Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish you all a very happy holiday! I hope you have fun times with family and friends, yummy food, warm fires, and full hearts!! I am enjoying time with my family, and will post again when the holidays are over! Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Where's Jessica?

Hi friends!
Thanks for wondering where I am...
I'm sorry I haven't posted! You KNOW how the holidays can be! We've been so busy here, I haven't really made time to stamp. Without projects to share, blogging has slipped my mind. I have a couple of things I COULD show you, but since they are gifts, I need to wait until after Christmas, so no one sees them ahead of time. We are headed to Michigan to visit our families for the next couple of weeks. PLEASE come back and visit me in the new year! I will be posting regularly again then!!! I am not sure what if anything I will be posting between now and then, though. I LOVE sharing things with you, and love reading your comments, so please don't forget about me!!
Meanwhile, Happy Holidays!!!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Friday Fill in

Yeah! I remembered to do this ON Friday!!!

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1. Friends are dessert for my soul.

2. Good health; it's a blessing.

3. I'm ready for my cough and congestion to be gone.

4. Lancome' Tresor is one of my favorite perfumes or aftershaves or smells.

5. The oldest ornament I have is probably a paper and cotton lamb I made as a child.

6. Take some hot water, a Stash Green Chai tea bag, milk and sugar, mix it all together and you have bliss in a mug.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sleeping, tomorrow my plans include our very first "Make your own Christmas" with my BFF and my nephews and Sunday, I want to enjoy church without a coughing fit!

Growing in Unity Day Five

Welcome to my final day hosting Growing in Unity! I hope you have enjoyed seeing my projects as much as I have enjoyed sharing them!! I know I've kind of talked up this last project of mine, but I REALLY LOVE IT!!! So, without further ado, here is my lovely little Christmas Cocktail recipe book!












My parents love making special cocktails at Christmas time . . . it is so festive to have a yummy drinkwith a candy cane over the edge of the glass, while sitting in front of the fire! If you are not a drinker, you could make yours a recipe book of Christmas Sweets/Desserts, and use all the yummy cupcake and other sweets stamps from Unity to accent your pages!!

I think the SU! Top Note die makes fabulous little pages for a mini album like this. I covered chipboard with Wassail paper. The pages are this AWESOME paper from WorldWin, called double mates. They are different shades of the same color on each side. So if every other page set looks different, it is!! One set of pages is bright red and green, the other is dark red and green. There are LOTS of things I would do differently if I made this little recipe book again. I'm not a scrapper, so placement of embellishments is hard for me, somehow. I would probably print the recipes on an ivory cardstock next time too, and sponge the edges of everything, to add to the distressed look that the cover has. Oh well, live and learn! I'm still pretty pleased with it!

Thanks for joining me this week! Have a great weekend!!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Growing in Unity Day Four

Good morning! Hip HOP!!! Today is our fun Hip Hop day over at the Unity forum on SCS! Come on over and join in the fun, starting at 11 am EST!! In honor of Hip HOP! and because Angela (Unity's owner) is so extremely generous, I am able to give away my favorite single, Create Yourself to one of you lucky readers today! Just leave a comment here on this post, and tonight at 9pm EST I will draw a random number and post the winner on the Hip HOP! forum!! Thanks so much for checking out my projects this week for Growing in Unity! Please come back tomorrow, because I have an AWESOME project waiting for you!

I have to admit, because I've been so busy getting Friday's project ready, I was pressed for time and creativity in making today's. There isn't much stamping involved. Just one image. Sorry!!! I used a template I have had for years (Darcie's Country Folk) for a little window box. I filled it with starlight candies and added a bow and an ornament (this is the one stamp!!!), and voila! A small gift for my 93 year old grandma, who never wants anything for Christmas, nor does she need anything! My brother and I usually get her food of some sort, so this is a start to my gift for her.


Do you see the little bit of shimmer on the ornament? That is Angel Wings Shimmerz. Love that stuff!! Again, I'd like to apologize for the simplicity of this project... if only I had gotten all my projects done ahead of time! That would have been smart, huh?! :-)

Don't forget to leave me a nice comment, and then you'll be entered into a drawing for my favorite Unity single!!!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Growing in Unity Day Three

Happy Wednesday! Welcome to day three of my week for Growing in Unity.

As I was preparing to start today's project, I was drawing a blank. I was thinking . . . what else can I do for Christmas gifts for my friends and family?? So I dug through my stash of things that I've picked up over the years, intending to use for stamping, hoping something would jump out at me. I found some lovely naked big clothespins, just begging me to alter them A light went on!! I am short on cash, and have a darling little boy!!! I will make a cute little photo holder for my little monkey. Here it is:


Now, this project will take you much more time than yesterday's, but yesterday's was almost too easy! Here are the deets: I covered the front and back of the clip with patterned paper (SU!). I stamped the monkey from Unity's Wild and Crazy Bunch twice, once on cocoa and once on caramel, then cut out the belly, ears and face from the caramel, to paper piece on the cocoa. Then I glued the monkey to another piece of cocoa cardstock to give him stability before I cut him out. I attached him to the clip with stampin' dimensionals. I tied a ribbon around the clip, and looped the monkey's tail over the ribbon. Finally, I stamped the word little from the "little one" sentiment and the word monkey from the "let's monkey around" sentiment. I punched it out and layered it on three squares of cocoa cardstock to give it stability, and attached the edge of it to the clip with stampin' dimensionals, tucking it under the monkey's arm. As a final touch, I added my OWN LITTLE MONKEY to the clip. What do you think?


I am not finished with my Friday project yet . . . I'm still working on it. I am SO excited about it, so make sure you come back and check it out!! Thank you so much for visiting my blog this week! It has been so much fun!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Growing in Unity Day Two

Good morning! I love snow. Our street is coated with it right now. I am sure I will be sick of it in a couple of months, but for now, I love how clean and beautiful the world looks under a blanket of snow!

On that note . . . here is my Unity project for day two...


Today's project is seriously the easiest thing EVER! I would guess from start to finish this gift took me less than five minutes!! And it is lovely! You start with pre-made notecards. Mine are Fabriano that I have had in my stash for years. These things are thick, watercolor paper, that make the notes look and feel SO rich!!! I love it! But even plain notecards will work just fine! One color of ink, two stamps, and a bit of glitter! The stamp is the snowflake is from September's kit of the month. The sentiment is from Jolly Winter. I did four cards and tied them up with a pretty bow for a fun presentation! WOW!! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!!!


If you mass produce these, you could have multiple gifts to give away to folks like your kids' teachers, your hairdresser, or even your favorite checkout lady at the grocery store!!! Keep a stash by the front door, and send all of your holiday visitors home with a pack as a little gift!!

I hope you enjoyed today's project. Come back for more tomorrow!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Growing in Unity Day One

Good morning!!! I don't know about you, but I can hardly believe it is December 8th already!

I am hosting Growing in Unity this week! So check my blog daily, December 8th through 12th for a project using fabulous Unity stamps!!

I would have loved to feature Christmas themed projects for you, but I only have ONE Unity Christmas set, so that won't get me very far. Instead, I'm going to offer up my ideas for little Christmas gifts you can make up quickly to give to family, friends or others you need gifts for!

Today's gift is a notebook set. This is a variation on something I've been doing for years. I found these fantastic notebook sets on clearance one year after school started, and I stocked up! Now, any time I need a quick gift, I pull out a set and get busy! You can use any spiral notebook, although the double spiral like this is easiest for removing the covers, which you will need to do.


I take the covers off by opening the metal rings a bit. I use Mod Podge to attach patterned paper that I've trimmed to size. For this project I chose an American Crafts paper in Unity's colors of brown and turquoise. After the glue is dry, I sand the edges with a sanding block, to kind of melt/blend the paper into the cover. Sometimes I ink the edges, for a distressed look, but this paper is so clean looking, that I left the edges bare. Then I add my stamped pieces and embellishments and put the covers back on! If I need a matching pen, I cut a small piece of matching paper and roll it around the ink tube of my RSVP pen, and stick the ink tube back into the pen. DONE!! Sometimes I add ribbon to the spirals, but again, I was going for clean today. Which kind of makes me wonder why I added the flowers and bling!!! :-) I actually made these for some fellow Unity lovers . . . for my Unity Secret Santa and one of the Unity DT . . . I'm wondering, did you get them yet? :-) I'm kind of bummed by my picture . . . these are MUCH prettier IRL!!!!

I hope you enjoyed today's gift!! Come back tomorrow for more!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Friday Fill-in

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1. Snow is beautiful (as long as it isn't yellow!).

2. I'm looking forward to seeing my family at Christmas.

3. Chris is the best aunt ever!

4. One of my favorite old tv shows is the Love Boat.

5. I'm done with negative people.

6. The most enjoyable thing around the holidays is the music, the decorations and the smells, the friends and family get togethers... (oh was I just supposed to pick one?).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching Oz with Jay, tomorrow my plans include stamping with friends and Sunday, I want to relax after Church!


Finally Friday!

Happy Friday! This is very similar to another shoe card I made. You can't see, unfortunately, but the flower is red glitter stickles. It is so much prettier in person.


Make sure you check out Ryann's blog for Limelight's day FIVE giveway!!

Thursday, December 4, 2008

We Have a Winner!!!

Here is the winner:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

4

Timestamp: 2008-12-04 13:38:22 UTC

Blogger Heavenly Blessed said...

Cute!! A few of those took me serious though and even had my husband pondering :) LOL....sending you an email now!


The answers were:
1. Silent Night
2. Santa Claus is Coming to Town
3. White Christmas
4. Jingle Bells (I would also accept Silver Bells)
5. Away in a Manger

Don't forget about Day 4 of Limelight's Christmas!!!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

On the Third Day of Christmas...

Limelight gave to me....

a chance to win some epoxy (sing that e-e-pox-eee, for full effect.) :-)

I have a little game for you to play... and a chance to win these spectacular Little Yellow Bicycle Christmas Magic epoxy stickers:


Okay, no stamping is involved today... you just have to put on your thinking cap...

I love these little Christmas Carol riddles. Here is an example: what is this Christmas Carol--Decorate the Interior Passageways? (answer: Deck the Halls.) Now it is your turn:

Write the real names of these Christmas Carols in an email to me at stampmaniac at gmail dot com. (I spelled it out to hopefully avoid spam.) Then leave me a comment on this post to let me know that you emailed me! Don't post your answers to this thread, because I don't want to give away the answers!! I will draw a random winner from all the correct answers. Here they are:

1. Nocturnal time-span of unbroken quietness. (this is my very favorite Christmas song.)

2. Expectation of arrival to populated area by mythical masculine perennial gift-giver.

3. Natal celebration devoid of color.

4. Tintinnabulation of vacillating pendulums in inverted metallic, resonant cups.

5. In a distant location the existence of an improvised unit of newborn children's slumber furniture.

Remember, email me the answers!!! Good luck! Don't forget to play along each day for Limelight's 12 days of Christmas! Each time you play, you also get an entry for the grand prize!!!

I was hoping to get some stamping done for you today, but things have been crazy around here!
Next week, I will have something for you EVERY day, so make sure you check back!!

Monday, December 1, 2008

On the First Day of Christmas . . .

Limelight gave to me....

A chance to win an awesome goodie. :-)

Limelight Papercrafts 12 Days of Christmas starts today!!

Today go visit Lisa's blog ~ My Little Creative Escape. She's got a challenge for ya with a PRIZE!

Every day for the next 11 days after this, another Limelight gal (or guy) will be posting something fun for you, along with a chance to win a fun prize! Each time you participate in a challenge or game, your name will go in a drawing for a GRAND PRIZE at the end of the 12 days! So in addition to being able to win daily, if you participate every day, you'll also have 12 chances to win the grand prize! WOW! My day for the challenge (as a former 7th Six Chick) is December 3rd, so make sure you check back for my game!

Also, if you are in the mood for some fantastic eye candy--the talented Lisa Hetrick is showcasing Unity projects all week long, starting today. Go and enjoy, and leave her some love!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Friday Fill-in on Saturday

Oops, forgot to do this yesterday...

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1. My stomach is full of good leftovers.
2. Sweet potatoes is what I ate the most of on Thursday.
3. The yard is in terrible shape and will probably stay that way indefinitely.
4.With my family is where I'd rather be at any given time.
5. The smell of holiday candles reminds me of Christmas at my parents' house.
6. Lots of money is what I need right now!
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to sleeping, tomorrow my plans include decorating the Christmas tree and Sunday, I want to sleep in, but I won't get to :-)!


Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you are having a wonderful, relaxing day with your friends and family. We are having our very own little family Thanksgiving here, with just the three of us. I'm making way too much food, and we will be eating leftovers all weekend! Yum!

As you may know, I've had the honor of serving as Limelight's 7th Six Chick (Guest Designer) for the month of November. It has been such fun! Today is my last official "job" as such... the sketch and product challenge.

While some of us are busy pouring gravy all over our turkey and mashed potatoes, I know there are an equal number of people out there who are pouring over the Black Friday sales ads! I can hear them shouting "Bring on the sales!". They must have been listening over at Limelight, because not only do they have some awesome sales scheduled for Black Friday, they also have a challenge focusing on all things black! How easy is that?! Anything black will do, although, I recommend the Black Magic cardstock, black licorice Pixee Stix glitter, or black fun flock! If you don't have anything from Limelight, go ahead and play along anyways! Here is the sketch:



  • Sketch and Product Challenge using black for Black Friday!
  • Uploads to SCS should have the keyword: LLPC009
  • Participants should post a comment and a link to their card on Mandy's blog, all entries must be submitted by Sunday, November 30th, at midnight for a chance to win a Limelight Papercrafts Gift Certificate.
Here is my take on the sketch... I turned it into a tall card, 3 x 6. I used SU! in colors, Tangerine and Kiwi, as well as black. I also used these adorable Thanksgiving images from Unity's Fall Festival that my friend Lisa sent to me (yes, there IS a Unity kit I do NOT own... :-) Thanks, Lisa, for sharing!! I hope you are enjoying some PIE today! :-) Finally, as some fun embellishment, I knotted a length of Raven Tulle from Limelight. Fun stuff!! I think I need some Copics (oh, but first I need to win the lottery, since that's pretty much the only way I'll ever be able to afford them!) because I really don't love the coloring job I did. I need to practice.

Make sure you check out the other talented design team gals' cards:


This next card does not fit the sketch, but I had to include it in honor of Black Friday tomorrow. Ever since I got the black Pixee Stix Glitter and black Tulle I have had some version of this card in my head. I knew I had to do a black and pink "shopping card" for Black Friday. I used the purse and sentiment from Unity's Shopaholic kit, as well as Distressed Dots background, which I stamped with Versamark, added heat and stick powder, and the black glitter!


Happy shopping tomorrow! Don't forget to shop at Limelight! Mandy arranged some AMAZING deals!! Straight from the Limelight blog:

Don't miss these great deals this weekend...supplies are limited to the early birds (but we have plenty to go around)!
*Pebbles, Inc. RIBBON IRON packaged with TWO assorted RIBBON PACKS - $10
*Unity Stamp Company's LUKE 2:14 GLORIOUS ANGEL - $3.50
*Unity Stamp Company's DELECTABLE DELIGHTS stamp set - $4.50
*Odd Bird Planet's Snowman - $10 (This stamp is BIG!)
*Odd Bird Planet's Beau Christmas - $6 (assorted, facing left or right)


Wednesday, November 26, 2008

New pics!

No stamping today, but I wanted to share some cute baby pics. Come back tomorrow for some stamping! My post is already scheduled, since I'll be busy cooking!


Like his shirt? Sometimes we call him Charlie Brown, just for fun, so I had to get him this outfit for his birthday!


He's not going to let me dress him in dorky hats for very long, so I thought I'd take advantage of it while he's young...


Another one of my favorite outfits of his right now... my little cookie monster!


Daddy had an extra day off today... they really enjoyed the extra time together! :-)

I am so thankful for my beautiful family.

Come back tomorrow for a Limelight Sketch challenge and some cards!!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Friday Fill-in

Just for the heck of it, because I stumbled across a cool "new to me" blog, and it is still Friday:

Friday Fill-ins:


1. The last band I saw live was Dixie Chicks.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is stuffing/dressing.
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is not even started yet.
4. Thoughts of digital scrapbooking that I want to try fill my head.
5. I wish I could wear pencil skirts and high heels.
6. Bagpipes make me tear up.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing with my dh, tomorrow my plans include cleaning the kitchen and Sunday, I want to enjoy Church!

Totally non stamping related, but I still haven't found my mojo! Has anyone seen it?

Finally Friday!

Happy Friday!

Did you Hip HOP! yesterday over at the Unity SCS forum? If so, you surely saw lots of amazing cards and projects from all of the fantastic Unity design team! One of the hip HOP! challenges was to make a snowflake card. Mine is below.

I am SO glad it it Friday. I have had a grumpy week. I think I have only stamped TWO things. Here they are:


This was supposed to be a shaker card, but I couldn't find my microbeads, so I ended up having to use glitter, which just sticks to the window. Then I couldn't decide what sentiment to use or where to put it, so I didn't use one. Then I got carried away adding bling. LOVE those Kaiser gems, but this is too many, even for a bling lover like me! Oh well. Maybe I will get my mojo back soon...

No wait, I guess I only stamped that card. This next one I did last week, for a workshop I had on Friday night. I think they liked making it!


The baby has become best buds with Ozzy the cat this week. Every day he lies down on the floor and cuddles with the cat, or uses him as a pillow, or grabs his tail (this is the one I'm worried about...)


He has also discovered some of my stamps that I am selling, and has been carting them around the living room.


This was from the day we did his one year/Christmas pictures, which is why he's so handsomely dressed! :-) Usually it is just sweats!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Child, Chai and a Card

Good evening, friends! I am finally getting a chance to post something today. Last night was not a good sleep night for my little one or me, so today was spent recovering. Tonight he was ready for bed by 6pm . . . he was wandering around the living room putting his cheek down on every surface: the couch, the chair, his boppy pillow, the cat. So, we decided to take him to bed! Hopefully he will sleep well tonight, because *I* can use the sleep! :-)


Before I show you a project, I want to share something non-stamping related. I have never been a big tea drinker. Until now. I am in love. His name is Stash Chai Green Tea. I met him at the Grocery Store on Friday, and I am not ashamed to admit that I have seen him EVERY day since then. I have enjoyed every second . . . the anticipation while he was heating up, the overwhelming desire I felt when I smelled his exotic scent, and the taste of every single luscious sip on my tongue, from first to last.


Isn't he gorgeous? And let me tell you, what a hunk! He is sooo sweet and spicy, and super delicious with a little added skim milk and Splenda (or for the sinful version: 2% milk and sugar.) Shhh... don't tell my husband. Although I did just tell him that he could fill my entire Christmas stocking with these teabags, and I'd be thrilled, so I think he might be suspicious.

I think I posted this project a while ago, and then promptly removed it when I remembered that I had sent it to my secret sister. Well, if she happens to read my blog (which I highly doubt), this is the month to reveal ourselves, so she'll figure out it is me when she sees this project:


This is not the exact version I sent to her, but very similar. It is a fun two pocket bag that I made just large enough to fit a card in each pocket. A great hostess gift! Do you want one? If you are in Central Ohio, have me do a workshop for you and your friends! :-) If you are not local, hostess a catalog workshop or place a $150 order with me, and I will make you one and send it to you!! :-) Nothing like a little bribery, huh?

I have to go finish my Green Chai Tea Affair, and watch Dancing With the Stars. Good night!