo!!!!!!

I got a copy of The Stamper's Sampler Catch Up Issue in the mail yesterday and was a little baffled since I didn't remember ordering it--then it hit me!!!!! I'm published!!!!!!! I submitted a few cards last summer and one of them made the catch up issue.

I'm on p 35 and soooooooooooooo excited right now! I've been in a bit of a stamping slump since I've been super busy at work and my parents were visiting from out of the country for awhile but now I'm so motivated to stamp again.

Tim Holtz, Part 2

So, Tim posted on his blog today about his weekend in Berkeley and posted a couple links to others who took the class. Lo and behold, I saw myself :-)

Check it out!!!!! Here's Tim's update: http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/thank-you-scrapbook-territory.html and you can see a tiny bit of me working in the 16th picture on Susan's blog: http://theartfulmama.blogspot.com/2009/04/day-with-tim.html

I {heart} Tim Holtz

Ok, so I know it's been forever since I've blogged and I did say that I wasn't going to leave you all hanging after my last blogging break. . .

What can I say? Life got crazy :-) My parents have been visiting from Thailand and have sort of taken over my stamping area which makes it a little harder for me to get in and play with my stuff. Work has been busy--I love my job which makes it ok but it truly has been really busy around here the last couple of months and as we prepare to wrap up the school year and plan for the Fall, I don't see it slowing down much.

I have done some stamping and I'll have to edit and post those pics for you in the next couple days. One of the highlights of last weekend for me was taking a class with Tim Holtz at my LSS. If you ever get a chance to take a class with Tim, I highly recommend it!!!!! He is just the nicest guy and I learned so much from him. The class I took was Generation Grunge and I got to get grungey and make a grunge book. I'm really happy with the way mine turned out and the 4 hours of class just flew by. I really wish I had the chance to take more of his classes when he was out here but I'm so happy that I got to take the one class that I really wanted to take.

Thanks for visiting and I promise to be back with some stamped goodies before the end of the month :-)
 

Silent Auction Donation

I made 2 different sets of 6 cards for the PTA's Silent Auction. I wasn't going to do it since it feels a little weird to me for a few reasons. Part of me doesn't feel that my cards are that amazing--you know what I mean? Don't get me wrong, I know they don't suck but are they really good enough that people would bid on them? Actually pay money for them? My friend suggested I do it and thinks that they'll definitely sell since they're made by *me*. Someone will bid on the principal's cards, right?

Both sets contain cards that are all pretty similar to each other so it made it pretty easy to crank out 6 at a time. Set #1 uses PTI's Teacher's Apple. Cardstocks used were Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, and SU Naturals White. The patterned paper is BasicGrey's Offbeat collection (see, I told you I love this paper). Inks used were Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate, and Versafine Onyx Black. Ribbon is Pure Poppy Satin. These cards are pretty self explanatory but I like how this set turned out. My dd wanted to help really badly and her job was to check the apples out and decide if they looked ok or needed to be restamped :-) She was a little more of a perfectionist than I was when it came to picking out the best apples for the cards. I didn't decorate the envelopes but did add some Naturals Ivory cardstock and a strip of matching patterned paper to the inside of the card to finish it up. All 6 cards and envelopes are packaged up in one of PTI's Clearly Creative Card Boxes.

Set #2 uses PTI's Beautiful Blooms. The cardbase is PTI's Stamper's Select White and this is as close to a one layer card as I get :-) Inks used were pretty much the whole rainbox of PTI's inks: Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, Lavendar Moon, Plum Pudding, Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Berry Sorbet, Raspberry Fizz, and Sweet Blush as well as Palette Hybrid Noir. A few flowers are popped up on dimensionals and the glitter used is Doodlebug Designs Sugar Coating glitter. All ribbon is PTI as well. The popped up flowers and sentiment are stamped on SU Whisper White.

PTI Over the Rainbow Challenge

If you follow my blog at all, you know how much I love Papertrey Ink. Nichole is a genius and I've admired her work since I started stamping. Yesterday, she posted a challenge with the chance to win over $100 worth of PTI cardstock. You know that I couldn't pass up the chance to play along, especially since it's such a great challenge. We were supposed to use Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Ripe Avocado, and Ocean Tides to create a project and then link up to her blog post. These colors are gorgeous together and I'm pretty happy with what I made.

I used Summer Sunrise, Ripe Avocado, and Pure Poppy cardstocks as well as SU's Naturals Ivory. The patterned paper is from the BasicGrey Offbeat collection which is my current favorite. I popped into my LSS earlier today and they didn't have anymore 6X6 pads of this paper and I don't know what I'll do when I completely run out (they did have Porcelain and Marrakech which I can't wait to play with). The flowers and little owl from Wise Owl were stamped onto Naturals Ivory in Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Ocean Tides, and Memento Tuxedo Black. I colored the owl in with Copics and then added some white Doodlebug Crushed Velvet to his belly. The sentiment, which is also from the same set,is inked up with Memento Tuxedo Black and Versamagic Red Magic-I only have the full size Pure Poppy pad which made it difficult to selectively ink the word I wanted and I'm too lazy to Stampamajig it :-)-and stamped onto SU Vellum cardstock. I used a square punch on the end of the strip to make the little tail and then adhered this over the flower stems. I finished up with some Making Memories buttons that are tied off with SU Linen Thread.

Tah Dah! All done! I love when something I have in my head works out.

Thanks for visiting and be sure to come back soon.

Bright Elzybells

We're going to a 1st birthday party for our friend's daughter this weekend and I made this card for her. All I can say is "Wow, it's pretty bright!" I knew I wanted to play around with circles, use an Elzybelle, and my BasicGrey Euphoria paper and this is what I came up with.

I used Pixie Pink, Tempting Turquoise, Gable Green, and Neenah Solar White cardstocks as well as BasicGrey Euphoria paper on this card. All the circles are cut out with Nestabilities. I used Memento Tuxedo Black and Angel Pink inks. I inked up my Elzybells Stardust and Moonbeams set and colored the girl in with Copics and Spica Glitter pens. The Primas are from my stash and have a dot of Stickles in the center. It's hard to see but there is also Stickles on the heart and swirl underneath the sentiment.

This card was really fun to make and my dd really wants it for herself :-) I may have to make one for her. Thanks for visiting and come back soon!

Bittersweet SFYTT

I hope you all are enjoying Superbowl Sunday! I'm battling a little cold and hope that I feel better soon--dh is travelling this week so I'm flying solo with the kidlets. I had a little time yesterday to play along with Jen's SFYTT. I was pretty excited when I looked at it but it was actually much more difficult than I thought it would be once I got started. I thought about giving this to dh for Valentine's Day but it seems a little too feminine so I'll have to try again for him.

I used PTI's Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Fizz cardstocks as well as Neenah Solar White. The patterned paper is BasicGrey's Bittersweet. I stamped the images from TCP's Puppy Love onto the Neenah Solar White in Memento Tuxedo Black and PTI's Raspberry Fizz, colored them in with Copics, and added some Shimmerz to a few parts (wings & hearts). These are punched out, matted on Raspberry Fizz, and popped up on dimensionals. The ribbon is PTI's Raspberry Fizz Satin and the brads are from the SU Retired Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware.

Thanks for visiting! I've got a long day on Monday but hope to get back into my stamping room again later on in the week :-)

Amazingly Fast Shipping!!!!!!!

I just wanted to point you all to the Shimmerz Blog and Store. I've been looking at Shimmerz since they came out and was really hoping my LSS would start carrying them and I could look at them in person before I got some. Well, they haven't started carrying them and I decided I'd go ahead and place a small order since they're relatively inexpensive. I ordered 3 on Sunday, got a shipping notice that day, and they were on my doorstep on Wednesday!!!!!!! Unfortunately, I got home rather late last night and didn't get to play but plan on leaving work at a reasonable hour today and will play with them later. I can't wait and have a feeling I'm going to need more colors :-)

Thanks for visiting!

A Poochie SFYTT

You know that I love Jen's sketches and this one is pretty cool and I couldn't wait to give it a try of my own.  With 3 kids, I'm always needing a birthday card so I decided to go with some bright and kid friendly colors for this one.  I'm still on a Baja Breeze kick and paired it with Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red for this card.  The colors are a great match with the patterned papers from BasicGrey's Offbeat Collection.  I'm so addicted to all the wonderful 6X6 paper pads from BasicGrey--they are so perfect for card makers! 

Poochie, the space ship, and the sentiment are from The Cat's Pajamas It's a Mod, Mod World clear set and are stamped on Confetti White with Versafine Onyx Black.  I added a teeny bit of red Spica Glitter pen to the top of the ship and went over the glass area with a Clear Sakura Glaze pen.  I used my Circle Nesties, SU's photo corner and scallop edge punches, some Kiwi Kiss striped ribbon, and a button from Making Memories.  I really like this card and almost don't want to give it away.  Then again, it does me no good to just keep it for myself now, does it?

Thanks for visiting!

FS103

I had a little time to play along in today's FS Challenge at SCS.  I was inspired by this card of Vicky's.  I changed the Cuttlebug folder, stamp, ribbon, and used dewdrops.  I also added some liquid pearls and stickles.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy--I have another card to add to my stash.

Here are the deets:  Card base is shimmery white and other cardstocks used were Chocolate Chip and Pink Pirouette. I used the Floral Fantasy embossing folder on the lower half of the Pink Pirouette piece and stamped the branch from Stem Silhouettes on the top in Chocolate Chip.  I sponged the edges and went over the embossed area with Tattered Rose Distress Ink.  I tied some Chocolate Taffeta around this and matted it on a piece of Chocolate Chip that is edged in Versamagic Pixie Dust.  After I attached this piece to the cardbase, I added some White Opal Liquid Pearls and Cotton Candy Stickles to the branches.  Finally, I added 3 dew drops underneath the ribbon.

Thanks for visiting!