Email and update

It appears that someone has sent email from my aol account as "no subject" to everyone in my address book.  We were actually at the kid's hair salon at the time these went out and I have no idea how it happened.  So if you received one of these, please know that it wasn't from me.  I'm not quite sure what to do now, so if you have any advice, I'd appreciate it.

Also ~ sorry for the lack of posting lately.  We were busy with tennis and swimming lessons and just a lot of summer stuff in general and then went away for awhile.  This is the last full week I have with the kids before they head off back to school so I am trying to spend some more time with them until then.  I do have a few projects done that I need to add and will try to do it soon.  Hope everyone else is enjoying their summer!

 

Puddle Jumper Ella

I recently got a few Claudia & Company Puddle Jumper Stamps from Die Cuts R Us and decided to ink up the Ella Mini Set (isn't she just adorable?!?) and enter the Claudia & Company Challenge this month which was to use the colors Pink and Aqua.  I pulled out some of my hoarded My Mind's Eye papers from both the Quite Contrary and Abbey Road collections (note to self ~ get more of these ~ I  love the colors of these papers)  and used cardstock in Cool Caribbean and Pink Pirouette.  I paper pieced Ella's dress, socks and scarf and added some mini pearls to her necklace.  All the panels have been stitched with the exception of the sentiment ~ not too sure I want tackle a shape yet.....  Instead of using prima's I pulled out my flower punch and used the same Designer papers to make my flowers ~ added a button and some gingham ribbon and they were done.  There are 14 layers on here plus the flowers and I used a lot of dimensionals!  I followed this weeks sketch over at Create for Fun:   

 

The kids started Tennis lessons last week and swimming lessons this week, so to fill my time while sitting on the sidelines I decided to reorganize my ribbon.  I took it off the spools (although the 25 yd spools stayed as is) and then rolled each up securing it with a pin ~ I think I filled up a huge garbage bag with the empty spools!  Now I only have one place to look for a certain color ribbon instead of three (or more) different places. Only about 20 more rolls to go (well, make that 26 since I just bought 6 more yesterday).

I am also entering this card in the following challenges:
One Stop Craft Challenge - "Patterns"
Dutch Dare - "Anything Goes"
Creative Inspirations - "Anything Goes"
Die Cut Dreams - "Gingham"
Paper Sundaes - "Stitching"
Stamp and Create - "Flowers"  
Creatalicious - "Show some 3-d"
Lollipop Crafts - "Anything Goes" 

Have a wonderful day!

Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps:  Puddle Jumper Ella Mini Set & So Random Sentiments (Claudia & Co)  
Ink/Coloring:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Copics 
Paper:  Pink Pirouette, Cool Caribbean; Gina K Pure Luxury White; DP - My Minds Eye (Abbey Road and Quite Conrary)
Embellishments:   Pink Ribbon and Turquoise Ric Rac (Flirty); Pink Gingham Ribbon; Buttons (Making Memories); Pearls (Recollections) 
Tools: Sewing Machine; Oval Punches; Nesties; dimensionals

TGF Birthday Blog Hop

Happy 2nd Birthday TGF!  When I came across The Greeting Farm in early 2009, it was love at first sight ~ I was hooked and TGF became one of my absolute favorite stamp companies.  I love the fact that not only do I enjoy using these stamps, but my kids do too ~ what more could you ask for?   Since I took part in their first Birthday Hop, I knew I had to join in this one as well.

I have so many TGF stamps to choose from and wasn't sure which direction I wanted to go, but when I came across Ebony I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I grabbed a notebook from my "things to alter" cabinet and went to work.  

After adhering the designer paper to the notebook I put a piece of tulle over and love how it looks!  I colored Ebony with copics, paper pieced her skirt and added Crystal Effects to it as well as her headband.  I finished her off with some stickles for glittery eye shadow and then added some to the skull on her top as well.  

On the sentiment I added stickles to each of the letters.

I am really happy with how this turned out and so is my daughter since she has already claimed it to use for school.  Now I guess I better get started on another one for my other daughter.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit, to continue on the hop, please go back to the TGF blog to see where your next stop is.

Have a wonderful day!

I am entering this in the following challenge:

Fussy and Fancy Friday - "Pink and Black"

Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps:  Ebony & Talk Loud - (The Greeting Farm)  
Ink/Coloring:  Memento Tuxedo Black; Basic Grey and Going Grey; Copics; Marvy Metallic Silver Pen
Paper:  DCWV (Rockstar); Gina K Pure Luxury White
Embellishments:   Tulle (unknown); Organdy Ribbon (JoAnn's and SU); Charm (Stamp & Create); Black Rhinestones (Zva); Stickles (Frosted Lace); Crystal Effects
Tools: Key Tag Punch; Sponge

YNS is having a DT call

Your Next Stamp is having a DT call and since I had such a great time being a Guest Designer for them I decided to give it a shot. They asked us to post 3 of our favorite creations (which is always hard for me to do ~ an one of my absolute favorites I just posted recently, so I won't add that since it's on this page), so I chose a shaped card, a basket and an easel card I made and decided to pick both girl and boy creations:

(This is a re-posting as my original posted but disappeared)
Wish me luck!

Halloween is Hoppin' at Tiddly Inks

When I heard that Tiddly Inks was having a Halloween Blog Hop I knew I had to join in since I really love Christy's images.  The list of all hop participants can be found on the Tiddly Inks challenge blog.   

I chose Batty to use for my card. I colored the image with copics and tried a different way to color black hair.  The "flower" was made with some tulle I had left over from my wedding ~  way back when ~ and then I added a purple button and some organdy to the center.  I pulled out the sewing machine once again and stitched the two larger panels with a zig zag stitch.  I had this zipper trim for awhile and thought it would be a fun addition.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
The Sweet Stop - sketch
Creative Inspirations - Use the oldest thing in your stash (well the tulle definitely is that ~ 13 years old, and I actually forgot all about it until I looked through my fabric basket)
One Stitch at a Time - "Digi Madness" - use a digi image
Paper Sundaes - Make your Own Flowers
Stamp and Create - "Stitching"  
Dare U 2 Digi Stamp - "Stitching"
Crazy 4 Challenges - "Buttons" 
Stamp Something - "Something Digital" 

Have a wonderful day!
 
Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps:  Batty - digi stamp (Tiddly Inks)  
Ink/Coloring:  Copics 
Paper:  Orchid Opulence, Basic Black; Gina K Pure Luxury White; DP - Michael's Halloween Stack and Pebbles Inc (Halloween Stripe).
Embellishments:   Tulle (unknown); Organdy Ribbon (JoAnn's); Zipper Trim (Wright's); Button (from stash); Office Tag (Avery); Black Rhinestones (Zva)
Tools: Sewing Machine; Martha Stewart Border Punch; Nesties; dimensionals

Audrey in Pink

Wow, two Club Anya/The Greeting Farm challenges in one week.....  This one is for the Farm Fresh Friday Challenge over at The Greeting Farm - use a digi image and a new technique.  The digi image I used is Wild Sprout Audrey and added a cute little digi dog from Victoria Case (Spot and Sammy image).  My new technique is decorating chipboard with Designer papers.  I just started doing this the other day because I looked at all the chipboard just laying around I figured I better start using it.  I stitched all the designer paper panels with my sewing machine using pink thread.   


The sketch I used for this card is from Sketch Saturday and replaced the sentiment with a flower.

I went back to T.J. Maxx and while they didn't have the punch I forgot to get they did have one they didn't have when I was there the day before, the embossed snowflake border punch, so I picked that one up instead. 

I would also like to enter this card in the following challenges:
For Fun - "Color with your favorite medium"
Gingersnap Creations - GC62 Spicy Supply - Markers 
AI Factory - "Flower Frenzy" - flower image or as embellishment
Charisma Cardz - "Pink""
Aud Sentiments - "No sentiments"
C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - "Babies or Children" 
Allsorts - "Summer Days" - images or colors 
Anyone for Anya - "Bedazzled" 
Basic Grey Challenge - "Gingham"
Crazy 4 Challenges - "Buttons"
Lots to Do- "Stitches"
One Stop Craft Challenge - "Pink, Blue, Green & a hint of red (in the DP)"
Stamp Scrap and Doodle - "Animals"

One Stitch at a Time - "Digi Madness" - use digi image
Cupcake Craft Challenge - "Cats & Dogs"
Stamp and Create - "Stitching"
Our Daily Bread - "Color It" - use an image you colored
Papertake - "Cutie Patootie"
My Time to Craft - "Check It Out" - used a checked pattern paper
Stamp Something - "Something Digital" 


  
Have a wonderful day!
Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps:  Wild Sprout Audrey - digi stamp (The Greeting Farm); Sammy and Spot - digi stamp (Victoria Case)  
Ink/Coloring:  Pink Pirouette; Copics 
Paper:  Regal Rose, Very Vanilla; Gina K Pure Luxury White; DP - My Mind's Eye "Quite Contrary"
Embellishments:  Pink Gingham Ribbon; Chipboard Flower (Basic Grey); Gemstones (Michael's); Button (from stash)
Tools: Sewing Machine; Nesties; lots of dimensionals

Virginia's Birthday Blog Hop

Happy Birthday Virginia!  

To celebrate, we are all wishing her a Happy Birthday with a Birthday Blog Hop.  You should have arrived her from the letter A.  If not, please head on over to the letter H to start the hop.   

For my tag I took some chipboard, covered it with Designer Paper and then cut the corners to make a tag.  The letter N is a from a monogram chipboard pack and is also covered in Designer Paper.  I sanded the edges to make it stand out a bit better on the background paper and added Dazzling Diamonds to the vines and leaves and then tied a ribbon around it.  I chose to use Princess Clarissa (and if you head on over to the store right now she is available for a special price of only $1.00) for my tag because every girl wants to be treated like a Princess on their birthday!   She was colored in with copics and I added Dazzling Diamonds to the ribbon on her hat and along the bottom of her dress.  I really love how this turned out and think I just may have to make something similar for my girls.


If Virginia came to visit me on her birthday I would take her to the following places because I think these are some of the "must sees" if you visit the Milwaukee area.  

Now what is one of the first things that comes to mind when you think of Milwaukee?  And no, it's not Cheese Heads.  Give up....well, it's beer (even though I don't like it at all), so the first place to visit is Miller Brewing Company for a tour:

Harley Davidson is also another big deal in Milwaukee, so perhaps Virginia's husband (provided she brought him along) would like to visit the Harley Davidson Museum.

The next place is rather unusual looking, but it is really cool....the Mitchell Park Domes.  Right now they are showcasing "Riverboat Tales" - A Celebration of Mark Twain.  (note to self....try to get the kids here before school starts).

And then a few minutes away from here is Potawotami Casino where we can get lucky on the slots, at the casino tables or even playing bingo.  We may even stay for the entertainment as well ~ depends on who is there when we visit.

And then I have to at least take you past the Milwaukee Art Museum ~ it's right on the lake and quite unique.  The "wings" open and close two times each day :

And finally, I have to take you to the Pabst Mansion (and yes it is the same Pabst as the old Pabst Brewing Company).  I love visiting here ~ this house is just gorgeous!  If you ever get the chance to see it over the Christmas season I highly recommend it ~ it is just decorated so beautifully!

I hope you enjoyed your virtual visit of Milwaukee.  

Since this is a Birthday Blog Hop, we can't leave you without a chance at a party prize!

   
So here are the rules:

1.  Start at the beginning of the blog hop with the letter H
2.  Comment on each Design Team Member's blog because they need a little love and you will also increase your chances at the party prize.
3.  Go to Paper Yumness and wish Virginia a Happy Birthday.

The deadline to win a digital image is Sunday, July 18th 8:00pm Pacific Time.

That's all you need to do!  The prize?????Not one, but two!  You might win either one by commenting on a blog.  Good luck and hope you have fun all along the way!

Your next stop is the letter E.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Recipe ~ all items SU unless indicated
Stamps:    Princess Clarissa (InStyle Stamps)
Ink/Coloring:  Copics
Paper:  Chipboard; Chipboard Letter (Colorbok); DP - DCWV (Pocket full of Posies)
Embellishments:  Ribbon (Offray); Flowers (Unknown and Prima); Dazzling Diamonds
Tools:  Dimensionals; Sanding file (Basic Grey)