Happy Holidays!

Life is crazy!!! We have been trying to establish a good schedule for us all, so far.... Anyhoo, we've been getting ready for the holidays, baking, Christmas cards (no creations, newletter instead) cleaning, you know the drill. Here is a little photo montage for the holidays, so enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Our little pumpkin

Well, she's finally here! It's been a while since I updated this so here it goes...

Elizabeth Grace was born October 3rd at 8:00 am. via c-section, she was 9 lbs 10 oz (a little smaller than expected) and everything went as planned. However, if anyone tells you that a c-section is easy (yes Cristy, I'm talking to you:)) hit them for me. It was the scariest experience! Obviously totally worth it and the recovery time is a piece of cake, but the actuall surgery, yikes! Check out all our photos from the first week here Anyhoo...It's been a bit tougher than expected balancing both kids, the house and my business. Motherhood as eliminated all my free time, so I haven't been doing any card making or MaryKay.

BUT... I have just finished my yearly projects for Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. If you haven't heard of them, they are a FABULOUS restaurant chain based here in Columbus. THey used to own Mitchell Fish Markets and Mitchells' Steak Houses, but Cameron sold those concepts off last year to Ruth Chris' Steakhouses and another company as well. Now he is focusing on creating new concepts to open, so far my favorite is Marcella's - YUMMM. Check out all I did for them HERE. It took quite a bit of time to create the items for the 15 current stores and they already have me slated for more for next year. I will be decorating my house for the holidays this weekend and life will slow down hopefully enough that I will be able to actually make my own christmas cards this year. I promise to update you on my creations as soon as I do them.

Hugs and thanks for all your well wishes!

Why I haven't been creating...

Don't get excited... the baby hasn't come yet. I was hoping my doctor would have scheduled a c-section for me sometime soon, but no such luck. My cervix is thin but won't open due to the scar tissue from multiple past procedures. That was a plus earlier in the pregnancy, but now... not so much.

Although I am not diabetic, the baby is now apparently 8 lbs, 12 oz (mini amazon) now, but it could be a pound either way, so she could be 9 lbs 12 oz, or 7 lbs, 12 oz. (if I'm lucky). I still have 4 weeks to term, and at this stage babies generally gain about 1/2 lb+ a week so she will probably be a 10 lb + baby. My doctor is unwilling to induce early or decide to do a c-section until we get closer to the due date due to possible complications.

I am very huge, very uncomfortable, and VERY ready to have my body back. I am still on limited activity, but have been doing everything short of jazzercise if it means I will go into labor. I haven't been doing much of anything creative, just trying to get my house in order before the baby arrives.

Rob has been a HUGE help these last 2 weeks and continues to make me sit or lay down all the time. He has put up with a lot from this pregnancy. Overall this is easier than Lily's pregnancy, but the last 2 weeks have been difficult and we are bummed that we could have 4 more long weeks (at least I am). As long as we are all happy and healthy at the end, it's worth it.

I promise, I will TRY to get to creating soon. I miss doing all the SCS challenges as they keep my mind thinking outside the box. Please be patient...I will return!!!!

I know it's not cards...

But I've really been busy! I just spent the last week preparing and planning my girlfriend's - mom's wedding. It was so much fun to get back into the Special Event planning hat for a week. It kind of makes me miss working in that field...kind of. Being 34 weeks pregant and creating 16 centerpieces, altar pieces and bunches of misc. items for the event made me EXHAUSTED by Saturday night. But it was totally fun, not that I'm ready to do that work full-time again.

Here are some crummy photos of the flowers I did. Each table was a different color or red, pink, purple, yellow, orange and green, with coordinating napkins and accents.

The altar had two lamp posts decorated with flowers on either side. It had a "street" theme.

My camera didn't do a great job capturing the essence of the room. The place for the event was called Snook's Dream Cars in Bowling Green. Ohio. It is a quirky little car museum that could have been really cheezy, but was done with great attention to detail and I loved it! They have done a great job getting not only beautiful antique cars, but have set up a great atmosphere and other car related memorialbilia and antique games that feature a car theme. My husbands favorite was the Drunk-o-Meter, that shocked you based on how drunk you are and how well you play the game. He is now commited to finding one for his "man cave". If you are at all into cars - which I am not - or even have someone in your life that is, check this place out next time your in town. It's a quick visit.

All in all, it was a great time, the bride and groom are in love, too adorable, and enjoy each other's company, what more can you ask for?

Off of cards, for the week...

I know it's been a while, but I haven't been making cards this week. This week I focused on gifts for my BFF's little sister, we are both pregnant with girls and due only 2 weeks apart. So I spent this week creating things for her to give her at her baby shower this past Saturday.

The first items are a set of custom onsies. The one shown is the one I liked the best, it makes me giggle. The image is an iron-on from Joanne's - too cute eh? I stamped the words 'little stinker' with whimsical lower case stamps and craft ink. I thought about using the Stazon...any suggestions? On the back, 'big' is done with Big Deal Alpha and pink fabric paint - the craft in light colors tends to dissapear after 1 wash - and 'stinker' again with the black craft. I made 3 others for her, one with her name 'Natalie', 'princess' and the last, 'Q-T'. All of them had the cute stick figures on them.

The last item I made for her is this...

I am SO impressed with myself. I made it late one night and almost had to wake my hubby up to admire my work! I also had to make another one for my bundle of joy 'cause it's just so darn cute!!! I have now purchased tons more fabric to make more for her and Lily, so they match. Now I can see why my mom had so much fun dressing my sister and I alike.

Well that's it for now. I promise to get back to stamping this week!

A night of fun

This card so so outside my norm but I really liked how it came out! I spent the evening creating for some me time. I worked ahead of the group (my teachers would be so proud) and did the Verve Anniversary challenge AVS10 early, then realized I couldn't post today. So much for being the early bird!

I'm in a Designer Paper (DP) mood tonight, so the striped paper inspired the colors for this one. The colors used are Certainly Celery (CC), Ruby Red (RR) Pumpin Pie (PP), Perfect Plum (PP2), and lastly, yes it's true, some of it still exists, COOL CARRIBEAN (CC2)!!! I am a paper horder you know. The main panel of RR (run thru the Cuttlebug) and the DP is layered on CC2 and CC with ribbon from Sorbet wrapped around the middle (I wish I could get 10 yards of this stuff!). I layered on 3 panels of PP (again run thru the Cuttlebug) over the ribbon. The sentiment is from 'For a Friend' inked with RR and Lavendar Lace markers. The flame is some 3D glue I got from Michaels with some glitter on it. That is layered on CC and CC2. Finally I added a 1" circle of PP2 with a circle of white uniball ink (traced around a 3/4" circle) cut it in half and added it to the corners. I never would have come up with this sketch on my own, so its good to try something new. I really liked how it came out!

Easy Peasy!

I think this may be my favorite one I did last night, although the photo came out blurry. This is also for the Verve Anniversary challenges, AVS09.



I was inspired by the Designer Paper for this one. The colors are Kraft (K), Certainly Celery (CC) Pumpkin Pie (PP) and...wait for it...Cool Carribean (CC2)! I know you are all jealous, I have a huge stash of it still! The striped DP and the paisley DP are layered on CC and CC2, all placed on a K card body. I wrapped the layers with ribbon from Sorbet. The sentiment from 'Happy Harmony' is stamped with Close to Cocoa on Whisper White, then layered it on PP, CC, CC2 and K. I added a flower from the Pretties kit colored with So Saffron and Apricot Appeal then added the gold bling! Super easy peasey!

Shall I dare?

I'm on a mission! I'm going to do all the Verve Anniversary challenges! This one is for AVS05. I've never made a long card before so I'm not sure of what dimensions to use. I know I'll have to make my own envelope for this one.

I used Regal Rose (RR), Pretty in Pink (PP), Rose Red(RR2) and the new SU! In Color Pink Pirouettte (PP2). I started off my embossing with white EP 3 images of the flower from 'Dare to be Fabulous' on RR, PP and PP2. I cut them out with the PP2 the smallest flower, PP the medium flowr and RR the largest flwoer. It is put together with dimensionals and I added 3 pearls to the center for some glam. The flower is layered on PP2 stamped with 'Filagree' then layered on RR2 and RR. The main background is all on RR. I stamped the next layer of RR with the 'Polkadot' background stamp with RR ink and embossed the sentiment in the bottom left corner with white EP and colored in the word with RR and RR2. The center layer is PP2 stamped again with the 'Filagree' background stamp and layered on RR2 with the bottom edge punched out with my SU! scallop punch. I added the holes with my 1.8" punch. RR grosgrain ribbon was wrapped around this layer and I added a bow with a mini glue dot.

So how confusing was that with all the RR's and the PP's?

Funky fresh

This is another one I did last night, its for the Verve Anniversary challenge AVS07. I used only designer paper on this one. I love this paper, its so vintage, cool and fresh!



The bright Designer Paper (DP) inspired the colors of this card. I used So Saffron (SS), Elegant Eggplant (EE) Regal Rose (RR), and Soft Sky(SS). The 1st layer is the SS DP prints from SU! layered on EE. I then wrappes SS ribbon around the bottom and added a bow with a mini glue dot. The fun DP is layered on SS and EE. I used my scallop punch to do the bottom edge of the EE then layered RR behind it for extra color. The sentiment is from'Sincere Salutations' on Whisper White paper with EE ink, then sponged with SS around the edges. That is layered on SS, RR and EE. I added a flower with a pink brad for fun. It's not my favorite card, but it's cute.

Polkadot Imperfection

So as I sat up creating for a while last night, I started off with a bang, and ended up at a whisper. Let me show you...
This card was the last one I did, it's for the Verve Anniversary challenge AVS06. Notice how the words are not center in the circle, and how my brads on either side have a different placement? I think I may have dosed off while making this one. Anyhow, I used SU! colors Basic Black (BB), Certainly Celery (CC) and Old Olive (OO). I stamped the OO with the Polka-dot background stamp with OO ink, then wraped the corners with a wide black and white polka-dot ribbon. I layered that on BB. The center circle is from 'Sage Advice', it's probebly one of my favorite quotes. I stamped it with Versamark on CC Designer Prints paper and cut it out - incorrectly- with my Colluzle (I don't have Nestabilities yet). The scallop edge is from Quickutz and I cut out BB, then made more polka-dots with my uniball white gel pen. The side panels is the ribbon and I used my Crop-a-dile to punch the holes for the brads. I didn't notice the brads were off until after I had finished the card. Oh well! The whole thing is on a Whisper White card body.

Verve-a-licious!

I have to say that I love all the images made by Verve Stamps. They are cute, fresh, stylish and fun! I just wish I owned some...but alas, with baby #2 only a few weeks away, my stamping budget is being spent elsewhere. I do enjoy receiving Verve updates from Poetic Artistry, a blog by the company's owner and stamp designer Julee Tilman. Last week was the companies first anniversary and they were having card challenges everyday. Since I was out of town, I'm doing them now.


I made this card for my BFF younger sister, who is having a baby girl (just like me) on the 15th of September. I can only hope my baby decides to come that early, as she is due October 8th, but is likely to arrive early.
I made it using the Verve sketch AVS02, and I used Whisper White (WW), Pretty in Pink (PP), Regal Rose (RR) and 2 designer papers(DP) from Memory Makers. Its a square card, which I almost never make, so it was a great challenge for me. The card base is WW layered with PP and RR. The striped DP is scalloped using the SU scallop punch with holes punched out with the 1/16th punch. Those layers are then wrapped with a retired SU! ribbon (I'm a ribbon and paper horder). The next layer is made with the green polka-dot DP again, punched with the scallop punch, I cut the square in half and attached it to a piece of RR. I layered clear(backed with PP), green and clear green buttons on the RR with mini glue dots around the edge. I then attached my sentiment (For a Friend) which was stamped with Always Artichoke ink and colored in with PP and RR markers, layered on Old Olive paper. I attached the sentiment with 3 layers of dimensionals above the buttons and added PP buttons on top. Finally I made a knot with the retired ribbon and attached it with a mini glue dot.

I'm planning on creating some special gifts for her, as she lost her first baby 3 days after she developed toxemia and had to deliver at 25 weeks early last year. This new baby for her is a gift from God that will be spoiled like the princess she will be!!!

It feels like spring...

Well, I'm back from our last vacation of the summer...it was a long one for me! A week in Petoskey Michigan (fabulous place and weather!) then 3 more days in Perrysburg with my parents before they left for Seattle for 5 1/2 weeks! Whew...now that I'm back, I'm following Doctors orders, doing things that keep my stress level to a minimum for baby's sake :). So that means stamping (No arguement here)!

Here is one I did for last weeks SCS color challenge 177, Groovy Guava (GG), Whisper White (WW) and Sahara Sand(SS). I of course added another neutral (well, what I consider a neutral), Chocolate Chip(CC). The card base is an A2 card of SS. The bottom layer is SS stamped with the wheel from the Spring Solitude Bundle inked with SS. I sponged the edges with SS and layered it on GG with the bottom edge punched with the new SU! scallop punch (love it!) and polka-dots with my unibal white gel pen. I wrapped the layer with a wide white grosgrain ribbon I have. The second layer is on SS stamped with the Spring Solitude solid flower stamp with SS ink, then I used Versamark with the flower outline stamp to emboss with white EP that over the other stamped images (does that make sense?) My embossing buddy failed me this time, as there are TONS of white EP flakes everywhere. I stamped the sentiment with SS marker and Versamarker and embossed the word 'you' with white EP. The panel is sponged with SS around the edges and layered on GG. I then attached that to the 1st layer and wrapped it with CC grosgrain ribbon. The final layer I used the branch stamp, inked with CC marker and SS marker and stamped it on SS, then stamped the bird with Versamark and embossed with white EP. I punched the image out with my 1 1/4" square punch and sponged the edges with SS, used my 1 3/8" punch with WW and cut out CC to frame this. Finally, GG is punched out with my Marvy scallop square punch with white polkadots again around the edge and I added a CC grosgrain knot with a mini glue dot. I have to say that I really like this stamp set, it's a shame it to me so long to get it!

Double-ly adorable!

I had some time after the birthday party, so while Lily was sleeping and I was doing laundry, I made this card. Talk about multi-tasking!



This is for the SCS card sketch challenge #186 this week. I started by selecting a stamp set that would complement the strip along the bottom of the sketch, so I picked out Double Line Doodles (retired SU!). I stamped the long strip first on Certainly Celery with CC ink, then highlighted the image with my uniball White gel pen and Old Olive marker. I layered that on Old Olive paper and using scalloped scissors, trimmed the edges down the length of the paper. Next I used another retired SU! item, the background paper (don't remember the name) and layered that on CC and Always Artichoke. The second panel is the SU! DS Print paper in Certainly Celery, layered on Old Olive. I stamped 'adorable' from Warm Words with Always Artichoke, 'cause she's adorable! The main image from the stamp set is stamped on Whisper White with Always Artichoke, then sponged with CC and OO. I then cut out the center if the image and featured a photo of Lily behind it (isn't she cute!). That is layered on CC and AA trimmed with the scallop scissors (I don't have the Nestabilities yet) and I put white polkadots around it with the white gel pen. I added Moss grosgrain ribbon under the image and attached it with dimensionals. That's it! Thanks for looking!!

Emma's Birthday!

Lily's best friend from preschool, Emma had her Cinderella birthday party today! Lily had tons of fun with her friends from school playing princesses, swinging and picking flowers (aka weeds). We got Emma a Sleeping Beauty dress for her upcoming trip to Disney World, but this morning I decided I needed to make something a little extra. So in about an hour and 15 minutes, I came up with this collection of goodies for her next year at preschool!

This doesn't have any SU! products in it, so I can't explain what everything is and where it's from, but I can explain the process. The lunchbox is from the Target $1 spot, about 2 years ago (I hope they do them again this year). I used ModPodge to attach the paper with rounded corners to the front and the back. I usually do the whole name, but this is a small box and it didn't fit. So instead, I added her inital with a pre-made chipboard letter then applied ModPodge to the whole thing to make it water proof. Then embellished it simply with a prima flower, button and ribbon. The handle had ribbons tied to it in an array of colors. I made a crayon box slide with the same paper, punches and the retired SU! letter set letter dots (I don't think that's the name). The little pad of paper (its only 3.5"x3.5") has the same paper, chipboard and embellishments as the lunch box. Tosssed in a few pens and pencils and voila'!

It's a boy!

I just found out this morning that my girlfriend Carrie is having a baby boy! Just what she wanted! It's been fun being pregnant together. Now that we are both getting bigger, we bumb bellies when ever we see each other. She is about 2+ months behind me. I decided to make another card for her using the colors of the card challenge CC176. Its a fun combo!

I did add Chocolate Ship to this one also, even though it looks like black. I need to work on my camera... Anyhoo, I used a retired SU! paper (I don't remember the name) that is acutally Mellow Moss, but I thought it was close enough, and I sponged the edges with River Rock. The lower panel is River Rock, run thru the Cutllebug and both were layered on a piece of Chocolate Chip. I put a strip of Soft Sky stiched ribbon at the 'joint' with a knot attached with a mini glue dot. The main image is from Very Punny (minus the pun)on Very Vanilla, colored with SS and RR using a blender pen, and added So Saffron to the scallop. I sponged the edges and layered it on RR, SS and a Chocolate Chip scalloped square using my Marvy punch. All this is on a VV card base. Sweet and simple!

Look Familiar?

I really love Soft Sky, it's a shame it's being retired. I'm getting a bunch of it before it goes though. This is for the SCS color challenge CC176, and I actually finished this one within 12 hours of posting! That's a record for me.

The colors for this challenge were Soft Sky, River Rock and Very Vanilla. Its a lovely, soft combination. This is the same layout I did for the Mojo Monday #44 last month, it's very versatile. I started out with a Chocolate Chip card base, I know it looks like Basic Black, but it's not, its Chocolate Chip. (I cheated I know, but I like a little more contrast) and layered on Very Vanilla with a River Rock panel that was Cuttlebugged. On that, I added a Soft Sky panel, stamped on Script in SS and sponged the edges, then layered it on VV. The 3rd panel is the textured River Rock paper with sponged edges and layered also on VV. I added a strip of Soft Sky stiched ribbon on that as well. The main image is from Embrace Life, stamped in Chocolate Chip, with the flowers colored in with my uniball white gel pen and highlighted with SS using my aqua painter. I sponged the edges and layered it on RR, SS and CC. The scallop is SS with CC dots, then the sentiment is stamped on VV with CC and Script stamped over it with SS and sponged around the edges. I didn't have any embellishements in that great Chocolate Chip color, so I had to settle for Close to Cocoa buttons with a thin strip of River Rock threaded thru the holes.

A little suspense...

This card I just made, it's super easy and cute! It's for the SCS technique challenge TLC176. I had never made one and really think it's adorable, the directions are the the link, so check it out! I did however drop my stamp on the front after I had finished, since it was late, I didn't do it over.

Front of spinner

Back of spinner.

I used Whisper White card stock for the card body, then tied the wide black polka dot ribbon around it and tied it off with a bow. Sorry the photo is off. I punched the scallop circle punch in the bottom right corner. The spinner is the ladybug from Very Punny, stamped on WW with Basic Black, and colored in with my aqua painter and Real Red ink. The other side is stamped with the 'thank you' stamp from Short & Sweet, outlined with the real red marker. I added dots around the edge with the Basic Black marker. The image and the sentiment were punched with the 1 1/4" circle punch and layered together back to back with a piece of red thread between. On the inside of the card, taped the ends of the thread to the back of the front of the card and placed a Real Red piece of card stock and with a punched a 1 3/8 circle out of that. Added some white polka dots and voila'! Sweet and simple!

Not so groovy...

Since I don't really like this card, I won't get into the specifics. It's for the SCS card challenge SC185 and color challenge CC174.

Dots, dots, dots!

So here is another one I made today. It was great having Lily with me creating, I had time to create with spending time with her!
This one is for the SCS Color challenge CC175 and card layout challenge SC183. So Saffron, Almost Amethyst and Wild Wasabi. I have to admit, that this card is inspired by Markie's Mom at SCS. She makes the most beautiful cards, and always uses black and white polka dots. Check out her gallery, it's great!!!

I used the Simply Said stamp set, colored it with AA and SS and surrounded the image with Soft Sky using the aqua painter. The main image was layered on WW, AA and finished with Basic Black and i added the dots with my uniball white gel pen. The SS layer is SU! DP and the WW layer was Cuttlebugged with swirls. and bother are layered on Whisper White. I added the balck and white polkadot wide ribbon with a strip of Wild Wasabi Sticked ribbon down the center and added a knot with a mini glue dot. The main panel is AA on a card body of Basic Black and added white polkadots. The sentiment is from the same stamp set, i just used a few words from the stamp, along with some bling in the corner.

Thanks for looking!

It's Mojo baby!

This card was created for the Mojo Monday Week #45. It's late, but am I ever on time? Anyway, this is another card I created with Lily today.

I used the Blooming with Happiness stamp set, which I love. The DP(a gift from an old DDS) inspired the color combo, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Almost Amethyst and Pumpkin Pie, it also has glitter on it, 'cause you know I love glitter! I used my corner punch for the scallops on the DP, since I haven't ordered my scallop edge punch yet. I layered it on Whisper White and punched that as well. The top DP is So Saffron Prints DP from SU! and the Almost Amethyst at the bottom is stamped with So Swirly with White Craft ink. I stamped the cake with Basic Black and colored the image in with So Saffron, Pumpkin Pie and Almost Amethyst, then used my aqua painter to do the Wild Wasabi and the Soft Sky around the image. The flames of the candles have a little shimmer to them (an Elmers craft glue I got at Michaels) and glitter on the flowers. The image and the sentiment is layered on AA and PP and WW on the image. Then I added the Soft sky ribbon and bling at the bottom to finish it off! Hope it inspires!