Starting on next year's cards...

Yay, I had some time to stamp today! I thought I'd join in on Sparkle's 2010 Christmas Card Challenges to get my 2010 stash started. The layout is today's sketch on SCS. The colors, white snowflakes, and blue sparkle are from Sparkle's Challenge #4. Here's her inspiration pic:



Here's a close-up of the sparkle:



Here's a shot of the inside where I punched two corners with my Star Confetti punch. I love how the one star in this punch totally matches one of the snowflakes on my Cuttlebug folder. Pretty cool, huh? Hehe, fun!



Have an awesome day!




SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: Hampton Arts Relaxed Snowman, SU Short & Sweet
Paper: Bashful Blue, White, Dark Chocolate
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Accessories: Bashful Blue Ribbon, Bow Easy, Waterfall Stickles, Sewing Machine and Thread, Word Window Punch, Snowflakes Embossing Folder, Martha Stewart Star Confetti Punch, Quickie Glue Pen

Stamper's Dream SALE

Pssst! Michelle just marked down all the JustRite November release stamps at 10% off. She also has a bunch of other things on sale now in her store including my VERY favorite Life Stories DP. Check it all out under the Sales & Specials Section!

Cookbookin' and Sewin'

Hi all! I hope you had a VERY Merry Christmas and things are settling back down for you. Our Christmas was wonderful and I've enjoyed spending the week with the ones I love. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing family.

I made two recipe cards using my brand new Cookin' Up Memories set from Stamper's Dream. I'm totally in LOVE with this set!....the images stamp beautifully! Michelle has a whole line of these new Cookbookin' stamps.....SUPER cool sets, check them out.





The cards are both 4" x 6". The recipes were printed on white CS, cut out, and matted against Prism Mystic Dark CS. The images were stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black and colored with Copics. The Chicken Spaghetti recipe has a blue rhinestone in the center of the wooden spoon. The Chicken Pot Pie recipe has some Gun Metal Stickles added to the spatula, metal spoon, and tops of the salt and pepper shakers.

.....do you see it?.....the stitching??....it's REAL! Whoooo-hooooo, I'm doing the happy dance! My MIL bought me the Janome Sew Mini for Christmas. Oh my word, I was so excited when I opened it. She probably thinks I'm nuts, lol! Yesterday I set it up, read some online tutorials, and got to work on practicing how to sew around the corners. I think I got the jist of it....oh I know I still need more practice, but hey, I'm pretty proud of myself considering I've haven't touched a sewing machine since I was in the seventh grade, lol!

In case you'd like to see the full recipes with pictures and all that jazz, here are the links:

- Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot, Chicken Pot Pie from Rachel Ray Show
- Chicken Spaghetti from Pioneer Woman

I've made both of these dishes and they're DELICIOUS!

Have a GREAT day and thank you for visiting me. I really appreciate all of you so much!




SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: Cookin' Up Memories (Cookbookin')
Paper: White, Prism Mystic Dark, MME DP, SU DP
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Accessories: Blue Rhinestones, Gunmetal Stickles, Thread and Sewing Machine

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

Oh YUMMMM, I just made these for my daughter's Christmas program at the preschool and they were so good. You can find the full recipe HERE on the Tasty Kitchen site. They even keep their pretty orange color.

My good friend Dawn (who happens to be celebrating a birthday today, so stop by and wish her some birthday love if you get a chance...hehe!) has me totally HOOKED on these cute ATS images. This one is called Pippi and I thought she'd be great on a pumpkin recipe card.

Here's the back of the card....complete with a smudge because I was eating a yummy peanut butter bar while crafting, lol!



Have a great day!




SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: ATS Pippin
Ink: Black, Dusty Durango Marker for faux stitching
Paper: MME Bloom & Grow DP, Prism Intense Orange, White Copy Paper
Accessories: Prisma Pencils, Gamsol, Eucalyptus and Diamond Stickles, Mat Pack & Piercing Tool for faux stitching
Card Size: 4" x 6" (recipe panel is 3" x 5")

More kitchen stuff...

...this time I made a gift set for my Mom-Mom (grandmother).



Just like the set I made for my Aunt the other day, I used my JustRite Trompe fonts and Kitchen/Library/Desk set for the circle element on the recipe cards.



She also does a lot of canning with peaches and spaghetti sauce, so I made up a bunch of round labels to fit on the tops of the jars. I added two strips of Scor-Tape to the backs of them and just left the backing on them, so when she's ready to stick them on the lids all she has to do is peel the backing and they're good to go.



I included a full card (you can see it in the photo at the top of this post) in her set rather than a card front like I did with my Aunt's set. The apron and Made With Love sentiment are from my Hero Arts What's Cooking clear set.

Michelle has all SORTS of cool kitchen-style stamps and supplies in her store right now. Check it out HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Now I'm off to wrap this up...yay, one more item to check off my Christmas list. Have a great day!




SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: JustRite Trompe 50 pt fonts, Hero Arts What's Cooking
Paper: Kraft, Black, Misc Gingham DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Accessories: Gingham Ribbon, Bow Easy, Circle & Scallop Circle Nestabilities, ZVA Mini Rhinestones, Diamond Glaze (to glue down the rhinestones)
Recipe Card Size: 4" x 6"

Kitchen Tilda

Lookie here....I went and bought my first Tilda. I have to admit I wasn't always so *into* the Magnolia stamps, but they've totally grown on me now...especially Kitchen Tilda. Love her! I thought she'd be perfect for some recipe cards.

Instead of making myself some more typed up cards, I decided to make a stack of blank recipe cards for my Aunt Kay as one of her Christmas gifts this year. She's a really great cook and people are always asking her for her recipes (me included) and she normally writes them down on a blank white index card. Now she'll have some *prettied up* cards to use.



I made a total of twelve 4x6 recipe cards, four of each of these. The sentiment circle was done with my JustRite Library/Kitchen/Desk Set and Trompe fonts. The word "recipe" is from my Hero Arts What's Cooking clear set.

Then I just made a 4x6 cover, decorated just like a card front with Kitchen Tilda, put the cover on the top of the stack of recipe cards, and tied it all closed with some white ribbon. The sentiment at the bottom is also from my Hero Arts What's Cooking clear set.

Have a great day!




SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: Kitchen Tilda, JustRite Trompe Upper and Lowercase fonts, JustRite Three Border Set, Hero Arts What's Cooking
Paper: PTI Kraft, PTI Dark Chocolate, SU Bella Rose DP, SU Riding Hood Red, White
Ink: Memento Cocoa
Accessories: Prisma Pencils, Gamsol, Adhesive Pearls, Satin Ribbons, Spellbinders Tag, Rectangle and Scallop Rectangle Nestabilities, Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities

Stocking Gift Card Holders

Hi everyone! I can't believe Christmas is next week already! Are you all finishing up on your Christmas shopping? I'm just about finished with mine so I'm now moving onto wrapping....I just do a little each day so it's not so overwhelming. Anyway, two of the items that needed *wrapping* are gift cards for my uncle and brother. I saw my good friend Silke posted one of these CUTE stocking gift card holders on her blog last week and just HAD to try it out. So fun! The template from Claire can be found HERE on SCS.


This first one is for my uncle's Home Depot gift card (I won't be with him when he opens it, so I made sure to write a little note on the tag so he knows to take off the raffia and look inside).


The next one is for my brother's Sears gift card.

Thanks for stopping by!




SUPPLY LIST (1st card) ~
Paper: My Mind's Eye DP, Kraft, White
Ink: Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Raffia, Gold Cord, Spellbinders Tag, Snowflakes Embossing Folder
Technique: Faux Stitching, Dry Embossing

SUPPLY LIST (2nd card) ~
Paper: My Mind's Eye DP, Ivory
Ink: Bashful Blue
Accessories: Blue Grosgrain, Silver Cord, Spellbinders Tag, Snowflakes Embossing Folder
Technique: Dry Embossing

Penny Black Snowman

Oh my gosh, have I wanted this Penny Black stamp for SOOOOOO long. Eeeek, I LOVE it!! It's called Warm & Cold and you can get it at Stamper's Dream. It's so quick and easy to color, I made two cards to show you today.

The snowman and snowflake theme fits into yesterday's C4C Challenge.



The layout on this first one is Jen del Muro's SFYTT from last Saturday, and the red and gold combo is for yesterday's Penny Black challenge.

The layout on the next one is Jen del Muro's SFYTT from yesterday.



Hope you're enjoying your weekend!




SUPPLY LIST for 1st card ~
Stamps: Penny Black Warm & Cold, SU Hugs & Wishes
Paper: White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Accessories: Ribbon, Circle & Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Chipboard Snowflake, Gold Glitter, Gold Stickles, Frosted Lace Stickles, Foam Tape, Square Punch, Diamond Glaze (for the glitter), Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Snowflakes Embossing Folder

SUPPLY LIST for 2nd card ~
Stamps: Penny Black Warm & Cold
Paper: White, Kraft
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Accessories: Ribbon, Square & Scallop Square Nestabilities, Diamond Stickles, Foam Tape, Martha Stewart Snowflake Border Punch, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Snowflakes Embossing Folder, Red Rhinestones

Gift Tag Blop Hop!

Welcome to our Holiday Gift Tag Blop Hop! If you've just happened upon my blog, you can start the Blog Hop here on Monika's blog. Thanks for organizing this, Monika! If you've come here from Allison Fillo's blog, then you're right on track with the hop.

There will be some surprises hidden along the way, but we’re not telling you where so be sure to leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! The winners will be announced on Monday, December 14th here and on the individual blogs where the suprises are hidden.

I made my tags plain ole' rectangular shapes, just like the stick-on kind you can find in the wrapping paper aisle. They're 1.5" high x 4" wide.



I set up the santa hat from my Merry Little Christmas set along with Trompe 25 pt (uppercase and lowercase) font letters on my rectangular wooden stamper, stamped them onto MME Life Stories DP (the backside, which looks JUST like Kraft CS), and then matted them against different shades of CS to match the ribbons and my wrapping paper.

**Next up in the hop is Melissa Sauls!**

SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: JustRite Merry Little Christmas, JustRite Trompe 25 pt
Paper: MME Life Stories DP, Prism Classic Red, Real Red, Mellow Moss, Soft Suede
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Copics: R17, R59, G40, G24, G28 Copics
Accessories: JustRite Rectangular Stamper, Ribbon, Bow Easy, White Sparkly Fluff, Quickie Glue Pen, 1/8" Scor Tape

Have a great day!

Raisin Cake & Spiced Nuts

Hey there! I made two recipe cards for today's Inkspirations Challenge....wow, what a great sketch and how PERFECT for recipe cards!

On both cards, I used used my Hero Arts What's Cooking clear set with some patterned paper that I picked up at Michael's and Prism Vibrant Cobalt CS. The purple crystals on both cards are glued down with a small dot of Diamond Glaze.


The "secret recipe" (that's not such a secret if I posted it on my blog, huh? hehe!) tag on the first one is up on foam tape.


On this second card, I added some lavender Stickles to the hearts in the "Made with Love" sentiment.

*Note about recipe cards*
I've gotten a few emails and comments from some of you saying you're afraid to make a recipe card thinking it will get messy while cooking. I'm a messy cook too, folks! What I do is store my recipe cards in clear protectors. If I slop up the plastic cover, I can just wipe it off and the recipe card is still good as new. {smile}

*Note about the raisin cake recipe*
I'm especially fond of the raisin cake recipe since it's one that's been in my family for a long time. My tip for this recipe, if you're going to try it out, is to make sure you cook the raisins in med to med-low heat so you keep as much of the liquid as possible because you'll need it for the batter....helps keep the batter "workable." Also, I take my cake out of the oven when it is JUST barely done. That also keeps it really moist. Oven times vary, so start checking it at 45 minutes.



*Note about our Christmas tree*
I had some questions about our Christmas tree and what's underneath (sorry that it has taken me so long to answer this....I kept forgetting to add it to my posts this week). My husband loves trains and likes to have one under our tree. He built a big wooden base for the train tracks and tree stand. The base is elevated a little so he can run all the wires for the village buildings between the base and the floor. The little village buildings you see in the photo are all Christmas-related buildings (a toy shop and toy clock tower, Santa's Sleigh Depot, a village mill with a waterwheel, and a wood workshop)...they all light up and a couple of them have moving parts. You may be wondering why there's only one train car. Our cat likes to knock the cars down (total brat that he is!...kidding, love him!) and we're tired of setting each one up over and over and over again....so this year, we decided to just have a "Christmas Trolley" instead of a "Christmas Train." {smile}





SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: Hero Arts What's Cooking Clear Set
Paper: Prism Vibrant Cobalt, Ivory, K&Company Addison Blue Gingham DP
Ink & Accessories on 1st Card: Versafine Onyx Black Ink, Lavender Lace Ink, Purple Swarovski Crystals, Diamond Glaze, Purple May Arts Ribbon, Spellbinders Tag, Foam Tape
Ink & Accessories on 2nd Card: Versafine Onyx Black Ink, Purple Swarovski Crystals, Diamond Glaze, Purple May Arts Ribbon, Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Lavender Stickles
Size: 4" x 6"

Gate Fold Bouquet

Hehe, I made a gate fold card for the first time...they're fun! It's for this week's Timeless Tuesday Challenge. I used my Flourishes Winter Bouquet set. This set is currently sold out at Stamper's Dream, but Michelle has lots of other Flourishes sets in her store that you can see HERE.

The main image was stamped on Life Stories DP (the back, which is just like Kraft CS), colored with Copics, and I added Waterfall Stickles to the berries to match the ones on the DP. I also added some Gold Stickles to the center of the large flower. The upper left-hand corner of the main panel tucks under the bow to keep the card closed.

Here's what it looks like opened up:



SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: Flourishes Winter Bouquet
Paper: Prism Baby Blue Medium, MME Life Stories DP, Other Misc DP, PTI Dark Chocolate
Ink: Memento Cocoa, Copics
Accessories: Waterfall and Gold Stickles, PTI Dark Chocolate Ribbon, Square Nestabilities, Scor Pal
Card Size: 5" Square

Thanks for the well wishes yesterday. I'm still having dizziness today but I'm taking my meds like a good little girl {giggle} and hoping it goes away SOON!

Have a great day!

Corn Soup Recipe

Hey all! What a week it's been. I've had an inner ear infection for over a week now with all sorts of wacky symptoms...constant dizziness, nausea, headaches, tiredness...and it's affecting my stamping time. The nerve! (lol!) My dear sweet husband is out at the pharmacy right now as I'm typing this picking up a new prescription for me.

Here's a recipe card that I made a few days ago for some corn soup...just getting around to posting it now...

It's another 4x6 card to go in my binder. The corn image is from my Autumn Blessings set. It's stamped on the DP and then I colored an extra bow with copics, cut it out and popped it up on foam tape. I also added a bit of Stickles to the bow and curls on either side of the image.

Here's the back.....(really wishing I would have embossed the yellow panel and added a bit of rust like I did on the front....but oh well, too late once it's all glued down, right?)



SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: JustRite Autumn Blessings
Paper: PTI Kraft and Lemon Tart, Really Rust, Misc DP, White
Ink: Memento Cocoa, Copics
Accessories: Piercing Tool, Platinum Stickles, Foam Tape, Leafy Branch Embossing Folder

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Puppy

Good morning from white and wintery PA! It snowed all day yesterday and I just can't believe how much we got...it's totally white around here! I'm not a fan of the snow, but it was pretty cool to have all this snow hit yesterday because that's when we were putting up our tree and decorating the house....felt very festive and Christmas-y. Anyway...

I finally got to ink up my new Helz Cuppleditch stamp. It's called Surprise and you can get it at Stamper's Dream. I paired it up with some more of my favorite Life Stories DP, added some Diamond Stickles to all the dots around the image, and gave it a big bow with a button from my French Twist Bag O' Buttons.

On the inside I used this Celebrate sentiment from my Just a Note set.



I thought it went really great with the stars in the puppy image. Both circles are up on foam tape and then I punched some Martha Stewart Confetti Stars from the DP. The stars are glued down with a Quickie Glue Pen.

SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: Stampavie Surprise Clear Stamp, JustRite Just a Note
Paper: MME Life Stories DP, Neenah White, PTI Kraft
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Close to Cocoa (sponging)
Accessories: Curved Mega Rectangle Nestabilities, Diamond Stickles, Ribbon, Hemp Twine, Frenh Twist Button, Sponge, Circle Nestabilities, Foam Tape, Martha Stewart Star Confetti Punch
Technique: Sponging, Gamsol Magic

Here's a picture of our driveway...holy snow!



...and here's a picture of our tree...



Enjoy what's left of the weekend and stay warm!

Workout and Calorie Journal

I've been trying to keep up with tracking my calories and workouts in a composition notebook. Well, I haven't been as strict as I was over the summer so I thought if I *prettied up* my journal, maybe I'll be better about logging everything again. Sounds good in theory, right?

Anyway, I saw this Marianne stamp on Suzanne Dean's blog and just HAD to get her. I love Marianne's workout pants...and oh how I *wish* I could look as good in an outfit like this, lol! She's colored with prisma pencils and I added some Pink Stickles to the flowers in her pants. I also made her belly button look pierced by adding a tiny dot of Platinum Stickles...{giggle}.

I put some of the butterflies up on foam tape. Here's a close-up:



SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: Marianne (exclusive Elisabeth Bell for SCACD)
Paper: PTI Kraft, Scarlet Jewel and White; My Mind's Eye Life Stories DP
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Rose Red
Accessories: Prisma Pencils, Gamsol, Platinum and Pink Stickles, Foam Tape, Curved Mega Rectangle Nestabilities, PTI Scarlet Jewel Buttons, PTI Scarlet Jewel Ribbon, Pink Burlap String, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punches, SU Butterfly Dies

Have a great weekend!

JR Week - Note Cards

I'm back with some more cards using my Just a Note set with Decorative 2" Round Borders. Silke and Michelle are also showing JR projects today.

On this first one I paired the MME Life Stories DP with Prism Rose Dark. I love this color Prism CS with this pattern of the Life Stories DP!



Both circles are up on foam tape, the edges are sponged with Rose Red ink, and I added pink Stickles to the stamped butterflies and swirls. The edges of the card are faux stitched with a Soft Suede marker.

The layout on the next one is Weekend Sketch 105.



The small Thinking of You circle is up on foam tape, the edges were again sponged with Rose Red ink, and I dotted the i's with pink Stickles. The colored CS on this one is PTI's Scarlet Jewel.

SUPPLY LIST ~
Stamps: JustRite Just a Note, JustRite Decorative 2" Round Wide Borders
Paper: Prism Rose Dark, PTI Scarlet Jewel, Kraft, My Mind's Eye Life Stories Collection 2
Ink: Rose Red, Soft Suede
Accessories: Pink Stickles, May Arts Ribbon, Paper Piercing Tool & Mat Pack, Spellbinders Circles, Foam Tape

Okay, now check this out. Here's a ZVA Rhinestone carousel....



You can flip it over and use the clear scalloped twist top as a guide for piercing around a circle:



Just pierce in between the scallops with your piercing tool. Whoo-hoo!....rhinestones AND a piercing template...gotta love double duty!

Have an awesome day!