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! ;-)

Bella ATC #1

Here's the first of my 2 Bella ATCs that I'm doing for a swap. This is mamabella, isn't she just the cutest? I colored her with Copics and added glitter with the gelly roll and stickles. I just can't get away without glittering these girls up! The background stamp is from SU!, along with the cardstock (pretty in pink and chocolate chip), eyelet and punch. The flower is prima and I'm not sure where the ribbon is from. The "blessed" sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

Speaking of Bellas, I just received a bunch of them in the mail today, *yay*! I've already come up with an idea for my next ATC, but I might have to forgo it and try out some of these new ones ;-) I also received my new Papertrey Ink sets today... Spooky Sweets, Beautiful Blossoms and I finally broke down and got the faux ribbon. Can't wait to get all those dirty too!

I had a thyroid scan today and according to the tech, whose not really allowed to say, the nodule looks "hot" and that means that it's like 99% odds that I *don't* have cancer, whew! Of course, I still feel this nodule and feel like I'm choking a lot so I don't know what the future will hold. I'm visiting an ENT next week to see if there's anything they can figure out since I've had a lot of drainage and some of the sensation could be sinus related. If it's not one thing, it's another, I tell ya! ;-)

How do you delete posts?

Tried to delete this one and add it at another time... not working for me, oops! ;-)

I'm back!

Things have been nuts around here as usual, but I'm trying to get back in the groove now. The boys were all here and one of them was sleeping in my craft room and using my computer a lot. We had a great visit though, loads of laughs! Here's a card I made for my personal ribbon challenge. I've enjoyed using the colors from each of these ribbons, but the cards have been pretty bland. I'll try to step it up on the last two. Anyway, here's TinkerBella in all her sparkly glory. The cardstock is SU!'s pale plum, perfect plum and pretty in pink and the sentiment is theirs as well. The sparklies are Stickles and a glitter pen. The flower is goold ol' Prima and the brads were purchased yesterday at Hobby Lobby. Are you fortunate enough to have one of those in your neighborhood?!? I love living in Georgia for so many reasons but OMG... we didn't have Hobby Lobby near me in South Florida. We also have Archeivers... wow, have you been there yet? I don't even think there are any of those in Florida! Anyway, here's what I came up with. I've also been working on those swaps I signed up for. I'll post the rest soon. Here's a pic of "the boys" from Six Flags White Water. It's not the best, but it's the only one of all of them ;-)

My New Hobby

Hummingbirds! OMG... I *love* watching them! I bought a hummingbird feeder yesterday at Bird Watcher (ever been to one of those?) and stuck it to my dining room window. Wouldn't ya know that it works like a charm? These bold little buggers come RIGHT up to our window about every 10 minutes or so. What a joy! The feeder is so simple to use and easy to clean. You fill it with a sugar water solution and they just go to town! Here are some pics.

It's just Goofy!

... goofy that I went to meet with the surgeon today and he had to run away to do an emergency surgery! I met with him for a minute or so. He said we need to talk and that I might not need surgery at all. This whole thing has been so crazy... silly... GOOFY!

Here's an ATC I did for a Disney swap that I'm participating in. I took up two slots so I have to come up with another. I'm also signed up for two slots of a Bella swap, yay! I'll be working on those and finishing up my ribbon challenge over the next few weeks.

My boys are all coming to visit Saturday, YES!!! The boys being my Dad, brother Mike and brother Bob, just out of National Guard training! Bob hasn't seen Jake, my darling 2 1/2 year old son since Christmas! He's going to get SUCH a kick out of the terrible twos! So... I will be on stamping hiatus while they're here.

Here's a recent pic of my boy... since I don't think I've shared his precious little face on this blog yet. This is Jake climbing the rockwall on his Mac Daddy playset... actually called the "King Kong" model, lol. Well, they say to buy the thing as if he were 9. My kid will probably be over 6' tall by then, no?!? For those of you who don't know... my husband is 6'3" and I'm 6'2" myself!!!

Adorable!

One of my closest friends, Nicole just gave birth to her second baby boy, Seth. He is indeed ADORABLE! Not pruney or wrinkly or funny or coney looking... just beautiful! This card is for her newly expanded family. The images, cardstock and embellishments are all SU!, except for the "blessed" which is Papertrey Ink. I pulled the colors from the ribbon, which is American Crafts, I believe. Now I just need to get this in the mail with the gifts for Seth and her 2-year-old, Jayden.

We've had a lot going on here lately. My biopsy came back inconclusive, if you could believe that and now I have to have an open biopsy (surgery) next week. UGH! Between this saga, my husband's new job, the land we just bought next door, the new commuter car that we bought today and the family I have coming to visit, things have just been NUTS!!! Praise the Lord for distractions and stamping to help keep me sane!

2nd Ribbon Challenge Card

I hope someone checks out my blog soon... I know, whoa is me. At least it's held me accountable to stamp, journal and challenge myself!

Here's the 2nd card I made with the MOD ribbon. The flower and background stamp are Hero Arts (too bad you can't really tell that the flower is popped). The circle outline and "hello" are Papertrey Ink. The cardstock is all SU! I like the way this came out, just because it's pretty different for me. I *never* would've put black and bashful blue together, no way!