Holiday Mojo..

Hello, friends! I just realized that we are less than 2 months away from Christmas! Ack! I am SO not ready. Every year, I say I am going to start early and create cards for everyone and every year I do not. Either I totally space and buy cards or I create just a few to send to "special" people. This yeah, though, since I have a blog I really have no excuse NOT to make my list of folks and create.

Today's card is the first of my Christmas creations. I have not decided yet whether or not I am gong to make 5 styles and then recreate those styles or do like I did one year and make a different design for each person. What do you guys do??

This card follows the Mojo Monday sketch for this week, seen here:

I chose square (big surprise, i'm sure..lol) and used some of my new stuff: My new Practicing Creativity Designs set " Retro Christmas" and my new Stampin Up dsp "Jolly Holiday". Love using new stuff...and getting more new stuff. Did you guys know there is a new Verve release this Friday?? Check out the Verve blog in my sidebar. Ok, sorry about the random thought...lol..back to the card. So, here it is:

It was lots of fun to make. I used my square lattice folder on the vanilla panel to give it a little life and randomly stamped the snowflakes in the Retro Christmas set on the other vanilla panel. The ribbon is tied with twine and then a button added over it. I like the way it kinda pulls the ribbon in and then lets it burst forth from the button.

Well, that's it from me today. Be SURE and come back tomorrow. I'm doing a mini blog hop with some of my blog buddies that you all know and love. *wink*


Stamps: Retro Christmas (Practicing Creativity Designs)
Card Stock: Kraft, Vanilla, black (papertrey); Jolly Holiday dsp (stampin up)
Ink: Cherry Cobbler (stampin up); Memento Black
Extras: Black rhinestones, grosgrain, and mat stack 4 (papertrey); Button, square lattice folder (stampin up)

2S4Y thank you..and babies!

Hello there! Don't have a lot of time to talk today, but I have two cards for you. Yep..it's a twofer day! :)

My first card is for the mom of a friend of Ava's. We've been dropping Ava at her house every morning this week at 6:15 because we've had to be at work earlier than normal. I really appreciate her 1. getting up way early to let Ava in and 2. taking her to school. This is just a little thank you for that. I used the sketch from this week's  2S4Y, seen here:

Here is my card:

You like? I wanted to do something different with the ribbon (imagine that!), so I braided it. Not sure if I like it, but I'll try it again to get it just the way I want it. I also used my new Limitless Labels set from Papertrey and I already love love love it!


The second card is a baby card I made for a set of twins. My mom has been asking me for this card for several weeks and I have just gotten around to it. It's not EXACTLY what I wanted for the mom to be, but here is the bedroom:

And here is the "matching" card:

What do you think? It maybe has a little more green, but I thought it was pretty close. I also added an 's' to the end of the sentiment so that it would match up with the whole "twin" thing. :)

That's it from me. Hope you all have a lovely day today!

Stamps: Inside Out: Thank You, Damask Designs, Flutter By, Signature Greetings (Papertrey); Barefoot Summer (Practicing Creativity Designs)

Card Stock: Linen, Black (papertrey); Lovely Lilac, Certainly Celery, Vanilla (stampin up)

Ink: Versamark, Tim Holtz Frayed Burlap; Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery (stampin up)

Extras: Black embossing powder (stampin up); Grosgrain (papertrey);Stickles, random button; Limitless Labels (papertrey)

Thank you...

Hi everyone! Welcome to Wednesday...it's Hump Day as they say on the local news..and it drives me bonkers because the guy says it with this weird cartoon like voice. I swear, it totally starts my Wednesdays off wrong..lol. Anyway, today's card is a tad busy, but I like it. I went button crazy as you'll see. :)

I used the 4th sketch from the Verve Release week sketch challenges and also I am participating in the Practicing Creativity Designs challenge this week. Take a looksie at Courtney's blog for more info! You could be the Guest designer next month! Here is the Verve sketch:

And here is my card:

I got the idea of making it a long card from Laurie's card last week. It IS huge, but I like it. I liked that I had a lot more room to make my image...it was a lot of fun. The buttons make it a tad bulky, and my husband said, "You're going to have to hand deliver that!"...lol. I am also (thanks to Michelle) entering this into the Denami Ribbon challenge. Take a looksie and come play along. Ribbon is just the BEST card thing, right? I love love love playing with ribbon. :)

This card was totally fun...I fell in love with the colors,too. Not sure if you can see, but there is a kraft layer under the yellow. Ok, well that's it from me. Hope you like the card. Laters!



Stamps: You're Dandy (Practicing Creativity Designs)
Card Stock: Earky Espresso, Kraft, dsp (stampin up)
Ink: Chocolate Chip (stampin up)
Extras: a ton of buttons, pearls, and satin ribbon (all stampin up); eyelet border die and twine (papertrey)

You're Dandy!

Good morning! Hope you're all doing fabulous! I love today's card. Can I just say that? It makes me happy to look at it. So Fun! I used my forgotten Practicing Creativity Designs stamp set, You're Dandy. I love this set, but it always seems to get lost in the shuffle. I just have to start using it more. I used it today because it was too perfect for the week 3 Verve Challenge over on SCS.  The challenge is a sketch challenge, but we were to also use Styley Walls  - an Etsy site - as our inspiration. While going through the pictures, I came across this beauty:

I knew at once that it was going to be my inspiration piece and I knew EXACTLY which stamp set I would use. So, here is my creation:

Perfect, right? lol...this is just my smiley card now. Ok, well that's it from me. Talk to you tomorrow and have a fabulous day! 

Stamps: You're Dandy (PCD)

Card Stock: White, So Saffron, Old Olive, SU dsp  (stampin up)

Ink: Old Olive (stampin up)

Extras: Grosgrain (papertrey); Button (stampin up)

HB Friend...

Hi everyone. I have a splitting migraine tonight, so this will be short and sweet. I made this card for Mercy's sketch this week. I like how it turned out...a little busy, but cute still..lol.

Here is my take on it:

Off to a dark, quiet room now. Have a great night and i'll see you tomorrow. Hopefully earlier than 9pm! )

Getting back into the swing of things...and Mothers Day

Hey everyone! I've been missing a few days. Still trying to post comments on you guys' blogs, while really not having the desire or mojo to do anything of my own. As you know, we're in Nashville and we've had some devastating floods since Saturday.  When I posted on Saturday, I was telling you about the rain and all. Well, Nashville is now under a LOT of water. Downtown, the Titans stadium, the Schermerhorn symphony center, Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Old Opry, Opryland Hotel, countless strip malls and interstates..all flooded..some irreparably.

The worst part of it all, though, isn't the loss of iconic places like some of those..but of homes and schools. There are 25 schools in Nashville alone with water damage. There is a school about 10 minutes from me completely under water. Places you grew up living and going..all gone in a weekend. Nashville has never seen this much rain - ever. It's heartbreaking. It really is. You stop and wonder why not your house. Why was your house spared while friends and neighbors lost everything. It's been such an emotionally charged week here, but honestly we've seen the best in people. There's been no looting, no violence..none of that. Some of the best of America lives right here in Tennessee and I have never been prouder to call this place home. Nashville will get through this. We'll rebuild, but it'll be a while. Hardly anyone here has flood insurance because 1. we do not live in a flood plain and 2. you can't just buy it cause you want it (at least that's what we've all been told), so it will be hard to pick back up and move on..but it'll happen. Take a look at this video for more on the city: Nashville

For those of you that asked, we're fine. Our house has roof damage and some issues inside, but nothing like what others have experienced. There are still friends we have not heard from and people who are still stuck in their homes either downtown in condos or in the suburbs on cul-de-sacs. People have died, and people have lost everything. We were blessed for some reason not to have to deal with those things and for that I am extremely humbled. God is good all of the time even in the midst of storms.

Ok, so I knew that tonight I HAD to stamp. I have to get Mother's Day cards to my mother in law and step mom in the mail tomorrow if they are going to get there on time, so I had no choice. I got my new stamps from Practicing Creativity Designs in the mail yesterday thanks to Dana who totally MADE me buy this set with her fabulous card seen here: You're Dandy. I can already say that I love love love this set. It was so easy to use. This card practically made itself especially once I used the Mojo Monday sketch for this week. Fan-freakin-tastic, am I right? Love these sketch challenges. They totally open my brain to new possibilities. You guys should try them if you haven't already.

Ok, so without further ado..here is the card with You're Dandy and the Mojo Monday sketch:

I just love these colors. Everything just worked so well together on this card and I love when that happens. Too often, I am sitting in the craft room looking at a bunch of supplies with absolutely NO ideas coming into my brain,but this was easy peasy lemon squeezy! I made this for my mother in law...I think..it may end up going to my step mom. lol..I haven't decided yet!

The second card is really a cheat card. The only stamping on the card is the "Wonderful Mother" sentiment. The rest is ALL paper. It's a paper pack I picked up at Joann this past weekend by DCWV. I love patterned paper..just love it!

Here is that card:

It has sort of a foil effect on some of the paper that looks embossed. I just thought that was really all I needed on the card. I stamped the sentiment on and it as all good for me. :o) Oh, but I did use a little of the Tim Holtz distressing ink on the edges. It was my first time using it, so i'll have to practice..lol

Ok, well I hate to cut this short (as if..considering this has been an extra long post), but I must get to bed! Thanks for stopping by...

Stamps: You're Dandy (Practicing Creativity Designs); Well Scripted (stampin up)
Cardtsock: Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Very Vanilla, Black,Chocolate Chip (stampin up); All patterned paper by DCWV
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Black (stampin up); Tim Holtz distressing ink in Tea Dye
Extras: Stickles