Inspired by Color and Sketch Challenges

I love the colors from Kristina's Color Challenge 47 and love the layout from Taylored Expressions Cupcake challenge #61, but sadly, I didn't make my card quick enough to submit to either challenges! Oh well, I still had fun making the card, and that's the important thing, right? It got my creative juices flowing with the color scheme and layout. Here's what I came up with:And, of course...here's the recipe:

* Tangerine Tango textured cardstock, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White Cardstock
* Baroque background stamp, Trendy Trees stamp (for the sentiment)
* Daisies #2 and Top Note Bigz dies
* So Saffron grosgrain ribbon, corduroy button

What do you think? Hope you like it!

Mojo Sketch 80

Good Morning all! Wow - am I running late! Here's my Mojo sketch and the card I created...I'm gonna have to add details on it later. I used the Eastern Blooms stamp set and the retired DSP Haiku. Stay tuned and I'll update further when I get a chance this evening!
Hope you like it! Have a great day :)

Freebie Friday 12 Winner!

Wow! Is it Monday already?! I tell ya, the weekend goes by SO FAST these days! Well, I guess I'll have to get myself ready and energized for the week in a big hurry! But before I get ahead of myself, it's time to announce the winner of Freebie Friday 12! And the winner is....Alicia! Congratulations :) Thanks to you all that participated in this past Friday's Freebie giveaway. Can you believe we're just a couple days away from April? How did that happen so fast? Well, let's all take a second to stop and smell the roses (or the gardenas, or jasmine...or any of the beautifully fragrant flowers that have made the spring air smell so fresh and pretty!) before our week escapes us. Have a great day!

Stay tuned for my Mojo Monday share. I also have the post from yesterday for Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color challenge...which I am really digging! If you haven't checked out her site and color challenges, I think it's definitely worth the while!

Raspberry Suite Week 2 Color Challenge

I really am enjoying Dawn McVey's color challenges! What's interesting is that for this week's challenge, she chose a picture from the Pottery Barn Teen catalog that I've been eyeing for a while, wanting to create something out of it as well!..so now the challenge just made me create that particular card a little sooner. I just love the color combination - it's got that cool summer breeze feel to it. Here's what I came up with:

I used the Big Shot to create the textured background and also used the Top Note die (an all-time favorite of mine). I used the Organic Outline, which gave me that natural leafy organic look I was trying to go for. I accessorized with the Scallop Border punch and the Scallop Oval (another new punch favorite!) and Large Oval punches. Hope you like it! Thanks for looking :)

Baby Shower Invites

Last weekend, I had made these shower invites for my friend, Michelle's shower. I am so excited for her - she's adopting a baby boy from Korea! Here are a couple pictures of the invites.
I was really happy with how they came out. I like this pocket card design - it was also very practical to hold the invite and directions info. I used the retired set - Bundle of Joy, and I also used the Large Polka dot Texturz Embossing plates for the Big Shot. Hope you like them! Thanks for taking the time to stop by. Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Today is my God Son's 8th Birthday! Gavin - this one's for you buddy:

Happy Birthday!

Here he is on the row machine at Crossfit Birmingham - he's one tough guy!

Find more videos like this on CrossFit Birmingham

Freebie Friday 12!

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all had a good week. I personally am looking forward to the weekend already! It was a busy (but productive) work week for me, so I am definitely ready for the weekend. Are you ready to see today's giveaway? I finally got a chance to play with the new Matchbox Bigz die cut that's in the upcoming Occasions Mini Catalog, so I thought I'd make it today's little freebie giveaway. Here it is:

This picture looks pretty true to size, but if you click on it and bring up the bigger picture, than it definitely looks bigger than it is! It's about 2 3/4"x 2 1/4" x 3/4." I dry embossed the cardstock sleeve using the Texturz small polka dots embossing plate and then I used the beautiful butterflies Bigz die on the Raspberry Tart Paper for the butterfly. I wrapped a belly band around the box to keep everything secure and viola - you have an instant little present or favor box. It's a cute little container that would fit a couple of stamping spots or 2 small stamps, candy, or a pair of earrings. It definitely makes for an adorable presentation, whatever you decide to put in it! The lucky winner of the giveaway will get it filled with something I enjoy eating ;)

Are you ready to play for this cute freebie? In order to participate in today's giveaway, all you have to do is leave me a comment with your email address or blog url on this post by midnight Pacific time today - Friday, March 27th. You can comment on anything or answer today's question: What is your favorite TV show? I have to say that mine is Brothers and Sisters. I LOVE that show and I am still trying to catch up on my episodes I have on Tivo. I'd have to say my second favorite show right now is Flight of the Concords - that just makes me laugh. So now you know a little more about me...I can't wait to read about what you guys watch! The winner will be chosen at random and will be announced on my post Monday morning.

I also wanted to wish my Father-In-Law a Happy Birthday! I hope he has a great day of golf ;)

For those of you that stopped by my blog today, thanks for visiting. Enjoy your Friday! Bye for now...

Sale-a-bration is almost coming to an end!

Just wanted to remind you all that Sale-a-bration is almost over! The last day place a qualifying order of $50 or more is this Tuesday, March 31st. Now's the time to take advantage of the free Sale-a-bration rewards. If you're planning on making Easter, Mother's Day, or Graduation cards, it's a great time to buy your supplies! You can shop at my demonstrator website at http://rosemariediehl.stampinup.net and click on the "Shop Now" button in the upper right of the screen - you'll be all set! If you have any questions, feel free to email me at rosediehlstamps@yahoo.com.

Happy Shopping!

More Eggcellent Easter

I'm officially on an Easter roll...here's another Easter card I made using the Eggcellent Easter stamp set. I have yet to use the girl bunny, but you can absolutely bet on seeing a sample with that stamp set in the next few days! This is such a cute Easter set, I think I definitely need to maximize my use of it while I can! I used the Delicate Dots DSP (if you like this paper, make sure to order soon...Sale-a-bration ends at the end of the month!). Here's what I came up with:What do you think? There's a lot you can do with the images from this set. I might try using the scallop circle die and circle scissors to frame this bunny...another option you can try out too! Let me see what I can come up with on that note...in the meantime, have a great day!

Another Mojo...Easter style

Yay! It's already mid-week! For today's share, I had so much fun doing this week's Mojo sketch that I was inspired to make another card with the same sketch - this time for Easter! Here's my card, with the cute little Easter Chick from the Occasions Mini Sneak peek stamp set, "An Eggcellent Easter." I also broke down and used my Big Shot to create the textured background with the Paisley print. I rounded off the corners and also used the Eyelet Border punch and scallop oval punch (I'm loving that punch from the Occasions Mini!). Hope you like it! Have a good one!

A New Challenge discovery!

In my blog surfing (aka "blurfing") this evening, I came upon this challenge, via Lisa Brown's cute post for this challenge by Dawn McVey. How exciting that it's Week 1, too. Here's what I came up with in a hurry! And, boy, do I mean in a hurry! I love this color combination, so I just went with the first thing that came to me.I love the scallop oval punch and the coordinating "Oval All" stamp set. I am also glad I got to use the corduroy buttons, too! Hope you like it! I better call it a night...I'm exhausted! Ciao for now ;)

Mojo Sketch 79 meets California Surf

Hi all! After much contemplation on what to do for this week's sketch, I made my Mojo Monday 79 card with my nephew's birthday in mind. I wanted to use the Just Surfing stamp set to remind him of his vacations to the beach in CA (he lives in Alabama!). I had a lot of fun with this card and tried to add some texture to it using chunky glitter. Believe it or not, no use of the Big Shot on this card! Here it is:

Here's the recipe:
* Just Surfing and And Many Mower stamp set (for the sentiment)
* Delicate Dots DSP, Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Confetti White and Shimmery White cardstock
* Riding Hood Red, Pacific Point Classic Stamp pads, Baja Breeze Classic stamp pad daubered on for the sky background
* Accessories: Gel Pen, Chunky glitter, Scallop Edge punch and Linen thread

Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by today :)

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge 60

I was so excited to be able to play in this week's Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge Sketch 60! It's been a while since I played last, but I always enjoy viewing the sketch and everyone's creative entries. Taylor's got an awesome site that I love to visit for some fresh ideas! For this challenge, I decided to use the new set from the Occasions mini called "And Many Mower" to create this card for my father-in-law's upcoming birthday. He's got a golf birthday weekend coming up, so I thought this set was par-fect to use!
Here's the recipe - all items are Stampin'Up! except for the Nestabilities Oval die and Oval Scallops die.

* And Many Mower stamp set
* Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point, Whisper White cardstock, Muirland DSP (retired)
* Chocolate Chip Classic Stamp pad, Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive , Garden Green, and Certainly Celery Markers
* Watercolor brush with Kiwi Kiss and Pacific Point stamp pads
* Nestabilities oval and oval scallop die
* Brads

Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by today!

Freebie Friday Winner!

Happy Monday all! I feel rejuvenated this week...let's hope this energy lasts me through Friday! It's time to announce the Freebie Friday 11 Winner...and the winner is: Andrea B!
Congratulations, Andrea! I also want to thank everyone for playing - it really is so nice to read your comments. Sounds like many of you enjoy using die cut systems too. I really think that using the die cuts has definitely broadened my paper crafting repertoire. I used to be a cards only girl, but with all the box dies and my love for packaging, I've been in heaven playing with all the different packaging dies.

As for further instructions on the basket in the Freebie Friday 11 giveaway, I basically used 2 of the Box #2 dies. One of the great features of the dies is that it scores all of the crease lines so it makes the box assembly a breeze! I use sticky strip to put the box together and adhere on the seam to make sure that the box stays put. The bottom of the box has an easy fold that allows for you to collapse it, which is what I'm going to do when I mail the box flat to Andrea. Hope that helps!

I actually have a Taylored Expressions Cupcake challenge to share with you today (in a few minutes...following this post!), in addition to my regular Mojo Monday share...hopefully coming later today. Have a great one!

So nice to relax...

Ahh! What a nice catch up weekend this ended up being. After feeling behind now for the last couple of weeks and just going and going and going to try to catch up, I finally feel like I can breath at ease again! This weekend was full of crafty projects for me - I made invitations for my friend's baby shower and got them in the mail today. My goal was to finish and mail them off yesterday, but that didn't quite happen. At least, I was only a day off and since the shower's local, most of the people should get them by Tuesday. I'll post the invite later in the week so that it'll be a surprise, in case some of you visitors out there are on the shower list ;)

On Saturday night, we had a nice dinner with my family for a belated Happy Birthday Dinner for my Mom, so that was a lot of fun. And today, I got to catch up some more on laundry and finishing up the invites. The only thing I didn't end up doing was running, but maybe I'll go now...it's super windy, but at least it's sunny so it sort of takes the bite out of the wind.

Well, before I go, I thought I'd share some earrings I made for my sister-in-law's sister, Hallie. I haven't been able to spend much time making jewerly lately, but when I made these, it had reminded me how much I enjoy doing that hobby too! Here they are - simple drops in an aquamarine colored quartz:

Hope you like them! Enjoy the rest of your weekend :)

Bye for now!

Freebie Friday 11!

Yay! It's FRIDAY! I am soo looking forward to the weekend. Are you ready for Freebie Friday? Today's giveaway was a lot of fun to make! I can't say the idea's original on my part, because I've seen many a sample of this little basket, but I thought it was a clever use of the Box #2 Big Shot die. Here is the giveaway:

Isn't it a fun little basket? It's like a miniature version of those to-go drink holders, or something like that, anyway. It uses 2 of the Box #2 die cuts, glued back to back. Here are a few more pictures of the box shown empty, so you can see what it looks like.

Here is the recipe for this basket:
* Sweet Slumber Specialty Paper, Whisper White, Baja Breeze, So Saffron Cardstock
* A Good Egg and Oval All Stamp Sets
* Chocolate Chip Classic Stamp Pad
* Oval Scallop and Large Oval Punches
* So Saffron Grosgrain ribbon

I'll be mailing this basket flat, but don't worry - I'll mail the candy too ;)

Are you ready to play? In order to participate in today's giveaway, all you have to do is leave me a comment with your email address or blog url on this post by midnight Pacific time today - Friday, March 20th. You can comment on anything or answer today's question: What is your favorite crafting gadget? This one's an easy one for me. While I've been more proactive about using different gadgets in my cards and crafting in this past year, I'd have to say my favorite gadget is the Big Shot! It has really opened up my papercrafting world and I can't seem to do without it for most of my crafting projects. I'm so glad that this is the case too, since it was a big investment to make up front. I'm a packaging afficionado, so I love that I can use the die cuts to make little boxes and things, but I also love all the embossing and other die cut shapes that give cards the wow factor. So that's my input. I can't wait to read yours!

Enjoy your Friday and have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by today, too!

Video Using Texturz and Embosslits

Ok, so for today's post, I decided to post this video of my Texturz and Embosslits demonstration from the Spaghetti Factory meeting, however, I do want to give the disclaimer that it wasn't rehearsed or anything, so bear with me in this rough cut of my debut video. This was video taped by Lorita, a fellow demonstrator who did a great job putting it together and editing it - she created videos for all the demonstrations! Anyway, the funny thing for me in my video is that I'm not a big fan of how my voice sounds...I've been told I sound like a cartoon character! Silly, huh...but true!?? Well, if you can get past the goofy audio and just watch the instructional aspect of it, I think it's a decent tutorial. Hopefully you'll find it helpful!



Have a great day!

Confetti Daisy meets Pacific Point

I finally got around to playing with the Daisies Big Shot Bigz die and I just love it! At first, I wasn't sure about getting the daisy die at all to begin with, but after seeing a few adorable samples with that die, it quickly became a must have...and here it is! The die has 3 different sizes of daisies, so there's a lot you can do with it. In the card I created, I used 2 cutouts of the largest daisy and 2 of the smallest ones and it looks like a Gerber daisy! Here's the card I created:I wanted to use a bold color, so I went with Pacific Point, which has a nice vibrant contrast against the confetti white daisy. I absolutely LOVE that rich blue background! If you look closely, you'll see that it's embossed with the Daisies Texturz Embossing Plate. For the smaller daisy center, I used So Saffron cardstock and also used the corduroy Pacific Point button brad to give the center a pop of color. I made the stem using the Old Olive grosgrain ribbon. Here's a tip - I tied the ribbon around the Stampin'Mist spritzer and then trimmed it off and cut the circle. That way, you have your knot for the leaves and don't have to tie it all the way around the card! (Nifty little trick I learned years ago from wise stampers/crafters, I'm sure!) Finally, for the sentiment, I used the Oval All stamp set and punched it out with the Scallop Oval punch (both of which are coming soon in the Ocassions Mini!). I added a couple So Saffron accent brads to balance out the top corner of the card. Voila! Hope you like it!

Can you believe it's already Wednesday? Hope you have a great day and thanks for popping by!

Mojo Monday on Tuesday

Happy St. Paddy's Day, everyone! I was so wrapped up in making my Mojo Monday card, that I don't have a St. Paddy's card to share. I'll try and post something later. First, let's talk about Mojo Monday... This week is Mojo Monday 78, and the card I made is actually inspired by my blog background theme, with the color scheme and bird in a pear tree! I got to use new Texturz backgrounds that finally came in my Stampin'Up! package last week (it had been backordered...apparently very poplar!) - they're the Distressed and Daisies embossing plates from the Texturz Plate Kit #4.
What do you think? I love how the distressed plate makes the chocolate chip paper look like a wood background. The daisies on the cameo coral paper don't show up as nicely in the picture as they do in person, but I can tell you that it is a cute design. In general, I love using the texturz plates because I really think that the embossing adds a lot of interest to the paper and to the overall project. Here's the recipe:

*Cheep Talk and Oval All (sneak peek from the upcoming Ocassions catalog!)stamp sets
*Wide oval punch used to round off the bottom of the Whisper White cardstock, large oval, scallop oval punch (another sneak peek), trio flower, 1/4" circle punch
*Texturz plates - Distressed and Daisies plates
*Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, Whisper White and Confetti cardstock, Delicate Dots DSP
*Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral, So Saffron Classic Stampin'Up! Ink Pads
*So Saffron grosgrain ribbon

Hope you like it! Thanks for visiting today :)

Last, but certainly not least - I also wanted to wish my MOM a Happy Birthday! She's got a birthday on St Paddy's Day!

Freebie Friday 10 Winner!

Happy Monday all! I hope you had a good weekend. I tried to catch up on my loss of sleep from last week's time change, so I'm hoping I'll have more energy this week and not feel like I'm in catch-up mode! Well...are we ready to hear who this week's winner is? And the winner is - lifeofafesler aka my good friend Alison! Woohoo!
So, Miss Alison - expect this package in the mail to you in the next few days! Hope you have a great day!

I'm hoping to get to my Mojo Monday post up at some point today, but it's always hard to tell until I get home from work and figure out a design. Sometime's I've got just the perfect idea, other times, it takes me a while to get the creative juices flowing. In any case, I'll have SOMETHING to post for Mojo Monday, it's just a matter of time. Check back later. In the meantime, thanks so much for visiting! Ciao for now ;)

Sanded Texturz Technique

I wanted to share a card I made using the Texturz embossing plate on Designer Series paper and then using the sanding block to bring out the embossed images. This is the technique I got to demonstrate at the last Spaghetti Factory Meeting. Here it is:I like the vintage effect that this technique brings to the paper by giving it that aged look. Here's what you do:

1. Run a piece of designer series paper through the big shot with your desired Texturz embossing plate. Important note: Make sure that the paper design you want is face down on the embossing plate.
2. Remove the DSP from the embossing plate and place it face up on your work surface area.
3. When using the sanding block, keep in mind that the paper dust you remove will scatter on your work surface, so it's a good idea to use the grid paper or placemat to cover and protect your work area. Now, take the sanding block and sand your embossed DSP. You'll slowly see the embossed images appear as you sand.

TIP: This sanding technique works best with Designer Series Paper, or any printed paper that has a white core in the center. It will not show up on cardstock, since the cardstock paper is died all the way through with color.

Try this out and have fun experimenting on the embosslit dies too! Have a great day!

More Bunnies!

Oh boy - wouldn't you know it...these bunnies are multiplying! Here are a couple of "stepped up" bunnies I made. I just accessorized them a bit, after making my prototype this morning! They're a lot of fun to make!
I used the new scallop oval punch for the chocolate chip bunny's ears, and I added bellies to both of them - using the large oval punch. Another idea to try would be using the oval punch and a window sheet to show the candy inside! For the pink bunny, I thought she'd look cute with a pink bow, a la hello kitty ;) Hmmm....Maybe that's my next version of this scallop bag!

Scallop Bag Bunny

Yesterday, I was browsing through the fun stationary and paper store called "Paper Source" at South Coast Plaza. Have any of you been to one of these stores? They have such cute papers and products, I just love to look at and get ideas to translate using Stampin'Up! products. I was particularly inspired by one of their projects they made out of a bag with a little flap, which they made into an adorable bunny rabbit. I thought I could do something with our Bag with Scallops Big Shot die, so here is the cute little bunny I came up with.
Isn't she a cutie? She's freestanding and everything! I secured the flap with a little velcro so you can open and close the bag pretty easily. Here are the other supplies I used:

*Bag w/Scallop Big Shot die
*Large and Small Oval punches, 3/4", 1/2", and 1/4" circle punches
*Pink Pirouette, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip cardstock
*Sweet Always DSP

Hope you all have a great Sunday!

Cocktails, anyone?

I'm so glad I've rediscovered the Cheers to You stamp set. I think it's a great adult set to have on hand, especially to change up my flower repertoire as well as make cards that can be more masculine-ish. Here's a quick look at the images.

I've got 2 cards to share with you. The martini card is one of the cards we made at my stamp camp, and the beer card is one I made with my extra cardstock - gotta love it when you can repurpose those supplies! Here they are...hope you like them!

This Martini Card is definitely ready for Manhattan...
Who's up for a dark Beer?

For both drinks, I used the Crystal effects to give the cocktails that extra shiny gloss and then for the beer, I outlined the foam with barely banana and then applied Tombo Glue and added the Chunky Glitter on top. I'm really happy with how the beer foam turned out! It's definitely a fun texture that the chunky glitter adds. Cheers! Enjoy your weekend!

WooHoo! It's Freebie Friday 10 and I just passed my 20,000 hits milestone!

Happy Friday! Not only is it my 10th Freebie Friday, but I've also just passed my 20,000 blog hits too. WooHoo! There's a lot for me to be excited about! For today's giveaway, I created a project using Sandy Hancock's basket idea from my earlier post this week. I hope you like it. I made 4 Thank You cards to go with it as well, as a special thank you to YOU! These are the 3 1/2" x 5" cards, and the basket could probably fit in 8-12 cards pretty easily. Here are the pictures:


I used the Delicate Dots Designer Series Paper from the Sale-a-bration catalog, and if you're curious about the stamp I used and the cute scallop oval punch, these are 2 new items in the Ocassions Mini Catalog that's coming up! (I think you all will love the new products and stamp sets when you see it.) I also used the large polka dot Texturz plates on the white background to give it that extra special something on the card :) Hope you like it!

Now to participate in today's giveaway, all you have to do is leave me a comment with your email address or blog url on this post by midnight Pacific time today - Friday, March 13th. You can comment on anything or answer today's question: What is your favorite thing about Spring? I have two things - the first is the pretty smell of flowers in the air! This past week, when I've gone out to pick up the newspaper in the morning, I've noticed how fragrant the flowers have made the air smell. It sort of sets my mood for the day and gets me in a happy place. The second favorite thing about spring is getting to where open toe shoes again, which means that I get to uncover my toes and get pampered with pedicures!

Sharing a Trendy Tree

One of my new stamps sets I just got is the Trendy Trees set and I have to tell you all that I just love it! I made my swap for the Spaghetti Factory meeting using this set, but because I was pressed for time to make the 31 swaps, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that what I actually created and swapped was a little too simple for my own taste, so I decided to share a "stepped up" version that I made after the fact. For the most part, it's the same elements as my swap, but on this card, I added the eyelet border, and used ribbon instead of a strip of chocolate chip textured cardstock. It's amazing how little tweaks to a card can do a lot! Here it is - still simple, but slightly more snazzy than my weekend swap effort:


I also wanted to share more info with you all about Sandy Hancock's card basket that I posted yesterday. It does use a 12x12 sheet. Here are my loosely translated instructions that she gave us at the meeting:

*Score paper at 4" and 8", turn the sheet a quarter turn and score again at 4" and 8"
*In the four outer corner squares, score at a diagonal from the outer sheet corner to the bottom corner of each of those outer squares.
*Fold at the score lines to form a box shape, making sure that the corner diagonals are folded towards the center. From the top view, you should see a square with an "x" in the middle, representing the 4 compartments, created by the 4 diagonal squares.
*Punch a 1/4" hole on each of the 4 creased diagonals at about 1/4" from the point.
*String ribbon through these 4 holes and tie a bow to cinch up your basket.

Hope that makes some sense and I hope I didn't confuse you all! I will try and take a pictorial of this so that you can see what I'm talking about...Perhaps this project will be my Freebie Friday giveaway! Just a thought...stay tuned to find out!

Have a great day!

Samples from the Spaghetti Factory Meeting

As I had mentioned on my Monday post, I attended the Spaghetti Factory meeting this past weekend and I was amazed at all the awesome ideas and samples I saw there! Today I'm sharing three pictures of a few projects that I loved! Here they are....

This first picture is a card holder basket created by our fearless leader, Sandy Hancock. This was made using one 12x12 sheet of paper! We got to create this as a make and take. Fun stuff! These next 2 photos are projects created by Heather Mills, who demonstrated lots of great ideas using the circle scissors. I can't wait to CASE both of these projects because I think they are just adorable! Not to mention, as you all know, I LOVE those birds (from the Cheep Talk and Good Friend stamp sets, and the Chipboard pieces too)!

Hope you enjoy these projects. Thanks for dropping by. Have a great day!

My Mojo Monday Sketch 77 Entry

Hi all! I know it's Tuesday already, but time just sort of escaped me yesterday. I think I'm still adjusting to losing that one hour for daylight savings! Here's my Mojo Monday 77 card sketch, which was fun doing this morning! I was inspired to use the butterfly to put in the little scallop circle, but I think lots of people had the same idea as well! I guess great minds think alike :)

Here's the recipe:
* Wow Flowers stamp set (for the sentiment)
* Urban Oasis DSP, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, and Kiwi Kiss Cardstock
* Texturz Harlequin plate for the center of the scallop, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die, button bouquet and brads
* I used the bone folder to fluff out and add a little curve to the butterfly wings

Hope you like it. Gotta run and get ready for work. Have a fantastic day!

Freebie Friday 9 Winner!

Good Morning! Hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was super busy but lots of fun - got a lot of stamping in! I attended Sandy Hancock's Demonstrator Meeting at the Spaghetti Factory and demoed the Texturz and Embosslits. It was fun to see people's reactions to the Texturz embossing on the Designer Series Paper and then sanding the paper to show the embossed design. It was as if I was uncovering a secret code, only to be revealed by the sanding block! I was happily surprised to hear some oohs and ahhs from the crowd. I'll share some photos from that event later today (still need to edit some pics, etc.) There were truly soooo many creative ideas and super cute projects!!! You'll see. Then, yesterday I had my stamp class and we all had a good time stamping!

Are you ready to hear who won the Scallop Bag for the Freebie Friday 9 giveaway? The odds of winning were pretty good this week - there were 7 comments that made it in the cutoff time! And the winner for this week is....Elizabeth (aka for2nately)!
Congrats, Elizabeth! I'll be emailing you soon to get your info :)

Since I didn't share my favorite present on Friday, I'm gonna take a second to do that now. I'd have to agree with Pearlann that my favorite present is my engagement ring - but not just the ring, the whole engagement day process that my husband surprised me with. I wasn't expecting it to happen that particular day, but we did go out to dinner that hot July day in 1999. I picked him up at his apartment and I thought I'd drive, since his car at the time did not have air conditioning and it was really HOT. Plus, I was parked on his driveway, with the car running and was waiting for him to come out. But he insisted on driving, which I thought was weird, but didn't think anything more about it.

We went to Malibu for dinner, so he suggested going to the beach after and watching the sunset - I thought he was being so cute and romantic! We go to a beach a few miles from the restaurant and he tells me he's written a script that he wanted to run it by me. I was surprised of course, because this is the first time I had heard of a script. But then again, I was thinking, since we live in LA, who doesn't write a script, right? His roommate at the time was in the entertainment industry, so he might have gotten inspired by him. Anyways, he opens his glove box and takes out his script. In my head, of course I was thinking - is that why he wanted to drive? He could have taken the script out and put it in my car! That fleeting thought passes. We walk on the beach and find a spot. He wants us to role play the script, because there's 2 parts - a guy and a girl, conveniently named Michael and Rose. It turns out, the script was a scene of his proposal and we acted it out and at the end, on bended knee in the sand, he produced a beautiful ring from his pocket and asked me "Will You Marry Me?" As you can imagine, I was so giddy and happy! The script prompted for my reply, which of course, I said "YES!" I was filled with emotion and lots of tears of happiness! It was a great moment!

On that note, I want to wish you a great day! Check back later for Mojo Monday and some pics from the weekend. Bye for now.

Freebie Friday 9!

Happy Freebie Friday! I am so excited that the end of the week is here! Woohoo! Are you ready to see what today's Freebie Friday giveaway is? Here are a few pictures...you'll have to read on below to find out more...

The dimensions of the bag are roughly 3 3/4" x 2 1/4" x 1 1/2"

Isn't this an adorable scallop bag box? I used the Bag with Scallops Bigz Die and then embossed the flap and back panels with the Flourish Texturz embossing plate, then sanded it to get the white embossed image on the designer series paper. I used the slot punch to punch a hole on the flap for the ribbon. I also used the stamp from the Yummy Sale-a-bration set to finish off the little goodie bag. Inside is a surprise for the winner!

In order to participate in today's giveaway, leave me a comment with your email address or blog url on this post by midnight Pacific time today - Friday, March 6th. You can comment on anything or answer today's question: What is your favorite present you've ever received? I can't wait to read your comments - it's really the fun part for me :) I have to think about my answer and will post it tomorrow. Have a great Friday!

Saffron Cheers!

Cheers to you all for visiting my blog! I know that today's post is coming a little late, but I was struggling a bit in coming up with an idea. Part of it was also due to scheduling difficulties, i.e. scheduling time to stamp! I am happy to report though that I've worked in a time to go running first thing in the morning, so on the exercise front, I did ok this week :) But trying to balance the work, stamp, blog, and hang-out-and-relax-at-home time has been a little bit of a tricky challenge. Suffice it to say, I'm working on it.

As you can tell from my posts this week, I have yellow saffron on the brain, and it continues with today's card. I've neglected to use the set "Cheers to You" even though I was soo excited about it when I first got it since it had an array of fun cocktail drinks! Here's the card I made - simple and cute (at least, I think so!) Hope you like it, too.
Here's the recipe:

*Cheers to you stamp set
*Delicate Dots DSP, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, and Whisper White cardstock
*Chocolate Chip classic ink pad, Barely banana and So Saffron marker
*Scallop edge punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, and circle scissors at 2"

Have a great evening and check back tomorrow for Freebie Friday! Ciao for now. ;)

More Texturz with Botanical Blooms...

I've been trying to figure out what to make for my swap card for this weekend's Demonstrator meeting, and since I'm demoing the texturz embossing plates, I thought it'd be nice to do a card with some sort of texturz background. Here's what I came up with tonight, but don't know if I'm sold on making it for my swap card yet. I did like using the Botanical Blooms set from the Sale-a-bration catalog, though. It was my first time using it and I must say that those blooms are fun to work with! You can fill them in with its 2-step image or you can fill them in with marker...or go nuts and do a little of both, which is what I ended up doing with the yellow flowers.
What do you think? Is this swap worthy? I'd love to hear what you think. Personally, I'm still mulling over the design, but need to do something pretty quick cuz my time is running out! I'll need to crank out 31 cards soon! I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, hope you have a great Wednesday :)

Fresh Cuts meets Texturz Plates

I have had my Fresh Cuts cards for so long now, though for whatever reason, haven't used them because I didn't know what to do with them! Well, enter the Texturz embossing plates, and now it's a whole new ball game. The texturz has such a way of dressing up a card. It gives it that extra "umph" I think. I'm really happy with the way this card came out - this is the 2nd card we made at the hostess workshop I did this past weekend and it was a big hit! I love the Good Morning Sunshine paper to begin with, but this was a fun way to use it and have it peek out from the Fresh Cuts petals. The other cool thing is that I stamped on the inside too! Here's the card:


I'm becoming quite the fan of the green and yellow...it's definitely growing on me! It's got such a happy sunshine-y feel too it that I'm just drawn to these days. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do...but it's ok if you don't :) Humor me.

Have a great day!