Squeezing In Under the Wire...

I know I have posted two times today!! But I did get a chance to squeeze in a card for TSSC101 after all. This is a quick birthday card for a sweet little girl that is coming up soon.

The papers are from Target last Valentine's Day. The heart is a double-sided sticky shape that I glittered with SU! glitter. Not the best card I ever created, but I think it's cute anyway. Thanks for looking!

Never Enough Thank You Cards

I still need to make a few Thank You cards for gifts we received for Carter's arrival, and he is 4 months old!! Not to mention the birthday Thank You cards for Justin and also the Christmas Thank You cards. I'll be busy over the next week while DH is home from work...

This one was a simple layout that I made a batch of cards with a while ago. I'll be going back to this layout and papers to make even more. The papers are from the Sale A Bration paper from SU! last winter. It matches the baby announcements I sent out for Carter. The sentiment stamp is from MFT, and the sentiment panels are cut with Nesties Labels.

I'm sad that this week I have not had a chance to create a card for the Techno Stamper Monday Lunchtime Sketch. I love the sketch, but have no time :( Tomorrow she will post a new one and I hope to get that one done!

I hope you all had a great holiday! We took down the tree today and almost all the presents are put away. It's nice to have our house getting back to normal. Thanks for looking!

The Gift Cards Were Nestled...

...all snug with Nuggets! I can't be the first one to figure out that the 8 short nugget box is the perfect size for a giftcard to be placed on top of the chocolates. I did these for two of our neices, DH's co-worker and Justin's teacher. The snowflakes on the candy wrappers and on the image background are from Verve. The snowman is from Kim Hughes for CHF, embossed with detail white EP and colored with Bic Mark Its.




I hope you are all ready for Christmas, or if you celebrated Hannukah, relaxing before a new crazy year begins! We had a birthday party Saturday for Justin,who is turning 6 on Christmas!! Where DOES the time go? Tomorrow is Justin's last day of school, and hopefully DH will have some time off next week, too. I have tentative playdates with about 8 of J's friends, so he won't have time to be bored :)
Thanks for looking!

TSSC 100!

Congratulations to Mary-Jo, who this week posted her 100th Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge at Techno Stamper! Go check them out if you have not already done so - she does a great job each week :)
Here is my take on the sketch, thrown together during Carter's naptime. I have not stamped in about a week, because I had an itch to rearrange the furniture in my house! I changed my stamp room around and did a major clean-out of supplies. Seriously, I feel like I have TOO much and it is overwhelming sometimes to get started on a project. There are a few things started that I hope to finish this weekend between going to and throwing a birthday party. After that, I can start the year fresh and get into a creative routine again. I miss it!!

This paper is from Michael's, Chatterbox Holiday Sprinkles. The ornament is cut from a set of holiday stencils I found while cleaning. The sentiment is from a company that went out of business a couple years ago, Mandarin Pixie. I love the font, though.

Here's the photo I included in the Christmas cards this year. We took hundreds to get a couple good shots, but I always like the home-shot photos better than the studio shots. They are more realistic in my opinion.


Well, Carter is going to wake soon and it is almost time to get Justin from school. Another day done. Next week, there are only 2 1/2 days of school, then they are on break until January 4th. I am promising Justin a trip to NYC on the train to see the Natural History Museum, so hope that the weather is nice at least one day so we don't freeze in the city!! I can't believe he will be 6 years old on Christmas day.

Way to Use Those Bold Brights!

Raise your hand if the Bold Brights from SU! intimidate you!! Here, here! I found a use for some the other day, though - kids' birthday party invites :) We are having a party next weekend for Justin who is turning 6 on Christmas. Since I picked up this cute paper (Junior from American Crafts) from my LSS on Friday night, I used it with Only Orange and Summer Sun to throw together these invitations Saturday afternoon. The words are all from MFT So Inviting. They are very simple, but I love how they turned out.

Have a good weekend! Thanks for looking!

40? Really?

What a great feeling today to be getting stuff done after the debacle of yesterday! DH is out of town on business (in New Zealand!) and the boys gave me a run for my money all day long. Carter was cranky and wouldn't nap; Justin was running a fever and starting to get sick again (he just got over a sinus infection last week!). I was so happy when my head hit the pillow last night, only to be woken up 3 times by Carter during the night. AH, but today is a new day and so far much better for everyone!

As a result, I got some crafting done during Carter's naps. My brother is turning 40on Thursday (yes, he is older than me) and I used Mary Jo's sketch from the Techno Stamper Monday Lunchtime Sketch (we're up to #99!) to make this card for him. The numbers are some grungeboard numbers that I heat embossed with black. I made them a little distressed-looking by not covering them completely. The sentiment is from Hambo Stamps and the dp is from the dollar store! I do have to get this in the mail today if it is to get to him on time.

Now I'm off to get some laundry done before it's time to pick up Justin from school. The day flies by too quickly, doesn't it? Thanks for looking!

Looking Ahead to Valentine's Day!!

Yes, I know it's a little bit early, but my Christmas cards are made and I just have a few Christmas projects to get done before the big day. I took a little break from the Christmas stuff and made this little Valentine card using the sketch from Mary Jo at Techno Stamper. This card is only 3x6 inches, and the image and sentiment blocks are only 3/4 of an inch square. The sentiment is from Three Little Words, masked and stamped separately. The hearts are from a punch I've had forever. I'm not sure where the DP is - it's been in my stash, too.
I'm off to bed early in case Carter decides to wake up a lot tonight. His naps were all messed up today and I'm expecting the worst! Thanks for looking!

Baby Boy Card

It's too early to come up with a catchy blog post!! Here is a card I made using the digi stamp from Pink Cat Studio. Proceeds from this stamp went to the Anderson family who lost their son - such a sad story. The reason I made this card was a happy one, though. It went to my DH's cousin who just had her third baby.

I used the Crate Paper dp that I picked up at my LSS and stamped the sentiments from MFT under the image and also on the twill. The image is colored with my Bic Mark Its. Still love those markers, and can't bring myself to spend the dollars on Copics. The balloon is topped with glaze.

Last night I went to a grand re-opening for my lss, which just moved to a bigger new location. It is great! I got some papers for Justin's birthday invites (which have to be made and mailed TODAY!), a new CB folder and a few Spica pens. Oh, and a new color of Stickles. They have so many fun pretty things there, I had to pace myself so I can visit again soon :)

DH is off to New Zealand today for a few days on business, so after bringing Justin to gymnastics, I'm hoping to lock myself in my craft room for a few hours. I hope you all get some time for yourselves today, too :) Thanks for looking!

Hip, Hippo-ray! and A Dilemma

My mom's dear friend just had her hip replaced, and this card went to her. She is recovering very well and is getting back to her old self quickly. I used the hippo from Pun Fun, and the dp is from the dollar store. The pearls are from my stash. It's getting to the point where I have so much stuff I no longer know who made it. I'm sure I'm not the only one with that problem, though. Am I??

I have a dilemma going on in my head, and maybe you readers can help me make a final decision. It is my wish to have a formal living room and a family room in my house, but we don't. What we do have is a living room that functions as a family room and two offices on the first floor. One of those offices is my beloved craft room, with great natural light and easily accessible to the rest of the house. Our basement is finished, but nobody likes to be down there alone (meaning Justin).

My thought is to sacrifice my craft room and convert it to a den-like family room, and move my crafting space to the basement. Who of you has a set-up in the basement? What kind of lighting do you have? We have only small windows and we have pretty good lighting, but it's not sunlight, you know what I mean? I have a feeling I'm going to do this in the end, but wanted to get some feedback from fellow crafters first. Thanks in advance for any insight you can share :) And thanks for looking!