I've been tagged and Finally Friday challenge!

I was tagged by my friend Denise, so here goes... (ps the challenge is at the bottom of this post)

What were you doing ten years ago?

So Feb of 1998, I was a senior at UNH. I was working at The Disney Store and wondering what the heck I was going to do with the rest of my life. I was driving my 1979 brown Volvo, Betty that I miss everyday. She was a tank!! Did I think in 10 years from now I'll be a SAHM with 2 kids and a SU demo????? not at all!!

What were you doing 1 year ago??

A year ago I was pregnant with my second daughter. And I was convincing Denise that being an SU demo was lots of fun!!

Name your five favorite snacks...

ummm, yes, all snacks!! I couldn't just name 5!!! I guess right now my favorite is Special K chocolatey delight cereal. (That's my idea of diet food)

Name five things you would do if you were a millionaire...

After this winter of snow and ice the first thing I'd do with the $$$ is flatten the gigantic hill in the middle of my driveway!!! It's always an adventure getting to and from the house. Second I'd go to Hawaii, we went for our honeymoon and after getting there and realizing we'd used all our $$ to get there, well I just don't think we got the full effect of the islands eating dinner at Denny's(although the sunset there was the best we saw the whole trip!!!). Third I'd take a year(well March-October) and go to all the Formula 1 races around the world. Then the practical me would kick in and I'd put money away for the girls' college tuition and then decide what charities and schools to give $$ to.

Name five things you like doing...

Spending time as a family, stamping/crafting, sleeping, blogging/chatting/hanging out with friends and travelling.

Name five things you would never wear again...

my prom dress, a string bikini, acid washed jeans that are tight rolled at the bottom with 2 layered pairs of socks, ultra low rise jeans and short shorts

Name your five favorite toys...

Well of course all my Stampin' Up! supplies, I'd go insane without them. The computer, which is my life line to the outside world. My daughter's travel DVD player, aka the only way for me to take a shower. My digital camera, I have a bit of a picture taking problem. My sudoku magazine to keep me sharp!!

Now, it's my turn to tag five more people. I tag... Alexandra, Stacy , Jessica, Jennifer and Robin. These are some of my blogging sisters and new friends. Hope you girls get a chance to tell us a little more about you. You just need to answer these few questions and then tag 5 more bloggers. Have fun! :)

FINALLY FRIDAY CHALLENGE

Well I found out this week that I am going to be an aunt, twice!!! My sister and my SIL are both prego!!! One is due in July the other in September!! So today's challenge is anything baby!! Shower favors(which I need to think of!!!), welcome baby cards, scrapbook pages whatever if it's about a baby go for it!

This is my card for my challenge and the monday mojo week 26 challenge. This one is for my sister. I love this color combo and after playing with it last week, I already had a lot of pieces pre-cut!! This uses the SU stamp set swell news, which is retired (tomorrow there is a new pregnancy stamp coming out in the mini though!!). The sentiment says, "you grow girl" I used my fine cosmo glitter container to make the growing belly on the side.

Stamps: swell news ink and CS:groovy guava, old olive, WW, cko. chip, blush blossom. Accessories: artichoke grosgrain, sponge, scallop, 1 1/4 circle and oval punches, crop-a-dile, pretties kit, rhinestone brad.

Thanks for stoppin' by!!

Pass it forward RAK blog candy

I rarely post at night, but I just had to share what I got today!! (And it will be great for all you other night bloggers!)

This is the wonderful RAK I received from Denise(check out her blog, it rocks!)!! It's some stamped images from SU!'s new Occassions mini(the sets I didn't order so perfect for me!!!) and really neat embellishments. I received this RAK as part of her "Pass It Forward" blog candy. I'm going to have fun working with these new images images and dew drops :)

The purpose of "Pass It Forward" is to do something kind for someone else and to keep the kindness going. I will send a little something to the first three people to post a comment here as my way to keep the kindness "passing forward." Have fun! And thanks Denise!!

Swap Card

I joined a swap on SCS for cards that showcasw the new piece of hodgepodge hardware, the flower ribbon slide. The new set of hodgepodge in silver will be available in the occasions mini starting March 1!!

It was a little tricky to photograph since there is a layer of acetate over the basic black layer. Denise made a card this way and I loved it so I had to try one for my self. The white flowers are stamped in stazon which works great on the acetate. The ribbon slide fits perfectly in the center of this flower.

Stamps:One of a kind Ink & CS: Sage shadow, basic black, WW, acetate, pretty in pink, white stazon. Accessories: silver hodgepodge, silver brads, sponge, ticket corner punch, pink grosgrain ribbon.

I am currently working on a card to showcase the new wild wasabi card stock special, hopefully I'll be able to post that a little later.

Finally Friday Challenge

Well here it is another snowy Friday!! A great day to stay in and stamp!

Do you have something in the back of your stamp area that you bought thinking, "when I have time I'll stamp this item." (You know you do!!) Today is the day! Today's challenge is to finally alter that great item you got at Target or wherever for $1.

I knew when I was pregnant with my daughter that I wanted to stamp her name using the monograms, frame and hang them. We didn't pick a name for her until the day of so I didn't get a head start and haven't had time to think about it since! So today I dusted off the frame and monograms and came up with the first letter"R" The mat is 8x8 and the cut out is 5x5. I embossed the R with clear EP over pretty in pink craft ink. I colored and cut out the fairy from fairy nice and attached her with dimensionals.( My daughters room is pink with green accents). I added some 5/8 in celery and 1/4 in pink grosgrain. I gave the fairy some fine glitter in celery on her wings and on select flowers on the dsp. I wanted to put it in the fram and look at it for awhile before I did anything else. I think I'll add some brads in the corners ( and I have to fix the bow since I just realized it is upside-down ooops).

Well good luck and have fun, it feels great to put a check next to this project, well the first letter anyway, 5 to go!!

Don't forget to post a link to your project so we can all check it out!

Thanks for stoppin by!

a 3 for 1 card!

I had a little time to stamp today so I decided to take on 3 challenges in one card!! I did sketch 164 from SCS for the layout, color challenge 54 for the color combo and decided which set to use based on glitter monkey's friend challenge.

It was the color combo that was really out of the box for me. The combo was pumpkin pie, celerey and orchid opulescence. Not a combo I've ever used before, in fact I don't think I've ever use orchid before at all!

I'm still debating on whether or not I should color in the flowers on the main image. I had to leave before I hada chance to color it in but now I'm not sure if I even need to.

Stamps: Simply said Ink and CS: celery, orchid, pumpkin, WW Accessories: silver brads, pumpkin grosgrain, ticket corner and oval punches, sponges.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

First try with rub ons!

Denise had a challenge on her blog today to take inspiration from another blog and do something new...so I did!! You should check out what she came up with!!


So I like rubons a lot more than I thought I would!! They are super fun and easy!!

I did this card from the sketch on Beate's blog which may have been on SCS first, but I was insprired by her interpretation of the sketch. This is a 5x5 square card; I love this size card! The only stampI used was the polka dot background which I stamped in white craft ink and then embossed with white EP. I used my pretties again, I think they are so pretty and really look great on cards. The rub on I used are from the SAB pack-love & happiness. I used a white rub on on the guava and the old olive rub on on whisper white. I then masked the sentiment and sponged with old olive.

For anyone new to masking it's a great little technique! With stamps just stamp your image on scratch paper and cut it out. Then lay it on top of the same image on your project. You can then sponge over for the effect I created here or stamp other stamps around the original image.

I finished the card with an artichoke grosgrain bow. I think this artichoke ribbon can work with artichoke or old olive card stock.

Finally as a side note, don't tell my husband I said this but, I really can get a lot more stamping done when my stamp room is clean!!

**Also any SU demos that are interested, I started a "say what?" swap on SCS, check out this link for details:)

Thanks for stoppin by!!

A little carried away..... & mojo24

I may have gotten a little carried away with the new chunky sprinkles from SUs occasions mini available March 1. I wanted to use my new set, big on spring but after making the card, I couldn't just leave my new glitter on the shelf again. So I pulled out a chipboard flower and went to town. Then I realized the flower was a bit larger than I wanted it to be. But boy is it sparkly!! I love the new mini sets because they are die cut, I was stampin in no time!!

Tip alert for thte chunky glitter: I think next time I use it I will cover the chipboard in craft ink so if any gliter falls off it will not be as noticeable.

I like it though and it worked out well since I needed to hold my little one half the time I was stamping .

Stamps: Big on spring Ink and card stock: basic gray, bashful blue, celery, whisper white Accessories: Bashful blue prints dsp, white gel pen, chunky sprinkls, chipboard flower, blue gingham ribbon, 1 3/8 circle punch, scallop punch, round tab punch and clear rhinestone brad. Techniques: paper piecing, criss cross card

Well I finally did a sketch challenge!!! Here's a link to the sketch.

It's hard to tell in the post because my layout softens the pictures but there are 2 flatback pearls on the moss taffetta ribbon. I also used my brand new cuttlebug on the pale plum layer. Boy is that fun and easy!! I embossed the flowers from loads of love in iridecent ice on the perfect plum layer.

Thanks for looking!

Color combos

Quick post, I just saw on Becky's blog that there is a site dedicated to Stampin' Up! Color combos!! Check it out here. Can't wait to see how it works. Thanks Becky!

Finally Friday Challenge!!!

Wow it's Friday!! I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day and is able to stock up today on 1/2 off cinnamon hearts!! I am taking the girls swimming at an indoor pool this am so I can't stamp until I get back.

But here's the challenge.....I've been posting amazing cards from my Spring Bling swap this week, soo let's see your bling!!! I'm so excited to use the new spring chunky sprinkles I just got!!!(they're in the new mini!!!)

So bling away!!

Here are 2 more entries from my swap. The embrace life card is from cyncyn and the little birdie told me card is from flowergal36

Time well spent

****UPS delivered my new goodies today, a day early. I'm so excited to use my new glitter and silver hodgepodge. Please let my valentine's gift from my hubby be 30minutes of quiet stamping!!!!********

Here are a few more of the cards from my spring bling swap. All 3 use the set time well spent, a level 3 hostess set! I love that the 3 of these are from the same set, yet are all so different!! Especially the color combos!

This one is from Paula lasley. The flower is covered with dazzling diamonds... lots of bling!!!

This second card is also from Paula as she took 2 spots in the swap!! The bling on this card is from a thin layer of tissue covered in dazzling diamonds. A real neat effect!!

The final card is from scubaduo on SCS. There are 2 kinds of bling on this one! First from the two strips of dazzling diamonds and second the red glitter on the flowers.

I'm very excited that these ladies used this set. I have it but haven't been able to come up with anything I like. These 3 are great inspiration!! I can wait to try the glittery tissue and I love the holes on the scallop punch out. Don't be surpised if you see those on up coming cards!!!

Thanks for stoppin' by!!

Award

I've been given an award by my fellow SU only blogger and friend Denise (check out her blog you'll see why she got the award WOW)!!

I now have to pass along the award to other excellent bloggers. This is going to be tricky! I haven't been blogging that long, but it is a lot of fun! I've "met" a lot of wonderful people and look forward to "visiting" them as often as I can to see what they've stamped! Between SBS3, lovin stampin up, and britta's group of SU only bloggers, there are so many talented stampers that I "know" and I definately apprieciate when they stop by here and chat!! So first I give this award to Jenni, her creations are amazing and she always has such nice things to say on so many blogs!!! Second is Andrea, one of my SBS3 sisters. Her blog is great, I love seeing all the different stamps and paper they have in the UK and she makes them all look great!! And Robin her blog is super and she also does really great closeups of what she makes so you can see the detail.

Swap Cards

I hosted a swap on SCS looking for some "Spring Bling!!" I am getting the swaps back now and WOW are they great!! The swappers could pick any setfrom the current catty and then use SU accessories to make them bling!

Here are a few, I'll post the rest later

This one is from jo-ni stamper on SCS. She embossed the butterfly with clear EP, so it really glimmers IRL!

This one is from lyndaj on SCS. I thought it was funny that they both used the same set!! I thought this card was very springy and blingy with all the different colors on the butterfly and the second paper layer!

This 3rd card is from erin madsen. She embossed sparkle from warm words so it really pops!! The chocolate strip is the 5/8 in choc. chip grosgrain, my favorite!!

I was soo happy with all the cards I received so far from this swap! It was like Christmas opening all the envelopes!

Happy Monday

Happy Monday! This weekend I needed to make a baby card for some friends of ours. I was hoping to get it done in time to enter a blog candy contest on Tara's blog, but I was a little late. Oh well....
This is an acetate card. I stamped the booties in vanilla craft ink, it's quite smudgy. I definately recommend using Staz on instead. I also used the distressing attachment from the tool kit which I haven't used in awhile, I forgot how great it is!! I also used the taffeta ribbon, which I love!!

Stamps: Buggies and booties(retired), warm words Ink: Basic brown, blush blossom, pretty in pink, vanilla craft Cardstock: Vanilla, pretty in pink, river rock Accessories: Vanilla taffeta ribbon, cutter tool kit, crop-a-dile, aquapainter, antique copper brads.

My 3 1/2 year old daughter is very excited about Valentine's Day and this is the card she created. I did most of the "heavy lifting" like the punching and cutting. She did the stamping (including the set choice), coloring, color combo and bling. She saw these "diamonds" at Target and we had to have them!

Stamps: Zoofari, short and sweet Card stock & Ink: regal rose, real red, pretty in pink, Whisper white Accessories: corner rounder, scallop and 1 3/8" punches, real red 5/8 grosgrain, prints dsp in pretty in pink(hostess), target heart rhinstones.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

WICKED

Have any of you seen Wicked the musical??? It is amazing!! It is basically the front story to the Oz side of the Wizard of Oz. Anyhow Jessica on SCS has started a swap to make cards inspired by the musical. What a great idea!! Check out this link for all the details!! I am so excited to see what everyone comes up with for this swap!!

Finally Friday Challenge!!!

This Friday couldn't have come soon enough. We've had snow, ice and rain all week!! And no preschool. SO we've been "contained" in the house all week!! (See where I'm going with this??) That's right for today's challenge make a box, bag or container of some sort. Leave a link to your blog so everyone can check it out!!

Have fun!

6x6 Swap

Well, I finished and mailed my 68 card fronts and 32 6x6 pages. It feels so lonely without them!! I'll be receiving tons of new samples from this swap, so I'm definately looking forward to that!!

So here it is....

I basically made my own designer paper by using the one of a kind stamp set. I first stamped the three flower image(which coordinates with the boho flowers punch) in pretty in pink. I followed that with the small flower in purely pomegranate. Finally I added the large flower in chocolate chip. I finished it off with a piece of double stitched ribbon in the pomegranate. These are the same colors that are in the berry bliss DSP, which is gorgeous!! Making your own designer paper is a great way to coordinate with SU! DSP(and it helps when you're scrapbooking and realize you're 1 6x3 1/2 piece of DSP short!! yes, that's happened to me!)

You can tell it's almost Valentine's day since I keep reaching for the pinks!! Then it will finally be on to spring colors and weather!!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Blog Candy Alert

Michelle, a fellow Stampin' up! exclusive blogger (and a great stamper!!), is giving away blog candy on her blog, The Stamp Workshop, since she just reached 15, 000 hits!!! WOW!! Check out her amazing blog:)

Spread the love award

I've been awarded this fantastic award by Denise. And I'm sharing it with the people who left comments on my latest post for spreading the love, who also all happen to have some of the most wonderful and creative blogs so check them out!! I'm not just saying that because they left comments all of them really have amazing blogs!!

Denise

Andrea

Heather

Sandy

My paper world

Is that a card????

After preparing for, taking and cleaning up after a 8 day vacation with 2 little ones, I need a vacation!! I am also doing a MEGA swap on SCS for 68 cards and 32 scrapbook pages!! So I've been busy but not bloggin'. I'm just about finished my swaps, so I thought I'd post my card.

The set I signed up for was the boho friend wheel, so I tried to make that the main image instead of the background. Since the card stock I was wheelingwas just 2 x 3 1/2, I used the Soft sky ink pad to ink my wheel. That took a bit longer to do than using a stampin around cartridge and I found the edges of my wheel got quite inky after about 6 pieces. So I ended up cleaning my wheel about every 5 pieces to avoid getting ink smudges.

Stamps: Boho frind wheel, one of a kind CS and ink: Soft sky, old olive, blue bayou and whisper white Access.: Soft sky double stitch ribbon, silver brad Punches: ticket corner, double rectangle, designer label and photo corners.

I plan on displaying my 6x6 by the end f the fay so check back, thanks for stoppin by:)

Finally Friday Challenge

Well I've had a week off from stampin while on vacation, so I think I actually could have used another day to get settled in before the weekend this week!!

This week's challenge is a fun and easy one I think......use a Stampin Up wheel to create the main image of your project. Standard or jumbo, just wheel away!! Mine is done and I will upload as soon as I unload the 600+ vacation pictures( I wanted to make sure i had something to scrap...)

don't forget to link your work!!