Give Thanks All Year

I have waited a very long time to be able to share this creation with you. I wanted to make sure it was done at a time of the year that would allow for it to be used for a good amount of time. My "container" is a "thankful" container. It is intended for my family to use it all year long until Thanksgiving. Quite simply... when we are thankful for something we feel especially blessed for, we simply take a tag from the container and write it down. I am sure we will need more than the tags I have made here and I do plan to make more. When Thanksgiving arrives, as we sit at the table and Thank God for all he has given us, we will read those things that made us feel truly blessed all thru the year. It seems sometimes when you try to think of all you are thankful for... specific things that you KNOW were good and wonderful in your life, you forget when you should remember the most. Kind of like going to the doctor... once you're there, you forgot what you were hoping to ask about before you leave. *sigh* Now, we have a "journal" of sorts to keep all together and remind us on such a special day of the year. I used Melanie Muenchinger's, "A Year of Leaves" set to compliment my Thanksgiving container. For the tags, I simply layered ivory card stock on my DP and added an eyelet to run my ribbon through. I then simply sponged around the edges of the ivory to add a little more to our tags. I hope this gives you some inspiration for the coming year and how you can start a new tradition in your family at Thanksgiving or any time of the year. With thanks to you, my readers. *smile*

A View Dad Would Love

My card today was inspired by the fact that my dad goes hunting EVERY day, and most often, twice a day, for deer. He may not always shoot at a deer, but most often he spots one or two that he just can't get a shot at. I knew when Theresa Momber came out with her "Life is Good" set, I'd definitely have to use the deer and the trees to make a card for him. I used my Cuttlebug Distress Stripes folder to emboss the base of the card which is the Paper Temptress', Brawny RC Tuscan Sun which is 100 lb. heavy weight and it shows the embossing wonderfully and I layered Sandy Stripes Vellum under the image for even more added texture. I distressed the edges of my image card stock and sponged on a bit of Brown and Tuscan Sand, Vivid Ink. A few buttons and some thread to the front and around the top a few swipes of the thread to add a more manly feel to the card. And just to give you an idea of how HUGE a hunter my dad is... look at what I GET to see every time I walk into HIS office. Aaaack!! (Sorry for the reflection, I couldn't get a good shot. ) His office doesn't always have a ladder standing in it, but they just finished putting that HUGE buffalo head up on the wall!!! Double Aaaaack!!!. LOL I admit, I did this card in a rather "rushed" mode because I needed to hurry home from my shop since my DH was leaving for work and I don't like the kids being alone at night. But... all in all... I think it turned out ok for the time I had to do it in. Have a great day and watch out for those deer!! *smile*

The Older I Get, the More I Cry!!

Yes it's true... the older I get the more easily I cry!! Especially at Christmas! I am always amazed at my kids' compassion and thoughtfulness when they give gifts. And I guess even more so when I open gifts to me. My daughter made this apron for me this year as a Christmas gift. She was sooooo excited for me to open it. I realize it's kind of hard to see, but she thought of everything. Under the picture of me at my craft table... (which is higher than I am... LOL), she drew cards with pictures on it. Then below those she made cards with the sentiments on them. And last... she DREW pockets on it for me. Hee Hee Yes.. I cried. It just really touched me that she thought to make me this and heck.. she even gave me a name.. "Stampin Mamma". LOL I think that's Ericka's name, isn't it? Hee Hee Steven made me an apron for when I cook at home. I'll share that with you another time. I didn't get a chance to photograph it yet. I hope you had many wonderful Christmas memories as well. *smile*

"The Wizards of Waverly Place"

Have you children at home??? Do you GET to watch The Wizards of Waverly Place? Well... we sure do!!! Over and over and over!! Ha! I was inspired by Selena Gomez's friend, Harper on the show. Harper wears some of the STRANGEST outfits and dresses ever!! In fact, this last week I saw her wearing a "marker" dress??! LOL My first thought was... "Oh dear... I'm glad she doesn't use Copic markers... she'd ruin them sitting down!" LOL LOL And honestly... some of her clothes are so strange they are cute! (Minus the one where she wore a FISH BOWL on her head! HA HA) I used Rupa Shevde's, "Retro Boutique" for the dress and paper pieced it with some of the fruit DP from the "Nook and Pantry" paper pack. Trust me... Harper wears TONS of fruity items. LOL Been so busy this week I haven't even had a chance to show this to my daughter... she will love it!! Have a great day!! *smile*

Rainbow thoughts of Spring

My card today is soooooooo me! If you know me at all you KNOW I love my colors!!! As my nieces would say.. "If there are a lot of colors... Aunt Tina will love it!"... LOL So very very true. So it stands to reason that I was excited to see the Color Challenge over on StampTV be "Use as many colors as you can on your card!" Oh yes!!! Well... I love my colors but I also love BRIGHT colors!! I used Rupa Shevde's, "Home Tweet Home" set to stamp the bird houses and my Copics to color them in. And just in case I forgot a color... hee hee... I added the rainbow ribbon! Of course!! I used my chalks to sponge on the sky. I love how it turns out... just perfect every time! Seems everyone is having a heck of a time with snow, ice and (for us) rain. So I hope you have a very BRIGHT and cheery day!! *smile*

Glittered Roses for a Boutineer

We had our company Christmas party Saturday night and I ordered a corsage for my mother to wear. I asked the florist to be sure and make it "especially" nice she IS the boss's wife. Hee Hee When I picked it up I was in awww. She had sprayed the white roses with some type of very fine glitter and WOW was it ever GORGEOUS!! This was my inspiration for this card. It worked out wonderfully too as it was also the "Blast from the Past" Challenge over on Stamp TV. I used Asela Hopkins, "Friendships Garden" for the rose and stamped it twice on white Pure Luxury card stock. Then I used my Copic markers to color in the red rose. I simply went over the white rose with a layer of glue using my Quickie Glue Pen and glittered it with my white glitter. On the red rose I only used a small quick lines with the glue pen and used my red glitter. I really love how it turned out, especially the white rose. I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas Eve! *smile*

Techie Geek Christmas... Hee Hee

Wow... I think I just snapped a shot of what you would see if you looked in on ME, right now!!! LOL Sad but true. I have my tree up and you can see it through the window... but... here I sit on my net book... tapping away. Hee Hee I actually made this card for my neighbor in the suite next to my shop. He and I seem to end up talking a lot of "techie geek" talk whenever he comes by my door. Ha!! And... I know his wife is a graphic designer so we end up talking about photo editing programs as well. I used Melanie Muenchinger's "Hip to be Square to act as my window and her "Tech Talk" for the laptop. I then stamped Theresa Momber's, "A Very Merry Christmas" tree off to the side. Of course no computer would be the ultimate unless it was PURPLE... in MY mind at least. Ha!! I also used Gina K's wonderful envelope video to design one to go with my card. I love love this technique!! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve tomorrow and that wherever you and your loved ones may be traveling to or from find the roads and weather cooperating. Stay safe this holiday and God Bless. *smile*

Dirty All Star

Last weekend was my nephew's birthday and as is true to me at Christmastime, I always forget!! Poor little lamb... I feel so bad when I am reminded. This year I was working at my shop and knew his party was the next day so I put some thought into his card. I used Melanie Muenchinger's, "Just so Sporty" set for the jersey. My nephew AND his brothers are all into sooo many sports, but I have NEVER seen them BEFORE a game; it's always AFTER they are done and totally dirty!! LOL I used my Copics to add a few marks here and there to make it appear as though his jersey was dirty and messed. Sure looks like how I see him after a game in his sport duds. Hee Hee I find that as kids get a bit older, they LOVE to go shopping for themselves and a gift card to Toys R Us is perfect!!! I wish I had taken a pic of the inside of the card for you. I made a cute little pocket which looked like a bag of baseballs and tucked his card inside it. *smile* He was so excited... until Grandpa snagged it as he was getting his cake and ice cream. Then he was at a total loss as to where he put it! Ha! He finally got it back and all was well. I hope you remember all those things that are important at such a hectic time of the year. I was quite proud I remembered Marshall's special day. *smile*

Clear Emboss Class Card

My card today is one I did a class on, Clear Embossing. For this card we took our card stock and layered 3-4 different colors all over it. No particular pattern. Then we used the butterfly from Gina K Designs, "Take Flight" set. I stamped mine twice so that I could layer it on my card. We used the clear embossing powder and heat set it. After that we covered the card again with a darker ink. Then took our paper towel and wiped off the ink over the embossed butterfly. I used my MS punch for the fence and added a few rhinestones here and there. Though you can't see the inside of my card, I simply stamped my sentiment and used a light shade of blue to stamp another butterfly directly over the sentiment. The girls were in ah over this procedure and were anxious to try it again. This would be a great technique for any solid stamp you might have as well. Have a great day! *smile*

Violets Always Bloom in my Heart

I love violets.... they remind me of my dear, dear friend, Bette, who is gone now. I think of her often and feel her with me often. She always loved violets and knew I loved purple. *smile* I stamped the violets from Gina K's, "Eclectic Summer" set and colored them in with my Copics. I also used my D'vine Swirl Cuttlebug folder to emboss just half of the base card stock. This was a recent challenge over on Stamp TV. It went just perfect with the wonderful purple swirled ribbon my book group Secret Santa sent me. *wink* I used Gina's new Pure Luxury Creme de Menthe card stock. I just LOVE this color and I can't wait to make more "Spring" cards with it. Yes... I'm still dreaming of Spring. Why not.. it's gonna SNOW AGAIN tonight!!! Aaack! It's ok... it can be Spring any day I want it to be in my mind. Stay warm and think Spring!!! *smile*

"Tech Talk" Blog Hop

My first card using Melanie Muenchinger's newest set, "Tech Talk" was done as an easel card. I combined my favorite things with this card... purple, teal AND computers!! This set just blew me away when I first saw it!!! I am a HUGE techie/geek/gadget freak! LOL Everyone who knows me... knows I always have the latest and greatest stuff I can get my hands on! LOL I snagged my inspiration for this card from Donna Baker. She had sent me a card similar to this but I changed it up just a bit. The easel is not one I've ever done before so having her card in my hands for measurements and such made this so much easier to do! I love it!! Now... look what happens when you flip it up and open. TaDah! I cut the screen from the keyboard and used my Pop Dots to raise it up a bit on my base card thereby giving the "easel" a place to sit. I LOVE this design... thank you Donna!! I used my Koh-i-Noor pencils added a tiny clip and a heart because I was giving ot to someone special. *smile* My wonderful cheerful DP is from the Bright Summer Grunge Digital Paper Pack by Emily Giovanni. How perfect it goes with Gina K's new Pure Luxury Ocean Mist Now the inside... Pretty simple geek talk, if you ask me. Hee Hee. For more inspiration with Tech Talk tonight, check out these links:

Melanie Muenchinger {Illustrator} Jessica Fick Donna Baker Theresa Momber Lee Murphy Lynn Mercurio Nina Brackett Sankari Wegman Melissa Shultz {CSS Designer} Peggy Wainman {CSS Designer} Tina Gilliland {Guest Designer} Karen Knegten {Guest Designer}

The Tech Talk discussion on the StampTV Idea Center is a valuable resource filled with tips, sample projects, and tutorials. Melanie's tip sheet, free PDF template as well as the Card Kit is available in the discussion as well. If you haven't already, stop by GinaK's blog today to leave your comment on her blog for your chance to win today's featured stamp set or any other stamp set valued at $23.95 of your choice!

Enjoy the rest of the hop! *smile*

"Puttin on the Ritz...."

I LOVE the Deckled Brockway Stationery paper Patricia has at the Paper Temptress!!! It’s soooooo rich looking and elegant. When I see it I am reminded of the old movies and how they always portrayed the “rich” world. And… true to it’s description, it would make a gorgeous wedding invitation. The top border stamp is from Nina Brackett's, "Vintage Borders" and the sentiment is from Rupa Shevde's, "With this Ring".

I decided to make an anniversary/wedding type card with it today. But… I wanted to add more “elegance” to it so I gold embossed all of my front and used a layer of the Elegant Laid Recycled Natural White. I tore the edge to match my base AND… layered it up on top of a piece of Gold Premium Glossy.

On the inside I used the same Gold and embossed the edge then laid a piece of Heavy Weight Clear Vellum on it. I decided to forego the gold embossing here and just used my black ink but, I did add a strip of ribbon the top which I just felt belonged. Ha!My inside sentiment is also from Rupa's set.

Have a great day!! *smile*

The ULTIMATE Gift Card Holder for any Woman!

How CUTE is this?????!!!! Gina K Designs has started selling Perfect Patterns! This design was created by Carolyn King and it is FANTASTIC for a gift card or... perhaps a small pair of diamond earrings??? Hee Hee I mean come on... what, besides money to spend does a woman want... DIAMONDS!!! HA! This was my first attempt at creating one of these tiny purses and I must say... I LOVE it!! I have a neighbor next door over at my shop who is a tax accountant. He just got married a little over a year ago and he happened to come by when I finished my purse. We got to talking about Christmas and how he and his wife were going to the Cayman Islands and THAT was their gift to each other. I quickly said... "You MUST give her a little something... you HAVE to! Sure she'll love the trip, but trust me... you just HAVE to give her a little thing to unwrap on Christmas morning!" LOL He just smiled and didn't know what to say. I quickly grabbed my purse and showed him and said... "Here... take this... get a gift card for a massage... her favorite place to shop... OR... you can never go wrong with a pair of diamond or gold earrings!" He was just in awe over it and looked at me and said.. ."Oh my! Even "I" can do THIS!" LOL LOL It was fun and he was ever so excited to take the little gift card holder and find something to fill it with. Hee Hee I used Gina K's FABULOUS Pure Luxury Tan Leather Heavy Weight Card Stock and I must say... it truly looks like REAL leather!!! I swear I own this purse... somewhere in my closet!! Her awesome stamp set, "Signed with Love" has the PERFECT tag for the purse in it! I KNOW I have a Fossil purse that has that tag... ha! A few antique brass hardware parts.. some eyelets to match and WHOA baby you have a fantastic designer bag! I made about FOUR of these in a few hours and I cannot tell you how many more I'll be making!!! Just in time for the gift giving season!! How perfect!! Here is another I designed using the Cordovan Leather from the Paper Temptress. With MY huge family, I CAN'T give the same purse to every woman in the family so I'm making them all a bit different and even in different colors! Again, this paper looks like REAL leather as you can see below in the close up. Here is the whole purse. I punched the holes and used my Inkssential's White Opaque Pen to add a little faux stitching to my purse. Also, you can see, I didn't quite have anymore of the hardware I used on the first purse so I added buttons to the metal to cover a bar where ribbon is suppose to pass thru. You can even use this pattern to make a cute summer bag or as Carolyn's designs show when you purchase the pattern, a diaper bag!! For a mere $1.95, you will be the HIT of the gift giving season and you can use this pattern over and over again! Have fun creating! *smile*

For Him... For Her...

Today my card was made using Gina K's Technique Challenge on StampTV. We were to make a card with a matching envelope. Excuse me.. I mean an envelope we MADE as well!! *smile* I used Melanie Muenchinger's, "Tech Talk" set because it was only fitting. I made this for my hubby and well... as strange as it sounds... we met online... 11 years ago. Yep... somehow we became friends long before we met and well... the rest is history. I used Gina's newest Pure Luxury paper, Creme de Menthe and my DP was from the "Lime Rickey" paper pack. I'm not sure where I found the DP for my envelope, but anything green would be fine with my DH and it went well with the Pure Luxury card stock. I colored in my laptop with Koh-i-Noor pencils and blended with mineral spirits and my blending stumps. Now for a small treat... for me AND my daughter. I was preparing to go to my shop this weekend and on Sunday she came to me and said she had made ME a card. So I finished drying my hair and went in to the family room where she waited for me to open it. I was TOTALLY surprised by her bow tying!!! It looked fantastic for only being an 8 year old. I went to open it and realized... "she must be watching me..." for she had taken the ribbon and wrapped it completely around the card (I don't do THAT part)... AND... glued it to the back so it wouldn't fall off (that I do on occasion)!!! Note: I did make her retie it for me because she did such a great job of it. Looks pretty good, huh? Then as I looked closer... I had to laugh (no I didn't let her know!)... she didn't quite have enough ribbon to tie her bow. So.. what's the next best thing??? She glued extensions on it. HA HA HA! See them?? *smile* I thought it was so cute and very original. I just had to share it with you. Perhaps there IS another "crafter" in the house, huh? Have a great day! *smile*

Vintage Santa

Today's post was done with a stamp my mother-in-law found and gave to me on Thanksgiving. She had no idea where it came from but it was in some boxes of things she had in storage. It has no name on it anywhere but was mounted on a wooden block and had a piece of cardboard wrapped around it with the stamp image done in red on the outside. So... I think it must be old, as I've never seen a stamp packaged this way before. Needless to say... I decided to try to match my card design with the "vintage" look of the Santa and the packaging. I used the "wrinkled" paper look and added Nina Brackett's, "Vintage Borders" to the background. I really liked how it turned out. I'm not a big fan of multi-colored Santa clothes... or even the "vintage look". But... somehow this card pleased me and I was very happy with the colors I added to his hat. I really wanted to use Liquid Applique on the hat but for the life of me I can't find where I put it! I thought I left it at my house.. but noooo... don't see it. Guess I'll have to add another item to my Gina K Designs cart. Darn! Hee Hee I think he will have to go to my MIL since she gave it to me. Have a great day! *smile*

Baby's First...

Have you missed me??? I missed you!! Sorry I didn't get any blogging done this weekend but the blizzard put a damper on lots of things I needed to get done and with Christmas only 11 days away... eeeek... I didn't get much time online to get anything posted. Today I am sharing a tag I did for a baby's first.. I love babies at Christmas. My Emily was born Nov. 20th and we had MORE than our fair share of pink everywhere at Christmas her first year. My tag uses Asela Hopkins, "First Christmas". The bear, the bulb and the sentiment are in that set. This bear is sooooo adaptable for Christmas though... it doesn't need to be a Santa hat, it can be a cute night cap as well. It's hard to see in this pic, but I used a very shimmery, swirly paper from the Paper Temptress for the bulb. I colored it in first with my pink Copic and then stamped the image twice... once in pink and then in the black. In fact, I colored a large area on the paper first before even stamping the ornament. This paper is perfect when you need to add shimmer and texture to an item. If you look closely, you can see I stamped a "border" piece from Nina Brackett's, "Vintage Borders" to appear as though the bear is sitting on a decorative shelf of sorts. I used my MS branch punch and learned something new. The paper (though you can't tell here) is a textured look paper from Stamp TV's Freebie's, "The Great Outdoors". Well, since it's digi paper, once you print it... the backside, of course, is white. I punched the branch out twice and turned it over so that I could use the white side... thereby making it appear to have snow on the branch. Clever, no??? I apologize for not being here a few days, but you'll be happy to know my goal for 2010 is to be at LEAST one week ahead of posts so that I don't have miss days when it gets crazy busy like it does EVERY Christmas. I always laugh at people who are running around the last minute trying to get shopping, etc. done when, you know.. it comes the same day... every year. Hee Hee Have a great day and stay warm, wherever you are! *smile*

It's Winter in Iowa!!!

This is as far as my front door would open today!!! Yes, winter is here! Schools closed about 2 hours early on Tuesday and they were cancelled for Wednesday AND Thursday!!! I couldn't get out of my driveway if I wanted to! But, with 60 mph winds and complete white-out conditions, I was NOT in any mood to go outside either. Sadly, my husband was in Indiana. He headed back to Des Moines at about 9:00 PM EST and arrived in Galesburg, IL around 2:30 AM CST. At that point, he had to get a hotel and stay until the roads were again open. Later Wednesday he hooked up with the other driver about a block away from the hotel and they tried to drop his trailer so that my hubby could head straight to Des Moines once the roads were clear and bypass Cedar Rapids. They were froze and so was the trailer. Nothing was moving. They finally got it unstuck and unhooked. When I wrote the post, (Weds. evening) he was trying to get some sleep in case dispatch called to say he was good to go again. We miss him but want him safe. This is our backyard Wednesday. I let the kids go out for about 30 minutes. They were dying to get in the snow, but the winds were just to much so I made them wait until later in the day. Finally it stopped snowing and I let them cut loose a bit. Staying cooped up inside for days is never fun and energy levels were high. I have cards to post and no... I didn't plan to be stuck inside for three days. But, they sit at my office... not photographed and therefore not ready to post here. I apologize for that. But I do have something fun... something fantastic you can check out tonight. I wish I would have had the time to join in on the fun, but things have just been hectic. So enjoy the Blog Hop tonight and remember... looking doesn't add any weight... hee hee. Several members of the Center Stage Spotlight Team have joined together to share a special Christmas Treat Recipe Blog Hop event with everyone tonight! They have whipped up some treats in their kitchens and their stamp rooms over the past few weeks so we could compile our very first Recipe Book for StampTV! Check out these designer's blogs for the sweet projects they've designed around their treats:

Carolina Buchting Carla Suto Deb Felts Donna Baker Giovana Smith Jennie Harper Jessica Fick Joy Hadden Karen Knegten Kay Simmons Lee Murphy Linda Payne Lori McAree Melissa Cash Pam Imholz Selma Stevenson Sue Morris Sue VanDeVusse Sue Walsh Vicki Dutcher

Then, stop by GinaK's blog for a super sweet give-away she has tonight in honor of the hop! The Recipe Book will be available as a free download PDF on StampTV tonight as well. Look for it on the Freebie Tab link. Have fun and enjoy!!! (I've seen them all and they are FANTASTIC!!!) *smile*

Still Dreaming of Spring... (Ha!)

So... I'm here in beautiful Des Moines, IA.......... HA.... WHITE Des Moines,IA! It is our first winter blizzard! Cold cold.... 60 mph winds... 16 1/2" of snow and I can barely open the front door!! You guessed it... I'm dreaming of Spring!!! My card today was done from the inspiration I got with the beautiful card, Lee Murphy sent to me a while back. You can see her card AND the wonderful gift she sent me with it here. I loved her sunflowers so I kept Melanie Muenchinger's, "A Year of Flowers" out and stamped some more sunshine!! I used my Copics to color them in and instead of using glitter, I used my Sakura Glitter pen to add some highlights to the center. My sentiment is from Melanie's, "Say it with Flowers" set. I'm off to check on the kids and dogs... one wants to go out... one refuses. Much to my dismay... it's the dog's that are refusing. How long CAN they hold it?????!!!!!! Have a good day and stay warm!! *smile*

Is it Spring Yet??

We are getting snow... LOTS of snow!!! It started yesterday and it wasn't TO bad... but today... we are expecting at least 12". *sigh* Soooo in honor of that, I say.... let's bring back SPRING!!!!! I was kinda tired of Christmas cards so I figured what he heck. I took Melanie Muenchinger's, "A Year of Flowers" and colored in my tulips and felt "peachy" about it all. *smile* I used my Copics on my flowers and the Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder for the base. I matted everything using my Nestabilities and TADAH!!! , it's spring again! My dad called this morning and told me to stay home. Took my kids to school (we only live a block from both the elementary and the middle school) and I'm gonna clean all day. Well... as much as I can stand anyway. Hee Hee I hope you have a nice day and wherever you are, stay warm and safe! *smile*

The King Lost a Tooth!!

First I want to say with the Christmas season in full swing, I didn't get a chance to update my blog this last weekend and I do apologize to all you faithful followers. I was hoping to get, and stay, ahead of my blogging but did something to my arm/elbow and have been in lots of pain the last week and a half or so. Not sure if stamping aggravates it or not and so I did very little this weekend at my shop. Couldn't have been the 48 "Festive Frames" I stamped a week ago now could it?? Hee Hee Either way... I hope to get back in full swing soon. Today's card was made for Carolyn King's son, Ben. Ben lost his first tooth on Nov. 23rd.. but you figured that out, didn't you??? No? LOL Ok... so maybe I'm not good at drawing a tooth!! I KNOW you figured out the date! This wonderful calendar set is from Tami Mayberry's latest set called, "Calendar Bits and Pieces"... along with the "Calendar Grid". On the inside I thought it was fun to use Melanie Muenchinger's, "Just so Hippy" hippo with his one tooth hanging out.. hee hee. I added a lined envelope to the mix to make it a little more "fun", hopefully, for Ben when he received the card. I didn't take a pic of the front of the envelope but I also put the smaller hippo from, "Hip-Hop Accessories", on it with the wording, "To the hippest" (also in that same stamp set). I thought he might like that. I hear my card got put up on his "bulletin board of honor". I am so thrilled you can make a card and decorate the front using Tami's set to commemorate a special day of any kind! Have a great day!! *smile*