Ugh... where have I been?

Well, I've been home. I've been helping my bff, Deb to make some scrapbooks as gifts (she's new to this whole thing ya know). I've been working on my Disney scrapbook, using my new Disney Cricut cartridges (yes!) but have been taking a lot of time doing it.

I just finished this card today for a gal at my church. She has hair like this, so I just had to use my fave Bella once again. Sorry for the crooked pic, but since I'm a little crooked, what do you expect??? The cardstock is SU!, the patterned paper and flower brad are from Hobby Lobby, the ribbon is SU! and May Arts. I used Copics to color her and I glittered her in with pens and stickles. The embossing is Cuttlebug of course. And I think that's it. Gotta go get ready for Benihana's tonight, yum! See ya!

It's been forever....

Wow... Don't ask me what I've been doing, but it's not stamping! Actually, I did finish some scrapbook pages and just made a sympathy card, my least favorite to make. I'll post those below. Unfortunately, I took photos of the scrapbook pages while in the protectors because I was too lazy to take them out, sorry ;-) Nothing too exciting has been going on here. I've decorated for fall and have been working on putting together a Christmas wreath and garland. The wreath is for our first fireplace, woo-hoo! I'll post a pic when it's all decorated. I've been debating on whether or not to go on that stamping cruise next October. My favorite stampers are all going to be there and I will feel SO left out if I don't go. I certainly wouldn't want to leave Jake at home though and my husband doesn't want to go. My best friend said she might be interested in going. Perhaps my mom will be interested after we take this Disney cruise in Nov (her first cruise). We'll have to see. ANYWAY, here are some pics. Gotta get Jake up from his nap or he'll NEVER sleep tonight!

I'd rather be stamping

Wouldn't we all? I had this stamp shop stamp from A Muse and just got the two sentiments to go with it, along with some extras at my LSS and at Archiver's while shopping with mom, my favorite stamp buddy. Anyway, I came up with this yesterday while Daddy was hogging my computer and everyone else was sleeping. LOVE this patterned paper I picked up at Archiver's, along with the rhinestones. The ribbon is SU's taffeta (so nice!) and the ric-rac is from Hobby Lobby. The cardstock is all SU! and the embossing is a Cuttlebug folder, of course. I glittered the shop all up, but you can't see in the pic :-(

I got my swaps out today (yes!) and immediately signed up for two more, two of each. One is a floral ATC swap and the other is a Cuttlebug swap. Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. I'll be posting mine!

Pixie Dust

Well, it's about time I got this Disney ATC done! I was having such problems, coming up with one that I liked. I think I went through 4 mock-ups until deciding on this one (sorry for the not-so-good photo). I had a little help though, I have to admit. My dear friend Deb (non-stamper) came over and helped me come up with this. The patterned paper is DCWV (I think), the cardstock is SU!, along with the brads and ribbon, the sentiment is Papertrey Ink, the oval is A Muse and Tink is All Night Media. I was so excited when I remembered that I had the tiny mosaic embossing folder for my cuttlebug, since it complements the patterned paper quite nicely, no? Anywho... I'm done with swaps for awhile. Now to get my focus back on the cruise scrapbook. Mom and Dad are coming Saturday, so I'm not sure how much I'll be able to get done. Wish me luck!

Ugh, MIA!

So I can't really explain why I haven't completed anything lately. Maybe it's because I'm having serious issues trying to come up with my 2nd Disney ATC. I thought I had it and started to pre-cut, but decided I was disappointed with it and it wasn't good enough. Then, we painted my office this weekend. I use "we" loosely because my husband did most of the work. My parents are coming to visit Saturday, so hopefully I'll find time to get in here, complete the ATCs and get some stuff posted. Wish me luck!

Just as I promised myself...

... I got going on the Disney Cruise scrapbook today, woo-hoo! Here's the first page. I loosely adapted one of Valerie's Sketches, which are just so great. I'm not too pleased with the second page, but I'll leave it. I'm exhausted and going to take a nap for now ;-) Oh, in case you can't read the journaling and are curious... here's what it says: "Minnie was the first character we encountered during our trip. I don't think Jake expected to see her there at the terminal. He ran right up to her, gave her a big hug and didn't let go for quite awhile. The photographer commented that Minnie was "having a moment" as she rocked Jake back and forth in her arms. After posing for a few photos, he ran over and gave the photographer a hug. She exclaimed, "Now I'm having a moment!" She was practically in tears. Jake's so cute and loveable!"

Done!

Okay, first of all, thanks Liz S. for leaving a comment for me. I tried to email you, but there was no contact info :-(

I'm finally finished with my little ribbon challenge! I used my new Fancy Pants stamps for the final two cards. I really like the simplicity (and ease) of the first one. Brilliance graphite black ink does wonders, doesn't it? It is the BEST black ink if you want your images to be B-L-A-C-K! The cardstock, brads and punch are SU! and the sentiment is good ol' Papertrey Ink (big surprise).





As for the last card... yipes! I'm not really crazy about it at all... actually I don't like it, blech! It's way different for me. It was very difficult for me to put these colors together, but the ribbon had spoken! I was tempted to rip it up and start from scratch, but I wanted this challenge to be overwith! The cardstock, black ribbon and pink ink are SU! The stamps are Fancy Pants, flowers are prima, centers are stickles and ink is Brilliance. And the sentiment... yup... Papertrey.

Now... I have one more Disney ATC to do and I have to, have to, HAVE to get going on my Disney Cruise scrapbook! Our next cruise is in November and I need to get it done before then!

2nd Bella ATC

Here is the 2nd ATC for the Bella swap I am in. I decided to use my original idea and save my new Bellas for lots of playing. Unfortunately, it's hard to see the glitter in this pic... you know how I love to glitter-glam up these gals! I colored this one with Copics and gave her glittery hair, eyeshadow and slip with a gelly pen. I used stickles for the flower centers. The cardstock is SU! and the paper is DCWV. I punched her out with a Marvy Giga circle & scallop and pierced the scallops. The flower is prima and the ribbon is el cheapo from Hobby Lobby. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink... they really have the best, most simplistic sentiments.

Don't worry... I haven't forgotten about my ribbon challenge. I have two cards left, but have been so captivated by my new stamps and having lotsa fun with these swaps! Only one more Disney one to do and I'm done with my commitments!

Spooky!

As I've said before, I am having SO much fun using Papertrey Ink's newest sets! I finally busted out Spooky Sweets and here's what I came up with. The first is a shaker card filled with black microbeads and "polyshrunk" spiders, stamped in black on white and white on black. The cardstock is all SU! and the striped paper is from Hobby Lobby (not sure of brand). I embossed the facial features and used an exacto knife to cut out the centers. I used foam board with a hole cut in the center for filling space and covered with with acetate and the pumpkin. I added some googley eyes, sponging on the face, faux stitching, the sentiment and lotsa ribbon and some raffia. It was quite time consuming, but lotsa fun!


Here's another card, using the same set. This one was much quicker. I finally got to use my fall-colored prima leaves and that trick or treat ribbon and paper I got from Hobby Lobby! The carstock, ink and eyelets are all SU!, except for the bats which were stamped in Brilliance Graphite Black. I added pupils and lashes to the "o's" in the sentiment, see???

I submitted these cards to Papertrey, hoping perhaps one day I'll be selected as their Guest Star Stamper. I can dream, can't I??? I'd be pleased as punch just to be honorably mentioned! Wish me luck! There are so many great stampers out there, using these awesome sets!

Here's an old example of a technique that I've been dying to try with some of MFTs and Papertrey Ink's stamps. I embossed in black on black paper and then painted the inside of the image with bleach. Then, I used prismacolor pencils to color the image. Neato effect, no? It works best with cheap bleach though, so I'll have to remember to put it on my grocery list!

Love this set!

Okay, the Beautiful Blooms set from Papertrey Ink is the best! It's like the definitive floral set, *LOVE IT*! Here's the first card I made, after lots of playing with this set. It's hard to tell, but I used baubels from Stamping Bella for the center of three of the flowers. The cardstock is all SU! along with the ink and punches. The colors are Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Wild Wasabi and Garden Green. The ribbon is from Fancy Pants and the stamps are all from the "Blooms" set. I can't wait to make more cards with it and bust out the "Spooky" set!

We have a little less than 2 months before our second Disney Cruise, AHHHGGHH! We took our first one in February and I have YET to start scrapbooking it! I purchased an album not long ago that seems just perfect! It has the Disney Cruise Line's signature colors in it (I think anyway). Isn't it adorable? It's in the packaging and I used a flash, so it doesn't look as vibrant as it really is. Soon I'll be posting layouts, wish me luck! ;-)