OCL Sneak peek week!

This is sneak peek week for Our Craft Lounge, plus there's gonna be a HUGE blog hop on Friday! You'll be able to check out all the new sets PLUS have a chance to win each of the new releases! I'm giving away a SUPER cute set...you won't want to miss it!Today's cards were made with the soon to be released Bookworm set :) And what perfect timing, with the school year coming to an end soon, this is a wonderful set to make teacher appreciation cards.

I'm dedicating both of these cards to my daughter, Megan, who is in her 3rd year of college, training to be the BEST teacher ever! You go girl :) !! I'm SO proud of you.

The new sets won't be available till Friday, but you can find more sneak peeks right here ~
Cami
Joy
Heather
HB
Pam
Kisa
Kendra
Holly
Val
Debbie
Charmaine

I received some thoughtful blog awards this past week :) ... thanks girls!!! I'm so sorry I haven't been able to share those yet. I'll sure try to show you those and pass them along a little later this week. Lots of fun stuff happening in the stamping world! Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to check back later in the week for that BLOG HOP!!

Supplies for the first card ~ Stamps: Bookworm (OCL) Paper: My Mind's Eye DP, Choc Chip, Riding Hood Red, Neenah White Ink: Ranger Distressed Black Soot Accessories: Copic Markers, Crystal Effects, SU Large Oval Punch & Scalloped Oval Punch, SU Scallop Edge Punch, American Crafts stitched red ribbon, Paper piercing tool, NEW OCL acrylic blocks

Supplies for the second card ~ Stamps: Bookworm (OCL) Paper: My Mind's Eye DP, Choc Chip, Riding Hood Red, Neenah White Ink: Ranger Distressed Black Soot Accessories: Copic Markers, Crystal Effects, SU Scallop Edge Punch, Paper percing tool, Photo Corner Punch, Silver Brads, Circle/Scallop nesties, NEW OCL acrylic blocks

Hooray for Administrative Assistants!

Today is Administrative Assistant's Day ... and if that's you, well I hope your day is extra special and you are recognized for your hard work and contribution to making your office run smoothly! I know a couple of very special girls who are being honored today and they received these SU gift certificates from their grateful office-mates. Have a great day Sheri & Carly ... you guys are the BEST :) !!

Gift certificates make great gifts and I'm always trying to think of fun new ways to present them. These were super easy. I used Parisian Breeze Specialty Paper for the for the sleeve, so it has a little texture and it's pretty inside and out :) ! I cut that at 6 1/2 x 3 1/2 and scored at 3" & 6". Then you just adhere it together (I used sticky strip). I used my 1 3/8" circle punch to create a little notch at the top.

This is what it looks like before you add the sticky strip to the inside of the flap and bottom edge ~
I printed the GCs on the computer (whisper white card stock) then layered 'em up with some chocolate chip card stock. Then I pulled out my Owl Together Now stamp set and stamped a little hoot-hoot hooray and a flower with chocolate chip ink. My large oval punch layered up beautifully with the new Scallop oval punch from the Occasions Mini catalog. A little 5/8" striped baja breeze gg ribbon tied with some 1/4" chocolate chip gg ribbon and the little gift certificates were ready to go!

The finished size of the sleeve is 3 x 3 1/2" and the certificates are about 3 1/8 x 2 3/4".

Several of you have asked how Miss Chloe is doing. Thanks for asking...you guys are so sweet. I know many of you prayed along with us during those first difficult weeks of her life and I just can't thank you enough for those prayers. Other than a few digestion issues (somewhat expected following major abdominal surgery), she's doing amazingly well. She just turned 4 months old last week and weighs about 10 1/2 pounds. You'd never know that this little girl has undergone 2 major surgeries. I'd like to say that she's just a normal little baby, but ummm....she's our miracle baby, so that word normal just doesn't seem to fit :) ! Spring has sprung in Oregon and we've had bright, sunny weather this week. Katie sent me this photo of Chloe trying out her new sunglasses ~ Pretty stylin', don't you think? From the looks of this photo, most of that 10 1/2 pounds is being stored in her chubby little cheeks and chin :) !!!

Thanks for stopping by! Thought for today ~ smile every chance you get & see how many smiles you get back :) ... I bet you get a ton !!

Hoot Hoot Hooray!

I'm taking a quick break between homework and housework to show you a card I made for my nephew Mikey who turns 29 today :) !! I kept this pretty clean and simple, but that's Mike's style, so I think he'll like it. It still baffles me, but guys just don't like glitter and ribbon on their cards....weird, LOL!

I used the SU set, Owl Together Now. I love all the fun owls that are available this year... they're such happy little creatures :) ! The entire card went together fairly quickly...I used my 1 1/4 & 1 3/8" square punches for the 4 background squares. I paper pieced his hat in, colored the image with Copic Markers and added some Crystal Effects for shine and dimension. That's about it. The finished size is 4 1/4" square.

That DP is from the new Occasions Mini Catalog...it's call A Walk in the Park. You can find that paper and the mini catalog right HERE.

The happy birthday sentiment is from the All Holidays set. By the way, if you're looking for a nice Mother's Day sentiment, that set has one of my favorites. You can see the entire set right HERE. As the name of the set implies, this set has a sentiment for pretty much every holiday throughout the year...very handy!




Well, that's about it for me. Back to the books. Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have an awesome weekend :) !!!

Divine Design April 09

I apologize for needing to post my April Divine Design project a little late! It's been a very busy week...I'm sure you understand :) ! The scripture on my bookmark was especially meaningful for me during this busy week as God faithfully answered my prayers, encouraged me and gave me strength for each day and each task! What an amazing verse. I have to thank my friend, Angel Wilde,for selecting this wonderful scripture to be part of ODBD's DT Scripture Collection 2. Speaking of Angel, here are the links to the scripture chicks so you can check out their projects this month~

Angel Wilde: Angelosity
Lori Craig: Make a Difference
Taylor VanBruggen: Taylored Expressions
Jami Bova: Stamp Happy

I hope you're playing along with the Divine Design Bible Verse Challenge. The rules are simple and you can find them right HERE. You can join anytime. And don't forget to use the keyword BVC09 when you upload to the SCS gallery!

I only had an hour to complete my project this morning, so I kept my bookmark simple and used some of my fun new SU hardware to dress it up. Those white brads 5/16" (from the big catalog) and the Jumbo Grommet is from the new Occasions Mini Catalog. The ink is Chocolate Chip, and the cardstock is Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, & Whisper White. The DP is SU's Good Morning Sunshine. Stampin' Up did all the color coordination for me which saved a ton of time :) !

Muffin celebrated her 1st birthday earlier this week. She wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Easter. She knows the real reason for Easter is to celebrate our risen Savior, Jesus Christ... but she can't pass up a chance to dress up, so .....

What do you think? I think she makes a pretty cute little Easter Bulldog, LOL!!

Thanks for stopping by. Easter Hugs & Blessings to all :) !! My classes have kept me busy, but I'm really enjoying them. I'm still hoping to post about once a week whenever possible. Now that the first 2 weeks of classes are past, I think I've figured out some strategies for time management and effective studying, and should be finding some stamping time each week !!