I'm up...........

and I can't sleep so I might as well post something. Joe's pager went off about 40 minutes ago for a fire call so I got up with him and now I am wide awake.

Here are a couple of cards we have done in class the last couple of weeks.

The first one is one of the cards I did for the Dirty Dare Challenges on Split Coast. If you want to check them out you can click on the SCS link on the right and then go to the fan club (sorry I can't do links right now. LOL).

I have been trying to use up some of my pattern papers that have retired so this one is using paper from the Winter mini. The bird is from Double Line Doodles. Colors are Cool Caribbean, Close to cocoa, Regal Rose and Taken with teal.

The second one was from one of Julee Tilman's sketch challenges (I'll add the link tomorrow). The colors are Chocolate Chip, Close to cocoa and Very Vanilla.

I'm going to go and try to go back to sleep. I think maybe this little bit of "blog therapy" has helped and I can hopefully get some sleep.

2 posts in 1 day!

I had to show you this card I did for one of the challenges on SCS. The challenge was to bathe your card in brads. When I was trying to figure out how I would add lots of brads to a card I remembered seeing in a magazine where they had made a circle on a scrapbook page with brads (it may have been Donna Downey but I'm not sure).

Then I thought why not put a brad in the scallops of a scallop punched piece? Of course, I like to hoard my supplies so this was a little hard because I had to choose what brads to use up. These ones came from the $ store so that made it much easier (is that cheating?).

I started out by stamping the octopus in black and coloring it in with watercolor pencils. Then I punched it out with my Giga scalloped punch and matted it on a Taken with Teal circle I cut with my Coluzzle. I punched the holes for the brads with a 1/8" punch through both pieces to make it easier to hide the backs of the brads.

I used my white gel pen to accent the scallops because I found that once the brads were on there you really couldn't see the scallops any more. The 2 brads in the bottom corner were the last 2 from the pack in those colors and I figured I might as well add those too! LOL!

I didn't put a sentiment because I'm not sure what I will use it for. Probably a kids birthday. What do you think? Would you use this many brads on 1 card? I know I wouldn't have if it wasn't for the challenge (and the $ store brads). LOL! If I remember correctly there are 20 brads.

Still here............

I am still around, just haven't been at the computer much the last week. I have been getting ready for Stamp camp that is this Saturday. I have all but one of the projects done (well the samples) and I am going to try to figure out the last one tonight.



Oh, guess what? Today is my Anniversary. 9 years! Man, the time has flown by. Guess what else? I don't have a card for Joe. Are you surprised? LOL! He is bringing home LOBSTER for supper. I can't wait. I have bread in the bread machine and salads in the fridge. Yummy!

I have a card for you today. Actually, I have a few I haven't shared here that I have done over the last week so I plan to get my act together and post some of them over the next few days/week. Plus there are special challenges on SCS this next week and I have already done 1 and started the second. The only problem is I decided to use the one that is done for stamp camp....I'll show that after Saturday.

The other night I wanted to take a break from getting ready for class and stamp "just because". I had the Pretties Kit for a bit and hadn't had a chance to use anything from it so that was kind of where this started.

The flowers are from Garden Silhouettes. I used Certainly Celery and Rose Red markers to ink the stamp. The stitched ribbon is Purely Pomegranite....sooo nice!

Look at what I picked from MY garden today (this morning before it got too hot). It is exciting to pick your own veggies. And soooo yummy.

Time to get supper ready. Too bad these fresh vegetables don't really go with lobster. Anyone have any good recipies for beets or peas? We are going to have tonnes over the next couple of weeks.

One more thing.........I was just talking to Happy Stamper and she has requested "Get well soon" cards for her computer. She had to take it in to get fixed today and won't have it back for a few days so if you need to talk to her it will have to be by phone or maybe by "snail mail" if it isn't too urgent. LOL!

I am so lucky!

Yesterday when I went to get the mail I found a brown package in my mailbox. I wasn't expecting anything so of course I went right in the house to open it. I was so surprised to find a photo album from Sandra.

This is the inside cover:

Inside the album are pictures from Paper Arts A Thon and from the last stamping party. I had tears in my eyes when I was looking through this.
I am so lucky to have this group of stampers that have become my friends over the last few months and years.

Every once in a while they say how good I am to them but really, they are soooo good to me! They laugh at my forgetfulness (with me, of course) and always love the projects I come up with. I love how easy going they are, I can do whatever type of card or project I feel like and they are happy with it. It is such a great group of women that come together to stamp every week and I am so thankful to have them in my life!

Thank you so much Sandra for this little album. I love it! You know, this could be the beginning of scrapbooking for you though ;-)

Ok, I think it is time for another card. This is the 3rd card I made for the door prize for Sunday night.

The cardstock colors are Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and Shimmery White. Inks are the same with Purely Pomegranite ink for the flowers.

I don't know how well it shows up in the scan but I stamped the flourish in Soft Sky first and then used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to stamp it again in Blue Bayou. I did the same with "Kind".

Someone asked me on Sunday night what you would use the word Kind for. I thought it would be good for a "Thank You" card, or for a friend "just because" or you could use it in scrapbooking. Do you have any other ideas?

Accoutrements and ball

This post was going to be totally different but I have been having a hard time getting one of the cards I had planned on uploaded so I am going to go with this one and do the other later. LOL!

This card was another of the cards I made for a door prize. It was a set of 3 cards with envelopes. The card in the last post was one and I will post the 3rd one next time.

I was really glad to see that Office Accoutrements made it into the catalogue because I hadn't used it very much. I also think it will be good for scrapbooking (when I start again- I need to make the time).


This was my last card I made and I was running out of time so it was really quick. The colors are one of my favs- Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal.

The flower is stamped on the white piece and then stamped again on a smaller piece and cut out. The turquoise flower is on dimensionals. I wanted to cover the word "memo" so I placed my ribbon over it.



These are a couple of pictures from t-ball last night. When we get there Ian is a little shy and wants to stay right with Daddy but once he gets going he loves it. I found this week was much better, he played catch with the coach right away and was running the bases alone in no time while Daddy stayed on first base.

Monday already

The last few days just flew by. Friday around supper time Joe's parents and neice (Mackenzie) arrived and the kids played non-stop until 10pm. Then they were back up at 7:15 Saturday morning. We went fishing, took the dog for a swim in the river and then played outside until supper time. Right after supper we went up to the farm to see the horses and cows and Emma was asleep before we left the farm driveway.

Sunday morning we got up and I said to Joe that Emma was getting sick. I could smell it on her breath (I know Mom knows what I mean.....anyone else?). Sure enough she had the flu and was sick until she slept it off the rest of the morning. Our company left around 10am and then I got to work prepping for the party last night.

We had a great time last night and I have to take a picture of the party favors Donna did! When I got home Joe said Emma had just been up (around 11:00) and then she was back up 3 more times in the night! Anyone know of any sleeping pills for kids? It wasn't because she was sick because she was fine by mid-afternoon. I sure wish I could figure out the trick to getting her to sleep. Oh well, someday she will be sleeping through the night and then I probably won't be able to sleep. LOL!

Anyway, how about some pictures?


The first is one of the cards I did for the door prize last night ( have 2 more but I am going to space them out just in case I don't get to stamp much this week ;-) )

The colors are Elegant Eggplant, Almost Amethyst, Black and White. I still don't have my first SU order yet so I don't have my Paper Pretties kit to use for the flower so I used a white Prima and colored it with Aqua Painters and ink from the lids of the Elegant Eggplant and Almost Amethyst. The brad in the center of the flower is an Ice Rhinestone brad.

I have to show a few pictures from the weekend too.


This is Ian and Mackenzie watching "Nanny" fishing.








Ian and Mac-the human seat belts because Emma wouldn't hold on to the swing. I don't know if you can see them holding hands?






Emma and Mac on Max. They both loved it up there and were pretty comfortable. Oh, I wanted to cry when Emma said she wanted to get on the horse........my girl likes horses. YAY!




The last one is for Dad. Joe had to drive his tractor up the farm because it was his birthday and he loves driving his tractor. The only problem is he left the battery on and needed a push start. Luckily the farm is on a hill!

My Baby is 2 today!

I can't believe Emma is 2. The last 2 years have just flown by and she is changing so much it is hard to keep up. She is starting to copy Ian more and more. The other day we sat down to supper and she said "I don't like it". Arggh....so much like Ian. LOL! Her favorite movie is Cars (or McQueen if you ask my kids) and she likes to play cars with her big brother but she also loves her dolls and Polly Pocket. Yesterday she got a Bratz doll for her Birthday!

We have a busy weekend so I probably won't be on the computer much the next couple of days. My in-laws are coming with my neice (Joe's sister's daughter "Mac") to celebrate Emma's and Joe's Birthdays (tomorrow is Joe's Birthday).

Hope you all have a great weekend...it looks like it is going to be a nice one! YAY!

Another Zebra

This is very close to the last zebra card I posted I just changed the colors and colored the zebra in traditional colors. The patterned paper is the same just flipped.

This is a really quick post because I am still not ready for class tonight!

Tomorrow is Emma's 2nd Birthday! Do you think I have a card ready for her? Nope. Joe's Birthday is Saturday and I don't have his done either. I am sooo bad at that. I love making cards but when it comes to sending them or having them ready for a particular occasion I am always last minute..........oh well, I work well under pressure. We have a wedding to go to the 21st, maybe I should start thinking about a card now. LOL! Nah, I have other things I need to do first.

Random Pictures

I have been working on a few cards but I can't share any of them just yet (sorry). Hopefully tonight I will sneak in a couple of "for fun" cards to share. In the mean time I have a few pictures I wanted to post.

The first is from the closing ceremony at the Tattoo. I found it hard to get good pictures because of the lighting but there are a few that turned out ok. I took 3 pictures from the closing that I have been tring to stitch together to make a panoramic photo but so far I can't quite get it to work :(

The next ones are from yesterday. Ian has his favorite outdoor toy!

Miss Diva Emma in her shades and check out the bathing suit she got for her Birthday.

Ian loves to get "Surprise Packs" from the store here or the gas station. The usually have a sucker or 2 and some little junky toys. Yesterday Joe picked one up for him and these teeth were in it. He had a blast with these!

Happy Birthday MOM!

I wish we could be there to celebrate with you. I have a really great gift (well I hope you think it is great) but it isn't ready to send yet so you will have to wait a little longer........unless you want to wait and I will give it to you in person next month.

As promised yesterday here are the 2 projects we did Friday night.

The first is a really quick card using Zoofari with Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegranite, Soft Sky and Whisper White. The patterned paper is from the Soft Sky designer series pack.






Second is a bookmark made with Baroque Motifs and the verse is from Summer by the Sea. Colors are River Rock, Wild Wasibi and Soft Sky. It is hard to tell in the scan but the brad is one of the new rhinestone brads. So pretty in real life!

Later tonight or tomorrow I will post some pictures from the Tattoo. I was going to add them to this post but I can't decide what ones to upload right now so later when I have a few minutes I will go through them. I think we are going to go outside for a while, the sun has just come out, finally!

My Favorite Zoo

I don't have any new stamping stuff to show you so I am going to share a few pictures from the zoo last weekend. I don't know what it is about this zoo (Oaklawn), maybe it is just because we have been going there for so long, but I love going there.

Joe realized on the way to the zoo that he couldn't find his wallet and he thought he may have left it at home in the truck so he was on the phone as soon as we got there with the neighbors. Sure enough, it was under the seat of the truck! I couldn't resist taking a picture of Joe on the phone :)

Emma and Ian both loved feeding the deer and goats. Ian preferred to throw the corn in to them but Emma didn't mind letting them eat from her hands.

Mom mentioned on her blog the wallaby with her joey. Amy, Emma and I were behind everyone else when they were here so we had to wait a long time to see the baby. They were at the back of the fence so it was really hard to get a good picture but I think this one turned out cute.

Ian and Amy checking out the map.

Marty ran over the big sand pile a couple of times with Kaylee, I don't know who had a bigger grin on their face...........Marty or Kaylee. Ian then had to follow suit and run over it. You can see him in the background.

Tomorrow I have some pictures from the Tattoo to show.......I'll try to keep it a little shorter than todays :) I didn't plan on posting this many pictures but I just couldn't decide what ones to use. LOL!

Check back later, I have the projects from Friday night to upload as well!

I'm still here

I haven't forgotten about blogging. I have just been really busy the last week, I'll give you a quick re-cap:

Last Saturday we went to the Canada Day parade and then as soon as it was over (well almost-I had a couple of detours) we headed for NS. We arrived at mom and dad's at almost 10:00pm. Sunday we had a Birthday party for Emma and then went to the zoo after supper (I love that zoo!). Monday Joe and I went into Halifax to see the Tattoo (it was awesome!). Tuesday we went visiting most of the day and then Wednesday we headed back home. We were home for an hour and a half and then I left again to go to make jewlery at Dianne's. Thursday night was stamping class and then last night we had a stamping/going away party for Megan.

I don't have anything else going on until class Thursday night so you should see more posts from me over the next week. I will also go through my pictures and find a couple to share with you. Speaking of pictures, Walmart has 4x6 digital prints on for .15. I'm not sure how long it is on for but it is a really good price. I think I got 400 pictures printed over the last couple of days! That was only pictures from Easter until now and a few of Mom's pictures from Christmas. I really need to get scrapbooking.

I have a card that I did last week before we went away. I have seen the Pick a Petal stamp set used to make ladybugs on SCS a few times so I had to try it too.

The ladybugs wings are the polka dotted petal stamped in real red and cut out. Then I went around the outside of the petal with my black marker. The body is black cardstock punched with the 1 1/4" circle punch and the head is the 1/2" circle cut in half. I free-handed the antena and dots behind.

The bottom is done with the slit punch and then I punched holes in the scallops and used my white gel pen to hi-light the scallops.

I just love the black, white and red together.

Waiting, waiting, waiting

I am impatiently waiting for my catalogue to arrive. I was really hoping (someone else I know got it today) that it would come this morning but no such luck :(

I went to check the mailbox, even though the flag wasn't up, just in case.....maybe they forgot to put the flag up. Nope, nothing. I don't know how I can stand to wait another day. I guess I will be stamping tonight instead of making wish lists.

Yesterday I got a big brown envelope in the mail and was so excited when I saw it but it was a false alarm. It was my Bella swap. Still very good mail. Here are the cards I did for the swap:

I stamped Flowahbella in black Staz On on shimmery white cardstock adn colored her with SU markers. The scalloped rectangle behind her is done by punching 2 scalloped squares, matching up the scallops and taping in the back. To cover up the line where they meet I put the ribbon over it.

Pattern paper is Chatterbox (I think) and the background (light blue) is embossed with Cuttlebug Stylized flowers.

Cakeabella is stamped and colored the same as Flowahbella (have you noticed I am on a shimmery white kick lately?). I put a little stickles on the candle for some "sparkle" and the shimmery white is so pretty in real life. The pattern paper is Tres Jolis (is that by My Minds Eye? I am so bad with the names-if I like it I buy it, it doesn't matter who makes it. LOL!)

I really like these colors together and wouldn't have put them together normally. They are More Mustard, Ruby Red and Cameo Coral.

Time to go get lunch and sulk a little more about my catalogue not being here..........if you don't hear from me tomorrow it probably means I am going over and over my new catalogue :)

A couldn't help it!

I wasn't planning on posting another card but I have been trying to put in an order for the last hour but SU is really slow right now........ I'll try again later. So in the mean time I have to share another card. This is probably my favorite one I made yesterday.



I used Amy Westerman's Super Sunday Sketch #18. You can find it on her blog Heartfeltgreetings. I started with the focal piece (this was actually planned for the one with the birds but it didn't really work so I put it aside). The flourish is stamped in So Saffron on Shimmery white and then I added the flowers in Groovy Guava and Kind in Wild Wasibi.

I then stamped the flourish again on a scrap piece of shimmery white and punched it with the word window punch. The flowers were stamped in Groovy Guava and cut out. The brads are the new "Fire" Rhinestone brads.

More Zoofari fun

I am having so much fun with my new stamps and the new colors are awesome!

I didn't realize it until I finished yesterday that I had kind of a green theme going on.

The snake card is done with Certainly Celery, Wild Wasibi, Shimmery White and the pattern paper is from Palette of Prints. I stamped the snake in Black Staz On and colored it with Certainly Celery and Old Olive markers. The sentiment is stamped in Wild Wasibi. I really like these 2 greens together.

For the birds I used a sketch challenge from SCS (I think it was last weeks). For the pattern paper (from Palette of Prints again) I cut it to the same size as the Wild Wasibi (5 1/4" x 4") and then marked on the back from corner to corner, cut on the lines and then stuck to the Wasabi piece.

The "stitching" is done with All in a Row, I used my Old Olive marker to ink it up and then used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up perfectly to look like stitches. I learned this from Beate and I am so excited........I see it in my scrapbooking in the near future:)

The birds were stamped in Black Staz On on Shimmery white and colored with an aqua painter and the ink from the lid of the pads. I really hope Stampin' Up! comes out with markers for the new In Colors. If not I will be using blenders pen and re-inkers again (let me know if you don't know what I am talking about).

I am a little "under the weather" today so I don't think I will be getting any stamping in. I was really hopeing the new catalogue would come today so I could relax with my new book but no such luck :( Maybe tomorrow. I really hope Mom doesn't get hers before me.....she will rub it in soooo bad. Of course, I would do the same thing ;-)

Something Old, Something New

The something old is Doodle This and the something new is Zoofari. I made this Zebra card this morning, along with a few other cards that I am going to save for later ;-)



The zebra is stamped on Whisper white and colored in with my black stampin' write marker. I punched the scalloped circle from Wild Wasabi and then pierced the holes in the scallops. The doodles are stamped in River Rock in on River Rock cardstock. For the hugs and wishes I used my black SU marker to ink it up and then punched it out with the word window punch and cut around it with scallop scissors.


I started this card with a sketch from Julee's blog HERE but when I went back and checked the sketch again I realized the circle was supposed to be in the center. Oh well, it is still a cute card. Julee is playing Blogger Bingo and you can jump in at any time so go check it out.


We are going to have a little Birthday party for Emma at the zoo when we go home this weekend so I think this might be her card. I may have to do another "girly" card for her too though :)


On Saturday we went to New River Beach for the sand sculpture contest (to watch, not participate) with Roberta and her kids. We walked around the beach to look at the sculptures first and then took the kids down by the water so they could play in the sand and water. The 2 boys stuck to the sand while the girls played in the water. Emma was like a little mermaid (I really think she is part fish!) and did not want to get out of that freezing water.



Here are a few pictures from the beach:

I'm so excited!

I played with my new stamps tonight!


For the first card I wanted to do something with the new chipboard so I picked this flower to go with the patterned paper from the Palette of Prints pack.

I inked the flower with my Purely Pomagranite ink pad and then after it had dried for a bit (but it was still a little "damp") I used my white gel pen and added the dots (which turned pink!).

The center of the flower is the solid dot from Pick a Petal stamped in Groovy Guava and punched with the 1/2" punch.




For the second card I used Beate's weekend sketch challenge and Zoofari. The patterned paper is from Palette of Prints.

For the scalloped circle I used my Fiskars scissors to cut around the shimmery white piece.

I stamped the ribbon with Chocolate Chip craft ink and tied it around the Close to Cocoa piece. The monkey is stamped in Basic Brown and colored with watercolor pencils. Isn't he cute?

Only 9 days till the new catalogue comes out!

Too funny

This is totally non-stamping related (and I hope it works) but I had to share this. My neighbor sent it to me in an e-mail and I laughed sooooo hard I had to share.

Teacher Thank You's

I have been so busy since I got my pre-order that I haven't had a chance until last night to mount the stamps or try anything out. I had to make cards for Ian's teachers so I thought the Baroque motifs would be good for the Thank you's and of course I had to play with at least one of my new sets :)


The card base is Shimmery White (it is hard to tell in the scan-I am still learning), then the next layer is Blue Bayou. On the Soft Sky layer I stamped the flower in the same color and then I used Shimmery White for the main image and stamped the flourish in Soft Sky and the flowers in Blue Bayou. The bigger flower is cut out, there is a crystal brad in the center and it is popped up. Ribbon is May Arts. I have to say that I think this looks way better in real life....the shimmery cardstock really makes it so much nicer.


For the teacher gifts I made them these bookmarks and gave them each a gift card for Chapters.

Still no pictures

We have been on the go all day. This morning I had to pick Ian up early from Pre-school because there was a picnic at the school so it seemed like I just dropped him off, made a few phone calls, packed a picnic lunch and had to go back to get him. We came home for a few minutes and then went back to the school for the picnic with Roberta and her 2 kids. After the picnic we came back here so the kids could play in the bouncer, in the pool and then have a water fight. Holy cow, it's 4:30 and I am tired.

I am still having fun with my scanner. I thought it would be fun to scan some of Ian's artwork so I did this picture he drew of a lama.

I kind of cut off part of the sun and the bottom of the lama's feet but I didn't have time to play with the stitching. I will play around with it when I have time because I am going to try using the scanner when I upload my scrapbook pages too. I am so excited! Now I need to scrapbook so I have something new to scan.

Oh and the other thing I am excited about is we are going to see the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo! When we go "home" the beginning of July Joe and I are going while Grammie and Grampie babysit! I can't wait, Joe was in the show 3 years (doing the "gun run")when he was in the Reserves and I got to go watch them and then we went to see it when I was pregnant with Ian (5 years ago). If you get the chance to go it really is worth it.

Have you been to Jill's blog yet? She is having a "Blog Candy" contest. All you have to do is send her or Mom 5 cards for the troops and she will enter you into the draw for some fun "candy". It is for such a great cause and I'm sure we could all use another excuse to stamp :)

Speaking of stamping, my pre-order came yesterday and I still haven't even had time to open the box! That is my plan for tonight when the kids go to bed..........stamp!