it's all about sarah today

Happy Saturday Morning! What are you guys all going to do today? Me? As little as possible! Nah...I hope to get some great stamping time in today! So...do you remember THIS card? Well, it was for a kid's birthday swap that I signed up for on SCS. When Sarah mentioned it I couldn't say no...could I? Anyway, I received my cards back from the swap yesterday and I must say that I love them all!

First, is the contact card that she made for me. When I asked for these cards to be made I asked that they represent who that person is. Sarah made her card with a hen because that is who she is...mama hen to her two beautiful boys and her husband. See the super cute little mice under the hen? Awww...so cute! Sarah is a very sweet woman whom I hope to meet someday in...wait for it...yep...that is right...Green Bay Wisconsin! You all know how much I love my Packers and she gets to live in the land of green and gold....lucky, lucky girl she is! I try to get back to Wisconsin every other year SO it is a good possibility that we may get to meet at some point...fun!

The other card she sent was made with a cute stamp from My Big Idea's and is called Max. It happens to be the stamp I sent Sarah for her birthday. With two very cute little guys at home I thought she might be able to put it to use and she did. I love the way she used the Traffic Jams Cuttlebug folder and cut them out. And the blues...perfect for my house and hers since we both have all boys that we live with. The sentiment is from that cute set I used the other day called Smarty Pants.

So...tomorrow I'll show you three of the cards from the swap and on Monday the last two.

Be on the lookout for some blog candy coming up soon. I have visited several blogs that are giving away blog candy but you have to do something to earn a chance to get it. I just feel like it would be fun for you guys to just try and win something...no strings attached. Anyway, that is coming soon!

***EDITED to add...I've updated the received images on THIS post***

hometown pride

I'm not sure if you know or not but Todd and I really like Thomas Kinkade's paintings. Todd loves the lighthouses and my favorites are Forest Chapel and Sunrise. We even invested in a Gallery Proof, with Mr. Kinkade's signature on the back, of Victorian Light. HERE is what it looks like. Anyway, all that to tell you that when Cornish Heritage Farms said they were coming out with Thomas Kinkade stamps I was thrilled! They are individual little pieces of art. While they are a bit difficult to color with all the detail I still love them anyway. I just recently purchased the newest stamp called Hometown Pride. I decided to try a sepia look with it the first time prior to coloring it as I had seen seen in a couple of the sneak peeks. All of it is brown except for the red stripes in the flag. I just thought that was stunning. I used Palette Burnt Umber for my brown ink and then my red COPIC on the flag and that was it. I have found that if you ink up the stamp then lay your card stock on it and roll it with a roller it inks better for me. I used CHF's new Clear Cards thick transparency crafting sheets for the base. The image is on one side and the red layer is on the other. Make sense? That way no one sees the adhesive I used. Oh, yeah..the thick transparency sheets are not very forgiving with taking off the card stock and placing it again so you have to be really ready to put that card stock down! I wasn't sure if adding embellishments would make this card look any better or not and honestly I didn't know what I would use if I added any so I've left it like this. If you have any ideas though let me know. I'll not be changing this specific card but for future purposes I would like to know what you think. So, this will be off to my brother for his birthday next week. I sure hope he likes it!

Just a reminder that the due date for the image swap is rapidly approaching and, in fact, are due on Tuesday. If you don't have them in the mail you should do it today or tomorrow for sure. HERE is a link to that thread. If you need my address just e-mail me and please don't forget to include an envelope so that I can return your swaps to you. If you aren't going to be able to get your images out just let me know.

It is a cloudy, rainy day here...blah! But, it goes well with my plan to do a movie marathon with the kids. We have several "series" of movies like Star Wars, The Love Bug, Back to the Future and I thought it would be fun to take a day and watch one of those series. We'll see what they think! It is now 8 a.m. and I need to get to my exercising soon so I'm signing off for today. Have a super Friday and I'll "see" you tomorrow!

good ones

I am not sure what has happened the last couple of days but I have not been able to make anything that I consider out of this world for the last couple of days. Here is a card that I made yesterday that is plain and simple. Still worthy of throwing in the mail (actually I considered giving it to Todd but it is to feminine). The yellow and light teal card stock is Prism card stock and the rest is from some designer paper scraps I had left laying around. The ribbon is PTI's Lemon Tart twill. The sentiment is from the SU! set Smarty Pants. So, yeah...hope my creativity comes back soon 'cuz I need to get some stuff done!

I think I'll switch gears for a little while today though and make some snickerdoodle cookies. I found a really great looking recipe HERE that I'm going to try. Just have to get some cream of tartar (kinda expensive stuff). Have you checked out Donna's baking blog? It is called Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases. If you love to bake you definitely have to check it out! And, she has a cookbook giveaway going on now! Speaking of yummy food. Mish Mash put her recipe for Tropical Blondies on her blog today. If you'd like to see that recipe just click HERE.

Well, I hope you all have a super fantastic Thursday. My kiddos have a FOUR day weekend this weekend so today is our last day of school for this week...yay!

recipe

Remember THIS card? Well, I made it for a friend's birthday that is next week. For sometime I've been wanting to do the idea that you see to the side. I used a CHF set and a PTI set plus a Karen Foster set to stamp the top part. And, yes, I know it isn't straight...more my writing than anything else. Anyway, I have put this on the inside, top of the card so that I can write my own, personal message on the bottom. The scallops on the sides are just 3/4" circles punched out and then placed on the card. Over all I think it is a super cute idea and that my friend will love it!

A pretty lame post today but I just didn't have time to sit down and stamp yesterday.

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday and I'll see ya tomorrow!

owl's so cute!

In my Sweet N Sassy package that I got the other day I received two of their images. One was this super cute owl. I'm am going to own this owl soon as it is the set in the June Sweet N Sassy My Three Little DReaMs kit! I bought this owl paper in anticipation of that set...silly aren't I? Anyway, when I received the image I knew I had to make a card with it so I sat down to do so and this is what I came up with. It is a pretty busy card but I really like it! The layout is the sketch for you to try from Jen's blog. The birthday sentiment is from the Birthday Basics through PTI.

Don't forget Courtney's Blog candy. And another Image Swap reminder. Check HERE to see if I've received your images.

Have a super Tuesday everyone!

yummy!

I got a super cute set from Cornish Heritage Farms called Baked with love the other day and when I saw it I knew I had to combine it with this cute baking paper I had. I stamped only twice on this entire card but I still think it is adorable! The layout is from Mish Mash's blog. Michelle has taken to sharing her personal layouts with her blog readers and I have loved every single one of them! It is difficult to see but there is a white layer under the chocolate chip layer.

The other picture is of how I store my COPIC markers on my desk. I have read in several different places that, unlike SU! markers, you can store your COPIC vertically and it wont hurt them so I was off to find something neato to store them in. This is a tin from the Dollar Spot at Target that I used some of the SAB rub on to spiffy up a little. I love that I can see the colors well and that they are somewhat organized. This tin takes up so much less room on my desk than the plastic holders that they came in. Kinda neato, huh?

If you are in my image swap you may want to think about getting those images out to me this week as they are due on the 27th. I don't want to have to hold this up to please complete this commitment. Any questions? Take a look HERE!!!

And finally today...run do not walk to Courtney's blog. She is having a weeks worth of blog candy in order to celebrate her blogaversary.

Have a super great Monday!!!