Sneek Peeks and Blog Candy!!!

Sneek Peeks and Blog Candy! It doesn't get much better than that, does it???

Check out these sneek peeks of just three of the eleven... count 'em, eleven!...ADORABLE Halloween images that will be released on September 10th at La-La Land Crafts! Oh baby, you will LOVE these images!!! To celebrate, Irina is giving away one of the new Halloween stamps... winner's choice! Click on over to the La-La Land Crafts Blog to enter... deadline is 10:00 pm PST (GMT -8) on Thursday, September 3rd, so hurry!

Good luck!

I Love Lucy?

Happy Sunday everyone! Today is the beginning of our second challenge at Stampin' Sisters in Christ! Lorie Ames is our hostess, and she chose as the inspiration scripture a verse from Song of Solomon (aka Song of Songs NIV), "I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he browses among the lilies." Song of Solomon 6:3.

I have to admit that I've never read Solomon's Song of Songs, so I reached for my Bible to get a sense of what this book is about. I have the NIV Study Bible, and found the interpretation that "...the Song [may] belong to Biblical wisdom literature and that it is wisdom's description of an amorous relationship. The Bible speaks of both wisdom and love as gifts of God, to be received with gratitude and celebration. This understanding of the Song contrasts with the long-held view that the Song is an allegory of the love relationship between God and Israel, or between Christ and the church, or between Christ and the soul (though the [New Testament] nowhere quotes from or even alludes to the Song)."

I do believe that wisdom and love ARE gifts of God, to be received with gratitude and celebration. And not just amorous love, but the love of friends and family, too. Love IS a precious gift to be savored and treasured, honored and respected. Imagine the love you feel for your husband, partner, child or friend. Now imagine that love magnified beyond your comprehension and reflected onto you. That, my friends, is the greatest love of all... the love our Lord has for each and every one of us...unconditionally...every day...every moment...forever and ever. Amen!

Lorie's challenge is to make a card for your spouse/significant other to show how much you love him/her, but you can also make a card for a friend or family member you love, too. What matters is that you show someone some love through your love for papercrafting! And there's another great prize in store for the winner of this week's challenge... a 6 x 6 pad of new Cosmo Cricket paper donated byLimelight Papercrafts! Yowser!

Okay, did anyone get that for my card, I'm going for the I Love Lucy look? LOL! I probably didn't make "Lucy's" hair red enough, and perhaps "Desi" is looking a little grey. Oh well, what the heck! I think it turned out kinda cute anyway! I followed the Farm Fresh Friday Sketch #6.

The image is, of course, by The Greeting Farm and is in digital form for instant gratification! This one is called 50's Sweetheart. I paper pieced "Lucy's" dress and hair bow. How, you might ask, was I able to do that with a digi image? Well, all you need to do is print the image first on regular computer paper. Then tape a piece of your patterned paper over the image (be sure that the tape isn't actually on your image, but on the sides), and then run the paper through your printer again. Peel the printed patterned paper off the computer paper, cut out the image, and voila!

While you're there (buying your own digi image, of course!) check out the sneek peek of what's coming to The Greeting Farm in November (see the new store banner)! And check out the three newest digi images, Anya Tennis, Catcher and Soccer! CAAAA-UUUTE! There's also another new release coming up soon. Jump over to the TGF blog for sneek peeks and a chance to win some major blog candy! I know I'll be there!!! Could I possibly be lucky enough to win twice????

Thanks for stopping by today, my friends. And be sure to go and show the people you love how much you treasure their love every day!

Guess Who's the SASI Friday Friend!

Have you guessed yet? Have you? Have you? Did you guess me? Did ya? Well, you're right!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaay! I am very proud and honored to be the Stamp a Sweet Impression Friday Friend! In case you don't know, SASI is a blog dedicated to papercraft projects made with stamps by Taylored Expressions, hosted by her Baker's Dozen Design Team. And, if you know me, you know I LOVE Taylored Expressions stamps and Key Ingredients Kits. So I was naturally over the moon to be asked to sample the Friday sketch and be interviewed for the blog.

This was actually perfect timing for me because I had already decided to make a special card, using the Beary Special and Beary Special Accessories stamp sets for our pediatrician, who is retiring at the end of this month. Dr. Metsch always wore a little bear clipped to his stethoscope. He's been our pediatrician since Ian was born, which is more than 24 years. I was hoping he'd wait to retire until Avery turns 18, but I guess he couldn't wait seven more years just for us!

It's especially fitting that I'd use these stamp sets because Taylor has donated proceeds from the sale of these stamps to Sick Kids Hospital. I think Dr. Metsch would be glad to know that, don't you? I believe you only have until August 31st to purchase one or both of these sets and have a portion of the proceeds go to Sick Kids, as Taylor will soon release the newest stamp set(s) that will benefit another charity. So, if you were on the fence about these sets, don't wait any longer!

I've also used the newest Key Ingredients Kit, which appears to be sold out since I don't see it on the website. I tell ya, if you haven't already, sign up for the Key Ingredients Kit subscription so that you don't miss out!

Thank you, Jami, for asking me to be SASI's Friday Friend. You made my day, week, month!

Oh, and Jami happened to mention to me that we'll all want to tune into the SASI blog on September 5th for challenges and prizes celebrating the one-year anniversary of Taylor's release of her first stamp sets! I'll definitely be there, and hope you will, too!

Whew, I don't know about you, but this has been a whirlwind of a week for me, and I'm still trying to catch my breath... and catch up on email and blog visits. Please bear with me a bit longer! I do so very much appreciate you stopping by for a visit and leaving such kind comments. I'm getting a HUGE blog candy ready... hopefully for Saturday... so stay tuned. So many nice things have been happening for me lately, that I want to pay it forward!

Have a great day!

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog Hop Day 2!

Yay, it's Day Two of the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from Leah's blog. But if you want to start from the very beginning, go to the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps Blog and start hopping from there. You don't want to miss any of the treats in store for you!

This month is a truly special blog hop because we are focusing on scripture. As you know, Korin's tag line for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is "sharing the love of Christ through paper crafting." I love that about SNSS; it's one of the main reasons I'm so happy to be part of the design team. SNSS carries a wonderful assortment of scripture stamp sets and stamp sets with scriptures as part of the greeting selections, all currently 25% off!

The set I chose for my card is His Eye is on The Sparrow. I just love birds, so I'm naturally drawn to stamp sets that feature birds. This one is sooooo beautiful and has many lovely greetings to choose from. Mine features the scripture quote: But even the very hairs of your head are numbered. Fear not, therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12:7

There's a song that's been on my mind ever since I started working on this card and with this particular scripture. It's called He Knows My Name.

I have a maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in His hands

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
and He hears me when I call

I have a father
He calls me his own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
and He hears me when I call

I know it sometimes seems like God is not listening and that he couldn't possibly care about us if all these terrible things are happening. But it's not true! God IS listening and He IS with you always, blessing you in ways that you cannot even know. Never doubt that, and pray for Him to let you know that He is there and does care. He will answer your prayer!

Now, your next stop is Jeanette's blog. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

La-La Land Weekly Wednesday Challenge #2

Hey y'all! (Boy, I'm really on a southern belle kick these days... I must be channeling my mother, which is a good thing - *smile*.) I'm very proud and happy to be hosting this week's La-La Land Weekly Wednesday Challenge #2. Click on over and check it out. The challenge is to use stitching on your card or other papercraft project... either machine stitching, hand stitching or faux stitching. How fun is that! Pretty fun, if you ask me, because I happen to LOVE stitching on cards. If you haven't tried it yet, you must!

Don't you just love this sweet image of Teddy Bear Lala? I swear, she looks just like my friend Lynn's daughter Angela. Cute! And so much fun to color!

As you can see, my card has a LOT of machine stitching. I followed the Mojo Turns 100 Day 4 sketch. My card has a lot of dimension because I used SU Dimensionals (pop dots) to adhere the stitched layers for extra strength.

The cardstock is Prism, and the DP is Cosmo Cricket. Sweet Lala and her teddy are colored with my Copic markers.

So what are you waiting for? Hop on over to La-La Land Crafts Blog and play in this week's challenge. Three people will be selected to receive a special badge for their blogs, and one will receive a 25% discount on her/his order at La-La Land Crafts. But the best is just playing along... 'cause, like I said, stitching on your cards is fun!!! (*smile*)

Thanks for stopping by to visit! I love it when you do. Have a very happy day! Me, I'm going to be in my favorite place... La-La Land (visiting my husband)!

New Life Begins With Christ

I love this week's sketch challenge at The Sweet Stop. It's the perfect sketch to showcase this beautiful butterfly, which is one of two in the In His Time stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. The greetings in this stamp set are precious, too. New Life DOES begin with Christ. Amen!

For the butterflies, I dusted off an old technique. I stamped the images on acetate (i.e., clear window sheets) using black Staz-On ink. I coated the under side with clear embossing ink (similar to Versamark... I just happen to have the Top Boss brand) by gently rubbing the acetate over the pad until there was sufficient ink, and then sprinkled that with a rosie bronze embossing powder and heat set. To make it easier to handle, I waited until after I had heat embossed the images before cutting them out. I've done this technique before with sparkly embossing powder, which is a very cool effect. Try it!

The DP is SEI from the Dill Blossom collection. I used my CB embossing folder on the blue panel. I love how well it coordinates with the paper.

Starting tomorrow (Wednesday, August 26th) through Friday, we at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps are having our monthly blog hop. The theme this month is Scripture, and many of the SNSS scripture stamps and stamp sets will be featured. You definitely don't want to miss this! I guarantee you will be blessed by the experience. See my right side bar at the top for the Blog Hop Schedule.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a blessed day.

A Boy and His Frog

Happy Monday!

I saw this funny little stamp set by Basic Grey at my LSS. It's so funny looking, I couldn't resist... especially since it was only $2. I finally found the perfect sketch and inked them up last night.

This is the Mojo Turns 100 Day 1 sketch. I know I'm not doing the sketches in order, but it doesn't matter... I'm having fun anyway and getting lots of inspiration from the fabulous sketches we've seen all week.

The cardstock is the retired Stampin Up Baja Breeze and some leftover retired DP (sorry!) plus Kraft cardstock, but it was perfect for this theme. It's not often that I make a masculine card, so I'm really excited to add this to my stash. I need to think of some sort of greeting to put inside, like "Oh my gosh, I had no idea you were that old!" {LOL} Come to think of it, I know exactly who to give this to!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit. I hope you have a wonderful day!

Birthday Balloons

Hot air balloons, that is! Hello my crafting friends! I finally have something to share that I don't have to save for another day. I've been working on several things for the coming week, but last night I decided to put together a quick card for a little girl who is turning 13 next Sunday. Her mom says she loves hot pink and black... especially zebra print. Well, I don't have any zebra print (which is hard to believe since I'm not lacking in the paper department), but I thought of this awesome paper by Papertrey Ink. Plus, I'm looooooong overdue showing my Papertrey Ink stamps some love!

This stamp set, called Everyday Button Bits, is just one of the most clever stamp sets I've ever seen! The outlines are there for you, and you just fill in the spaces with buttons! Since I happen to LOVE buttons, it's a match made in heaven for me! And, of course, PTI carries the most awesome selection of buttons in colors to coordinate with their exclusive line of cardstock and designer papers. This card was a snap to put together. Everything is from PTI. I stamped the birthday greeting inside because I just couldn't see a good spot on the front without making the card look too cluttered.

Well, back to my busy day. School starts tomorrow for my two youngest (we start late out here in California), so we've got final preparations for that. We were supposed to go to the beach today, but that got postponed due to weird monsoony weather along the coast, which has made for a very muggy day inland. We're getting a taste of the humidity most of you endure every summer. I think most of my time will be spent indoors today.

Don't forget, there's still time to play in the inaugural Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge for a chance to win a truly beautiful stamp set from Our Daily Bread Designs AND recognition as a Shining Star, and there's still time to play in the inaugural challenge for La-La Land Crafts for a chance to win a 25% discount on your order AND recognition as one of the Top Three, so hurry on over to join us! And if that's not enough, check out the awesome sketch Korin has for us at The Sweet Stop! I don't know about you, but I know what I'm doing later this afternoon!

Have a wonderful day and I hope to see you back here soon!

Olivia Owl

Mojo Monday is celebrating 100 sketches this week by publishing a new sketch every day. There's nothing like a Mojo Monday sketch to get your juices flowing when you're feeling a bit like your mojo is on vacation (ha!).

I was itching to ink up Olivia the owl from the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps set called Owl Celebrations. The Day 2 Sketch was perfect for this little beauty! And, get this: you can get this stamp set for only $5.63 and have it shipped for a small fee by US First Class Mail! Now, that, my friends is a bargain worth going for! And while you're there, check out the companion sets to Owl Celebrations, Owl Occasions (also only $5.63), and Sweet Dreams (only $11.23). Awesomeness, pure and simple.

The cardstock, DP and ric-rac are all from a past Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients kit. Love, love, love those kits!!! It makes designing so easy when you have all the coordinating products right at your fingertips... and Taylor sure knows how to put together the best of the best!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today. My cup overfloweth these days, so I'm waaay behind in my blog surfing and emailing. Please don't despair of me! I'll get caught up one of these days.

Have a wonderful day!

Introducing La-La Land Crafts!

This is the first of MANY cards you will see from me using those adorable stamps from La-La Land Crafts. I just LOVE these unique images! This one is called Rosie Sitting With Cat. Naturally, I can't resist a stamp that includes a cat. I colored this kitty orange for my friend Lisa, who has an orange cat named Billy.

I colored Rosie and her cat with my Copics. The DP is from Basic Grey Infusion. It doesn't photograph well, but I added some sparkle to the flower by giving it a dusting of glitter. Very sparkly IRL.

This card is for our very first La-La Land Weekly Wednesday Challenge on the La-La Land Crafts Blog. This week's challenge is hosted by our very own Design Team Coordinator Jane Matsumoto. Not only is Jane super talented, but she is super sweet as well. I've loved her from the start!

The challenge is called "Flower Power." You must have at least one flower somewhere on the card. It can be Prima flowers (or similiar), pressed flowers, embossed flowers, stamped flowers, etc. The challenge is to use your flower(s) in a way where it stands out but the main focus should still be your stamped image.

Flowers are practically a staple of cardmaking, so you simply must join us! And trust me, you definitely want to play! All who enter in the first challenge will be placed in a drawing to win a Window Lala stamp! Not only that, but the top three entries will be awarded a special La-La Land Crafts badge to proudly display on their blog, and the top winner will receive not only a badge but a 25% discount on their order from La-La Land Crafts!!!

So, what are you waiting for? Get out those stamps and flowers and get inky! You may use any stamps you want, but if you have any La-La Land Crafts stamps, why not give them some love!

Be sure to post your entry on the La-La Land Crafts Blog, where you can find more information and details on the challenge and prizes, and have a look at the lovely creations by the rest of the Design Team. If you post your card to Splitcoaststampers, be sure to add LLWWC1 as a Keyword. We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Halloween is Coming!

I've been busy working on some DT assignments, which I can't share just yet, so I thought I'd pop in and share a card I made at a recent card class at my LSS (Local Scrapbook Store) Collective Journey. (Hi girls!)

Last Friday night, Marianne Walker herself (the guru of Copics) and Kimberly, one of the owners of Our Craft Lounge, held a class and trunk show. Those of us who were lucky enough to get into the Halloween class, were treated to this CUTE stamp set that comes with a bunch of sayings... it coordinates with the Sweet Tooth Terrors stamp set...plus four Copic Ciao markers to color the image.

Okay, so I sorta goofed and made his hair purple instead of orange, and his belly orange instead of purple, but I think he turned out way cute, don't you? And can I say how much I LOVE Sparkly Fluff? It's hard to see unless you click on the picture to enlarge it, but his little belly and tail are "fluffed." I also love the layering of the Nestie mats. Gotta try that again.

There was also a second class with a Christmas theme, but I was too late to get into that one. However, I did pick up a couple OCL stamp sets and... of course...some Sparkly Fluff, so stay tuned for more creations!

Gotta run for now and get back to my chores. Thanks for stopping by. And please come back tomorrow for the inaugural Challenge for La-La Land Crafts. Yep, I finally have a card to share!!!

A Card and a New Challenge

Hi y'all! (That's my southern belle coming out...ha!) I'm sorry I haven't posted for a few days. I have a good reason... I attended a couple of card classes in the evenings this past week, so it took the place of my normal crafting and posting time. But I had a blast and I will share some of the cards we made soon. A shout out to my friends at Collective Journeys!!!

Today's card is for two challenges. Yes, two! Remember when I mentioned in an earlier post about something new in store? Well, it's really cool: my BBFF Kristine Breach, her sister Kathy Winter, friend Lorie Ames, and I have started a new challenge blog called Stampin' Sisters in Christ. We take turns hosting the challenge, which is based on scripture. You have to click over there and read all about it and play! Our first prize sponsor is Our Daily Bread Designs, and they have donated a beautiful stamp set!!!

Since the SSC Challenge is to make a card depicting food or drink, I jumped at the chance to ink up my new Berries & Cherries stamp set from Taylored Expressions. And of course, the Berries & Cherries Key Ingredients kit made it super easy to put a cute card together in no time! Naturally, I chose to play in this week's Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #78. I love the sketch and I love the way my card turned out!!! Fruit images are always a favorite of mine, and who doesn't love cherries and strawberries? We are lucky to have both in plentiful quantities these days, so I'm in heaven!

Okay, next up will be the long-awaited premier of my first card(s) for La-La Land Crafts, so stay tuned! Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a blessed day! (And I promise I'll be by to visit your blogs and answer my emails soon... I'm still trying to catch up after a busy week!)

Sweet Miss Anya

Hi all! In case you missed it, I was one of the LUCKY winners of The Greeting Farm's Big Birthday Bash Giveaway! Whoa Nellie, was that ever a package of goodness that arrived on my doorstep! Part of the prize was the entire August release, of which Miss Anya Dressy
was a part... as was the Happy Anyaversary 6 x 6 Paper Pack. Naturally, I reached for both when playing in the Farm Fresh Friday Sketch Challenge. I kept this card really simple and let the image and paper speak for themselves. I just LOVE the new Miss Anyas. Who am I kidding, I love ALL of the Miss Anyas!

It's a short post today, but I'll be back soon with more to share. Before I go, let me remind you that La-La Land Crafts is now open for business, and all stamps are 10% off until 11:00 pm tonight (Thursday, August 13th). So what are you waiting for??? Hopefully my stamps will arrive in today's mail so that I can get busy and share some designs with you.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

My Little Chickadee

Have I ever mentioned how much I love birds? I really do. I love their beauty. I love their song. I sometimes go to sleep at night listening to bird song on my CD player (yes, I have several CD's of nature sounds that I love to listen to as I fall asleep... right now it's ocean waves). This month at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps we are celebrating animals. Naturally, I thought of birds since they are one of my favorite animals.

This is one of my favorite SNSS stamp sets, My Little Chickadee. Unfortunately, it's currently not in stock, but more are expected later this month. This stamp set, like ALL of the SNSS stamp sets, is discounted by 25%. Yep, Korin is helping you get new rubber in your hands during these tough economic times by lowering her prices storewide by 25% and offering regular first class mail as an option to save you money! That's amazingly generous, and amazingly wonderful. But that's the way Korin is, which is why I love working with her!

Gee, I got so excited about the idea of a stamp sale that I nearly forgot to mention that my card is a flipped over version of this week's sketch at The Sweet Stop! I don't often make long cards, but always enjoy it when I do for a little change of pace.

I also decided to try the Color Throwdown #54 challenge, which was to use Basic Grey, Blush Blossom, Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust. I'm not very good at color challenges, so I'm going to try to conquer my fears and try them more often. The girls made this a bit easier for me by mentioning it was based on Basic Grey's Ambrosia paper. That, I could relate to! {LOL} In fact, I used a piece of it in my card.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today! I have another big annoucement to make in the next day or so, so stay tuned for that. There's already a hint on my blog. (*grin*) If you figure it out, leave me a comment with your guess!

Oh, and I'm planning a HUGE blog candy for all my followers soon, so if you haven't done so already, please "follow" me for a chance to win!!!

The Grand Opening is Almost Here!!!

Oh, I can hardly stand it... tomorrow night (Wednesday) at 11:00 pm PST (GMT -8) is the grand opening of La-La Land Crafts!!! Squeals of delight are reverberating around the world! And why not? You will LOVE these whimsical, unique and absolutely adorable images! If you haven't seen the sneak peeks on the La-La Land Crafts Blog yet, here they are to whet your appetite. And there's still time to enter to win some delicious blog candy, so hurry on over!

The biggest news is that Irina is going to offer 10% off on your purchase for the first 24 hours that the on-line store is open. That means from 11:00 pm PST (GMT -8) Wednesday night (8/12) to 11:00 pm PST Thursday night (8/13), you can be among the first to own these wonderful stamps at a discount!!! Once you see all the designs, you won't be able to resist... I promise you!

My stamps are due in tomorrow (I can hardly wait!), so it will be a day or two before I'll be able to post some samples, but be sure to check the company blog and the other DT blogs (see blog roll to the right) for what promises to be lots of great eye candy!

See you all tomorrow in La-La Land!

Elephant Dreams

It's been much too long since I've given my (many) Stampin Up stamps some love. I'm an avid follower of Mary Fish, Stampin Up Demonstrator extraordinaire. Mary is a VERY successful demonstrator and devotes her blog ONLY to Stampin Up images and products. If you're ever looking for some great ideas using Stampin Up products and/or want to know the latest and greatest news in the Stampin Up world, Mary's your gal!

Mary calls her downline her "Stampin Pretty Pals," and they've come up with a weekly challenge blog called Pals Paper Arts using primarily Stampin Up products. I think this is a great idea, and I'm determined to play weekly if at all possible. I am, after all, a Stampin Up demonstrator and I, like so many others, got into this crazy wonderful world of stamping through SU.

I missed the first challenge, but the second is a sketch challenge. My card uses that cute new set Animal Stories and the coordinating DP Tall Tales. I LOVE them both!!! The cardstock base and ink are Old Olive, and the button is Summer Sun, tied with a bit of hemp. Simple and fun! I can't wait to ink up the rest of the animals in this set.

There's still time for you to play! The deadline for this sketch challenge is Tuesday, August 11th at noon CST (GMT -6). But if you miss this one, be sure to jump in for the next. I can't wait to see what it is!

Thanks for stopping by my friends. Have a wonderful day/evening/morning wherever you are in this big world!

Challenge for a Sunday Afternoon Annoucements

Hi all! Just popping in to announce the winner of the Challenge for a Sunday Afternoon: Cat Darling with this cute card! What a clever idea to have a mermaid dreaming of shoes... reminds me of The Little Mermaid, one of my favorite Disney flicks. And I love Cat's name, which reminds me of another favorite Disney move, Lady and The Tramp... or was it 101 Dalmations? Yikes, I'm have a senior moment. Anyway, in one of those movies, the couples' last name is Darling.

Edited to add: Cat reminded me that Darling is the last name of Wendy's family in Peter Pan! And Stephanie reminded me that Jim Dear and Darling are the humans' names in Lady & The Tramp (so I wasn't too far off!).

Anyhoo, congratulations Cat! Email me your address and I'll get your prize right off to you!

I also want to thank each one of you who played in my three challenges. I'm going to suspend the weekly challenge for now given my new DT post with La-La Land Crafts. We'll be hosting challenges there and, of course, there's always The Sweet Stop sketch challenge. I want to put my best effort towards those. I may bring an improved version of the challenge back in the future, you never know!

I'll be back later with a new card to share, so stay tuned!

Really BIG News!!!!

I cannot believe I'm announcing this... it's still like a dream to me... but I'm one of the six LUCKY ladies to be chosen for the inaugural Design Team for La-La Land Crafts! OMGosh, can you say excited??? I've been on Cloud 9 ever since Irina emailed me!

La-La Land Crafts will open for business on Wednesday, August 12th at 11:00 pm PST (GMT -8). There is a Private Event at Stamp On Over at the Cranberry Hill Mercantile in Sunnyvale, CA from 6:00 to 9:00 pm if you're lucky enough to be in the area.

And just wait until you see the stamps! You will definitely fall in love at first sight, just like I did. Be sure to click over to the La-Land Crafts Blog and read through Irina's posts to find out more about La-La Land Crafts and the talented artists behind these wonderful stamps. You just might find a few sneak peeks there, too (*grin*). Oh, and while you're there, be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win some awesome blog candy!

I'll be back soon with my first posts for La-La Land Crafts, so stay tuned! In the meantime, did I happen to mention how lucky I am??? (*smile*)

Maggie at the Beach

In a recent blog surfing adventure, I discovered Digital Delights by Louby Lou (thanks Heather!). And guess what! They offer a freebie every Friday (aptly called "Freebie Friday"). This darling image, called "Beach Maggie." was the freebie for Friday, July 24th (I think that's the right day). I couldn't resist downloading her. She looked like she'd be fun to color, and she was. You can buy her for $2!

I also decided to use Beach Maggie to play in the Delightful Sketches challenge... Sketch #3. Trouble is, when it said cards were due at midnight on August 6th, I thought that meant tonight at midnight. Turns out, midnight starts a new day (did you know that?), so I'm 19 hours late! Oh well. It was still a fun sketch and a fun image. I'm going to have to try again with Sketch #4. This week's Freebie is pretty cute, too... a bookworm... which I once was before I got so caught up in papercrafting. Now it seems all I read are blog posts! LOL

Ah well, it's all good.

Anyway, back to my card. Maggie is colored with Copics. The DP is from a Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients kit. Looks like this kit is sold out. They go like hotcakes, don't you know. The ribbon and flower rhinestone were also part of the kit. The umbrella is a K&Company Grand Adhesions. And, yes, in the tradition of my BBFF Michelle, I used my CB folder to emboss the aqua strip.

Speaking of the beach, we have got to get down to there one of these days soon! The summer is almost over and we haven't gone yet. Shame on us! We only live about an hour away.

Don't forget, there is still time to play in my Challenge for a Sunday Afternoon. The challenge this week is to make a "thinking bubble" card. The prize up for grabs is a Basic Grey June Bug 6 x 6 paper pack. Your odds of winning are pretty darn good!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I'll be back soon with more to share. Have a great evening!

Coming Soon: La-La Land Crafts!

I was just visiting my BBFF Patti J's blog where I read about this new craft store... La-La Land Crafts... opening up in the Bay Area (at the Cranberry Hill Mercantile in Sunnyvale, to be exact)... and on line... on August 12th. From the tiny peeks shown on the La-La Land Crafts Blog the stamp lines Irina will be carrying are adorable!!! I can't wait to see them all! And don't you think that's the cutest name for a craft store? My mom always said my dad lived in La-La Land. I think my husband lives there, too. I wanna go!!!

Irina is holding a DT call, so click on over to her blog for more information. It looks like she's quite generous with blog candy, so I'd become a follower of hers if I were you (*wink*). I hope you win if I don't! LOL

I'm off to finish up some cards and will be back tomorrow to share. Have a great evening!