Love ya Much pt 2

I see that you still need a bit more of a nudge to push you over the edge in purchasing the Love you Bunch bundle featured in this post. No worries! After spending some much needed time with family and friends over the holidays, I am back and ready to get you back "in stamping mode." Haha! That was kind of cheesier than Velveeta.
ANYWAY!!...I stamped another pretty card for you!

Ta-Da!!

Love it, yes?!?

I used Taylor's latest Cupcake Challenge for layout inspiration. Now what are you waiting for?! I'm sending vibes your way that you MUST contact me and place your order. :)

All supplies Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Love You Much, Short & Sweet
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Close to Cocoa, Pink Pirouette
Paper: Candy Lane dsp, Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Alpine ribbon, Filigree designer brads, Circle Fire rhinestones, Button Bouquet, White gel pen, Tool kit, Dazzling Diamonds

Thanks so much for stopping by and all the wonderful comments!

Valentine's already?!

Christmas is just a few days away and you're hopefully done with Christmas cards. What's next?? Just the single largest card-giving holiday of the year! To get you inspired, I created this just for you.

Isn't it so cute?! The supplies to make this (stamp set, 3 heart punch, and designer paper) could be yours beginning December 23rd - January 31st AT A DISCOUNT!!



Want it with free shipping? Order Tuesday, December 23rd... that's only one day...and get the additional discount of free shipping with a $70 order!! Click here to order your bundle right now!

Stamps: Love You Much
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Candy Lane dsp
Accessories: Riding Hood Red striped grosgrain, White taffeta, Pretties kit, Clear embossing powder, 3 Flower punch, White gel pen

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a very Happy and Safe Holiday!

A Card for a Cause

In my daily ritual of browsing through blogs, I stumbled on a link to this blog here. Oh my goodness, I was so touched. I immediately wanted to send a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) to this family. This card is for you Francesca. Let it be known that someone whispers a prayer for you from afar.



I used Taylor's latest cupcake challenge sketch for inspiration.

Stamps: Three for You
Ink: Chocolate Chip Craft
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Bella Rose dsp
Accessories: White organdy (retired) ribbon, Pink taffeta ribbon, Wide oval punch, Martha Stewart edge punch, Pink dew drops, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder.


*Warning* The rest of this post is non-stamping related. The other day was my son's last day of school before the Christmas holidays. The class celebrated by having "Christmas Tea." I wondered how this was going to go...15 4-yr olds in their best dress sipping tea from real tea cups and enjoying a light snack. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?? I know I was thinking, mass chaos and broken China! I was pleasantly shocked this went without a hitch. The children were superbly behaved. Here are a few pictures of Harrison at the tea party.


His napkin was resting on his lap and he took a moment to neatly wipe his mouth. WHAT?! Why doesn't he do this at home?!


And finally a visit by Santa (one of the children's dad was such a good sport to do this!)


Now here's a funny thing. When Santa walked through the door, Harrison informed one of his friends that this was Santa Number Two. I was literally a deer in headlights. I just stood frozen absolutely dumbfounded with what to say. LOL! You know, sometimes you just aren't prepared with how to react to what kids say and this was one of those moments. Luckily, he wasn't concerned that this was a completely different Santa than the one he saw two weeks ago. After a bit of coaxing, he eagerly hopped on Santa's lap for a wish list reciting and photo op!

Thanks so much for stopping by and, if you have time, say a prayer (or send a RAK!) to the Bucci family.

Teacher gift card

Just a quick post to show a Teacher gift card I stayed up making LATE last night. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out!


I bought the Teacher's Apple set from Papertrey, Inc and I LOVE this stamp set!! It stamped SOO nicely and I just love the sayings on it. I can see using this one over and over and over in the future.

Here's the full front cover...the top with the doily lace edging is a flap held down with Basic Grey's magnetic snaps.


I printed her name on Vanilla cardstock and punched out with the oval punch from SU. FYI, all cardstock is Stampin' Up Real Red, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, and Mellow Moss.

This is what it looks like opened.

And where the gift card is...


And finally a closeup of the saying with those GORGEOUS apples!


I got my inspiration from Just Give Me Stamps blog. I wish I could have spent more time on this! I wanted to do some stitching and other embellishments, but I flat puckered out at 4 AM. I'm just happy that my son's teacher loved her card. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and for ALL of the comments!! Love those!

I blame the anesthetic

I blame all the recent anesthetics for my mental block here! I spent so much time trying to make a card with KWerner's latest color challenge. Here's her inspiration.


Now, I know what you're saying..."but the colors are so cute Melissa!" I know! I know! I don't know why, but I just had a complete mental block on putting them together. Time consuming as it was, it definitely convinced me that I NEED the oval Nestabilities and matching scallops. :D So this is what I came up with.


The base card is Chocolate Chip cardstock and mounted atop is Baja Breeze with the RETIRING (*gasp*) Stitched background stamp in Chocolate Chip ink. I then used my Coluzzle to cut the same size oval in Vellum cardstock and Very Vanilla cardstock. I stamped the polka dot butterflies in So Saffron ink and the little flowers in Close to Cocoa. The larger butterfly is stamped on So Saffron cardstock with a Chocolate Chip border and cut out. I then clear embossed with my Versamark Dazzle pad (click the picture to see the dazzle better!) I felt like the border around the oval needed more so I paper pierced around the edge. Wasn't entirely happy with that, so then I put Liquid Pearls on top of the piercings. Much happier with that!

Sorry for being MIA lately. Catie has a cold, Harrison has a nasty cough...as does my husband that elevated to a sinus infection. All the coughing/sneezing of the children in my face finally led to me having pink eye....AGAIN. I swear, from now on if someone gets sick, I'm switching to my glasses so at least I'll have a shield! On top of that, a routine visit to the dentist for a cleaning found SIX..yes, you read right...six cavities! Apparently all my old junky silver fillings broke...every_single_one and 'lo and behold! Cavity under each of the fillings. I have 4 of the 6 filled and still need one more visit in the next couple months. Luckily, all the silver fillings are being replaced with shiny porcelain ones...I'm much less of a metal-mouth now!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope to be back soon with a sneak peek of samples from the upcoming catalog. :D

A Taylor Challenge and Scrapbook pages

Wow, it feels like I haven't updated in ages! I've been so busy with Christmas quickly approaching. I am VERY proud to say, however, that I have finished most of my shopping and all the gifts are wrapped!! Oh yes...let me just take a quick moment to pat myself on the back once again. :) I also really have been busy stamping! I wanted to participate in Taylor's latest cupcake challenge and this is my Christmas card.


I used more of that glitter paper (love it!) and the retired Stampin' Up! set, Love and Joy. That's such a classy set, I don't know why they let it go! It will probably make another appearance for Valentine's. I also used retired Dots & Dashes dsp. This was a pretty quick and simple card to put together. You can't see it, but I used the at you! Spica red pen to color in the middle snowflake for sparkle. Looks VERY sparkly in person!

My scrapbook club also met today and this was the spread that they did.



The second page was TOTALLY CASEd from Stampin By The Sea. I just love her scrapbook pages. Sorry the pictures don't turn out very well....I seriously need to figure out how to take good photos of 12x12 pages. Add that to the ever-growing list of things!!

I also came up with a progressive to 12x12 page using the I Wish simply scrappin' kit. This layout is super simple and all I added was some glitter and ribbon. I can't wait to put some pictures on it, but here's how the layout went.

6 x 6


8 1/2 x 11


and the 12 x 12

Ok...I think that's a fair amount of wall of text/pics in a single post. Don't forget, you can click on the photos to see a better view!

Thanks so much for getting "in stamping mode!"

KWerner's color challenge #34

Another day...another challenge. I LIVE off these they're so much fun! Here's the palette.


A closeup of my flower (using at You! Spica clear for minimal sparkle)


And the full card.


Recognize the designer paper at all? It's retired Enchante dsp from Stampin' Up AND it just so happens to have the EXACT color requirements for this challenge! Well, except for the Bordering Blue part. I was going to use a piece that utilized all the colors, but ended up going with just the Celery piece from the bunch...go figure! All the color requirements were used on the flower though! Pale Plum watercolor crayons with Perfect Plum marker for intensity and blended with the Aquapainter. The stem and leaves were colored with the Aquapainter and the lid of the Celery ink and the Sage Shadow was added with marker and then blended. Bordering blue was added for shadowing all around the flower with my Aquapainter and then sponged on the edges. I found some satin ribbon in my stash that matched the dsp perfectly! I think it's called Spring Moss from Offray. The half back pearls are from the Pretties kit. I think this makes a perfect Mother's Day card. :)

Thanks for looking and I really appreciate all of your very kind comments!

I bid thee farewell

Oh Merry and Bright, I will miss you so. You were loved, reliable, and perfect for me. You survived many a Stamp a Stack...even misplaced a time or two, but you always came back! May you have an enjoyable retirement in the stamping retirement community.

Let's wish Merry and Bright well together!


This card's layout was inspired by the challenge over at Our Creative Corner. I also laid on the embellishments (over 12!) to fit the requirement for Paper Craft Planet's 12 Days of Christmas contest.

It's hard to tell, but this is actually a window card! My snow scene is atop acetate and the snow is actually stamped on the inside of the card. I also used some fun glitter paper from Michael's by K & Company. Maybe this gives a better view.

And another closeup for good measure!

I die cut a snowflake with my Snowflakes #2 die and acetate...I had to fish with the sandwich a few times to get it right but it finally worked. Unfortunately, you can't see it very well in the picture, but it's on top of the baja breeze felt flurry. The small snowflakes were punched with a small Marvy punch. The ones on top of the chocolate (retired) twill ribbon are punched with vellum paper and then outlined with blue metallic Sakura gel pen.

Now on to the REALLY good part.

Stampin' Up! is having a sale on their Retiring Stamps!!

Enjoy 10% off ALL retiring stamp sets viewable HERE.
Or view the list Alphabetically HERE.

ALSO...GET FREE SHIPPING!!!
Enjoy FREE shipping on any order over $70 NOW through December 23rd!

Act now and think later before the set you want sells out!!

Embracing the white space

Sometimes less is more! I love cards that embrace the "white space." They are sometimes just so striking! When Julee Tilman over at Poetic Artistry made a challenge to copy her sketch and embrace the white space, I had to jump on that! I decided on watercoloring (again) the Home for Christmas stamp set. Here's the sketch.
















And here's what I came up with.


I gotta be honest...another reason to participate in this sketch is because it's a contest to win a stamp set from Verve! Her stamp sets are just so elegant and classy. Really beautiful and I'd LOVE to win one of them. :) While perusing through the entries, I found a GREAT card using the sketch with Season of Joy. I changed a few things and made it monochromatic for fun times. I just had to make another so here it is.


I used sooooo much glitter. I used the fine cosmo glitter and retired (why, oh why??) Romantic Red SU glitter. I cut out the little poinsettias as well as the snowflake, glittered them up and popped them up with dimensionals. Here's a closeup for your viewing pleasure.


Now, I know it seems like I've disappeared, but I really have been busy stamping! I totally duplicated this project here! Oooh it looks so awesome in person and was super simple to make. I've also been working on my Christmas cards for this year.

For the first time, Harrison finally would pose for a picture with Santa. He absolutely refused to sit on his lap and this was as close as he would get to him. I was excited about the huge grin...that took about 15 mins of being shy to finally get him there.


With the help of the kiddos, we also got the tree decorated. I took a couple of pictures of Catie...she just LOVED all the ornaments. I have a feeling I'll be putting up the bottom half of the tree ornaments up...repeatedly.




Thanks so much for stopping by and getting "in stamping mode!"

7th Day of Christmas

It's the 7th day of Christmas over at Papercraft Planet (have you visited there yet?) and the challenge was to make a project black and white with a splash of color. I actually got my inspiration from a cute little black, white, and silver outfit in Catie's closet. The top is a lush white with a small emblem of silver hearts with a crossover line across the chest ending in a white taffeta bow. Wow...I'm not sure if that sounds exactly like what it looks like, but she's asleep and I'm not risking waking her up to take a picture of it! Anyway, it has cute little matching black leggings with white hearts all over it. SOOO super cute! So this is the card that I came up with. Very simple!


I embossed the heart from the Best Wishes and More stamp set with silver embossing powder and then filled all the little circles with Liquid Pearls. I used the lattice technique as instructed on the Thinking Inking blog <----clicky to see the tutorial. I added little crystal pearls on all 4 corners. I'm thinking my husband will see this card again on our anniversary. It may not be a silver anniversary, but it sure feels like one! HAH! I'm just kidding! Here's a closeup of the heart.


Just for making a project with the requirements qualifies you to win a prize from the hosting company, which is Verve stamps. Man...I REALLY want to win this! I've been browsing the site for a while now and I'm really liking what they have to offer! Wish me some luck!

KWerner's color challenge #33

I just gotta say. I have GREAT friends. Remember that abscess I got drained a week ago? Well, the packing was still firmly inside the back of my knee and my surgeon informed me that either I take it out or he will see me the next day for him to take it out. Uggh. I immediately called my friend Rosie (who is a nurse) to get the low-down on the surgeon and whine to her about taking out the stupid packing. You see, after getting that abscess drained last week, I'm EXTREMELY gun-shy to pain. I half-jokingly asked for an epidural just to have him get the packing out, LOL. Anyway, Rosie offered to take it out for me...what friend will pull out your nasty, infected packing for you?!?! She even called me late in the evening to check on me to make sure it was out...it wasn't. I pretty much shot-gunned 4 glasses of wine, hopped into the tub to let it soak and THEN pulled it out. So this card is for my dear friend Rosie. Color inspiration came from Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration #33. The colors are so cute! Layout inspiration came from this gorgeous card from Kelly Lunceford over at Flutter by Atomicbutterfly.

Here are the colors












Here's my card


I hope she likes it! What do you think?

Card base is certainly celery with chocolate chip embossed with the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder atop vellum. The whisper white piece is cut using the Big Shot and Square Nestabilities die. I used the Eastern Blooms stamp set and punched out 3 flowers using the Flower Trio punch. I then took my Chocolate Chip marker around the edges and used DMC floss in the middle to make them look like buttons.

20% off!

Beginning NOW through January 18, 2009, when you spend $20 (yes, that's it!!) you'll receive 20% off any stamp set in the catalog sampler.

Item #	Description	Retail	20% Off
111564	Flight of the Butterfly	$31.95	$25.56
112911	Vuelo de la mariposa (Spanish Flight of the Butterfly)	$31.95	$25.56
111676	Puns from the Past	$27.95	$22.36
111660	Just Jawing	$25.95	$20.76
111624	Dreams du Juor	$18.95	$15.16
111700	Thank You Kindly	$13.95	$11.16
111714	Wow Flowers	$12.95	$10.36
112955	Flores llamativas (Spanish Wow Flowers)	$12.95	$10.36
111600	Bella's Bloom	$12.95	$10.36

In celebration of the special, I decided to use one of my favorite sets offered in this promotion, Flight of the Butterfly. For sketch inspiration, I used I{heart}2stamp sketch challenge. I also used another one of my new "toys." :)


Holy layers Batman! I think this card will require additional postage. It sure was fun though! Can you see the shimmer on the main butterfly? (You can click on the picture to see it better) I stamped the solid image in Pink Pirouette then inked up the inner flower image entirely with Kiwi Kiss and took a Chocolate Chip marker to it's body and various other flowers. I stamped this image, then cut it out and inked it up entirely with (new toy to me!) Versamark Dazzle - Frost. Oooh, can I just say that I love it? It gives such subtle sparkle. Think Lumiere but as a stamp pad! Anyway, I then embossed it with Clear embossing powder to make it a bit more robust. Here's a closeup of the shimmer.


The small flowers on the Chocolate Chip cardstock were also stamped with the Versamark Dazzle. I primarily used Stampin' Up! product, but I did also use some Nestabilities and Dew Drops - Island Blossom. One final picture of the card with toy!


Thanks so much for "flitting" by!