Totally inspired by nature!

I love this new stamp set from Stampin' Up! Here are a few cards I made.

Supplies:

Stamps: Inspired by Nature

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Choc. Chip

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Choc. Chip, Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke

Accessories: Sponge daubers for the Choc. Chip and Artichoke

I decorated the petals by putting a plastic bag on my finger and getting some regal rose in on the bag. Then I dragged my finger across the pretty in pink to create the look you see.

Supplies for card on left:

Stamps: Inspired by Nature

Paper: Rose Red, White

Ink: Rose red, Old Olive, Choc. Chip marker, Kiwi Kiss

Accessories: Choc. Chip ribbon

Supplies for card on right:

Stamps: Inspired by Nature

Paper: Perfect Plum, White, Bella Rose DSP

Ink: So Saffron, Perfect Plum, Old Olive

Biltmore

I was looking through my other camera and found these additional pictures from our trip to the mountains of NC. While we were there, Mark celebrated his 40th birthday. We went to Mukato for dinner. It was so fun and delicious!

The next day we went to Asheville and spent the day at the Biltmore Estate. Talk about awesome! It is America's largest home. We all throughly enjoyed it. The gift stores were fun to look at as well as the candy store. It was a feast for the eyes! We were lucky that we were there the first day it was decorated for the Christmas holiday.

The rest of the time was spent driving around, playing games and target practice.

Cynthni's Workshop

A couple of weeks ago I did a workshop for Cynthni. These are the cards we did. She wanted Christmas cards so I did one elegant one and one fun gift card holder.

Supplies:

Stamps: Holy Triptych, Baroque Motifs

Paper: Riding Hood Red, Choc. Chip, Very Vanilla

Ink: Choc. Chip and Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Pastels and dimensionals

Supplies:

Stamps: Sock Monkey and Access.

Paper: Old Olive, Choc. Chip, Very Vanilla and I Wish DSP

Ink: Choc. Chip

Accessories: Pastels, Scallop Edge, Scallop Circle, Word Window, 1 3/8" circle

The holidays are definately here!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written! I can tell the holidays are here because I have this intense desire to accomplish so many things, but find the days slipping through my fingers. I'm trying to keep the right perspective. Brady learned Mon. that a friend at school lost his house to a grease fire the day after Thanksgiving. The fire started at night and his friend had time to grab a pair of shorts and his cell phone. The house burned to the ground. I asked each of my kids what they would grab if our house were on fire and they had time to grab two things. Answers were interesting but it led into a great discussion of what is really important. What a blessing everyone got out safely. My heart goes out to this family of 6 who will now go into the holidays with nothing. And yet, I can't imagine they aren't thanking the Lord that they are all alive. Like I said, I'm trying to keep the right perspective. I feel I need to show more gratitude and appreciation for all that I have and all the wonderful people in my life. Little by little each day.

A Week Away!

A couple of weeks ago my parents came out for a visit. We had such a great time!

During their visit we celebrated Mark's 40th birthday. He decided to take the week off and we went away to the mountains. It was so fun! We stayed in the cutest little cabin. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it. We took only the essentials like a few outfits, basic food, games, and a few stamping supplies. ;) (Essentials, right?) It made me wonder why we have soooooo many clothes. It was nice to live simply for a week.

Anyway, we just missed the peak of colors but were treated to splashes of fall color here and there. It was so beautiful!

One day we went into Valley Crucis and spent some time at Mast General Store. It is the neatest little store. It was built back in 1883. It is still set up like an old time general store with buckets of candy and soda bottles. They really sell just about everthing you need. The floor is the original wood floor and the whole store has a neat feel to it.

You can tell by the picture who are the goofballs of the group.

We went for scenic drives and walks. We enjoyed dinner on Mark's birthday at Mukato, a Japanese restaurant that they cook in front of you. We absolutely loved it! The food was great and the show was awesome! The kids spent time chopping wood, shooting the bow and arrow and bb gun. They were also thrilled when they found an X-box downstairs. We all had a great time and enjoyed being together!

Color Inspiration #31

I had a minute so I thought I'd participate in Kristin's color challenge. Having an inspiration piece really helps me! Thanks for another great challenge!

Stamps: Essence of Love, Petals wheel

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Elegant Eggplant

Paper: So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Accessories: Ribbon, dimensionals

A quick post!

Things have been crazy busy lately! My parents were visiting and just left this morning. We had such a great time together, which I hope to share in the next couple of days. I just wanted to quickly share a card I made a while ago. This card uses the Sock Monkey stamp set which I just love. I know it's one of those you either love or hate - I love! The colors are Soft Sky (miss that color), Tangerine Tango, and Riding Hood Red. I colored him in with blender pens and wa-la! he was done.

Halloween

Here are my cute kids all dressed up for Halloween. They had a little party with the neighbor kids and had a blast! It included bobbing for apples, eating donuts off a string and lots of running around in the dark, tag sort of games. (The name has escaped me!) All in all, fun was had by everyone.

Lacie was a cute little '50's girl, Bryson was Inspector Clouseau

Brady was some kind of under cover guy and Carston was a nerd. So cute!

On the actual Halloween night my kids went to town!!! We thought it was crazy when Bryson came home with 9lbs. of candy. Then Brady came home and he had a whopping 18lbs. of candy. If the dentist could see us now! I really have a love/hate relationship with this holiday. Fun to get dressed up, but who in their right mind wants to allow their kids to have access to that much candy? We actually lock it up a allow small amounts at a time. Still, it causes arguements and hyper children. I think next year we'll just have a party or something and for-go the trick-or-treating.

October club cards

So, here are the cards we made for stamp club! I'm all about ornaments this year so that's what we did! The first card is cut with the coluzzle in the shape of a circle. We stamped snowflakes from the Snow Burst stamp set in Baja breeze. The Merry Christmas is from All Holidays and stamped in Riding Hood Red. We used the Taken With Teal pastel to bring some shading into the sides. We then covered the entire front of the circle with VersaMark and sprinkled it with Iridescent Ice EP. The ornament top is punched from the round tab punch and attached with silver brads. Riding Hood Red ribbon tops it off. It's very sparkly IRL!

The second card we did used the Boho Backgrounds stamp set to make the ornaments. We inked the medallion in white craft ink and stamped it three times then embossed it with white EP. This card used just about every circle punch Stampin Up makes. One was punched with the 1", one with the 1-1/4" and it doesn't show in this picture but we punched the last one with the 1-3/4" punch. I also punched one plain circle from the Bravo Burgandy with the 1-3/8" punch. The 1-1/4" circle was then layered on the 1-3/8" circle. The top of the ornaments were made by punching 3 1/4" circles on Brushed Silver then punching 1/2" circle over the top of it. (Like your making a rivet or something like that.) The ornaments are stuck on with dimensionals. We used the tool kit to punch holes for the silver thread to feed through tied off with a bow. We stamped Merry Christmas in Bravo Burgandy and layered the white on top of the burgandy. I know this all sounds confusing, because it kind-of was! But....isn't it pretty! Next time we'll work to keep it simple! Anyway, I just love getting together with the women in my club!

Creepover!

I work with the Young Women (12-18 yr. old girls) at church. A couple of weeks ago we had a lady (master quilter, actually) come help us learn how to make quilts. The girls worked together and almost completed a few quilt tops that we have decided to donate to a local charity. I brought them home and added the batting and backing so they would be ready to tie. That's ALL I've been doing today. (I'll have to add a picture of that tomorrow) We knew when we planned this activity they wouldn't be able to complete the quilts all in one night, so we planned a sleepover to co-inside with it. I wanted to give out invitations to all the girls so I came up with a fun Halloween themed invite called a Creepover! They loved it! I made them with the Sizzix die witch hat, broom and shoes. I probably ought to get to bed since I won't be getting much sleep tomorrow night! Good night!

A Day at the Fair

What a cute gang! These are my kids with my neighbor and her kids in the middle of a great day at the fair. We arrived this morning and of course, first up, was the opportunity to hold the baby chicks and ducklings. They're soooo darling!

Then we were off to our first roller coaster! So much fun!

Next we went to the BMX bike show that my kids just love. This year they added a couple of motor cross guys behind the BMX guys which was neat.

Then on to more rides and fattening fair food. Our favorite is the funnel cakes. The last ride of the day was the Mega Slide and then it was time to head home. It was a great way to start our first day of track-out!

Christmas is coming! Yea!

Here's my completed advent calendar! I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. I got the idea from http://kathy-prettyinink.blogspot.com/search?q=advent I saw her's on Splitcoast and just LOVED it! The little tins have magnets glued to the back of them and you could put some candies in each tin. My kids can hardly wait for me to fill the tins. Obviously the base is a cookie sheet with Bella Rose DSP glued to it. The title is cut from mat board with a Sizzix alphabet. If there is enough interest I will do a class in Nov. to make your own. I have added up the supplies and it all comes to $35. That includes: cookie sheet, 24 tins, 24 magnets, 6 sheets DSP, matboard, ribbon, adhesive and use of ink and punches. Let me know if you're interested! We're off to the state fair!

Halloween Treat

I made this for a lady I visit as a little halloween treat. I got the cute little bucket from Target and added a rub-on and wa-la! a cute, unique bucket. The tag is made with the stamp set Sweeter Treaters that is unfortunately retired. I just love the little people in that set!

Color Inspiration #26

This is my first time participating in Kristina Werner's color challenge and I loved it! I found it really easy to decide what to do when already given colors and an "inspiration" picture. Soooo...here's what I came up with:

Supplies:

Paper: Sahara Sand, Rose Red and Whisper White

Ink: Rose Red, Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi and Sahara Sand

Accessories: Metal Mesh, ribbon, white gel pen and microbeads

Happy Birthday to Me!

Isn't this the cutest cupcake ever! My sweet friend Beth not only gave me this cupcake and beautiful picture and frame, she and another lady at church brought cupcakes to share with all the young women (12-18 yr. olds) while they sang happy birthday to me! It was very sweet!

My awesome sister sent me delicious chocolate covered strawberries that she ordered from berries.com. They were soooo good and that picture is exactly what they looked like. Yummy!

Mark decided my camera had died so he bought me a new one. I couldn't understand how he just "knew" my old camera was no longer any good, but to make a long story short, I now have two very similar cameras that work great! Hey, now I have one for the car and one for the house! ;)

It was a great day!