Yeah...thanks to my friend Dani...Kyler has a new favorite video...

clear envelope purse

This is the little clear envelope purse that I sent to my summer sister, Sarah, last week. She has indicated that she likes bold brights so I made it with the Summer Days SSK which is definitely bright! I followed THIS tutorial. Interesting fact for you guys...the little magnetic snaps that I've shown you in the past...they don't work in this situation. I went to the store and bought velcro pieces for the closure. The card I sent with this purse is HERE.

Today is thoughtful Thursday again. No one participated last week which makes me SO sad. It really doesn't take much time to make someone else's day (nor does it need to take a lot of money). So, why don't you try it today? Do something nice for a stranger. Step outside of your comfort zone and go for it! There will be a little something for one of you if you participate. I'll put all the names in a hat (box, hand, whatever) and send the winner something. Thank you to all that have done this before!

Today is the last day to participate in the fund raising that Korin is doing for her sweet niece. You can go HERE to see what that is all about and how you can participate. 7 Kids College Fund is having a 30% off sale on all Crafty Secrets products too. Alright...enough enabling for today!

I hope you all have a sweet day!

belli challenge 27

Today is Wednesday which means...belli challenge! Lets talk about the card/tin first and then I'll remind you what the belli challenge is all about and link you to the other players.

First of all...can you believe I don't own this stamp? I, thankfully, had gotten one in an image swap. This Bella is ready to party! From the sparkle in her clothes to the sparkle in her balloons, cupcake, and hat she is one happy girl! I used Basic Grey paper from their Cupcake pad for this card and based my colors for the image on that. I have to be honest with you guys and tell you that I'm so disappointed that picture. I put a lot of effort into the details of this card. The jeans are light blue with Spica glitter in blue on the seams, the balloons...two are glitter, the rest have glaze pen on them. The party hat...the blue is glitter pen and the rest has glaze all over it. The cupcake's icing is white gel pen and green glitter pen. It looks amazing IRL. I hope you don't think I'm bragging or something like that because I'm not...I'm just giving you the full effect! This card's layout is from Lauren's Saturday Sketch.

Then, the little tin...the top is made with my JustRite stamper. I just picked a border that went well with the card and the ribbon on the tin (which you can't really see), spelled out Happy Day, cut it with my Nesties and mounted it on the top of the tin. I often can't decide if I should get acquaintances a gift or not so in here I put mini M&M's as a little treat. I also think it would hold a necklace, ring, or something little along those lines. That ribbon is adhesive backed so it was the easiest application ever!

And, onto the deets of the belli challenge. Each week, Chris tries to give us a challenge that will get us using things we have lying around our stamp rooms! With a constant flow of new things coming out, we tend to forget about the other things we have and they quickly become clutter! Come join us in the Belli Challenge and be sure to post your link to Chris's website!

This Weeks Belli Challenge is ANYTHING BIRTHDAY RELATED! You can make, embellish or design MANY different things with a BIRTHDAY theme. There are twizzle sticks, Rub Ons, Stamps, Chipboard, Glitter, Brads, Stickers, Party supplies...the ideas are endless!

Best part is...there is a prize to be awarded. Make up something birthday related, upload it to SCS with the Keyword CBC27 and then link it to Chris's blog and you'll be in the running for some patterned paper! Woohoo! Link me up too so that I can see!

The other players this week are below...

Holly Brown
Shelly Koskinen - Shelly has a ton of them this week!
Laurie Serino
Christi Thorsen
Chris Dickenson
Rochelle Wick I don't see her card yet but keep checking!
Jennifer Greco
Ceal Pritchett

There you have it...a pretty full list this week! Go check 'em all out...you'll love them! Come back tomorrow to see the little candy holder I made for my summer sister, Sarah!

summer sister

Lookie what I got! My summer sister Sarah sent me this very cool card, stamp, and ribbon! Yay! This is the very first time in all my crafting that I've wanted to frame something and I just might do it. I think it would be SO cute to find a frame to put this card in and place it on the wall in my stamp room (when I have one!). I think the colors are Basic Grey and Groovy Guava...correct me if I'm wrong please Sarah. The ribbon is a super cute chocolate with teal...can't wait to use it! How are the rest of you "sisters" doing? Sending and receiving stuff?

I'll show you my latest little envelope to Sarah on Thursday as tomorrow is the Belli challenge that I've yet to prepare for. I had wanted to have them done on Monday but honestly...I didn't do much yesterday so...no crafting... AND... I need to finish up my recipe swaps. I have a design in mind so that is good!

So...what are you guys doing? Making something fun? Come on...do share! I hope you all have a super day today!

july gift exchange

Good morning everyone! Thank you for the good wishes for our anniversary. Other than a rock hitting and putting a large crack in our windshield we had a nice time at lupper (lunch/supper...we went at 3) and the shopping afterwards!

Back at the beginning of July I signed up for the July Gift Exchange on the Sweet N Sassy Stamps yahoo group. We got matched up with a partner and then made a fun little package for her. Well...I received mine on Saturday! My fun package included a sketch book, post it note holder, some cards, some embellishments (including some neato brad letters...they are metal and you use a brad to put them where you want them), well..you get the idea. Thank you Lisa! I hope you will get your envelope soon!

Today is my friend Courtney's 30th birthday. I hope that you will all head over to her BLOG and wish her a very happy day. She had a trying last week so lets cheer her up on her big day!

So, today I will be making a card with some of my SU! stamps to show you tomorrow! I hope you all have a super Monday and I'll "see" you tomorrow!

seven year itch?

Is there such a thing as a seven year itch in marriage? Well, not in my case! Four score and seven years ago...I married my wonderful husband Todd. (Could I use any more puns?) It has been an interesting ride to say the least. Our marriage precipitated the biggest "step outside my comfort zone" that I had or have ever taken and that was to move outside of the only area I had lived in for about 20 years. I will be honest and tell you all that I wasn't a very good wife for the first year or year and a half as I did not like the little town that we lived in. A half hour to Walmart? What? No national chain sit down restaurants? What? At the time only one dinky movie theater (as a matter of fact I remember laughing out loud (literally) when I went into it for the first time. we still don't like to go to that one). I made life quite uncomfortable for poor Todd for some time. Thankfully, I met some wonderful women and began to form some friendships and that, I believe, was the beginning of when I decided it might be okay to live here.

Although we have our ups and downs (what marriage doesn't) I believe God gave me the exact man that I need, exactly when I needed him. Todd is strong but gooey when I need him to be. He is loving but knows when to let it be. He is the hardest working man that I have ever met but will take time off when it is needed. He likes to hang out with his family and not just with his friends. The best part? He more than puts up with my stamping addiction!!! Woohoo!

We have a sign in our dining area that says "True Love Is Friendship On Fire." I believe that to be true. If you don't have a basis of friendship with common interests there isn't much to stand on when the kids aren't around.

Curious what the cards says inside? I'd like to share with you (and so you know...this sentiment came with the stamp set)...

When I think about
how you love me,
I remember how you care
for me when I'm sick
how you cheer me when I'm down,
how you celebrate with me
when life's good.
I am so lucky.

We've been through all of those things and Todd has always been there... so with that...

Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you with all my heart!

sending joy

First off...thank you for all the good wishes on my workout. I actually did fairly well and burned a ton of calories (I wear a heart rate monitor that counts them for me). I definitely will be doing it again and again so that I can learn it all!

Soo...what do you think of Lattebella? Personally, I love this card. I love the old, comfy feel of the designer paper. The vanilla paper gives it a nice soft look. This is all made (minus the sentiment which is PTI) from the July 3 Little DReaMs kit. I forgot to order mine and when Katie asked me if I had...I freaked! Oh, my...please tell me you have more as I really wanted Lattebella. Anyway, aren't the papers and colors lovely? Katie did a great job of picking them out! I used my COPICs to color her and used a little bit of glaze pen on the scarf and coffee cup. Can you believe that there is no glitter on her? Crazy I know! I think the doodling gives it just the right look. Although I don't think you can see it I did sponge just a little Sweet Blush from PTI on the edges of the image.

I got an award from Sarah over at Scrampin' Mama! The rules for this are simple.

1. Only 5 people are to be nominated. (Yikes!)
2. 4 out of 5 have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. 1 has to be new or recently new to your blog or live in another country.
4. You must link back to whomever gave you the award.

With all those rules in mind I pass this award onto:

Courtney at Created by Courtney
Dani at Dani Gets Crafty
Katie at {Just Me}
Diane at ddnjoys2stamp
Missy at Missy's Creative Corner is my new comer.

If you look back at my comments you can find that the first four girls comment almost every single time and are so sweet and supportive off the blog too. Missy is new visiting my blog and is very kind too! Thank you so much Sarah! Your support and friendship means a lot to me!

Now for some miscellaneous things...Don't forget about my Thoughtful Thursday challenge to you all. You can check it out HERE. Oh, and I tried a new sandwich yesterday so if you like ham, mustard, and cheese all together and then made kinda like french toast check it out HERE. Don't forget Sarah's fun blog candy HERE.

Alright, girls! If you made it this far...thank you! I am finally done typing at you. Can you just imagine what I'm like in real life? Yep, I talk...a lot!

kindred spirits

Yay! It is Friday and I'm thrilled! I've actually scheduled this post for you guys 'cuz (you may not laugh) I am trying a new work out for the first time today and it always takes me much longer (I have to rewind and try things over and over until I get the moves correct) than normal. I've got about 2 hours to get a 55 minute workout in so I should be good...at least you'd hope huh? Curious what it is? I'll show you...HERE. I know some of you can probably do this in your sleep but I'm actually quite clumsy so...more work for me! I love step aerobics but the DVD's I have now have some sculpting and I really just wanted aerobics so...a new DVD. Sorry...probably way to much info but I'm truly excited to have something new! Wish me luck!

Alright, onto the card. This fun card was made possible by a blogging friend, Kim. She made THIS super cute card and when I expressed my excitement at the Kindred Spirits stamps she send me some! How sweet of her! I wanted to make a card to send to a friend and this is what I came up with. Very simple but I think it is cute. The little one walking by himself I think was supposed to be a girl but I made the skirt into shorts as my friend has two boys (no guessing who you are...you won't guess!). I just chose some patterned paper and used Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss and Pumpkin Pie card stock. They have their Keds on and are all set for an after out on a crooked street apparently. LOL! I guess I can't draw a straight line...even with a ruler. Still cute though, right?

So, whatcha all got planned today? I hope it is something great!

Oh, oh, oh...you must go check out Sarah's blog candy HERE! It is true blog candy and I'm sure you'll love it!

Have a super

how do i follow that up?

Well, thank you all so much for your wonderful comments about my Belli Challenge project yesterday. I hope to put it to good use soon!

This card is made with my new Halobella stamp with her accompanying sentiment "you're an angel." I didn't do a lot of coloring on this card and honestly the picture doesn't do it ANY justice AT ALL. It is all very light, very billowy, very soft. I used a sketch from Amy Rysavy (I think), and just went very minimalistic with it. The card stock is Purely Pomegranate (one of my all time favorite SU! colors...should order some more now!), the new Pink Pirouette, and I used some Berry Bliss DP. I colored Ms. Bella with COPICS, and added some Stardust Glitter Pen just on the outline of her wings and halo. Darn I wish the picture would have turned out better! Unfortunately I already sent this out to a friend that I really needed to thank for something, so I can't take another picture. Just picture a very lovely card here, k?!

Today is Thursday so what am I going to say? Yep! You got it...today is do something nice for someone else anonymously day! I decided to make this into a regular feature here at LLLC. So...each week I will post a Thoughtful Thursday reminder and you'll have until Sunday at 5:00 p.m. to comment back on the Thursday post what you have done nice for a stranger (anonymously) between Thursday and Sunday. And, yes...if you have played before you should still play again. Can you imagine how wonderful the world would be if we were all just kind to each other?! And, yes...I'll put a little something in the mail for the person whose name gets pulled out of a hat (box, hand...whatever). So...whatcha going to do this week?

Alright...I'm off to check out my blogs and watch the Tour De France. Have a super day!

belli challenge 26

Good morning everyone! Today is the day for the Belli Challenge! This week's challenge is felt. Now, I must say that I had every intention of using felt that I had on my desk but...when I was at my LSS I saw this fun felt pocket and had to have it! So...it sat on my desk for 3 days before I used it...does that count?

Anyway, to make this gift bag I used the new SU! paper called Bella Rose (everyone is getting in on that "Bella" word, huh?) along with Riding Hood Red card stock. The scripture is from SNSS Jesus Cares set. Really, if you like scripture stamps...SNSS has a GREAT collection of them! Some chocolate satin ribbon forms the handle and white satin ribbon for the little bows on the pocket. The note card inside the pocket comes out so that you may write your note on it. A little bit of pink tissue paper finishes this bag off.

So...what is a Belli Challenge you may ask? Each week, Chris will give us a challenge that will use things we have lying around our stamp rooms! With a constant flow of new things coming out, we all tend to forget about the other things we have and they quickly become clutter! All you have to do is create a project using felt and post a link to that project on THIS post at Chris's blog and you'll have the chance to win an assortment of paper from Chris! Please have your projects linked up to Chris by Monday evening so she can choose a winner on Tuesday and post it on Wednesday. Should you upload your project to a public forum (such as SCS) please use the keyword CBC26 so that we are all able to see the wonderful projects!

You can check out the other belli team member's projects by going to the links below...

Holly Brown
Shelly Koskinen
Laurie Serino
Christi Thorsen
Chris Dickenson

Speaking of Chris...today (okay, I may be confused and it may have been yesterday...either way) is her birthday so when you stop by her blog please be sure to wish her a SUPER HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I hope you are inspired to use felt on a project today! Be sure to link to Chris's blog with your creation (I'll be checking them out there too!)!

Have a great

crazy bird

Good morning everyone! I just had to use this particular bird for my Doodle Bird stretch of cards...I just love the crazy feathers! Of course the crazy feathers are even more crazy with glitter on them! Anyway, the pattered paper is from a DCWV stack and has lots of glitter and shine. This is probably the most basic of the cards I've made and I just think it would be a fun little thank you note. Just for clarification...the purple color is PTI's Plum Pudding and the yellow is Barely Banana/green is Gable Green from SU!.

Tomorrow is the Belli Challenge. I will have a creation for you that includes something with felt so be sure to get your felt out and be ready to create!

Can you believe that I don't have much to say today? I know...amazing, huh?! I've got a couple of things I really need to make and do today so I best get busy!

Have a super day!

another one...

In case you haven't noticed I have a little bit of a theme going on here. One more Doodle Bird card and then I can move onto something else...won't you guys be thrilled?!

Anyway, this is with the same set only no bird but I think it is adorable! I went back and forth trying to decide if I should add something shiny (like maybe baubles) to the nest but then decided your house is empty when you move in so this nest will be too! The layout is from Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #25. Yes, I know...no cupcakes here but she does say that they are not required.

Anyway, the striped background paper is from My Minds Eye and I just coordinated the other colors to it. There is PTI's Plum Pudding and SU!'s Certainly Celery, Brocade Blue, and Pale Plum. I stamped little nests on the smaller circles and added the sentiment on the main panel.

And, after a very scientific way of choosing a name (pieces of paper in a box...drawn by Todd) Kimmie has won the note card from Thoughtful Thursday. Kimmie...I just need your snail mail address and I'll get this out to you! Thank you to everyone who stepped out of their comfort zone to participate in this little challenge! I probably won't have a prize every Thursday but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do something nice for someone else!

I hope that you make today a super Monday!

do NOT laugh!

I joined a summer swap for kids. Basically it is making, buying, or whatever a little card to send the kids in the in the swap group. I decided to try and make cards that the kids might really like in this first round and I came up with these cards. Thankfully, the boys that received them didn't think they were lame! I just Googgled Darth Vader and C3P0 then clicked on images to find these two images. The Darth Vader card is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 and the other card is a smaller note card size. Actually, I kinda think the Darth Vader card is neato with him being popped up on dimensionals and the stars in the background. The red card stock is the new SU! Riding Hood Red. The green and blue on the other card are also the new colors from SU! called Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze.

Don't forget that you must comment what fun, anonymous thing you did for someone else since Thursday by 5 p.m. today on --->THIS<---post for a chance to win the note card on the same post. There have really been some neat things you guys have been doing so keep it up!

Have a super Sunday! I'll see ya tomorrow and will announce the thoughtful Thursday winner then!

another mojo

Good morning all! I just love this Doodle Bird set from SNSS! The bird can be cute or a little more pretty. I altered the mojo Monday sketch with this one by putting my circle on top of the horizontal strip as I really felt I wanted some of the birds legs to show to ground it a little. The baubles are pearlized and the bird and sentiment have glitter pen on them. The card stock and patterned paper is all from SU! and is Almost Amethyst, Rose Red and Lovely Lilac. I'm not sure I love this card but it is okay.

Todd has been gone for a couple of days and gets home today. There are a couple of things I need to get done before he comes home so I need to do my other computer stuff and then get to my other chores.

I hope you all have a super Saturday! Remember you have until Sunday to be anonymously thoughtful to someone else. Lets say...post your comment to THIS thread by 5 p.m. and I'll post the winner on Monday morning. Now, go surprise someone by doing something nice!

shopping!

Well...several of you have asked what I got when I went shopping so I thought I'd show you real quick today. Oh, and a funny little story...Kyler had money to spend at Toys R Us so if you are a parent you know to go there first and we did. He did a great job. It was possibly the fastest trip to TRU we've ever made...in and out in probably 15 minutes (I'll post on my other blog what he got later today). After TRU we went to Bella Scrapbooking, a nice store in Yakima. We probably spent a half hour in that store and Kyler was just exasperated with me and told me that...he found his stuff quickly! He is a very patient boy so you know he was just dying to sit with his new toys and check them out!

I got some beautiful and some just plain fun paper. See that star paper on the top of the pile on the bottom? Yeah, that has green, blue, and coral colored stars on it and then throughout the page there are cut outs of stars too so my base card stock will show through. I got some owl paper, some striped paper, and a couple of new COPICS. A couple of the really neato things are...a Quick Stik from QuicKutz. It has one end to help lift up small pieces of adhesive'd paper and the other end is a little sticky to pick up small embellishments and keep them where you want them. I think it will be a very useful tool. Do you see the little bird chipboard figures? Yep, there are several on a key chain that should be fun to alter. Then there is a key chain full of bracket shaped plastic that, again, will be fun to alter. I also found that fun brown felt pocket that I'm not sure what I'm going to do with yet but had to have it! So, that is it. I had a great time looking and getting to purchase a couple of things. Thanks for asking so that I could talk about it!

Don't forget about my little thoughtful Thursday challenge in the post below. You have until Sunday to do something nice, anonymously, for someone else. Please comment to Thursday's post when you do!

Have a really fun Friday!

an exciting annoucement!

I love e-mail...you know why? In this case because it can bring such fun news! Last night, Chris Dickinson a design team member with Sweet N Sassy Stamps ask me to be a part of the BelliChallenge Group! Okay...go ahead...say woohoo and then ask...what? Done? Okay...

What is the Belli Challenge you ask? Each week, Chris will give us a challenge that will use things we have lying around our stamp rooms! With a constant flow of new things coming out, we all tend to forget about the other things we have and they quickly become clutter! Come join us in the Belli Challenge and be sure to post your link to Chris's website (although I'd love to see too)!

This week's Belli Challenge is ENVELOPES. You can make MANY different things with your envelopes...In fact here are a few links for some ideas....

Make a completed project using ENVELOPES and share the link in Chris's comments linking to your project. When you post to Splitcoaststampers or to your blog, be sure and put CBC25 as the KEYWORD and mention of the challenge - with a link! The winner will receive an assortment of Designer Paper from Chris! Deadline to make a comment with the upload and do the Challenge will be on Monday evening. A random drawing will be held on Tuesday and the winner will be announced on Wednesday!

See now it was worth it saying Woohoo for me, huh? I will normally be posting my Belli Challenge on Wednesday's but because I just accepted Chris's invitation yesterday I'm a day late...sorry about that! Anyway, my envelope project is a note card holder. I got the basic idea HERE and used the new SNSS set Sweet Dreams. Would this not be cute for a friend who is going back to school or starting a new career?!

I've linked all the Belli Challenge Group in my side bar so please make sure you check out their blogs too!

So...Kyler and I are off to do some shopping today. Kyler is thrilled because he will FINALLY get to spend the Toys R Us gift card that Lorraine gave him some time ago...yay! I also let him take a little money out of his savings account to make it an extra special trip for him. Then we'll be off to Costco and Wal-Mart. Maybe, if we have time we'll stop at Craft Warehouse (actually, this will depend on where we have lunch...lol!) and Michael's. We'll have to wait and see!

Anyway, I hope you all have a thoughtful Thursday. How about you make today a day where you go out and do something nice for someone...anonymously! You all know I get enormous satisfaction from purchasing the coffee of the person behind me in line (the look on their faces and then you can almost hear them say...what?...why?...priceless!). You don't have to do something that big but just do something! How about...if you do something for a stranger and then you let me know about it you'll have a chance to win the above note card? You have until Sunday at 5:00 p.m. to let me know what fun thing you've done!

So have a super day and to get you smiling enjoy this smiley!

stampin' up! and summer sister!

I hope you all had a fantastic Tuesday and got lots of stuff done at your house! I didn't get a whole bunch of stamping done due to my light being out (and I do most of my stamping at night) but I have some fun things to show you today! I hope Staples delivers early!

First is my very first Sock Monkey card. This is made with the brand new SU! set Sock Monkey and I just have to tell you that when I saw this set I knew I had to have it. When I was a child my great grandmother made these monkey's for all the kiddos. I still remember the west wing of the house and that we couldn't go in there around Christmas time! Anyway, I used the Mojo Monday layout from this week on Julee's blog (oh, did you see that my friend Sarah Anderson won the July challenge? Go see it HERE!). I do love this layout this week! I used the new Bella Rose design paper from SU! with Sock Monkey as it reminded me of some velvet wallpaper in my grandparents house. The circles are cut with my Nestibilities and the monkey colored with COPICS (although not a nicely as I'd like). No glitter on this one. The red is the new SU! In Color called Riding Hood Red and the pink is the new pink called Pirouette Pink. And, finally the brown strip is 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon. The whole card is just a blast back to my childhood. Doesn't this just make you want to have a sock monkey!?

Also, I was excited that I was able to play in the summer sister swap. My sister is the above mentioned, very talented Miss Sarah and I got a package yesterday! Woohoo! She made me this super cute card and sent me some, sentiments, embellishments and a book mark. I can never find my bookmarks when I actually have time to read so this one has come in very handy. I also just realized the picture is very dark...make no mistake this is a beautiful, very colorful card that Sarah made for me! Thank you so much Sarah! Hopefully you will get your envelope soon!

Anywho...if you have a summer sister you should probably have a card/package out by now and be thinking about sending the second one for the month.

I hope that you all have a super day today! I'll be stamping with some Sweet N Sassy Stamps today!