{Just a Little Bling}

Wow life has been busy this past week! If all goes well we will be moving back to my home town in small town Oklahoma. I am excited, and scared but I know everything will be fine because we will be close to family again. I want Cameron to know his Grandparents, Aunts, Uncle's and Cousins. It's going to be great!

So needless to say I have not had a lot of time to work on cards but I made time today. For this card I used Stampin Up's Whisper White and Rich Razzleberry cs. I also used Rich Razzlebery to stamp the snowflakes. I love this color on a Christmas card! I used one of the new Cuttlebug Snowflake folders on glossy white card stock. I love the pretty effect of the glossy paper! I used SU rhinestone bling in the center of the snowflakes, and SU silver to emboss the Holiday sentiment. This card was not hard to make but I think it turned out so pretty!

Be careful what you wish for...

I made a wish for a big snowfall over the weekend and my wish came true. Three days later we are still unable to get out of our driveway! Our street does not get plowed so we are at the mercy of the melting sun unless we park the car on top of the road which is salted and plowed when the weather is nasty. We need a 4W drive! (dear santa...) lol Anyways, since I have been home I have had PLENTY of time to make Christmas cards, and get several addressed and ready for mailing.

This card was made with an Inkadinkado clear set that I LOVE. Yeah, I love all of my stamps but I reallllly love this one. I used my Cricut, and SCAL to cut out the Nestabilities shapes, and the DP is from the current SU catalog and it is called "Merry Moments". I keep forgetting I have it. lol The stitched ribbon is from the Offray ribbon out-let. You may not be able to tell from the picture but the little brown bird, and the pine branch were clear heat embossed using SU Old Olive craft ink, and Choco Chip craft ink.

And The Winner Is......

Kelly Schelske!! Congratulations Kelly! I will ship out your goodies when we get back home from Thanksgiving vacation!

Speaking of Thanksgiving we are in Oklahoma visiting my family for the Holiday, but I uploaded a few cards before we left so that I would have new cards to share! It is nice being home. I am writing this in the bedroom I grew up in! For today's card I used a Christmas set by Inkadinkado. The background is one of the new Holiday Collection Cuttlebug Folders. I LOVE these new folders. A few of the new folders come 5x7 so that you can cover an entire card front with no awkward gaps. Sweet! I colored the snowman with Bic Mark-its, and accented the card with holiday ribbon I picked up on clearance last year. I love the sweet simplicity of this card!

I hope that all of you have a Happy Thanksgiving with friends and Family, and for those of you not in the USA have a happy week to! Thank you for visiting my blog today!

Ribbon Ribbon Ribbon!

For my card today card I used the Stampin' Up! set "City of David". This is one of my all time favorite Christmas sets. I love that it doesn't require any coloring aside from the ink color that you stamp it in! The card is pretty self explanatory, SU Navy, and craft cardstock, and the image was stamped on Whisper White. I used my SU edge distresser to add a worn look. I am very happy with the way it turned out!

This week I went to visit one of the BEST places I have ever found to stock up on ribbon, the "Offray Ribbon Outlet" in Hagerstown Maryland. If you live anywhere close to DC, and you love ribbon, then a visit to the Offray Outlet is a must! I bought all of this ribbon for under $7.00! Yeah, can you even believe that? The large brown and vanilla satin ribbon rolls are my favorite. They probably have about 50 or so yards on each one, and they were 1.25 each! It isn't like I actually "needed" more ribbon, but you know how that is. =0)

Don't forget to enter for a chance to win a super blog candy prize celebrating my 200th post! I added several yards of some of the ribbon I found at Offray! You can read the original thread here: Blog Candy Have a wonderful week and thank you for visiting my blog

How Great Is Your Joy and Blog Candy!

Today I have been thinking of many of the things that I am thankful for. As Thanksgiving, and Christmas get closer memories of family and friends always come to mind. I am SO blessed in so many ways. I have an amazing family, Husband, beautiful Son, and wonderful friends! There are many out there who have much less then I do . I am humbled and grateful to my Heavenly Father for all of the many blessings in my life. What are you thankful for?

For today's card I used the Stampin' Up set "Delightful Decorations, and a set by Inkadinkado "Cool Christmas". The branch, and ornament were embossed with SU Nightof Navy embossing powder, and SU Hunter Green embossing powder. I tied to ornament to the branch with SU silver cord, LOVE that stuff! I also used my brand new Cuttlebug folder that I got in the mail this week! I used my brayer and my Brilliance Platinum Planet pigment ink and embossed with clear powder. I also inked the edges of the oval with the same pigment ink. I used my nesties on the scalloped oval. I LOVE how this card turned out!

Well my friends, I have approached a mini milestone of 200 posts on my blog! Yippie! So, to celebrate this fun occasion, I will be giving away some blog candy! There are 2 ways you can enter, #1 - Leave a comment telling me something you are thankful for, and #2 - Follow my blog! I will pick a winner one week from today, Nov. 22th!

*editing to add additional goodies (TONS of ribbon!) to the blog prize and adding a few days for people to enter*

A Great Day For Card Making!

The sky is gray, the trees are bare, and there is a slight nip in the air! This is perfect weather for staying inside to play in my scrap room! For the card I made today I used a Holiday set by Inkadinkado called "Christmas Characters". Aren't the polar bears adorable!? I used one of my snowflake Cuttlebug Folders and used heat embossing for the silver snowflake trail, and the scarf and hat on the bears. I stitched around the square with my Janome, and accented the corners with silver brads. White, Navy Blue, and Silver has to be one of my favorite Holiday card color combos! What are your favorite Holiday combo's? I hope that you have a great week, and thank you for visiting my blog today!

{Tis The Season}

.....to get crackin' on your Christmas cards! I absolutely love making cards this time of year and always build up my stash so that I have enough hand made cards to mail out to family and friends. If you have not seen it yet Stampin' Up! has a Holiday Set called "Delightful Decorations" that is a must have this year! It features 4 large solid impression Christmas ornaments that has a matching punch that you can use to easily punch them out. No cutting required. Neat huh? For my first card I used "Delightful Decorations", and used SU gold, and silver embossing powder for the shimmery look of the ornaments. I can't wait to try out my other colored embossing powders and tinsel using this set! On all three cards I used SU's beautiful specialty DP "Christmas Cocoa". My second card is very simple and very easy to mass produce. I used the "Cute and Curly" SU set with the matching punch. My third card features the Stampin' Up! "Textured Impressions" Folder Petals-a-Plenty. I am in love and I can't believe what a deep impression I get using this folder with my Cuttlebug. Another Holiday card making MUST have! If you have any questions about any of the supplies I used, or if you are interested in ordering any of the SU items I used today let me know! I am also taking orders for Christmas cards for those of you that don't have the time to make your own cards this year but love the look of hand made cards. Thank you for visiting my blog and have a Happy Friday!

Great Things

One of the things that my Husband and I love to do as a family is visit flea markets, antique malls, and all things "thrifty". In the past 9 years we have found a lot of treasures and this past summer was a great Summer for us! I found tons of rubber stamps, and the sentiment on the card above is one of my new favorite stamps that I know I will be using again and again. It is a PSX stamp. The quote really touches my heart and it has helped me keep things in perspective as we face many life changes in the up-coming months.

For this card I used a clear set from Paper Inspirations called "Brushed Flowers" It is a beautiful set that I bought on my recent trip to Texarkana, TX. The DP is Stampin' Up!'s "Thoroughly Modern" collection and features several of the new In-Colors. The card stock base is Melon Mambo.

While I was on my trip I also came across a super card stock find. At a whole-sale store in TX I found a ream of card stock that is IDENTICLE to SU's Kraft Card Stock. I am almost positive it is the same paper packaged under a different name. It is 80lb, and has the same look and feel. Here is a picture of the two sheets (SU's Kraft, and the "other")

It looks like one big sheet of card stock! Anyways, if you are like me, I love using kraft as a card base, especially for Fall, and Christmas cards so I want to offer some of this card stock to my blog readers for a great price if you would like any of it. I would like just .10 a sheet. I will ship the c/s in a envelope or flat rate box if you order a lot. I also have red 80 lb card stock that I will sell for .10 a sheet:

Stock up now for your Holiday cards!! Let me know if you are interested in either of these colors.

So Busy Busy!

Yikes, it has been way too long since my last post! We just got back from a two week trip to Texas and Oklahoma to visit family, and see my beautiful Neice for the first time. It was a great visit! After catching up on laundry and housework I was able to sit down and make several Halloween and Fall cards that I already mailed out! I love it when I make cards that actually get mailed! One of my favorite things to do when we visit family is to visit a store that is not anywhere close to me here in Northern Virginia, Hobby Lobby! I always find the cutest House Mouse stamps there. For this card I used the House Mouse Clear Halloween Set that I bought at HL. I love it! It is nice to have a few non "scary" Halloween stamps. I used SU and BIC markers to color the image, and you can't tell from the picture but the butterfly wings have been embossed with glassy glaze. I LOVE the way it turned out. I have several other cards that I have made this week that I will be posting this week. I will also be catching up on everyone's blogs, and card comments! I can't wait to see what you have been creating!

{Not Enough Time}

I am sorry for the long space between posts but I have not had a lot of time to work on a card for my blog! We are getting ready for a trip down to Texas, and Oklahoma to visit my Sister and Bro and their new baby girl. I am SO excited!! We are also going to Oklahoma to visit my Dad! Good times. So, I thought I better get a card done and post a picture before we leave so here I am! For today's card I used the new SU Hostess set " The More the Merrier" What a fun set! The sentiment is also from SU's "On a Pedestal" . The adorable DSP is a super score that I made at Michael's on Martha Stewart Paper stacks that were 70% off. I LOVE clearance sales, and a girl can never have too much paper, right? The flower is a Prima flower that I inked up with Brilliance Metallic Pigment Ink. I love the shimmer. I hope that all of you have a wonderful week and that you are enjoying the beautiful fall colors! Thank you for visiting my blog!

Off Topic - Super Cute Halloween Costumes!

I can't decide on what I want Cameron to be for Halloween, and given the fact that this may be the last year that "I" get to decide what he is going to be rather then who he wants to be I want it to be a good one! I love the "Future Golfer" costume! It doesn't have a huge head piece which I know would drive him nuts! Hopefully they will be in-stock in the next couple of weeks. Anyways, if you want to enter a giveaway to win the FREE costume of your choice visit this blog: http://makingmyamericandream.blogspot.com/2009/09/anytime-costumes-review-giveaway.html Have a happy Sunday!

{Simple But Elegant}

I really hope that I am not boring you with my "Cricut" cards but I have been having SO much creative fun making these cards! This card features a wheat die cut that I layered on top of Stampin' Up! DSP. I used my corner rounder punch, and antique brass brads to accent the corners. The ribbon is Vanilla Satin ribbon that I picked up at a local store. The sentiment is from the Inkadinkado clear set "In the Garden". I promise to post a few Stampin' Up! cards in my next few posts since I am getting some new SU goodies next week, wahoo! I hope you have a wonderful, and safe weekend!

{Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice}

Is there anything better then making Baby Cards?! Okay, there are better things but Baby Cards are my favorite kind of card to make! This card is for someone very special, and I know she will probably see this on my blog anyways (Hi Valecia) LOL but I just HAD to post the card I made for baby Saydee, my new Niece! For this card I used a clear set I picked up from Michaels a few weeks ago. The paper is by Heidi Grace Designs. I used my Janome Sew Mini for all of the stitching, and my Nestabilities Labels 1. The grass and flowers were made using my Cricut and the Plantin cartridge. (my one and only cartridge, lol) I had to cut out the same design 3 times to get all of the colors on the die cut image. That was a pain in the bee-hind but well worth the effort because it turned out so darn cute! I accented the card with ribbon, and Wal Mart buttons. I hope that everyone is enjoying a beautiful Sunday. Thank you for visiting my blog!

{Friendship}

This time of year always brings back memories of my favorite season of the year, Fall! Changing Leaves, football games, Halloween, camp fires and most importantly, friends! I could go on and on but those are some of the things that I think of first when Fall comes around every year. For today's card I used one of my all time favorite Stampin' Up! sets
"Season of Friendship". I stamped the tree trunk in Choco Chip ink, and then stamped the leaves in 3 colors, Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, and More Mustard. I then stamped the leaves again on a separate piece of scrap paper and cut them out to give my tree a nice 3-d effect. I wanted to use a variety of coordinating designer paper colors and I am happy that it turned out the way I was envisioning it. The DP is from SU also. Finally I used my Mat Pack to paper pierce the border around the sentiment, and I used dew drops in the other 3 corners. The scallop circle was made with my Cricut. I hope that everyone is enjoying this beautiful start of Fall weekend!

Stampin Up Sale!

As some of you already know I am a Stampin' Up Demo, Hobby Demo that is! For the next 3 days I am offering my 20% demo discount for all orders placed through me. Even if you live in another state you can still order from me and receive the discount! Let me know if you are interested.
Now onto the card I made today! This card features a beautiful die-cut dragonfly that is sparkly but the camera didn't pick up the shimmer. I used my SU scallop punch on the edges, and the sentiment is the new SU Modern Label punch. My poor word window punch is going to be taking a back seat to the Modern Label Punch! I love the extra little sumthin' that it adds to the sentiment. I accented it with MM brads. I used Very Vanilla, Kiwi Kiss, and Pink Pirouette card stock. The embossed image is a Cuttlebug folder, and the stitching was done with my Janome Sew Mini. For some reason I have run out of "thank-you" cards so you may be seeing a lot of them in the next few weeks. I hope all of you are enjoying this beautiful Monday!

A Few Cards!

For this card I used the clear set by Stampendous called "Flutterfly Friends". This set is adorable! I used my Bics to color the butterfly, and the DP is from an old DCWV stack I have had for a few years. For the flower, and the flower center I used my Cricut! I love being able to incorporate both stamping, and die-cuts on my cards. The sentiments are from the SU set "On a Pedestal". This was a fun card to make!

This card features the SU set " On a Pedestal". This is one of my favorite sets out of the new catalog! Again I used DCWV paper (my favorite DP in case you haven't noticed) There layers were made using my SU Top Note Die, and my Cricut. I paper pieced the cake, yeah, it was a lot of cutting but I love how it turned out!

This card was made using the SU set "Manhattan Flower", and the matching Texture Plate. I stamped the main flower in Staz-On and used my Aqua Painters to color it in. I love the soft look of water-coloring. The paper is the new SU In-Color "Bermuda Bay", and SU Kraft. I accented the card with SU Linen Thread, and little rhinestones.

I hope all of you are having a great weekend! Today we drove out to our favorite Apple orchard and Bakery and I had a fresh apple turnover. Yum!!

SSSC34 - Sweet Sunday Sketch !!

Yeah, I know it is Tuesday but I didn't finish my card until last night, and then I had to wait for daylight to take a pic! Better late then never though, right? This card was made using the Sweet Sunday Sketch at the very talented blog of Karen Giron. I used retired Stampin' Up! DP, and an adorable Halloween Set from Inkadinkado! The "crooked" spider web in the corner was made with my Cricut and I colored the stamped image with my Prisma's. This was a fun card to make! I hope you all had a nice, relaxing Labor Day weekend, and I hope you have a great week!

Spooktacular Creation!

I have been having so much fun with my Cricut, and bought a program called "Sure Cuts Alot" that allows me to take any image, and cut it out! There are a ga-zillion files out there and I have been spending a lot of time uploading them to my hard drive. You would be VERY surprised at the files that are available for download. This card features a spooky owl that I found and cut out with my Cricut! Neato Mosquito! I sponged the background with SU ink to give a "sunset" background, and the bling is from a bag of rhine stones that I bought at a yard sale for .25. I love finding crafty stuff at yard sales. Thank you for visiting my blog, and I hope that you have a great Labor Day Weekend!

{It's a Wild World}

Today has just been one of "those" days, and this card is a perfect example of how I feel! Also, this is the first card I made using my Cricut....I am in love. The lettering, and grass were made with my new toy. It took me awhile to glue the letters to the card stock but well worth it because I love how it turned out! The stamped images are from "Recollections" I hope that each of you are having a good week so far, and I thank you for visiting my blog today!

A Card and My Weekend Flea Market Score!!

I finally got my little hands on one of the new Stampin Up sets out of the new catty called "For All You Do". This is a very versatile set that I am sure I will be reaching for again and again. For this card I used the new In-Colors Rich Razzleberry, and Melon Mambo. I will admit I was not crazy about the In-Colors when I first saw them online, but now that I have all of the ink pads and have seen the colors for myself they really are beautiful! I used my Stampamajig to place the 3 dot squares on the left hand side of my card. I tried to eyeball it but that didn't work out well, and after having to re-cut 3 pieces of card stock I knew I would have to get out my Stampamajig. I sponged "Soft Suede" around the scalloped oval. The sentiment was stamped on a square piece of card stock, and then I used a small wooden dowel to curl the ends for the "scroll" and again I used a sponge to distress the edges.

Now on to my SUPER flea market finds!!

I bought everything in this picture for $10, yep, can you believe that?A scrolls acrylic stamp set, 7 Cuttlebug Cuttle Kids dies, 3 very nice Cuttlebug Metal Dies, several packs of fancy Prima Flowers and rhinestones, and several packs of misc stickers and rub-ons. I could not believe it! Now, we went to another flea market and I found this:

Yup, a Cricut Expression!! I was jumping for joy (inside of course), and took a gamble since I bought it used, but we got it home, plugged it in, and I have been cutting out flowers and letters every since. LOL. Now, what did I pay for it you ask, well, it was more then $10..lol No, I talked them down from $125, down to $90. What an awesome deal!!! I am planning on purchasing the SVG software so that I can cut out any shape, letter, and design possible so that I won't have to buy the expensive cartridges. So all in all I would say this past weekend was a BIG success! I will be selling most of the $10 lot on Ebay and using that to pay for my Cricut so I am very excited about that! Anyways, thank you for sharing in my joy! Have a great day and thank you for visiting my blog!