My Favorite Things

Look Out Aussies, Here We Come!

(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

G'Day, Mates!!  I am very excited to tell you that Bart and I are currently in the process of planning a trip to Australia for March 2010!!!!  We can't wait to go visit our dear Aussie friends that visited us here in the States earlier this year!  Bart found a great deal online for air and hotel so we're tentatively considering 3-4 days each in Sydney, the Gold Coast and Cairns.  Can't wait to see the beautiful Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef!  Also, very excited to snap photos of kangaroos (that aren't in a zoo!!  Haha!).  :)  

We're also considering trying to figure out a way to meet up with some of you sweet Aussies who have told me to be sure and let you know if we ever head your way.  If you have any interest in meeting or if you have any suggestions for where we might consider meeting, feel free to leave a comment.  We'll just have to see what we might be able to work out.

Just thought I'd share that bit of fun news today!  Hope you're all having a fabulous Monday.  I spent mine running errands and getting caught up on some things.  Very exciting.  Hee.  

Take care, Peeps!

 

New Raspberry Suite Sneakie Peek!

Eeee!!!  Check it out!!  It's your first peek at a brand new Raspberry Suite stamp set!!!  YAY!!  Did you see the peek over on Nichole's blog??  

I can't WAIT for you to see all of the possibilities with this fun, FUN stamp set!  I'm super excited about this release!  The official countdown starts in just a few days and this set as well as all of the other new releases for this month will be available for purchase on Oct. 15 at Papertrey Ink!

Can't wait to get started on the Countdown!



 

Stamp It! Cards -- COVER!!

HI All,

Have you seen this magazine on your news stands yet??  This is another special issue from Paper Crafts magazine called "Stamp It! CARDS" and I'm thrilled to have a card on the cover of this issue!  (Thank you Paper Crafts!)  That's my card on the left - the orange and white 'Birthday Celebrations' card!

Congrats to Maren Benedict & Kim Kesti who created the other two cards on the cover!

Well, we're off to a birthday party today for two of my sisters today (Diann & Grace) which means 'the babies' are coming to town!  Whoohoo!  We'll get to see my niece, Baby Ally and brand new nephew, Malachi!  This will also be the first time 'Uncle Bart' (my hubs) will get to meet Baby Malachi so I'm totally looking forward to today!  (Don't worry....I'll be toting the camera!)  

Have a great day, Peeps!

Did you see THE NEWS?!!

HI!!  Did you all see the BIG announcement over at Nichole's blog??  :)

Introducing my new stamp line.....

I am officially a stamp designer for Papertrey Ink now!!!  I'm still on the Design Team, but now I'm also designing stamps for them as well, which means that I'll have my own line of stamp sets available for you to purchase from Papertrey this year!  I'm OVER THE MOON excited about this!  You have no idea how hard it's been to keep a secret this big for so long....LOL!.......so I'm thrilled that the cat is finally out of the bag!

My first stamp set will be coming out THIS MONTH........you can get it on February 15th!  I'll be giving you sneak peeks of my new set here at the blog-o.....I'll have sneeks every day for you from the 9th until the 14th!  I CAN'T WAIT for you to see this set.  I hope you'll be as in love with it as I am!  Hee!

Congrats also, to the other two brand new stamp designers this year - Beth Silaika & Tiffany Pastor. 

And thank you soooo much, to Papertrey for giving me such a wonderful and exciting opportunity!  I couldn't be happier to be a part of such an amazing, supportive and CREATIVE team of designers!  And I feel so blessed to be working with Papertrey......such an innovative and FUN company!  And not only that, but Nichole, Julie & Jane have made working for them an absolute pleasure.  I'm very blessed indeed and I'm so looking forward to 2009 and all that we have in store for you!!

SO, let's do a GIVEAWAY!!!!!
I'd like to highlight the Simply Stationary stamp set by Candice Aguilar, which has quickly become one of my new favorites.  I've used it quite a bit since it was released last month....it is super versatile!  Check out this card, this card and this card!  The little finial stamps are fantastic because you can use them individually to highlight a sentiment or you can stamp them in a row to create really pretty borders or even background patterns!  Plus, the circle images are so great for making tags and monograms and all sorts of fun things!

Papertrey is giving away ONE FREE SIMPLY STATIONARY stamp set!  Just leave a comment on this post to be entered to win!  You have until 12am EST on Feb. 4.  Winner will be announced on the official Prize Winners List on Nichole's blog.  Good luck!

Be sure to pop over to all of the stamp designers blogs for a chance to win some of their favorite stamp sets too!

Heather Nichols
Lisa Johnson
Melissa Bickford
Candice Aguilar
Alli Miles
Beth Silaika
Tiffany Pastor

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a goodie!

CARDS Magazine - January Feature

 

Hi All!  I'm super excited to tell you about the January issue of CARDS magazine today!  First off, it's such a fun issue, loaded with inspiration.  Those cards on the cover were made by my sweet friend & fellow Papertrey Design Team member, Betsy Veldman.  I just love seeing her work! 

CARDS magazine asked me several months back if I would be their January 'Designer of the Month' for their monthly feature article!!  I can't tell you how honored I am....some of my dear friends and favorite designers have been featured in previous months!  Betsy, Melissa, Susan & Anabelle, just to name a few.  (Plus I've never had my picture in a magazine before!  LOL!)  The article has a few tidbits about my life, some of my tips for paper crafting, my photo and several of my cards are in this issue as well.

Anyway, just thought I'd give you a head's up.  You girls are always so sweet and encouraging and I'm so grateful for each of you and for every opportunity that comes my way.  I'm feeling extremely blessed this Christmas season.  God is good!

Happy Christmas Eve EVE!

Paper Crafts Magazine COVER!!!!

OH. MY. WORD!  See that card on the COVER of Paper Crafts Nov/Dec issue???  The card in the bottom right hand corner?  The red one with pine cones and branches?  

THAT'S MY CARD!  On the COVER!  Eeeeeeeeeee! Can you hear me squealing like a giddy little school-girl over here?!  LOL!  Obviously, this is my first time to have a card on the cover of a magazine and I think it goes without saying that I'm over-the-moon excited about it!  (I guess it didn't go without saying though, since I just said it.  But you know what I mean!) 

THANK YOU to all of the wonderful people at Paper Crafts who made it possible for my little card to end up on this cover.  One of the other girls I'm sharing this cover with is the extremely talented Melissa Phillips who inspires me every time I go to her blog....what a thrill to share a cover with her!  I'm not sure who the 3rd designer is because I still haven't seen this magazine in real life!  I went to four stores this afternoon, hoping to get to hold one of these treasures in my own hands today, but no luck.  If you find it, leave a comment and tell us where you found it so we'll all know where to look for it!  :)

Anyway, I'm soooo honored and grateful and ecstatic all at the same time!  And I have to tell you that when I saw this cover in my inbox for the first time today, I got rather teary.....I'm so in awe of God's blessings sometimes.  I never would have thought this even remotely possible a year ago (this month!) when my dear friend Nichole encouraged me to start submitting my work to magazines.  (Thank you so much, Nichole!)  Thank you also, to each of you - my sweet readers - who keep stopping by here and leaving me the nicest comments and cheering me on.  You all mean the world to me!

What a fabulous way to celebrate World Card Making Day, huh?  Tomorrow's the big day!  Do you have any card-making plans?  Perhaps they should include running out and picking up a copy of this issue of Paper Crafts!  Hee!

As for me, I'll be at a Kansas State Univ. football game with my husband tomorrow so I'm getting my WCMD holiday started tonight.....I'm in the studio crafting away!  And as for this cover, I'm gonna need to find the perfect frame for it, so I can hang it up in my studio!  ;)

A BIG Announcement!!!

I am SOOO excited to let you all in on a little secret!!  I have been invited to be on the Papertrey Ink Design Team!!!  Eeeeeee!!!!!!  Can you hear me squealing all the way over here?!!!  LOL!  

When Nichole first asked me to join their team, I can't even begin to tell you how over-the-moon I was!   And today, I'm so excited to finally have the OK to share the news with all of you!  You can check out Nichole's Official Announcement over on her blog.  There are several changes taking place with the design team that I'm sure you'll want to know about!  Congrats to each of the new team members, and to the current team members that have new positions or new endeavors that they will be pursuing!  I'm so happy for each of you!

Thank you SOOOO much, Nichole, Jane & Julie for this incredible opportunity!  I hope I can make you proud!  I'm extremely grateful -- this is something I've dreamed about for a long time now.  I'm just so excited to get started designing (can't wait for my first box of goodies to arrive!!) and to see what lies ahead!  What an exciting venture, one that I consider a total blessing from Above.  Thank you Lord.

This means that now I'll have DT assignments to keep up with, as well as magazine submissions, and of course blog posts but you know I couldn't be happier about it all!  :)

Thank you also, to each of you, my sweet blog readers.  You fill my inbox with your kind and thoughtful comments.  You make me laugh.  You cheer me on.  One of you is always there with an encouraging word or a pat on the back.  You're too good to me!  I'm so grateful for each of you.....for each comment.....for each FRIEND.  Thank you so much!

Featured Stamper & Bon Voyage!

Hi Peeps!  Just thought I'd pop in one last time before we head for Europe!  And since one of the countries we're headed to is Italy, I thought I'd show you a scrapbook page I made of our first time in Venice a few years ago! 

I also wanted to let you know that it looks like I'm the FEATURED STAMPER over at Splitcoast this week!!  Whoohoo!!  (Thanks Jessi, for the head's up!)  Click here to read about what the featured stamper is!  Want to play along??  Here are the rules!  Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Thanks for all the vacation well-wishes!  We're super excited!!  Talk atchya when we get back!! 

MWAH!!

{A Bridge in Venice Ingredients}
Paper: whisper white, MM Noteworthy Delany, My Mind's Eye-Magnolia
Accessories: MM Noteworthy Delaney journaling tag, SU! flower fusion felt flowers, pumpkin pie grosgrain ribbon, MM Noteworthy Delaney trim, AC Thickers - giggles, shoe box & roller rink, corner rounder punch, sewing machine/thread

A Muse Guest Designer!!!!!

Yes, you read that right......I was asked to be this month's guest designer for A Muse Artstamps!!  Can you believe it?!  What an honor!!  I can't tell you how excited I was to get an email from THE Julie.......you know, JulieHRR.......Julie Ebersole........THE Julie........asking me to be their guest designer!  Heehee!!  UH....yes!  Where do I sign?!!  Ha! 

Run over to the A Muse News blog and check out Julie's article and some of my projects and while you're there, sign up for the PRIZE!

WHOOHOO!!!  Have a fabulous Thursday!

Oh, and check back here later today cause I'll be back to do the give-away I mentioned the other day! 

Smooches, Girlies!

Fun News - Upcoming Pub's!!

Hi All!!

Ok, before I get to a quickie card for Friday, I just wanted to let you know that I got some super happy news today!  Looks like I'll have 2 cards in the Nov. issue of Paper Crafts Magazine and 5 cards in the Sept. issue of Cards Magazine!  Whoohoo!!  I am SO excited!!  :)

Ok, now on to today's card....

Sometimes you just need to make a fast & easy card, either for lack of time, or maybe just based on who you're gonna give it to.  I made this card for my BIL who is a very easy-going, laid back kinda guy.  I love the simplicity of this card.....it's not fussy and it's just perfect for a masculine birthday card.

Have a great night, Chickies!  Chat atchya tomorrow!

{Happy Birthday Ingredients}
Paper: cool caribbean, DS Prints-close to cocoa, old olive
Stamps: Shapes by Design (Papertrey)
Ink: close to cocoa
Accessories: Papertrey spring moss grosgrain, corner rounder punch