Doing the Happy Dance!!!

Guess what, guess what, guess what!!!! Yours truly has been selected as a member of the July-December 2009 Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Jr Design Team!!!! I am soooo excited, and so proud to be a part of this group. When Korin Sutherland, owner of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, put up a notice for Design Team member applications, I jumped at the chance to work with her and her team. SNSS's tag line is "sharing the love of Christ through paper crafting." I love that! Korin's company is truly a labor of love... love for Christ, love for people, love for sharing, and (of course) love for paper crafting. I feel exactly the same way.

This is a dream come true for me... I've always wanted to be a DT member, but only if it was the right time and for the right company. I truly believe the Lord has led me here for a purpose, and I hope to make Him proud and do all things to His glory!



Here is one of the cards I submitted with my application. This is a super cute digi image called A Gift for You. One thing I LOVE about Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is all their digi images... adorable images, instant gratification (just pay and download), very reasonably priced, and no shipping cost! And if you're worried, ink jet printer ink works perfectly with Copic markers... no bleeding whatsoever! If you have a photo editing software, you can put a bunch of images (or several copies of the same image) on one page and print entire sheets on your cardstock of choice. I do that all the time and it works great. Plus, if I goof up on the coloring, I have another image ready to go.

I notice that SNSS carries Neenah cardstock, which is the one of THE best for Copic marker coloring.

Other deets on this card: the DP is from Basic Grey's 6 x 6 Mellow Collection. I colored a plain white flower with my Copic markers, and used a funky button with one hole in it (what kind of button is that? LOL), through which I threaded a rhinestone brad. The leaves are actually petals from an identical white flower, which I colored green.

Because I'm in such a good mood today, I'm going to ADD to my Blogaversary Candy offering, so stay tuned for that.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back soon with more to share!

Blogaversary Candy!

Edited to add: The winner of my Blogaversary Candy is Rachel! Thank you all for supporting me and my blog. It means the world to me!

Hello my blogging friends! Have you missed me? It's been a crazy week. First, I was working on a special project, then it was prep for Stamp Club, and then Stamp Club, and then scrapbooking night with Susan, and then a trip to Temecula wine country (more on that later), and now I'm back!!!

Anyhoo, last Sunday was my one-year blogaversary. I decided I couldn't let it go by without a bit of celebration. After all, because of my blog, I've met some awesome people, made some forever friendships, and grown in my skills and my love of this great hobby. So, without further ado, here's what I'm offering:




Edited to add: As promised in my post announcing that I've been selected as a Jr Design Team member for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, I'm sweetening the Blog Candy to include the above stamp set called Echoes of Kindness (which is what I'm getting from all of you, thank you very much!). It's a Level II Hostess set, which is retiring at the end of June. It's brand new, although I've already mounted it for you.

I've purposely selected things that will fit into a flat rate envelope so that I can include all my friends from around the world. The winner of this blog candy will receive Stampin Up's Patterns Pack Designer Series Paper II (a Hostess Level I gift), which includes Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal, Brocade Blue, Basic Gray and Garden Green 6 x 6 designer papers... a total of 60 double-sided sheets; Mrs. Grossman's Limited Edition Heart Collection (over 265 stickers celebrating 30 years); and two Lelo Designs stamps: Bathtub and You Go First (can you say CUTE!). Just leave a comment on this blog post (in answer to the question below) no later than 5 pm Pacific time on Sunday, June 7th. If you are one of my Followers, you will get TWO entries into the drawing, so if you haven't joined me yet, now's a good time! I will annouce the winner on Monday, June 8th in the evening. And you never know... I might just slip something extra into the package...hee hee.

Here is the question: What is your favorite way to color your stamped images?

For me, that's gotta be Copics, baby!

Thanks for stopping by! I will back soon with a card to share.

Stamp Out Alzheimers

Hello my crafting friends! I'm back today with a card to share that has very special meaning.
Korin Sutherland at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has created this gorgeous digi stamp set called Forget-Me-Not for the Stamp Out Alzheimers fund drive. I'm more than happy to support this worthy cause as my uncle was recently diagnosed with Alzheimers and Parkinson's Disease. I can't imagine what it's like to lose your memories... and for loved ones as they deal with that and the other horrible effects of this terrible disease. My uncle is on medications that are having a positive effect, thanks be to God. It's this sort of research that is critical for finding a cure, so please help if you can... and have fun while you do it!

Korin is giving away the Forget-Me-Not digi stamp set as part of the week's activities on the SOA website. For more information, visit Korin's blog. The ticker shows that they've already exceed their goal to raise $5,000, but don't let that deter you! The more funds raised, the better! Plus, there are contests and giveaways going on all week, so don't miss out.

I colored the flower image with my Copics (such a fun image to color... the possibilities are endless!). The paper is from a past Key Ingredients kit from Taylored Expressions. This particular kit appears to be sold out, but Taylor's other kits are just as wonderful. I noticed that Taylor is also sponsoring some challenges and giveaways for the SOA event. The deets are on her blog.

Thanks for stopping by to visit! I always enjoy hearing from you. I'll be back soon with more fun things to share!

2 Blog Awards, a Beautiful Card, a Birthday and...

I have lots to share in this blog post, so I hope you'll stay with me!

First, as my crafting time has been limited lately, so has my blog posting. I've recently received two incredible blog awards, and have been remiss in not writing about one of them sooner.

The first is an award that was passed along to me by Debbie Pamment and Kristine Breach, two of my BBFFs (Best Blogging Friends Forever... I just made that up!). According to Debbie's post, it was created by Kellie Winnell and passed along to her with the following quote: "I feel that there are a lot [of blog awards] out there that are awarded for the creative sides of things, and I love them, but few [blog awards] to just appreciate the people that follow and comment on your blog, which to me nothing makes my day more than having gorgeous comments left on something you created, really lifts the spirits and makes my day."

Kristine paraphrased that by saying this award means, "Thank you for your support... for leaving sweet comments that really lift my spirits and make a bad day better... for comments that go beyond the typical "Great card!" and really connect with you on a personal level."

I am so proud to have received this award because, to me, that IS what blogging is about. I love that I've made friends with people all over the world whom I would never have met were it not for this wonderful hobby and the time we take to share not only our creations, but also a bit of ourselves. The comments left on my blog posts truly lift my spirits and make me feel so good. And they are the means by which my blogging friendships have been made. Thank you Debbie and Kristine for including me when you passed along this award. It SO totally made my day, and I'm truly blessed by your frienships!!!

I, of course, would pass this award to both Debbie and Kristine, but am also passing it along to my other BBFF Michelle Yungbauer (whose blog is so aptly named Stamp and Smile because that is exactly what Michelle makes me do every time I hear from her: smile!), and to my BFF Susan Marshburn, who doesn't have a blog (yet), but who is endlessly supportive of not just my blog, but of me personally (I love you, girlfriend!), and to my other BFF Lisa Keenan, who also doesn't have a blog and rarely comments in writing (she gives me her comments in person - ha!), but is also endlessly supportive of my blog, my crafting and me personally (I love you, too, my dear friend), and to my other blogging buddies Lee Murphy, Carolann, Cindy Haffner, and Patti J.

I received another blog award yesterday, passed along to me by my newest friend from Australia, Carolann. She and I share a love for cats! This blog award is for people who have made a difference to you by their visits to your blog, the things they write, the interest they take. Again, this made my day!!! And it's extra recognition of all the things I said above!

Of course, I would pass this award to Carolann. But I'm also passing it to Debbie Pamment, Kristine Breach, Michelle Yungbauer, Susan Marshburn, Lisa Keenan, Lee Murphy, Cindy Haffner and Patti J with the same heartfelt thanks for being my friends and always leaving comments that cheer me up no end and make me smile.

Speaking of Susan, the card I'm sharing today is one she recently made for me.

Isn't it wonderful? Lucky me! The only things I know for sure about the card ingredients is that those butterflies and the swirls are SU Sizzix die cuts, the edge punch is also by SU, and the sentiment is from the Papertrey Ink special Second Anniversary stamp set. I'm not sure about the paper, except that it's gorgeous! You can see more of Susan's work in her SCS Gallery. Me thinks I've got her hooked on Anyas!

Are you still with me?

Today is my third son Clay's 16th birthday. I wish I had a recent picture to share of this goofy teenage kid, who often vexes me (he is, after all, a teenage boy), but who I love with a passion (as I do my other boys). But here is a picture that is very special to me.

It was taken a day or two after Clay was born. That's my mom holding Clay, and my two older boys, Ian and Collin. The thing that is so special about this picture (and Clay's birth) is that my mother was there with me in the delivery room (she lived in Mississippi, but came out to be with us for Clay's birth... she wasn't able to be here when Ian and Collin were born). It wasn't planned for her to be in the delivery room, but I told her it was okay if she wanted to stay, and she did! She stood by my bed cheering me on, watching in facination, holding my hand, and saw the whole birth. She even cut the umbilical cord! (Where was Paul, you might ask? Collapsed in a nearby chair... what a sissy. You'd think after two previous births, he'd have been used to it, but Clay started coming really fast, and I don't think Paul was ready. {LOL} I remember the doctor asking the nurse to get Mr. Hjulberg a chair. I never let him forget this, of course. hee hee)

Anyway, this was the last best thing my mom and I ever did together. Her cancer returned shortly after she returned home, and she didn't live to see Clay's first birthday. So Clay's birthday will always be very special to me. I thank God for the precious gift of having my mom there to share one of the four best days of my life with me.

And finally (yes, the end of this long post is near), I have to admit that today is my Blogaversary. I haven't made a fanfare of it because I'm kind of embarrassed that I haven't even got to 9000 hits in one year, buy hey, it's the quality not the quantity, right? I truly thank all of you who have visited my blog. And, if it weren't for my blog, I wouldn't have made the dear friends I have, so this is truly a day to celebrate. I think some blog candy is in order. Give me a day or two to come up with something, and we'll celebrate together!

Thanks so much for stopping by today for a visit... and for bearing with me through a very long post.

Howdy!

As I sat here trying to think of how to start this post, I got fixated on my animated signature. I swear, that cat really does look like my ribbon-eating cat Jazzy. She's sitting right next to me now, trying to figure out if she could get away with jumping into my lap. That darn cat loves me, and I have to say I love her, too.

Here's a picture of my kitty. You can't tell by the photo, but she's a big cat... I think she weighs around 13 pounds. Thankfully, she's back to her old self since her surgery. I'm glad we were able to save her because I wasn't ready to say good-bye to my pal.

Anyhoo, I'm sorry I haven't posted much this week. It's all about too much stress at work, which leaves me wiped out in the evenings and not up to crafting. I'm so happy this is a 3-day weekend. I have a long list of cards I plan to make, so I got my chores out of the way today. We're going out for sushi with some friends tonight, and then tomorrow is my son Clay's 16th birthday. He has picked PF Changs for his family dinner out (yum!). To tell the truth, we haven't made any plans for Memorial Day, and I'm glad. I really need a day with nothing to do but relax and stamp!

I do have another card to share from The Greeting Farm's Virtual Stamp Luau, which was a sketch challenge.

This is Wild West Anya from The Greeting Farm. I am totally hooked on TGF. The images are so cute and so much fun to color! Of course, I used my Copics. The photograph makes it look like I didn't blend well... maybe I didn't, but it doesn't look so bad IRL. The paper, "rope" and rhinestone brads are all from Stampin Up.

By the way, I posted a better picture of Reeta in Black and White (in my last post). Check it out... it looks so much better than the version I took at night.

I'll be back tomorrow with another post. I hope whatever you're doing for the long weekend is fun, fun, fun... full of love, laughter and lots of good food!

Another The Greeting Farm Cutie!!!

Edited to add: I took a new picture of this card in the daylight because the one I posted previously at night just did not do it justice. Of course, it still looks better IRL, but you have to blame the photographer (little ole me) for that!

Just a quick post this afternoon. I can't believe the day... and the weekend... are nearly gone. Can I have a do-over?

This past Thursday night, I tried the challenges during The Greeting Farm's Virtual Stamping Luau for their May release. One of the challenges was to make a monochromatic card, and here's what I came up with:

I absolutely love how this turned out! I colored Reeta (one of the new TGF Wild Sprouts) with Copic Markers T0, T1, T4 and T6. I used my Signo white gel pen for the polka dots in her hair bow. The card base is Gina K's Pure Luxury Heavy Base Weight black onyx (there was a sample in the Floral Frenzy Kit, and I must say that I LOVE her base weight cardstocks). The DP is Black and White Basics by Papertrey Ink. The ribbon is from Taylored Expressions. I guess you could say that I pulled out all the heavy artillery on this one! LOL

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today. I love when you visit and leave comments so that I can get to know you! Have a good rest of the weekend and remember... if we lived our lives by weekends, we'd only have 52 in a year, so enjoy your week!

Hello Ian

Hello my crafting friends! A Virtual Stamping Luau is going on right now on the Club Anya Paper Craft Planet Page. I'm going to have to pop over there and check it out. All this leads up to The Greeting Farm May release tonight at midnight CST! I can't hardly wait! TGF is my new favorite stamp company. I just love coloring those sweet images.

Here's my latest creation, featuring Hello Ian. I used this for the Viva La Verve May Week 2 Sketch with a Twist Challenge.The "twist" for this sketch challenge was to use blue and green. For some reason, blue and green together remind me of plaid, and plaid reminds me of golf. My son Ian is a golfer, so one thought led to another, and voila!

The base cardstock is SU's Night of Navy, and the green accent mat is New Leaf by Papertrey Ink. I used my Martha Stewart zig zag punch for the vertical strip (love it!). Ian is, of course, colored with my Copic markers. I followed Janna Hull's video tutorial on coloring faces with Copics, and I love how it turned out. You can find a link to that tutorial on the left column of my blog.

I couldn't resist using Orange Candy Dots for the embellishment (love, love, love!). The green mat was run through the houndstooth CB folder to give it some texture and interest.

I'm off to check on the Virtual Stamp Luau! Thanks so much for stopping by. I'd love to get to know you better, so please leave a comment!

Giving My Papertrey Ink Stamps Some Love!

I have come to realize that I so easily fall in love with so many different stamps (and stamp companies) that I have spread myself too thin. I know that's hard to believe... I mean, you can't be too rich, too thin, or have too many stamps, right? Nevertheless, I think I'm going to narrow it down a bit so that I can really USE the stamps that I love the most. In my very left-brained way, I even had an idea about how I'd choose 7 and assign one to each day; i.e., Monday is Stampin Up Day, Tuesday is The Greeting Farm Day, Wednesday is Papertrey Ink Day, and so on. Yeah right! Maybe when I retire and/or figure out how to go with no sleep. It's a nice thought, though.

But, as usual, I digress. My point is, I've realized how little love I've been giving my Papertrey Ink stamps. And I do LOVE PTI. It's "The Most Wonderful Time of the Month" again, and I'm already drooling over the sneak peeks and eagerly waiting for Thursday night at 9:00 pm to come!

So here's a little something I came up with using Guidelines Two and Wishing You. The possibilities with these two sets are endless! The cardstock is Hibiscus and Leaf Green. PTI carries all the coordinating colors of ribbon, and now buttons, too, which I love, love, love!

I've got to run and fold clothes so that I can put Clay's uniform in the dryer. The Poly Golf Team has advanced to the CIF Southern Sectionals. They play in Santa Barbara on Thursday (leaving tomorrow at noon for an overnighter). Yes, that's the place where all the terrible fires have been burning. I hope the air is okay by then. The fire is nearly contained. Santa Barbara is near the ocean, so it should be okay. I sure wish I could go watch him play, but "I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go." Paul will be there to cheer him on. Go Bears!

Thanks for stopping by. I love it when you do!

Feel Better Soon

Hello my friends. A quick post tonight. I needed a card get well card for a guy friend, so figured Riley (by Hanna Stamps) would be perfect! And the image is just the right size for this week's Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge.

This card came together quick and easy, thanks to Taylored Expressions Father's Day Key Ingredients Kit, which appears to be sold out. No wonder, it's fabulous! The paper is from the Cosmo Cricket "Lil Man" collection if you're lucky enough to find it elsewhere. I paper pieced Riley's blanket and pillow, and I put the background "shadow" mat through the a CB embossing folder. The greeting is by Inkadinkado.

Dinner is ready, so I have to dash. I hope you all have a wonderful evening/day/night wherever you may be. Thanks so much for stopping by to visit!

Hello... Michelle!

Still no time to stamp lately, but I'm determined to get into my craft room this evening and make a Mother's Day card for my MIL (my own mother is an angel in Heaven). It just hit me that Mother's Day is THIS Sunday! Gee, I wonder what I should buy myself for Mother's Day that Paul and the boys can wrap up for me...

Never fear, I have another card to share that I made a week or so ago, this time for my dear friend Michelle. She is so talented and so sweet. I feel like we've known each other for ages! I think we're kindred spirits because my husband's family is from Minnesota. (*grin*) Whatever the reason, Michelle's posts and emails always make me smile, so I wanted to send her some Happy Mail.

I just adore this stamp set called Friends 24-7. I'm a big bird lover, but I also love the other elements in this set, such as the damask you see in the background. I used Versamark Dazzle in Champagne (I got mine from Papertrey Ink) to emboss the background and also to add some "dazzle" to the main image after it was embossed with Tempting Turquoise craft ink. Because of my truly awful photography skills, the picture is a bit blury, but you can see the sparkle in this close-up:
And there's that favorite color combo of mine... Sahara Sand and Tempting Turquoise, paired so nicely with Flock Together DSP. The ribbon is from Papertrey Ink, along with the button and the greeting.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with a new creation. In the meantime, here's your Question of the Day: If you were an animal, what would you be?

Me: I hate to say it, because it seems so obvious, but I think probably a cat because I love naps!

Thinking of... Debbie!

Hello my crafting friends! I can't believe it's been more than a week since my last post. Actually, yes, I can. It was a crazy week for me... starting with my cat Jazzy eating two feet of ribbon and requiring surgery to remove it from her intestines. She's now used up one of her nine lives. I've told her that she'd better watch out, because I'm not sure I can afford eight more! Plus, Paul has been out of town tending to his mom while she had knee surgery, and, by extension, Grandma E. Thank goodness he comes home tomorrow. (He's more than ready to come home, too, as you can imagine.)

All that, plus Stamp Club and a slight stomach bug, has meant no time to stamp this week. So, I'm posting a card I made a couple of weeks ago for my friend Debbie who lives "Down Under." Now that she has received it, I can share.
Yes, my friends, it's a Stampin Up set, Bird on a Branch. I've been neglecting my SU stamps for far too long. The card base is Sahara Sand, and the mats are Tempting Turquoise. I'm just loving those colors with the Flock Together DSP (Designers Series Paper). I stamped the branch with Sahara Sand and sponged around the edge. The bird and greeting are Tempting Turquoise. I added a bit of bling with the blue rhinestones by Kaiser Craft (love those!). The swirly background is a transparency by K&Company. It's really a very sparkly card in real life. My photography skills are just terrible. I think I'm going to take a class...

Susan and I attended a crop marathon yesterday at our LSS... 12 hours of scrapbooking and chat. We had so much fun! We've been getting together to crop every other Friday night for about two months now and have no intention of stopping. It's great to get back to scrapbooking, which is what both of us first started with and love. We made two new friends at the crop yesterday... Desiree and Becky. Hi girls! We look forward to seeing you again soon!

Thanks for stopping by to visit me today. I love when you post comments. When you do, please answer the following Question of the Day (if you want to): Do you scrapbook?

Answer: Obviously, for me, yes I do!