Here I come at There She Goes ;)

So um....have you ever heard of this fabulous store 'o stamps? Yes? GREAT! If your answer was no the follow the instructions at the bottom of this post ;)

I am proud to announce that I have been asked by Jessica to be one of the newest Jr. Trendsetters on the There She Goes DT! EEEEK! I just love these stamps and have drooled over them for quite some time so you can imagine how excited I was!

I get to join the ranks of these very talented girls:

Jessica Knutsen (Owner, Illustrator, and DT Coordinator)
Holly McMillen (Senior DT)
Jessie Knight (Senior DT)
Jodi Collins (Senior DT)
Sandra McLean (Senior DT)
Danielle Lounds (Junior DT)
Donna Wardle (Junior DT)
Heather Pulvirenti (Junior DT)
Me!!!! (Junior DT)
Lisa Henke (Junior DT)
Mercy Kerin (Junior DT)
Pam Varnell (Junior DT)
Chris Dark (Illustrator-new)

Can you feel the talent just ooze out of this new group of Trendsetters? I can't wait to get inky with these girls! Now since my blogger is still being pooey, you will have to click on the blinkie on the left hand side of this post or the logo above to visit the There She Goes Store and blog for the formal announcement. While your there take a lookie at all the galleries and blogs of the girls listed so that you can share in my ogling ;) If you answered "No" to the "Have you ever heard of this store before" question then you better just march your patootie over there and have a peek ;) lol

Thanks for having me Jessica and I only hope that I can do your fabulous stamps the justice that they deserve :)

CDS Sneak Peek - Scenic Trees

Welcome back to the last day of the CDStamps sneak peeks! This little palm tree image comes from one of Laurie Wilsons newest sets called Scenic Trees. It has all kinds of gorgeous trees in it and I chose to do mine with a little tropical flair.

The image has been stamped, embossed and then sponged over. The main panel started out larger and then gradually shrunk as I was being indecisive on layouts. What was I told before?Something about measure twice cut once? *shakes head* That never works for me anyway ;) So a shrunken panel and some basic grey lemonade paper...and here is what the outcome was. Clearly this card should be a warning to all individuals to only craft with adequate lighting! This is what happens when a light bulb burns out in your craft room and your are too lazy to replace it while choosing *matching* papers. So....my paper just maybe a little bit off in colour...*shrugs shoulders* lol!

Don't forget to pop by the rest of the DT blogs to see what the girls have been up to. Blogger still isn't up to par with me so please click on the links in my side bar ;)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Scenic Trees
Paper: Black, Watercolour, Basic Grey Dp
Ink: Black, Baja, Navy, Melon, Razzleberry
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Sponges, Pop Dots, Corner Rounder, Shell Button, Ribbon, Brads, Clear Embossing Powder

CDS Sneak Peeks - Shoe Fly and Snail Mail

Welcome back for day 3 of the CDStamps sneak peeks! I have been itching to show you these silly stamps for ages now! I'm so excited to be able to show you some of my "Gone Buggy" series! I will be showing both cards in this post due to the blogger and computer issues that I have been having.

S0, here we go! The first up on the block is my Shoe Fly set :) It's a 2x3 inch set with the one main image and a couple of sentiments too boot (ha ha - get it? Too boot? *snort*) I'm so bad! lol This little fly is a hiking fly and he's wearing his brand new hiking boots for his adventure...sure he might be a little lost perched on a toadstool while reading his map, but let's cut him a little slack shall we? He is after all, just a little fly ;)

This next little creature card is Mr. Snail Mail. He is a work-a-holic and keeps a slow and steady pace delivering his mail in his home made walnut wagon. He's not only cute, but cleaver too ;) You can see all of Mr. Snail Mail over at Lori McCroskey's blog and you can find her link on the side bar (blogger isn't cooperating with me and not letting me post links either)

All of the images shown have been water coloured with tombow markers, and placed on sponged backgrounds. I added some blades of grass with my prismas to add a little more depth a la sweet Paula Tracy (Paula Williamson from the Paper Possibilities blog). I also was experimenting by playing with some of my new October Afternoon DP's.

I hope that love the sets/cards as much as I do and don't forget to pop by the DT blogs to see what everyone has been up to!

Shoe Fly Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Shoe Fly

Paper: Gina K, Black, Water Colour, October Afternoon Dp, Scenic Route Dp, K&Co DP

Ink: Black, Sky, Red, Olive

Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Dies, Pop Dots, Sponges, Clear Embossing Powder, Crystal Effects, Stardust Gelly Roll Pen, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, WW Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Twill Tape, Button, Linen Thread, Scallop Edge Punch, Prisma Pencil Crayons

Snail Mail Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Snail Mail

Paper: Gina K, Suede, Water Colour, October Afternoon DP, My Mind's Eye DP

Ink: Black, Chocolate, Caramel

Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinder's Dies, Clear Embossing Powder, Pop Dots, Sponges, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Crystal Effects, Ribbon, Eyelets, Corner Rounder Punch, Linen Thread, Prisma Pencil Crayons

CDS Sneak Peek - Sassy and Fabulous

Hi everybody! It's day 2 of the CDStamps sneak peeks and if you are wondering if you missed anything from me on day 1 then the answer is no ;) I didn't have any thing to preview yesterday so I spend the day illustrating some new stamps instead :)


My computer has been acting up again so I have been borrowing my dad's laptop while he works on mine, so please bear with me in the next couple of days while I only have one photo per card to show you :( Speaking of the one photo... do you like this one? This card is from one of my new sets this month called Sassy and Fabulous. It's a totally girly set and you can see the set in it's entirety over at Lori McCroskey's blog :)


Now since my computer has been acting up, I have also discovered that even blogger doesn't favour me either! Blogger for some reason or another won't let me copy and paste information by using my mouse or my control keys so please visit the DT links from my side bar.


I have been trying all week to bring you the winner of my blog candy from the Skipping Stones Design Hop(e) for Haiti and since I can't copy and paste information, you will have to take my word for it that the winner of the candy was #59 by the random number generator.


So without furthur adieu, congratulations to Southernscraps! Please email me you addy and I will send out the stamps on Monday!

Thanks for popping in to see me today and be sure to swing back on over here tomorrow to see what my other new sets are this month :) Now hop on over to the rest of the girls blogs to see what they have in store for you!


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Dollar Stamps - Sassy and Fabulous
Paper: Gina K, Caramel, Ivory, Water Colour, K&Co Dp
Ink: Black, Caramel
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Nestabilities, Slice, Pop Dots, Sponges, Clear Embossing Powder, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Glue Pen, Silver Gel Pen, Pearls, Ribbon, Corner Rounder Punch, Slot Punch.

Hop(e) for Haiti and Blog Candy from Heather!

Welcome to the Hop(e) for Haiti blog hop by Skipping Stones Design to benefit the Red Cross relief effort in Haiti :) This hop has over 30 participants who have opted to donate the cards shown during the hop to be auctioned off with 100% of the proceeds going to the Red Cross!!! This is soooo exciting! Starting Feb 16th, Skipping Stones Design is also donating $2 from every stamp set sold to the American Red Cross! - I am totally honoured to have been asked to participate in this hop! :)

ETA: Here is the link to the active card listings on eBay

Please Help us by spreading the word!

Copy and paste this poster on your blog and by all means, send it to your friends, so they can put it on their blogs too! If you have a newsletter please send out the poster and let all your peeps know. The more people know about the hop(e), the more money we can raise!!!




So now that you all know about the hop (if you hadn't heard about it already) you should have arrived here from Angela's blog Sparkle and Bling. If you haven't then do not pass go and do not collect your $200....kidding ;) If you haven't arrived at my blog from the beginning then please start at the front of the line and follow the directions to the finish line and the link to all of the auctions :) Everyone is welcome to bid!




As a little treat for you, Heather from Skipping Stones has sent a set along to me to give out for blog candy. This set is called Frills and it's a 4 x 6" clear set. All you have to do is leave me a comment and I will draw the name of the winner on Sunday, Feb 21st.

So do you want to know where you are off to now? Well hop, skip and jump on over to the very talented Dawn Easton's blog and you will be able to follow the bread crumb trail to the finish line :)


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Skipping Stones Design - Dandelion Dreams and Healing Wings
Paper: Gina K, Black, Watercolour, K&Co DP, Cosmo Cricket DP
Ink: Black, Chocolate, Caramel, Olive, Yellow, Suede
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Sponges, Pop Dots, Ribbon, Linen Thread, Button, Clear Embossing Folder, Distressing Tool, Corner Rounder, Tombow Dual Brush Markers and Multi Adhesive, Waterbrush, Clear Embossing Powder
Sketch: Mojo Monday 125

Embrace Life...and all that comes with it.

So where have I been and am I OK? Yes thank you so much for those who emailed me to check in to see that I was OK :) I love that you guys care so much that you will send a quick note to check in...it means a lot to me!

Last week we had to put our very old, sweet dog to sleep because she had lost most of her faculties and it just wasn't fair to watch her suffer any more :( Olivia, had been one of my mother in law's dogs who we have had for the last 10 years, and when we got her Bill and I figured that she was about 7 years old. When my husband took her to the vet that his mom used to, she was registered there and we found out that she would have been 21 years old this year...

Bill's mom has since passed away almost 3 years ago now and on the same day that our sweet dog went to heaven, my step father in law called to say that he had sold the house that he lived in with my mother in law. I didn't expect to feel strange because Linda has been gone for almost 3 years now but it just seemed so final...it was a tough week for sure.

In this past week there have also been a few passings of some people around me with both a cousin's husband from a short battle with cancer and someone that all of us stampers know through the web - Shannan Tuebner's husband rather unexpectedly. I have been kind of in a void and putting life into perspective. With life we have to take the good and the bad with it no matter who it affects. We have to appreciate all the wonderful things that it brings and be thankful for it, as well as cope with the the rest that nobody wants to deal with including the finalness of death - I sometimes have to remind myself of this.

My heart goes out the Maureen and her family and Shannan and her family who are laying to rest the loves of their lives this week. I can't pretend to know what you both are going through but please know that I shed tears for your heartaches and that my thoughts are with you always.

I have to admit that I have also been stalling on making any cards lately as I know the ones that I will be making are for these families and sympathy cards are not easy to make. Yes, life...the good and the bad...it's a force to behold. It has been a tough week for sure.



The card that I made to show you today is the first that I have made in almost 2 weeks. I needed to make a thank you card and I was hoping that this would jump start my creativity to pour myself out on paper to make those sympathy cards.

This card one was made with a set that I actually traded recently. I had actually water coloured this flower 2 weeks ago and it was the last time that I will get to use this stamp. The title of the set (Embrace Life) I found was kind of appropriate for this posting.

The flower was water coloured using my tombow markers. I coloured 2 flowers and them cut the out to layer them on top of each other to create a more "full" looking flower. I then added the little metal floral embellie with the gemstone brad to hold it all together. This card is 4 1/4" square I and finished it off with one of my newer Spellbinders Dies and some scraps of paper.

Card Recipe:

Stamps - Embrace Life
Paper: Black, Turquoise, Gina K, SU, Basic Grey DP, Watercolour
Ink: Black, Navy, Mustard, Olive
Accessories: Sewing Machine, Cuttlebug and Embossing Folders, Spellbinder's Fleur de Lis Pendant Die, Square and Scallop Square Nestabilities, Tombow Multi Adhesive, Tombow Markers, Water Brush, Pop Dots, Sponges, Metal Flower (Clear Dollar Stamps), Gemstone Brad, Sizzix Leaf Die