My Favorite Things

Hi-Ya!

 

Hi-Ya!  How are you?  Just thought I'd pop in with a little card to share.  I made this card using a few favorite stamp sets.....the background is from Background Basics: Diamonds, the flourishes are Fancy Flourishes and the sentiment is of course, Say It With Style.  I adhered the strip of ribbon with a strip of scor-tape.  Quick and easy!  And then I stamped my sentiment and flourishes, punched them out and layered them on a punched scalloped circle with some foam adhesive.

 
Hope your week got off to a great start!  Before I go, I've got a few more book recommendations that I thought I'd mention....they'd make great gifts for the reader in your life!

 

Tight Squeeze by Debbie DiGiovanni  You've heard of 'chic lit'???  Well this is 'mommy lit'!  It was a pretty funny book about a mom who's already got several kids (including a son heading off to college!) and finds out she's expecting again.   While I'm not a mother myself, except to our sweet Riley dog, I do know what it's like to live in a house with lots of kids (I'm the oldest of 5) so I found this book quite entertaining.  Perhaps I could relate to the story line, having been almost 20 years old when we found out my mom was expecting baby #5!  Haha!  At any rate, this was a very entertaining book that I would totally recommend.  A fun read.

 

Dawn's Prelude by Tracie Peterson  This book was so good.  (I know I always say this about Tracie Peterson's books, but it's so true.  She tells such compelling, hook-you-in-right-from-the-start stories.)  This one's historical fiction and the fun part for me was that the start of the story took place in Kansas City!  It was one of those books that sort of wrapped up part of the story but totally left me wondering what happens next all at the same time!  I'm so glad that there are two more books coming in this series....I can't wait to see how everything gets resolved.  I just love stories like that!

 

You Had Me At Good-bye by Tracey Bateman  FUN, fun book.  This one is modern day chic-lit...there's a bit of romance thrown in there too.  This is the second in a series about 3 roomies, each book focusing on one of the girls and her story.  I just started the 3rd book in this series today (while on the elliptical! Ha!) and I'm already 'sucked in'....can't wait to see how it's gonna turn out too!  

All 3 of these books are clean & wholesome and would make great gifts!

Have a holly jolly week, Peeps!

{Hi-ya! supplies}
Paper: raspberry fizz, dark chocolate, rustic cream
Stamps: Say It With Style, Background Basics: Diamonds, Fancy Flourishes
Ink: dark chocolate, raspberry fizz
Other: dark chocolate classic grosgrain ribbon, 1 3/4" circle punch, super jumbo scalloped circle punch, Fiskars apron lace punch, sewing machine/thread 
 

Singing Sunday

 

Did you happen to see this little beauty over on the Paper Crafts blog last week?  This is the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Paper Crafts and it went on sale last week so check your local news stand or craft store if you want to take a peek at it.  The little card on the bottom left is mine.......OH, how I love berry sorbet, pure poppy, kraft and white/cream.  It's a seriously great color combo.  Makes me happy!  :)  I stamped some Damask Designs, Fancy Flourishes, Polka Dot Basics II and Handwritten Notes on that card.  Love.  Happy to share this cover with Teri Anderson and Julie Campbell.....such talented girlies.  My subscription copy showed up here the other day and I must say that I loved browsing the pages of this issue.  So much inspiration in there!  

I'm at church today, singing in both of the morning services and then I'll be spending the afternoon holed up at home with my hottie hubs before heading out to a family dinner in the evening.  What are you up to today?  How are your Christmas preparations coming along?  Are you already celebrating with family this weekend?  I'd love to hear what you're up to!!

Merry, Merry!

 

Cozy Fires and Christmas Movies

Hi there,

Happy Saturday night (or Sunday) to you!  It was a big day at our house....today was the day that our cord of wood was delivered for our fireplace(s).  Firewood delivery day makes me so happy every year -- it's the kickoff to a season of cozy nights tucked indoors in front of a crackling fire and I just LOVE it!  It may sound dumb but I really do get so excited for that wood to be delivered each year and it's finally here!  I'll have to share pictures of one of our cheery fires next to the glittering Christmas tree....it really is quite a cozy scene.  

Bart was gone reffing a basketball game for awhile this afternoon so while he was out, I whipped up a few sheets of these poofy flower embellies, some with ribbon leaves.  I'll get them up in my Etsy Shop just as soon as I finish this post.  And for the record, they'd also look super cute in your baby's hair!  :)  Just check out this adorable little model:

 

This is our niece, Ally, on Thanksgiving.  Auntie (that's me) made her a flower with a little foam adhesive on the back of it to stick on her shirt and when she got tired of it on her shirt, we tried it out in her hair.  :)

 

And here's the little dolly sitting in her high chair waiting for Thanksgiving lunch.  Hee.  So serious.   (Feed me!)

 

Have you gotten the December issue of CARDS Magazine yet??  Goodness, this is fun issue just loaded with inspiration!  I was totally excited to see several Raspberry Suite stamp sets used on cards that were published in this issue too!  Take this card on the cover, for instance, that Sarah Martina Parker created using a Damask Designs sentiment and pattern.  Cute, right?!!  (Congrats on your cover, Sarah!)

One last thing before I go....I finished reading A Taste of Fame the other day, which was a fun little read.  This was the second book in the Potluck Catering Club series, which followed the 3 books in the Potluck Club Series and all of them were quite entertaining.  If you've read the other books in this series, you won't want to miss this one for sure!

Hope you all have a fabulous Sunday tomorrow.  Bart and I have church in the morning followed by a bit more Christmas shopping and then I think I'll snuggle up next to him in front of a fire tomorrow night while we watch the season finale of The Amazing Race!  :)  What are your plans for tomorrow, Peeps?

  

Random, Random Sunday

 

Hello, All....

Lots of random bits to share with you today.  Meant to share some of this yesterday but ended up spending the day with my hottie hubs, relaxing and cheering on our (his) favorite football team!  ;)

I finished this book last week -- How Sweet It Is by Alice Wisler, and I have to say that it was soooo, so good.  Such a fabulous story of heartache, hope and healing.  This one had me totally sucked in.  I just love that.  

Did you see this post over at the Moxie Fab World blog?  Cath is chatting about this new A Card a Day book that Paper Crafts Magazine is releasing and I was so excited to have several of my cards be a part of this new book!  Cath is also showing several cards from the new book, including one of my contributions.  Can't wait to see the whole book in person!

AND, over at the Paper Crafts blog, they're featuring a few more cards from A Card a Day, so you can get a peek at another one of my cards over there.  :)

 

And, I've been busy making embellies this weekend.  I have several sheets of these two color combos of teapots that I'll be putting in my Etsy Shop as soon as I finish this post so watch for them there, if you are interested.

 

I also have some of these little flower embellies that I'll be putting in my Etsy shop too!

 

Hope you're all doing well this weekend!  Take care and I'll chat with you again soon!

 

Good Reads

  

Hi there!  Hope you're having a great weekend so far!  I thought I'd pop in with fun little book review for you!  I just finished Stretch Marks by Kimberly Stuart and I have to say that it was SUCH a fun read.  Definitely chick lit.....a bit of humor, a bit of a love story, plenty of issues to work thru, a baby on the way.....all in all, I found that I didn't want to put this one down.  It was really a really fun read that also had a great ending and a great message as well.  Plus, it takes place in Chicago (you know how I love that city) so when they mentioned having "deep dish from Lou's", I grinned from ear to ear!  I'm sure they were referring to Lou Malnatti's -- our fave pizza in Chicago!  ;)  And the other Chicago references were really fun too, especially having just been there for a visit.  Anyway, check this one out if you want a really fun, sometimes funny, read. 

            

I also want to recommend the 86 Bloomberg Place series by Melody Carlson.  This series is about 4 young women, after college, that end up living in a house together, and all that they go thru as they learn what it's like to be out 'on their own' for the first time.  There is plenty of drama (you can imagine -- with 4 girls, all strangers, living in the same house) and plenty of fun too.  

These books are not only fun reads that you might enjoy, but now that Christmas is fast approaching, these would make great Christmas gifts for some of the girls on your Christmas list.  I love giving books as gifts.  I think they're sort of 'the gift that keeps on giving' since they're something that the recipient can enjoy for several hours or days or even weeks.  Plus, the great thing about books like these by Christian authors is that you can rest assured that they're clean and not the least bit smutty!  (I'm not one for smut.)  :)

Hope you have a great Saturday, Peeps!  We'll be heading out after awhile, to see a couple of our favorite babies!  (My niece and nephew!)  

Toodles!
 

Happy World Card Making Day!

Hi All,

Happy World Card Making Day to you!  Are you gonna squeeze in a little crafty time today?  Creative time can be so therapeutic for me....it just feels good to play with all of my crafty supplies and create something that makes me happy to look at and the best part is that sending it to someone else can make them happy too!  I hope that each of you get a bit of 'creative therapy' this weekend at some point.  It's just good for the soul!  ;)

I've got a fun little ruffly card to share with you today.  

I just loooooove the ruffles on this card!  So romantic and girly and soft.  I thought I'd show you my process for getting such fluffy ruffles.  Fluffy ruffles....hee.

I started out by stamping Hero Arts' Woodgrain Pattern stamp on my card front.  Then I ran a strip of mono-adhesive across the card front for my lowest ruffle.  The trick is to just adhere the top edge of the ribbon only, in the adhesive.  You can see in the photo that this left a bit of adhesive sticking up above the top edge of the ruffle but that's ok.  You don't want the entire ribbon stuck down in the adhesive in order for it to stay fluffy!  Now wrap the ends of the ribbon around to the back of the card and adhere with a smidge of adhesive.  Next, just stitch a straight line across the top edge of the ribbon.

Next, trim off the excess thread and repeat the same process.  You can use that bit of adhesive that was still showing after the first ruffle, to adhere the top edge of the second ruffle.  The key is to position the second ruffle low enough to hide the stitching on the first ruffle.

I did four ruffles total, alternating between berry sorbet ribbon and hibiscus burst ribbon and then to hide the top row of stitching, I wrapped some ribbon around the card front and tied a bow.  I covered the inside of the card front with another piece of card stock, just to hide the stitching and ends of the ribbon.

I love using Papertrey's luxe satin ribbons for this technique....so shiny and shimmery.  Wouldn't you love a skirt like this?!  Or a top with this fun ruffly detail?

To finish off my card, I stamped the Cut Out Flower from Hero Arts and added a simple sentiment from Papertrey's Tags For Spring. 

Hope you've enjoyed today's fluffy ruffle card.  :)  Have a GREAT day, dear friends!  I'll talk atchya soon!

Smooches!

{Garden Fresh supplies}
Paper: berry sorbet, vintage cream
Stamps: Hero Arts - woodgrain pattern, cut out flower; Papertrey - tags for spring
Ink: hibiscus burst, berry sorbet, dark chocolate
Other: berry sorbet & hibiscus burst luxe satin ribbons, vintage cream topnotch twill ribbon, hibiscus burst vintage button, rustic cream button twine, sewing machine/thread

This and That

Hello there.....

Lots of random bits to share with you today so I figured I'd start with a card.  That's always a great place to start, right?  Today's card uses lots of fun Papertrey stamps.  The tag is from the 2009 Autumn Tags set, there's a giant flourish from Fancy Flourishes, the kraft strip is stamped with an image from Vintage Labels and along the bottom of the card, I stamped some Polka Dot Basics II and some Background Basics: Text Style.  

Also, just a note....the card base is melon berry card stock.  I used berry sorbet ink on the dots and I used melon berry ink on the flourish.  The two inks are similar but in real life, there's just enough of a difference to add just another bit of dimension to the card.

And just a few random photos from around home today.....Bartley brought these flowers home from the grocery store the other day.  Aren't they just the best color?!  Ahh....I love fresh flowers on the kitchen table.  I love my boy too.....such a sweetheart, he is.  

This photo is just to show you how fun it is when you're in that short window of time during fall when the summer flowers haven't died off yet, but the fall mums have started busting open in the same bed and the result is a riot of color!  (never mind the weeds thrown in there too.....they're there for extra color)  :)

We have a Keurig coffee maker.  Have you seen these?  We actually have two -- have had them for quite awhile now.  (got 'em at Target)  I have to say that even though we have a big coffee pot/cappuccino machine that we use when we're both home, it's awfully nice to be able to brew a single cup of coffee when I'm here by myself, without having to brew a whole pot.

Mmmm.....we keep various K-Cups on hand in tea and coffee varieties.  I have this handy dandy 3-tiered silver server that I got at Target a few years back, that I decided to use for K-Cups while it's not being used for other treats.  My current favorite is Bellacino Swiss Chocolate Almond coffee.  Oh, it smells sooo good.  Tastes fab too!

Oh, and here are a couple books I recently read.  (I told you I had a lot of 'this and that' to tell you today.  Hee!)  

This book is called Breathe by Lisa T. Bergren.  I've read quite a few of Lisa's books in the past and she's been a favorite for a long time.  I haven't seen any new fiction titles from her for several years - so I was quite glad to see this one on the bookshelf AND to read that it's the first in a trilogy.  Yay!

And here's one called The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen.  This one was really good too.  Obviously both of these titles are more historical fiction.....I've been on a historical fiction kick lately - what can I say?  :)  For the record, I AM reading a bit of modern day fiction at the moment so you won't have to read about historical fiction titles forever!  Haha.  

Also, for those of you that have asked lately, our new tree is just starting to show signs of it's leaves changing colors.  I don't expect a major color show this first year but it's exciting to see the start of it's changing leaves.  Makes me happy.  :)

Hope your Monday has been great so far.  I'll chat with you soon, Peeps!

{Give Thanks supplies}
Paper: melon berry, aqua mist, kraft, rustic cream
Stamps: 2009 Autumn Tags, Fancy Flourishes, Vintage Labels, Polka Dot Basics II, Background Basics: Text Style
Ink: melon berry, berry sorbet, dark chocolate, aqua mist
Other: aqua mist topnotch twill ribbon, vintage cream button, rustic cream button twine, 1 3/4" circle punch

It's Just Around the Corner....

World Card Making Day, that is!  It's coming up on Saturday, October 3.  Do you have big plans for that day yet?  Well, in honor of the big day, Paper Crafts Magazine is extending a discount to each of you!  You can get 25% off your entire purchase at the Paper Crafts/CK online store -- just enter this code: DSTN-D7P5-TUWW to get 25% off your entire cart subtotal!  The discount is valid thru midnight (MDT) on 10/12/09.  You can also pop over and visit the World Card Making Day website to check out all sorts of happenings and you can even check out the Blog Tour!

So remember the other day when I told you I bought some new Making Memories goodies at Archivers?  Well, here's a shot of some of the little gems.....don't they just make you want to get crafty?  Look at those adorable little felt embellies on the top there....so sweet!  This is all from their Mistletoe line.  I thought I'd make a couple cards to share with you today, using some of these new goodies. 

I used a die cut from my Storybook cartridge and my Cricut Expression, layered the little felt beauty on the label shape and added a sentiment from my Signature Christmas stamp set.  Easy peasy!

And one more similar card.  On this one, I stamped the branch from Papertrey's Out on a Limb revised and placed the little felt birdie on the branch.  The sentiment is also from Signature Christmas!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Hope to see you back again soon!

Have a goodie!

{Christmas Blessings supplies}
Paper: pure poppy, new leaf, kraft, Making Memories Mistletoe
Stamps: Signature Christmas
Ink: true black
Other: pure poppy topnotch twill ribbon, Fiskars apron lace punch

{Noel supplies}
Paper: pure poppy, new leaf, kraft, Making Memories Mistletoe
Stamps: Out on a Limb Revised, Signature Christmas
Ink: dark chocolate
Other: pure poppy topnotch twill ribbon, Fiskars apron lace punch

Weekend Getaway!

Hi there and happy Friday to you!!  Happy Labor Day Weekend also, to those of you in the US!  I'm headed out of town this weekend to go visit my sweet friend, Nichole, where we'll be celebrating her 30th birthday!  Can't wait relax and hang out on this girls weekend getaway!  Admittedly, I don't EVER go away on trips like this without Bart, except for CHA which is kind of a work thing.  So, I'm sure I'll miss my hottie hubs while I'm gone, but I can already imagine the laughter that will occur this weekend which will probably start just about as soon as Mish arrives at my house and we head to the airport!  She and I are flying out together, just like we did for CHA, and I can hardly wait!  She cracks me up!  :)

I've got some posts scheduled for you while I'm gone, but if you want to keep up with the latest details of our trip, you can follow me on Twitter or just check in here at the blog-o and follow my tweets over in the right hand side bar!

Also, I've added more new goodies to my Etsy shop so feel free to check those out.  They're all cards that have been published or that you have seen here at the blog-o so I'm sure you'll recognize some of them!  ;)

And lastly for today, I've read a few more books that I thought I'd mention.  This first one is Turning The Paige by Laura Jensen Walker and it's the second in the Getaway Girls series....a modern day series that I've found to be a fun read.

Next up, two more books by Cathy Marie Hake -- goodness, but I've enjoyed this whole series.  I seriously hope she's not done with the series because they've each been so fun to read.  Set in the late 1800's, there is sometimes a bit of mystery and intrigue, always some sort of drama and conflict and usually a little romance thrown in there too.  Cathy is a Christian author so you don't have to worry about these books being too racy......they're very clean and really, really enjoyable!

  

Whirlwind

That Certain Spark

That's it for now......I hope you have a FAB weekend!  This will be my first time in Tennessee!  I'm sure I'll be taking tons of pictures.....I'll be sure to share when I get home in a few days!

Toodles,
 

It's A Beautiful Day.....

Hi-ya!  It's seriously gorgeous here in Kansas and it has been all weekend!  Friday night, we enjoyed dinner with friends out on our neighbors' patio.  Last night, Bart and I (and Riley boy) soaked up some more of the great outdoors and had dinner out on our deck and I'm thinking we might just do the same thing tonight!  The temps are absolutely perfect, the skies are blue and the sun is shining.  Ahhh.....What's the weather like where you are this weekend?  Is it warm and sunny like here?  Is it rainy and gloomy?  Or are you enjoying your winter season on the other side of the globe?  (Hi Aussies and New Zealanders!!)  ;)

All right, on to today's card.  It's just a sweet little baby boy card.  I used a few stamp sets on this one.  Obviously Polka Dot Basics II, and then I pulled out Men of Life for the cute sailboat and the sentiment is from Mega Mixed Messages.  And, I used my upper crest punch from Fiskars on that new leaf (green) card stock.....I like the sort of 'waves' look it has when positioned under the sailboat!

I have a couple more book recommendations for you before I go.  Remember when I told you about reading A Promise To Believe In by Tracie Peterson and how much I liked it?  

Well, I just finished the other two books in the series and they were every bit as good as the first one.  Loved them a lot!  The series is about 3 sisters back in the 1880's and the trials and dangers they face and the love they find as they run their stagecoach stop.  Each book focuses primarily on one sister, but the story of them all is continued thru all 3 books.....I just love that.  But it means you'll want to read them in order.  ;)

Book 2 - A Love to Last Forever

Book 3 - A Dream to Call My Own

That's it for today, Friends.  Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

Smooches!

{Baby supplies}

Paper: rustic cream, vintage cream, dark chocolate, aqua mist, new leaf

Stamps: Men of Life, Mega Mixed Messages, Polka Dot Basics II

Ink: aqua mist, dark chocolate, new leaf

Other: rustic jute button twine, rustic wood button, upper crest punch-Fiskars, sewing machine/thread