Sooooo groovy!!!!!

I have had the hippie dippie, way far out, totally fab job of making some cards with BRAND NEW stamps, designed by the hippie chick herself, Tami Mayberry. This set, called So Groovy, is adorable - and I've gotta say, pretty darn versatile too. It's got a great assortment of hippie dippie little cuties, (I really like saying hippie dippie, it totally makes me smile!) and fun sentiments. You can make fabulous cards for your favorite girlfriend, but you can totally make some great masculine birthday cards, and all occasion cards too. This is just one fab little peek!!!

The set will release TONIGHT at the Gina K Release party, from 7-10pm, central time, at StampTV.

I'll have some more cute projects using this set, to share with you soon!!! And I hope to make some more tonight, when I spend some stampy time with my girlfriends, during Girls' Night!

Have a super Thursday. . .the weekend is almost here!

Monstrously Super! :)

This Sassafras Lass monster, from the Monstrosity collection, was begging for some green fuzzy Flower Soft! Isn't he cute and furry???? ;) This card is for this week's CPS sketch (and Flower Soft is our sponsor!) I was a little stumped by this sketch at first. . .but I like how this card turned out! I think it will be perfect for some little guy's (or a big guy's) birthday card.

I can't believe tomorrow morning is MONDAY already!!! My parents are here for a quick visit, and I am looking forward to a day of hanging out with them! I hope your Monday is fabulous. I'll be back in a day or two with something new to share, and at the start of the new month - LOTS to share! I've been BUSY!!!

XOXO

(card goodies: stickers - Sassafras Lass, Sage Flower Soft, cardstock - Discount Cardstock (Intense Kiwi Prismatic)

spotty dotty

hello, hello!!!!! how CUTE is this googly-eyed little monster friend of mine? please pardon the slightly distracting polka-dotty wonderful background. i was photographing something else prior to this, and i just couldn't get enough of the polka-dots. So here they are. Have I told you how I am totally obsessed with polka-dots? And with black and white? My mother in law got me these polka dot placemats (yes, my backdrop is a placemat. so there.) because they reminded her of me. Because I LOVE black and white polka dots.

And that's just the way it is.

I'm feeling chatty tonight. Perhaps it's the impending pumpkin spice latte that I will be indulging in, with a friend tomorrow morning. Or perhaps it's the polka-dots. Or perhaps its my sweet sweet friend, Karisse's blog, and the cute cute necklace I just bought from her Etsy store. (You should go visit her. She is amazing, and wonderful, and talented, and has the biggest heart ever. Oh - and she's adorable too.)

So I've got some new stuff cookin'. And I'm excited about it! And I'm waiting for some new fun stuff to arrive in the mail (aside from my wonderful new necklace from Karisse!) And I delivered four boxes of patterned paper and card stock to Mr. B's teacher today, purged from my closet . . . .so I feel lighter and less cluttered. When I have less clutter, I can think more clearly, and feel more relaxed. It's like my brain is less cluttered. Which is probably why I clean like a madwoman when I am stressed out or feeling overwhelmed!

Okay. Are you still reading my chattiness? I'm done. I have GOT to go to bed - I must be fresh and perky for my first pumpkin spice latte of the season!!!! (I usually wait until October 1st to do all things FALL . . .but I was convinced to move this particular tradition up a week.)
XOXO

(edt: the stamp is from THIS set, by CTMH, called Be Yourself . . .it's one of my favorites!)

happy halloween treats!

I created this little tin using Close To My Heart goodies (you may have seen it on my mom's blog last week!) I collected up quite a stash of these tins when they were on clearance at Target last year. Below, is another one I did last Halloween. (Or maybe the year before? Funny how the years run together!) For this latest one, I used black StazOn ink to stamp my pumpkins face. It didn't stamp QUITE perfectly, so I used my secret weapon . . .a black Sharpie to fill in the spots that weren't quite inky enough! (Shhhhh, don't tell!)

On the BOO treat can, I embossed the word "boo" using white embossing powder. (supplies: Unity Stamp Co stamps, and assorted ribbons)

The only problem with these adorable little treat cans is that I am forced to indulge in too many of the TREATS I purchase for the cans!!! I have some ghost Peeps that I bought to do some sort of cute project with . . .but if I don't make something soon, the Peeps will be gone. And other than the few pumpkin Peeps in today's project, the rest are GONE. (I had some help from Mr. B, my little sugar monster though!)

The next challenge. . .Halloween costumes for both boys. There are lots of cute crafty costumes out there to make, but what Mr. B really wants, is to be Superman. And his mama is not really interested in the $25.00 costume at Target!!!!

Have a great day!
XXOXO

well what a bad little blogger i am!

Geesh, where did the days go!? All the sudden, last night, I realized it had been QUITE a few days since I blogged!

This week the CPS blog is being sponsored by Kitchen Sink Stamps. Kitchen Sink carries multi-step stamps that are really interesting to use! I got to work with the NEW Multi-Step Lil' Elephant that was just released. There are four stamps for the elephant, and using a different ink color for each stamp, you create an almost photographic looking image! It's pretty cool. There is definitely a learning curve, as you figure out what colors to layer, but there are lots of

great tutorials and suggestions on the KSS website!

So, this is my card for the CPS sketch, using Lil' Elephant. I chose to use a monochromatic color palette, and used some pretty Bazzill cardstock for my striped background. I used Close To My Heart ink in Gray Wool, Plum Mist, Smokey Plum, and Majestic Mountain to stamp my elephant. I really like how the purples on the elephant turned out! (which is quite amazing, since I ususally HATE using purple!)

Hope your Monday is off to a great start!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

a little of this and a little of that!

Happy Tuesday to you! I am here with a few quick cards that I realized I haven't yet shared! The first is a Close To My Heart card, that was shown on my mom's blog last week. I used NEW Christmas paper and a NEW paper poinsettia from the new catalog. (You can check out all the details on the blog post, HERE.)

And this is my card for the Card Positioning Systems blog this week. We're being sponsored by In Style Stamps. I chose this cute birdhouse stamp, which I paper-pieced with October Afternoon papers. I also added an October Afternoon sticker, and rub-on curly Q line. I honestly can't decide whether I like this card or not. . .I like it - but something is bothering me. Sometimes though, we just have to go with it. I guess EVERY card can't be perfection!!!! ;) (But hopefully most of them can! Ha!)

Have a terrific week! We are off to the grocery store. I hope to score a few deals, but most of what I need I don't have a coupon for, which is rare these days!. . . veggies and salad!

Oh goodie! New goodies! (TSOL)

It's special release time once again, at The Stamps of Life!!! How cool are these Sentiments4Circles? It's a set of circles, in assorted sizes, filled with SENTIMENTS (and sentiments are my FAVORITE kind of stamps!) On the first card, I paired it with the fun 4th of July star set. And on the flower card, I used my scalloped punches, and made some flowers, used some foam tape, some buttons, and WAHHH-LAHH! Happy little flower sentiments! (Oh, and the leaves are from the Trees2Build set!)

If you head over to the gallery, there's lots of gorgeous inspiration, using this set AND the other special release sets!!!! And I'll have more to share here, in the coming days!!!

I hope you have a GREAT weekend. I'll be continuing my latest project - cleaning out my garage. It's sort of at the point that it almost looks worse than it did when I started! But after a BUNCH of buckets purchased from Target, it is ON ITS WAY to greatness!!! (Especially if I can get rid of the palmetto bugs that like my garage so much. We are NOT friends. If you live in Florida, you understand!)

XOXO

smell my feet!

Trick or treat! I am soooo ready for some candy corn! And these cutie patootie candy corn stamps, from this month's The {Stamps} of Life set, are not helping to keep my mind AWAY from candy! I used the sentiment from last year's autumn set, and it is just PERFECT with the candy corn. The stamps are all seperate - an outline stamp, and then inside sections to create whatever color combo you'd like. (I can think of some crazy colors of candy corn that could be seriously fun!)

I used Close To My Heart Sunflower, and Orange ink to create this. The patterned paper is from Papertrey Ink.

It certainly won't be feeling like fall here, for QUITE a few weeks. (Probably not even by Halloween) but creating some fun Halloween cards (and perhaps eating just a bit of candy corn!) certainly helps me feel READY for the crisp cool season of autumn!

Sunday, Sunday!

We are off to the beach this afternoon, but before I head out, I wanted to share a quick card.

This is my card for this week's CPS sketch. I will admit. . . .I was a bit challenged by this sketch. But I LOVE this card. (Of course I do, because it's my favorite stamp set!!!) I love love LOVE the patterns on the rainbow. (Yes, those are part of the stamp) and I love how the colors came together (Close To My Heart Tulip, Kiwi, and Breeze)

I hope your long Labor Day weekend is spectacular! Hubby is working tomorrow, so other than Mr. B being home, it will be just another Monday I think! (But that's a-okay with me!)

And now. . . .off to pack everything up and head out to the beach!

XOXO

(card goodies: all products from Close To My Heart)

oh, the crafty goodness!!!

Two bits of good news today. . .

First - I got a card picked up for Paper Crafts "Stamp It! Techniques" issue, and it's one of my all-time favorite cards! So excited! :)

Second piece of good news - super week of couponing and grocery/household shopping. (Just don't ask what's for dinner this week!) I spent 38.79, and saved 69.28! I got laundry detergent for $1.45, and Kraft cheese for less than a dollar. Swiffer refills for my WetJet for around $2 a piece, YoPlus yogurt for 25 cents per four pack!!! (WOOOHOOOO!)

I have been surfing the web a bit too much lately, but it's my guilty pleasure while nursing the wee one. . .blog hopping, and Facebooking (funny how we have all turned "Facebooking" into a real word, isn't it?) Anyway, it's usually how I spend my time while he eats. Or and then there's Words With Friends. Love that too! (I am thinking I have a few too many guilty pleasures!)

BUT, in order to enable all of you, and share the AMAZING talent, and goodness out there, I'd like to share my new favorite links . . ..

I'll share the newest one first. Poppies At Play (thank you Nancy for sharing this!) Projects, ideas, home decor and just GORGEOUS stuff. Somewhere there was a wall of plates. And I love it. I want one. (Well, I have a wall . ..but I want it to be filled with assorted plates.)

Eighteen25 - a whole month of cute Halloween ideas. . ..plus some great free printables, and crafty goodness! (I made this cute fortune cookie project for Bryce's teacher, and it was a hit!)

HowDoesShe - party ideas, household ideas, holidays, organization. . . alll, everything that i LOVE.

Living Locurto - This chick is fabulous! Do you know about I Heart Faces? (If not, then go there too!) Amy Locurto is one of the co-founders of I Heart Faces. She has great ideas for families, crafty cuteness, and lots of printables.

Most of these websites also have links to OTHER fabulous, talented, and completely inspiring blogs - you will be lost for hours. (But it's oh-so-fun, isn't it?!)

Spoooky new card

New month, new release at The {Stamps} of Life! Spooky2Scare is the new set - a Halloween set, could you guess? It works well with last year's fall set, and of course with lots of other sets too. (On this card, I added a smiley face from the banners set!) I've had a giant pack of never-ending SEI Eerie Alley paper that I turn to every time I do Halloween projects. It's all pretty busy paper - which means a little goes a long way, and therefore lasts forever!!! I used a couple little bits of it, and added some other bits of ribbon, staples, and a button.

The gallery is starting to fill up with the designers' projects, so be sure to check out the spoooooky inspiration!