"For my mom"

As you know grandma is now living in one of those assisted living places. Well, she hates it and isn't very happy. I am trying to send her a card a week to give her something to look forward to. She will come around but for now it is really hard on my mom. I made this for my mom to let her know that even if I am 2400 miles away, I am thinking about her. We talk every day on e-mail and at least once a week on the phone, so that is good. But I thought I would send her a card anyway. I like making them and she likes to get them.
Thanks again to Kristine for the use of your embossing folders and your Bella's and to Lori for finding me this terrific dotted ribbon
Stamps: Sincere Salutations, Bellas
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Yo Yo Yellow, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Giga and Mega Scallop Punch, Brown dotted ribbon, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, SU Markers

"Blog candy I won"

I won this blog candy from Tami over at The Journey of Life. I won Two spools of ribbon, a Mickey Mouse journal that can be altered, a large JustRide pre-inked stamp (ADORE), an alterable clothespin (large), a pack of Post-it Notes, a pack of stardust clear gel pens, a set of textured blue and white blank cards and envelopes, a pack of the Michael's $1 stamps (boy theme), and a fruit cup tin. Thank you very much Tami for the chance to win.

"Giftbella"

I had so much fun this weekend. My friend Kristine drove an hour to come and stamp in my hotel with me. She also brought her cuttlebug embossing folders and her Bella's. I don't have either so I was like a kid in a candy store. I made a bunch of backgrounds with the embossing folders and stamped a bunch of Bella's. This is my first Bella card. It isn't my favorite of the ones I made but I do like it. She is wearing a stickles skirt. The card itself is black so it is hard to see with my black background. I got the ribbon from my friend Lori. My walmart didn't have it so she was kind enough to get some for me and send it to me. Thanks Lori and Kristine!
Stamps: Bella's (Giftbella with hat)
Paper: Basic Black, Pixie Pink, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: SU Markers, sponge, dotted ribbon, primas, vintage brad, dimensionals, cuttlebug embossing folder, stickles, sponge

"Back From LA"

Well, I am home from stamp mania. I had such a great time. It was so nice to see old friends and meet new ones. This was my third stamp mania so I knew a lot of ladies from the past ones that I attended.
I have to tell you about one of the best things that happend to me while I was there was when I was walking in, I stopped to talk to someone and this woman said to me, "I know you, I visit your blog all the time." I was like, thank you. I really didn't know what to say. It kinda threw me off a little. I don't know why but it just did. (I kinda felt famous for a second. LOL) That woman was Karen Rose from Canada. Yes, she flew from Canada to LA for stamp mania. I know, WOW! She is the sweetest lady. Anyway, when she said that she visited my blog and loved my stuff. I thought about that all day. In fact when I was driving to dinner, I called my husband and I told him what you said and he was excited for me. Karen, you totally made my weekend. I am so glad that I got to meet you.
I am so tired from my weekend too. Friday I got up at 6:15 and left at 7am and drove the 7 hours to LA. I packed so much stuff. Two large suitcases full of practically everything I own. All my inks, a bunch of stamp sets, markers, crimper, heat gun, all my scallop punches and other punches, and I brought a ton of paper too. Oh and also a ton of ribbon, and any embellishment you can think of I think I had it. My friend Kristine and Cherie met me at my hotel and we stamped until like 2am. I didn't fall asleep until about 3:30am so I was very tired Saturdy. But I sucked it up and had a great time. Saturday night I stayed up until 3am stamping my heart out. I made a bunch of cards, which I will be posting and sending out for RAK's. Sunday I slept in a little then packed up my stuff and hit the road. I stopped at a couple different Michael's to get some of those clear stamps for $1 that my Michael's doesn't have but the Michael's in LA were all out too. AGH.... Oh well, I will have to get them this summer in MN.
I am really tired so I will post my cards tomorrow. Not all of them though, I have to have something to keep y'all coming back. LOL

"Geting ready for another give away"

I am driving to LA this weekend for SCS So Cal Stamp mania 4! This is my third one so I am really excited. It is a 7 hour drive for me but I don't mind. It is a easy drive. I love to drive too. When I get a few hours out of LA I plug in my i-pod because most of the radio stations are Spanish and I can never find a station to listen to. I will most likely loose my voice from singing all those 80's tunes at the top of my lungs. I have started making my "Wick Original" for my 10,000 post blog candy giveaway. It is going to be a good one so stay tuned. I hope to finish it while I am in LA and hopefully my blog will hit 10,000 by the time I get home. I am bringing a small suitcase for my clothes and a big one for my stamps and another one for inks, punches,and other tools and embilishments I might need for the weekend. The Event is on Saturday but I am going Friday through Sunday. I can't wait to get away for the weekend and stamp and shop. My Michael's doesn't have the clear stamps so I am planning on finding some in LA. I don't know if I will be posting anything between now and Monday but we will see. I have a lot to do this week to get the kids ready to spend the weekend alone with dad. NFL draft this weekend so y'all know where he will be. LOL

"Totes for Teachers"

My neighbor and I made 87 of these totes for one part of the PTA teacher appreciation week. They are going to be stuffed with tissue paper and a Starbucks gift card will go inside. The blue ones are for the men teachers and the green ones are the for the women. They turned out great. A lot of work but cute. I couldn't take a picture of them all because the rest are at my neighbors. We split up the work.

Stamps: Little Pieces, Seeing Spots
Paper: Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Basic Black, Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Bluebird and Celery Grosgrain Ribbon

I hope these directions aren't too confusing.

"I've been tagged"

I was tagged by my friend Sarah over at Craftaholics Anonymous
My job is to now tag 5 people from my favorite blogs. That is a hard one because I like so many. I also don't want to tag the same person that tagged me. So Here is who I am tagging. We've got some very very talented ladies here so check them out.
Ladies.....Tag, you're it!

1. Dawn Mercedes
2. Lori Fahrenholtz
3. Deb Lenox
4. A. Sanborn
5. Bety

"Happy Birthday"

I made this for a friend for her birthday. I like the card but something is bugging me. I think it would have looked better with all brown primas. However, I only had two so I added the moss colored one. It looks good, but I think it would have looked better if they were all brown.







Stamps: Something to Celebrate, Canvas
Paper: Ruby Red, Mellow Moss, Kraft, Very Vanilla
Ink: Ruby Red
Accessories: Word Window, Black Brads, Primas, Mega Scallop Square, Sponges

"Marry me"

Who could say no when there is chocolate involved? Isn't this a great idea? I love it. I stamped the roses in red. The bottom rose is stamped off twice, the second rose is stamped off once and the top rose is stamped full. Seriously, it doesn't look washed out in real life.
Stamps: Roses in Winter, Classic Alphabet
Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Mellow Moss, Basic Black
Accessories: Red Organdy, Silver Cord, Hershey Nuggets, Address Labels

"Birthday Blocking"

I made this birthday card for my Grandma. I haven't done too many blocking backgrounds before. This one turned out exactly like I wanted. I wanted to put my jeweled brads in the center of the primas but I couldn't find them so I added some silver stickles to the centers instead. I love the look.


Stamps: Sincere Salutations
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Non SU DP
Ink: Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Giga and Mega Scallop Punches, Rectangle Punch, Primas, Silver Stickles, Taupe Grosgrain

"Love U"

I made this one last night. I am getting over my fear of pattern paper (if you couldn't tell). I bought this set for my daughter for Christmas and I thought it was time to ink it up. She hadn't used it either. I wasn't crazy about this set but I like my card and I can see myself using it more.
I sponged Elegant Eggplant on the background of the card to put some texture on it. I also sponged the edges of the sentiment and the card itself.


Stamps: All about U, Classic Alphabet (for the I)
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Sponge, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Celery & Eggplant Grosgrain Ribbon

"Happy Birthday Cara"

I made this card for my demo's daughter for her birthday. She is turning 3. Orange is a color that I struggle with but I love love love this card. I found the paper at Michael's, the orange prima's and the grosgrain ribbon I won in blog candy and thought it would go nice with the paper, then to finish it off, I added orange stickles to the giraffe. I love this card. I wanted to make it special since it is for my demo's daughter. Y'all understand. I also seem to have trouble with pattern paper. But you will notice I have made a several cards lately with pattern paper. I think I am getting the hang of it. I really like how they are turning out.

Stamps: Happy Everything, Wild About You
Paper: Real Red, Only Orange, Whisper White, Non SU DP
Ink: Only Orange, Summer Sun
Accessories: Stickles, Prima's with brad center, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Cream Grosgrain Ribbon, Tangerine Grosgrain Ribbon

"I won Blog Candy"

I won this super cool blog candy from Sarah B over at Craftaholics Anonymous I got Studio G clear stamps, I Kan'dee keepsake pocket/frame, brand new Crystal Stickles, Two American Crafts Elements ribbon-- khaki and light blue, the cute little basket and some candy. And a bag of purple M&M's. How cool!! Thank you Sarah for the great blog candy.

"Thinking of Grandma"

I know lately I have been lacking in the posting department. I have been real busy these days. So I put everything on hold for an hour today so I could make a card with this new pattern paper I got. It matches the SU paper very well. I love how elegant it looks. My grandma is moving next week and I am going to send this to her. She has been in her appartment for over 20 years and doesn't really want to move, but it is time. I think this will make her happy. At least take her mind off of it for a day.

Stamps: Sincere Salutations
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Non SU Pattern Paper
Ink: Certainly Celery
Accessories: Giga and Mega Scallop Punch, Celery Grosgrain Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, SU Gel Pen, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

"Just a Note"

My friend Shelly sent me these cool clear stamps. I decided to make a card this morning with them. I am not to crazy about the card but I love the stamps.










Stamps: Stampendous Clear Stamps
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Barly Banana, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Ink: Barly Banana, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Craft White
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Paper Peircer, Mat Pack, SU Gel Pen

"Birthday Duo"

I made these two cards for Beate and Daven. They both share the same birthday. Daven is the SCS man and we all know Beate. The first card with the elephant is Beate's and the second one with the cake is for Daven. The layout is SC118 I am really liking this layout. It was a lot of fun.
Stamps: Canvas, Wild About You, Stipple Celebrations, Sincere Salutations, Warmest Regards
Paper: Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Apricot Appeal, Pale Plum
Accessories: SU Markers, Certainly Celery Grosgrain, Non SU Organdy Ribbon, Marvy Giga and Mega Scallop Circles, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

"Guest Artist Nicole Cooke"

I got this beautiful Blogger RAK today from my cyber friend Nicole Cooke also known as "The Stampin' Librarian" You have to check out her blog. She has so many cute cards and projects. I am a big fan of her work. Thanks again Nicole for the RAK.

"I Won Blog Candy"

My first blog candy win. Yeah! I won this "Citrus Sun" Friday Freebie from Nicole at The Inkblog.






I won Three sunny orange floral embellishments, each with a silver brad
Three pewter photo anchors
One pewter ribbon charm
One amber and diamond hat pin
A foot each of cream and orange grosgrain ribbon
Thank you Nicole. I can't wait to play.
Check out her blog. She has great cards, tutoirals, and friday freebies.