Posh Paper November kit!

Discount Cardstock has a NEW monthly kit! There are TWENTY sheets of cardstock in this kit, and the ribbon and buttons are SUPER fun. It's a versatile color palette, perfect for fall projects, Christmas cards, or general occasion cards, scrapbook pages, or altered projects!

SPECIAL LIMITED TIME PRICING!! Save 25% on the first month's kit if you buy before midnight, October 31st!

You can find all the details HERE on the DCS website!
I'll have some projects to share with you SOON, using this kit!!!! I have been having a BLAST playing with these goodies!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!
XOXO

thank you acorns!

I created these cards for my mom's Close To My Heart blog a few weeks ago, but I thought I would share them here! (Since it's been almost a week since I popped in to share anything!) It's supposed to be almost 90 degrees here today, but tomorrow it should be down to 70 or so, and I am ready for a little more fall weather, that's for sure!!! And if there's one thing that says FALL. . .it's ACORNS!!! How cute are these? I used my circle punch, and punched them right out from the Twitterpated patterned paper by CTMH. This is part of a big batch of cards I am making for gifts (so if you get these under the Christmas tree, act surprised!!!!) I am always working on using up my patterned paper, because I never can seem to keep up with the mounting stack of it! Quick, simple, and using up the stash. . .that's what it's all about! (Oh, and CUTE. Definitely always striving for CUTE!)

I need to head out the door to get my little man to school, and then I am off to buy supplies for his class party tomorrow! I {heart} being a room mom!!!! :)

Have a great day, and a TERRIFIC weekend. . . .I'll try to come back with some Halloween treats this weekend!

XOXO

Apron Strings . . .before the month is over!

I realized I never finished sharing my cards using the October Apron Strings kit! I better show you QUICK, so you can run right over and scoop up the goodies! :)

These cards both feature paper from American Crafts. I had THE best time cutting out all these little butterflies, bending up their wings a bit, and sticking them on. I suppose these would be the types of cards to hand-deliver, as the butterflies would certainly lose their charm, all smooshed up in an envelope!
You can find all the goodies shown on these cards, in the Apron Strings October kit! Go. . .hurry! Check it out HERE!

We are looking forward to the Air Show this weekend. . .especially because we'll be watching it WITHOUT the crowded mob of people, comfortably from Eric's grandparents dock, right across the river from the Navy base where it's held. I think the boys are going to LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Have a great weekend!
XXOOX

completely random

Having a random sort of day today. . . and here is a blog post to coordinate.

First, the card - all Close To My Heart goodies, including the circle card. I feel a little challenged by the circle shape. But I am fairly happy with this card (although the photo sort of stinks. Sorry about that!)

Made this for dinner last night:
Chicken Marsala Yummy!!!

Desperately trying to clean my kitchen. Funny how I have been desperately trying to clean my kitchen every day for at LEAST the past week. Funny how every time I get half way done, it's time to cook again, or some wild child runs through leaving a path of destruction behind him. I should be cleaning right now. But as I clean, I also have to remove half the items from my cabinets, because SOMEONE, who shall remain nameless, REALLY likes to pull all the Ziplock bags from the boxes, and REALLY likes to fill the colanders with trucks and magnets. And REALLY likes to spread the PlayDoh toys (minus the PlayDoh) all over the floor, for me to step on. So it's sort of a losing battle.

But onward I must march.
In pursuit of the unattainable goal. . ..
a clean kitchen. Actually, just a NEAT kitchen. Clean would be a bonus.

i scream, you scream, we all scream for. . .CANDY CORN!

Oh sweet, sweet season of candy corn.
My husband says I am like one of the only people who really LIKES candy corn.
I think he's crazy.

So, in honor of my love of the yummy autumn treat (which by the way, I have YET to indulge in, this season) a candy corn card. Totally calorie free.

First, I created a template on scrap paper. I folded it in half, so both sides would be symmetrical, and I just started trimming and checking, and trimming some more, until it was just how I wanted it. (Or good enough anyway!) I left the top a little wider than I would normally, so that there would be enough of a fold.

Then I just traced it onto a folded card-sized piece of Simply Smooth white cardstock (from Discount Cardstock, of course!) Then I used my same template, and cut a piece of Intense Yellow Prismatic, and Classic Orange Prismatic, and glued it right onto my card front.

To finish it off, I added some gingham ribbon. (From Close To My Heart)
Gingham ribbon almost always seems to be the perfect finishing touch!! :)

You're not old. . . .

Tami Mayberry's new set at Gina K is Soooooo Grooooovy!!! We all know my obsession with paper-piecing, and I have this cute little paper-pieced television for you today, dressed up with a little blue bling!!!!

I used my ScorPal to create the background stripes that frame my image. Easy peasy and it adds a lot of character! (There's a great video about this at Gina K's StampTV!)

I hope you have a GREAT weekend! I hope to have some new cards to share soon . . .I'm in a bit of a card-making funk, but I do have some cute stuff from earlier this month I can share!!! Thanks for stopping by!

card goodies: stamps - Gina K Designs, patterned paper - October Afternoon, cardstock - Discount Cardstock (Frosted Teal Prismatic, Ivory) ribbon, ink, gems - Close To My Heart)

a tutorial? for real!!!

Do you ever have a piece of patterned paper that you love, but it isn't quite the right colors? And do you ever have piles of little cardstock scraps overflowing from your scrap bucket? If so, check out my little tutorial at the Discount Cardstock blog. (And hey, while you are there, do some cardstock shopping too!)

This card was made with NO patterned paper. . .and I'll show you how! I love the way it turned out . . .some of my favorite colors, and one of my favorite stamps, from The {Stamps} of Life!

Thanks for stopping by!
XOXO

(Card goodies: cardstock - Intense Teal Prismatic, Frosted Teal Prismatic, Lime Denim, Pretty Pink Doublemates, Simply Smooth White - all from Discount Cardstock, stamp - The {Stamps} of Life)

cake, cards, and coupons. . .oh my!

Three of my favorite things. . .cards, coupons, and cake!

The card:
This card is for the CPS sketch this week. #188, which is sponsored by In Style Stamps. They sent me this ADORABLE stamp, called Framed Bird. I paper-pieced it, and I just LOVE this image. Love the colors (my go-to, most favorite color combo) and I love the buttons on the trees. I don't totally love the whole card, but the stamped image, I LOVE!


The cake:
This is a cake I made last weekend. Eric's mom asked me to make a cake for a bridal shower she was having. It was a 12 inch, 2 layer cake, with my favorite buttercream frosting. (Except I add lots of extra almond extract, and some meringue powder!)I tinted it very light blue, and added the swirlies and trim in white buttercream. I was a little stressed about this cake, not wanting to screw it up, but thankfully it turned out pretty good. The most difficult part was figuring out how to contain it and transport it! I don't have a cake-carrier big enough!

The coupons:
We are camping out at home this weekend, with the big kid who recovered from last week's illness, and the little kid who caught the illness. Some sort of croupy, coughing, crummy bug. It stinks, the poor baby. Yesterday I managed to get to the grocery though, and I did SOO WELL! I think it might have been one of my best couponing trips EVER. I spent $25 for $53 of groceries, which included over 3 pounds of ground beef, some veggies, and even my cinnamon broom. (You know, all things that are NOT super cheap) But the BEST score. . . SIX bottles of Martha Stewart cleaning products for FREE. I am not kidding. Between the coupons and the sale, they were FREE. All SIX of them. Did I mention, SIX FREE BOTTLES? (And normally they are $3.99 each! HELLLO!?) It was seriously rockin' my coupon world. I also got two cartons of chicken broth, 4 canisters of bread crumbs, 2 bottles of salad dressing, and 2 boxes of pasta. For $25. Hello!!!!!! LOVE. IT.

Okay. Now I must get back to the croupy kid, the kid playing football on the iPad, and the house which seems to be getting messier as every minute goes by. Have a GREAT Sunday!!!
XOXO

Boo! (Apron Strings October kit)

I. Love. This. Paper. It's the Blackbird line from My Mind's Eye. Somehow, even though I LOVE MME, I hadn't seen this paper before it arrived in my October kit from Apron Strings Designs. It is ADORABLE! Lots of polka dots, and these CUTIE PIE trick-or-treaters. I love CUTE Halloween stuff! On this first card, I pretty much just cut the images off the paper, and stuck them onto a card base. I added some foam tape in a few spots, and I "opened" up the doors, and added one of my trick-or-treaters inside. Even the letters were on the piece of paper, so although it was intricate, it was fun, mindless work. And I LOVE how it turned out.This second card is more of a quick and simple card. The gold rub-on alphabet is from Jenni Bowlin, and oh my, those rub-ons go on like BUTTER. Simply smooth as can be, and they look AWESOME on the black cardstock.

Apron String's October kit is NOT all about Halloween. There are some other really pretty papers from BasicGrey and American Crafts. If you are looking for something fun to play with, I highly recommend this kit! You can see the whole kit on the website (plus a sneak peek at some of my other samples on the slideshow.) I'll have more to share over the next few weeks!

zoom go the days

With a one year old in the house, we are very much into what SOUND everything makes. "The cat says Meow", "The dog says Woof! Woof!" and the days, it seems say "ZOOOOOM" as they fly right by! I am holding on tight, and trying to savor each and every one. October is my FAVORITE - the weather is starting to cool off a bit. We even opened the house up this week - HOORAY!!!! We'll still have some warm days ahead, but this little break feels AMAZING. I love October too, because we start to feel the anticipation of the truly CHILLY days, and fun holiday festivities, from Halloween, the hubby's birthday, Thanksgiving, Mr. B's birthday, and then Christmas. Phew. I always try to get ahead in October, because it's a downward spiral of insanity from here on until New Years!
This first card I have to share with you, is using the new Christmas set from The {Stamps} of Life. I stamped the holly background, colored it with colored pencils, and then added the gems for a bit of bling. A double scalloped border, and some Papertrey ribbon finished it off.

The second card features those hippie dippie "So Groovy" stamps, at Gina K Designs, designed by my friend Tami Mayberry. I used Papertrey Ink patterned paper, and Close To My Heart ink to create this color scheme (which I LOVE, of course, because teal and green are my go-to colors!)

Speaking of paper, and fabulous colors. . . .yesterday I got my first box of cardstock from Discount Cardstock. 10 pounds of cardstock - DUDE. So fun! I got a big package of Teal Prismatics (Intense Teal and Frosted Teal) Lime Denim, plus a bunch of other great papers. I. Am. EXCITED. Excited to play, and excited to share this great company with you. If you need cardstock, you seriously need to stop by and check out the selection. I am drooling over the color swatch book, and already planning what I want to get next!

Okay, onward to do 10 other things before the little man is up from his nap! I hope you have a GREAT day.

As promised. . . .

Here's my news!

I am so excited to play with some new products, share some new products, and work with some other talented and wonderful ladies!!! I will have lots to share about this GREAT company in the months ahead!

Cardstock, anyone?????


:)

It's a big day!!!

Happy October! (OCTOBER. Seriously, OCTOBER!?)

Today is a BIG day! There are new stamps from The {Stamps}of Life being released today. The set is called Holly4Christmas and you can see it HERE! I am pretty sure I say this every month, but . . . .I LOVE this set. The font is terrific, and the sentiments are LARGE, perfect for making a focal point on your holiday cards.

On this card, I paired the cute TSOL stamps with Close To My Heart paper, from the new catalog (called Mistletoe, which you can find HERE).

Today, I have other news too . . . .but I am not quite sure if I can share it yet. So I'll be back. Later on today. I promise.

With NEWS! ;)
Happy Friday!!!