Finally! My TCP Tuesday card :)

Yeah! Here's my card for this week's TCP Tuesday sketch challenge :) Do these stamps look new?? Well, that's because they're from one of the new releases from TCP coming next Friday, November 7th. During the next week, stay tuned here and at the blogs of the other DT members (see sidebar on the left) for some more peeks at the new stamps! Yahoo!

For my card I used the new holiday line of paper from Basic Grey - it's called "Wassail". I just looooove their paper...it makes coordinating colors and patterns so much easier!

I'm heading out now to take Nattie to her piano lesson. Have a great evening and I'll be back tomorrow with photos of the kiddos in their Halloween costumes :)

TCP Tuesday - Sketch Challenge

It's TCP Tuesday (TCPTUES31) and this week Leigh is hosting a terrific sketch challenge and all the details for playing along are on her blog. The card is 4.5" x 7", and look at all those layers! There's lots of potential with this one :) I will be playing along, but my card will probably be posted tomorrow - apologies for being a little late this week, but my math class is taking its toll. Let's just say that algebra and I are not best buddies right now :)

12

Here's a photo I took of Nattie at the weekend...she looks so grown-up! I still can't believe she's 12 - I want time to slow down...

Who's That Girl? Challenge

This is my card for this week's "Who's That Girl?" challenge on Splitcoast Stampers. Sorry for the quality of the photo; it was taken at the end of the day yesterday and the light was not the best quality. Anyway, I decided to give our girl some mittens and socks for the fall card :) The MFT set I used for this one is called "Falling For You"...isn't it cute?

Just a quick post this morning as I head out to work. Have a great day!!

Happy Sunday!

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a great weekend. The girls loved "High School Musical 3" yesterday; they were very excited when I picked them up. After that we went to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner, and they all slept over here. We had the usual late-night giggling and early-morning wakeups, so there will be some tired girls later today! LOL! I made them cinnamon muffins for breakfast and the girls are being picked up in the next hour or so.

Today's card is made with one of the newer images from Penny Black. The patterned paper is from Stampin' Up. The giraffe reminds me of the one on the movie "Madagascar"...Jamie is looking forward to "Madagascar 2" being released next month!

This afternoon I have some TCP DT work to finish (yeah!), and a whole bunch of algebra (blech!). I wonder which I should do first....

Christmas Owls :)

Owls are very popular right now, and MFT has come out with a terrific owl image by Stephanie Fizer. For this one I used some of the new paper by My Mind's Eye (it has lots of glitter!), some ribbon and of course the Christmas Owls image from MFT, which I colored with my Copics. I also added some Crystal Stickles to the hats for more sparkle :)

Have a fantastic Saturday! I'm off to get ready to take Nattie and her friends to the movies!

Warm Wishes :)

This is an appropriate card to post for today - it is cold here this morning! The snow from the other day is half gone, but we have some nice chunks of ice left on our driveway :)
Today's card is made with another of the Stephanie Fizer images from My Favorite Things. How sweet are these three snowmen?? The patterned paper is by My Mind's Eye and I colored the snowmen with my Copics.

Iain's in Phoenix for the day again today, so it's just the kiddos and I at home. I have some DT projects to work on for The Cat's Pajamas (yep! another release coming soon!) and I also need to clean up my craft room...it's pretty bad up there! LOL! Have a fabulous Friday!

Fun day!

Today was a great day! The kids and I have today and tomorrow off school, and Iain was home so I went to Denver and met Sue and Linda for lunch! Linda came up from Colorado Springs so that Sue and I could meet her for the first time after meeting through blogging/emailing/stamping :) Karrie, we were wishing you were there with us!



We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant and then Sue had to be back at work for a meeting, but Linda and I had time to shop a little. We went to the Container Store and picked up a few nick-nacks that you might see on my blog in the coming weeks. Next we made a quick stop at Office Max for some school supplies for me, and finally we went by Scrapbook Destination and found some fun goodies to bring home! It was great to meet Linda at last; she is a terrific lady!

Thanks, ladies!! Next time we get together we should definitely STAMP!

Peppermint Cats :)

Here's another card made with a new stamp set from My Favorite Things. This one is called "Peppermint Cats" and the image was designed by Stephanie Fizer. You can check out Stephanie's stamps right here. My card is 5.5" square and the patterned paper is another new set from Basic Grey :) called "Ambrosia". I really like this method of using non-traditional holiday colors on a holiday card! It's fun!

Rosemary card

Hi! Happy Wednesday! We woke up to 4" of snow this morning - our first significant snowfall of the season! Tasha was thrilled to go outside and eat a bunch of the stuff :)

Today's card is made with a "Rosemary" image by Annie LaPoint for MFT Presents. I also used patterned paper from Rusty Pickle's "Lucky" collection and added some sparkle with Stickles glitter glue (Eucalyptus).

Heading out early to school...weather like this calls for super-slow driving (or "granny" driving as my husband calls it!). Have a terrific day!

12 today!

I can't believe Nattie is 12 today! 12 years ago I was in Winchester Hospital (near Boston), thrilled to have our baby girl alive and healthy :) I was 24 years old (which seems so young now!) and we had only been living in the U.S. for 3 years. Iain and I had our green cards, but we were not yet citizens. Time has certainly flown by!

We let Nattie open her cards and presents last night since she leaves so early in the morning for school! Some of the things she received were a hairdryer, hair straightener, gift cards for Kohl's, Target and Barnes & Noble, clothes, and some cash! I see a shopping day in Nattie's future :) We went out to Coldstone Creamery for ice cream after school today, and on Saturday 3 of Nattie's friends are coming over. I'm taking them to see "High School Musical 3", then out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, then back here for a sleepover. It'll be a busy but fun day for the girls!

It's TCP Tuesday!

Can you believe we're already on our 30th TCP Tuesday challenge? Wow! This week our Hostess with the Mostess is the fabulous Katie, who is challenging us to create something using one of TCP's most popular characters, Poochie :) If you upload a creation to Splitcoast Stampers, this week's keyword is TCPTUES30. And, as always, all the amazing work will be featured on Alma's "Holey Moley Monday" slideshow next week.

My card was made using TCP's "Dog and Flower" image...isn't it a sweet one? The patterned paper is from one of Basic Grey's newest collections - "Granola". I was also able to combine this challenge with Tracy's sketch challenge for this week - I love it when that happens!

So...what are you waiting for?? Go find your Poochie stamps and show us what you can do!! Have fun :)

Feel Better Soon!

This is the card I made today for this week's "Who's That Girl?" Challenge on the MFT forum of Splitcoast Stampers. This week Laura and I are challenging participants to use the featured "Bunny Slippers" set (or any other MFT set on hand) along with a pink, purple and white color combo :) I really like this simple soup image...it is perfect for sending some get well images! The patterned paper is some older Frances Meyer paper I found in my stash. The glitter flower is by Making Memories and the little pearls are by Kaiser Scrapbook. And I was able to incorporate this card into the weekly MFT Sketch Challenge which you can read about here. I love it when that happens!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend! We spent most of our time at home so that Nattie could recover from a week of late nights and early starts at outdoor lab :) On Tuesday it'll be her 12th birthday! Have a great start to the week, everyone :)

Home again

I picked Nattie up from the school at lunchtime today - she looked tired and happy to be home! From what I've heard so far, outdoor lab was a great experience for her and the other 6th graders - they all tried new things, went for 5 days without their iPods and hairdryers, and survived! Instead of coming straight home, Nattie wanted to go to the elementary school to see Jamie (they were having an early release day), so we picked up Jamie first and then came home :) Tonight it's Nattie's choice for dinner - so it's Anthony's pizza!

Have a great weekend - I'll be back over the weekend with some cards :) And - here's the shiny new garage door :)

Missing you, Nattie!

Nattie has been gone at outdoor lab since Monday...and there are no phone calls home! On Monday night I have to admit I enjoyed the quiet :) but I got over that quickly and now I really miss her! Iain's gone on a trip, too, so it's just Jamie and I here until Thursday evening. I bet the 6th graders are having a fantastic time, though! I'm sure there will be lots of stories for Nattie to tell us when she's back home on Friday :)

On Tuesday morning I went into the garage to get the car and drive to work, only to find that our garage door had come off its tracks. It was one of those things that we were going to replace "eventually"...

Fortunately I found a company that was able to come out yesterday afternoon to check it out and they are installing a new door today. So I ended up getting 2 surprise days off from work! I split my time yesterday between walking Tasha, stamping, and doing school work - and today will be the same. I could clean, but - why would I do that???!!! :)

TCP Tuesday - Color Challenge!

Hi all! Happy TCP Tuesday! It's my turn to host this week and it's time for another color challenge...let us see what you can come up with!!

You have until midnight on Saturday night to post a link to your creation in the comments section for this post, and all the fabulous cards will be showcased in Alma's "Holey Moley Monday" slideshow :) Remember, Alma chooses a Swanky Stamper every month from our TCP Tuesday entries - but you've gotta be in it to win it! Have fun!

Oh, and if you're uploading to Splitcoast Stampers, this week's keyword is TCPTUES29.

My card was made with the "Chicken Soup" and "Flower Bottle" stamps by The Cat's Pajamas - I also did some paper piecing with my different colors of cardstock. I'm not sure if you can see them clearly, but there are tiny jewels on the hot water bottles for some added bling. I can't wait to see what you all come up with! And...don't forget to check out the creations from our TCP Design Team...the links are over on the left hand side. Enjoy!

Simple happy birthday :)

This is a card I made last week for one of the 5th grade teachers I work with :) The flower stamp is by Stampendous and the "Happy Birthday" sentiment stamp is by TCP. Patterned paper is from my scrap stash; I believe it's by SEI.

How was your weekend? We got our first SNOW of this season! We had some on Saturday night and then some more tonight...it didn't stay on the ground for long, but it was a taste of what's to come! The high today was 34! BRRRRR.....

Saturday we all stayed home; I had quite a bit of Math to do for school, as well as laundry for Nattie so that we could pack for her trip this week. On Sunday Nattie and I went to my friend Shelley's house to prepare some card kits for the elementary school's leadership group (3rd, 4th and 5th grade kiddos). The kids are going to assemble the cards and sell them! We put together 2 Halloween cards and one Fall card...I'll let you know how their sales go :) Nattie was a great help to us!

Sunday night we also watched our favorite show, "The Amazing Race" on CBS. We love seeing all the countries and cities the teams visit, and of course watching them competing in the road blocks/detours is always entertaining! Wishing everyone a terrific week ahead :)

Six secrets :)

I was tagged last week by my blogging friend Linda to reveal six secrets (or perhaps things you simply might not know) about me...that's a big deal, as I'm not typically open about a lot of things for one reason or another. So, be gentle, here goes :)

• Just like another blogging friend, Sarah, I never make my bed :) It's something my Mum didn't make me do as a kid, and well, I just never made it a habit! It's not something I make a conscious decision not to do every morning, it just doesn't occur to me! LOL!
• My father was an alcoholic; my mother and grandmother suffered from depression.
• I regret choosing to take a 2-year college course (equivalent of an Associate's degree here in the U.S.) instead of just doing my 4-year degree right after high school. Dad was right about that - he told me at the time that I'd regret it later in life. But hey, I'm working on it now and will be done in 2009!
• My hubby and I went through 6 pregnancies to have our 2 healthy kiddos.
• I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember...I'm making slow progress in dealing with it, and am realizing that I still have emotional issues related to food that I need to deal with...
• I TiVo several shows that are my "guilty pleasures" to watch when Iain's away on a business trip: Project Runway, 90210, Top Design, The Bachelor/Bachelorette... :)

Now I need to tag some friends to share their secrets....I'm tagging Maria, Sue, Linda, Laura, Shirley, and Patti. Have fun, ladies!

Hello There! (version 2)

Here's another "Hello There!" card made with image stamps by Doodle Factory and a sentiment stamp by The Cat's Pajamas :) The patterned paper is by Sassafrass Lass.

Jamie is still home from school...he's doing a little better, but the cough is still lingering. Ugh! Poor little guy :(

So...what are your weekend plans? We'll be getting Nattie packed for her outdoor lab trip next week (she leaves on Monday, gets back on Friday). I'm also going to help out the school leadership group (3rd, 4th and 5th grade) with making some cards to sell for charity, so one of the other moms and I are getting together on Sunday to come up with some super simple designs that the kids can put together themselves. Should be fun - and it's all for a good cause!

Whatever you're up to, have a SUPER weekend! And thank you for all the well wishes for Jamie :)

Sniffles...

This is an appropriate card for me to post tonight; my little guy Jamie isn't feeling like himself. He had a cough this morning but now it seems to have developed into a definite cold; his nose is running, he's coughing even more and just has no energy (which is extremely unusual for a 6 year old boy! LOL!)...

Soooo...today's card is made with a stamp by Great Impressions - it's another one that I've had for a while and decided to play with this weekend :) I hope you're able to see the layers of the image; they make such a huge difference on these single-image cards. The patterned paper is by My Mind's Eye (one of my favorite paper manufacturers!). Rub-ons by Doodlebug.

Have a great evening! Catch you tomorrow :)

Hello There!

I hope your week is going well so far :) Today's card is made with some stamps I've had for a while - they just hadn't been inked up yet. I played with them a little this weekend, though! The taxi and crocodile images are made by Doodle Factory - I got them at Starving Artist Stamps after seeing them on Ana's blog. Lots of fun for coloring and paper piecing! And the "Hello There!" sentiment is by The Cat's Pajamas :)

Yesterday I went to the first of 3 training sessions to become the school's assessment coordinator...it was a little overwhelming, but it'll work out! The principal wanted someone detail-oriented - and that's me, for sure! I'm thinking it'll mean a lot of extra hours for me around state testing time in March...

Yesterday we had quite the wildlife viewing session here - in the space of one hour we saw a fox, a coyote (the first I've seen here!) and then a huge bull elk! The elk was in the fenced-in part of our yard, and I couldn't believe that he could jump the fence, but when he spotted us looking out the window at him, he showed us just how to clear a 6-foot fence from a standing position! Just a gorgeous animal!

TCP Tuesday - Inspiration Challenge!

It's TCP Tuesday! Our Hostess with the Mostess this week is Jen, and she came up with an awesome vintage Halloween picture to inspire us this week for TCPTUES28 (that's the keyword to use if you upload your creation to Splitcoast Stampers) :)

My card was made with patterned paper by Basic Grey and Rusty Pickle - and, most importantly, with some of the brand new Halloween stamps from The Cat's Pajamas :) You can check them out here! Hopefully I was able to photograph the card close enough for you to see the dimension of the stamped images. I have to say, I really like this one! And don't forget to check out the other TCP DT gals' blogs (linked over on the left)...they will have some awesome creations this week, I'm sure!

Who's That Girl? Challenge

It's my turn to host the "Who's That Girl?" stamp challenge on the MFT Forum over at Splitcoast Stampers. This week I'm challenging participants to use one of MFT's "Who's That Girl?" sets along with paper piecing :)

I used the "Meet Me at the Cafe" set (which is on sale just for today (Monday)!) and paper pieced the image using some Basic Grey paper.

I hope you had a fantastic Monday! Come back tomorrow for a spooky TCP Tuesday challenge :)

3 Peeps Challenge

Here's my card for our second "3 Peeps" challenge. Linda, Karrie and I each picked an element that we had to include on our card, and this month we came up with: a 4" square card, Halloween theme, and 2 pieces of ribbon :)

The stamps on my card are from The Cat's Pajamas' new Halloween collection, and the patterned paper is by K & Company. I used Cosmo Cricket ribbon :)

Fall card...

This is one of the cards I made yesterday...I used My Favorite Things' "Who's That Ghost?" Flopsey stamp and some patterned paper from Papertrey Ink. The ribbon is from my stash and the pin is by Heidi Grace :)

Have a fantastic Sunday!! See you tomorrow with my card for this month's 3 Peeps Challenge :)

Weekend photos :)

I took these photos last weekend when we were hanging out outside; Tasha wasn't too happy about being in the back yard to watch all the fun! LOL! She can't play out front, though - it's not fenced in and she would be chasing all the cars! One of the foxes came by to say hi...he/she is ridiculously tame - and so very cute! On the photo of our house, you can see Jamie in the driveway - I can't remember what he was doing there though!

Cheery card :)

I made this card at the weekend with some scraps I had left after making the owl card that I showed you a few days ago :) The little girl is actually a wooden "sticker" that I picked up ages ago at Hobby Lobby...I'm going to put this card aside to mail to Nattie when she goes on her 6th grade "Outdoor Lab" trip in a couple of weeks. She'll be gone for 5 days - and there will be no phone calls allowed during that time! Waaah! What's a mom to do???? Of course I'm way more bothered about the lack of phone calls than Nattie is...she is actually more upset because she can't take her iPod! LOL!