It's THAT time of year!

Gift cards are SOOOO popular... Leave it to some clever

stampers to figure out how to decorate them! I have seen this idea all over the place at SCS... but this is the tutorial I followed... the directions were so easy to follow that I am giving credit the instructions that I used. I did this GCH (gift card holder) for a challenge over at Mothers and Daughters Creations. It was so much fun to make and my new Whiff of Joy Herb Snowman stamp fit PERFECTLY on the front! I was able to make the GCH in about 10 minutes... but then coloring my image and decorating it was what took the time!!! But getting lost in coloring and decorating is where I find my peace and my center... I get REALLY relaxed and zen-like. How lucky I am to have this wonderful outlet!

The picture does not show all of the FUN things I used! I used my new Twinkling h20's and SHIMMERZ!( Click on the Shimerz link to check out their sale on SHIMMERZ!) My friend Kisa is right... this stuff rocks! I also used liquid applique

and glitter pens. For the inside, I punched 3 Snowflakes and got out the trusty stickles, cu that's how I roll. Now go and make some of these! They are easy to do and they beat standing in the mall shaking your head figuring out what to get people... and this way...YOU GET TO STAMP!!! Have a good one... and stay away from the mauls... I mean MALLS!!!

Gorgeous New Fairy Stamps!

OK... So I happened across this image on Splitcoast TOTALLY by chance...and I had to go and check them out. Well... of course one I saw them... I HAD to have them... so here is my creation with one of these gorgeous stamps. I used twinkling H2o's, shimerz, primas,gel pens. glitter pens and the cuttlebug...

are ya DYING to know where I got them... OK, OK... it is a holiday and all...(LOL)...here it is...(drumroll please!)

Susana's Custom Art and Card Designs... The best part??? She is wonderful to deal with! I had hardly paid for the stamps and they were in my mailbox. The Quality of the stamps is wonderful and they stamp really clean and crisp... Oh are you still reading this... GO... go and buy some of these right away!!!

Oh yeah... Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Confessions of a Challenge-aholic!

OOHHH... I just love 'em! I did this card using

There She Goes rubber stamps for a challenge

over at my friend Jessica's blog... also called There She Goes. It was to make a card and pretty up the inside to match the pretty outside... so here is my take on this fun challenge. I used the Branching Out set and after I stamped the image of the tree... I stamped the image of the envelope "branches." Next, I stamped the envelopes onto different colored paper and cut all of them out... Then I adhered them to the tree. I added the clouds and the ground, matted the tree and adhered it to the front. The I added the word and the envelope... and now for the inside...

I did more clouds and the ground... added the darling kitty from the Spooky Silhouettes set and

added the envelope swirl... and finally the rest of the sentiment. I usually make very VERY ornate cards with tons of sparkle and dots and ribbon and anything else I can glue on them... so this card was so "clean" and simple for me... and know what? I LOVE IT! And I love these stamps... they stamp so clean and crisp and the image comes out great the first time! HOW AWESOME IS THAT??? So check out Jessica's blog and webstore... she has some really nice and different stamp sets... have a great day... and send someone some love!!!

I LOVE POISON!!!

Pink Poison that is! To tell ya the truth... I don't even know how I stumbled across these darling stamps... but I am SOOOO glad that I did! This is yet another card made with the Anya stamp... this time she is a mermaid!

I colored the image with copic markers and of course my glitter pens... a mermaid NEEDS glitter! OH YEAH... and I added PEARLS to her hair!!! YUMMY! I cut an oval in the aqua colored paper and added pop dots to the back to raise it up from the purple. I cut seaweed looking pieces of green paper and covered them with stickles (more glitter!) and arranged them to look ocean-y! Then I found these darling seashell buttons and added them as well. I adhered my darling mermaid to the aqua paper and then added pop dots to the back of her hair so she would remain level .I added crystal effects to the bottom of the card and up the sides and then put micro beads for more texture...whew! Last, but not least, the sentiment... and there she is. Check out Pink Poison's web store and blog for other darling ideas... Her stamps are just delish and I can't get enough! Enjoy!!!

DRS Postage Frame FUN!!!

We are having a challenge over at the DRS blog on ways to use the postage frame stamps other than the intended purpose (Stamp it on an envelope, and
add postage.) Well, here is what I came up with!

I stamped postage frame onto white card stock and colored it with
copic markers and of course , glitter pens. Then I took a small photo of the most gorgeous child ever (my darling AVA) and adhered it in place. After that, I took my Xyron and laminated the whole thing and added magnets to the back of it. I adhered DSP to some chipboard and cut it out with my new nesties label dies. I added magnets to this as well so that the photo will stay in place and then can be removed later and stuck onto Mimi's fridge at home so she may gaze upon my lovely child's face!!!

On a piece of kraft paper, I used the DRS branch stamp to add some texture to the background, and I used my favorite sentiment on another nesite die cut. Then after alot of dots with my gel pens and tons of sponging... here is my
creation! I hope that you will take a peek at the blog and play along if you would like. We would love it if you did... please link your project to the page so we can see your creation as well. thanks for looking and have a wonderful day!

Snowmen and Bunnies?!? What could be cuter???

I made this card for the challenge over at High Hopes.

It was to use buttons AND brads on the same card! I don't have any of these stamps... but I used what I had... this is a cube from STAMPENDOUS. I knew I had to have it because the "cute factor" was off the charts!!!

I stamped the images onto a piece of glittery card stock. Then I colored the images with my copics and added stickles and liquid applique to the bunny's hats. I went over the snowflakes with my glitter pens for added sparkle and then I punched the images out. I arranged them on the blue card stock and then again on pink card stock. I used the SU scallop edge punch on the pink and slapped the whole creation on snowflake paper. Next, to complete all of the elements of the challenge, i punched out 3 star bursts and added the snowflake buttons to them with glue dots. I added the gems to the middle of the buttons and of course white dots to the edge of the star bursts. This card just makes my day when I look at it and I hope that you will enjoy it as well! Thanks for stopping by and keep your eyes open for "cuteness off the charts!"

A Snowy Day in "My Town"

Well... this looks like my hometown of Buffalo, NY and I know you are thinking, "No way... Buffalo gets WAY more snow than that..."

True... sometimes... BUT it is really pretty at Christmas! There is an area of Buffalo near the zoo and the homes are so pretty... I had that area in mine when I made this card.

I used the MS fence punch,covered it with liquid applique. I colored all of the buildings with copic markers and I added liquid applique to the roof tops and crystal effects to the windows for some shine. I of course, had to add glitter to EVERYTHING by way of stickles and then I used the scallop edge punch for the pink and

green paper at the top! Some dots with a gel pen

and some dots and glitter and there you have it! A snowy day in beautiful down town Buffalo! I love living in the south and I don't miss the snow...(OK, Maybe for Christmas!) It is nice to be able to create snow when you want it and still run to the store in a sweater! Have a great day filled with thoughts of home!

ANOTHER 3-D item??? What is going on here???

(Be sure to click on this picture to see the detail)


Well, here is another 3-D creation from me for a Challenge. Darn these challenges...they are just so...so... CHALLENGING! This one was from Mothers and Daughters Creations and the challenge was to make a Thanksgiving table decor. UGHHH!!! What to do... what to do???

I did not want to do the usual so I had to cook this one for a while and come up with an idea that would be unusual... like me! So I made table name place cards... with a twist! I included 2 pieces of paper and a tiny pencil for the guest to write down 2 things they are thankful for and to
put them in the Happy Thanksgiving box before the meal begins. Then, during dessert, I thought it would be a great time for Daddy to read them and we can reflect on our Blessings!I really LOVE this idea (if I do say so myself, right)and I know it will be a wonderful way to thank our Heavenly Father for all of our blessings... seen and unseen. I hope you will try this idea and add a little bit of gratitude to your meal as well!

My ornament for the challenge!

I am good at cards... I have a hard time with 3-d items and "not cards." There was this challenge over at Sassy cards and scraps to make an ornament for a 6 weeks of inspiration challenge... (I am a HUGE challenge NUT!) So ... here is what I came up with! Everyone knows what a sweetie my Hubby is... He said, "HON, You had better show a picture of the stamp you used or people will think you BOUGHT it!" (AWWW!!!)

So here is the skinny... I bought a glazed ceramic ornament and I used stazon ink. I stamped the image and I colored with with copic markers. Since they are alcohol based, they did some funky stuff on the ornament and the color was not even... but I LOVED the result. Then I used the glitter pens and gel pens to add sparkle and to add the 80 billion dots. Next, I dotted stickles on the background for snow... I mean, he is a snowman, lets put him in his element... right! I had to add the date to keep track of my addiction (for the record)

and added a ribbon to hang it up,

here is my finished product... I added a photo to indulge

my darling! I hope you like it... and I encourage you all to do this... so not hard and they would make lovely gift tags! Don't forget the date!!!

OH YEAH!!! My Man ROCKS!!!

So there is this Challenge over at Pink Poison Stamps, Mr. Stamper, right? The gist is that your fave guy (my hubby)

gets to make a card all by himself... with no help from me! Well, when he was stamping... and he was doing great... it was SOOOO hard for me!!! He was in control of my stamping stuff ...ARRGHHH!!!

He chose this blue paper, since his favorite color is blue,and he did the bird in blue water colors. I told him how to mask for the grass and then how to use the cloud template. He used the paper cutter,the Creative Memory circle templates, the embossing buddy, EP and the heat gun. He also used a water color brush,my ATG and the glitter pens! Y'all... I could not be any prouder than I am right now! I told him that I really wanted to do this with him, and first my motive was the free set of stamps... but we had a great time together and when we looked at the card this morning... he was really happy with it and said he may like to do it again! Be jealous, ladies... I hit the Husband Jackpot with this wonderful man!!!

Glitter, Glitter EVERYWHERE!!!

There were these 2 challenges... and I am a SUCKER for a good challenge... so I did them,BOTH... on one card! The High Hopes Challenge was "Sparkle-mania"... I could totally get behind that... and Sweet -n- Sassy's was snowflakes... so here we have a "Sparkle-mania" of Snowflakes... how totally cool!!!

I cued the cuttlebug to emboss the glittery cardstock on the top of the card and then I sponged the sides and added stickles and gel pens ALL over it! Then I used my scallop edge punch to make the blue border in the middle of the card that all of my snowflakes are adhered to. Next was the SU wheel, "snow" and I added Glitter with spica pens, glitter pens, stickles and gel pen dots all over that. WHEW! I used my MS edge punch for the snowflake edge and a MS snowflake punch for the blue snowflake. I glittered and stickled that and here is my card! It is Fun, Fancy and Full of Frosting!!! I truly believe that if some is good... MORE is better! Have a great day and don't forget to embellish!

My Big Swellin' Head!!! (or 2 blog awards in the same day!)

You girls are so kind to me! My sweet bloggin' group friends, Heather and Traci nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award... on the same day! How sweet is that??? The only thing that I have ever won was a frozen turkey ... when I was 12!!!!

Here are the deets of this award...
1. the winner may put the logo on their blog
2. Put a link to the person that sent the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs
4.Put links to their blogs.
5.Leave a message for the nominees...

Here are my 5...
Jen, Nancy,Jessica, Vicki and Kisa.
Some are friends and some are on My design team with me! These ladies are FUN, do great work and make my stamping time a blast! so thanks to them for the inspiration and thanks to Traci and Heather for swelling my head! Kisses to all!!!( this is WAAAAYYYY better than a turkey!

Lovin' me some Tilda's!

This is a Magnolia Stamp and I LOVE THEM!!! It was a really easy card to make and pretty straight forward. I used the cuttlebug for the yellow paper and the CM oval cutter for the ovals. I used the gamsol magic technique and I used crystal effects in the middle of the flower! At the bottom edge of the card I used some decorative ribbon that I have had for years and It was PERFECT for this little gal! And then I had to add my dots with gel and glitter pens... So there she is and here are a few more with the gamsol technique... Enjoy!

Prepare for Utter Cuteness!!!

Oh My GOODNESS!!! How adorable is this little gal? I got her from Pink Poison Stamps.They are affordable, they stamp perfectly and, how amazingly and utterly precious is this stamp? I ordered them and got them in the mail so quickly... I just knew she needed to be stamped ASAP!

I did her for the sketch challenge over at Mothers and Daughters Creations. I LOVE challenges... so I decided to play along... and their challenges are so much fun... I just can't stop!

I used a corner rounder to do the corners of the cardstock and the card base. I used the gamsol and colored pencil technique... (Love that look!) I used the cuttlebug for the blue and orange paper, I thought they looked like waves and bubbles! I followed the sketch and for the circle part, I layered orange and white cardstock and a flower charm with a brad. I hope you enjoyed this card as much as I do... I just have to smile when I look at her! Check out Pink Poison and Mothers and Daughters Challenges...and remember to always Have FUN

OH... LOOK WHAT I MADE!!! ( and how many!)

This is what I started with... and this is what I got!!! 10 super fun and sparkly Christmas cards!

There is a challenge over at Sassy Cards N Scraps... 6 weeks of Santa workshop inspiration. We were to take 2 pieces of cardstock and 2 pieces of patterned paper and make as many cards as we could out of them! I challenged myself even further to make these cards without STAMPING!!! How can that be, you say??? well, i did used some precious rub ons and of course punches, and where would I be without stickles and gel pens???

These cards were a blast to make and I love how
they turned out! If you need some inspiration...
Check out the challenges there... it was really fun

to do and i suggest (as they did on the challenge site) to use double sided paper for more options...

I am glad i played along, and now I have 10 Christmas cards out of the way... only like 60 more to go! Thanks for popping by!!!

PINK... For Christmas???

I LOVE this image from DRS Designs and this little snow person was just BEGGIN" to be PINK!!! I stamped the image once, colored the hearts with copic makers and then I put crystal effects on them to make them shiny and lovely. I Pierced holes in the hearts and strung them with wire and adhered them with a pop dot to make them pop up. While I was waiting for the crystal effects to dry... I colored the snowman with copics and then added the background for him. On the pink paper I used the Creative Memories snowflake punch to decorate the background. Ever the recycler (is that a word?) I used some of the pink punched from the snowflakes to adhere to the sky to look like pink snow! I OF COURSE had to use stickles for some bling! When this was all put together, the finishing touch was the dots with the gel pen and the glitter pen. I hope that you enjoyed this card. I am using it for a challenge over at High Hopes Stamps, so i hope they like it too! Have a great day and don't always color your grass green!!!