Inspired by Nature...again!!!

As with the Butterfly garden below, I had borrowed the set and it needed returned, so I went crazy with the Inspired by Nature Stamps. I LOVE this stamp set (currently on the dormant list but not retired!). Isn't it pretty!?! I also love cards made with purple and green, these colors are just soothing and complimentarty to me. So here are two I made using those combos.

It is so funny, I love the one on the left because the flowers are dark and stand out, but I love the one on the right because the flowers are more subtle- exact opposite reasons! Which one do you like best and why?

Little Marvin Martian

OK, first off, let me say that I apologize because the image is a little blury. :( I didn't realize and I would happily take another photo, BUT I gave this card to my friends son for his 3rd birthday and it is gone.... so, you'll just have to live with it! ;)

So now you know why I made this card. I wanted to make him something with a monkey on it since the party theme was Curious George picked by him, but I only have one monkey stamp and I loaned it to his mom so she could make thank you cards with it, what is a girl to do?! I figured he would be just as happy with a spaceship and a little martian.

I have to tell you that I had a really difficult time with this card. I knew I wanted to use these two stamps and have the spaceship be the A in blast, but what? Mostly it was the layout that killed me. Finally (after about an hour with this and the party being the next day), I just said, enough is enough! Maybe if I had time to put it down and look again later or next day, but I didn't. And actually, I like the card and think it turned out OK.

So we went to the party with this in tow and a present. My daughter (with my help) made a big S inside for Samo (the birthday boy) or it could be a "from Sophie" kind of S, or perhaps both! :) My daughter is only 16 months old, so she was pretty content to play by herself, but I tell you that party was wild!

Once everyone arrived (the kids were already playing inside) we all had some food, pizza for the kids and Peruvian for the adults- yum! Then outside to ride around in the Power Wheels Escalade- whoa! Samuel got this for Christmas from his dad as a sort of, "good-bye big presents" item- they are expecting a little sister in July, so Samo won't be an only any more... Anyway, all the kids wanted to ride, except Sophie, what did she care right (again only 16 mos)? But Samo wanted her to ride. :) So we finally got her in and strapped her in. Samo promised to go slow. I think she was amused by it. The funny part is that Ana (my friend) and I joke about having Sophie and Samo get married. So here they are in the Escalade, she has her arm over the side and it just looks like the man is takin' his lady for a ride doesn't it (pic below). I just thought it was so funny, like they are just, "pimpin' their ride!"

Anyway, that is just about the most long winded blog I have ever posted and now I am pooped! :) Hope you have a good day.

Butterfly Garden

My friend Heather let me borrow her stamp set Inspired by Nature about two weeks ago and I had (as of earlier today) yet to use it. I wanted to return it to her, so I figured I better get going. I made about 6 cards using this same set, I haven't quite finished them all, but here is the first.

I call this one Butterfly Garden. I love the white on the black and then I bordered it with taken with teal cardstock. Then I wasn't sure what to do. I was playing around with color combos and decided that a nice bright yellow would be good. So I stamped the butterflys in black on the current sale-a-bration DSP. I chose the DSP because there was a little bit of different shades that could show through. I then embossed the butterflys with gold emboss powder and cut them out. The butterflys are from the Dream's Du Joir set and the hostess set God's Beauty. I like the effect it created.

Oh and again, this one will work for the flourishes timeless tuesday challenge- http://flourishesnewsletter.blogspot.com/2009/02/timeless-tuesday_16.html

Petal Party Card kit

This weekend I had a fun Emergency Birthday Card Class. The class was compliments of Andrea Walford. This class is done with a simply scrappin' kit and a few extra items. It was such a fun class and I have to admit I love the ease with which you can create cards by using the scrappin' stickers. It is so nice to be able to peel them up and replace if you make a mistake, all the colors already coordinate with eachother, the paper, etc., pretty much everything you need is there. It is really great for beginners too, I had a mom and daughter pair and they both did great! So, I decided to take the Petal Party SU! Scrappin' Kit and make some cards from that. Here are three of the 16 different cards I made (and this was only HALF- actually a little less than- of the scrappin' kit!!!).

Tutorial coming soon- if you are interested in this tutorial, please contact me via email.

Live in MN- then enjoy some goodies!

My good friend Krista, who lives in MN, has a small, out of the home baking operation. She has been hired to make holiday treats, wedding cakes and everyday baked goods. I can attest that they are YUMMY, especially those macaroons (to die for!).

So, if you live in that neck of the woods, give her a shout, you'll get some tasty treats out of it, I promise!!! If you don't live in that neck of the woods, well, I know she is working on doing mail order business, so stay tuned. You can check out her blog here- www.sweettoothmn.blogspot.com.

OK, now get out your nappy, wipe up the drool and either order some of your own or get back to work! :)

Blog Candy Winner!!!

And the nominee goes to....Destynee! Her number was selected using random.org.

Destynee's comment was- #1 "Too cute! I am sure the parents will love them too."

Congrats!! I will be in touch with you to get your 6X6 pack of raspberry tart DSP. And thank you for everyone who stopped by and left a comment at my "13 thoughts for 13 tiny tots" post!

PS- there were only 6 of you, so the odds were pretty good. Next time it will be one of the other 5 of you I imagine! :)

Happy Valentines Day!

If you read my newsletter, you know that I am happy to be done with hearts! no more hearts for a while please! But... I did have a wonderful valentines day. It started out slow and casual and I made my family pancakes- Sophie got a heart shaped one. :) Then we took her to the zoo, and she is finally starting to notice the animals, so that was fun. We also bought her a mylar balloon- she loves balloons. Then we came home and relaxed. I enjoyed the flowers my husband and daughter bought me. We all made cards together- which is pretty much insane since my husband vowed to not do crafts. But how sweet, he wanted to make one for me since I love to make them so much. You should also know that he decided it is much harder than he thought and has a new respect for paper and stamping crafts. :) Here is the card I made for my husband and daughter using Cheep Talk. Mommy bird bringing hearts to daddy and baby. I used the new specialty paper with clouds, love that paper!

After Sophie went to bed, my husband made me a special surf and turf dinner. Filet Minon and lobster with baby carrots cooked with dill and green beans. YUM! It was really good, thanks honey!

Oh and PS- what did I give my hubby besides pancakes. A gift certificate to Gamefly- he loves video games! Happy Heart Day!