Blog Candy Anyone?

** UPDATED ** The winner is CHARITY CRAFTER. Please contact me with your mailing address.

To celebrate getting 2 cards accepted for publication, I am going to offer a little blog candy.

I am going to give away this clear stamp set from Our Craft Lounge to one lucky winner. The set is called "Fairy Dust is a Must". It is a new, never opened set.

You may enter in the drawing in the following ways:

1) Be a follower of my blog. If you are a follower or become a follower, leave a comment on this post.

2) Post my candy on your blog with a link back here. Post your link in the comments on this post.

3) Leave a comment on this post telling me what you plan to do with this set if you are picked.

You can have a maximum of 3 entries into the drawing if you do each of these. (1 comment for each.) (Updated)** Please comment each time you do one of these. I would hate to miss an entry.

Entry into the drawing ends at 6 pm (CDT) on Sunday, January 31, 2010. I will post the winner's name on my blog later that evening and you will have 1 week to contact me with your mailing information.

This is my first blog candy give-away so I hope I covered everything. :)

Good luck!

A Day of Good News

Monday was just one of those great days. In the morning, I got the good news that my card "All You Need Is Love", which you can see HERE will be featured on SNR Card Universe.

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Then, I got an email telling me that one of my cards is going to be published in the Scrapbook News & Reviews online magazine. I am so excited.

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I had already planned a post to share a few pictures that I took this week end before it got too cold to play outside. I'm going to sneak them in here.

This is my daughter throwing snow at the camera. Look at that snow pile!

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This is Summer. She loves to dig in the snow and play with the kids.

She still acts like a puppy even though she is almost 11 years old.
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This is Allie (being held by DH). She says it is time to go in.

I know she looks pathetic, but she really was having

fun just moments ago.

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This is my Senegal parrot Corky.

He stayed in the house and played in his nice new granola bar box.

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Monday with Lindsay - All You Need Is Love

Updated: This card was featured on SNR Card Universe and published in the January 2010 edition of Scrapbook News & Reviews

All you need is love.... Love is all you need...

Ever since I saw Lindsay's new set "Love Grows Here", I have had this song in my head and the idea for this card. Take a look at how cute this set is. I especially love this little bird.

I like him (her?) so much that I used him twice on my card. I printed both birds at 15% of size using MS Word. I flipped the second bird horizontally so that she was facing the other way. I love that you can do that so easily with digi stamps. I paper pieced the birds' bodies and colored the beaks, legs, and the heart using markers. (I cut the card from the 2nd bird's beak before adhering.)

The sentiment was also printed using MS Word. I printed out the letters I needed with plenty of spacing in between. I sponged the page with Distress Ink in Tea Dye and then cut the letters out and attached them to the heart.

The heart was cut using the Wild Card Cricut cartridge at 4". I attached to the 5X5 card base. I then cut the heart shaped liner at 3-3/4" and sponged the edges. I have not put a sentiment on the inside yet because I am not sure who I will give it to.

I ended up going back and adding the faux stitching. You see it on the first picture of the card but I forgot to take another picture showing the inside before my hubby left with the camera. (Note to self: If you want to do faux stitching, get it done before adhering everything together. Much easier that way.)

Challenges this card qualifies for:
Stamp Simply challenge -Love is in the Air

Polka Doodles - Week 1 Song Titles
Digital Tues challenge - love

A Spoon Full of Sugar - #85 Hearts

ABC Challenge - L is for Layering
Cute Daisey May - Love
Just Us Girls (JUGs) - Technique challenge - stitching
Shirley's 2 Girls challenge - Hearts (S2GSC38)

Please take a few moments to check out what the rest of the DT has been up to:

Cassandra

Jennifer

Karin

Lindsay (Owner)

Nettie

Tanya

(Kristen is not posting this week but should be back with us next week.)

Thank you for looking! Have a great week!

SUPPLIES:

• STAMPS: Love Grows Here from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff
• CS & PAPERS : Love Nest designer paper from My Mind's Eye, Cranberry card stock from Hobby Lobby (manufacturer unknown), image printed on Georgia Pacific white CS
• INK: Stampin' Up Markers
• EMBELLISHMENTS & TOOLS: Stampin' Up Ribbon, misc. hardware, Cricut Wild Card cartridge

Many Thanks

I finally dug up and used actual rubber stamps. I love digital stamps but sometimes you just need to get inky.

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Of course I went to my brand new, go-to paper, Love Nest from My Mind's Eye.

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This is a thank you card for a friend. It looks a lot nicer in real life. You may need to click on the picture to enlarge it to see the paper piercing.

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This card is also entered in these challenges.

Clearly Inspired Challenge (CIC4) - Let's Get Bradilicious

C.R.A.F.T. Challenge - week 31 Thank you

Creative Inspirations Challenge - #41 Thank you
Ann's Creative Nook - GCA#72 - It's a brand new year

Supplies:

Stampin' Up Lots of Thoughts
My Minds Eye Love Nest designer paper

Close to My Heart Vineyard Berry ink

Stampin' Up Close to Cocoa ink

Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip card stock

Martha Stewart Punch around the page - Double Loops

Spellbinders Nestabilities
Paper piercer

Brads

Thank you for looking!

DD's Good News!

Did you see my DD's card HERE? She received this awesome comment from Hilda from the Lots To Do Challenge-

beautiful cards from both of you. I shall put Elizabeth's card in the slide show Saturday.....

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She (my daughter, not Hilda) is so excited she has been dancing around the house.

Isn't that sweet??!!! Thank you Hilda!

Monday with Lindsay - Recycling challenge

Good Morning Ladies!

I have to say that I am glad that the kiddos are back in school today and life will return to our normal schedule. As great as vacation is, I am one of those strange people that miss the every day routine.

Lindsay, of Lindsay's Stamp Stuff, is running a challenge on the What's Digital Stamping yahoo group and asked the DT to join in. The challenge is to make a project using a digital image (stamp, coloring page or ding bat font) and at least one recycled item. All entries before January 7th will be entered in a drawing for a stamp of your choice from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff shop. If you are new to digital stamping and are looking for some free images, take a look at Lindsay's blog or on MyGrafico, there are plenty of freebies on both.

**UPDATE - If you don't want to join the group, link your project in my comments and you will be entered in the drawing. Good luck!

To get started on the challenge, I used the sketch from Just Us Girls (JUGs) sketch challenge #14. I decided to recycle a coffee cup sleeve that was on my desk and make a coffee themed card. I just couldn't find any buttons or fibers in my stash that seemed right to use on the card. About that time, DH complained that we needed to clean the basement and I remembered that my grandmother's sewing box was down there. I have not looked in the box for years (I do not sew) and I definitely haven't looked since I started paper crafting. Oh the treasures I found! A large jar of various buttons - most rather mundane but some really cool ones - and thread and embroidery floss of many colors. Most of the buttons were too large to use as centers of these flowers, but I found one to use. I also used some of the floss that I found.

Going through the box really brought back some lovely memories of my Grandma. She always had her sewing box (imagine a large, wooden tackle box with legs) in her bedroom and I spent many hours as a kid stringing buttons on thread to make necklaces.

Now for the rest of the info on my card. This cute image is from Lindsay's coffee jitters border. It is a freebie on her site. (You could download and use it for the challenge....) The sentiment comes from her Coffee Talk digital stamp set. The flowers were inked using Sorbet ink from Close To My Heart (CTMH) and a brayer then lightly sprayed with pearl Glimmer Mist (some of my goodies from Christmas). The rest of the supplies are listed at the bottom of this post.

Other challenges this card is entered in:
Crafy Angels - week 16 - Recycle

Stamp Somethings Challenge - New Somethings

Stamp Simply Challenge - #120 New Things!

Rainbow Lady's Challenge - #84 New

Mygrafico - Out with the old, In with the new

I also have a goodbye and a hello to share with you. Joy will be leaving the LSS DT after this week. You will still be able to see her wonderful projects on her blog. Tanya will be joining the LSS DT starting today. Please be sure to leave her some extra encouragement for her first week with us.

Now let's see what the rest of the team has been up to.

Cassandra

Joy

Karin

Kristen

Lindsay

Nettie

Tanya

Supplies:

Coffee Jitters border (freebie) from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff

Coffee Talk (for sentiment) from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff

CTMH Unforgettable Designer Paper

Papertrey kraft card stock

image printed on Georgia Pacific white card stock

Accent Essentials Cricut cartridge (sorbet mat)

Stampin' Up Creamy Caramel ink & marker

Stampin' Up Close to Cocoa marker (on sentiment)

CTMH flowers

Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers #29 (SBS29)

I am excited that the Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers (#29) is finally kicking off. I have only been blogging since the beginning of October but feel that I have already learned so much and made new blogging friends.

Okay, about me.... I don't know about you, but I have a hard time writing about myself. I am a wife, mother, and sister. I have been married to my husband, Mike, for 11 years. My daughter, Elizabeth, is 8 years old. Occasionally you will see a picture of her or of a project she has made. We have 2 dogs and 1 parrot. All three are quite the characters.

I am lucky enough that my employer lets me work from home. I also have a reduced work week of 30 hours so that I can spend more time with my family. I have been with the same company for 12 years but have had several different positions including Sales & Marketing manger, Account Manager, and currently Operations Manager.

Although I have always been involved in one craft or another, I only got involved with paper crafts over the last several years. It all started with going to a Creative Memories party at a friend's house which led to scrap booking.... Lots of money later, here I am. Now I prefer card making to scrap booking.

I am a member of the Lindsay's Stamp Stuff MyGrafico shop Design Team. I couldn't believe when I was picked. I had just got my blog going and it was the first time I tried out for anything. Working with Lindsay and the other DT members has really got me hooked on digital stamps. Unlike the other kind, I don't think I will ever run out of space to store them! I still use traditional stamps, but I love the digis.

Okay, don't laugh, but I am also an avid Jazzerciser. I try to get to class at least 3 times a week. I have done it for years and was actually still going to class when I was 8 months pregnant. (I finally had to take a break because my shoes didn't fit any more and it was too hard getting them tied anyhow. I jumped right back into as soon as I could.)

I also love reading and usually go through 1-2 books a week (although I have slowed down during the Holidays) and I LOVE listening to music. I love all kinds of music, rock, country, indie, jazz, blues, etc., and almost always have it playing. If you are interested in either, I would love to be your friend on goodreads.com or lastfm.com.

Well, I can't believe I have gone on so much about myself. Thank you for your patience if you read this whole thing. I am looking forward to see all your projects in the future.

Yeah sista's!