Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Dance, Sing, Live!

Okay, here is the last of my Verve February Sketch challenges. The twist on this Verve sketch was NOT to use patterned paper . . . I went YEARS without using ANY, and boy was it tough not to reach for any today . . . I really have come to depend on it!! I ran all of my colored cardstock through the SU! Big Shot texturz plates, to get me over my patterned paper withdrawal!! :-)


Love these colors together... I sure will be sad when Baja and Pirouette "retire."
Have a great day!

Yummy Elzybells!!

Oh my gosh--have you seen the February Elzybells release!!!??? The stamps were made JUST for me--cupcakes, coffee, tea, chocolate, desserts, funny sayings (my favorites: "I'm not fat, I'm just a nutritional overachiever!" and "there are only two kinds of foods: if it's not chocolate, it's a vegetable.") Go check it out!!

Not that you need MORE enabling... I know I don't. I've been on a steady spending freeze, but a girl can dream, right?

Monday, February 23, 2009

Insert Witty Post Title Here

I never know quite what to title my posts... so you get this today!

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. We did--we had friends over on Saturday for Jambalaya (which the hubby made) and Bad Movie Night. FUN!

I had to try a couple more of the Verve sketch challenges for February. You can click on them if you want to see them bigger. Here they are:


Not loving the second one, which was supposed to be monochromatic. I wish that I had NOT distressed the edges. I think it would look better that way. Oh well. Next time.

Here is your daily dose of baby . . . a trio of adorable baby on daddy's shoulders pics . . . in the first, he is drumming on Daddy's head, in the second he is trying to give a kiss, and in the third, he is trying to reach for the camera. Enjoy!


Take care and--

Friday, February 20, 2009

Flowers and Friday Fill-in

Good morning!! Happy Friday!! Hip HOP Thursday was so much fun yesterday!!! I made a box earlier in the week that got picked to win a stamp. (It was random, but I LOVE the box!!) Here it is:


I found some leftover caramel apple kisses from this fall, that were perfect for this box, since they were wrapped in orange and red foil!! This next picture shows a close up of the butterfly. I
glued the body down to the box, and popped the wings up on dimensionals--oooh, so pretty! Yes, I love myself. :-)


No baby pics today, sorry. He's waaaaaaay too cranky. Three molars are trying to pop through, and the pressure and swelling are causing him to be a little, whiny grump!!! :-( Poor thing. Here are my Friday fill-ins, though:

ffi


1. Give me chocolate and I'll be a happy, happy girl.

2. Whenever I get grumpy, I want chocolate (see #1).

3. I wish I could eat some chocolate.

4. Chocolate was the last thing I ate that was utterly delicious.

5. To live in this world one must have chocolate.

6. Other than this one, http://brookelien.blogspot.com/ is the last blog I commented on. (DANG! I thought I could keep the chocolate theme going!!)

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to stamping with the ladies at a Stampin' Up! workshop, tomorrow my plans include Bad Movie Night and Jambalaya with friends, and Sunday, I want to enjoy the music at church!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Time to Stamp!!

I am so excited!! I made time to stamp today! It certainly helped that out of nowhere, the baby decided to take two naps today, which hasn't happened in awhile...

I used Amber's Viva La Verve sketch for the first week of February. I decided to be a rebel (ha ha!) and flip the sketch sideways. I know Father's Day is a ways off, but I think I am going to add some Mother's and Father's Day cards to my etsy shop to see if they will sell.


I did something new for me too . . . I "did" the inside of the card too. What do you think?


Here's your daily dose of baby:


Today was a rainy day, and along with two naps, he grabbed a blanket and hopped onto the couch and covered up. (He's never done that before, so I had to snap some pics!) I also caught him in a VERY rare moment--being NICE to the cat!!! I think the cat might have been more surprised than I was.


Could he be ANY cuter? (yeah, probably by tomorrow!!!)

Wednesday Unity Challenge

Good morning!! Amy picked a beautiful picture of yellow tulips as inspiration for us this week. I went with a slightly paler shade of yellow, but I really like how this card turned out. I don't really have any bold flower stamps, so I felt that my bright yellow paper was just too overpowering.

Make sure you check out all the other Unity addicts' cards today. The links are over on the right side of my blog.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Tough to Keep Up

Hi. I certainly never MEAN to have so much time pass between posts... life just gets in the way!! Last week was a crazy nap/sleep/cold week for the babe, and I pretty much didn't make time to stamp, other than a little Valentine I made for my friend.



Luckily, I have a card ready for Wednesday already, so make sure you check back!!

Monday, February 9, 2009

Crazy for Cupcakes Class

Cupcakes and Cards, my first Stamp Camp in quite some time, was a great success on Saturday! If you were there, it was so great to see you! Thank you for coming! If you missed it, I have another great class in store for you--check it out!!!

Crazy for Cupcakes Class

Make your next birthday celebration an event to remember when you give your friend or loved one this mouth-watering cupcake themed card set!

Date: Saturday, March 14th

Time: 10am-2pm

Cost: $45, including Crazy for Cupcakes Stamp set and LUNCH!

Location: First United Methodist Church, Newark

Please email me by February 21st at stampmaniac at gmail dot com to reserve your spot.


If you are not local, or cannot make it on the 14th, but are still interested--I have two other awesome offers for you!

Option #1: Class Kit to Go
You will receive the Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set, and the paper, ribbon and accessories needed for finishing this project (already cut and scored for you!) All you will need to do is stamp and assemble. (The On Your Birthday set is not included, so you will need to provide your own alternate sentiments, or you may order this set through my website!) This option is $45, including shipping, and you may purchase using this paypal button.




These classes are not available for purchase to other Stampin' Up!

demonstrators. If you are a demonstrator and are interested in this
class, please email me @ stampmaniac at gmail dot com, directly
.

Option #2: Class Instructions free with $50 purchase
Make a $50 purchase from my Stampin' Up! website, and I will email the directions and templates for you to make this project. This is a spectacular time to order, because in addition to the Crazy for Cupcakes class, you will earn a free Sale-a-bration stamp set or bundle with your $50 purchase!! Here are the supplies you will need to make this project (you can substitute similar products if you have them):

  • Stamps: On Your Birthday, Crazy for Cupcakes
  • Inks: Basic Brown, Pink Pirouette, Close to Cocoa, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose Classic Inks
  • Paper: Sweet Always DP, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, Medium Whisper White envelopes
  • Accessories: Sticky Strip, Snail adhesive, Stampin’ Dimensionals, 2-way glue pen, 1” Double-Stitched Chocolate Chip Ribbon, 5/8” Regal Rose Ribbon, silver brads, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, paper snips, 1/16” handheld circle punch, 1 ¼” circle punch, ticket corner punch, key tag punch, crimper, blender pen, Stampin’ Scrub, Stampin’ Mist, paper trimmer & scoring blade, bone folder, Stamp-a-ma-jig, embossing buddy, Uni-ball Signo Gel pen, Stamping Sponges, pencil & ruler.
Make sure you drop me an email, telling me you ordered and would like me to send you the

Crazy for Cupcakes Class to Go instructions!!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

PTI Challenge

The title is misleading, a bit, because I have no PTI to stamp with... but I wanted to enter the sketch challenge today, so I used a new stamp that I won from Paper Pretties. I turned the PTI sketch on it's side . . . I'm a rebel like that! I also HATE the flowers I added... SOOO not my style, not to mention that they have nothing to do with bunny slippers, but I had an ink smudge in the corner, AFTER I had colored and added to the card... don't you hate it when that happens? Hence, the flower.... the other one I added for "balance"... yeah, right!!! Oh well. (I just re-read all of this, and I am totally writing in stream of conscious tonight... no regard to punctuation... and I refuse to fix it, so don't make me, Dad!!)


Where is Jessica?

Where has she been all week? I know you have nothing better to do than sit around asking yourself this question about me... :-) Yes, I know you love me THAT much!! :-)

Well, I've been cuddling my sick kidlet... he has had a cold all week, which has left him grumpy and whiny and tired, which in turn has left me grumpy and whiny and tired. He has had trouble napping, which means I've had trouble stamping!!

The only stamp time I had was devoted to getting ready for my Stamp Camp this morning: Cupcakes and Cards. I have not held an event like this since before the babe was born over 15 months ago!!! It was a great success! I made yummy vanilla cupcakes and vanilla frosting FROM SCRATCH!!!! Here are two of the projects the gals made. (I gave my only version of the third project to a friend to give to her grandchild, before I got a picture of it)



For your daily dose of baby: he has decided he loves yogurt, and he would prefer to feed it to himself. Take a look at how THAT is working out for us:




Hopefully he will get healthy and start napping again, I can start stamping again! :-)