Baby Shower Saturday

I had a great time today reconnecting with friends I hadn't seen in over three years at my girlfriend's baby shower! I had so much fun, and I even won a prize for guessing how many diapers it took to make this "cake."

How many diapers do you think it took to construct this cake? I guessed 135. The answer was 133! Pretty darn close if you ask me :)

Look at this beautiful cake that my friend's mother-in-law made for the event. It was SO GOOD, and I got such a sugar rush off of it!! Just ask my poor friend sitting next to me who had to listen to me rattle on at an outrageous speed.

I must admit that this morning I was scrambling to decorate and wrap my friend's shower gift. Yesterday was so incredibly hectic (hence the missing post) that I crashed before I could do what needed to be done for today. I quickly grabbed some fun baby girl rub-ons and got to work! A little rubbing...a little inking...a few Making Memories flowers...and viola! A quick and simple gift bag and tag.

All in all, I had a great time today! I'm exhausted, though, and my scrap room is a mess from all the commotion this morning, so it looks like I'll be doing a little organzing later on. Have a fabulous weekend, and thanks for stopping by today!!

{Friends}

Happy Thursday everyone! Today's card is all about friendship, and it came about quite randomly. I had this left over piece of orange paper from one of my Basic Grey 6x6 paper pads and decided to put it ontop of a brown Memory Box notecard. From there, I have no clue where the idea for the card came from. I just went the flow. I used elements from my monthly All Moments Remembered kit including the ribbon and the little journaling block which I mounted to a piece of white cardstock and then cut out. The block, along with the letters, are from Making Memories 5th Avenue Line. Super fast, super simple.

I also altered a puzzle piece for a friend who is gathering a bunch of different puzzle pieces from people and then putting them all back together. I can't wait to see how it all turns out for her!

I have a super busy Friday ahead of me. I'll be out and about all day long, but I'll come back with a new do! I don't know how short I'll go, but we'll see. Perhaps I'll come back with bangs! It all depends on what kind of mood I'm in at the moment. If I don't post tomorrow, have a wonderful weekend!!

You Rock!

I have been a busy bee over here creating all sorts of different cards to send out. I'm really glad I have found my creativity once again!

I lifted today's card from one of my favorite blogs, K. Werner Designs. She produces a blog video (almost) every Monday called "Make a Card Monday" where she sets her creative process to various musical artists. She speeds up her card making process so that you don't get bored watching every little cut and punch she does. They're really fantasic, and I highly recommend hopping over there and watching her archives.

Back to the card at hand. I used my Coluzzle (I {heart} my Coluzzle) to cut out the circles. I then used my small circle punch to punch out a bunch of small circles to use as the scallop border. The yellow/lime letters are from a KI Memories "Ice" pack I grabbed at Big Lots last year for a buck. I glued them down with Zip Dry glue, which is the best glue to use when trying to adhere clear items like these letters because the glue dries completely clear (it's great to use in acrylic albums). I mounted the cirlces on dimensionals, added some ribbon, and viola! A finished card.

I'll be back tomorrow with another fun card. Have a great Wednesday!

You're a HOOT!

Today's card is for a really funny gal I know. She's truly a hoot!! I used the ever-popular "Skittles" on this one as well as patterned paper from Basic Grey's "Mellow" line. I wrote out the sentiment myself.

You can see the Skittles a bit better in this next picture. I put three above the image and three below.

I have been getting some packages together today and making a lot of fun cards. I love days where I can just chill out and craft :) I hope everyone can find some time today to craft, too! See you tomorrow!

Remembering why we celebrate Memorial Day

I hope everyone is enjoying the day off today with their families. I also hope that you keep in mind the reason behind today's holiday. Memorial Day is a day to remember those who have served this wonderful country and made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. As the wife of a Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom Veteran and the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran, this day is very close to my heart. Both my husband and father have lost dear friends during war time, and for them, today holds extra special meaning. To all of those who have lost loved ones during combat, my heart goes out to you. I thank all of our service men and women, and wish them all a safe return home.

On that note, I was directed to a couple of wonderful organizations for our troops over seas (thank you, Josice!). The first organization is called Cards for Heros. This organization collects cards for our troops to send back home to their families. Remember, our troops do not have access to such simple pleasures as greeting cards, so get out your extra scrapping supplies, and start making some cards to send to our brave men and women so that they can send them back home to their families! I know they will greatly appreciate them!

The second organization is called Any Soldier and it works like this. First, choose a branch of the military that you would like to help out (Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard). Second, scroll through a list of servicemen/women who have created a wish list. Then, put together a care package based on that list, and then send it out to them. It's that easy! What better way to say "Thank You" to our hard-working soldiers than to send them a surprise package in the mail.

I truly hope that you will consider participating in one or both of these wonderful organizations. I know I will!!

Have a safe and happy holiday. I'll be back tomorrow with a fun owl card!

Inque Boutique Stamp Keepers

Have you heard about the new Inque Boutique Stamp Keepers? They're a revolutionary new product that allows you to store your clear arcylic stamps in a convinient, plastic clam-shell holder.

These keepers come in two sizes - 8.5x11 and 12x12. You can see a video demo by clicking here. I was lucky enough to find 8 of these keepers, and let me tell you, these babies hold A LOT of stamps!! I thought I would share with you my current clear-stamp organizational solution.

First up is a picture of my 2" D-ring binder filled with the 8 stamp keepers I bought. As you can see, all 8 of them fit perfectly into this size binder. Keep in mind, too, that each stamp keepers is also completely full.

Next up is a picture of how I keep track of the stamps inside my binders. I simply stapled the orginal index sheet that came with each stamp set to a piece of white cardstock then slipped the cardstock into heavy duty sheet protectors.

This next picures shows one stamp keeper. As you can see, I decided to put stamps on both sides of my stamp keeper. Some people choose not to do this, but I think you get double the bang for your buck if you use both sides. To keep the stamps from sticking to each other when the stamp keeper closes, I simply cut down a piece of white card stock and inserted it in between the two sides of the keeper. Does that make sense? LOL!

I hope this helps everyone get their clear stamp collection organized! As for those cute $1 Studio G stamps, I still keep them in baseball card holders. It's more practical for me that way, but you can certainly stick them in these keepers!

More Organizing

Last night, I had this sudden burst of energy and decided to organize my scrap room even more so than it already was. You see, although it looks nice and neat, I actually have a lot of supplies that weren't grouped together. For example, I had ink pads in three different spots. Now what good is that going to do me?! So, I dumped all my stuff in the middle of the room and started sorting through it all. I stayed up until the wee-hours of the morning just moving stuff around, but it was well worth it. My goal was to group like things with like things (i.e., put all my stamp pads in one place) so that I wasn't missing out on using any of my supplies.

The following two drawers hold some of my stamps and stamping accessories. My wood-mounted stamps are in a rolling cart and my clear stamps are in binders in the new Inque Boutique Stamp Keepers. Those keepers rock, by the way!!

I did a lot more organzing, but you get the idea. I'm sure that I will get the organzing bug again in a few months and redo the room, but for now, I'm good to go. Perhaps I'll even scrap again soon!

In other scrappy news, I had a great mail day yesterday. My friend sent me an unexpected package, and it was filled with all sorts of yummy goodies! I can't wait to use those birdie stamps she got me. She knows me so well! Thanks, girlie!!

And here's the awesome card she made for me. WOW is all I can say. It rocks!

Today was yet another great mail day! I received an ATC (Artist Trading Card) from my friend, Patti. It's SO CUTE! It has a picture of her crashed out ontop of her keyboard in front of her computer. The little journaling reads, "My computer keeps crashing. I can't chat with my AMR family, and I can't take it anymore. It drove me to drink PATRON SILVER TEQUILA!." Isn't that a riot?!

Lastly, remember me talking about the "Skittles" yesterday? They're small, plastic doo-hickies that can be used as accents on layouts and cards. You can find them at Michael's in the floral department because their intended use is as decorative accents inside bowls and vases. Here are a few pictures showing their size so that you can get a feel for how small they really are.

As you can see, they're flat on the back and round on the top, perfect for gluing down on a piece of cardstock. Remember, they're only two bucks a pack at Michael's right now, and trust me, one pack will go a LONG way!

I hope you're all having a great Thursday. One more day until Memorial Day Weekend!! Woo-hoo!! We have no plans for the weekend other than to relax and spend time together. I'm thinking I need to get scrappy and play with all these fun new toys I got this week! Until tomorrow...happy creating!!

This one's for you, Aunt B

I have a wonderful blogging buddy, Aunt B. She has an awesome blog called Aunt B's Backyard where she chronicals the daily musings of her backyard critters. Some of you may know that I am a wildlife biologist (I'm on break right now), so I have lots of pictures of critters from my days out in the field. Aunt B recently asked me to share some of my critter photos, and I thought everyone might get a kick out of seeing some of my local fauna. Make sure you hop on over to her blog when you get a chance because she has some seriously awesome photos over there!! For now, here are a few of my favorites.

First up, the elusive federally threatened desert tortoise. This little guy is no more than 4 or 5 years old. Isn't he cute?? (BTW, under the Endangered Species Act, it's against the law to take, harm, harass, injur, kill, maim, etc., etc. any federally listed animal. Rest assured I took this picture with a very good zoom lens - I was VERY far away from him!)


Next up, quite possibly the best photo I've ever taken, is the Zebra-tailed lizard. These guys are TOUGH to photograph because they are so darn fast. They seem to never sit still. This little bugger sat on the rock for about a minute before he ran off. Check out his black and white stripped tail as well as his long skinny toes, perfectly adapted to practically glide over sand. No wonder they're so fast.

Last, but not least, is a picture of me holding a glossy snake. These snakes are, for the most part, quite gentle. Ocassionaly you'll get a mean one, but that's pretty rare. I suppose snakes have their bad days, too (like being caught in the middle of the night and handled by strange people - LOL!).

I think, from time to time, I'll post some fun pictures like these. I hope you enjoy them!

Run, don't walk, to your local Big Lots

Today was a crazy-busy day (hence the seriously late blog post), but it was a good kind of crazy. We recently had a bit of a frenzy over on the AMR message board. Apparently, someone found some Basic Grey chipboard at their local Big Lots for $2!! In case you aren't aware, this is one heck of a good deal considering they usually run around $8 a package. So, off I went to my two local Big Lots. The first one was a total bust, but I wasn't about to let that get me down. The next stop, however, yielded some major excitment. While I didn't find the chipboard I was looking for, I did score some rocking good deals on some K&Company paper and embellishments. I couldn't believe what a great selection they had!! Check it out for yourself:

If i had bought these at, say, Michael's, I would have paid about $40. I walked out of Big Lots having spent only $20!! Now that's what a call a good deal.

As if my excursion to Big Lots wasn't enough excitment, I also stopped off at Michael's. I found some awesome deals there, too!!

First, the Martha Stewart punches were all on sale for 25% off. Since decorative edges are all the rage right now in scrapping, I thought I'd just finish my collection by picking up the only three I didn't already have. I found a spool of really nice ribbon for a buck, and the cute chipboard buttons were also a great find at 25% off. The best find of the day, though, goes to those sweet green, blue, and purple plastic pebbles you see in the background. Those have been affectionately nicknamed "Skittles" by the scrapbooking community. They're nice and small and great for adding accents to your layouts and cards. These babies are usually $3.99 a bag, but I found them on clearance for $2 a bag!! That was enough to send a squeal of delight that only I could understand. Good thing no one else was around to hear me :)

So, I say unto you, run, don't walk, to your local Big Lots and Michael's store. You just never know what kind of great deals you're going to find.

PS - I want to give a big shout-out to my pals over at the Natural Science Department. It was great seeing you all again today!!

Inspiration Station

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope your week is getting off to a good start. I'm pretty happy over here because I have a new area to display my scrap goodies. I call it my Inspiration Station.

It's a simple half dry-erase board and half bulletin board that I picked up from Target yesterday. I hung it behind the door to my scrap room and decided that it would be a fun place to display all the new items I have been given or have recently bought. I was in a blingy type of mood when I set it up last night, so you can see most of my bling collection on the right side of the board. I have a few K&Company packages up there as well as some Kaiser flowers and brads. I plan on changing it out every few weeks or so to rotate product and give me new inspiration!

For all of you out there with a Target near by, check out their dollar spot. I found this great robin egg blue tin bread bucket for $2.50.

It's 12" across the top and 11" across the bottom. I can't fit a full sheet of 12x12 paper inside without it curling at the bottom, but it's great for all those little scrap pieces of paper. I'll probably end up putting some embellishment packages inside. I haven't quite figured it all out yet!

Baby Shower Card

Happy Thursday, everyone! I meant to post this card earlier in the day, but then I got busy running errands. You know how it goes! I made this card for a girlfriend of mine who is expecting a little girl next month.

I used a variety of products including $1 Studio G stamps for the image and sentiment, American Crafts ribbon, and a felt lady bug sticker from K&Company's Wild Saffron line. The paper is from the K-ology line by K&Company.

I'm off to go make dinner now. Have a good one!!

Thinking of you

I had the most exciting scrappy night last night!! For the first time in weeks, I sat down at my crafting table and just created away. The ideas just kept flowing, and I ended up making two cards!! I have quite a few cards to make over the next several days, so stay tuned :)

This particular card is for a special blogger buddy of mine. As you will notice, I'm still on an orange and pink kick. Seriously, I have no idea where my new found love of this color combination came from, but I'm really loving it!!

I used two Fiskar stamp sets for the images and the sentiment. The ribbon is by American Crafts, the flowers are Prima, and the patterned paper is from Basic Grey's "Gypsy" paper pack. I put just a little bit of bling in the center of the flowers, and I really like how it glitters in the light!!

I hope all you are getting scrappy, too. Off to create another card :)

Happy Day!

Today is a happy day for many reasons, the most exciting being that I'm finally getting my scrap on!! It's been so long since I've been in a regular scrapping routine, and it's nice to have time to sit down and create. I made this card to go inside an animal-related RAK I'm sending out in the next few days. I used a Hero Arts stamp set along with my Prismacolor pencils to color in the images. Of course, I popped up the dog and the bugs with dimensionals.

I hope all of you had a happy day, too!!

An Encounter of the Scrappy Kind

I recently had the opportunity to meet up with one of my on-line, scrappy friends, Patti. We had such a blast!! After talking for hours at a local restaurant, we went to a really big scrapbook store where we left with with lighter pocket books, but happier scrappy hearts!

Patti is just as awesome in person as she is on-line! She even made me the prettiest card and gift. Check it out!

A beautiful tri-fold card (I'm so lifting this idea):

A lovely altered composition book (those butterflies actually pop off the cover!):

Finally, she made me a gorgeous ATC:

She even gave me a Rusty Pickle tag album and an awesome journaling stamp!! I was very touched that she thought to make me such lovely gifts. Thank you, Patti!!

Now I know I said I would post an anniversary card today, but honestly, I was fairly wiped out all day long. I even took a nap (so not like me)!! We'll see if Mr. Mojo stops by this evening and stays a while.

I hope everyone is having a great Monday!!

I'm back!!

I'm finally back in the swing of things! Thank you so much for all the sweet comments you have been leaving me over the past month. Wow - has it been that long since I blogged?? Yikes! I will be visiting all my regular blogs this coming week to see what's going on with all of you :)

For all you mom's out there, Happy Mother's Day!! To celebrate this special day, I made this fun card for my mom. I used one of the new Martha Stewart punches to create the scalloped border and a Rubber Soul stamp for the image.

I'm also giving her this gorgeous vase by Lenox along with a pink daisy plant:

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Sunday!! I have one more card to make today since it's also my parent's wedding anniversary. I'll share that one with you tomorrow!! Have a creative day :)