With Sympathy

We have the sweetest, most adorable older couple neighbors from New York: Sal and Stella. Oh they are so cute...Stella's signature phrase (for when something is expensive) is "you leave a pint of blood" -- lol. She's just hilarious.

We found out that when they went up North for the holidays that her brother passed away. She called us to let us know they wouldn't be back for a little while and asked if we could look over their house, get their mail, etc. I just hate hearing about these things....it's so sad and it breaks my heart for them.

I wanted to make a card for her for when she came back, so that she would know we were thinking about her and we were here if she needed us.

I made a simple, yet pretty card; nothing over the top, but still detailed enough.

It can't help me think of the victims in Haiti from the recent disaster. How their families feel, what they are going through, how horrible the conditions are...I hope everyone is able to donate, volunteer, do whatever they can to help the survivors.

God Bless.

recipe:

stamps: Stampin Up Medallion, Unity Stamp January '10 KOTM (the "wreath" in the center of the medallion) and Bevy of Butterflies (sentiment)

paper: SU Rich Razzleberry

ink: PTI Fresh Snow

misc: corner rounder; jeweled brad

You're so thoughtful!

Wow...I'm so inconsistent with crafting and blogging...what happened??

I guess it's much harder to go in your craft room when it's 53 degrees... boy it was cold.

I much preferred to be on the couch underneath an electric blanket next to a space warmer ;)

So...since it's a little bit warmer out (we're actually needing our A/C...and it works, lol) so it's much, much easier to be in the craft groove!

Hope you enjoy....I'll actually be posting a few other cards in the next couple days -- come back and check 'em out!

See ya later blogator! (cheesy...I know)

recipe:

stamps: PTI Background Text Basics and Friends Til the End; Unity Bevy of Butterflies (flourishes); Amy Butler (the tiny flowers); Stampin Up (handwriting)

ink: PTI terracotta tile, fresh snow and new leaf; versamark

misc: PTI button; Basic Grey pearls; twine (wal-mart)

paper: SU kraft, PTI terracotta tile

Birthday Wishes!

I have FINALLY made a card that I like! For the last couple weeks I've been feeling a little sluggish; hopefully that feeling has finally gone away!

This is a card for one of the girls that works with my hubby. She's super adorable and fun and I found out her birthday is today :) So I thought I'd make a card for his office people to give to her...lol, it's going to be pretty funny when he gives her this really girly card...but I'm sure he will immediately mention that I made it haha.

I started with Melon Berry cardstock from PTI, then used American Crafts "Craft Fair" paper (cute, huh?? SUCH a good set of paper!!) Then I used brown cardstock from PTI and punched it with Martha Stewart's Scalloped Scallops border punch and accented with twine. I used Bermuda Bay cardstock from SU! and some yellow patterned paper (some set from Michaels) with the Flower Layers from Sizzix die cuts.

The sentiment is Giga Guidelines from PTI in Melon Berry ink as well...I got the lighter berry effect by just stamping once on a scrap piece of paper then stamping on the actual piece. I accented with a Raspberry Fizz button and some bling!

I think its the perfect touch of fun!

Hope you all have a fabulous day and thanks SO much for stopping by!!

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and a fabulous start to 2010!

I've been in some kind of funk lately, maybe due to the cold (its like 30 degrees outside...I live in Florida...ya that's cold for Florida). On top of that, the heat in my house is BROKEN! Ugh...so all I have been motived to do lately is sit on the couch with my hubby, curl up under the blankets and watch tv. :)

So obviously, my craft table (and blog) has been neglected...sorry about that!

I just wanted to share this card that I made for my boss with you.

I basically folded patterned green paper in different lengths for each layer. I secured it with pop-dots...that's the only way it was secure (adhesive tape wasn't doing it). Then I accented with bling, floss and a button for the star. The sentiment is from Michael's in the $1 bin and the color is Tulip by CTMH. The faux stitching is a white pen from CTMH.

The stamp on the envelop is the Giga Guidelines stamp from PTI.

(The kraft cardstock and envelope is from SU!)

I really hope you all had a happy, healthy holiday and I would love to hear about it!!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year....

Christmas is almost here...I can't even believe it! Thanksgiving came and went so quickly and I'm still not ready to have more turkey, lol, I was having leftovers for DAYS!

Well, this was a very busy weekend for hubs and I. We took several (and I mean several) trips to Home Depot, Walmart and Walgreens trying to supplement our Christmas lights inventory...it seems wherever we went, we forgot something, or they were out of what we needed, etc. It's never just "easy", lol.

We had so much fun putting up th

e lights -- as you can tell, Jim looks thrilled, right? haha.

Sorry for the fuzzy pic...I don't even know what setting my camera was on -- and it poured the

day before and was still overcast outside.

(Thank goodness we have shingle roofing, because if we had tile, you can't step on that...let alone sit on it or it will break.) And so Jim was able to easily put the lights up without having to constantly move the ladder!! (And it helps we have a very short house, lol)

I just absolutely adore these little candy canes...aren't they sweet (hehe, no pun intended)!

They are just the perfect little accent to the yard.

And for the grand finale -- our little house decorated with lights :)

Hopefully I'll get the house cleaned soon and post pictures of the inside all decorated cute! (and post pictures of our tree...which I haven't gotten yet...lol)

Love to see what your house will be decorated like this year!!

Talk to you all soon! Enjoy!

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a Boy!!

My cousin, Ashley, just gave birth Tuesday morning to a beauuutiful baby boy!! Giovanni weighed in at 6 lbs 13 oz and is such a cutie pie!! (He's got some stiff competition, cause his older brother and sister are adorable too!!)

(I hope she doesn't read this, I don't want her to see the card just yet!!) :)

So...I made her this card, using the stamp I just love! It's from Unity Stamp's November Kit of the Month (KOTM) Club!!

If you haven't signed up for this yet, you have got to!! It is such an amazing deal...and you get a ton of stamps for only $24 a month! Seriously...check it out, the stamps each month are SUPER SUPER cute...and they keep getting better and better!!!

The paper is Spring Rain from PTI, patterned paper is Stampin Up - Loopdie Doo (or something like that...it was part of a Hostess set) and Kraft paper from SU!. Ribbons are from Michaels. Inks are Tim Holtz Distress Inks (in Fire Brick and Peeled Paint) and PTI's ink duo (but I only used Chamomile). I used a little Stickle for the star at the back of the plane and for the head of the plane, I used a red brad!! (I like that little touch).

and a 5, 6, 7, 8!!

....caution: extremely long blog post.... :)

Ok wow....so I had posted enough for almost a full week; however, when I checked back earlier today, none of my posts had uploaded and there was nothing pending in my future posts!!! AAAAHHH!! I knew I wouldn't have time to post during Thanksgiving as family was in town, etc, and I knew that I'd be too exhausted to post...so I thought I was totally prepared.

NOT. I don't even know what happened -- but it did, so you're getting the rest of my Thanksgiving cards in this post :)

I thought this card was adorable (above) -- I love the layered flowers from Sizzix and the new Signature Sentiments (care of the lovely and fabulous Dawn McVey for Papertrey Ink (PTI)). The scallop border is Martha Stewart (she has some amazing new border punches as Michaels!! LOOVE!!). Then I used my new Terracotta tile ink and paper from PTI also...and accented with Soft Suede paper from Stampin Up (SU!) and this awesome ribbon from SU. On top of the flowers was just a hint of bling from Basic Grey!

With this one (above), I was able to use a couple goodies that I've had for a while just never used...my lattice die cut from Sizzix, for one, is just so darling. I mounted it behind Soft Suede (SU) and Terracotta Tile (PTI) papers and 3-dimensionaled (thats not a word, I know) it to stick out even more. The ribbon is TT twill and the bling is red...its a little off, but no one noticed!! The sentiments are Ali Edwards (awesome!!!) from her Loving Words set by Technique Tuesday -- also in TT ink.

...this one (above) was inspired by the super incredible Ashley Newell and one of Embellish Magazine's first ever challenges -- Polka Dot Paradise!! Ugh...its was so beautiful, I just had to scraplift it. The patterned paper is Making Memories Autumn Splendor, then Terracotta Tile over it. The flower die cut is again Layered Flowers from Sizzix and I stitched around the edge and accented with a variety of rust/red, orange and yellow brads, bling and pearls. Cute huh?! Thanks Ashley for always inspiring!! The Signature Sentiment (PTI) is stamped with Vintage cream ink also from PTI.

And last but not least....my card for my husband. Can you see the heart? I actually came up with this by myself!!! I have tooons of craftoggers on my Reader and am super inspired every since day with every since post. But once in a great while, I get ideas on my own. Which is such a relief. Don't get me wrong -- you all are incredible, and I love your designs -- but I like feeling a sense of design-accomplishment. :) What do you think? I started off with a ton of scraps (this was the last card I made of the bunch) and was about to throw them away when I bunched them together and thought it would be super cute to make a heart of of it!! My husband is my ultimate inspiration and I wanted to make sure he knew I was thankful for him :)

The sentiments are Ali Edwards (same set as before...Loving Words) and Signature Sentiments (PTI). Then I used my CTMH (Close to My Heart) marker in Tulip to do the faux stitching. The ink is TT from PTI.

...I was making these cards while watching the season finale of Project Runway...can you tell? haha -- this is my "collection" and I hope you have enjoyed it!

Please come back for future card posts...like my little baby boy card that I'll be posting tomorrow...and for my Holiday collection (which I haven't started yet, lol, but I assure you it will be fabulous!!)

By the way -- all white/cream paper was my absolutely favorite staple in my little craft world... Papertrey Ink's Rustic Cream and Rustic White cardstock. It's Ba-Na-Nas! (A little Rachel Zoe plug there!!) lol.

Take care and hope you all had a delicious turkey day!!