Thanks!

After mostly cleaning up my rearranged stamp area I set out to work on Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration challenge for this week. I always want to but somehow don't get to it. This week I combined her colors with the Flourishes Timeless Tuesday sketch challenge.

I also finally took the advice of Steph and my mom to take my pictures outside. I love the result, though the Certainly Celery clashes with my TicTac green house! Editted to add: The four square panels were embossed with a fun square stitched embossing Cuttlebug folder.

After dinner it's back down to work on some other sketches. Have you played along with this week's Unscripted Sketch yet? Check it out!

Smiles,


Paper: Certainly Celery, Whispher White, Perfect Plum
Ink: Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum
Stamps (SU!): Tag Time, Thank You Kindly
Other: ribbon, Making memories hardware, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Hooray for Mojo!

Go check out Steph's AMAZING blog candy!!!!

The one week I'm home on a Monday to get started right away with the Mojo Monday sketch.....my craft area is buried beneath a pile of me trying to clean up! So in an attempt at finishing this impossible mission I found this hippo stamped, colored and mounted and knew I could turn it into a card.
I moved furniture around and am mostly set except finding my stamping table. I moved it, but the piles came along! Tomorrow I plan on hanging out in the basement and getting all that stamping done that I planned for my vacation!

Smiles,

Celebrate unscripted style!

It is sunny and beautiful in NH, plus WARM so what better way to celebrate than with a sketch! That's right, it's time for Sketch it Saturdays over at Unscripted Sketches.

I love the sketch we had to work with today and everything fell together easily. Isn't it great when that happens?

I veared away from cards this week and designed a gift bag.

I'm addicted to nail polish, and not inexpensive polish. I figure if I'm not spending money on a manicure I can splurge and get some good polish to do it myself. The store I buy it at was using these beautiful brown bags for awhile and wrapping my polish in blue tissue. Instant inspiration... though the bags have sat for awhile and there's still 2 or 3 more to create with! Either way, all I needed was a great sketch to cover up the stores name (both sides are identical) and now I've got a really cute bag. A good friend of mine who I teach with will probably get this in May for her birthday.

Thanks for checking out my work. Now go and check out all the ladies of the Unscripted DT:

Steph, Sharon, Jeryn, Jenny, Fink, Chryssy, BR-T, and April.

Then head on over to Unscripted Sketches to play along and share your creation. I've been blown away by all the great work in our first two weeks and can't wait to see what you have in store with this third sketch. Happy Saturday!

Smiles,

Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Pixie Pink, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Candy Lane DSP

Ink: Tempting Turquoise

Stamps: Everything Birthday, Friendship Blooms

Other: bag, found ribbon, Hero Arts pink pearls, Sizzix texturez plate (flowers 4 I think)

Friday Mojo

After a long week I finally got the mojo flowing and made a card last night, based on this week's Mojo Monday sketch.

It was a great sketch to work with and I love the result. I didn't stamp anything on the inside so it could be for a shower or to welcome a new baby to the world. I've got a few of those coming up! I'm off to school now (last day before vacation--teachers rejoice) so I'll edit for details later. Happy Friday!

Smiles,

I've got......

Mail!!!!

When I came home from work today I found this sweet birthday card from Susan in the mailbox! We seem to not get much more than bills and fliers so it was a very nice surprise. I remember seeing it on her blog HERE and thinking it was amazing.....lucky me! Thanks so much Susan!


Smiles,

A very useful engine....

Yum Yum!

I wish I could take credit for the cake, but my only part was in obtaining the cake pan. I work with a wonderful woman who bakes delicious cakes (I get mine tomorrow!) and has over 30 character pans. Needless to say I knew who to call for a train pan. My brother and SIL stayed up making this cake for my nephew Carter's 2nd birthday party, and probably had black and blue lips from making the frosting. It was a great time for a wonderful little boy. Can't wait to see him again!

I haven't been making many cards this week--just trying to make it to April vacation. I hope to have something to share soon, but if not check back on Saturday for my Unscripted Sketch challenge! Better yet, go and play along with this week's sketch!

Smiles,

Happy 2nd Birthday Carter!

Welcome to my second Unscripted Sketch. Jenny and Sharon have another great sketch for us:

After 3 unfinished attempts, I learned that less is more. Here's my take on the sketch:

Last week was my nephew's second birthday and today we'll be at his birthday party. Though I could have made him a card that coordinated with the Thomas invitations and thank yous I made, I decided Bold Brights were the way to go. That way I could color the candles with Crayolas! My DH thought "Look who's turning 11 first" but either way I don't think Carter will mind. :-)

Be sure to go over the the Unscripted Sketch blog to play along, and check out all the other DT members inspiration.

Steph
Sharon
Jeryn
Jenny
Fink
Chryssy
BR-T
April

I can't wait to see what you create!

Smiles,

Paper: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, YoYo Yellow, Green Galore, Only Orange, Brilliant Blue, Real Red

Ink: black Stazon

Stamps (SU!): On Your Birthday, Tags 'n More

Other: Making Memories brads, cuttlebug and sizzix embossing folders, crayola markers

Inspirational Dreams

I made this card earlier in the week for the Inspirational Card Sketch. The sun and my camera wouldn't cooperate for a good picture, and it's still not that great of a shot. The card however, I love!

I couldn't find a skinny ribbon that went with my DSP, but I did find a use for all those 1/4" bits I'm always cutting off. It was a bit longer than the Riding Hood Red base and I wrapped the ends around the back before adhering to my card. The gems are orange but they were shining too much or not enough...take my word for it. I had also used them on this card for candle flames. Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!!!

Smiles,

Paper: So Saffron, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue, Washington Apple DSP

Ink: Pumpkin Pie

Stamp: Happy Harmony (SU!)

Other: Cuttlebug folder, Hero Arts gemstones

Live with Laughter!

I've enjoyed doing sketch challenges lately and today I found one I haven't done yet - Diva Coffee Break Challenge. I love coffee, but am good and only have one cup and have cut down on the sugar. I've even started to make my own--Dunkin Donuts was very bad for the wallet!

Here's my card for this week's challenge:

I love this layout and will probably use it in the future. Except for the buttons it's all Stampin Up supplies, and I even cleaned up some scraps to make it. My favorite part is the flower--I stamped it four times, once on the base, twice on So saffron and once on Chocolate Chip. Piecing the paper together once I snipped it out gave some great dimension. I'm looking forward to more coffee breaks to come!

Smiles,

paper: Old Olive DSP, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Very Vanilla

ink: Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip

stamps: Sweet Serendipity, Give Thanks

other: So Saffron ribbon, blender pen, Word Window punch, buttons, mini glue dots

Celebrate!

Celebrate good times, uh huh! Now I'm singing Kool & the Gang. Which makes me think of my dad because we would sing Celebrate continuously until my mom made us stop. Then Hallmark came out with music cards and it was definitely one I had to buy! Onto the card.....

I was planning on following Saturday's Our Creative Corner sketch a bit more closely, but the stars jumped off my table so I had to go with it. I even have this awesome itty bitty star background stamp from SU--it's one I inherited from my mom so I don't even know the name. I figure this is a good masculine birthday card to have on hand, or maybe I'll have to throw a 4th of July party.

Don't forget to go to Unscriped Sketches and try out the first sketch challenge!!!!

Smiles,

Mojo Happiness

I got home yesterday and got right to work on an awesome Mojo Monday sketch. My camera was not so cooperative. So here's my take on the sketch, just flipped:

I've had this butterfly rub-on floating around my work area for a few weeks and knew it would work nicely. All the rest is scraps, in my effort to clean--a messy desk is a sign of genious I've heard!

If you haven't already, be sure to head over to Unscripted Sketches and try the first sketch! While you're thinking of it check out April's blog because she's got a giveaway to go with this week's sketch.

Smiles,

Welcome to an Unscripted Sketch!

Woohoo!!!!! Today officially launches

and Jenny and Sharon came up with an awesome sketch to get us started.

Feel free to flip the image and make it your own, after all it is Unscripted! Or you can do as I did and lose it amid paper and hope it turns out okay! I made a card, and am loving the contrast of black on purple.

Be sure to play along, and check out what the rest of the Unscripted Design Team came up with.

Steph
Sharon
Jeryn
Jenny
Fink
BR-T

Chryssy
April

Smiles,

Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Orchid Opulence, Basic Grey DSP

Ink: Black

Stamps: Warm Words (SU!)

Other: Scallop Punch, ribbon (found of course!), Cloud 9 Design sticker

Only one mother....and one MIL

Tomorrow we're celebrating my MILs birthday and we needed a card. Until now, I've been making all my cards, but when birthdays for family roll around I head to the store. I decided to opt out of the usual Hallmark and see what these hands could do. Thanks to some quotes I found at The Quote Garden my card came together quite easily.

Just find a font you like and do a bit of formatting. I even printed a message inside. Normally I make 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 cards, but this a full size card: 5 1/2 x 8 1/2.

I know all she wants is to spend time together, but a card with a sweet message is nice too. And DH told me it's BETTER than the usual Hallmark. Just don't tell my boss (or the customers)when I head to that second job tomorrow!

Smiles,

Two days to go!!!

Are you getting excited? I know I am, less than two days to go until Unscripted Sketches kicks off with their first sketch. Be sure to hop on over and become a follower so you don't miss a thing. See you Saturday morning..........

Smiles,

ABC blanket

The perfect blanket for a teacher to give as a baby gift:

When my nephew arrived in the world (2 years ago Saturday!) and came home to his Classic Pooh nursery, I made a similar blanket with a Pooh face in the corners. Now he'll have a little brother in July and I wanted it to go with the theme of the room, so this one has a leaf from the 100 Acre Forest....

Once I learned to crochet I loved the ease of it. Quicker than knitting and easier to correct a mistake! Once my mom sent me the link to this pattern, it's all I make when I'm in the mood to craft and watch tv. All you do is SC (single crochet) and PS (puff stitch)--After making the blanket so many times, I rarely refer to the pattern. This is the 7th or 8th time I've made it....maybe more now that I think of it. The pattern is simple to follow, it's soft, kids love the texture aspect, I love the alphabet, and it's MACHINE WASHABLE! Get the pattern here. The finished size is said to be 35" by 42", but my stitches on this one must be extra loose....it's probably 45" by 52". They can cuddle for many years! If Melky lets me give it away....

Smiles,

Mojo-licious Cake! Yum Yum!

I must have been hungry when I made this Mojo Monday card.....

Having found the yum yum tag already made up I made a cake, lit the candles and figured the panels could be layers of a delicious cake. So I ran them through the big shot with a Stripes Sizzix texture plate. Delicous!

Except when I went back to the computer I was a bit off from the Mojo sketch--I should've printedit, but oh well. I figured I'd at least add the circle.....

Which do you like better? Mojo #1 or Mojo #2?

Want to have fun playing along with more fun sketches? Check out Unscripted Sketches this Saturday April 11th--Jenny and Sharon have AWESOME sketches and it will be fun to see what you can come up with! I made mine tonight (a perk of being on the DT) and can't wait to share....come back Saturday am!

Smiles,


Paper: Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Real Red, Whisper White, Candy Lane DSP
Ink: Black Stazon, Real Red, Chocolate Chip
Stamps: So Many Scallops, Terrific Tags, Everything Baby, Bloom with Happiness (all SU)
Other: ribbon, pop dots, Hero Arts gemstones, circle punches, tag punches, silver brad, word window punch, big shot, stripes texturz plate

Are you ready for some sketches?????

(sung in my best Monday night football voice)

Unscripted Sketches is ready to go, and we'll be starting with out first sketch challenge on Saturday April 11th! I'm so excited and hope you'll stop by and play along. You can check some of the other DT member by clicking on their names on my sidebar --------->

Enjoy the week ahead!

Smiles,

Little time for anything........

Does anyone else feel that way? I don't know if it's my startling life or if I just try to do too much. Either way, there's little time for anything some days!

The first thing my husband said when he saw the card was 'It's crooked.' Thanks honey. I thought maybe only I notice those things but nothing gets by him. Sometimes those rub-ons don't cooperate...that's just how startling life is! I made this card for the KWerner color inspiration challenge. I've seen a few similar layouts to this, but I don't know where. It just came together! Once I chopped up the kiwi kiss and baja breeze I used scraps and a button I had lying around--cleaning up and creating, my favorite! Except it's not too clean. I'm so jealous of people with a great space for creating....like Steph shared today. Someday..........

Smiles,

Easter Basket

My mom has decoreated her house for Easter and spring, so last night I at least took down my winter wall hanging. Jake even put up a protest because now the wall over the couch is very, very blank! I don't have many decorations for spring, but I do have a beautiful Easter basket:

This basket and the many eggs in it were smocked by my grandmother Memere, who was an amazing seamstress, knitter and just about anything to do with needle, thread or yarn! When I got married my mother made sure I had my own basket for Easter. My grandmother taught my mom a lot and even though my mother doesn't knit or crochet, she knew enough about that to get me started when I wanted something to do during Chapel in college! So sewing is her area of expertise and I am the crochet guru in the family--I knit from time to time but crocheting is so easy to fix if you make a mistake! Soon I'll be done a blanket for my nephew (arriving in July!) and I'll share that and the pattern. It's easy and gorgeous!

Once I get down the plates on display over the microwave winter will have left the house! Off to the gym now.........

Smiles,

Bee-utiful and Fabulous!

Last night I went to town in the basement with some stamps and many color challenges. I wanted to make a card or two to send for Jen's fundraiser for the Alzheimer's Association. She's also giving away sweet blog candy so go check it out. Cards for a cause, I love it! I'll be sending the two below along with a few others.

This first card is for Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration Challenge 30. I look forward to these every Sunday, but never seem to have the colors or anything close. (I'm not good at straying off the beaten path.) This week wasn't too different and I was about to give up on finding anything near Bravo Burgundy....then I found a piece of ribbon. Actually a ribbon about two feet long, and on the side adhered to the paper is the name of a candy company near my old school. I don't remember the candy, but I could've spied the ribbon and asked politely if it was going to be thrown away! To color the flower I used a Crayola marker that seemed close....they make those 50 packs for a reason I guess. Add Basic Grey DP, Yoyo Yellow that I'm sure I've never used and some Making Memory brads and it came together fairly easily!

Dawn McVey has started an aweseome Raspberry Suite color challenge. You can tell just by the few hundred people participating that she's got quite the following. I played last week and this week I loved the colors so I thought I'd give it a go again. I love the fact that I found the celery scrap and ribbon sitting out on my table--cleaning up and creating all in one. I stamped the F (hero arts) twice--once on turquoise before embossing and once on white. I cut the turquois out inside the stamped line so it made the F appear to be tri colored. Despite cleaning, my favorite part of this is the beginning of the message "It's your day. Make it...." All those reward cards in my purse seem to remember my birthday and when April rolls around I get cards with coupons. This one said to Make my day count, and was chocolate colored writing! So I cut it up and now my raspberry suite is also recycled.

Boy that was a long one, hope you stuck with me! Don't forget to stay tuned to find out about the NEW sketch challenge design team I'm a part of. Check out the other lucky ladies on my side bar while you're at it!

Smiles,