Happy Birthday Trenton

We've had company all week, but I did manage find an hour to sneak into my stamping room and make this birthday card :) ! In the process, I think I discovered the most challenging type of card for me to create is one for a teenage boy. Maybe it's because I raised 2 girls...the whole boy thing is still a little confusing, lol! This card will have a little money inside, so that should help, and it will be attached to several boxes of candy, so that won't hurt either ;) ! Happy Birthday Trenton, hope your day is extra special!! Does anyone have suggestions on stamps or projects that are good for teen boy? Please feel free to share your ideas with me! I could really use some help in that area. Here are a few of the punches and the coordinating Polka Dot Punches (free!) stamp set that I used ~

The card features Pacific Point Blue & Kiwi Kiss cardstock. Love those colors together. I pulled out the sentiment from the All Holidays SU set. The 1 3/4" Circle was stamped with my free SAB set, Polka Dot Punch (pictured above) and layered up with several other circle punches and topped off with a Small Star punch. A little Striped Kiwi Kiss Grosgrain Ribbon, paper piercing and Silver Brad were the finishing touches. Finished size for my card is 4 1/4 square (my favorite!). I used Black Stazon ink for the senitment and Pacific Blue Classic Ink for the Polka Dot Punch Image.

Many of you are familiar with Sale-a-bration (SAB) ... but incase you're not, it's Stampin Up's biggest promotion of the year! There are lots of products that I wait to purchase until it's time for their "free gift with purchase" , like Clinique. That's kind of what SAB is like. For every $50 in merchandise you order, you get to choose a FREE stamp set or product from the SAB brochure...and there's no limit! Right now you can also get a FREE Spring Summer Idea Book & Catalog ($9.95 value) just for placing an order of any amount on-line. For more details on those promotions, just click HERE (or on any of the colored links above). And remember, YOU always get the LOWEST price on-line, just by specifying a demonstrator (hopefully me!). And... if you're ever thought about joing SU as a demo, either as a business or just to enjoy the discount on your personal orders, there are extra bonuses for joining now. I joined 2 years ago during SAB and it's been such a great opportunity for me. I know, I know, you probably think there's a catch, but if there is, I haven't found it yet. It's genuinely been a great deal for me. My hobby now pays for itself :) !!!! If you have any questions about any of the current promotions or products, please feel free to email me anytime at youcanstamp@hotmail.com :) !

I have a TON of un-inked stamps and gorgeous new DPs calling to me from my workbench. Hopefully I'll find a little creative time and will be back to share some projects and ideas with you soon.

Thanks for stopping by :) ... have a great weekend!!

Blog Candy Winner!

Wow! It was so fun reading your comments...I can tell you are as excited as I am about the new OCL stamps :) !! I hope you all enjoyed a fun Valentines Day! I had my son-in-law pick a random winner (thanks Ryan), for the Ducky Days set, and the lucky duck is...(drum roll please) ...

The Crafty Den said...
Hi Nancy, thanks for the chance to win this gorgeous stamp set. I love all the new sets but if I had to pick one it would be Kit the Kat. Have a great weekend. Hugs, Denise x

Congratulations Denise :) !!! Just email me (youcanstamp@hotmail.com) with your mailing address, and the OCL girls will get that Ducky Days set mailed out to you!

And...incase anyone hasn't seen that Kit the Kat set Denise picked as her fav, you can check it out right HERE. It's one of my favorites too!!

Chloe is really excited about the new OCL stamps and wanted to extend her congrats to Denise :) !!! The Valentine card pictured above is a super quick, simple one I made for Chloe and her mommy & daddy. It features one of my favorite OCL sets, Anna Mae. Not only do I adore that sweet little Anna Mae image, I also appreciate how versatile the set is. It's one I'll reach for all year. She's colored with Copics, Shined up with a Sakura clear glaze pen and matted with a Long Rectangle Scalloped Nestie.

And then there's Muffin......who doen'st know quite what to think of Chloe or the stamps. She got all dressed up for Valentine's day and even had her nails painted RED (by Megan)...but still, everyone seemed to be paying more attention to the baby. She's a little bit of a drama queen...you can see the sad eyes in the picture, but I assure you, she's still getting tons of love & attention :) !

Thanks for stopping by...and thanks again for playing along with the OCL give-away weekend! I'll be back to some sort of regular stamping/posting schedule soon...but for now, I'm off the enjoy some family time :) !!!

Blog Candy Friday!

Tomorrow's Valentine's Day...so how about a sweet treat? Yay, it's time for Blog Candy! A chance to win a brand spankin' new Ducky Days stamp set from Our Craft Lounge :) !!! And there's more. OCL is celebrating their Winter CHA Release by giving away a total of 28 sets this weekend! It's my pleasure to give away the Ducky Days set, and you can see it, along with the other 27 new sets, right HERE! Both of today's cards were made with the Ducky Days set. My favorite thing about this set are those rubber boots! Love 'em!! I colored the Duck's boots red with Copic R37, the covered them with Crystal Effects, so they're super-duper shiny. I added Crystal Effects to the boots on the 2nd card too.

So... you're probably wondering how you can get signed up for that blog candy. To sign up for my blog candy, just leave a comment on this post telling me which of the new releases is your favorite & why (one comment per person please). You can find 'em all right HERE. I'll pick a random winner on Sunday at noon (pacific time). And...to get signed up for the other sets to be given away, just pop over the CAMI's blog (stamp a little love baby!). She's got some fun up her little pink sleeve....something about a Surprise Hunt? You'd better check it out :) !

I'm looking forward to reading your comments. I'm going to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day today, because I have family coming to visit this weekend, so I won't be posting again until Sunday...when I pick that winner! Have yourself a wonderful weekend,thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies for today's cards (size 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 and 4 1/4 square): Stamps: Ducky Days (OCL) Paper: Baja Breeze, Pumpkin Pie, Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss & Chocolate Chip and Neenah White cardstock, My Mind's Eye DP Ink: Ranger Distressed Black Soot & Chocolate Chip Accessories: Copic Markers, Sakura Clear Glaze Pen, Crystal Effects (SU), Ruby Red Brads, 3/4", 1", 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" SU Circle Punches, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" SU Squre punches, Rectangle Nesties, Baja Breeze Button

*Stampn Up products can be found online HERE

* Copic Markers, My Mind's Eye DP & Ranger Distressed Soot ink can all be found at Eclectic Paperie's online store, HERE

Shhh...an early Valentine card

Quick post to show you the Valentine card I made for my wonderful husband :) ! Now I have to hide so he doesn't find it before Saturday. It's hard to be sneaky, he always seems to see whatever I'm working on. We got a bulldog puppy last August and, in the beginning, she was supposed to be for me & my daughter. But Bogue has absolutely fallen in love with that little dog. It's so sweet to see them together. I thought it only fitting that I make his Valentine with this new stamp set from The Greeting Farm, Pup Star. I also used my new SU Eyelet Border Punch..love that thing!!

Happy Valentine's Day (a little early) from Muffin!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow to get signed up for BLOG CANDY!

Supplies for the card (4 1/4 square): Stamps: Pup Star (The Greeting Farm) Paper: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Candy Lane (SU) DP & White Ink: Ranger Distressed Black Soot & Chocolate Chip Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch (SU), Small & Large Oval Punches, Paper Piercing Tool/Mat pack, Heart brad (non su), Copic Markers & Sakura Clear Glaze pen

Simple Love & Gratitude

Simple seems to be my theme lately. I made this card last week before coming home. It was for my mother-in-law's 90th birthday!! I was a little worried that it was too simple. My supplies were pretty limited, but I think it turned out okay. And the most important part...Ruthie loved it and it made her smile :) !

The heart is covered in Crystal Effects so it's shiny and the Black 1/4" grosgrain ribbon sparkles because I colored it with a Clear Spica Glitter pen. Both of those details are hard to see in this photo (sorry). I used the new SU set, Love You Much along with the coordinating Three Hearts punch. Finished size is 4 1/4 square (my favorite size). I used Riding Hood Red, Basic Black & White cardstock. Dimensionals added dimension to my card, lol!

An another simple card made with the same supplies, but this one was a thank you note for a very special friend :) ... you can see the Crystal Effects on the heart and birds a little better in this photo ~

Good news ~ I'll have BLOG CANDY on Friday !!! Thanks for stopping by & be sure to stop by Friday, check out the goodies & get yourself signed up :) !

Divine Design Feb 09

After 8 weeks of being gone ... I'm finally home! Chloe is doing really, really well! I thank God everyday for that sweet little girl and for her amazing recovery. What an experience. Thanks again to everyone who prayed and shared kind words of encouragment with us. You were part of the miracle :) !!! I arrived home yesterday & was greeted by my wiggling bulldog and smiling husband. After being gone for so long, I wanted to spend some time with the hubby, so I kept my project very simple. I used my beautiful new stamp set from ODBD called Lift Up Our Hands, to make my bookmark...it features the scripture Hebrews 4:16. I found another translation (NCV) that I really liked and thought you might enjoy it too

"Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God's throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it"

I use www.biblegateway.com to reference different translations sometimes. It's a nice resource. This Divine Design Bible verse Challenge is a wonderful way to combine Scripture and Stamping. I create a bookmark each month that helps me memorize and meditate on a particular scripture. I hope you'll consider joining us in this monthly challenge. You can get started anytime, just jump in when you can :) ! The simple rules can be found right HERE! And if you have any questions, please feel free to email me, anytime ~ youcanstamp@hotmail.com.

And, here are links to the other Scripture Chicks so you can check out their fabulous projects ~ Lori Craig: Make a Difference, Taylor VanBruggen: Taylored Expressions , Angel Wilde: Angelosity, Jami Bova: Stamp Happy

Have you seen this new Divine Design blog badge? It was designed by our very own Jami Bova : ) ! If you play along with the DD challenge, this badge is for YOU! To add it to your blog, just follow Jami's perfectly wonderful directions:

1. Copy everything between the /* and */ 2. Paste the HTML code onto your blog. (for Blogger, you'll add an HTML gadget and paste this code)

/* http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=408999" target="blank"> http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff2/jbova/DivineDesign2009.png" border="0" alt="Divine Design 2009"> */

Thanks for stopping by! I'll leave you with a fun little picture of Chloe enjoying her new swing. She looks pretty happy... hope you have a happy day too :) !

Supplies used for my bookmark (size 3 x 5 1/2") ~ Stamps: Lift Up Our Hands (ODBD) Paper: Kiwi Kiss (textured), Chocolate Chip & White Ink: Kiwi Kiss & Chocolate Chip Tools/Accessories: 1" & 3/4" Circle punches, Silver Filigree Flower Brad (SU), Silver brads

Smiles

What could possibly keep me away from stamping for 6 weeks??? This picture pretty much says it all. Chloe is simply amazing. She is such a fighter. Heart surgery at 5 days old, Omphalocele surgery at 5 weeks old...and at 6 1/2 weeks old, a healthy, happy little baby back at home! Katie took these pictures of Chloe & I this weekend and I think they're going to be favorites :) ! I will be heading home later this week & I do promise to start showing you stamping projects again. Lots of ideas and a bunch of brand new stamps waiting for me at home...but for now, I'm just going to enjoy these last few days with Chloe and a few days with my husband who's coming to visit too! I do miss my stamping, but this family time has been precious! To thank you for your patience while I've been away...there will be BLOG CANDY coming up soon...so be sure to check back :) !!!

Here's me & Chloe again. I had so many people tell me that being a grandma was going to be very special, but oh my goodness, I had no idea it could be this good. Couldn't be any better.

Thanks for stopping by! Have an awesome week :) !!!