HB - Happy Birthday!

Today's card is a CASE from one of the project ideas from Stampin' Up! - the layout is the same, but I changed up the colors.  I started with the Love Letter DSP and used the colors of Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, and Very Vanilla.  It's hard to see in the first picture, but the Very Vanilla piece is crimped and the basic black piece is paper-pierced.  For some bling, I punched out a little flower from the red glimmer paper using the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack and added a Rhinestone Jewel.  What do you think - glamorous for a girl's card?  Thanks for stopping by today!

Stamp Sets	Punch Bunch
Ink	Riding Hood Red, Basic Black
Paper	Riding Hood Red, Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Love Letter DSP
Accessories	1-3/8" Circle Punch, 1-3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL Die, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack, Rhinestone Jewels, Linen Thread, Paper Snips, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Crimper

Birthday Wishes - PPA and Mojo Monday

Today's card was put together using the Mojo Monday sketch and the PPA challenge of clean and simple with scallops!  I'm not sure this card is truly clean and simple, but we're going with it ;).

I just inked up my Playful Pieces stamp set for the first time today - there are SO MANY things you could do with this stamp set - I will definitely be playing with it more.  What do you think of the colors?  Good for a boy card?

A couple of things I'll point out - I used the star stamp from the Playful Pieces set to create the Wild Wasabi background and I used the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch (trimmed down) as the scallops on the platter holding the "presents".  Thanks for stopping by today!

Stamp Sets	Playful Pieces (Hostess Level 3), Occasional Quotes (Hostess Level 3)
Ink	Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler
Paper	Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Marina Mist, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories	Tasteful Trim Bigz XL Die, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch, Neutrals Brads, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat Pack, Stampin' Dimensionals

So Many Candles, So Little Cake!

Today's card was made using that fabulous Fun Flowers die!  To give the flowers some texture, I used my bone folder to break down the card stock until the front and back of the paper started separating - then I pulled it apart to give it a "felt" effect.  Gotta love those Fabric Designer Brads - so adorable.

For the sentiment, I stamped in VersaMark first, then in Early Espresso - then I added clear embossing powder (the VersaMark helps it stick).  At the time, I didn't have any Craft ink, but I just got my Craft Stampin' Spots this week!

The finishing touch on this card is the Pompom Trim - it's adhered to the card easily with Sticky Strip.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Stamp Sets	On Your Birthday
Ink	VersaMark, Early Espresso
Paper	Wild Wasabi, Tangerine Tango, Sweet Stitches DSP
Accessories	Fun Flowers Bigz L Die, Fabric Designer Brads, Melon Mambo Pompom Trim, Paper Piercing Tool, Heat Tool, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sticky Strip

Milestones & Sympathy

Wow... this is my 100th blog post!!!  And tomorrow (February 25), I am celebrating my 10th anniversary with Ernst & Young - hard to believe!  And Sunday (February 27) will be my first anniversary as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator!

If only life could be happiness all the time - I wish I never had reasons to make sympathy cards, but there is something healing about making one.  It gives me an opportunity to think and pray for the family who's lost a loved one - and gives me time to appreciate the moment and be thankful for the present.

I used the masking technique for the flowers - that was a lot of intricate cutting, but I'm happy with the end result.  And what do you think of the bow?!?  Thanks to Lee Conrey's Magic Bow Maker, you'll have a perfect bow every time!  Thanks for stopping by today!

"Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  Today is a gift.  That's why we call it the present."  -Eleanor Roosevelt

Stamp Sets	Nature Walk, Thanks for Caring
Ink	Soft Suede, Not Quite Navy, Pear Pizzazz, Baja Breeze
Paper	Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, Springtime Vintage DSP, Not Quite Navy
Accessories	Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Baja Breeze 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon, Stamping Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals, Glue Dots

Stampin' Success Happy Birthday

If you're a fellow Stampin' Up! demo, do you recognize this card?  It's from the February Stampin' Success magazine - I fell in love with the design and had to try it myself.  The best part about this card?  Using Stampin' Mist to give the flower texture - the card smells great and it dries super fast!  I also love using the embossing folder backwards to give it a debossed effect.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Stamp Sets	Bring On the Cake
Ink	Early Espresso
Paper	Crumb Cake, First Edition DSP, Perfect Plum, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories	Fun Flowers Bigz L Die, Antique Brads, Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder, Stamping Sponges, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stampin' Mist, Paper Piercing Tool

Valentine Defined

Today's card is my valentine for my hubby :).  I know, I know - I'm posting it late for Valentine's Day!  But this could be a 'just because' card too!  I love how the card turned out - with the exception of one thing - my color spritzing skills!  I need to practice, practice, practice.  I'm holding it too close!

Anyways, hope you enjoy today's card and thanks for stopping by!

Stamp Sets	Valentine Defined, Tiny Tags
Ink	Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black
Paper	Crumb Cake, Basic Black, Love Letter DSP, Red Glimmer
Accessories	Victoria Crochet Trim, Linen Thread, Full Heart Punch, Heart Punch, Jewelry Tag Punch, Vintage Trinkets, Scalloped Heart of Hearts Embosslits Die, Color Spritzer Tool, Paper Piercing Tool, Stampin' Dimensionals, Stamping Sponges

My New Stampin' Space!

Drum roll, please...  Here's the reveal of my new stampin' room!  Just click on any of the photos for a closer look and let me know if you have any questions!  This has been a work in progress since we moved into our new house in November and I couldn't wait to share it with you!

Let me just say that I've been a regular at Ikea - they have the best and most affordable things for craft organization - who knew!

The first picture is of my workspace!  The apple painting was a wedding gift from one of my mom's dear friends in memory of her.  It's there to remind me of where I came from and to give me inspiration.  To the left of the apple is a plaque that says, "All Angels are Welcome" - I have some wonderful angels watching over me :).

Let's see... I made the ribbon holder out of aluminum rods and hooks from Home Depot - pretty proud of myself for the idea!  And if you click on the photo to zoom, you should see the boxes my scissors and envelopes are in (they have bows tied around them) - my mom made those!  Such a treasure :).  The ink pad holder holds all of my necessities (adhesives, etc) in addition to my ink pads - all within arms reach!  And, I store all of my embellishments in magnetic containers.  Clear-mount stamp storage and punch storage are from Ikea :).

My wall of wood-mount stamps (Ribba shelves from Ikea):

My Ikea bookshelf and light box (Cowboy Studios) for blog photos:

Here's where I do my blogging and look for inspiration:

View from the doorway:

View from the opposite corner:

View from in front of the light box:

Thanks for stopping by today!

Bring on the Cake!

I am so terribly sorry that I've been away from my blog since December 23rd!?!?!?  I overdid it over the holidays making all kinds of projects and hurt my neck sitting at my crafting desk for such long periods of time - hee hee!  Then I got a terrible cold and all of a sudden I was out of the habit of blogging!  I've got a lot of cards to share with you, so more to come :).  Thanks for sticking with me!

Today's card was a birthday card for my sister-in-law Brooke.  I really love the Fun Flowers die - you'll see more cards I made with this awesome die.  And the colors in the Occasions Mini are so much fun - especially with the winter we've all had!

Thanks for stopping by and hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Stamp Sets	Bring On the Cake
Ink	Wild Wasabi
Paper	Wild Wasabi, Melon Mambo, Regal Rose
Accessories	Fun Flowers Bigz L Die, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Sweet Stitches Fabric Designer Brads, Baja Breeze 1/2" Seam Binding Ribbon, Paper Piercing Took, Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

Stylish Blogger Award!

The amazing Nance Leedy gave me this wonderful blog award - I LOVE Nance's creations - stop by and say hello to her!  With this award, I get to share 8 things about me and pass it along to 8 bloggers (SO hard to choose out of about 400 blogs I'm following!).

Okay, so here are 8 things you might not know about me:

1. My favorite food is cheese - I could eat it for any meal - all day, every day.  A second runner up is sushi!
2. My husband and I both work for the same company - that's how we met :).  We used to have the same job, but I've moved on to another position (I've been with our company for 10 years now!).  Added bonus - we get to carpool together and drive in the HOV lane with our crazy Atlanta traffic (when he's not traveling).
3. I started stamping and became a demonstrator one year ago (February 27)!  The first time I stamped, I was hooked and signed up as a demonstrator - thanks to Tina, my Upline, for introducing me to Stampin' Up!.  I'm still a discount demonstrator, but hope to start holding classes/workshops/stamp clubs soon!
4. I love stars!  Specifically 5-pointed stars and they've been my favorite since I was young.  I even have a star tattoo - gasp!  Most people are surprised when they meet me to find out I have a tattoo - haha!  It's a sentimental tattoo - when my mother was battling cancer, she saw a rainbow outside her doctor's window - so I got a rainbow star tattoo.  Soon to follow will be an apple surrounding that star that my mother drew when I was in college.  She loved apples as much as I love stars.
5. I talk to my furry children (Murphy, Izzy, and Tucker) like they are people - they are such good companions!
6. I'm a techno-geek and love my gadgets!  Right now my go-to gadgets are my Kindle and my Blackberry, but I also love my iPhone.  I also enjoy figuring out the design of my blog and I find any opportunity I can to use technology at work and at home to make life more efficient :).
7. I was born and raised in Chagrin Falls, Ohio - outside of Cleveland - Cleveland rocks!
8. I took piano lessons for 3 years when I was younger - but quit taking lessons.  I'd like to learn how to play again.

Here are 8 wonderful bloggers I'd like to pass this award to:

1. Morgan - Stamp Cravings
2. Christina - Homemade with Christina
3. Jamie - Shabby Horse
4. Amanda - Krafting Kreations
5. Elaine - Create 'n Stamp with Elaine Uhl
6. Andrea - Just because I love to play...
7. Connie - Stamp Art Squared...
8. Christy - Hokiecoyote Blog

Stop by and give them some love!

Cherry on Top Award!

Pauline Kolochuk (The Pursuit of Stampin'ess) is so wonderful to have given me the Cherry on Top Award for my blog!  I was so surprised and flattered - thank you so much, Pauline!!!  She has a great blog full of beautiful creations - please be sure to stop by her blog to say hello.

Now, with receiving this awesome award, I have the opportunity to tell you 3 things about myself and pass the award onto 5 other talented bloggers - so many to choose from!

First, about me...

1. I love to sing!  I've been singing for as long as I can remember - it started with the church I grew up in and continued throughout high school and college (choir, show choir, musicals, etc).  Now I mostly just sing in the shower or the car, and occasionally you can find me at a karaoke bar :).  Oh, and I never miss an episode of American Idol!

2. I had open-heart surgery when I was 18 to repair an atrial-septal defect (hole in my heart).  I was born with it, but it wasn't discovered until just before I left for college.  That experience, along with losing my mother to colon cancer a year later, has given me a special perspective which has played a major role in where I am today and how I live my life.  I lived through those experiences and they have given me strength.

3. Spiders and cockroaches absolutely freak me out - and what do you know, we just moved back to Atlanta - where they are in abundance!  Ugh!  I've seen a lot of spiders in our new house and my husband discovered our cats playing ping-pong with a cockroach - thank goodness my hubby takes care of that stuff (except when he's traveling and I need to put my big girl pants on and deal with it)!  I sure hope the exterminator knows how important he is too!

Now to pass this award onto 5 wonderful blogs that I love to visit:

1. Nance Leedy - Canopy Crafts
2. Dana Newsom - EverBlooming
3. April Massad - {Stamp} Paper Scissors
4. Cindy E - Heart's Delight Cards
5. Julie B - Julie B's Stampin' Space

Stop by and give them some love!