Monday, March 31, 2008

Penny

Penny is growing....she weighed in at 1 lb and 12 oz's when we went to visit yesterday.

Here's her photo.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

But of course.....

Take this test!
You're green, the color of growth and vigor. Good-hearted and giving, you have a knack for finding and bringing out the best in people. Green is the most down-to-earth color in the spectrum — reliable and trustworthy. People know they can count on you to be around in times of need, since your concern for people is genuine and sincere. You take pride in being a good friend. For you, success is measured in terms of personal achievement and growth, not by status or position. Rare as emeralds, greens are wonderful, natural people. It truly is your color!

Friday, March 28, 2008

TGIF....

I love weekends and always feel a burst of energy on Fridays as I look forward to the weekend.

Here's another slit punch card. I made another version in an earlier post. My ink-stains friend,Michelle, made one for our monthly swap and I just had to try one. It was really different. This time I used an oval shape.



As a reminder, here is the tutorial from Stampin Inspirations by Maria.

Have a great weekend everyone. I "might" pop in with another card or Penny update over the weekend.

Thursday, March 27, 2008

TIme For You

Time For You is a SU stamp set from the current mini. I just love the bench and the bike. Here is a little something different. I have the bike on a pop-up dot (not sure if you can tell in the photo) so it looks like it is learning on the fence which I made with the SU word punch.




We are getting ready to bring Penny home (probably on May 4th). We bought some toys, a crate and a bed so far. I have also checked out and decided on a vet. I have also contacted a dog trainer to help us on the right path.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

A Visit to Penny....

Kerry and I went to visit Penny today. She is getting bigger and had her first taste of solid food today. Here is a new photo of Penny and Kerry.




Here is the whole litter taking a nap...

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Birthday Kerry!

It's Kerry's birthday - Happy Birthday to Kerry!!! Kerry has wanted a dog in the worst way. We have been discussing it , looking at dogs and even applied to raise a puppy for guiding eyes. A friend of a friend just had a litter of cockapoos and we surprised Kerry last night after tap and took her over to pick out a puppy. She was shocked when she realized where we were going. She picked a beautiful apricot female puppy. The puppy is only 19 days old so while Kerry can go over and visit her anytime she wants, we can't take the puppy home till the weekend of May 3rd.

Here's Kerry and her new puppy Penny!

Friday, March 21, 2008

I bet you are glad it's not ....

another monogram card. I am not done with them yet but thought you might want to see something different. One of my virtual friends,Michelle, made a great slit punch card for our monthly swap. It was so pretty. She shared with me a tutorial to learn how to make them. They are rather easy once you get the hang of it. Here is the tutorial from Stampin Inspirations by Maria. You simply use the SU slit punch (which I happened to have and never really used).

This is my first attempt at a card. It needs some work and some practice with the slit punch but I thought I would share it anyway.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

And the winner is.....

I loved all the cards submitted for ink-stains swap/challenge! As a reminder, I sent six stampers a base card and they had to come up with a design. They all did a marvelous job so you can imagine how hard it was to pick one card for a prize. My overall favorite was Marilyn's.

Marilyn, I created this card set for you for a prize. I hope you like it. It will be going into the mail this weekend. I made this set using the new papertreyink paper, ink and ribbon (and of course the papertryink monogram stamp set). The paper just arrived yesterday and I was anxious to try it. The ribbon is very nice. This is monochronmatic set using the Spring Moss colors.




Thank you to everyone for participating in the challenge! I would like to host another one if anyone is interested! Let me know.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Another Monogram...

Here is one I made for a friend. It's a set of six cards with matching envelopes. It uses the Designer Paper from SU! called Berry Bliss. It's packaged in an acetate card box (thus the glare).



I had a wonderful day today. My friend, Vita, celebrated her 25th anniversary with our company today at a luncheon at a great restaurant. It was fun getting together with people I worked with years ago.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Cards Submitted for Challenge...

Here are the cards from the Card Challenge I posted on Ink-Stains. Six wonderful stampers participated. Remember, I sent six stampers the same base card (see previous post for a photo of what the base card looked like). I asked them all to come up with a design for the card. Here are the wonderful creations they came up with. I love them all. Everyone came up with different and wonderful cards using the same base card. I am still trying to choose my favorite for a prize...this is tough!


This is Lori's Card:



This is Cindy's Card:



This is Cheryl's Card:



This is Marilyn's Card:



This is Sharon's Card:




This Is Fiona's Card:

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I am making corned beef and cabbage tonight for dinner and I'll be wearing GREEN tonight at bowling. In fact, my bowling bowl is green so it will be perfect for today. As many of of you know my favorite color is green so today is a great day for me!

Here is a St. Pat card and a candy item I made for my Secret Sis over on SCS. She already received them (and now knows who I am) so it's safe to post.

Here is my card using the colors of the Irish Flag....



Here are some peppermint pattie treats using the SU Scallop punches!



Tomorrow, I am going to start posting photo's of the cards submitted to my card swap challenge where I supplied the base card. As a reminder, here is the base card that I sent out to 6 participants in the U.S. , Canada and Austraila. They sent me photo's of their finished creations and they are fabulous. I will share two photo's a day of these creations and pick my favorite throughout the week! It will not be easy since everyone did a great job.

Friday, March 14, 2008

And another one....

OK, I'll try to come up with something else this weekend but I wanted to make a bunch of these for some folks on SCS. I made three of each with coordinating envelopes that I will send off in a package with some other items. I hope they like them.



TGIF!!!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Another Monogram...

Here is another monogram card....more to come. I made several for a pay it forward thread on SCS.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Back to the monogram

I really like making note card sets with a monogram. Here is one I made using Ginger Blossom Designer Paper, Ruby Red Textured paper, white ribbon and, of course, the Paper Trey Ink Monogram set. I like the way it turned out. I am going to make a few sets like these as soon as my order of Whisper White Cardstock arrives (today). This was my last sheet.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Same Card, Different Packaging...

This is the same note card set I made for a friend but I packaged it differently. Just used a cellophane bag and a topper for this one. Got the idea because I had the additional piece prepared for the front of the card and then ran out of whisper white cardstock to make the cards...used the piece for a topper instead. New order of whisper white is due to arrive on Wednesday. Until then, I am glad I save my white (and all color) scraps. This has been a whisper white emergency weekend!!! I am saving this set for a future round of DSS over on SCS.




Dinner and bowling tonight with the girls!

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Rain, rain, go away....

It was torrential downpours all day and night yesterday. The wind took our trampoline flying to the other side of the yard where it now lays crumbled. Today is windy but at least the rain has stopped.

Here is one of the sets of note cards I made at the request of a friend. She is a teacher and needed cards for notes home, thank you notes, etc.

There are 10 in the box with coordinating envelopes.

Five are like this:



Five are like this:




And they are packaged like this:





Meghan went back home today and we miss her already. We had a nice weekend, even though it rained every minute of the weekend. Went out to lunch, dinner and then out to breakfast this morning before she left.

MISS YOU MEGGIE!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

With or Without?????

What do you think? I made a simple Happy Birthday card for a swap. After I made them all I decided to add the balloon from the stamp set to an extra card I would send to my DSS over on SCS.




Recipe:
Stamp Set: Birthday Whimsey (SU SAB set)
Cardstock: SU Soft Sky, Whisper White, Afternoon Tea Designer Paper
Ink: Soft Sky, Chocolate Chip
Ribbon: Chocolate
Cuttlebug Happy Birthday Embossing Folder
SU Scallop punch to make the "icing" on the cake
Yellow Stickles for the flame
SU Twine (for the card with the balloon).
3D dots for the balloon

Friday, March 7, 2008

Sympathy Card

Not a big fan of making Sympathy cards but I need one today so I pulled out the Happy Harmony Set which seems to work for so many cards.



We are expecting a lot of rain this weekend. The more exciting news is Meghan is coming home for the weekend. We are all looking forward to spending some time with her during her short visit.

I have been asked by two people to make note cards and thank you cards. I will show you over the weekend what I came up with.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Another version of the same card...



All is well on the homefront. Busy at work, busy at home - same old, same old. Looking forward to Meghan coming home this weekend! See you soon MEGHAN!!!!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Another Day, Another Card

Last years Sale-a-bration set, Happy Harmony, is still an often used set by me. It is so versatile. Here is a card I made last night using Chocolate Chip CS, Groovy Guava CS and Ginger Blossom Designer Paper. Add a few vintage brads, some polka dot sheer ribbon, some 3D dots and you have a card.



I made a few different versions of this card...I'll share more during the week.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Three for Tuesday!

Here are versions of a previous card I posted. This time I used Ginger Blossoms Designer Paper from SU which I really like. I used a variety of card bases including Groovy Guava and Ruby Red. Again, I used the retired Looks Like Spring Flower Punch. The cards look so much nicer in person. You can't tell in the photos but the flowers pop-out and are not flat against the cardstock. Also, the front of the card is cut shorter to show the designer paper strip on the inside of the card - - makes for a difficult photo as the card does not stay closed.



Here's a closer look at one of the cards.



Bowling was fun...next week we are bowiing our friends on another team so it should be a fun night. Some of us are going out to dinner before bowling....something fun to look forward to!

Monday, March 3, 2008

Friendship Blooms (Again!)

When I like a set, I do use it. I just love the sentiment on the Friendship Blooms sale-a-bration set. Like the the Level Three Hostess stamp set, Time Spent, I think I will use this one a lot.



It's basically a simple card using Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White Cardstock. The designer paper is Afternoon Tea from SU. I wish I had groovy Guava stitched ribbon but I don't. I used the Wild Wasabi ribbon instead. Easy card...took me about 10 minutes (or less) to make on Sunday evening.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

You can't change the hand you are dealt

just how you play the hand.

No card today, but if you haven't seen this lecture yet on YouTube, it's worth the time.

Copy & Paste the following into your browser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

p.s. if someone knows how to add a YouTube video to a blog post, please email me.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

Simple Card

I really like the way this card turned out. It looks better in person than in the photo. I always have difficulty photographing cards that won't stay closed. On this card, the designer paper (from Basic Grey) along the right hand side is on the inside base of the card. I cut the front of the card to the right of the flowers. It makes a pretty card but it doesn't stay closed when standing up for a photo. I used a photo stand for the first time to try to get a better photo.

In this card I used an old, retired Looks Like Spring Punch from Stampin Up. When I first bought I thought I would use it all the time but never really used it. I'm glad I saved it (almost traded it)! Again, I used the SU Friendship Blooms set (just for the sentiment).