Cute as a bug!

Happy Thursday to all of you -- the last day of January 2008!! That is hard to believe!!

Well, as you know the theme this week as been 'all about Gretchen'!! She is a wonderful stamper!! Here is a cute card to share with you today-- cute as a bug that is ;o) This is such a fun uplifting card!!

Here are all the deets - direct from Gretchen to share with all of you!

Bugs and Kisses stamp set; Whimsy Jumbo Wheel; CS - ballet blue, brilliant blue, whisper white, certainly celery; ink - ballet blue, brilliant blue, basic black, versamarker; Irridescent Ice EP; Hodgepodge Hardware; certainly celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

See you all tomorrow, February 1st!!

~Enjoy & TFL~

Embrace Life

Good Morning Everyone!!

I am continuing on with my 'Gretchen Week' here on my blog!! Here is yet another card that Gretchen (gbarron over on SCS) sent me with her swaps recently!!

What a pretty card this is and I just love this stamp set ~ there are sooo many different things you can do with it! Gretchen has an awesome layout and color combo here!

Thanks soo much Gretchen!!

Here is her recipe for this card:

Embrace Life stamp set; Sanded Background stamp; cs - ruby red, river rock; ink - ruby red, stazon black, river rock; watercolor wonder crayone (earth elements); blender pens; Ginger Blossoms DSP; river rock double stitched ribbon; stamp-a-ma-jig; dimensionals. Inspired by degrffn.


~Enjoy & TFL~

It's just like you to be so nice...

Happy Tuesday! It's "Gretchen Week" here on my blog -- and here is her card I would like to share with you today ~ made by Gretchen (gbarron over on SCS)!

Isn't this card just the neatest?! I totally love these colors together ~ they look soo sharp together. The middle of the flower is done with a 'build a brad' -- those are just soo fun! If you havent played with those yet -- what cha' waiting for??? lol

Here is the recipe direct from Miss Gretchen herself -- to share with all of you!

Just Like You Stamp Set; It's Beautiful Jumbo wheel; cs - whisper white, purely pomegranate, only orange, chocolate chip; ink - purely pomegranate, only orange; purely pomegranate double stitched ribbon; stamp-a-ma-jig; build a brad; punches - 1/2" circle, 1 1/4 " circle, 1 3/8" circle; scallop circle punch. Inspired by justbehappy on SCS.

Thanks again Gretchen ~ you are a sweetie!!

~TFL & Enjoy~

Thank You Gretchen!

I just recently hosted a card swap for other SU! demos over on SCS. It was a very successful swap - 10 groups of each of the 6 stamp sets that we will unveil on Feb 1st.

Gretchen, (gbarron over on SCS) was such a sweetie and sent me a wonderful bonus!! A pkg of her cards!! Here is the first one I want to share with you this week. I have asked for her blessing to post them on my blog and she was gracious enough to email me her recipes -- so I'll share those here too!!

Here is her recipe: Spring Solitude Bundle (stamp set and wheel); CS - barely banana, bashful blue, mellow moss; ink - real red, mellow moss; coluzzle, round scallop punch; 1 1/4" circle punch; rhinestone brads; dimensionals. Inspired by Itsapassion.

You do awesome work Gretchen! Thanks soo much for sharing with me!! I am just tickled ;o)

Stay tuned everyone ... it's a 'Gretchen week' here on my blog ;o) lol

A Tour of my creative space ~ Come In!

Here is a look at my space that my DH constructed/created for me! I'll post some more up-close pictures but overall: The space is 14 feet wide and 9 feet deep. The countertops are all extra deep---36". (and interesting enough the color of the countertop is called 'canvas' ~~lol!)The cabinets are all made by Kraftmaid and I requested that they all be 20" deep (standard is 12")---room for the 12 x 12 and larger stuff! The lower cabinets have roll-out drawers so the entire cabinet space is accessable/usable. The two lower corner cabinets are the lazy susan type. The under-the-cabinet lighting really adds extra light that makes it super for stamping!

After you look at this picture and the next few, hopefully this will make more sense of the picture I am showing....I have all colors of SU! 8.5 x 11 card stock stored in two hanging file totes. My DH made me a holder/roller so I can store it under the cabinet and roll it out when I need it. It works perfect! So once I am seated, it rolls out behind me and all I have to do is turn around in my chair and grab what I need.

Also, to explain the 'filing system' each color has a tab stating the color and those are in ABC order with the exception with the confetti white, whisper white, etc those are in the front. The tabbed (or labeled) hanging file folder has a manilla folder that holds only full sheets of the card stock. Then the hanging file folder just in the front of that one also has a manilla folder and that one holds all scraps of that color, anything less than a full sheet. This system has worked wonderful for me and it is sooo easy and fast to find just the piece I need without wasting a new piece!

Here is a close up picture of it -- because if you are a visual person like I am this might help!

Here is my paper wheeled into it's 'home' under the counterop!

Here is the new from my chair. My stamp pad holders are from the home improvement store, they are the nuts, screws, bolts organizers. They hold 3 of the new (and old!) stampin' ink pads perfectly!

The stamp pad holder in the corner holds all of my SU! craft stampin' pads---great way to keep them separate but yet right there!

Here is a 10' PVC gutter that my DH cut down to two 5' pieces...great for ribbon and punches! My fave thing about the ribbon is that I can take out individual spools without having to disrupt any of the others. I used to have them on dollies and that was hard when I wanted the one in the middle to take along for demos, etc.!

These are two of the Making Memories magnetic boards. Thanks to SCS'er 'MissMike' (my SCS Sista') for bunches of ideas on my board here---you are such an awesome stamper!!

Here are some of my stamp sets---works great to have them in the cabinets right above me, to the left and to the right of me! (left side not shown in this picture)

This cupboard is just to the right of my chair and I keep alot of my accessories here----hodgepodge hardware, buttons, eyelets, fibers, re-inkers, wheels & wheel ink, watercolor crayons, watercolor pencils, embossing powders, chalk inks, glue gun, embossing gun... etc. etc. etc.....lots o' stuff in a small space for an easy grab!

My DH built me a lazy susan for this corner cabinet. He made it tall enough for the SU! 12x12 paper holders and yet there was enough room left that I also have a 'shelf' on top of the spinning LS too!

Hope you have enjoyed the tour of my Creative Space ~ I just love to get away to this space when I can!! You are welcome to come join me here anytime too ;o))

~Enjoy & TFL~

~ Snowy Week ~

Snow! Snow! Snow! That has been the story here in the midwest this past week! We just received another 3 inches or so yesterday -- they say we are to record numbers for the season already -- I guess I can believe that! lol

So I thought this card would be fitting for today! It's a card I did awhile back for a swap that I participated in ~ Its a total of 8 layers -

The base is basic black, the second layer is Soft Sky with Soft Sky ink -- I used the Jumbo Snow wheel to run across the background.

Then I used VersaMark and Silver Embossing Powder to create the silvery image on the basic black square. I then mounted that on Soft Sky and Basic Black again for a 3 layer piece look. I wrapped this piece with a the In Color double-stitched ribbon.

Next, using the Snow Burst stamp set I stamped some little snowflakes on Soft Sky cardstock using Soft Sky ink again. I mounted this to a piece of basic black cardstock and wrapped some silver elastic cord around it and adhered it with a few stampin' dimensionals to give it some height.

Next I silver embossed some snow flakes on Blue Bayou cardstock and punched them out with two circle punches. On the larger embossed snowflake I added a rhinestone brad to the center just to give it some sparkle! The three snowflakes were then adhered using stampin' dimensionals too!

As always, here is the recipe:

Stamp Sets: Snow Burst, Jumbo Snow wheel
Card Stock: Basic Black, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky
Stampin' Pads: Soft Sky, VersaMark
Accessories: Silver embossing powder, Silver Elastic Cord, Rhinestone Brads, Double Stitched Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch

Enjoy your weekend!!

~TFL & Enjoy~

Thanks JoAnn!!

This is called a Free Standing Pop-Up Card!! Isnt it just go-jous? Thanks soo much to JoAnn (SCS: jreks) for making this and sending it to me with a recent swap return!! It's just awesome and I can't wait to try this myself -- But I think I'm gonna wait to get a Scor Pal first -- maybe for my birthday in March? ;o)

Here is tis' from the side -- I want to try to clearly explain this to you from all dimensions!

Here it is folded down -- yes! You can mail these beauties!!

Ok, so for the deets! Here we go!

Cut cardstock in the following sizes:

11" x 4 1/4" piece A (main body of card)

5 1/4" x 2 1/2" piece B (main image)

2 1/2" x 1 1/2" piece C (front greeting)

Decorate piece "A". Turn over and score at 1", 2 3/4", 3 3/4", 5 1/2", 7 1/4", 8 1/4", 10". On the center line, (5 1/2") mark 3/4" from both sides. Cut a line 2 3/4" long between the two 3/4" marks.

Stamp your main image on piece "B". Be sure not to stamp on the bottom 1" which won't be seen.

On piece "A" mark the center on the 1" score line on both ends. On piece "B" mark the center for the bottom only. Thread the bottom of "B" through the center slot of "A". Align and glue the two center marks of "A" and "B" together with B in the center.

Stamp a greeting onto piece "C" and adhere to front of card. When finished, the card will slide up and down through the slot. It's flat for mailing, but free standing once its opened.

It's just soo sweet!! Get creative!! What different pop up designs can you create?

~TFL & Enjoy!~

Bayou Thank You

Hello Friends!! What fun happy mail I received this week!! A super cute hand-stamped SU! card with MONEY in it!! How much better can it get? lol

One of my wonderful customers, Marilyn, bought some product from me and she sent me a check with a nice thank you note ~ What a sweetie!!

This card opens from the bottom (the lighter color of Soft Sky opens), and flips up. The colors are Blue Bayou as the base and the 'flipper' part is done with Soft Sky. Her third layer is Blue Bayou again with a piece of Whisper White. The stamp sets she used include Baroque Motifs and Sincere Salutations. She tied it all together with a white taffeta bow. Then for just a bit of a 'pop' she used some dazzling diamonds in the center of the flower ~ perfect touch!!

What a wonderful card Marilyn ~ thanks sooo much!! I appreciate you!

Happy Stampin'!

~Enjoy & TFL~

More Snow, More SAB prep!

Good Morning! We sure have received our fair share of snow here in the midwest lately! WOW! I do love snow though ;o) I spent Saturday and Sunday afternoon in my stampin' space while it snowed here! I love the winter but my darling hubby might tell you another story - he has lots of snow to remove during this time of year!! lol

Anyway here is another SAB project I have been working on!! This one was fun too!



It may be kinda hard to see in this picture but the white flower is embossed and the thank you sentiment is actually stamped on the background and it's showing thru the window word punch ~ ~ ~

This color combo, too, came from the wonderful SU! Color Coach! It uses Tempting Turquoise as the base, Apricot Appeal as the second layer and Certainly Celery as the top layer. The middle of the flower is rose red, I believe - (but I forgot to write that color down and I dont have the actual card here in front of me now!)

The stamp sets used were So Many Scallops (SAB) and Short & Sweet.

I started out by stamping and embossing the flower with the Winter White Emboss Powder. I then used the little flower from the Short & Sweet set and randomly stamped them with Certainly Celery ink on the CC card stock.

Next I used the window word punch and punched a space for the little 'thank you' greeting out of the certainly celery cardstock - I then stamped the greeting on the apricot appeal cardstock using rose red ink. I then also stamped the center of the flower and punched those out using the 1" circle punch. I attached the center of the flower with one stampin' dimensional to make it pop a bit.

My final step before putting this card together was to attach a little piece of White Grosgrain ribbon around the right side of the window word punch ~ just to give it a little extra touch!

As always, here is my recipe:

Stamp Sets: So Many Scallops, Short & Sweet
Card Stock: Color combo from Color Coach – Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal
Stampin’ Pads: Certainly Celery, Cameo Coral, Ruby Red
Accessories: 1” Circle Punch, Window Word Punch, Winter White Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Stampin’ Dimensionals, White Grosgrain Ribbon


The countdown to the annual SAB promo is getting closer -- just about a week before it starts on Feb 1st! YEAHH!!!


~Enjoy & TFL~

~ Gentle Thoughts for Today ~

eThis is pretty funny -- thought I'd share!!

Birds of a feather flock together and crap on your car.
A penny saved is a government oversight.
The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.
The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight, because by then your body and your fat have gotten to be really good friends.
The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.
He who hesitates is probably right.
Did you ever notice: The Roman Numerals for forty (40) are ' XL.'
If you think there is good in everybody, you haven't met everybody.
If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
The sole purpose of a child's middle name is so he can tell when he's really in trouble.
There's always a lot to be thankful for if you take time to look for it. For example I am sitting here thinking how nice it is that wrinkles don't hurt.Did you ever notice: When you put the 2 words 'The' and 'IRS' together it spells 'Theirs?'
Aging: Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it. The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for. Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know 'why' I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved. When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra. You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks. One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young. Ah, being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable. First you forget names, then you forget faces. Then you forget to pull up your zipper. It's worse when you forget to pull it down. Long ago when men cursed and beat the groundwith sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today, it's called golf.

Lord, Keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth...AMEN..!!

Sale-A-Bration Prep

Hello! Hello!! Hello!!!

Well, the annual Stampin' UP! SAB (Sale-A-Bration) promotion is quickly approaching!! I have been busy preparing samples to share during this fun time! I'll share this one with you tonight ~



This is one of the cards I made for a swap that I am participating in ---

It uses the SAB stamp set called "Lots of Thoughts" and I also used "Embrace Life" from the current IB&C.

My color combo was made easy by using the SU! Color Coach - I absolutely love the color coach - it puts color combos together that I would never think of using together otherwise! Here I used Pumpkin Pie as the base, Regal Rose as the second layer, Pumpkin Pie again as the 3rd layer and Natural Ivory as the 4th layer.

I stamped the happy hellos greeting on Regal Rose and punched it out using my Scallops punch. Next, I punched out a Round Tab punch using Rose Red. This is centered behind the scallop and affixed using two stampin' dimensionals.

Next I tied a piece of Brocade Blue 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon around my smaller pieces of cardstock and adhered that to the card front. Then using two more stampin' dimensionals I placed the scallop-round tab greeting over the ribbon! It really pops it off the card front!!

As always, here is my recipe:

Stamp Sets: Lots of Thoughts, Embrace Life
Card Stock: Color combo from Color Coach – Pumpkin Pie, Regal Rose, Rose Red, Naturals Ivory
Stampin’ Pads: Rose Red, Regal Rose
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, Round Tab Punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals, 5/8” Grosgrain Brocade Blue Ribbon

The SAB promotion starts February 1st -- with each $50 you spend you get to choose a free stamp set/item from the SAB catalog. What a fun time ~ are you ready?

~Enjoy & TFL~

Fun read!

Read to the end . . . a new twist

Talking about Stampin' UP! -- check this out! FUN!

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this .

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is 'UP.'

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ? We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car . At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special. And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP . We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP ! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. I f you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP , you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP ..When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP .When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP .One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now my time is UP, so............ it is time to shut UP .! Oh . . . one more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U-P


Enjoy your day!!

Lizzys Latte

MMM! Happy Saturday morning to you!! Shall we start out with a delicious latte?

I wanted to share this adorable slider card that I received in the mail this week from one of my darling downlines in SU! This was created by LuAnn Johnson.

When you pull down on the white piece of cardstock at the bottom then the latte in the cup disappears! LuAnn is just a Genius!! Thanks so much Dear ;o)

LuAnn has this posted in her gallery too ~ please take a look here and leave her your comments too!!

Here is her list of ingredients (for the slider card that is ~ I am not sure what her latte recipe is! lol)


Stamps: Like it a Latte
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Wild Wasbi, Purely Pomegrante, Whisper White
Ink: ChocoloateChip, Purely Pomegrante
Accessories: Pomegrante ribbon, dimensionals, staples, blender pens

Thanks soo much LuAnn ~ you are soo talented!!

~TFL & Enjoy~

A 2008 Perspective to share with you....

Hello Everyone ~ I'm still working on the 'icky year end paperwork' that I spoke of yesterday so I want to share this with you tonight ~



HAPPY 2008!

2007 Has sped by
Now, we need to face 2008

There may be risks involved

So stay alert

Share time with friendsFace challengesRemember to laugh
Make new friends

Always take time to smell the flowers

And never forget to love those dearest to you

May God Bless You in 2008!

Thanks!

WOW! It's hard to believe that it is already the third day of January! I have been busy with getting year end paperwork done for the apartments we manage part-time and I have not had a stitch of time to get my fingers inky! ...soon...soon I hope! However, I was able to get my SAB order placed the other day as well as my first order from the new Spring~Summer catalog placed today! I just love new rubbah' and accessories, don't you? lol

Here is what I would like to share with you today ~ this is a card that I have been eyeing and wanting to CASE for quite some time - I love the color and layout of this card that has been created by Avis (Sue) Berker. Thanks Sue for your inspiration on this!!

There is no such thing as having too many Thank You cards on hand, is there? ;o)

So in the meantime, I'll just be thinking of getting my fingers inky as soon as my year end work is complete ~

~Enjoy & TFL~

What color crayon are you??

This is a fun test for today! See the link at the bottom to find out your color!!

Here are the results from my test :o)

You Are a Blue Crayon

Your world is colored in calm, understated, deep colors.

You are a loyal person, and the truest friend anyone could hope to find.

On the inside, you tend to be emotional and even a bit moody.

However, you know that people depend on you. So you put on a strong front.

Your color wheel opposite is orange. Orange people may be opinionated, but you feel they lack the depth to truly understand what they're saying.

What's your crayon color?

2008 will be Great!!

Just wanted to post a quick note this morning and say "HAPPY NEW YEAR"
I think this will be a great year ~ I love the number 8 anyway so thats even bettah' ;o)
Thanks for stopping by -- I will be posting some new stuff again soon!!

Stampin' Huggs ~
Teresa