Friday, April 29, 2011

Blog HOPPIN'!!!!


Today I am helping my sweet friend,  Tami Mayberry end her month long Blast from the Past with a customer blog hop. Tami is an illustrator for Gina K Designs; and, if you haven't been to her blog this month to see all of the featured ideas using her stamp sets, you'll want to be sure and stop by today. You could win FIVE of her stamp sets simply by leaving comments on her blast from the past posts. You can click here to find more details.



I had been DESPERATE for Tami's Live Life Loud stamp set, and I was SUPER excited to get it last week!!!  This is the first card I created with it! I stamped the pink background, and then tilted my stamp, stamping it again right on top.  LOVE the effect it gave!!!!  And I embossed the drum set, which gives it a little extra POP in real life!!!


Here is a list of all of the blog hop participants.








If you didn't come here from Emily's blog you'll want to start back at the beginning on Tami's blog because each comment left on the blog participants' blogs will also count as an entry into the random drawing for the 5 stamp sets being given away. 

Now, hop on over and visit Tami Grandi for more ideas using stamp sets by Tami Mayberry and another chance to win. Also, If you have Tami's stamps and missed the deadline to sign up for the hop you can still play along by leaving a link on her blog.


Thanks for hopping by today!!!!! I hope you have a SUPER weekend!

Thursday, April 28, 2011

happy day to me!

from the bakery that made our wedding cake. . .10 years ago.
to match the topper on our wedding cake (it's similar anyway!)
 Prince William and Kate are honoring us by also getting married on April 29th.
oh, and did i mention it's my birthday too?

definitely a day to celebrate!
heading to the beach with the family for the big day.
have a beautiful weekend!!!
xoxo

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

hippity hop, a twine and stampy blog hop!


Are you ready for some fun?
The {Stamps} of Life and The Twinery Design Teams are playing together for this hop!
Hi, and thanks so much for coming by my blog!!! If you're just starting here, be sure to check out all the blogs linked below.  I created this card using The {Stamps} of Life set, banners4all, along with fabulous twine from The Twinery, in Maraschino, Lemon Drop, and Lilac


As you make your way through the hop make sure you comment on each and every post. There will be 4 prize winners chosen randomly among the blogs:
Two winners will win 2 stamp sets of winners choice valued at $12.95. (total retail value: $26.90 per prize) from The {Stamps} of Life
and
Two winners will receive a Colorful Bunch Sampler Pack ($20 value!) from The Twinery!!!


The prize winners will be announced on The {Stamps}of Life and The Twinery Blogs
 on Tuesday May 3rd. 

The hop list:



THANKS SO MUCH FOR HOPPING BY!!!!! 
Come again and visit soon!




About The Twinery:

Our twine is made from 100% cotton, it's eco-friendly and made in the USA. Whether you're gift wrapping, crafting or tying up baked goods to give to a friend, our baker's twine adds a fresh, yet nostalgic look to any project at hand! Our baker's twine comes in 11 delicious colors and is uniquely twisted against a bright white hue, creating an eye-popping burst of color and a creative embellishment! Our twine has lots of color which lends to a fun, candy-striped look. 
 For creative ideas & more...visit OUR BLOG!

About The {Stamps} of Life:

We feature high quality, made in the USA, clear stamps and digital stamps/brushes for stampers, card makers and scrapbookers. Feel free to browse our gallery with more than 2500 samples using our stamps, watch our free how-to videos and join our club!

Monday, April 25, 2011

happy easter!

okay, so it's a day late, but 
HAPPY EASTER!!!
i hope you all had a fabulous weekend!
i had two boys with sniffly noses, but we still had a super weekend. . ..
breakfast with the easter bunny, egg hunting, egg decorating, craft projects, the beach, the pool, and tons of yummy food!
(in fact the leftover chocolate cake is CALLING my name from the refrigerator!)
And - OH MY GOSH. . .I just realized I am missing the day-after-easter clearance at Target! Maybe that Lego set that B has been begging to buy (with HIS money) will happen after all! GET OUT OF MY WAY - easter clearance, here I come!

come back tomorrow. . .blog hop with The {Stamps} of Life, and The Twinery! (Swoon. . .oh baker's twine, how I adore you!)


Thursday, April 21, 2011

pinwheels, spinwheels. . .

Happy almost-Easter!!!!  This past weekend, we had an un-birthday party (it's a long story) at The Little Gym, where the boys have both taken gymnastics classes for pretty much their whole little lives!  I was trying to decide what fun thing I could decorate cupcakes with, since we didn't really have a theme, and there would be boys and girls of all ages there.  I decided on these cute little SUPER easy pinwheels.  
Simply cut a 3x3 square from patterned paper (it works best if it is patterned on both sides). Gently crease the paper from corner to corner on both sides, to find the center point.  Then cut from each corner to ALMOST the middle, being careful not to cut the whole thing up into triangles! Then pull one side of each section down towards the center.  Use your piercing tool to poke a hole (make sure to go through each layer) and stick a brad in the center.  I hot glued the pinwheels to short kabob sticks, and stuck them in the cupcakes.  I really should have done a tutorial to share with you, but if you google it. . .I promise you'll find a lot of them, if you need more help.
Totally un-paper related but equally fun, are the rainbow cupcakes.  (I've probably shared this recipe before!)These are quickly becoming a kid-party tradition in our household.  Use yellow or white cake mix, prepare it as directed.  Then divide it into separate bowls - however many colors you want, and just add food coloring to each dish.  Blend it until you have the colors as you like them.  Then just spoon each color into your cake pan.  If you're doing a regular size cake, just distribute the spoonfuls evenly.  If doing cupcakes, just do a small (really small) scoop of each color.  After they bake, they look sort of tie-died.  You can try to smooth out the layers and make them truly rainbow-like, but I sort of like the splotchiness of it!


 I also used a new-to-me frosting recipe for these cupcakes.  Wilton's Fluffy Boiled Frosting.  It came out pretty nice! Not as super-sweet as buttercream, and there's no butter or shortening in it. (So it's fat free! Does that count as healthy??? Perhaps not so much!)  It is the consistency of marshmallow fluff.  Pretty fun stuff!

I totally forgot to take a picture, but we also made favors.  We made rice krispie treats with Froot Loops in them.  (Here's the recipe I used!) I wrapped each individually in plastic wrap, and then wrapped a 1 inch band of patterned paper around it, finishing it off with some baker's twine.  It coordinated with the pinwheels, and it was pretty adorable!

The pinwheel cupcake toppers would be perfect for Easter!!!  I bet a tray of pinwheel cupcakes would be a fabulous centerpiece!

HAPPY EASTER!


(special thanks to my dear Charity, for the cupcake picture!!!)

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Vrooooom. . . .

One of Tanner's favorite words is VROOM.  He is OBSESSED with the garbage truck.  Loves seeing planes fly overhead, and just really likes vehicles in general! So I'm pretty sure he would LOVE these stamps, if I let him anywhere near them! 
Welcome to one of the special releases, this month at The {Stamps} of Life!  It's called cars2drive.  And it is incredibly FUN!
I paired the new stamp set with the labels2use set, on both of these cards.  (Have I mentioned how well all of Stephanie's stamps work TOGETHER? tee hee!)
And I just ADORE the way my little hippie chick car came out! I almost couldn't send it to Stephanie when she asked for it!  (You can see both of these cards on Steph's cute video, introducing the stamp sets!)

I used Discount Cardstock's cardstock on both cards plus Echo Park paper on both of these cards.  The top one is from the Little Boy collection, and the bottom one is from Life Is Good.  

Life IS good, isn't it?  I went to the grocery today, and spent about $18, and saved $30.  That is pretty good! Although the coupon policy at my store seems to be changing. . .as it's about to at all the Publix Supermarkets - and I must say, I never thought I'd be so wrapped up in a coupon policy!!!!  I'm anxious to see the changes, and not too thrilled that they won't take drugstore coupons anymore. (Those $10 of CVS Extra Bucks I hoped to use today, are burning a hole in my pocket!)  I do understand though, and I'm hoping that all the CRAZY couponers, and the TLC Extreme Couponers show isn't going to spoil it for all of us!!!!

Okay - onward to train track building with the little one, a diaper change, lunch, laundry, some card photos which need to be taken, a dishwasher which needs to be emptied, and whatever else comes my way! Have a wonderful Wednesday!!! :)

XXOXO

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Ahoy!

 This week I received my complimentary copies of CARDS Magazine, the February edition, where my card, Ahoy! was published.  I always love having cards published in this magazine, because it is always GORGEOUS!!! It is such a fun magazine to peruse.  CARDS and also Paper Crafts are definitely my two favorites.  This card features stamps from Tami Mayberry's stamp set, called Oh Boy!, at Gina K Designs.
Tami is having a Blast from the Past on her blog. . . .lots of fabulous and inspiring projects, featuring all of her Gina K stamp sets - plus a GIVEAWAY!!!!! You could win FIVE of Tami's stamp sets - (but I'm not sure why I'm telling you, because I want to win them myself!!!) ;)

Be sure to pop over to Tami's blog, share some love, and check out all the fabulous cards.  I am DYING for the Live Life Loud stamp set.  I always need masculine cards - and it's the perfect set.  (But what I really love is that it will make some stinkin' cute rocker GIRL cards too!!!)

Okay - enough rattling on.  Have a terrific week!!!
XOXO

Saturday, April 9, 2011

did you stamp your veggies today?

perhaps it's because the little mr. has been waking up at 4:45 in the morning, but i am feeling SO loopy and brain-fried lately!!! yesterday, i did and said silly things that made NO sense all day long. but today is a new day. (a new EARLY day which started once again at 4:45)

the hubs and i spent most of the day yesterday working on our family budget. {insert dark scary music here!} it's fairly bleak, but i feel fairly optimistic.  we've budgeted for our trip to disney next month, and we have the cost of the whole thing accounted for now, so that makes me feel good! we can enjoy it, and not worry about the money.  (thank goodness for credit card points, anniversary gifts, thriftiness and gift cards! woohooo!)

so - back to the veggies.  it's a bit early, so i haven't eaten my veggies today - but i did STAMP my veggies a few days ago.  ;)  (i warned you. . .i'm loopy and weird these days!)  paper-piecing kim hughes' Paper Smooches stamps makes me deliriously HAPPY! they have crisp clear lines and they are easy peasy to use.  so so much FUN!!!!

i hope you have a FABULOUS weekend! we had to turn the air conditioner back on yesterday - sigh. it's going to be NINTY THREE today.  seriously?! in APRIL!? even for Florida, that, my friends, is a little extreme.

(card goodies: stamps - Paper Smooches, patterened paper - Echo Park, kraft cardstock - Discount Cardstock)

Thursday, April 7, 2011

happy birthday to. . . .

Happy Birthday toooo. . . .about twelve people I know.  I'm telling ya, the first two weeks of April (the entire month of April actually) there are SO many birthdays in my family and circle of friends!

I'd like you to meet one very special birthday girly girl, whose birthday happens to be TODAY!  She is my sweetie pie, Karisse.  We met right before she came to Flagler College.  I was a sophomore when she was a freshman, and we were instantly connected - one of those friends that you meet for the first time, but it's like you've known her all your life.  I've probably mentioned her here a time or two, as she is incredibly creative and artsy, and has an incredibly amazing story to tell.  The past ten years of her life since she graduated from college have been filled with more challenges and mountains to climb, than many endure through their entire life.  You can read about her battles with cancer HERE  and check out all her random and interesting thoughts, deep thoughts, and fun photos (she is quite a talented photographer!) at Karisse's blog, Musings.  (She is currently on crazy pain medication from her latest surgery. . .so her blog posts are quite entertaining!)  Karisse has an amazing job too . . .she has dedicated much of her life to raising awareness and finding an end to human trafficking. (In between surgeries and cancer treatments, which seem to come far too often!)  Please go visit her blog, and wish her a happy birthday!  You'll be inspired, perhaps challenged, and entertained! I promise!

(Oh, and the card - all the goodies are CTMH.  You can read more of the details about it, on my mom's blog!)

Monday, April 4, 2011

the paper towel experiment. . .and a pink card

First things first - Apron Strings April kit . . . . this is the first of my cards created with the kit that I'd like to share with you today! I created EIGHT cards with the kit, and I still have a bunch of paper and embellishments left.  Lots of cute stickers in this kit too!  Definitely go check out Apron Strings, if you are looking for a card kit with bright fun colors!

Second of all . . .a few weeks ago, probably about two weeks ago - we ran out of paper towels on the paper towel dispenser.  There were more upstairs, but I just hadn't gotten up there to get them.  And hubby and I have been talking a lot about ways to simplify, cut back, and be a little more earth-friendly.  So I thought I'd see how long we could make a roll of paper towels last. But guess what? I didn't replace the paper towels.  And then I thought I'd see how long I could last without the paper towels at all.
And guess what?
It's really not that bad.
I got a package of white wash cloths, for about $6 at Ross.
I put them in a pretty little basket on the counter.
I do a load of laundry every day anyway, so I'm not adding any more laundry, and it has gone much better than I anticipated.
Granted there have been a FEW times that I wished I had a paper towel.  But in the end, the towels or a kitchen sponge did the job just fine.
I thought that wiping the toddler face was going to be the biggest drag.  Who wants a damp towel covered in oatmeal and yogurt, hanging around all afternoon on the side of the sink?  But it really hasn't been bad.
So - anyone up for the challenge?  See how long you can make that roll of paper towels last.
Or just ditch them altogether.
And tell me all about it, because I really want to know!!!
(And doesn't it figure, we had just bought a Costco sized package of paper towels before we decided to ditch them!? So now, I have a bathroom cabinet FULL of paper towel rolls!!!)

Saturday, April 2, 2011

we must ketchup

Love.
Love. 
Love.
Simple and sweet. 
I paper-pieced this tomato using Santa Red and Intense Kiwi Prismatic, 
(from Discount Cardstock of course!)
I couldn't be 
HAPPIER
And did you know, she got MARRIED today!?
LOVE.
LOVE.
LOVE.

(Hey, so I haven't really figured it out yet, but I linked my blog up to Facebook, through Networked Blogs. . .so if we're "friends", and you use that, follow me, okay!? I'm pretty sad and pathetic right now, with no followers!)

Friday, April 1, 2011

my favorite thing -

We may have previously discussed my obsession with HOUSE STAMPS.  i love them.  so you can imagine my extreme levels of excitement when I got the sneaky peek of Stephanie's new stamps, at The {Stamps} of Life, for this month.  HOUSES! Welcome to April's new stamp set, (you're going to adore the special releases, to come in a few days too!)
 This stamp set has little houses, as seen above. . . (this card is 4x8 I think)  I paper-pieced them with Echo Park patterned paper.  I drew the line around the edges of the card with a Sharpie (I love my Sharpies!!!!)
And the stamp set also has BIG houses! So fabulous to paper-piece, I can hardly stand it!!! (The cloud is from the Kites2Fly stamp set, from last spring.)  

So, are you in love now? Please go to the gallery, at TSOL and check out all of the design team projects! They are DARLING! 

And since today is April First. . .I suppose I should wish you a Happy April Fools Day - I'm sorry I don't have a crazy prank to pull!  The funniest part of April Fools Day, is that it's the day my hubby and I started dating. . .thirteen years ago!  But it was NO joke!  We'll celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary at the end of the month, and I am SO excited, because this past week I ordered a cake from the bakery that made our wedding cake! They are going to do a topper cake, to match our wedding cake! HOW FUN is that!? (That cake was SO flippin' good!!!) I can hardly wait!
So, happy Friday, happy April Fools Day, and happy WEEKEND!
XOXOXO