Gift Certificates!

I recently had some people purchase SU! gift certificates for some lucky folks this year, and I always mix it up when I make them. No two years, no two purchases are alike. So, I have fun with it, and the Create-a-Coupon stamp set from SU! is perfect for this!! So here's what this one looks like:

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

Just a few little details to put in left - like the recipient's name, who it's from, and a personalized note inside from the sender! How fun are these to make?? Even better, how much fun it will be for the person who gets to SHOP!

Oddly enough, this picture made the top layer look almost vanilla, but it isn't. It's actually white, but I didn't want to go through another picture editing session to get it just right, so you'll have to get the idea. ; )

Sets: Create A Coupon, Wishing You, It's Snow Time (the star), Brushstroke Alphabet & Numbers

Colors: Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranite, Whisper White

Other: Spiral Punch, 1 1/2" circle punch (CM), 1 3/8" circle punch (SU!), dimensionals

I made another fun Holiday card today, too, and it's still drying, so it will probably be a post for tomorrow, but you can bet it's gonna be put up here soon!

Sorry, no blog candy yet. My day is running short and I ran out of time to collect the items, but it will be soon, I promise!!!

Laters~

Rekindled Love

Okay, okay, so I'm a day late... my daughter ended up home sick yesterday so I didn't get on the PC all day *sniff*...anyway here's the craft I've rekindled that I wanted to share... remember it's not stamping related, but hopefully you'll like it anyway:

It's CROCHET. Yep, it's true. I admit it. I love to crochet. And, since my sister had a baby and my sister in law is getting ready to have one, it was time to get out the old hooks and get working.

This is the first baby blanket I've made, and I designed the pattern myself... the way it's laying on the floor looks kinda crooked, but it's not really in person.

As you can probably guess, it's a boy.

Here's a blanket that I started almost 2 years ago and never finished, until last week:

This was supposed to be a blanket for me, but my mom fell in love with it (again, nicer in person), so she's going to be getting it for Christmas instead.

You know, it's surprisingly warm! I started a new blanket for myself this time, and hopefully it will be done before the winter is over. lol

So that's it for the re-kindled love. Now I'm off to my basement to stamp so I have some new things to share with you all later today! Oh, and I have to assemble some blog candy, too. ; )

Hugs~

Holy Cow, I hit 10,000!!

Hi friends!! First of all, thank you to EVERYONE who posted comments with well-wishes for me last week when I was sick. I was able to get better enough in time for Thanksgiving, and then I hosted my family on Saturday.... which was nice. Then it was busy,busy,busy the last few days with work and such, and I just checked my counter to see that I hit 10,000 a few hundred clicks ago! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

SO, as promised I will be offering some blog candy to celebrate, so keep your eyes peeled and check here tomorrow for the post with the details......and hopefully some cute samples to share, too!

I'll also have a non-stamping project I want to share with you, too... I picked up one of my old craft projects and have re-kindled my love... want to know what it is? Sorry, gotta wait until later today or tomorrow morning! Isn't the suspense just wonderful!? lol

Okay everyone, I'm going to try to get to visit some of you later on so that you know I love you all, too... but thanks for visiting me in the meantime - you have NO IDEA how happy you've made me!!

ROCK ON~
Gina

Just poppin' in.

Hi friends... I haven't posted in a couple of days because I got suddenly ill. I'm still sick, but I had to get online and pay a couple of bills, so I wanted to let you know that I'm not slacking on the posts, but I just don't feel well enough to stamp.

As soon as I'm feeling a bit better, I'll be sure to have more goodies to share.

Thanks for your patience!

Hugz~

Mystery Stamper #4

This is such a cute card I was happily surprised to get a few months ago, and here's what I got to enjoy, so now you can too:

Want to know who made this beauty?? Click here and see her blog to find out!

Okay, I have been tagged so many times, it's time to post.

I got tagged....

1. If you could have 100.00 worth of scrapbook paper or assorted embellishments, which would you choose? I'd have to go with embellishments.

2. If you had to choose between using only stamps or ribbons, which would you choose?
Stamps! What's ribbon without some good images?!

3. If you knew how to do both awesome cards and layouts but could only do one for a whole year…which would you do? Awesome cards - I probably SHOULD do layouts because I'm so far behind, but I like cards cuz they're more instant-gratification for me.

4. Would you rather own a scrap booking store or have your own scrapping room at home...
OOH, I'd go with the store. I'd love to have that much going on to be able to share large-scale.

5. What is your CURRENT card making or scrapping style? Fun, clean, me.

Here are the rules…………..Please answer the questions on your blog and tag 5 more people to answer the same questions……….make sure you list on your blog who you are tagging….

I'm tagging those SBS Sisters:

Meredith :: http://www.stampin4mysanity.blogspot.com/
Vanessa :: http://momwhoscraps.blogspot.com/
Kelly :: http://diariesofastamper.blogspot.com/
Maria :: http://riacreations.blogspot.com/
Meg :: http://peacockpaperie.blogspot.com/

If you've already been tagged, please forgive me. I was tagged I think 4 times, so don't sweat it! : )

Many Thanks

I have a lot to be thankful for, but in this case, I had one particular thing in mind. My parents did something VERY nice for me and my family that really helped me out in a tight spot, so I had to try and make something special to send to them to thank them. I hope I nailed it.

The photography is kinda dark, but in real life this is bright and fresh looking....trust me!

And between you and me, this is as close to throwing "everything but the kitchen sink" into my cards as I get... I thnk. ; )

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

This incorporated a bit of a UFO, too! I went to grab a piece of cardstock in Rose Red, and it had the scallop line punched already (from an old swap long ago), so I decided it would add a great touch to this card, too. Whadya think?

Sets: Polka Dots & Paisley, Cheery Chat, Polka Dots & Petals jumbo wheel
Colors: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Tempting Turqoise, Certainly Celery
Other: On Board accents, Pink Rhinestone brads, stitched ribbon, embossing powder in pink and green (Pastel collection, SU!), SU! designer paper Petals & Paisleys (?), dimensionals, slit punch

Mystery Stamper #3

I wonder who made this little beauty?!

Is this not just the freshest, funnest (yes, I know it's not a word) card?? Not to mention I LOVE aloha-flowers! So, if you want to see who did this one, check out her blog here.

I love my Mystery Stampers!!

Enjoy!!

Before and After - Round 2

I kinda liked showing the old UFO and the resulting card - so I decided to do it again! I hope you like seeing both, too... it shows how you can take the one item for inspiration and create something completely different from it! I guess you could say I'm inadvertently inspiring myself.... weird eh?

Anywho, I found yet ANOTHER UFO, pre-cut make & takes from a couple of years ago... and this original piece is one I basically CASED off my friend Sherri - Sher, if you're reading this, do you remember this card?! Anyway, I also took the opportunity to use pre-cut cardstock to create some more Christmas cards, since usually making my cards gets really boring cuz I rarely make more than one style each year... and so by mixing it up and creating new stuff, I'm having a lot of - can you believe it - FUN!

Here's the original UFO I found:

It uses Night Of Navy and White. Yep, and the wide organdy ribbon we miss so much!

Anyone remember the name of this set? I know I still have it somewhere, but I can't remember where it is or the name of it off-hand....

Next, here's the resulting Christmas Card I came up with:

I didn't have pre-cut White background folds, so I did the Bashful Blue thing and added some more oomph to emphasize the wintery theme.

Some notched corners with my trusty slit punch, some Bashful Blue eyelet washers and white eyelets I haven't used in FOREVER, a little Liquid Applique (which, confidentially, I wasn't sure if it would be dried out, which it wasn't, thank goodness!), some wheeled snow and I was all set!

I was pretty happy with the result, how about you!?

____________________________

Sets: Snowflake jumbo wheel, It's Snow Time

Colors: Night of Navy, Bashful Blue

Other: Slit punch, 1/4" punch, 1/8" punch, navy organdy, dimensionals, Liquid Applique

Hope you enjoyed this one and are getting your UFOs done these days, too! It's really steamrolling my enthusiasm for stamping again!

You guessed it.....

...it's another UFO! I am really on a roll here! I found a pack of pre-cut cardstock from a Make & Take project from a Christmas Card class I held long ago (let's put it this way, this color scheme includes BLISS Blue and Mint Melody!!!), and decided to give it a go UFO style!

First, here's what the original sample looked like from the project from a couple of years ago:

The darkness of the pic sorta masks the fun feel of the card, but as you can see it's an old set, and it uses my long lost CRIMPER!! When was the last time I used that thing? FOREVER ago!!

Now here's the new adaptation with the new look:

I took the pre-cut opportunity to make 5 fun Christmas cards, just ready to send to friends and family! How fun is that?!

I still used the crimper because it really adds dimension to the card, and besides, the crimper was in dire need of being used. It's hard to see the sparkle of the snow on the snowy scene, but it's there...oh yes, it's there.

And, in order to get it just right, I had to do what is a long-lost technique for me, the long lost MASKING technique.

Ahhh, the memories are coming alive today!

____________________________

Set (card 1): Espress Yourself

Set (card 2): It's Snow Time

Colors: Brilliant Blue, Bliss Blue (Bashful is a perfect replacement) (Mint Melody is in Card 1)

Other: Crimper, dimensionals, slit punch, silver brad, silver cord, glue dots, 2-way glue pen, dazzling diamonds glitter

Hope you like this newest edition of the UFO sightings!!

Mystery Stamper #2

I'll bet you didn't think I was going to feature another Mystery Stamper, did you? WELL, smarties, I fooled you! I went and dug up a card from my archives (and let's face it, I have a TON of cards in the archives just itching to be seen), so let's see if you can remember who stamped this card:

As a side note, I sure wish I had this set.... it's so stinkin' cute! This card really sells it to me. Too bad it's retired!

Okay, back to business... wanna know who stamped it? Check out this blog - if you don't already do that daily!

I wonder who will be next on the attack of the old card?! ; )

Sort of a Repeat Appearance

Yep, I tried to mix it up with the UFO for the Warhol technique, but I had a bunch of them and I couldn't bring myself to make just the same thing for each one, so here's another twist on the card from the other day that I did.....

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

Same colors, different stamp set and theme. The weird thing is, with the photography being what it is, you can't tell that those little flags with the words on them are popped up! Oh well... another day, another camera woe. lol

Now THIS one I plan on sending to a couple of people, so if you're reading this and you get one, I hope you'll still think it's cute even if it's not "surprising" anymore. lol

Hugz~

Yet Another Sighting!

Guess what? It's another UFO sighting! Can you guess where it is? Yep, on this card! lol Wanna know what part is the former UFO? Wanna? Huh, huh??

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

It's the glittery flowers!! I found a half-sheet of black cardstock with a whole bunch of iridescent ice embossed flowers on it! Whoa, what a find... so I cut them out and whipped up a bouquet with some bold color and a canvas background, and voila! A card all about friendship and something that I hope could brighten someone's day!

Here's the deets:

Sets: Curvy Verses, Canvas Background, Petal Prints (I think?!)
Colors: Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise
Other: Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Versamark, 1/2" punch, Rhinestone brad (from the "fire" collection), dimensionals, spiral punch

I hope you like it!

Forgive me for going off-topic, but...

...this is something I just felt compelled to post about. Have you seen ads for the upcoming movie, "The Golden Compass"? It's being heavily advertised as a blockbuster kids movie, just in time for the Holidays, and it's actually an anti-God message aimed at young minds. Please read the following information on Snopes (hoax-proofing site) for more information and decide for yourself if you'd let your kids watch this - I know I absolutely won't, and I'm not easily swayed.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

I normally wouldn't use a forum such as this to make a morality statement, but this was one area I just couldn't let go. If you're an avid atheist, then you can ignore this post, but if not - you may want to check out the link above just in case.

UPDATE: A friend of mine has a little more exposure to this now that her sister just read one of the books - see what my friend wrote on this subject as well: http://jennyzanelli.blogspot.com/

We Have a Winner...

Well, happy Monday, everyone! I have picked a name at random from the entries for the blog candy, and the winning post is....

rockfestqueen said...
Whoo Hoo Gina...glad to have you back bloggin'!!Big hugs to you girlie!!

It happens that I know who this is, so CONGRATS, KAYE!

For those of you who didn't win, thanks for entering, and if you're interested, check out Kaye's blog, too - she's a great stamper!

Okay, friends, that's it for now... when I hit 10K hits, there will be more goodies, so keep visiting!

Later Gaters~

Playing with Leftovers

Yep, in my quest to clean up my space, there was one thing I just couldn't bring myself to throw away: those pieces of unfinished cards, technique samples, or cut pieces for make & takes from old parties done long ago. Yep, I couldn't part with them, so I committed myself to using some of those pieces to create new cards that I can use, post and have fun with in a new way.

Those are the cards I'll be featuring in the next few days. Some will be using retired stamp sets, but mixed with new stuff, maybe you'll enjoy the results. I know I had fun.

Here's the first one for you to check out - the fairy piece was already done, glitter, brads, cord, everything... but that was all I had. It was almost like an artist trading card, only not. So, I used it to create a card for my sister's birthday, which is tomorrow. Guess it won't be arriving in her mailbox on time, will it?! UGH!!

Anyway, here's the card:

I played with my Cuttlebug for some embossed Happy Birthday messages, then did some paper piercing on the strip, added glitter (and how can I resist, considering the fairy theme?!) and some fun backgrounds using stamps I've long forgotten about, and voila! A card that I think is kinda fun.

Sets: Fairy Nice, Little Pieces, Teeny Tinies, Happy Birthday template (Cuttlebug)

Colors: Lavender Lace, Certainly Celery

Other: silver brads, silver cord, 2-way glue pen, Dazzling Diamonds

Hope you (and my sister) like it!

____________________________________________

UPDATE: OMG - I just found the original card I made using this piece, and it's from 2005! LOL... it's in my gallery on SCS - click HERE to see the original card this came from! lol

BLOG CANDY!!

Since I was such a bad blogger for most of the summer, I decided to make it up to you all and win back some traffic in the process.... as my promise that I will do better!!

Here's some goodies I have available for you all today:



It's Die cut mania - with 2 packs of eyelet washers in brights and earthtones; 2 packs of full-sized layered tags in earthtones and regals; 3 packs of funky flowers and outlines in brights, primary brights and earthtones; 2 packs of small tags in brights and regals, with whites included; and 3 packs of some funky shapes in subtles, black/white, and earthtones.... THEN I have an entire, unopened spool of lavender twill tape ribbon, and a bundle of several yards of a multicolored-green and earthtone-woven fiber (approx 7/8" wide). Lastly, an entire package of specialty USA-themed brad-backed buttons in a brasstone color.



Now, who is gonna get this candy? Comment here showin' some love - I am shamelessly plugging for more traffic after my lull in activity. When I get to 10,000 hits, I'm going to offer some more (and even better) stuff as a reward! So, get commenting and keep em comin'.... we're all in this together! No ANONYMOUS comments will win, so please let me know who you are so I can contact you if you're the winner!


The winner will be announced on Monday, good luck!!


Hugz~