Another Round of I Spy for WOYWW

Hello again, everyone!  Unfortunately Blogger went 'bleh' earlier today - yes, I'm pretty sure 'bleh' is the technical term- and would not let me upload pictures.

Anyway, it's Wednesday again, so that means it is time for WOYWW.    In case you are wondering, that is when we all join Julia over at Stamping Ground and share what our work desks look like each week.  Like this....

Been working on some Valentines stuff now, so you can see some of my scraps and heart stamps taking up space there this week.  Now if you were by here the last couple of weeks, you know that we are going to play WOYWW I Spy again this week.  This week I want you to spy with your little eye...how many punches are on my desk?  Leave your answer in the comments and I will choose a winner next week!

I spent a couple of hours at that desk today and barely walked away with a card made.  You know those days where you sit there and nothing wants to come together for you?  Today was one of those days.  I guess you could say I went 'bleh' too, LOL! 

In the end I did manage this card, so I felt a little better.  The heart stamps are an old TAC (retired) set.  Stamped them with Fresh Lilac (Palette), and Lady Bug (Memento) inks.  The cloud stamp is from Bon Voyage (Lawn Fawn), and that is stamped with VersaMark (Tsukineko).  For the balloon strings I used some Black Scrapper's Floss (Karen Foster).  Do they make the floss still?  I love that stuff. 

I want to wish a special Happy New Year to all of my WOYWW friends, in case you don't make it back around before next Wednesday!  Cheers to good health, and lots of happiness in the new year!

Take care,

Michelle

Christmas Hangover Anyone?

Is it just me or are there more out there who feel like they are suffering from holiday overload?  We had a great Christmas, and now I kind of feel like I need a vacation or maybe just a good nap.  Needless to say it has turned into a very lazy day!

I did manage to go into the craft room earlier to play a little.  I got a new set of Nestabilities from the hubby for Christmas! Yep, he's good like that.   My lazy feeling carried right over into the craft room, so it's all about simple today.

I cut my card using the largest die from Nestabilities Beaded Circles (Spellbinders) and then embossed the top layer.  I cut the white circle with Nestabilities Standard Circles SM (Spellbinders).  The stamps are from an old TAC set (retired), stamped with Lady Bug & Tuxedo Black (Memento).  Used my Black Stickles to put a little dot in each circle around the card for a little sparkle. 

Going to go work out now, get my blood pumping and hopefully get my motor running again! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

WOYWW and a Warning From Gingie

I am WAY late getting my WOYWW post put up today.  It has been a very busy day!  Better late than never though, right?  Not all that much happening on my desk today.  It is much cleaner than it has been in a long time though.

That is sparkling clean in comparison to how it usually is!  Got some papers out there that I was playing with earlier in the week.  Got some new stamps over there on the left.  You will notice a total lack of anything Christmas on there.  Which brings me to the card I am sharing today.

I have spent two days in and out of the stores and people are just grumpy!  Where is the holiday spirit we all like to sing about?  Scowls all over the place!  I have had just about enough of that kind of Christmas spirit and it sparked a card.



I just got this stamp set the other day and when I saw the frown as one of the faces I had to laugh.  The idea of an angry Gingerbread Man is just funny!  And after my shopping experiences the last couple of days, I figured the sentiment was fitting.  This one just cracks me up!  The Gingerbread Man and "Be Merry" stamps are both from Cutest Gingerbread Man (SP & Company).  The "Or Else" was done using an old TAC alphabet set.  Used a combination of Stickles and Liquid Applique to color the various parts of Gingie.  The patterned papers are from 12 Days of Christmas (My Mind's Eye).

If you played along with WOYWW last week, you know I had the I SPY game going and no one got the right answer!  There were 16 pads on my desk last week.  And, yes, the TAC stack was all ink pads.  Since no one got it right, I just picked a random person from everyone who had a guess.  The winner is......

505whimsygirl!!!

Just send me your address and I will mail out your prize.  That was a lot of fun, so we will play again next week!

Now I am off to finish dinner, clean the kitchen, wrap some presents and eventually sleep, lol!

Be merry! ;)

Michelle

Gettin' Sketchy With Mojo Monday!

I didn't expect to say this, but I am glad it's Monday!  The owner of the house we rent had to come through this morning with an appraiser for refinancing the house.  We weren't given a ton of notice, so that left me with a lot of cleaning and straightening to do in a short amount of time.  Glad that's over!

After a long weekend of cleaning and no crafting, I really needed a mojo boost.  Hit the blogs this morning and landed on the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge. Perfect!  A sketch was exactly what I needed to get me going. 

I took a break from Christmas and went with a Valentine's theme for this one.  The heart stamps & sentiment are from an old TAC set (retired).  The Dot Background is from SU.  The inks are Lady Bug & Tuxedo Black (Memento).

Going to go see about baking a few Christmas goodies now!  The kids are on Christmas break and Emma is itchin' to get in the kitchen....or maybe achin' to do some bakin'?  LOL!  Got a couple of new treats to try out this year thanks to Pinterest.

Have a great day!

Michelle

Exciting News!

I know it is still 10 days away, but I am feeling a little like Christmas came early!  SP & Company Stamps just announced their 2012 Design Team, and I made it!  Woohooooo!  That's a lot of exclamation points, isn't it?  I am very excited about it, in case you can't tell.    Very cool things, coming very soon!

Still have a couple more Christmas things to share with you.  Like this card...

I made this one with Ornate Ornaments (Lawn Fawn), and Holiday Sayings (Hero Arts).  The ornaments are just embossed with Gold Embossing Powder (Tsukineko) on colored cardstock.   I trimmed them out and attached them to the card.  It's amazing how good these ornaments look just embossed.  I like it! 

Luckily, I finally got to do some Christmas shopping today.  Yes....I am getting a VERY late start, lol!  Surely I can't be the only one?  It wasn't all bad though, I stopped into one of my local stamp stores and picked up a couple of new things to play with.  Got some new Perfect Pearls and a new Memory Box Die.  Hoping to bust open the packages and play with them a little tonight!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

WOYWW and My Memory Box Dies Crush

Good morning everyone!  Well, it's morning as I write this, anyway.  Sitting here drinking my tea and hoping that the sun comes out today. 

So, it's time for WOYWW again and if you were by here last week, you read that I was going to play a game this week!  Let's start with my desk.

Yep, still a mess.  I have been happily crafting away and it shows!  Now for the game.  Every week when I am peeking around at all of your desks, it always makes me think of "I Spy".  Considering how much stuff is usually piled on my desk I figured we might as well play.  The winner is going to get a couple of stamps from me!  Ready?  How many ink pads can you see on my desk?  Just put your answer in the comments to play.  If more than one person gets the correct answer, I will put their names in a hat and draw a winner.  I do realize that we have players from all over the world, and that is fine!  I will announce the winner next Wednesday.

OK, now on to my new crush...Memory Box Dies!  I bought one just over a week ago, and I have been restraining myself ever since from running right back to the store to buy more.  They are just so pretty!  My will power is just about drained and I am probably hitting the stamp store today...shhhhh...don't tell the hubby ;)

Made this little box the other day for Christmas.  I used the Snowflake Corner Die (Memory Box), and also a Scalloped Circle Die (Spellbinders).  The patterned paper is from 12 Days of Christmas (My Mind's Eye).  Finished it off with some Red Stickles on the reindeer which is an old TAC stamp that I have. 

Going to go cruise around and check out everyone's desks for this week.  Hope everyone is having a great week!

Happy Stamping,

Michelle

A Little Holiday De-stress

No, not "Distress".  De-stress!  Are you feeling it yet?  The clock is ticking, Christmas is almost here, you still have tons of shopping and wrapping to do, the stores are insane, the people are even more insane, and you feel like you need a big shot of egg nog?  Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel too. 

When I saw this image during the Amber Ink blog hop, it just cracked me up.  I thought this is exactly what I need to get through Christmas.  Some peaceful meditation to go with my egg nog!

Apparently it was fate, because I was lucky enough to WIN this image from the hop!  It's a digi image, so I printed it on some white cardstock, then colored it in with my Prismacolors.  The sentiment is from Holiday Sayings (Hero Arts) and the patterned papers are from 12 Days of Christmas (My Mind's Eye).  With the bright colored paper and that red bow, it reminds me of Christmas wrapping!

De-stressing is going to have to be put on hold for me, while I run to the Commissary to get some groceries.  Not so fun!

Have a great day,

Michelle

Skipping Stones Sketch Challenge

Oh, Monday.  Why did  you have to come so soon?  The weekend was going so well.  That's OK though.  Just 5 more days until Christmas break!

In the meantime, here is another sketch challenge from Skipping Stones.    Here is this weeks sketch...

And here is my card...

ETA:  As Siobhan suggested, I am also entering this for Use It Tuesday.  This is a weekly challenge I NEED!  I have so much stuff in my stash that I have been hoarding...I mean saving, lol!

Pulled out two relics for this one.  The tree stamp is from an old Stampin' Up! set.  Lovely as a Tree, I think?  The sheet music is a large background stamp from Hero Arts.   I have had both of these stamps in my collection for a very long time!   We're talking at least 10+ years.  The tree and the edges of the paper are embossed with some white embossing powder (Tsukineko).  Stamped the music with Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Tim Holtz). 

It has been cold and rainy around here all day, so I am off now to start a big ol' pot of chili.  Yum!  Love, love, love me some chili!

Thanks for stopping by,

Michelle

CAS-ual Fridays In The Mist Challenge

This week over on the CAS-ual Fridays blog, the challenge is In The Mist.  So the idea is to create a project using a misting technique.  The timing on this was actually perfect for me, since I just bought a bottle of Perfect Pearls Mist on Monday! 

I know, you can't see the mist at all right?  That is why I quickly snapped another picture right here at the laptop.  It's there!  The snow layer is completely covered in it and you can see it better in the second picture.

The scene was created using Critters in the Forest and Bon Voyage, both from Lawn Fawn.  I used White Liquid Applique and some loose glitter for the snow on the tree and log.  Red Stickles for the little baubles on the tree, and of course the Perfect Pearls Mist for the snow on the ground. 

Feel like getting all misty?  It's lots of fun!  Head over there and check it out if you want to play, or even if you just want to check out all of the other great projects.

Thanks for stopping by!

Michelle

Pinny Party - Paper Ornaments!

Alright, time for another Pinny Party.  This week I went with paper ornaments!  I found these ornaments on Pinterest and just loved them.

This was done by Stephanie Lynn.  It just looked so fun that I had to try making one.  Here is the one I made.

I used two different papers from Nordic Holiday (Basic Grey) to make my ornament.   I ran some glue along the edges and glittered it all up.  Looks so pretty!  I didn't have a bell, so instead I used a snowflake button for the bottom.

I used some silver ribbon and tied a bow at the top so it can be hung on the tree.  The hardest part about making this was the glitter!  Let's just say if I was keeping score it would be something like Glitter: 12  Me: 0.  Next time I will do the glitter BEFORE putting all of the pieces together!  It's a learning process, right? 

If you would like to join the Pinny Party, or see more projects, just head over to Amber Ink and check it out! 

Have a great weekend,

Michelle

Shaped Cards Are So Fun!

Friday, friday, friday!  Got a simple dinner planned, some laundry in the works, going to clean up a couple more things, and then I should be free to head up to the craft room.  Hopefully...fingers crossed!

Have another Christmas card to share today...

Made the card using Nestabilities Labels 10 (Spellbinders), the patterned papers are from 12 Days of Christmas (My Mind's Eye), and the stamp is from Ornate Ornaments (Lawn Fawn).  Used a little Scrapper's Floss to make the loop at the top, some gold sticker gems on the ornament and popped it up on some foam doats.  Easy peasy! 

Going to keep this post short so I can get this dinner made and get busy making something for the Pinny Party tomorrow!

Have a great night,

Michelle

Merry Trickmas?

Alright, so you probably were not expecting to see anything for Halloween for a long time, right?  Well.  Surprise!  I'm a total sucker for anything Halloween.  I bought a Halloween pad from the stamp store a couple of weeks ago, and I couldn't help but play with the papers.  And thus, this box was born!

The patterned paper is from the Spookville pad (We R Memory Keepers), the stamp is one of the Michael's store brands and I colored him with my Prismacolor pencils.  I used Nestabilities Labels 1 (Spellbinders) for the image, and the shape behind it.  The edge of the box lid is punched with the Drippy Goo punch (Martha Stewart).  The finished size of the box is 6x6x3, so it is plenty big! 

So, there you go, perfect for Trickmas, hee hee.  We could start a new holiday!  Don't worry, you can make your box with Christmas papers, if you reaaaaaaaly want to, lol!  And, if you just can't go without something Christmasy, I have something else for you today.

I was originally making this to be a tag, but it could be an ornament too and that is why it is now hanging on our tree.  I used Nestabilities Labels 10 (Spellbinders) for the tag base.  The white flourishes are made with the Snowflake Corner die (Memory Box).  The snowman stamp is an old TAC stamp and I colored him with Prismacolor pencils. 

Let me tell you, this tag/ornament was FUN to make!  Definitely going to make more of these.  They will be great on gifts, or it could even be a wine tag.  

Happy almost Friday!

Michelle

New Stamping Goodies & WOYWW

Happy Wednesday, friends!  This week is moving along pretty quickly and that is fine by me.  Only 9 more days and the kids will be on their holiday break!  Woohoo!  Can you tell I am looking forward to it?  Let me tell you...  I. Can't. Wait.  Two full weeks of no alarm clock buzzing in my ear every morning.  Bliss!

I have been pretty busy in the craft room over the last week, and I bought some new stamps yesterday, so you can imagine what my desk must look like.  No?  Well, here you go...

Geez...I should really clean up!  Got my new Lawn Fawn stamps laying there, a bunch of other stamps, papers, inks, tape, glue, scissors, more paper, post-it notes, more ink pads...OH, I just had an idea for a game!  Oooooh, I am going to add a little game to be played with my picture next week!  Not going to tell what yet.  You will just have to wait and see.  If you want to see more desks, head over to see Julia at Stamping Ground.

In all that lovely, fun mess you can also see this card there...

I finally broke down yesterday and bought Critters In The Forest (Lawn Fawn).  Been eyeing it for quite some time.  This card is really easy to make, but it looks so cool!  I cut the snowy hills from some white paper.  The tree is actually stamped on white first, cut out, then paper pieced.  The patterned paper is from 12 Days of Christmas (My Mind's Eye).  Hard to see in the picture - glitter doesn't like to be photographed - but there are some Icicle Stickles trimming the hills giving it a little *sparkle!*. 

Have to go roll out some noodles now.  Emma is down with a cold and stayed home today and it has become a tradition that I make homemade chicken, noodles, & dumplings when anyone is sick.  As much as I hate seeing her sick, it's also nice having her home with me. 

Take care,

Michelle

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Season's Greetings! Skipping Stones Sketch Challenge

Whew!  Down to the wire on this one!  I am barely getting this one in before the deadline.  It's 10:27 and I have 33 minutes until this challenge expires.  That's alright...nothing like a little pressure to get you moving, right?

I missed the challenge last week over at Skipping Stones, because of Thanksgiving, but I got a card done for this weeks sketch.  Here is the sketch...

And here is my card...

How cool are these shaped cards?  I love it.  It's like immediate pizazz!  They really are fun to make;  once you start, you won't stop. 

For this one I used Nestabilities Labels 10 for the card base and the mat.  The patterned paper is from Nordic Holiday (Basic Grey).  The tree stamp is one of my PSX treasures - still love and miss them.  The sentiment is Hero Arts.  I used some White Liquid Applique and loose glitter on the tree for the snow.  I will have to tell you some time about my love for Liquid Applique.  It's fun stuff!

I should probably go to bed soon, but there are so many more challenges I want to get done.  Sleep can wait!

Happy Stamping,

Michelle

Lawnscaping Challenge #23 Tags Or Treat Bags

Happy Monday! "Happy Monday" may be an oxymoron, ha! Oh well, how about happy Lawnscaping Challenge day instead? Works for me.

The challenge this week is....

And here is what I made....

OK, so technically, this is not a treat bag, but it is a treat container and I am sticking with it! It is bright, and cheery, and glittery, and sparkly, and it peaks pretty high on the holiday happiness meter. 

The patterned and green cardstock are both from DCWV, the Ornament is from Ornate Ornaments (Lawn Fawn), and the sentiment is Hero Arts.  I used my Classic Circles and Scalloped Circles Nestabilities dies.  The top of the ornament and the dots across the middle are done with some loose gold glitter.

I am going to fill this with some goodies for Emma's teacher.  Instead of Christmas gifts, she asks everyone to bring a toy for charity instead, but I still plan to give her a little something and this will be perfect filled with some sweet treats or some other small gift.

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Michelle

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Pinny Party!

You might be wondering something like "What the heck is a 'Pinny Party'?". Well, it's lots of fun, and if you like Pinterest, you should LOVE it!  If you haven't checked out Pinterest yet...what are you waiting for?!?!  Pinterest is full of fun crafty things, recipes, you name it.  But, you need an invite to register, so let me know if you need one and I will hook you up. 

OK.  Back to what a Pinny Party is.  The idea is that you make something of your own using something that you have "pinned" as your inspiration.  You can get more details over at Amber Inklings. 

The repin that I chose today comes via Phyllis Hutter and was originally done by Mel Blackburn.

Gorgeous, right?  This is what you can expect to find on Pinterest!  I love all of the different textures on this card with the embossing and the crimped paper.  So, with this in mind, I set out to make a card of my own.

Let me just say that if this was a speed challenge...I win!   I had a very small window of opportunity to do this yesterday.  Managed to squeeze it in while my lasagna was baking for the Christmas party we were going to last night.  Start to finish, I think I spent about 20 minutes gathering everything and putting this together, which is fantastic!  Using something for inspiration can certainly help you in a pinch when you are in need of getting something done quickly. 

If I had more time, I could dress it up a little more, but I love how clean and simple this is. This would still be easy to mail and without any sentiment on the outside, I can use it for anything:  Thank you, Christmas, Just a Note, etc.

Going to have to get to pinning, so I have some good inspiration for next weekend! 

Have a great weekend,

Michelle

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From Our House To Yours

Ahhhh, the sweet smell of Christmas goodies! Ok, so far that has consisted of some Pilsbury ready to bake Christmas cookies that Emma made, BUT...I will get to the homemade treats eventually! ;) When I do, I am going to need some cute cards to pass along with those yummy treats to the lucky recipients! One down....

The stamps on this one are all from Papertrey Ink's Holiday Treats stamp set.  This set is perfect for all sorts of baked goods/food gifty type stuff.  I used Memento Lady Bug, Cottage Ivy, and Tuxedo Black inks.  Added a little accent by wrapping some Sew Easy floss around the top layer.  Easy peasy!

Maybe when I do get to the baking, I will snap some pics of what we make.  Emma, my littlest elf, LOVES to help in the kitchen!  Granted, she likes to eat up the goodies just about as quickly as we can crank them out, but it's all good.  As long as there are a few cookies left for Santa!

Happy Friday!

Michelle

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