Happy Freebie Friday the 13th!

Hello blog peeps! Hope you all had a good week. Me? I've been a busy girl still adjusting to my new schedule. Boy, has it been a busy one! {I didn't even realize it was a Friday the 13th until I heard it on the news this morning!!}So, sorry for the lack of posting this week. One great development this week is that I've found a carpool buddy, so that does help with the commute factor by a LOT. Once things get settled down, I'll try to post more often. For now, let's get on with this week's Freebie Friday, shall we? Here's a full view: It's a 2 Tag Treat holder! This idea was shared by a fellow demonstrator and I thought it was just too cute! This week's winner will get this Treat Holder and a kit to make 3 more (kit includes 6 tags, ribbon, 6 buttons, twine, 3 cello bags, 3snowflake punched images). The treat holder is made from the 2 Tags Bigz die and actually uses 2 of the wider tags on the die. Super easy peasy! Very simple to assemble - just crease the 2 tags, and adhere the bottom flaps together with Sticky Strip to create the base. Then, weave the ribbon through the pre-punched hole at the top of the tag, tie it off with a button and twine, and the holder is assembled! All you need to do is put the treat in, {you'll get the treat in the sample, and you can supply the remaining 3 ;) }
Here's the side view of the Treat Holder - it's got 2 Snickers for you!

Are you ready to play? All you need to do is leave me a comment with your email address or blog URL (enough info for me to contact you!) by November 15th, Sunday at noon, Pacific Time. You can comment on anything or you can tell me about any Thanksgiving traditions you have. Looking forward to reading your comments and finding out more about you!

Thanks for stopping by!! Have a great day! Bye for now.

Time to announce the winner...

Morning all! Hope you guys had fab weekend. I love the weekends and I'm glad I got to catch up a little and relax. But, here we are again - already Monday! The good news is, it's time to find out who our winner is for this Freebie Friday Joy Frame. So, without further adieu, the lucky winner this week is.. Lucky number 6, who happens to be Martha! Congrats, Martha! Please send me an email with your contact info, so I can get your goodie over to you.

Thanks everyone for playing! I'll catch up with you guys a little later on...have a great day!

Moxie Fab Plum Crazy Challenge

Hi blog peeps! I needed my challenge fix for the week, so I thought I'd play in Moxie Fab's Plum Crazy Challenge. Yay! There've been a couple things I've wanted to try with cards - 1) doing some sort of ruffle, and 2) making a ribbon rosette, so I decided I'd incorporate both things in one card. Not to mention, plum is not in my typical color palette for cards, so that was fun experimenting too. I think the finished card is growing on me, but I wasn't sure if the purple and plum colors I picked totally go together. Maybe my eyes have adjusted to the color scheme :) Here's another angle of the card. I think what pulls it together is the black background and ribbon. I have to say I love the saddle stitched ribbon! I think the combination of that and the Finial Press embossing folder, and rosette dress up the card a notch. So what do you think? These colors remind me of a cool fall day. Here's a close up of the rosette: The rosette is actually 2 parts, the middle of the flower is the ribbon twisted into a flower shape by starting at the center and working your way out in a circle. I used sticky strip on cardstock as a base to adhere the flower as I went around. Then, when I got to the size I wanted, I tucked the end piece under to hide it. Next, I snipped the cardstock base closely around the circle so you don't actually see the cardstock it's mounted on. For the petals - that's where my ruffles come in. I stitched one edge of the ribbon and then gathered it to create the ruffle. Then I used sticky strip to adhere the ruffle around the bottom of the rosette cardstock. Voila!

Don't look to close at the text on the leaves...I actually punched the leaves out of the food section in the newspaper, so I think the text snippets are about a recipe involving polenta. Funny, huh? Anyway, I've also been intrigued with the use of text as patterned backgrounds, so I thought I'd give it a whirl and use resources I already had. Here's the card recipe:

{Razzleberry Rosette Card}
All supplies Stampin'Up! except where noted:
*Cardstock: Textured Basic Black, Lovely Lavender cardstock
*Stamp sets: Teeny Tiny Wishes
*Accessories: Top Note Bigz die, Finial Press embossing folder, Razzleberry Grosgrain ribbon, Black Saddle Stitched Grosgrain ribbon {PTI}, crystals {from the local craft store}, sticky strip, hot glue gun (to adhere the flower onto the card)

Hope you like it! Thanks for stopping by!

Weekend Update

Hey there. How are you guys doing this weekend? Well, I'm happy to say I'm having a relaxing afternoon, after an already busy start of the weekend. This morning was Sandy Hancock's Quarterly Demonstrator meeting at the Spaghetti Factory, which is in Duarte, CA. For those of you not local to the area, that's about 50 miles from my house. So, I got to start off my weekend with more driving! It was well worth it though. I definitely came back with lots of great ideas, and I was even asked to share some ideas for the Holidays. Here are a couple pictures of my display table {if you're a regular to my blog, you'll probably recognize a couple of things - wink}. Notice the wreath on the left? It's made out of 3 different Stampin'Up! ribbons tied around a Chipboard skeleton {It's the On Board Batch of Blooms chipboard pack in the SU! catalog}. I'll be posting the details of how I made this wreath sometime this week, so check back soon!
These are the swaps I made for the meeting - which I had shared on this post. I've really taken a liking to the pink Christmas card this season. Can you tell? So, that's a quick look at my table. I'll share more pictures from the meeting in my posts this week as well :)

Now, I want to share something non-stamping with you guys. Did I tell you guys how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband, who also loves to cook? Well, here's the dish we had last night - it was scrumptious!
It's Michael's Scallop Salad topped with parmesan slices, which had homemade croutons, and some yummy veggies - corn, red bell pepper, radish, and avocado. And he made his own dressing, too - a nice vinegarette with a splash of lemon juice. It truly was delish!

So, why do I digress about my husband's food? Well, my ultimate goal is to create a cookbook of his original recipes and publish it using the My Digital Studio! Now, if I get my act together, I can take pictures and put out say a dozen of his recipes to start with. Call it my pet project :) Since I haven't really photographed much food, it'll be good practice for me. So, on occasion, I may share some more of my hubby's creations with you on the good ol' blog :)

Well, that's it for now. Hope you enjoy your weekend! I'll catch up with you guys later. Ciao!

More Freebie Friday JOY!

Yay!!! It's FRIDAY! Whew! Glad to have made it through the week. Especially because I'm excited to share this Freebie with you - it's a fun gift idea for the Holidays! I am still filled with JOY and I captured it in this Holiday Frame {heehee}. I was a busy little bee last weekend trying to come up with some Holiday Decor ideas. I'll actually be sharing this project along with other Holiday Decor ideas at my demonstrator table tomorrow at the Spaghetti Factory meeting. So...for you demos planning to attend Sandy Hancock's meeting on November 7th, here's a sneak peek at what you'll see :) Here's a full view of the frame.
Like it? Hope so! I got the frames at Ikea and they come in a 2 pack and fit a 5"x5" picture. This would be a great project to make and give to hostesses, friends, teachers, etc. Plus, it's got the home made touch, so it makes it that much more special :)

Wanna win this frame? Here's what you need to do to play for this Freebie Friday giveaway - leave me a comment on this post with your email address or blog URL by 12 NOON, Pacific Time, on Sunday, November 8th. You can comment about anything or tell me about one memorable occasion in your life that brought you great JOY :) Can't wait to read about what you guys have to say!

Also, please note that I moved up the deadline time so I can pick a winner on Sunday and post who the lucky person is on my blog on Monday, November 9th.

Be sure to come back and see if you won! Have a great weekend!

Greetings!

Hello there blog peeps! I really am still here, it's just been a little bit of a challenge for me to squeeze in some blog posts with the new work schedule and all. So, just wanted to let you know that it may take me a couple of weeks before I can get into a regular groove and carve out time to create my posts and all that good stuff. Hope you can bear with me! In the meantime, are you wondering what the stamped pieces are for in the picture above? These, dear friends, are for the card front trades I created for this weekend's Demonstrator meeting at the Spaghetti Factory. It's a slight take on my Melon Mambo Christmas card I made, only this time, it's in ornament form. And here are a few more I hung up on a mini Christmas tree. {Sorry about the lighting - I photographed these at night in a spot that didn't have the best lighting in the house}.
What do you think? This ornament card is a great one to mass produce, because all the components are pretty easy and straightforward to put together. For the snow, I first cut the circles using the Clear Circle Bigz die, then I ran it through the Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder. Next, I drew the template for the curvy snow shape and then just cut and traced it onto the circles I embossed (2 snowy slopes fit on a circle). Here's the full recipe.

{Melon Mambo Pine Tree Ornament}
All supplies Stampin'Up!
*Stamp Sets: Patterned Pines, For All You Do, Grateful Greetings
*Cardstock: Blush Blossom, Whisper White
*Inks: Melon Mambo Classic Stamp Pad
*Accessories: SU Clear Circle Sizzix Bigz die, Tab Punch, Petals-a-Plenty embossing folder, Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon

Hope you like it! Thanks for visiting! Stay tuned for Freebie Friday...bye for now :)

Freebie Friday Winner and First day update

Good evening, blog friends! I know I'm getting to the Freebie Friday Winner announcement a little late today, but it's all for good reason - today was my first day of my new job and I had to make sure I got out of the house on time this morning, so didn't get a chance to post. Hope you guys understand. :)

So, here I am after my first day of the new job, excited and ready to share who the winner of the Joy Banner is. Are you guys ready? The lucky winner of the Joy Banner, is: who happens to be Kara! Congrats Kara! Thanks all for playing in another week of Freebie Friday...there's only 8 more left this year. Wow! Can you believe it? I am so glad you all have played with me so far :) It looks like my blog is coming up on a big milestone before the year's up, so stay tuned... :)

On the job front, I had a great first day! My commute was manageable and I am really excited about my job :) I'll keep you guys posted. Sidenote - I drive past the Ellison Corporate Headquarters (parent company of Sizzix) on my way to work! That's kind of fun :)

Have a great day!