My Favorite Things

Introducing Mod Squad

Hellooooo!!!  Welcome to Day 1 of the Countdown to this month's product release at Papertrey Ink!  I am thrilled to introduce you to Mod Squad, the latest stamp set in my Raspberry Suite line-up.  This set is totally mod, totally retro and totally FUN!!  Mod Squad has 22 individual stamps in the set, complete with both images and sentiments and will sell for $24.  It will be available for purchase on July 15 -- just 5 days from now!  

All of today's cards feature a couple of stamps that you got a glimpse of earlier this week when Nichole posted the sneak peek on her blog.  There are two separate decorative circle images that can be used alone or together to create a large variety of funky background patterns so I thought we'd start with those today.  As you can see on this first card, I used one of the decorative circle images to create a fun red background pattern on the berry sorbet card stock by stamping the image repeatedly in rows.  It's easy to see, when you start stamping your second row, just where to place each image by simply stamping in the spaces you created when stamping the first row.

This card also features several other images from the set including this hip, retro frame and cheery little flower!  The flower head and stem are two separate stamps making it a cinch to stamp your flowers and stems in different colors.  And how about that FAB sentiment?!!  Is that fun or what?  Could you see yourself sending a happy little card to a friend using this sentiment?  :)

This next card uses that same frame from the first card along with another of the sentiments from the set.  I LOOOOOVE giving cards and gifts "Just Because" so this is a sentiment that I'm sure to use often.  It's SO fun to brighten someone's day with a little note or treat when it's completely out of the blue and they aren't expecting it at all!  And don't you just love that font?!!

Did you notice on this card, how my decorative circle pattern looks a bit different than it does on the first card?  That's because I used two different stamps to create that purple and cream background pattern.  The two decorative circle stamps are reverse images of each other so you can use them individually like I did in the first card, or you can use them together by alternating rows with each stamp, as I did on this card.  Don't you just love how different the pattern can look just by changing out one stamp or by switching up the colors?  

I also heat embossed those fabulous polka dots with Filigree clear embossing powder.  (Stay tuned to Nichole's blog this week for more on that set!!  *wink!*)  I am in LOVE with the look of clear, heat embossed polka dots on colored card stocks.  The colors just seem to come alive when heat embossed with clear embossing powder!!

Here's a close up of that hip frame with some happy little butterflies that I punched out using my Martha Stewart butterfly punch.  I've found that by trimming the straight edges around the frame with my paper cutter, it makes it really easy to just use my paper snips to trim around the corners that I want rounded.  In the case of this card, I opted to just round two opposing corners and leave the other two squared.  I thought that added yet another touch of "retro feel" to my card!

Oh, how I love this last card!  So many of you have said that you thought the original sneak peek image reminded you of peacock feathers so I thought it would be fun to create a background pattern using what I consider to be 'peacock colors'!  I used both of the decorative circle images, alternating them on each row as I alternated colors as well.  After I got them stamped, I added gemstones from Hero Arts and Kaiser to the centers of the circles and to the teal card stock strip, highlighting my sentiment.......just another of the versatile sentiments from this set!

 

Well, what do you think???  I hope that you've enjoyed your first glimpses of Mod Squad!!  I'd love to hear your thoughts on the latest stamp set in the Raspberry Suite line-up!  Did you have a favorite project from today's post? 

Don't forget to check back tomorrow....I'll be back with more FAB projects using Mod Squad!  

And as for today, you won't want to miss checking out Nichole Heady's blog where she's featuring more of Papertrey's new releases for this month.  AND, Lauren Meader & Lisa Johnson have new goodies to show you as well!

Thanks for stopping by today, Peeps!

Have a FAB day!

{FAB Friend supplies}

Paper: berry sorbet, spring moss, stamper's select white, bitty box basics

Stamps: Mod Squad

Ink: pure poppy, berry sorbet

Other: spring moss vintage buttons, Fiskars apron lace punch, sewing machine

{Just Because... supplies}

Paper: plum pudding, vintage cream, bitty box basics

Stamps: Mod Squad, Polka Dot Basics II

Ink: true black, plum pudding, versamark

Other: Fiskars upper crest punch, Filigree embossing powder, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Kaiser gemstones

{Thanks so much! supplies}

Paper: new leaf, vintage cream, SU! taken with teal

Stamps: Mod Squad

Ink: new leaf, plum pudding, SU! taken with teal

Other: Kaiser gemstones (purple), Hero Arts gemstones (teal, green)

In the Spotlight #11

Hello there, Dearies!!  Back today with post #1 of the day (sneak peeks of my new stamp set start TONIGHT!).......it's time for this week's In the Spotlight feature.  I have to laugh when I read thru your color challenge blog posts.  Some of you have a hard time if I just use 2 or 3 colors, while others of you seem to have trouble with 4 or 5 colors!  Hee.  I don't think I can possibly make this easy for everyone.......I guess that's why they call it a challenge though, right?  :)  All I know is that I'm SO proud of you girls for taking on these challenges and it thrills me to no end, when you discover that you really CAN do it.....you CAN make a beautiful card with colors that are maybe outside of your comfort zone.  

As you'll see when you check out the cards in this week's Spotlight, these colors made lots of us think of flowers and butterflies!  Don't you think they all look so pretty grouped together, below??  :)

As for my card, I was totally in butterfly mode and with so many fun patterned paper basics from Papertrey these days, it makes mixing patterns and colors a cinch!  Also, because the soft stone (gray) color is so light, it made a great substitute for having to use white on the card.  I heat embossed some tiny dots on the soft stone card stock with clear embossing powder.  I LOVE that look....so soft and subtle.  It was just the right touch for all of the other bold and bright colors on the card.  The sentiment is from the Cupcake Collection stamp set.  I love that sentiment.  It makes me smile!  And by stamping the sentiment on a separate piece of soft stone card stock, it kept it a part of the background color, without having the clutter of the dots stamped in and around the sentiment.  It's a bit cleaner look this way.

All righty, check out who's In the Spotlight this week....

A. Ange Kelly

B. Ann Cox

C. Beverley

D. Dana Gustafson

E. Jane

F. Jessica

G. Kelly Booth

H. Kelly Rasmussen

I. Kisha

J. Laura Bassen

K. Laura Beck

L. Lisa Forsythe

M. Maile Belles (2)

N. Stephanie Washburn

O. Traci Garzelli

So glad that so many of you got to play along this time!

The Papertrey Countdown starts tonight!!  I'll be back at midnight EST with my first projects using my newest stamp set!!  I can't WAIT for you to see this one....it's so much fun!

{Hey There, Cupcake! supplies}

Paper: soft stone, raspberry fizz, pure poppy, new leaf, bitty dot basics, bitty box basics

Stamps: Cupcake Collection, Polka Dot Basics

Ink: versamark, true black

Other: true black vintage button, vintage cream button twine, new leaf saddle stitch ribbon, Filigree embossing powder, Fiskars apron lace punch, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, SU! Bigz Butterflies die, Hero Arts gemstones, sewing machine/thread

Sneak Peek -- New Stamp Set!

Hey there!  Have you seen the latest sneak peek over on Nichole's blog??  Today, she's giving you the first look at the newest stamp set in my Raspberry Suite line-up!  I can't wait for you to see the projects I've been working on with this "fab" new set!  I'll start sharing those projects with you on Friday when the official Countdown begins.

What do you think so far???  ;)

Twitterpated!

Hi-ya!  Happy Tuesday to you!  I got to have lunch (& gelato!) with 2 of my sweet sisters today (fun, fun!) and since I got home, I've been back at it in the studio.  I've got a few quickie cards to share with you today that are simple and fun.  I thought I'd use some goodies that Northridge Media sent me for some magazine publications recently.  These cards use patterned papers as well as coordinating chipboard and rub-ons from the Twitterpated Collection from Imaginisce.  Such cute goodies!

Gotta get back to my Papertrey projects.  Hope you're doing well today!  

Toodles!

 

Monday, Monday....

Hey there, Crew......

How is your Monday going?  I spent my day in the studio making cards and packing up a couple of Etsy orders to ship out.  (thanks, ladies!)  :)  I need to add some more cards to my shop now!

Here's a card I made today that I CAN share with you.  Most of what I'm currently working on is for this month's Papertrey release, so you'll have to wait a few days to see them but not too long really.......because I have a stamp set coming out THIS MONTH!!! That means I'll start sharing my projects with you right here, when the official Countdown starts on the 10th!  That's in just a few days!  I can't wait for you to see this new set!  It's FUN!

For today's card, I used my Damask Designs stamp set along with a couple of those new punches that I can't seem to stop using.  ;)  The one on the left is the apron lace punch and the other one is the upper crest punch.  As for the colors I used, that's Stampin' Up!'s (retired) wild wasabi and Papertrey's aqua mist and the new 

scarlet jewel.

As for the last couple of days, we've spent lots of time with family.  4th of July was full of picnic food and fireworks and lots of laughter.  Such a great day w/Bart's side of the family.  Then yesterday was the annual family reunion with my side of the family which involved a road trip and about 8 hours or so in the car!  But it was also a lot of fun......got to spend some time with 'the babies' (my niece & nephew), which is always a good thing.  The photo below is one of my favorites from yesterday.  This barn belongs to my great aunt now, but was her parents' before that.  I love this barn.  I love this property.  I love the sense of peace that comes with spending time out in the country.  It was a great day.  :)

Hope you all have a fabulous evening.  I'll see ya later, Chicas!

{Thank You supplies}

Paper: SU! wild wasabi; PTI guide lines grid card stock, scarlet jewel, aqua mist bitty box basics

Stamps: Damask Designs

Ink: scarlet jewel, wild wasabi

Others: aqua mist saddle stitch ribbon, scarlet jewel button, vintage cream button twine, apron lace punch, upper crest punch

Happy 4th of July!!

 

Happy Independence Day to each of you here in the United States!!  

First off, I'd just like to take a minute to say thank you soooo much to each of the military families in our country that serve unselfishly to protect our freedom.  We're so grateful to each of you for the sacrifices that you make on a daily basis.  I know that several of you that visit me here at the blog-o are military wives, with hubbies that are currently deployed in other countries.  Know that you are loved and appreciated, not just today, but all year long.

Bart and I had a great day yesterday.  Some of our dear friends have a new baby (#3) and we got to go spend some time with them at the hospital.  Those new babies are just about the sweetest thing ever.  After that, we came home and spent some time together just hangin' out.  I love Friday nights with my hottie hubs!  (Who am I kidding?  I love any night with my hottie hubs!  Ha!)

As for today, we've got big plans to spend the evening with Bart's side of the family.  We'll be going to the largest fireworks display in the area -- it's huge! -- but it will also be packed with thousands of other families just like ours.  SO.....we'll go early this afternoon to stake our claim on the best spot in the park for watching the fireworks!  Haha!  We'll hang out on blankets and lawn chairs all day.  We'll picnic and people watch and have a grand ole time and we'll end our evening with a fabulous fireworks display.  It'll be great.  I won't mention that it rained overnight so the ground will be wet, it'll be hotter than heck and MUGGY besides, and the bugs will probably be out in force!  LOL!  But it's a family tradition.  It's what we do lots of years on the 4th of July.  And deep down, we love it!  :)  

I hope you have a fantastic weekend, whether you're celebrating Independence Day or not!  And if you ARE celebrating, what are some of your 4th of July traditions??  I'd love to hear about them!

God bless America!

Tree Shopping!

Let me tell you..........tree shopping has come a long way, folks!  My clever, bargain-shopping, number-head, hottie hubs sent a few emails out to local nurseries asking for price quotes on the type of tree we were looking for, including what they would charge to plant our new beauty.  When he got back the quotes, the low-bid was from a great big nursery that we hadn't ever been to before, so we decided to go out and have a look at what they had to offer.  We were so surprised and excited to find out that they have 40 ACRES of trees, plants & greenhouses and not only that, but they have a fleet of FREE golf carts that you can use to drive around and shop!  HOW FUN!  

They gave us a map & explained where we would find everything, we hopped in a golf cart and away we went!!

EDITED TO ADD:  The purse in the photo is mine, not Bart's!!  LOL!!

We were on a mission to find the perfect Autumn Blaze Maple.  My handsome husband has done his research homework and we had decided that was the tree for us.  Fast growing (approx. 3 ft. per year), hard wood (don't want another tree falling on our deck!) and most importantly, it will have that great, bright orange-red color in the fall, that I've always wanted.  

So, our first stop was these trees in 15 gallon buckets.  We thought the nursery had a brilliant set up -- see how there are buckets sitting down in a bucket?  When you buy a tree, they just pull the bucket out and there's still an empty bucket left, waiting for them to bring in another tree-in-a-bucket and drop it down in the hole.  So clever.

But these trees were smaller than what we were hoping for.....

We were having so much fun zipping around in our golf cart!  Had to snap a photo of the two of us.  Ha.

Next stop, the bigger trees!  These have the root balls wrapped in burlap and they're buried there, in a bed of mulch so they can keep them watered.  

Check out my hottie hubs as he searches for our perfect tree.  Sigh.....I love that he knows quite a bit about trees, having worked for a tree service years ago.

 

And there he is, surrounded by Autumn Blaze Maples......trying to find just the right one.  Do we go with the slightly larger ones on the left or the slightly smaller ones on the right???

Aha!  We HAVE a winner!  He's picked out 'the one'........and here comes 'the tree man' to write it up and put a sold tag and chain/lock on our tree!

Such a happy moment!  They can even keep the tree there for us until the fall, when it's less stress on the tree to move it.  That way, they would water and care for it during these next couple of hot summer months.  Not sure yet, if we'll do that, or go ahead and have them plant it soon.  At this point though, we have to wait a bit until the tree service can come back out and grind out the stump from our old tree.

And there she is.........our Autumn Blaze Maple!  Ours is the one right smack-dab in the middle of the picture.  Isn't she a beauty?!  Hahaha!  Wanna see what she'll look like in the fall (and when she's a little bigger!)??  Here you go.......(photo courtesy of the 'net).

Spectacular, wouldn't you say????  :)

CARDS Magazine pub's - June 09 issue

 

Hey there,

How's it goin'???  I have a few cards to share with you today that were published in the June 09 issue of CARDS Magazine.  If you haven't seen it yet, it's a great issue.  Oh, I get so much inspiration from these magazines!

Before we get to the rest of the cards though, I thought I'd mention that I still haven't heard from two of my birthday giveaway winners!  I've mailed out 4 packages but the other two are here, waiting patiently to be shipped out to their new owners!  So, if your name is Mary and one of the following comments was yours, please email me (link in left side bar) with your mailing address info and I'll get your goodies sent out to you!  Thanks!

"Happy Birthday! My favorite birthday was spending the whole week-end at our cottage with the family. Good food, great times, lots of laughs and loads of love!
Mary Ellen"

Posted by: Mary Ellen | June 27, 2009 at 08:12 AM

"Happy Birthday Dawn!!! Hope you have a great day! My favorite birthday was my 57th birthday. Got to spend it with my birthmother. It was the first time I had met her!!"

Posted by: Mary W. | June 25, 2009 at 10:47 AM

And now, the rest of the cards for today.......  :)  That first card has loads of Papertrey fun on it.....stamps, ink, card stock.  I made that card with my hottie hubs in mind.  Happy sigh....

 

This one has Stampin' Up! patterned papers and rub-ons on it.  So cheerful!  OOOOOH, I got a peek at the new Stampin' Up! catalog online today.....so much fun!

Some Stampin' Up! stamps and patterned paper here, mixed with some Papertrey patterned paper, ribbon and card stock.  Lovey Dovey......

And lots of Papertrey goodies on here.  Ribbon, patterned paper, card stock...and have I ever told you how much I love Hero Arts gemstones?  They come in so many great colors!

That's it for now.......hope you're having a fab Thursday!

Smooches,

Random. Totally Random.

WARNING: The following post is chock full of random chatter and lots of random photos to catch you up on a few of the happenings in my life over the last week or so.  I would like to formally apologize right up front for the length and random-ness of this post.  Consider yourself warned!  :)

Boy, do I have a whole lotta odds and ends to share with you today!  I've been saving up, I guess.  There's the birthday details, a fun lunch, flowers, books, etc.!  I have lots of bits and pieces to tell you about so let's get started with what I'm currently reading, shall we?

Sisterchicks in Wooden Shoes!  This is the latest book in the Sisterchicks series by Robin Jones Gunn (who, by the way, has been one of my favorite authors for literally years).  Since I'm working from home these days, I've been taking a break from the computer/studio to go downstairs and have lunch in the kitchen and while I'm eating, I read.  Bliss.  And yesterday, I started reading this book and goodness gracious, I was so bummed when lunch was over and I had to stop reading!  All of Robin's books in this series are fast reads and they're a lot of fun.  They hook you in right away.  I bet you'd love 'em.....they're all about a couple of girlfriends that end up going away on some grand adventure to some other country for one reason or another.  The 8 books in the series are not connected in any way, so you don't have to worry about reading them in order.  If you haven't read any of these yet, I highly recommend them.  I can't wait to finish this one!

These beauties were sent to me by a dear friend, after I got laid off.  I should have taken a photo the day they arrived, but even a few days later, they were still beautiful!  In fact, they're still sitting pretty on my kitchen table right now!  (Thank you so much, Chica!)

Now, I would just like to say that having a birthday the week after you get laid off is a great distraction.  God's timing is really something, isn't it?  ;)  I so enjoyed your birthday stories last week.....you girls have had some fabulous birthdays over the years, haven't you?!  Some of you posed the same question to me (from the birthday giveaway post).....What is my favorite birthday ever and why?  I've had several great birthdays over the years though I have to tell you that when I was little, I was sometimes bummed about having a summer birthday.  I couldn't take treats to school and have my own special day.  AND, my mom and sister are both Jan. babies, my other two sisters are both Feb. babies and my dad and brother are both Nov. babies.......all 6 of them in the winter and then there was me......all by myself in the middle of the summer!  I moaned and groaned about that a bit until the year that I figured out that my birthday is EXACTLY 6 MONTHS FROM CHRISTMAS and then I decided that I had just about the best birthday ever because I would get presents exactly every six months!!  LOL!!  Then I started to feel sorry for all those winter birthday people that got all their presents at one end of the year rather than having them evenly spaced out like me!  Hahaha!!  (what a dork, right?!)  

All that to say, when we were kids, a lot of our birthdays were spent at Showbiz Pizza (now Chuck E. Cheese) where we'd have family ski ball tournaments (I happened to be pretty good) :) and we'd watch "Fatz" & "Mitzy" and the other robot characters put on a show.  We'd eat pizza and play games and earn tickets and buy junky prizes!  Hee.  In those days, I had two little sisters and there were quite a few birthdays (for me AND my sisters) where my parents would let EACH of us have 2 friends over for a sleepover.  You can do the math, but that's a total of NINE giggling schoolgirls staying up half the night and watching movies and eating junk food and probably driving my poor dad crazy!  Haha!

I've also been so blessed in that every birthday since meeting my hottie hubs has been wonderful.  He knows that one of my 'love languages' is gifts (LOVE to give them, but also like to receive them.  They don't have to be fancy or expensive....just thoughtful.) and so he goes out of his way to make my day special with a thoughtful gift or a romantic dinner or whatever.  One year when we were dating, he even gave me a 'Day at the Spa' gift certificate.  OH, that was so nice to be so totally pampered all day long.  7 hours of various spa treatments including haircut and style and makeup application so that when he picked me up, he could whisk me off to a fun dinner.  Happy sigh.......

Photo taken on my iPhone 3G

As for this year, my sweet husband took me out to dinner at a seafood restaurant close to home.  (Bristol - we took our Aussie friends there when they were here)  That was my dinner, in the photo above.  Please excuse these photos -- I forgot to take the Nikon with us, so I had to use my iPhone.  ;)  Anyway, I had Seared George's Bank Scallops served on a bed of Lemon-asparagus risotto.  Oh my lordy bees, was this deLICIOUS!  I could have eaten buckets of that risotto!  LOL!

Photo taken on my iPhone 3G

Here is Bartley's dinner.  Crispy Shortribs with George's Bank Scallops.  (Mine was lots better! Hee.)

My hottie hubs also gave me a Pandora bracelet with a Murano glass bead and a few silver beads for my birthday.  You can see a that pretty purple bead up close at the Pandora site.  Mine's the one in the top row, center.  And oh goodness, just check out those other Murano glass beads while you're there!  I LOOOOVE the ones on the bottom two rows!!  COOL, huh?!  (Oh, and since then, my sneaky-sneakster husband also told my family about the bracelet, so (my sis) Grace & Chris got me this bead!  It's so fun that you can change out the beads whenever you want to!  I love that Bart's so good at being a sneakster......but don't tell him I said that!)  ;)

Another dear, sweet friend sent me these gems for my birthday.  How about that pink and orange?!  SO pretty!  I've felt totally spoiled getting flowers twice in the span of a couple weeks!  Thank you both, so much!

Photo taken on my iPhone 3G

The last bit of random I have to share with you for today is all about a fun lunch I had last week with a super sweet neighbor.  She took me to lunch 'to celebrate my new job', as she put it, and oh, what a great time we had.  We went to a fabulous little Swiss tearoom called Andre's.  You KNOW it's going to be fabulous when the line to get a table is backed up to the door!  Besides having two amazing tearooms, Andre's is also known for their Swiss chocolates and other fantastic pastries & desserts.  Check out their website to see what I mean.....you can even order online.  The photo above is of the mocha I had with lunch and may I just say that it was sooooooo good!  (Didn't have the Nikon at Andre's either, so these pics are from my iPhone as well.)

Photo taken on my iPhone 3G

Here's a shot of the Quiche that I ordered.  It's a mainstay on their menu, however the rest of their menu changes constantly.  Every day there are just a few items to choose from, but they're different each day.  So fun.  

Photo taken on my iPhone 3G

Not only is your drink included with the price of your meal, but so is your dessert!  They bring out a fancy little tray of French Pastries to choose from!  Pam chose the Mocca Roulade.  Isn't it pretty?

Photo taken on my iPhone 3G

Does it come as any surprise to you that I chose the pink pastry???  LOL!  I couldn't help it.  Just LOOK at it!  It's the Rum Diamond.  Mmmmm......

Photo taken on my iPhone 3G

And lastly, a photo of just a FEW of the fancy treats they have in their cases, just in case you want take a little chocolate goodness home with you!  ;)  I feel a bit like a food critic here, but I have to honestly say that Andre's is perfectly fou-fou and girly and I felt so spoiled to have had such a fabulous lunch with such a great friend!  (Thank you, Girly!)

All right..........don't say I didn't warn you.  That was a whole lotta random, but I thought at least a few of you might enjoy some of those of those bits of my life's most recent happenings!  

Tomorrow, I'm actually going to have lunch with another friend that I haven't seen in months, so that will be fun.  (I'll try to remember the Nikon this time!  Ha!)  AND, I have a new box of Papertrey awesome-ness waiting for some studio time!  Can't wait!

Toodles!

ETA: One more bit of randomocity.......You may have noticed that now when you leave comments here at the blog-o, they'll look a little different.  Typepad FINALLY has a new feature that will number all of your comments!  HALLELUJAH!  This means that when I have a giveaway and 877 of you leave comments, I don't have to count thru all of those comments trying to find whichever commenter Random.org has chosen as the winner!  LOL!  

Another fun feature, is that I can reply to your comments right in the comments section.  SO, if you leave a question in the comments section, I can post a reply to you there.  This will be nice in cases where others are wondering about the same question -- they'll be able to see my replies too.  Handy, huh?  So don't forget to check back here, if you leave me a question.  :)

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #11

Happy Wednesday, Peeps!!  

Thought we should do a color challenge today.  What do ya say???  

This week's photo is one that I took in the Medieval village of Eze when we were in Europe last year.  We were on a Mediterranean cruise that included a stop in Monte Carlo, Monaco and while were off the ship that day, we took an excursion to the magical little village of Eze.  We had seen an episode of Samantha Brown's 'Passport to Europe' on the Travel Channel, where she featured this amazing little village, located in the South of France, which overlooks the Mediterranean Sea and we knew we'd just love to see it for ourselves one day.  Imagine our surprise when we discovered that an excursion to Eze was an option during our day in Monaco!!  We were so excited and I can't even begin to tell you how fascinating that teeny village is.  I think the tv show said that during the winter months (in their off-season) there are only 20-some people that actually live in the village!  It's tiiiiiny!  But it is filled with little stone walkways and paths like the one in my photo.  Enchanting wooden doors and ancient metal door knockers........some private residences and some little bitty shops......it really is a magical place.  I would have loved to have had more time to just sit and soak it all in.  If you'd like to see more photos from our day in Monaco, Nice & Eze, you can view my photo album here!

As for the colors, I know some of you may be scratching your heads right now, wondering how in the world you can make these work on a card!  Trust me on this one......you can DO this!!  I have the card stocks all laying out next to me and they look very cool together!  If you are uncertain as to how to use these colors together without your card looking a bit garish, just let the gray be more prominent, like in the photo, and add splashes of the brighter colors.  And as for the black, well that could simply be the color you stamp your sentiment in, for instance.  You can DOOOO this!  Hee!  

I really can't wait to see what you'll all come up with!  Oh -- I'll be using all Papertrey colors on this one......Pure Poppy, Raspberry Fizz, New Leaf, Soft Stone & True Black.  But you can feel free to use whatever brand of goodies you have on hand.  Have FUN with these, Girlies.......crafting should be a stress-reliever for you....not the other way around!  LOL!

Oh, I've given you a little more time than normal on this deadline, since we've got the 4th of July holiday this weekend for all of us in the US.

Enjoy!!  

EDITED TO ADD: Feel free to add a bit of white in there too, if you need to.  I know this one could be sorta challenging!  ;)

Here are the deets:
Create a card or other project, upload a photo of your card to your blog or online gallery & then come back here to post the link to your photo in the Mister Linky box below.  Don't leave your links in the comments section but feel free to leave me a comment after you've posted your link in Mister Linky.  You know I love hearing from you!

Also, be sure that the link you're posting is the direct link to your card!  Please don't leave your blog's url, but rather, the link to your specific post that shows us your card. 

Feel free to use the graphic I've created above, however you DON'T want to copy and paste the image!  Just SAVE the image to your computer and then upload the image to your blog post, as though it is a photo from your own computer.  Make sense?

Don't have a blog but still want to participate??  Don't worry!  You don't have to have a blog!  You are more than welcome to upload your card to an online gallery of your choice  (i.e. www.splitcoaststampers.com,  www.papertreyink.com,  www.twopeasinabucket.com, etc.) and then use the url for your photo in your gallery as the link that you post in Mister Linky.

Challenge ends Tuesday, July 7 at 9pm CST.

Card Creations 7 WINNER!

I'm happy to announce that the winner of an issue of Card Creations 7 magazine is ELISE!!!!

"Howdy, Dawn! I was peeking around the Moxie site late last night: can't wait to get my hand on that magazine in person! Great stuff!"

Posted by: Elise | June 26, 2009 at 01:19 PM

Congrats, Elise!!  If you'll email me your mailing address info (link in left sidebar), I'll get it forwarded to the good folks at Paper Crafts and they can get your magazine sent out to you!! 

Thanks to all of you that left comments!

Hope you're having a great day!

Birthday Blowout Giveaway WINNERS!

Here we go with the birthday giveaway winners!!  Keep reading to see who won what packages!  

WINNER: Rebecca L.

"Happy Birthday, Dawn! My favorite birthday was a few years ago and I had recently moved 3000 miles away from my family. My sister came out to visit me on my b'day and it also happened to be Thanksgiving. We spent the day skiing and had a great Birthday/Thanksgiving dinner put on by my new friends. Hope you have a great one, too!"

Posted by: Rebecca L. | June 25, 2009 at 09:22 PM

WINNER: Julia Wu

"Happy birthday Dawn!

My favourite birthday memory is from this picture of me on my 7th birthday where I'm surrounded by my family and I've got an ice cream spoon stuck in my mouth. I've got a huge grin on my face just from pure, simple joy. I don't even remember what gifts I received that birthday but that picture always makes me smile because it reminds me that it's the simple things in life that make me happy ... family, cake and ice cream!"

Posted by: Julia Wu | June 25, 2009 at 11:35 AM

WINNER: Mary Ellen

"Happy Birthday! My favorite birthday was spending the whole week-end at our cottage with the family. Good food, great times, lots of laughs and loads of love!
Mary Ellen"

Posted by: Mary Ellen | June 27, 2009 at 08:12 AM

WINNER: Danielle Baldwin

"Happy Happy Birthday! I can't remember a favorite birthday but my most memorable was my 14th when my mom surprised me with getting my ears pierced. (Her original plan was to make us wait until we were 16 which, in the days of 80's fashion and big earrings, was just torture for this young teen!)"

Posted by: Danielle Baldwin | June 25, 2009 at 01:01 PM

WINNER: Mary W.

"Happy Birthday Dawn!!! Hope you have a great day! My favorite birthday was my 57th birthday. Got to spend it with my birthmother. It was the first time I had met her!!"

Posted by: Mary W. | June 25, 2009 at 10:47 AM

WINNER: Amy O

"Oooh! That's an easy one. My youngest child was due on Nov. 10, but she came early, on Oct. 27 -- my birthday. The best birthday present I've ever been given! Love you, Kendall!"

Posted by: Amy O | June 25, 2009 at 02:35 PM

A big CONGRATS to each of our winners!!  If each of you could email me (link in left sidebar) with your mailing address info, I'll get your packages sent out to you!!

And thank you SO much to each of you that left me sweet birthday wishes and that shared your favorite birthday stories with me!  It sounds like you've had some GREAT birthdays!  ;)  I'm so glad!!

In the Spotlight #10

Hey there!!  

Happy Monday to you!  I survived my first week at home (post lay-off) last week and while I'm still definitely adjusting to things, I'm looking forward to this week.....looking forward to time in the studio, looking forward to being productive and getting lots of design goodness accomplished!  A dear friend took me to lunch last week to celebrate 'my new job', as she put it.....and I have to say that I LOVE that outlook!  

So, all that being said, we'll have lots more fun on the blog-o this week including the announcement of the winners from my Birthday Blowout Giveaway!  And speaking of those winners, each of them will get one of these cutie-pie little 3"x3" cards I made this morning!  I knew I needed to make 'a card' for this week's Raspberry Suite color challenge and I also thought that I'd like to make some little 3"x3" square note cards so that I could tuck one inside each winner's package when I mail them out later this week.....so I decided to combine those two tasks and make my winners' cards using the color challenge colors!  Bonus!  :)

I made these card using lots of little goodies I had laying around that I hadn't yet used on other projects for one reason or another.  So I started grabbing little bits of this and that and layering them on my cards and I'm thrilled with how they turned out!  What do you think??  Do you have a favorite?

On this one, I cut out the butterfly using the SU! Bigz Butterfly die and I used some vintage book print from an old book I bought for 99 cents at a thrift store, for the sole purpose of tearing the pages out and using them on my projects.  If you just buy an old junker book like that, you won't feel bad that you're ruining some priceless family heirloom or whatever!  Hee.

I also used a melon berry button and a melon berry card base, some berry sorbet topnotch twill & some bitty square basics that I punched with my new Fiskars Upper Crest punch.

On this one, I have hand made card stock flowers, some Polka Dot Basics stamped on the background, a melon berry button and some vintage cream classic grosgrain to serve as leaves.

For this one, I used my 3/4" square punch to punch out melon berry card stock squares as well as berry sorbet and dark chocolate squares from the bitty dot basics, bitty star basics and bitty box basics patterned papers.  I've also got vintage cream and berry sorbet card stock and some melon berry topnotch twill on this one.

This little dearie has a teapot from the Tea For Two stamp set as well as some more Polka Dot Basics.  I paired those with some melon berry and berry sorbet card stocks and a berry sorbet button with PTI's new vintage cream button twine.  I also used a corner rounder punch on one corner of my melon berry card stock for a little added interest.

For this one, I used up a flower that I had punched and laying around.  I wrinkled it up, rubbed some Vintage Touch tea dye inks around the edges and added a BIG dark chocolate button to the center.  Seriously, for those of you that aren't sure what to do with your BIG buttons, why not try this??  They make GREAT flower centers!  I mean, this flower is so simple, but so striking too, don't you think?   

And lastly, this card has a cupcake from the new Cupcake Collection stamp set, paired with some melon berry luxe satin ribbon and a melon berry button.  The dark chocolate card stock was punched with my new Fiskars Apron Lace punch.  I {HEART} this punch!!  

Ok, so are you totally inspired to add this color combo to your arsenal of color palettes???  It's a fun one for sure!  I can't wait to send these little gems out to the giveaway winners, which I'll be announcing soon, so stay tuned for that!

And now, let's see who's In the Spotlight this week....

A. Ashley C. Newell

B. Deb Rymer

C. Heather P

D. Janie C

E. Julie Batta

F. Julie Lacey

G. Kelly Rasmussen

H. Lucy, England

I. Maile Belles

J. Maria Fiscella

K. Mary

L. Sarah Martina

M. Savitri Wilder

N. Sue Pardue

O. Tiffany Heilman

All righty, I'm outta here for a bit.....lots more to do in the studio today.  Be sure to check out these Spotlight cards....there are some TOTALLY adorable cards in this mix!  

Enjoy!

{3x3 Mini Card Supplies}

Paper: vintage cream, dark chocolate, melon berry, berry sorbet, bitty dot basics, bitty box basics, bitty star basics, vintage book print

Stamps: Tea For Two, Polka Dot Basics, Cupcake Collection

Ink: dark chocolate, melon berry, vintage touch tea dye

Other: vintage buttons - melon berry, berry sorbet, dark chocolate; vintage cream button twine, Marvy flower punch, topnotch twill - melon berry, berry sorbet; vintage cream classic grosgrain, melon berry luxe satin ribbon, Fiskars punches - apron lace, upper crest; SU! BIGZ butterfly die, SU! 3/4" square punch, SU! corner rounder punch

Card Creations 7 Blog Tour

 

Hi-ya Crew.....how are you today??  It's almost the WEEKEND!  Yahoo!  :)

I'm so excited to be participating in the Blog Tour that Paper Crafts is putting on in celebration of Card Creations 7!  Have you had a chance yet to flip thru this fabby magazine??  I can tell you that I have and it is just LOADED with fun cards that are sure to get you inspired to whip up a few of your own!

I also get to share a card with you that is published in this issue of Card Creations.  I used some American Crafts stickers on this one.  I adhered them to two different colors of card stock and then cut them out by trimming around the stickers so I could layer them on my card.  I then added some Hero Arts bling to the flowers and I stamped my sentiment with the Birthday Basics stamp set from Papertrey Ink.  A little patterned paper, some scallops and a grosgrain bow finish this card off making it a cheery little birthday greeting!

Along with this fun blog tour to get you inspired to get crafty, Paper Crafts is offering up some prizes for you as well and they're giving you lots of chances to win!  Each of the blogs listed on the blog tour below (including this here blog-o!) will be giving away a free copy of Card Creations 7........PLUS, the Paper Crafts Connection blog and the Moxie Fab World blog will giving away a total of 10 prize packages!!  Want to know what you need to do to get entered??  

• First up, just leave a comment on this post (it can be about anything!).  
• Next, head over to the 14 other blogs listed on the blog tour below and leave a comment at each of their blogs.  
• And lastly, be sure to bop on over to the Paper Crafts Connection Blog and the Moxie Fab World blog and leave a comment there as well! 

See what I mean??  Lots of chances to win!  Happy commenting, Peeps.....and have a GREAT weekend!!

 

Charlene Austin 
Ashley Newell 
Beatriz Jennings  
Betsy Veldman 
Carla Peicheff  
Alli Miles  
Debbie Olson  
Kim Kesti  
Layle Koncar  
Maren Benedict  
Melissa Phillips  
Sherry Wright  
Teri Anderson  
Kim Hughes  

Birthday Blowout Giveaway!

Hi-ya Dearies!  Well, today just happens to be my 34th birthday.....and so, I think it only fitting that we give away some presents around here!  ;)  What-do-ya say?

I love giving presents so I thought it'd be fun to give away some of my Papertrey favorites.  If you've been hangin' around here for very long at all, you know that I use ribbons and buttons ALL. THE. TIME.  *smile*  So, today I'll be giving away ribbon and button assortments to SIX WINNERS!  (More winners = more fun, right?? )  :)

 Wanna know what's up for grabs??

See anything you'd like to win???  Want to know what you have to do to enter??

All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment on this post telling me what was your favorite birthday ever.....and why?  That's it!  Easy peasy!  

Only one entry per person.  Contest closes Saturday, June 27 at 9pm CST.

Good luck, Peeps!  Happy Thursday!

Vintage-y Distressed Flower Tutorial #2

Hi-ya Dearies....

Back today with another type of vintage-y distressed flowers that you can make yourself!  To start out, you'll want to choose a color palette to work with.  I chose these 4 colors....spring moss, ripe avocado, raspberry fizz & aqua mist.

Next up, I got out my Marvy flower punches.  These are great for those of you that don't really want to hand cut flowers or tear your papers by hand.  

Next up, just punch out a few different flowers using the papers in the colors you selected.

Now, you'll want to stamp on your flowers.  Stamp whatever you want.....whatever floats your boat!  I chose Fancy Flourishes, Background Basics: Text Style and Polka Dot Basics.

Next up, take those pretty little flowers and wad them up in the tightest little balls you can!  I know, I know......it just doesn't seem right to take something so pretty and do what seems like you're going to be ruining it, but you're just gonna have to trust me on this one.  :)  Go ahead.....wad 'em up.  I'll wait.  

All right, now un-wad them.  But don't flatten them out too much.  You want to keep some of that lovely rumpled-ness.  Yes, I made that word up. 

Now, see how cute they're gonna be???  But we're not done yet.  

Before we sew a button in the center, we're gonna use some of Papertrey's new Vintage Touch tea dye inks.  These inks are just perfect for rubbing right around the edges of your flowers or other papers you want to distress.  

I like to use the tea dye inks AFTER I've rumpled the flowers up because this will allow the ink to catch some of those great wrinkles, adding even more dimension to your flowers.

I only used the lighter of the two tea dye inks (chamomile) on my flowers, but you can use both if you like.  See how cool they're looking??

Now before I sew the button to the center of the flowers, I do myself a favor and punch the holes out with a paper piercer.  Makes the sewing part lots easier!

Use a giant needle to thread the button right onto the flower.  This way, you don't have to use any adhesive to adhere those layers together.  Just let the thread do the work for you by tying a bow in the center of the button.

Voila!  Finished flower.  Cute, right??

And here's the little gem on a finished card.  What do you think??

I used a sentiment from my Scattered Showers stamp set and sewed a strip of ribbon on the card front.  And yes, there's another bit of patterned paper punched with my new embossed curve punch.  Darn, I love that thing.  :)

That's all I've got for you today, my friends.  But be SURE and check back tomorrow......big giveaways here at the blog-o that I don't think you'll want to miss out on!

Toodles!

{Wishing You Sunshine! supplies}

Paper: spring moss, aqua mist, ripe avocado, raspberry fizz, Bitty Box Basics

Stamps: Scattered Showers, Fancy Flourishes, Background Basics: Text Style, Polka Dot Basics

Ink: ripe avocado, raspberry fizz, vintage touch tea dye inks

Other: spring moss vintage button, vintage cream button twine, Marvy flower punches, aqua mist classic grosgrain ribbon, EK Success embossed curve punch

Feelin' Good...

Hey there, Friends...

I am happy to report that I lasted 20 minutes on the elliptical today!  Now, I'm not gonna lie.....I figured out how to go slooooower so that I didn't DIE right there on the machine and that is largely why I was able to last so long.  When I first started out, I was going so fast that I wasn't sure which was going to fall off first, my calves or my thighs!  SO, I dialed down the turbo speed I was pumping out and decided to maybe work on staying on longer before I focus on staying on longer AND going at a break-neck speed at the same time.  We'll see how it goes.  The main thing is I got my heart rate up and I sweated!!  Both, very good things.  :)

All right, so I promise not to do this to you every day, but you're never gonna believe what the Verse of the Day is over at biblegateway.com today.....

Isaiah 40:31

"but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  

I'm starting to think God might be trying to tell me something.....  *wink*

In other news, I got to go have lunch today with Lori Craig and I am so glad!  I met Lori at CHA Summer last year and we've since discovered that she lives less than 2 hours away from me!  So I was so touched when she asked me to go to lunch with her today.....such a dear, she is.  We went to Oklahoma Joe's BBQ (remember - that's where we took our Aussie friends), had a yummy lunch and a great chat.  Thanks again, Lori.....we'll have to do it again!  Can't wait to see you at CHA next month!  

So anywho, let's talk about cards, shall we?!  I got to play along with Kristina Werner's color challenge tonight and I'm glad I did.  I just looooove those adorable shoes, don't you??  

It's a super simple card (cause the mojo just isn't flowing so much tonight) but I like how it turned out.  I had a scrap of really rust card stock laying around, already cut out in half of the top note die shape so I used that, added some stitching, ribbon, buttons and used my apron lace punch again.  Easy peasy!  The sentiment is from the new Vintage Picnic Sentiments set.

Back tomorrow, Peeps.....sleep tight!

{Take Care supplies}

Paper: SU!-basic gray, really rust, more mustard; PTI vintage cream

Stamps: Vintage Picnic Sentiments

Ink: SU! basic gray

Other: vintage cream buttons & grosgrain ribbon, sewing machine/thread, SU! top note die, apron lace punch

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #10

All righty, Peeps....

Here is Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #10!  Fun colors, right??  I took this photo of some fabulous Amy Butler fabrics that I bought to make baby burpies out of.  

The two pinky colors are orangy-pinks so think sort of coral-ly when you're selecting your colors.  I'll be using Papertrey's berry sorbet, melon berry, dark chocolate & vintage cream but feel free to use whatever brand of card stock and other goodies you have on hand.  Have FUN with this color challenge......I can't see what you come up with this week!!

Here are the deets:
Create a card or other project, upload a photo of your card to your blog or online gallery & then come back here to post the link to your photo in the Mister Linky box below.  Don't leave your links in the comments section but feel free to leave me a comment after you've posted your link in Mister Linky.  You know I love hearing from you!

Also, be sure that the link you're posting is the direct link to your card!  Please don't leave your blog's url, but rather, the link to your specific post that shows us your card. 

Feel free to use the graphic I've created above, however you DON'T want to copy and paste the image!  Just SAVE the image to your computer and then upload the image to your blog post, as though it is a photo from your own computer.  Make sense?

Don't have a blog but still want to participate??  Don't worry!  You don't have to have a blog!  You are more than welcome to upload your card to an online gallery of your choice  (i.e. www.splitcoaststampers.com,  www.papertreyink.com,  www.twopeasinabucket.com, etc.) and then use the url for your photo in your gallery as the link that you post in Mister Linky.

Challenge ends Thursday, June 25 at 9pm CST.

Magazine Winner!

Well, this was certainly a fun (and interesting!) contest!  I thoroughly enjoyed reading your thoughts on magazines.  Sounds like there are a lot of you that, like me, love a good magazine.  It also sounds like there are a lot of you that really prefer holding the actual paper version in your hands!  However, with the expense to consider these days, it sounds like the online issues might provide a great alternative for a lot of you that still want the inspiration but don't want the cost of a (paper) magazine subscription.  That being said, I'm glad we had this little discussion and I'm really glad I was able to let some of you know about the online issues.  I love sharing money-saving tips......I'm here for you.  Hee.

So let's get to the winner!!!  The winner of 4 issues of my fave magazines IIIIIIIS......ANDIE!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"when i get a new creating keepsakes magazine in the mail each month i flip through it quickly, then set it aside until bedtime. i like to snuggle up with it in bed and get about a quarter of the way through and continue just reading a quarter of the magazine each night until i'm done...so the goodness lasts for 4 nights! haha! you know that saying, "savor the flavor"...does that work for magazines? :0) xoxo andie..."

Posted by: andie... | June 17, 2009 at 09:47 PM

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CONGRATS Andie!!!!  I'm so happy for you.  May these magazines bring you hours of relaxation as you flip thru the pages.....and lots of inspiration too!  (These should last you at least 16 nights!  *smile*)  Andie, please email me (link in left side bar) with your mailing address and I'll get your magazines right out to you!

Thanks to all of you that entered the contest and shared your feedback!

Smooches!

In the Spotlight #9

Hi-ya....

Ok, so here's the card I made for Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #9.  I have to tell you that it felt goooooood to get a little crafty today!  I busted out two of my new punches -- the Apron Lace punch by Fiskars and the Embossed Curve punch by EK Success.  I also used the Bigz Butterflies die from Stampin' Up! with some card stock and a bit of vintage book print, stamped a pattern on the green butterfly with Background Basics: Retro and the sentiment is from the new Cupcake Collection stamp set.  I also threw in some Bitty Box Basics paper for a fun little card that has lots of layers and texture!  Consider this little card, my way of saying Thank You to each of you that have supported me, encouraged me and lifted me up in prayer over the last few days.  

SMOOCHES!

So enough about my card....

Here we go with this week's Spotlight!!  Man, there were a lot of great entries again this week.  I totally had to narrow it down and then narrow it down some more and still ended up with 15 fabulous cards that you should definitely check out.  And I don't normally do this but you just HAVE to see Melissa Bickford's card (it's in the list below) because it is simply amazing.....that's all there is to it.  I think my mouth literally fell open when I saw her card!  What a GREAT use of the colors and such a perfect layout....so clever.  Love it, Melissa!!  

A. Anabelle O'Malley
B. Anthea (AUS)
C. Anthonette
D. Brenda Weaver
E. Brit Swiderski
F. Deanna (Dee Woodland)
G. Heather P
H. Julie Batta
I. Kelly Jo
J. Lisa Forsythe
K. Maile Belles
L. Maureen P
M. Melissa Bickford
N. Natasha
O. Tiffany Heilman

Thanks so much to each of you that participated!!  I'm continually amazed and inspired by your creations!!  

Toodles!

{Thank You Supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, new leaf, bitty box basics, vintage book print
Stamps: Cupcake Collection, Background Basics: Retro
Ink: new leaf, true black
Other: true black topnotch twill ribbon, true black vintage button, rustic cream button twine, EK Success embossed curve punch, Fiskars apron lace punch, SU! Bigz Butterflies die

Happy Monday!

Hey there, Peeps!  Happy Monday to you!!

We've had 4 days of sad or quiet here at blog-o and today, it's time to bring back the FUN!  I appreciate so much, you giving me those few days to sort of re-group, but it's a new week and a new beginning and we need some serious HAPPY around here!  Wouldn't you agree???  :)

I slept late this morning which was bliss considering I used to get up around 5am.  I put on my snazzy workout shorts with racing stripes and a tank top and headed downstairs with Riley boy for breakfast.  I had my bowl of cereal and read the Bible for a bit while I ate.  I pulled up biblegateway.com on my iPhone.  It's super handy....you can read the entire Bible on their website and in any version you want.  Like the original English version or a more modern English version.  Anyway, they have a 'Verse of the Day' on their home page every day.  Wanna know what today's was???  

Psalm 121: 7-8

"The Lord will keep you from all harm - He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."  

I know, I know....some of you don't believe in the Bible but just bear with me for a second because these verses were a great comfort to me this morning, and maybe they'll help someone else who's going thru a rough time too.  

Now....I'm all done preaching.  Hee!  So after I had breakfast and took my vitamins (Bart left them out on the counter for me....he knows if he didn't, I probably wouldn't bother to take them!  Ha!) we headed downstairs to the basement, Riley dog and I, with me still feeling pretty spiffy in my workout outfit.  I propped my new Card Creations 7 magazine on the stand and plugged in my hot pink iPod shuffle, cranked up the music and climbed on.  After 2 minutes on the elliptical, I checked and it said I'd burned 10 calories and I thought about climbing off right then.  I mean, that great.....that's 10 less calories I'll have to worry about later, right???  :)  But I could just hear some of you laughing at me so I kept going.  At 4 minutes, my legs were turning to jello, I was definitely 'feelin' the BURN' and I'd burned 18 calories and I was starting to wonder how many more calories could I possibly afford to lose.  I mean, I need to keep my strength up, right??  Don't I??  This elliptical was kicking my hiney way more than the treadmill EVER did!  But I kept going.  At the 6 minute mark, Riley started acting a little weird and that distracted me for a couple more minutes.  It was at 8 minutes, that Riley puked all over the basement floor!!  Um, given the fact that this is a rarity for Riley, let me just say that I took that as my sign to climb OFF the elliptical!!  I had to go up the stairs to get paper towels and come back down the stairs to clean up the mess and while I squatted on my jello legs, I decided.......tomorrow, we'll shoot for 8 and a HALF minutes.  It's good to have goals!!! 

 

As for now, I've showered, gotten dressed in a cute shorts outfit (can't do THAT when you work in an office!  hee!), I'm having a good eye shadow day, :)  and am in the studio getting ready to crank out some cards and fun blog posts!  I just wanted to check in with you first because I know so many of you are concerned and are praying for us.  Let me just say that I FEEL those prayers.  The future looks so much brighter this morning.  We're definitely still adjusting, but I'm feeling excited about what's to come.  

For today, just listen to what all is in store!  The In the Spotlight 9 post is coming, I'll be announcing the winner of the magazine giveaway, I'll be loading up the RaspberrySuite Etsy Shop with lots more cards and we'll have another Raspberry Suite Color Challenge!  And that's just TODAY!!  :)

Smooches to you all!  I hope you have a GREAT Monday!  

See you in awhile,

P.S.  The florist called this morning and said that someone tried to send me something on Friday, however they were resurfacing our cul-de-sac and the street that leads into our subdivision, so no cars could get in or out.  I'm hoping they let you know that already, but just in case they didn't, I thought I'd mention it here.  They're planning to deliver whatever it is, this afternoon!  Thank you so much, whoever you are!

My Dear Sweet Friends....

I'm not even sure where to begin, except to say thank you.........from the bottom of my heart, thank you.  

I'm not gonna lie to you....yesterday was a really hard day.  My lay-off took effect immediately, so yesterday, Bartley went to work without me.  It was an extremely emotional morning for us both.  For us, it's not JUST the loss of my job.  It's also the loss of time together every day and I know, I know that most people never even get to work with their spouse.  Heck, a lot of people wouldn't really WANT to work with their spouse, but we DID and for a really long time.  We met at the office 10 years ago and got married two years later so for the last 8 years, every week day of our married life, we have driven to work together.  So when he had to get ready for work and go in without me yesterday, it was not only hard on me, but it was so hard on him as well.  We've both LOVED working together.  Have loved being able to see each other at any point during the day if we wanted or needed to.  Have loved walking by the other one's desk or office and winking at each other.  (I've personally just loved it when my hottie hubs walked by PERIOD!  You know how hot he is!  Hee.)  :)  We've loved those car rides to and from work, getting to talk or just BE.  I feel as though I was really grieving the loss of time with my sweet husband yesterday and it wasn't easy.  And as I read literally hundreds of comments from you, my dear sweet FRIENDS, I cried and cried, dried the tears and cried some more.  I cried partly because I felt heartbroken and partly because I felt so loved and encouraged and cared for by each of YOU.  Some of you told me about how you've come thru trials in the past and are better for them now.  Some of you shared your own stories of lost jobs -- know that I'm praying for you.  Some of you opened up your HOMES to me, offering to let me (us) have a little getaway stay at your house -- how sweet is THAT?!  Knowing that so many of you were there for me, praying for me, sharing encouraging Bible verses with me and giving me cyber hugs......well it blessed me more than I can even say.  To know that so many of you are cheering me on, even encouraging me to pursue my dream of designing from home made me feel so totally overwhelmed and amazed.  I think some of you have more confidence in me than I do.  *smile*  If you are someone who's struggling with something in your life, I would encourage you to read thru the comments on my previous post.  There is so much encouragement to be had, just in reading those comments and they don't just apply to me!  

I just really want you all to know how much I appreciate you.  I tried to reply to as many of you as I could and I know there are still so many that I didn't get to respond to personally, but please know that I read every single comment and I appreciated each and every one.  Thank you for being the best cheering section a girl could have.  Thank you, THANK YOU for praying for me.....for us.  We need those prayers.  I know this is not a surprise to God.  I know this isn't more than He can handle.  And I know that I am one BLESSED girlie.....because I have so many dear sweet friends who are so much more than just my 'readers'.  You have connected with me in so many ways.  You have blessed me abundantly and you have taken this blog-o from being a one-sided place where I post and wonder if anyone is out there reading to a place where we can share and interact and encourage one another.  Thank you for reminding me of a couple of my sentiments from stamp sets I've designed.... "Cheer Up, Buttercup!" and "Don't Fret, Dearie!"  :)  

I'm sorry to have not posted yesterday but I've been trying to sort of process everything this weekend.  I'm sure next week will be difficult, being home during the day when you're not sick is certainly different!  :)  I've experienced quite a range of emotions in the last few days but I just wanted to let you know that next week, we'll have some fun around here again.  We have quite a few things to look forward to here at the blog-o including the Magazine Giveaway winners, the Spotlight feature, another color challenge, a blog hop or two and even another FUN giveaway so stay tuned for all of that.  In the meantime, if you'd like some entertaining reading, check out the Magnolia Grace blog where the super sweet Brooke Smith has posted an interview with me along with some of my cards.  (Thanks again, Brooke!)

Thank you to those of you that are praying for us.  We'd so appreciate your continued prayers.....especially those first few days next week.  I don't expect them to be easy, but hopefully they won't be too difficult.  Lord knows I have a big enough design to-do list -- I certainly have plenty of things to keep me busy.  ;)  And thank you to those of you that stop by and visit me here each day.....whether you comment or not, you mean more to me than you know.

See you soon, dear ones....

God Works in Mysterious Ways....

Where to begin...

The economy here in the US has certainly been getting worse for some time now.  We've all seen (or felt) the effects as businesses have suffered and families all around us have lost jobs, income, etc.  

However, today it really hit home for us as I was laid off from my job.  I know I just told you all last week about how Bartley and I work(ed) together in the same office and he is one of the bosses, however just so you know, he had no idea this was going to happen today.  I worked there for 10 years.....a dear friend pointed out to me that that's nearly a third of my life!  I feel a crazy mix of emotions as I write this, from being sad because I'll miss certain parts of my job and the people I worked with, to being concerned about what the future holds for us, to being a little excited to see what God has in store for us in the days ahead.  

My dream for quite some time now, has been to design from home full time, however we certainly weren't at a place yet where we were ready to take the plunge and lose my income.  And so, I'm hopeful about the future......I know that God has a plan for our lives and I know that everything happens for a reason and even though I may not see the big picture at the moment, I am trusting God to see us thru this next phase of our lives, whatever that phase turns out to be.

I'm so sorry to be a bit less than perky today and I'm sorry that I don't have a card to share with you at the moment....I know you come here for the cards and for all the fun we have (or maybe you just like it when I tell you funny stories about myself!), but I'm still a bit in shock and trying to process everything at the moment.  I promise to not keep you waiting too much longer on the Spotlight post and I'll have a card to share with that one too!

Thanks so much for 'listening'.......it's somehow a bit therapeutic writing this to you all.  I know you understand.  I know a lot of you have probably been thru this or a similar situation at some point in your lives too.  I just appreciate you 'being there' for me to share this with.

Much love,

Do You Love Magazines? (& a Giveaway!)

Hey there, Friends.....

How do you feel about magazines? 

I have to tell you that I'm a total magazine girl.  I just love that thrill of pulling a new magazine out of my mailbox.  When I get a new issue, I can't wait to get comfy and page thru it, soaking up all the creativity, the ideas, the tips, the INSPIRATION!  There's just something about a magazine full of eye-catching photos that draws me in and inspires me think about how I can use all of that fabulous info in my own home.....or wardrobe.....or hobby. 

I've been into magazines since I was a teenager and just HAD to have the latest issue of Teen Beat or BOP each month!  I've been subscribing to Martha Stewart Living for literally YEARS now.....ever since my mom bought me my first subscription when I was in my early twenties.  Since then, I've added a few other magazines to my list of subscriptions....some of which are still in publication and some of which haven't lasted.  I love Country Living magazine.  The photos alone are awesome and often give me ideas for fun color combos or things to do around my home.  I also like Allure....love the fashion and make-up tips.  And then, there are the crafty magazines like Paper Crafts and Creating Keepsakes that keep us inspired in our hobby month after month.

It's also no secret that I am a huge fan (& subscriber) of several magazines in the Northridge Media family........CARDS magazine, Scrapbook Trends & Simply Handmade are 3 of my favorites.  The first magazine I was ever published in was CARDS and I've been so honored to have had quite a few of my cards published within it's pages.

Northridge Media is now offering ONLINE EDITIONS of all of their magazines for a fraction of the cost of the paper issues!!!  I've tried them out a bit and I have to say that as much as I love a 'real' paper magazine, it is definitely handy to be able to view so many fabulous issues online!  Easy peasy!  They have different offers available but the best deal of all is that for just $9.99 a month, you get an unlimited pass to ALL of their issues that come out each month, including their special edition idea books like Stamping (that my card is on the cover of)!!  You can also view lots and lots of back issues so you'll instantly have access to tons of inspiration!  Plus, besides being super cost-effective, they're also environmentally friendly.  :) 

Northridge Media is offering a FREE online issue of their Mini Albums idea book so you can check it out and see how you like it!  Just click the link in my right hand side bar to get your free online issue!

 

AND, as if that isn't fun enough, I thought I'd do a little giveaway myself!  I've got a few of my favorite magazines here that I'll send off to one lucky winner!  All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment on this post telling me your thoughts on magazines...love 'em?  Hate 'em?  Got a favorite?  Can't wait to check out these online versions?  That's it....let's talk magazines!

Winner will receive one copy each of CARDS March 09, CARDS April 09, Paper Crafts Jan/Feb 09 & Paper Crafts July/Aug 09.  Only one entry per person.  Winner will be randomly selected.  Contest closes Saturday, June 20 at 9pm CST.

Happy reading, Chickadees... 

With Thankful Hearts....

It is with a very thankful heart that I write this post.  We had a bit of excitement at our house last night.  We went to bed (later than we should have) and about an hour later, awoke to the sound of CRAZY loud wind and rain.  I mean, reeeeeeally loud wind.  I don't typically freak out about storms.  We get crazy weather from time to time and it's been that way my whole life, so I'm not usually prone to freaking out.  But given that this storm actually woke me up out of a dead sleep, that alone should tell you how loud this was.  I RARELY wake up in the night....for storms or anything else!  Ha.  At this point, we were starting to be concerned.....

The storm didn't seem to be letting up and by now we were both wide awake, so Bart turned on the tv and of course, the Direct TV was out because of the storm.  So I grabbed my trusty iPhone off the nightstand and we looked up the weather online.  It said we were under a severe thunderstorm warning and that 80 mile/hour hurricane force winds were possible.  I started tweeting about that time.....you can read my middle of the night twitter updates here.  It wasn't too long after that, that the wind and rain seemed to be dying down so Bart decided to go look outside and see if we had any damage. I told him to take his phone in case he needed to call me (in bed!  LOL!).  He went to the front door and called me right away when he saw that the neighbors' tree two doors down was partially snapped off and hanging in the street.  I got up and went right downstairs to see for myself. 

After that, we decided to check out the back door and as soon as Bart opened the door, we knew we had a problem.  There, covering almost our entire deck, was half of our beautiful ash tree.  Basically, half of the tree broke off and fell on our deck.  You don't really expect to open your back door and have a huge leafy tree greet you, lying on your patio furniture.  The tree hit the umbrella that was standing (closed) in the center of our table, and just folded it in half at the table's top.  

We walked out into the yard, half stunned at the sight, cold and shivering.  The rain was still coming down and I realized we were standing in ankle deep water in our back yard.....in our jammies.  The tree was damaged badly enough that we ended up having to remove it entirely today.  Bart planted this tree 20 years ago and it was easily 30+ feet tall.  We were just marveling earlier this summer about how great the tree was -- so tall and beautiful and in the perfect spot to shade the deck.  Such a shock to see it lying there, torn in two!  

Not sure yet as to damage to the deck, but quite a few of our beautiful flower boxes sustained damage.  Thankfully most of the flower pots on the deck floor are totally fine.  While we are so sad to lose the tree, we are extremely grateful that there appears to be no damage to our house.  I firmly believe that God protected us and our home........the tops of the tree branches were brushing against the kitchen windows.  If the wind had pushed that tree just 2 feet forward, it would have been thru our windows.  Here are a few more photos of what everything looked like today in the daylight....

And here is what's left.....see the stump in the lower right hand corner?  The tree service will come out again in a few days to grind the stump out.  So thankful for homeowner's insurance to cover most of the cost of taking care of the tree!  We'll have to see how it all shakes out with regard to the deck and such.

On the bright side (besides the fact that we're safe and our home is safe!), I've always wanted one of those bright red maple trees....you know, the ones that are so spectacular in the fall??  Well, we never had need to plant any more trees, however my hottie hubs came in to me this morning at work and said, "Well, it looks like maybe you'll get your bright red maple after all...."

I love that man.  Like I said, I have a thankful heart today.....

Trademarks....

Hi-ya!  Happy Tuesday to you!  Today, I'm excited to share another card with you that I made for this month's release at Papertrey Ink.  Nichole designed this cool new stamp set called Trademarks, that consists of images primarily designed for use when selling your hand made cards and projects.  You can use the trademark images on the back of your items to let your customers know that they were hand stamped by you. 

Well........I just love how 'label-y' and almost a bit 'office-y' the images are, so I decided to use a bunch of them to create my own patterned paper and I must say that with a little distressing and tea dye inking, I LOVE the way this paper turned out!  Very vintagy, don't you think???  :)  I also used a sentiment and strawberry image from Candice's new Fruitful set, plus I threw in some more of the new Bitty Box Basics patterned paper.  I dragged my vintage cream ink pad around the edge of my card to ink up the patterned paper just a bit to make it even more vintage looking.  Such a yummy, fruity card!  Don'tchya think?!  Could you see yourself using Trademarks to make some fun patterned papers too?

Hope your day is going well, Peeps! 

Take care,
 

P.S.  I'll be back in a bit with our crazy story from last night, including photos!   

 

 

{Handmade with Love supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, kraft, bitty box basics
Stamps: Trademarks, Fruitful
Ink: dark chocolate, pure poppy, ripe avocado, vintage cream, vintage touch tea dye
Other: pure poppy topnotch twill ribbon, dark chocolate vintage button, rustic cream button twine, sewing machine/thread

Papertrey - June Release Projects

Hey there!!  Happy Monday!  

I've got some cards to share with you today that I made for this month's release at Papertrey!  Did you get some new goodies ordered?  And how about that new home page??  CUTE, huh?!  Nichole's eye for design never ceases to amaze me!

So this first card uses Nichole's new Cupcake Collection set.  SUCH a cute stamp set with lots of cupcake building images and I think this is my absolute favorite sentiment from the set.  Love it!  I can't wait to use this set some more!  I also used some of the new Bitty Box Basics patterned papers.  YUM!

This next one uses the peach image from Candice Aguilar's new Fruitful stamp set.  I mixed in some of the yummy Polka Dot Basics and Fancy Flourishes stamps and I hand wrote the sentiment.

And lastly, here's a soft and simple, lovey card that could be used for a wedding, an anniversary or even just a love note.  I used Lisa Johnson's new Heavenly Medley set on this one.  I used the leaf photo corner image to create a pretty, leafy background pattern and I just love how it turned out!

Hope your week is off to a great start!  I'll be back tomorrow with another fun card I made for this release that I'm excited to show you!  

I'm off to work on some stamp designs while watching the Bachelorette with my hottie hubs!

Smooches!

Your Questions Answered - Part 4 (more crafty stuff)

Hi Crew!!  

How are you today??  It's been a busy but fun weekend here at the McVey ranch.  (Yes, I live in the suburbs.  Yes, I know it's not really a ranch, but you have to admit, McVey Ranch does have a certain ring to it, yes??  :)

Anyway, I'm back tonight with the last post in the Your Questions Answered series.  Ready to get started??  Here we go.....

1. To read about what I look for when picking the cards for the Spotlight, see the answers from my first Q&A post.

2. Goodness, Top 5??  There are so many really talented designers out there but 5 ladies that I am constantly inspired by are Nichole Heady, Kristina Werner, Jennifer McGuire, Betsy Veldman & Melissa Phillips.

3. I find inspiration everywhere!!  Magazines, shopping, nature, clothing..........you just have to keep an eye out -- inspiration is all around us!

5. Yes, I have a traditional full time office job. You can read about that in the  'Q&A-the personal stuff' post.

6. I'm still not a video-camera owner so I don't know if I'll do videos in the future, although I think they'd be very fun!  It's definitely something I'm considering (although I'm NOT a fan of watching myself on video so editing might be a bit of a drag!  LOL!).

 

 

Hmm.....I can't really think of any tools at the moment, that I use for something other than it's intended purpose.  That was a boring answer, huh?  :)  Oh wait, I take that back.  One of the paper distressors I use is technically a fingernail buffer!  Does that count??  

 

 

CAS means Clean and Simple, as in.....a lot of my cards are CAS cards!  ;)

 

CASE means Copy And Share Everything, which is how you would refer to it if say, you copied one of my cards and shared it on your blog.  The polite thing to do would be to state that you CASE'd my card or that your card was a CASE of my card and then link up my original card.  Make sense?  

Splitcoaststampers has a huge list of acronyms to help you.

 

See the job info link at the top of this post.  (But yes, I DO work full-time!  I design 'on the side'.)

 

Stamp sets.....Yes!  Definitely.  Several!  ....but I'll have to keep you in suspense a bit longer as to when and what.  Sorry about that!  Hee.  Soon though.....very, very soon.....  ;)

 

 

1.Each magazine is different.  Some of them don't want cards that have ever been posted on your blog.  Some of them will accept cards that have been previously posted but require that you remove them from your blog right away (which is when I replace mine with a 'removed for publishing' graphic) and then some will allow you to post one or all of the cards again after the magazine has been out for a required amount of time.

2. I answered your second question in the Q&A 'the personal stuff' post.

 

 

1. I have to say that I have several favorites based on different things.  LOVE Germany, Austria & Switzerland.  They were very clean and safe and BEAUTIFUL!  Love a few places in Italy like Cinque Terra (WOWWWWWW!), Rome (for the Colosseum & Forum - so amazing to me) & Venice.......dear, magnificent old Venice.  Also loved London and Paris and hope to go back some day.  (Sorry -- that wasn't crafty info at all, was it?!)

2. See answer below, about when I met Nichole Heady.

3. It varies depending on when product comes in but we usually have a couple of weeks to crank everything out.

4. Yes, I'm sorry but this is really how I talk.  Just ask my hubs!  :)

 

I usually just eyeball things but I think my paper trimmer does a pretty decent job of getting the lines straight to start out with.  I don't use a ruler other than the one on the paper trimmer, but after I've put adhesive on the back of my card stock, I hold it over the card and line it up before sticking it down.  I take my time making sure it's straight before it's stuck down because if I do get it down crooked, I'm going to have to start over, you know?  I don't like it when things aren't straight if they're supposed to be.

 

I use this paper trimmer and I really like it.  I've had it for a few years now and feel like I get much more accurate measurements and cuts with it than when I use my small trimmer.  This one is expensive (more now than when I bought mine a couple years ago) but I felt like it was an investment.  I make a LOT of cards therefore I cut a LOT of card stock.  I wanted a paper trimmer that would be accurate and that would last a long time.  This one has done both for me. 

 

I did a bit of studying up before I ever bought a die-cutting machine and based on what I wanted to accomplish with mine, I bought a Big Shot which allows me to use most any dies and embossing folders on the market.  I could have spent less and gotten the Cuttlebug but might have been limited as to what dies I could use.  I felt like the extra money would ultimately result in more bang for my buck, overall.  After buying the Big Shot, we also found a reeeeally good deal on a brand new Cricut Expression from a huge seller on eBay.  We bought that (Bart's my eBay buyer! Ha!) and when it came, it didn't work.  So we contacted the seller who worked directly with Cricut and we were sent a second brand new replacement and they had us send the defective one back.  The Cricut Expression does entirely different things than a Big Shot, in that it doesn't use dies or embossing folders, but rather it uses Cricut Cartridges but can cut a zillion shapes out in a zillion different sizes too.  I feel like between the two, I've got all my die-cutting needs covered! 

 

Yes, you have the general concept behind digital papers correct.  Besides being able to use them digitally to build digital scrapbook pages in Photoshop or the like, you can also buy the paper, change the colors if need be, and print them out on your home printer, for use on your paper-crafting projects.  That's where the term 'hybrid' comes in -- the card is partly made with digital elements and partly with 'real' elements and embellishments.  I haven't done much of this myself but I would certainly recommend Rhonna Farrer's digital kits (LOVE them) and you can find lots of them at Two Peas in a Bucket.  Just keep in mind that sometimes it's hard to get accurate colors when printing from your computer to your home printer and you'll also want to consider the cost of your color ink cartridge.  Sometimes that can end up being expensive, depending on your printer.  As for the quality, that would totally depend on your printer and the paper you print on.  (G'day to you too!)

 

After I stamp my image in Versamark ink and then pour the embossing powder over it, I tap off the excess and then hold the paper over my trash can and flick the paper on the back side to shake off the excess-excess.  Ha.  Then, if there are still some stubborn bits of powder, I have a very tiny paintbrush that I use to brush them (carefully!) off. 

 

Nichole Heady was sent by Paper Crafts magazine, to a stamp store in my area to teach a class for World Card Making Day and once I found out about the class, I was sooooo disappointed to also find out that the class was already full.  I begged and pleaded (and prayed a bit too - Hee!) and wouldn't you know it?  Someone cancelled and the store owner was able to get me in the class!  I can't tell you how elated I was to get to meet this designer that'd been one of my stamping heroes for ages!  I was ridiculously nervous going to the class (I'd never been to any class there before, much less one where I sat 3 feet away from THE Nichole!).  I'm sure I must have looked totally dorky to her that day, but it was no time at all before she put me completely at ease.  She was such a dear!  There were only about 25 of us in the class that day so I got to talk with her a bit after class and showed her a few of my cards and she gave me some pointers for getting published, including starting a blog (which I promptly did!).  I eventually sent her the link to my blog, since it had been her suggestion, and the rest is history.  We've been friends ever since.  :)  The following year she asked me to join the design team at Papertrey and I couldn't have been happier to say YES!  I'm pretty thankful for World Card Making Day (and a little Divine intervention!)  Without both, I might not have gotten to meet Nichole and would have missed out on a fabulous friendship!  (and a great job!)

 

You can see pictures of the first time I met Nichole at that class HERE!

All righty Friends, that wraps up the "Your Questions Answered" series here at the blog-o!  This has been a fun series that we just might do again from time to time.  I hope you've enjoyed it!

I also have a couple of other fun things to share with you today....

Look what arrived in my mailbox yesterday via ROYAL MAIL!!  

This is Craft Stamper Magazine and it came all the way from the UK!  Their super sweet editor (HI Katy!) emailed me awhile back asking if they could do an article about me and of course I said YES!  I was so honored to be a part of this month's issue (July) and was so excited when they sent me a copy in the mail so I could see the magazine and article.  (I've never received any ROYAL MAIL before so that was pretty exciting!  Hee!)  Anyway, I'm not sure if you can find this magazine here in the US, but you can subscribe thru their website and those of you that are international readers might be able to find a copy on your newsstands so be sure and check it out!  (Thanks again so much, Katy!)

Also, I got a bit 'punchy' today and used a couple 50% off coupons and took advantage of the sales at Michael's and JoAnn's!  Bought a few of the new punches that I've been drooling over lately and thought I'd show you what they look like and what they do!  

Don't these make the coolest borders???  LOVE!!  Each of these punches retails for $14.99.  I found the EK Success ones (gray ones) at Michael's, while JoAnn's had the Fiskars ones (blue ones).  ....not that I'm trying to be an enabler or anything.......  ;)  I just like to share tips with you when I can.  I'm here for you.  It's what I do.  Haha!

Take care, dear ones....

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #9

Hey there,

 

Ok, here we go with Color Challenge #9!  These challenges are fun, huh?  :) 

 

This week's photo is one I took at the Nell Hill's store in Atchison, Kansas last weekend.  The wall color is one of Nell Hill's signature paint colors and I thought it looked so cool as the backdrop for this great display of cream and black dishes and linens!  This week, I thought I'd go easy on you with just 3 colors to work with.  ;)   I can't wait to see what you come up with!  What do these colors make you think of?  Formal?  Fun?  Elegant?  Masculine?

The colors I'll be using are all from Papertrey this week -- New Leaf, True Black & Vintage Cream but feel free to use whatever brand of card stock you have on hand.  The goal is to just stick as close to these colors as you can.  (Remember to use cream/vanilla rather than white.)

 

Enjoy, Dearies!  The fun is in the creating so have a ball with this one!

 

Here are the deets:
Create a card or other project, upload a photo of your card to your blog or online gallery & then come back here to post the link to your photo in the Mister Linky box below.  Don't leave your links in the comments section but feel free to leave me a comment after you've posted your link in Mister Linky.  You know I love hearing from you!

Also, be sure that the link you're posting is the direct link to your card!  Please don't leave your blog's url, but rather, the link to your specific post that shows us your card. 

Feel free to use the graphic I've created above, however you DON'T want to copy and paste the image!  Just SAVE the image to your computer and then upload the image to your blog post, as though it is a photo from your own computer.  Make sense?

Don't have a blog but still want to participate??  Don't worry!  You don't have to have a blog!  You are more than welcome to upload your card to an online gallery of your choice  (i.e. www.splitcoaststampers.com,  www.papertreyink.com,  www.twopeasinabucket.com, etc.) and then use the url for your photo in your gallery as the link that you post in Mister Linky.

Challenge ends Tuesday, June 16 at 9pm CST.

RaspberrySuite Etsy Shop

 

Hi-ya,

For those of you that are interested in buying my cards, just wanted to give you a head's up that I've just added quite a few cards to my new RaspberrySuite Etsy Shop.  And to you Girlies that have already purchased cards from me over there, thank you so much!  :)

Have a goodie,