Allison's Challenge-Shop Till You Drop

Allison at Stampin When I Can has a Sunday Challenge and this week it is a Black Friday/Boxing/Shopping card! You can read about her challenge HERE. (AFSS45)

Obviously, I chose Black Friday! I have had this sentiment stamp for a long time, I guess waiting for the perfect card! Black Friday it is.

The top typewriter key alphabet is punched out using a 1/2 inch punch and glued to the top.
This is a pretty simple card................ Snoopy always loves a good story though!

Stamps:Stampabilities A Note From Snoopy F1073, Remain Calm-Shopping by Postmodern Design BN2-111-C, Nostalgiques (The Attic Collection) alphabet set

Cardstock: SU! Grey and Black

Ink: Black, green and yellow markers

Misc: Punches, black ribbon

From Courtney's Closet Challenge #24 Party Dress Thank You

Cupcake (aka Courtney)in her fancy party dress!

Okay this was a quick one for me this week...lots going on! This paper seemed to match little cupcake's dress so well! The sketch is from Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #43 here. (TECC43)

My goodness this card turned out PINK! LOL. I really needed a quick thank you this week so here it is. You can see Courtney's Closet Challenge HERE.

Stamps: Sentiment from retired Wreath of Roses

Cardstock: SU! pink and black, DCWV fancy type glitter pack paper(can you tell I can't remember the name?LOL)

Ink: Black

Misc: punches, crystal brads

Card Size: A2

I am so Thankful!

An Award from Carolyn Bounds!

Now, I am not very good about acknowledging awards and I apologize for that right now...I mean to put them on my blog and then life gets in the way...Here is my make up for all those I have missed in the past...Carolyn and I have hit it off since day one...I believe we met on the now defunct Best of House Mouse Yahoo group! She is so encouraging, not just to me but to EVERYONE! A true stampin' bud can't be found elsewhere!

Several of my cyber stampin' buds and I have talked about what it means to visit blogs and leave and receive comments...tips, encouragement, a recipe...whatever. I can tell you I value each comment and get so tickled from each one! (and I am not going to tell you what Libby told me LOL-I still laugh about that one girl!)

I love the wording and kindness that is included in this! It truly is about all the new friends I have made here in cyber space! It is exciting and fun to chat with you all!



Here is the wording that accompanies this award:

This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY- nearness in space, time, and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming; and these kind bloggers, aim to find friends and to be friends. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please, give more attention to these writers!

Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who must choose eight more, and include this cleverly written text into the body of their award.

Here are my eight kind bloggers. Please kind eight (LOL) do not feel obligated to post this in anyway...I just want to thank you for the kindness and friendship you have shown me.

Besides Carolyn....

Allison at Stampin When I Can...a soon to be new mama--she amazes me with all she does!

Libby at Libby's Little Addiction...mom to little Courtney and Carter...she cracks me up with her humor...go look at the last card she just posted and you will see what I mean!

Kerry at Three Clovers Designs. I can always depend on Kerry to be there and to leave an encouraging comment. A true kind soul!

Charla at StampinWizard. My dear friend since first grade and the cohort in crime who jumped into this stampin' thing with me! We totally enable each other...there is always a new tool somewhere to be had LOL!

Jovi from Inky Impressions. I have known Jovi probably the longest of all my new cyber friends. We both belonged to the first House Mouse Group on Yahoo. I always remember getting a Jovi RAK, her cards are just amazing. (and she is also one cool biker babe!)

Curt O'Brien from Curt's World. Besides being the rare man in this stamping blogosphere, he has true talent and has become a great friend!

Mel at Mel Stampz. Mel is one of those stampers that shares so much of her time and talent! She has been so encouraging to me!

Dawn at Crafty Ramblings. Dawn and I belong to SBS 23 together...that's how we met. She has always been so kind and encouraging with her comments!

Melissa Mason(no blog) and Katie Schmid at klaytonsmommy. Melissa is my sweet niece. I have crafted with her since she was a wee one. My home has many of her wonderful creations..I wish the darn girl with get with it and get a blog...she should be sharing her talent. And Katie is the new niece in the family and boy she fits right in I tell ya! She and Melissa are the next generation!

Oops that's NINE and I could keep on going!

Thanks to all my stampin' friends who visit here. I am so blessed!

House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge-Sleigh Ride

This is one of my very favorite House Mouse stamps. I have had it about as long as any in my stash. It is one of the original Stampa Rosa House Mouse stamps. When Stampa Rosa made their House Mouse stamps...they were always so much bigger than what Stampabilities makes now...They have been downsized like most things LOL!

This card is almost too late for the House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenge---make a Christmas card! Sqeeeeaakkked under the wire me thinks!

I cut this image apart to make this card. But...I need help! I know there are a lot of quick witted stampers out there that can help me with something cute or funny to have this meece say...any suggestions?

What should I say? Help me, help me!!!

Stamps: Having a Sleigh Ride (Stampa Rosa), SU! little snowflake, Studio G sentiment, G Rated conversation box

Cardstock: Navy, Real Red, Bashful Blue

Ink: Black, prisma's/oms, H2O's --red for the berries, copic for the branches and skin

Misc: SU! punches, Chunky glitter and ribbon

Size: 5x5

My Very First Stamp! Christmas Tags

I made these tags with the very first stamp I ever bought! Before I knew what company names were all about...but I guess I was drawn to Penny Black stamps from the beginning. I bought this years ago, before I really started stamping, to make quick Christmas tags for presents. It was bounced around in junk drawers etc for many years, until I found my way to STAMPING ha!
It has since been rescued and has a place of honor among my many stamps now.

These tags were inspired by Mary Jo's Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge #44. Her challenge this week was to make a tag. Pretty easy and quick! Lucky for me since I have been home sick part of the week and I don't have much energy to finish anything! Easy is good.... Mary Jo made an awesome tag...you must go see it!



My very first stamp: Penny Black 939C No Peeking!, Canvas Background stamp(hard to see in this pic)

Cardstock: SU! Real Red, Glorious Green, Black

Ink: Black, prisma's/oms

Misc: Sizzix tag die, nesties, star brad, stapler, SU! ribbon, dimensionals, little red crystals on the ivy

From Courtney's Closet Challenge -Miss You Bunches

Isn't this a cute little monkey? For the longest time, I thought it was a hippo LOL! Guess I had to actually use this cuttlekid die before I could see the "real" animal.

This is my From Courtney's Closet Challenge for this week! This was a hard challenge, sort of weird colors, but it came together in the end.

I used the cuttlekid animal die that I had to have (unused until now), background cuttlebug folder, nesties and my NEW Martha Steward border punch. I love those punches...I bought a "few" of them when I went to visit Cole a couple weeks ago! I had to borrow the "nanner" stamp from Charla and her sock monkey set. Thanks Charla!

Sentiment inside...Miss You Bunches!

silly little monkey girl...won't be long before she really is swinging from the rafters!

Stamps: Banana from SU! Sock Monkey set

Cardstock: All SU! Choc Chip, Creamy Caramel, Pink, Barely Banana, SU DP Bella Rose brown polka dot

Ink: Choc Chip

Misc: Nesties, Martha punch, dimensionals, cuttlebug folder, cuttlekid die, misc ribbon, flower brad

Peek-A-Boo Baby WSC66

I made this card for my Peek-A-Boo Baby little Cole! I saw this stamp and it was soooo him. He is a little trickster and loves to play and tease people and his doggies so much! I used Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge 66 for my layout.

I did paper piece his little t-shirt with the same DP as the image is mounted on. I also cut thin strips of the green DP and threaded through the buttons for a more finished look.

This stamp is from the new Stampablities Amy Bradley series....she has some of the cutest Alien stamps too. Of course I had to get some of those too!

The link to this series is listed below.






Stamps: Peek-A-Boo Baby D1132 (you can get this stamp as well as the Aliens at RKStamps), sentiment is computer generated--link will take you to them all!

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Misc SU! DP and the polka dot DP is made by PebblesInc.

Ink: Momento black, flesh copic, prismas

Misc: Nesties, SU! oval punches, SU! buttons and ribbon

Gina K gift card holders!

fun



Gina K at A day in the life of gina k showed off this cute pattern for these gift card holders the other day. I have made a few to show you here. The dimensions are 4 1/4 by 10 1/2 and are scored at 3, 4 1/4, 5 1/2, and 8 1/2. You put sticky strip to hold the little section that holds the card together and decorate as you want! (oh she used a nestie to cut out a little indentation to hold the card...the largest rectangle on the small rectangle classic set but you could use a punch too) I like these holders as the gift card stands up when the folder is opened. Now I now this Home Depot gift card "clashes" with my little snowmen...but it is the only one I had on hand on picture day...it will actually have a yummy Starbucks in it!

I used My Minds Eye DP and SU! Not Quite Navy and Riding Hood Red for the cardstock, Riveting retired SU! set for the sentiment and a Marvy snowflake punch as well as my SU! circle punches on this one.



On this one I used ribbon as the belly band, SU! Bella Rose DP, Old Olive and Riding Hood Red cardstock. Retired Riveting sentiment with misc SU! punches.


Riding Hood Red and Barely Banana cardstock(can you tell Riding Hood Red is my new fave color?), Cloud9Design DP and a sentiment from SU! from ( I think) One of a Kind.

This is what this pretty DP looks like inside...for my Dad.

A much belated gift card for my daughter Abby's sweetie, Rick. We are all big Oregon Duck fans (colors green and yellow of course)...where they graduated from college. Rick is a golfing fiend so I thought he would like this. The golf ball is just white cardstock put through a cuttlebug folder. This is actually the back of the cardstock...it looks like a golf ball I thought...I just cut out the golf tee free handed. Sentiment again is SU!

Gwamma save me!

I "only" took 150+ pictures this weekend, and this happens to be my favorite! Cole did not want his diaper changed and he looked and me, put his hands up and I could just tell he was asking me to save him!

I will post more pictures later, but I had to share this one tonight! It just makes me laugh!

Heidi Fleetwood RAK

Miss Heidi sent this wonderful RAK a while back and I wanted to share it with you all! I wish you could see it in real life...all the squares are textured by a cuttlebug folder or a texture plate of some sort. Her hubby Jim made this little "quilt stand" to display this wonderful quilt card!

Those two sure make a wonderful couple! I'm sure Heidi always has a good project in mind for Jim! What a great hubby.

Heidi is taking a break from blogging for a while, but I sure hope she comes back soon...I sure miss seeing her wonderful creations!

Thanks Sissy!

I am back from my visit with baby Cole and his parents and hope to get some pictures of him posted soon! Stay tuned!

Gwamma is on a wee break!

I am heading to Eugene to go visit my little grandson, Cole(and oh his mama and daddy too LOL) . I will be back next week. Look for some new pictures of Cole coming soon!

Ornament Gift Card Holder from Stampin Academy

Angie Kennedy Juda from Stampin Academy made this cute gift card holder. It looked like so much fun to make that I had to give it a try! I used all the same cardstock as she did, so mine should look just like hers LOL.(A TOTAL CASE!) If you have never visited Angie's blog...you are really missing out!

I have all different versions of this holder going through my head...I think a little pompom nose on the reindeer would be cute, but didn't have any on hand when I made this.

I made this for the Stampin Up 10 monthly group I belong to. My first grade friend/Stampin Up Demo is slacking on the beaches of Mexico, so I told her I would whip this up for our meeting on Monday night. I got to play with her new Sizzix scallop die...whoa it is quite a bit larger than my scalloped nestie. (4 1/2 inches wide)

The plain circle DP and chipboard are cut with my largest classic nestie. (tip: use lightweight chipboard or you could probably even leave the chipboard out if you were making these more as a disposable thing instead of an ornament on your tree--cereal box weight chip board is just about right) Angie did mention in her video that lining up the scallops was a little bit of a trick, and yes it was! I finally decided instead of marking them like she did in her video tutorial, I would stick one side of the red back piece on and then line up the other side so that no red showed from the front side. Also, I only used glue dots on every other scallop...I think one glue dot on each scallop might be a bit of over kill LOL...

Add a gift card and viola...this was very easy to make...but I am sure it was because of Angie's great video...I am a real visual learner!

Stamps: Deer Friends Hostess Set

Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Choc Chip, Bella Rose DP

Ink: Choc Chip

Misc: Sizzix Scallop Die from SU!, nesties, circle punches and scallop punch from SU!, dimensionals, SU! brown taffeta ribbon, glue dots, chipboard

Verve Sketch VSHR1 Bushels of Blessings

I made this card for Julee's Holiday Release Sketch Blitz VSHR1. You can read about her sketch challenge HERE.
I was trying to keep this card warm and fuzzy with fall tones and the brads I had were all this pewter color...soooooooo I took one of the three copics I own (light walnut) and colored the brad...it worked really slick! It dried quickly and did not wipe off!

Stamps: Studio G $1 stamp sentiment

Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, DP from K&Company mat pad...pure lovely paper...textured and richly colored( I won this in some blog candy!)

Ink: Choc Chip

Misc: Martha Stewart leaf punchies(gift from Heidi Fleetwood, thanks sissy!) Memories? brad, American Crafts fall ribbon, one copic marker LOL

From Courtney's Closet Challenge Penny Black Grass Cake

This is my inspiration card for this week's From Courtney's Closet Challenge #22 at Libby's Little Addiction. Little Courtney was a little spotted dalmation for Halloween, but due to family connections...I got a cow vibe out of her picture! I have dear family that have a dairy farm, so I think it is natural I would think spotted cows instead of dogs, don't you think? In fact, this card will probably being going to the mistress of the farm as her birthday is coming up in December!

I tried to stamp this Penny Black image on watercolor paper and it would just not cooperate darn it....I ended up embossing it on my standby "Wal-Mart white...Georgia Pacific" cardstock. I did see some totally smooth watercolor tablets at Michaels the last time I was there, so I guess I will get some of that to try! Any tips???

I used my Stampin Up! watercolor crayons and water brush to color this image. I also used SU! circle punches as well as my Martha scallop punch.

ETA: this card was inspired by a sketch by Maria Bell here!

Dalmation= Courtney...a darling smile here!

Stamps: Penny Black Grass Cake 2343K (bought from Dick at hmstamps), circle sentiment is Circle of Friendship from SU!

Cardstock: One of the pinks from SU!(I can never remember LOL), green polka dot is DCWV Nana's Kids, plus other misc DP, Basic Black

Ink: Black, Colored with SU! watercolor crayons

Misc: Embossing powder, Martha scallop punch, SU! circle punches, misc ribbon