Happy Thursday!

Hello there and I hope you are having a great week!! 

Guess why I am happy this Thursday?  

Well for me, today is like my Friday!!  

I have tomorrow off and I can't wait!!  :-)

I hope to have a fun day participating in tomorrow's Friends with Flair blog hop and creating some cards with my friend Vianna who is coming over to craft with me!!  I am so looking forward to my day off!!

For today I am going to start you off with three snippets that I can share with you for 

tomorrow's new release at Whimsie Doodles!

Got some ideas of what you will be seeing in full tomorrow?  Well trust me when I say that you won't be disappointed!  Once again Melyssa has created some fabulous digi AND rubber stamps for you!!

Come back tomorrow to see all the new goodies!!

Today I am going to share with you another card I made 
for last Friday's VSN challenges. 

 

This one was called Snow Blind, FEB10VSND. Our challenge was to create a card that contained mostly white including the cardstock, DP and embellies. We were allowed to color our images a little though!

The great news is that I was able to sneak in another sketch from the  Master Sketch list on my journey to work through all the SCS sketch challenges.  

Here is the sketch that I used...SC21

As you can see I flipped the sketch upright.  My panels were created using white CS that I embossed in two different patterns with CB Embossing Folders.  And then for the main image panel I cut out a shape using a Nestie Labels 4.

Here is a closeup of the image I chose to use.  I called my card White Wedding.  But I think this could also be given to someone who just got engaged too.  I thought it came out pretty nice considering the 45 minute time restriction to making our creations!  the stamp is from SU and the ribbon is a recycled one from a package I got at Christmas!  I used Copics to color the little bits of pink on the dress and the tiny pearls are from Studio 18 I believe.

Sorry for the crappy pictures, but I am happy to say that I have fixed one of the lights for my light box that has been  broken for  a while now and I should be able to get better pictures without so much shadowing in the future!

Well I am off to get busy making some more cards!!  I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will be back tomorrow for a really fun day!!  May your bucket be flowing over with fun things to look forward to on your days off this weekend!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello to all my  family, friends and Blog friends!!  I hope that you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I am blogging with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on in the background and the to the smell of Pumpkin pies cooking in the oven.  A little later today we will be heading to my sister's where she will be marrying her soul-mate!  Here is a picture of Michelle and Claude.  We are so happy for them!  They really have a magical relationship with each other and I know they will have many years of magic in marriage together!

Speaking of magic, what really brought you here today is the Unity DT Blog Hop!  Today we our showcasing the November KOM called Simply Magical!  It seemed appropriate today to share with you the wedding card that I made for my sister and Claude using two of the stamps from this month's KOM.

It's almost like the love they have for each other comes from some special Pixie dust that was sprinkled upon them, because they are so cute together! This sentiment is so fitting for them!

 On the outside of the card it says...

All you need is faith, trust & pixie dust...

And on the inside I have...

...for a marriage that will "make the everyday magical!"

The wand and swirling stars and the sentiments on both the inside and outside of the card come from the November KOM.  The frame that I made by masking the center of the scalloped and checked block is from the November Scrapbooking Kit.  I used papers from Scribble Scrabble and kept the colors in the fall family since they are getting married on Thanksgiving today!

Do not miss the Black Friday specials going on over at the Unity store today. You can check out all the details on the Unity Blog.  You will find specials that are lower priced than ever before!

May your Thanksgiving be special and your bucket overflow with many reasons to give thanks!

Happy Wedding!

I made this card for Monday's CAS challenge #32 to make a wedding card. I forgot to post it until now and I wanted to get it out there before we have a new challenge already tomorrow!

I apologize for it not being a REAL Clean and Simple card, but if you know my style, then for me it IS really CAS! LOL!! I think the paper (from MM Black Tie collection) is ornate and busy which makes it seem less clean. But really there aren't that many layers or embellishments on this card. You will probably see this one in my Etsy store. I sold the last wedding card that was in there!!

If you want to see some really awesome CAS cards, go check out Miss Boo's Blog and Gallery and you will be forever impressed! She is the Queen of CAS!! I love her style!!

Keeping it short and sweet today! Work kept me busy all day yesterday (and some of the night last night!) And I want to get some good cleaning, card making and family time in today so I better get busy if I want to fit it all in today!!

Have a wonderful Sunday and may your bucket flow over with joy everlasting!

HHH with Hodge Podge of Happiness!!

Yeah for Friday's and Hip Hop Hangovers!! Yesterday's Hip Hop was so inspiring (well of course it always is!) But I am in love with the new set that WE the customers of Unity hand picked! Didn't we do an awesome job?? If you don't know what I am talking about, a while back, Angela gave us a choice of three stamps all designed by the same designer and the Unity Forum voted on which of the stamps to include in the collection. She kept giving us more choices until we had filled a complete collection. It was so cool to see the set come together!

The Hodge Podge of Happiness was available for purchase (if you didn't preorder it) yesterday. Those of us who preordered it received them this week in our mail boxes!! Woot Woot!!

Take a look at this awesome kit!!!

Once mine arrived, I couldn't put it down and put together three cards, all using the Hodge Podge of Happiness!

And here are the cards that I made...

Wedding Wishes

This card follows the color challenge from SCS CC227. The DP is from MM Black Tie collection, the lavender CS is from SU. Using my Copics, I just subtly added some color to the cake to make it look like the frosting was lightly airbrushed. I added a silver pen to the cake rack to make it look metallic.

Sending Happy Thoughts

Recognize these colors and patterns? You might have seen the bed set that is the latest inspiration for Unity's Addict Challenge USC42. All the little dots of flowers in the flower pot were hand cut and paper pieced. The DP's are from MM and DCWV.

And for my last one...

Little Cup of Happy

This little card is whimsical and light because of that cute stamped image being paired with the adorable Cosmo Cricket papers. The cup was colored onto plain white CS and then paper pieced onto the plaid background paper. I had to color the felt button with my Copic marker to make it match the card!! :-) The sketch for this card is the SCS Sketch Challenge, SC237.

Well, that does it for now! I hope you have a wonderful day of Hip Hopping the Hangover! To see all the blogs that are posting Unity today, please visit the Unity Blog or you can jump to the blogs from THIS forum Post too!

Don't Forget.... Only 2 More days for your chance to win BLOG CANDY!!!

Have a great day and here's hoping that your bucket overflows with a Hodge Podge of Happiness!!

I Won a Stamp Set!!

I am so excited and honored that the card (pictured to the right) that I submitted to SheetLoad for their "Show Us Your SheetLoad" contest in April recieved the most votes!!

This makes me the thrilled winner of a collection of stamps from The Greeting Farm! I am hoping that I will get the Miss Anya collection, but I would take any thing of theirs because all of their stamps are so dang cute!!

Thank you to Alicia and everyone over at SheetLoad who voted for my card! I really appreciate it and you made my day!!

Well, I survived my three day weekend (barely) and went back to work yesterday. I had a busy day at work, but did manage to get in enough time at my scrap table to complete a birthday card for our dear friend Sandi. The card went together very quickly because I CASED this card from Sunday's Featured Stamper, Sparkle, who seems to love Bella stamps as much as I do. She had over 180 cards with Bella images to choose from, plus all kinds of other categories too! If you are looking for inspiration, you should check out her gallery!

Here is the card that I made for Sandi...




The Fine Print: DP: BG Urban Prairie (Ladybug); CS: SU (Baja Breeze, Ruby Red), The Paper Co. (Black); Stamps: Image: Stamping Bella (Cakeabella), Sentiment: Whipper Snapper Designs; Ink: Amuse (Black), ColorBox (Teal); Markers: Copics, Millenium Zig writer; Flowers: Prima (Red ?)and American Crafts (Blue Felt); Brads: Basic Grey; Fiber: JoAnn's by the yard; Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Swiss Dots).

I changed the colors and DP, but tried to leave the stamped image and the layout the same! Why fix something that ain't broke! Right?? I love this image for Sandi because she is an awesome cake decorator and was the lady who made our wedding cake that was so beautiful!

Here is the picture of the "beach-themed" cake Sandi made for us...

Isn't it beautiful??

It has felt great to get back to stamping after a three day furlough... I was going crazy and now I am behind on all my challenges!! I need to get working on some more of the Unity Celebration cards in hopes of having a chance at winning their grand prize of FREE Unity Kits of the Month for a year!!

Speaking of KOM... I hope my mailman will be delivering my May KOM today! I can't wait to get my hands on that!!

Have a great day and my your bucket overflow with pleasant surprises and good news!!

A Black Tie Affair!

I absolutely loved the Technique offered this week by SCS called Ribbon Frame! I couldn't get to trying it out on Monday, but I did squeeze in a little time yesterday and then completed the card this morning.

Because the frame made from ribbon is such an important part of the card, I decided to start by choosing my ribbon and then working backwards from there to create my card. So as I was searching through my ribbons, I was leaning towards making a monochromatic card with all whites, but I couldn't find a white ribbon I liked well enough to use for this technique. So then I started thinking about black because I thought it would make a strong statement.

When I found my black velvet ribbon I knew that I had the ribbon I wanted to use and it also sent me to the wedding theme which followed! I think that Black and White cards can be so stunning and I love the formal look it can produce.

So this is the finished product that I came up with! I don't know anyone getting married right now, but I hope that someday I will know someone who is having one of those fancy Black and White themed weddings that this card would be perfect for...

The Fine Print: DP: PaperTrey Ink; CS: GP; Stamps: Image and Sentiment, Inkadinkadoo; Ink: Amuse black ink and Top Boss for embossing; Embossing Powder: Stampendous; Ribbon: Joann's; Cuttlebug embossing Folder: Swiss Dots; Rhinestones: unknown.

Excuse the few stray black embossing powders that I can never seem to prevent from straggling on my cards. I even use the powder that is supposed to prevent that, but it always seems that they find a way to remain on the card only to be accentuated once heat activated! If you have any tips about preventing that, please let me know! I also think that embossing works better with my red rubber stamps than with this acrylic set I used, but overall I really liked how this card turned out! It reminds me of a formal black tie affair that is so fun to dress up for!

Before I go I just wanted to take a minute to thank all of you who have been so kind in leaving me words of encouragement about some of my cards! It really means a lot to me and I read every one of them! My family gives me nice feedback on my cards, but it really means a lot when a fellow stamper sees something that they like in my cards and takes the time to comment on. You really help me validate why I do this which is to please the people who receive my cards! Thanks again for taking the time to visit with me! I really appreciate you and your comments!

I have noticed that I am getting close to the 5,000 hits mark! When I hit that point I will be offering some blog candy for a lucky reader out there! Keep stopping by and it will be here before we know it!

Have a great day and may your bucket overflow with people who encourage and inspire you!

Our Wedding Day and my first Wedding Album Layout!

November 15th, 2008 was one of the happiest days of my life! I married the man I have waited a long time to find... the one I feel I was destined to spend the rest of my life with. Despite the fact that my dad couldn't make it to the ceremony or reception because his wife was very ill, and despite the fact that the weather was cold and windy, it was still a very beautiful ceremony!

We were married on Honeymoon Island in Dunedin, FL at sunset. Thankfully we had taken pictures for the wedding the week prior, when the weather was cooperating and the sunset was breathtaking and not obscured by clouds! You will see below a sampling of photos from both the photo shoot day and the actual ceremony below!

This shot was taken the week before the wedding.

What a beautiful sunset it was!

I should mention here that our good friends John and Brenda took these and most of our wedding photos for us. It was their gift to us for our wedding and we can't thank them enough. John is an accomplished photographer and his wife proved to be very talented at photography as well!

Another pre-wedding photo without the sunset behind us! We 'borrowed" the arch that was left there by a previous wedding! The torches were ours.

The actual wedding day getting ready to walk down the aisle!

See my dress just blowing in the breeze?

In attendance were our family (even Tom's kids from the other coast of FL and my aunt Cindy who surprised us all the way from MI), and many of our close friends. There were approximately 200 guests invited so it wasn't small, but still felt quaint and personal.

Standing at the altar during the ceremony.

Here is a shot of the decorations for the beach. Notice how windy it is!!

Along with the help of my daughter Leah, Tom and my friend Tiffani, I painstakingly made all the invitations and decorations for the beach. (See I told you I have been busy! LOL!)

We bought the arch from Michael's and wrapped it in organza and attached the wreath I made for it. We added two palms and two tiki torches that were decorated to match and also had tables for the sand ceremony and blessing stones (to be explained in a later posting.) Ricky and Tom's nephew Dustin raked the sand into a path for us and we added some conch shells to the base of the torches. It was very tropical!

As promised, I have a layout to share with you. I am very excited to make my wedding album! While in Vegas Tom took me to a LSS where I bought a zillion things to have for the honeymoon portion of our album. And then recently, Tiffani and I went to Whimsodoodle and bought tons of things for the album too!

Here are the colors that the album will have in it. I wanted to keep everything in the subtle colors that you would find on the beach, around the water and in the sunset. So the album will be using tans, peaches, oranges, blues and greens.

These colors are so yummy!!

Here is the first layout I made for our wedding album.

The large embellishment on the right side uses actual pieces from the arch decoration we used in the wedding.

Title: Decorating the Beach

Journaling:

"Driving to Honeymoon Island to prepare the beach for the wedding, the rain clouds were looming over us. As it rained briefly my stress level hit the roof. I realized that I had no control over the weather, but I could control the placement of the handmade decorations I had so lovingly prepared for our union. We were so thankful for Chad and Tiffani, Steve and Susan and Leah, Dustin and Ricky who braved what felt like hurricane force winds to drape organza, anchor the arch and torches and sweep a beautiful aisle. Despite Mother Nature, we created a beautiful tropical paradise for our wedding!

Fine Print: PP: Basic Gray; CS: Stampin Up (Sage Shadow and Barely Banana), Bazzill (Orange); Dried flowers and silk leaves from Michael's; Paper Flowers: Bazzill, Kaiser, and Prima; Brads: Creative Cafe; Ribbon: May Arts.

Mom is doing Great and I've Been Scrapbooking!

Hello everybody!

I've noticed a few extra (hundred) hits on the blog lately and I am sure that it is because of our announcement regarding the closing of the WBW that we published to our mailing list! If you are joining me on my blog from the link that we sent you, then Welcome!! I am glad to have you here and hope that you will continue to stay in touch with me!

It has been a busy last half of the week for me since my mom had her shoulder surgery! She was so funny because she thought that she would bounce right back and be just fine, but little did she know it would eventually (when her pain block wore off) be quite uncomfortable and even difficult to do some of the things we ordinarily do without even thinking about it! It has been such a treat to spend some additional time with her! I love her so much and really appreciate any time I get to be with her! If I haven't said it before, my mom is the best mom in the whole wide world. She is the best patient in the world, but a little stubborn when it comes to letting me help her do things! I love you Mom!!

This is a picture of me, my daughter Tiffany and my mom from Christmas this past year!

Today has been a fun day for me! Other than the fact that it started with a 7am C-section and it rained all day, it still had some special parts to it!



For starters, Tom and I went wedding ring shopping and I think that we have come very close to finding the rings that we want to give to each other at our wedding! I had to turn my engagement ring in to the jewelers to have it reset into a Tiffany setting so that it would fit into the type of guard wedding band style that I liked. I have to go one week without my ring and my hand feels so naked!! I love the ring that we might get for Tom, but he still wants to do a little looking around and make sure that we are getting the right price!



And then the other part of the day that is so cool is that I am having a slumber party with Tiffani and her boys!! And then tomorrow we are going to go to an all day crop with some of our friends in the area! We have spent the evening preparing pages (and Jello-shots!) for the crop! We are so excited and motivated to be scrapbooking again! We feel like we have lost our confidence in scrapping a little and we are looking forward to seeing if we can find our scrapbooking mojo again!



I'll give you a hint and show you the sketch that I am using to complete a layout with the photos that were taken of Tiffany (my daughter) at the Thresher's game where she threw the first pitch as Wendy!


This sketch came from an online source and was made by Mona! I definitely altered the sketch to turn it into a double page spread that is 12 x 24. I will show you the finished product after I get it done on Sunday!

I hope that you are having a great weekend and I will try to check in again tomorrow! Oh and by the way... I am still dieting and losing weight! Not as fast as I would like, but at least I keep going down and not up!

Kelly :-)