elephant baby

I have a couple friends who are pregnant, so I decided to get some cards ready. I love how this elephant is standing on the oval. I used my reinkers and an old blender pen to color the image. I don't think you can see it, but the dp has glitter on it! The card is 4" square. Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day!

{ingredients}

paper: apricot appeal, pumpkin pie, brocade blue, white, dp (dcwv)

stamps: just celebrate

ink: black

more: brads, ticket corner punch, ribbon, reinkers, blender pen, oval punchs

journal gift

I just love these colors! I made this journal for my sister-in-law. Her birthday is a few weeks away, but she lives in Alaska so I have to get it in the mail. When we visited them last summer I got to go to her ladies' bible study with her and she always takes a journal, so I thought she would like this. All supplies are Stampin' Up. I used the spiral punch to make the holes on the side of the paper....so easy. And those felt flowers are so fun, I put a rhinestone from the pretties kit in the middle. I hope you all have a happy day. Smiles!

{ingredients}

on board spiral journal

paper: bali breeze dsp, white

stamps: faith and hope

ink: black

more: flower fusion, rhinestone brads, markers, spiral punch, pumpkin pie ribbon

chocolate sage color challenge

Here is the card I made for today's color challenge over on Splitcoast. I really like the colors: chocolate chip, sage shadow, and very vanilla. This card came together really quickly. I used a chocolate chip rub-on for the background. I got this ribbon from ashley awhile back and it matched perfectly! I dusted off my hodgepodge hardware and used my new half pearls from the pretties kit. I will use this combo again because I think it is so pretty. Have a wonderful day. I just got back from my second day at my summer job...working at a soda fountain/ice cream shop/gift shop. It's pretty fun and I love the free ice cream! Yum. Now it's time for a walk with my husband and the dogs.

{ingredients}

stamps: bodacious boquet, all holidays

ink: sage shadow

paper: sage shadow, chocolate chip, very vanilly

more: hodgepodge hardware, ribbon, oval punch, rub-ons, half pearls

Momma did it!

My mom made this card and sent it to me. Isn't it cute? I love when she makes cards. She is slowing acquiring some supplies, but she always says she doesn't know what to do with them. I think she does a great job and it makes me smile whenever I get one. I hope to spend some time with her this summer, making cards together!

Another brainwave challenge

Ashley's challenge for this week was a color challenge. So, I got those four papers out and started playing with a layout. I knew I wanted to use this tulip image because I {love} tulips. I colored them red and the stems old olive and the rest just sort of came together. It seemed a little boring at first so I got out my paper piercer and added holes all over. I hope you are all enjoying your long weekend!

{ingredients}

stamps: spring blessings

paper: chocolate chip, soft sky, old olive, real red, whisper white

ink: brown

more: circle punch, paper piercer, rub-ons, markers, brads

RAK from Yvette!

I just love this card I got in the mail from Yvette. The colors are so fun and I just love all the details. You can see more of your wonderful cards and projects at her blog. Thanks for the happy mail!

another inspiration challenge!

I made this card for the inspiration challenge on splitcoast from two weeks ago and forgot to post it before my trip. I was having too much fun with the dazzling diamonds. I outlined the black paper with them and the wings of the dragonfly. This was also my first time masking (see how the leaves are behind the flowers?). The suncatcher below was our inspiration piece. I thought it was going to be a lot harder to come up with something than it was. Thanks for looking. Have a happy day!











{ingredients}
stamps: infinite goodness
paper: almost amethyst, basic black, whisper white
ink: black, gable green
more: dazzling diamonds, ribbon, silver cord, pastels

parent helper gifts

Wow! What a crazy and fun weekend. We just got back early this morning from our roadtrip out to Washington for my brother-in-law's college graduation. We had such a great time hanging out with my hubby's family. We are just on the tired side after leaving at 1:00am and then arriving home just before 1:00am this morning and then getting up at 5:20 for work. Why did we decide to drive again??? But...only two more days of school! Yeah!

On to the projects. I am so blessed to have some moms come into my classroom every week and help me out. I wanted to make them something for a little thank you, so I made some boxes of cards. I hope these

let them know how much they are appreciated. I am going to miss them next year! The first set is made with the su recollections dsp, and the second one is from some "my mind's eye" paper. They were really fun to make.

no stamping!

These two cards are for Friday's limited supply challenge #167 over at scs. We could not use any stamps. These two cards turned out really different! It really wasn't that difficult...I have so many embellishments to use up and I should focus on them more. For the sentiments I used rub-ons and stickers. This was a fun challenge, you should try it if you haven't.

{ingredients: oval flowers}

paper: brocade blue, certainly celery & bashful blue dsp

more: ribbon, rub-on, green marker, buttons

{ingredients:retro congrats}

paper: dp (dcwv), pumpkin pie, chocolate chip, rose red

more: eyelets, sticker, flower fusion, ribbon, corner rounder

brainwave wednesday

Here is the card I made for ashley's brainwave wednesday challenge. She bought some really fun bags that she wanted us to use for inspiration. This is what I came up with. I used the butterfly image that she sent me! I thought I would give this to my sister-in-law for her birthday next month.

{ingredients}

stamps: fluttery friend, all holidays

paper: rose red dsp, black, white, lavendar lace

ink: black

more: markers, pretties kit (flowers and pearls)

scrapbook challenge

This was a layout challenge from the ladies over at cornish heritage farms. I thought I would join in and get some more scrapbooking done! I can't believe these pictures are over five years old. Where does the time go? I used my su rub-ons for the flourishes and found a book of quotes that I have had for years for the quote in the bottom corner. I used some primas for the three flowers in the middle...I hope they aren't lost among the flower dp. Anyway...it came together pretty quick since I knew what the layout was going to be! Thanks for stopping by!

another weekend sketch challenge

One of the girls I grew up with is graduating from high school! Well, she was four when we moved in next door and I was in third grade. I used to baby-sit her and her brother and sister. She is the youngest and the last to graduate. I can't believe it. I hope she likes this card. I didn't use normal graduation colors or school colors...but she is such a girly-girl this just seemed to fit:) I used Beate's weekend sketch challenge for the layout. Thanks for stopping by!

{ingredients}

stamps: all year cheer III, paisly bg

ink: pretty in pink, cameo coral

paper: white, cameo coral, pretty in pink, patterned paper

more: white gel pen, oval colluzle, stickers, prismas, flower brad

almond muffins

These muffins are so yummy. I made them a few weekends ago. I had so much of the crunch topping left over after I made the first dozen so I whipped up another batch and put those in the freezer. Enjoy!



{recipe} crunchy almond butter muffins

2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick of butter, melted
2 eggs
3/4 c. sour cream
1 tsp. almond extract
1/4 tsp. baking soda

crunchy topping

1/3 c butter
1/2 c brown sugar
3/4 c flour
1/2 c almonds, chopped


Combine the flour, sugar, salt, & baking soda. Beat together eggs, sour cream, and almond extract. Add to dry ingredients, mixing until well blended. Spoon into greased muffin cups. Prepare topping by cutting butter into brown sugar & flour until crumbly. Add almonds and sprinkle over batter in muffin cups. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. Yields 12

happy mail and I've been tagged!

Ashley over at ashley's creative corner sent me this wonderful package of goodies for winning one of her brainwave challenges. The ribbon looks SO fun to play with and I can't wait to try my hand at coloring some of her images she sent. She is the owner of treehouse stamps...be sure to check it out. I love that little ladybug she used on the card she sent. Getting this in the mail just made my day! Thanks Ashley.

Oh, and a very long time ago I was tagged by my wonderful friend stephanie. I am supposed to share 7 random facts and then select 7 people to tag. Here goes:

1. I love to bake bread. I make all of our bread and rolls and never have to buy them.

2. I also love to hike. I have hiked about 9 14ers (I'm not sure if that is just a Colorado word or not, but it means mountains that are over 14,000 feet!).

3. I hate milk. I don't know when the last time I had a glass of milk was. I know, it's bad. Don't worry mom, I'm still taking those calcium supplements.

4. I own a bloodhound that you can hear howling 3/4 of a mile away! Good thing we live on 6 acres:) Gotta love her.

5. I am terrified of mice! I have been known to jump on tables, chairs, and counters when I see them.

6. I began scrapbooking over ten years ago with construction paper and elmers glue. Those pages are pretty fun. (Good times minnz!)

7. I play the piano. I took lessons for 8 years when I was little. I have a beautiful piano that was given to me by my in-laws and was in their family since the late 1800's. I need to find time to play more.

So there you go. That was harder than I thought it would be. I'm going to tag two of my dear friends:

holly

mindy

mother's day cards

I made these cards a little while ago when I got together with my friend Clara for some stamping time! I love this stamp set....the wheelbarrow is so cute. I colored the images with my watercolor wonder crayons and my aquapainter. I love how these felt flowers (su's flower fusion) match the bali breeze designer paper. It makes making cards a breeze! Haha! Happy Mother's Day to all those moms out there! Hugs!

{ingredients: red}

stamps: blooming with love

paper: bali breeze dsp, rose red, pumpkin pie, white, taken with teal

ink: black

more: watercolor wonder crayons, circle punches, aquapainter, flower fusion, eyelets

{ingredients: blue}

stamps: blooming with love

paper: bali breeze dsp, taken with teal, old olive, white

ink: black

more: circle punches, watercolor wonder crayons, aquapainter, flower fusion, eyelets

Just Celebrate!

A bright and fun birthday card made especially for my cousin! Her birthday is a few days away (well closer to the end of the month). I just got out my bag-o-scraps and starting putting stuff together and this is what I came up with! I colored the cake with my su markers and then added a little glitter to the frosting and the candles. I really like how it turned out and I made a little dent in my scraps:) Thanks for stopping by!

{ingredients} stamps: just celebrate paper: petals dsp, rose red dsp, pretty in pink, tempting turquoise, certainly celery, white ink: black more: markers, dazzling diamonds, paper piercer, ribbon

pink and green

This card was inspired by a challenge from sharon over at no time to stamp. We had to use pink, green, flowers, and think SPRING! I pulled some pink and green scraps out and put this together pretty quickly. I really like these soft colors together, it looks like spring to me. I want to try this same layout with different colors....it was so easy! I went a little crazy with the paper piercer, but I like the squares. Have a happy day.



{ingredients}
stamps: best blossoms
paper: certainly celery dsp, petals dsp, pretty in pink, white
ink: certainly celery, pretty in pink
more: pretties, paper piercer

Stampin' Up! Specials

Starter Kit Special! If you have been thinking about becoming a demonstrator, then now is the time! For the month of May, you can join the Stampin' Up family and get 20 percent off the starter kit (a $359 value for only $159)! But it gets better...sign up now and recieve a free tin of Hodgepodge Hardware (a $27.95 value). For more info, click here to view flyer.

There's more: Get On Board with Chipboard!
During the month of May, if you spend $35 on Stampin' Up products, you get 25% off any of the On Board items in the Spring-Summer Collection. On Board chipboard is a great embellishment for all your card and scrapbooking projects! You can also view the flyer.

And lastly: Cutting Combo Pack Special Offer
During the month of May, buy a Cutting Mat and get a Hobby Blade for FREE! Everyone loves free product!

If you have any questions or would like to place an order, feel free to contact me.

two posts, two cards!

I'm back with beate's weekend sketch challenge. I had so many scraps laying around while I was doing this, so I decided to make two! Which one do you like better? For the background papers I just flipped the designer paper over...so one card features one side and the other side of the paper is on the other card. Pretty fun. Speaking of pretty...aren't those flowers from the pretties kit great? I colored them with my apricot appeal marker and then tied a ribbon around them. Well, happy Friday to you all!

{ingredients: so very blessed}

stamps: so very

paper: petals dsp, old olive, apricot appeal dsp, apricot appeal, taken with teal, white

ink: old olive, taken with teal

more: brads, paper piercer

{ingredients: so very sweet}

stamps: so very

paper: petals dsp, blush blossom, apricot appeal, apricot appeal dsp, certainly celery, white

ink: apricot appeal, certainly celery

more: pretties, celery ribbon, paper piercer

pretty pretties!

I finally ordered the pretties kit from SU and I love, love, love them. They are so fun to color and they match perfectly that way (I just love when everything coordinates!) I used my cameo coral and pretty in pink markers to color these ones and added one of the rhinestone brads that comes with the kit! I can't wait to try more of these pretties! Stay tuned:)

I don't know if you can tell, but this paper (thanks mom!) has glitter all over the flowers. I added my own dazzling diamonds to the flowers in the windowbox. This is a pretty old stamp set, but I thought this was the perfect time to get it back out!

ps--Stampin' Up has some new specials for May. I will post those later today!

{ingredients}

stamps: sweet of you

paper: cameo coral, so saffron, pretty in pink, white, patterned paper (Lollia)

ink: black

more: pretties flowers, markers, dazzling diamonds

blooms for you

I love this stamp set, Blooming with Love. It was really fun to use with my watercolor wonder crayons. I just used my aquapainter to watercolor with. So easy! I also used some (gasp!) hodgepodge hardware...I don't know why I hoard that stuff, it's so fun. I like all the greens/neutrals in this card....it's a really old sketch challenge from Julee at poetic artistry. I am just now getting around to it, but I really like how it turned out.

{ingredients}

stamps: blooming with love, all holidays

ink: black

paper: recollections dsp, always artichoke, river rock, very vanilla

more: brads, corner ticket punch, hodgepodge hardware, paper piercer