Good News!

Remember these cards?

Santa Baby

Smile!!!
Cat Rule #377

They were all made with images from the website http://www.squigglefly.com/, and I'm happy to tell you that as of 9am (CDT) this morning, the website is live! Woot! Be sure to take a look!

I have been busy putting up Christmas decorations, so I haven't had any time to stamp. The good news is the decorations are out, and all I have left is the tree. So far it has about half of the lights on (note to self: buy pre-lit tree next year). I'm hoping to finish the lights tomorrow and then start the ornaments. It's a 9 ft tree, and there is not an empty branch to be found when I'm done with it, so it takes some time. I'll be sure to share pictures when I'm done. :)

In the absence of a card, I want to give a shout out to Michelle W. , who gave me this award:

And Tangii, who recently gave me this award:

Thanks so much girls! I'm honored, and so glad to know that my ramblings every day might make you smile, and maybe my cards inspire you in some way. :)

I stink at playing along with these things, so I decided that instead of tagging 8 or 10 other fabulous blogs, I'd just point you to a blog or two I read regularly that you might not be aware of.

Today, I thought I'd share the newest addition to my reader is Bake at 350. I have been on the search for a perfect cut-out cookie recipe for the past few years, and perfect decorating tips and ideas to go with it. I'd love to find a recipe for both a cookie and a frosting/glaze that tastes as good as the soft and yummy cut-outs you get in the bakery. I lovvve the way she decorates the cookies on this blog, and I'm going to try my hand at this flood icing when it gets a little closer to Christmas.

Another favorite is Bloggin' With Bobbi. She has some awesome photography skills and great tutorials for Photoshop Elements. I'm always learning something new over there!

I'm hoping to be back tomorrow with a new card to share, so I'll see you then!

Chunky Monkey

Check out those baby rolls! Yowza! I had to take Jack to the hospital with me awhile back because my Medela pump wasn't working correctly, and the nurse wanted to take a picture of him and make him the "poster child for nursing". LOL! She just couldn't get over how big he was (and at that time, was on breastmilk exclusively). She was calling other nurses in to look at him... it was hilarious.

I took this the other day in the middle of a clothes change. He spit up, and I had to run upstairs to get him a new outfit so I tossed him in the saucer. I had to take a picture, because it looked like he was totally nekkid! Someday, this picture will help me blackmail him into doing something for me, right? ;o) hee hee.

And yes, my toddler mommy friends, that is a box of Cruisers you see in the background. I still don't see how they are all that much better than Huggies, but diaper for diaper they are cheaper as our Target does not carry Huggies in the big boxes like they do Pampers. I'm all about a bargain.

And while I'm thinking of my toddler mom friends... Linda, these are for you ;o) :

Winter Wishes

Here is one more card made with the Winter Family set by Stampendous, available at i {heart} papers. I just love how versatile this set is. You can add as many or as few snow-family members as you'd like. I stamped this one on kraft paper, and then used my watercolor pencils to color everything in. I didn't do any watercoloring on it at all though. I was going to use my blender pens, but then decided I kind of liked the pencil look on this one. I was trying to go for a country/Americana feel and the pencil coloring sort of lent itself well to that whole idea.

The dotted DP is called See Spot, and it is also available over at IHP. I just love this paper. The colors in it seem to coordinate really well with SU's current In-Colors, so that's an added bonus.

The snowflakes were punched with two different Martha Stewart snowflake punches, then I dabbed a little glue on them and tapped them in some of SU's chunky glitter. I was going for the crystal snowflake look that Anna Wight does sooo well, but I think I like her glitter better than mine. It looks more like ice shavings and less like glitter.

And just a quick reminder... there's a sweet black friday sale going on over at i {heart} papers. Be sure to click over and take a look. The promo code can be found in the blinkie below:

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I'm glad you liked my little poem in yesterday's post. :o) I actually got that in an email earlier this week and thought it was so cute, I just had to share it!

Gobble, Gobble!

Triple Threat

First, I have to share a little deal...


That's right, Kate is running a HUGE sale over at IHP in honor of our favorite shopping holiday! The sale includes a lower threshold for free shipping (down to $25 from $40), as well as a chance to earn $10 gift certificates for every $50 in merchandise purchased. Click HERE for all of the details!

Now, on to today's card... it is a triple threat in that it fits the bill for not one, not two, but THREE challenges that are currently running in stampland! Woot! I usually have all I can do to meet the requirements for ONE challenge, much less three in one card. How about that?!

It all started with this Mojo Monday sketch by Julee Tillman. Y'all know I love me some Mojo Mondays, and it has been awhile since I've played along so I thought I'd give it a whirl this week. I've been wanting to get some more ink on my new QT Hooty stamps, and while I was mulling the card over in my head I learned about a new Pink Cat Studio challenge that was issued in their group over at Paper Craft Planet. The challenge was a "1-2-3" challenge, requiring you to use one ribbon, two background papers, and three embellishments. Finally, today is a Belli Challenge day, and this week's challenge is to pick a favorite from past challenges and do it again. I didn't think I was going to play along this week (in fact, I told everyone I was out), but it just so happens that challenge #29 was scallops, so I'm covered! Woot! Or, should I say, Hoot! ;o)

SO! Here is the sketch for this week:


And here is my card:

Poor QT Hooty is feeling under the weather this week. And you'd better stand back, because he's looking a little green. ;o) lol! I was debating whether to color him brown or grey, and then got this bright idea to paper pierce him in green to match the scalloped paper. Cute, right? I thought it was.... hopefully you agree! And check out how I did the sentiment. You know, I read all of these fabulous blogs, and I see new ideas all the time and wonder why I wasn't smart enough to think of some of those things myself. Have you been there? Well, I can honestly say that I *believe* that wrapping a sentiment around DP on vellum is an ORIGINAL idea. Quite possibly my first original idea, but hey - we all have to start somewhere, right?!

Ugh. And don't even get me started about how long it takes ink to dry on vellum. *grumble*

So, what do you think? I hope QT Hooty is feeling better soon so he regains his natural color! :)

Dear Santa

We bought Henry a bunch of Thomas the Tank Engine stuff for Christmas last year. Lots of tracks, trains, accessories, etc. He was only 18 mos old, so we knew we might be jumping the gun a bit. It turned out we were right. he was pretty hard on the trains (banging, and sometimes throwing them) so we packed them all up and put them in the attic for a year. We just pulled them out this past weekend, and he loves them! Santa will be bringing him a train table and a few other odds and ends to go with the set this year. Here's a little conversation I had with Henry the other day:

Me: Henry, who comes at Christmas?
H: Sahta.
Me: Right! Santa comes at Christmas. What does he bring with him?
H: Toys!
Me: Right! Santa brings toys. Who does he bring them to?
H: You.
Me: Yep, Santa will bring You toys! Who else does he give toys to?
H: Good people. (lmao)
Me: What would you like Santa to bring you this year?
H: Woooo Wooooo!
Me: Trains?
H: Heh.
Me: What else?
H: Boots.
Me: Boots?
H: No.
Me: Books?
H: Heh.
Me: Anything else?
H: Puzzoools.
Me: Puzzles?
H: HEH!
Me: Anything else?
H: No.

:o)

Smile!!!

Here is the last of the squigglefly.com images that Holly sent me to play with. Isn't she just the cutest little thing? Believe it or not, this is actually a birthday card for my uncle. I had every intention of making a masculine card. Really, I did. I started with a Bordering Blue card base, and then it all went awry. lol! Did I mention he is 6'2, a hunter, fisherman, and retired army officer? This should be right up his alley, no? lmao. Ah well, he'll love it because it's from me. That's the beautiful thing about family. :o)

While I was coloring those diamonds on her shirt, I thought of the Print Pattern background stamp by Stampin' Up! I thought it would coordinate well, and then I stumbled over this diamond pattern ribbon in my stash while I was looking for a white satin ribbon. Score! Diamonds galore! Hey, that rhymed. :)

And I just realized I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the card. It's cute... it says, "Laugh!!! This is your present!" hee hee.

Don't forget today is also a CBC Challenge day. This week's challenge is to make a bagalope. I didn't play along this week, but if you decide to play be sure to link your creation to Courtney's blog for a chance to win a little prize! Check out the links of the other CBC Challenge Chicks for some great inspiration, too.

I also want to say thank you to Amber over at So Many Colors, So Little Time and my toddler mommy friend Merry at Random Thoughts of a Confessed Stampaholic for awarding me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thanks so much for the honor, ladies. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!

Good Morning!

Guess what sound I woke up to this morning? No, not a baby crying... guess again! Ok, maybe the pictures give it away, but I woke up to the sound of a snow plow running down the street! I didn't even know it was supposed to snow, so I was very surprised at the sight that greeted me when I woke up this morning. :o)

Here is the view from our dining room window:


That's technically our neighbors property (ours ends at that white fence you see at the bottom of the photo), but it's also our best view, and the evergreen trees are so pretty with snow on them.

Here is the view from the library (a.k.a. toy room):

Note that my comfy window seat has been over run by Dopey, Pooh, etc. *sigh*

How do you like my window clings? My mom says I need more. I think she might be right. They seem a little sparse.

Have a great day, and stay warm!

Ready To Pop?

I'm so excited to finally be able to share this with you. I made this back in July, shortly after I found out my friend Noelle was pregnant. One of the requirements of the application for that 3 Little Dreams design team I was on was to make an altered item, so this served a dual purpose. I wanted to send it right away, but decided to wait until she really was at that "ready to pop" stage. I finally mailed it out a few weeks ago, so I can FINALLY share it with you!

I used a Jiffy Pop popcorn container, and altered it like this:


See all of these pink dots? Each one was punched from pink paper and painstakingly placed by artisan craftsman.... well, ok, maybe just by me, but still... you get the picture. It took a lot of time.

At the time I had no idea what she was having, so I went with equal parts of pink and blue so I was covered either way. Turns out it's going to be a BOY (woot! I totally called it!), and he'll be arriving in February.

The large circle is all one piece, but the blue scalloped edge you see around the outside is separate from the main image. I used a circle punch, and cut each circle in half, then adhered each half directly to the jiffy pop frame.

I am not big on altered items, but I really am thrilled with how this came out. I hope she has it hanging on the wall in the nursery or something for all of the time it took me. LMAO. Ok, maybe that's pushing it. :o)

Before I go, I have to tell you about two FABULOUS blog candy opportunities that are out there in blogland! First, my girl Courtney is giving away some serious loot including a SU! set, ink pad, oodles of ribbon, and actual chocolate! Also, check out Debbie's blog - she's giving away 17 Copic markers (!!!), paper, stamps, etc. Yowza!

And if you're still reading, be sure to click over to MY blog, because I've decorated for winter. I'm now scrampin' in a winter wonderland. :) I also decorated my family blog for the winter, too. I just love snow. I can't help myself! If only it were this easy to decorate my house for Christmas. Anyone wanna come help me decorate a 9 foot Christmas tree? I made my Cherry Cheesecake again tonight. I can feed you!

First Snow

We had our first snow this week (well, the first one that actually stuck around a little bit). I was so excited. I've been waiting for it to snow so I could take Henry outside. I thought he'd love it, because he loves the rain. He wasn't too sure what to make of it all, but he thought it was funny when I would scoop a little up and toss it in the air so that it landed on him. :)

Here he is playing in the snow:


My good hat wearer is revolting against warmth. We've tried two or three different hats, and he wants nothing to do with any of them. He doesn't like his hood either. I do force the issue if we're going to be outside for a long time, or it's super cold (by Wisconsin standards), but this day was pretty mild so I let him get away with not wearing anything on his head.

We ended up going for a ride in the snow, and while we were out I noticed the flavor of the day at Culvers was Mint Oreo. My favorite flavor of the day is Mint Explosion, but that was close enough to lure me in. Henry and I shared a single scoop dish. He was such a cheeseball in the backseat. I had to share:

If you're reading this in a reader, be sure to click over and check out my new blog banner. I had to do a little decorating for winter with a new Rachelle Anne Miller image. :) I just love her work.

Santa Baby

Ok, so as it turns out, it was a secret that these images (like the one I used yesterday) were going to be available online. Doh! In my defense, no one ever actually mentioned that tiny detail to me. So, I unknowingly blew the lid off the little secret yesterday when I mentioned it on my blog. Surprise! ;)

Well, now that everyone (or at least the 100 or so who read this blog) knows, I might as well keep going, right? Right! Here is the second image that Holly sent me. I think this girl intended to be on a beach sunning herself somewhere, but let's face it -- she came to Wisconsin. LOL! So, here she sits in a little pile of snow:

I colored the bikini with my copics, and then added liquid applique to the top of both pieces. Once it puffed up (after heating), I added a little glue and glitter. I actually drew the santa hat myself, and added the liquid applique on that as well. The sentiments are printed on the computer, but unfortunately I don't recall the name of that font. Sorry! The holly brad (isn't that CUTE?!) is by Making Memories, from their Fa La La line. I bought a pack of them (12 berry brads with 24 leaves) at Michael's. The three berries you see there are actually all one big brad.

And here's the inside of the card:

Hey, like I said, she's in Wisconsin now. She's going to need something a little warmer to wear if she's going to make it through the winter up here. ;o)

In case you missed the edit at the bottom of yesterday's post, these images are going to be available on www.squigglefly.com. Go ahead and bookmark the site, and I'll be sure to post here when it goes live so everyone remembers! It's the least I could do, having blown the cover and all. *wink*

Enjoy the day, and STAY WARM! Oh, and while you're at it, check out the HUGE blog candy available over at Heartful Stamping!

Cat Rule #377

I'm sure most of you are familiar with the stamp company My Favorite Things. One of the stamp lines MFT carries is called BC Dzyns. Are you with me so far? lol. :) One of my favorite blogger friends, Holly, happens to be the mother of the girl, Chesney, who designs those stamps. Chesney is branching out, and will soon be offering some of her other images online in a downloadable (is that a word?) format, and this is one of those images. Holly emailed it to me, and asked if I would create something with it and feature it on my blog to help raise interest in her daughter's images. I was thrilled to help. I've been in love with Chesney's drawings since day one! Holly - if I mis-spoke anywhere, please correct me in a comment!

The DP here is from Basic Grey's retired Blush line. I printed the sentiment on my computer, using the 2PeasFancyFree font. The kitty is colored with copic markers. What? You've never seen a kitty wearing eye shadow before? Well, clearly you're hanging around with the wrong cats. ;)

Holly sent me two other super fun images as well. I have them all printed with matching sentiments ready to go. I'm hoping I'll have more stamp time in the next few days so I can get them posted for you. I also have a super cool bella project to post that I've been holding back from you for MONTHS. I finally sent it to the recipient though, so I can share it one of these days... Keep coming back - there are good things in store!

Speaking of Holly, she happens to be running some big time blog candy right now, so be sure to check out her blog. :)

Edited to add: Holly tells me the website where these will be available for download is www.squigglefly.com. The site is not up and running yet, but I'll keep you posted on that!

Owie

Here's a quick card I made last week for a friend who was having her wisdom teeth taken out. I got this Dentabella stamp in a trade, and wasn't really sure what I'd do with it, but I guess you just never know when you're going to need a tooth stamp, right? lol!

The dotted paper is Hickups from i {heart} papers. I just love that paper. The large green piece is the reverse of the same paper. The sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms What A Pain set. I don't actually have the set, but my friend Dani was kind enough to send me some images to play with. I hate the dentist, so I thought this was a perfect combination! :)

***SHAMELESS PLUG ALERT***

Last night I spent a good chunk of my evening getting some things listed on eBay. I have been meaning to do this for a longgg time, so it feels good to have actually done it. I have a number of retired stamp sets listed (some new, some used), a set of all 48 old style stamp pads (SU!), my iPod, and Bose SoundDock (both barely used, if at all). All of my auctions start at $0.99 (yep, even the iPod stuff!), and run through Sunday night. Click over to take a look. Maybe you'll find something you need! I'm going to be buying a new DSLR camera soon, and am hoping to offset the cost by selling some of these things that I never use.

Edited to add: Apparently that ebay link only works for me. If you go to ebay, click "advanced search", then click "advanced search" again on the new screen that comes up. Then scroll to the area where you can enter a seller name and click the "from a specific seller" option, and enter "Sairabee". Then scroll to the bottom and click "search". Sorry for all of the confusion!

Enjoy the day!

Hoot!

Happy Tuesday! I remember when I was a kid, I always looked forward to Tuesdays, because that was the night my favorite show - Who's The Boss? - was on tv. :o) I miss that show. I wanted to be Samantha in the worst way. I think I even had my friends call me "Sam" for awhile. lol!

Now my favorite thing about Tuesdays are the CBC Challenges! This week's challenge is a sketch challenge. Here's the challenge Courtney drew for this week:


And here is my take on it:


I just got my QT Hooty stamp set last week, and have been dying to get something made with it. I just love the clean lines of the Pink Cat Studio stamps, and I love to color, so they are a good match for me. I have always been meticulous about my coloring - I love it! I think my friend Deb can attest to this. Her daughter wanted me to color with her one day, and I think it took me an hour or more to finish my one page. lol! It had to be perfect! (P.S. Although the set is by PCS, I bought it from Mandy over at Limelight Papercrafts during her PCS sale!)

Once I got the main image on the card, I realized that it was larger than I thought and I didn't have room for the big circle in the sketch. I improvised with the leaf. I got these leaves in a package of about 12 from Hobby Lobby. They're felt, and about 1/4" thick. I thought they were pretty cool. I distressed the felt a little bit with my chocolate chip marker, and adhered it with mini glue dots. The background paper is by Basic Grey.

Be sure to click over to the other CBC Chick's blogs to see what they have created this week. And if you decide to play along, link your creation back to Courtney's blog for a chance to win a little prize. :o)

I also have a sale alert to pass on to you (you know I love a good sale!). Kate, over at i {heart} papers is offering 10% off everything in her store, and as always, orders over $40 get free shipping! Woot! The coupon code is thanksTEN, and it is good through 11/22.

Blog Candy Winner!

Thanks to everyone for entering! If you haven't already stopped over at the i {heart} papers store, please do. There really is a little (and in some cases a lot - lol) of everything there!

And in case you're wondering, my favorite Christmas movie is:

I've watched it hundreds, maybe thousands, of times. At least 10-15 times per year, sometimes more, and infinitely more when I was a child. I can almost recite the entire show from memory. And no, I'm not kidding. I used to play the VHS tape over and over. Play, rewind. Play, rewind. All weekend, every weekend. It was insane. I can never complain about Henry wanting to watch the same thing over and over, because I was totally the same way.

Other favorites that you should really check out this year if you've never seen them are:

Holiday Inn (I've seen this almost as often as White Christmas!)
The Christmas Gift (I just love this movie. I wanted to be that little girl and move to that town!)

Christmas Snow (With Katherine Helmond - love her!)
A Smokey Mountain Christmas (Dolly Parton... need I say more?)
Ebbie (Susan Lucci as a modern day Ebenezer Scrooge)

And I have to give a quick thank you to the handful of people who mentioned that A Christmas Story was their LEAST favorite Christmas movie of all time. Amen to that, my sisters.

Time Spent With Friends....

...is time well spent.

My "bff" Chris came to visit this weekend. We haven't seen each other in ages, so it was nice to just relax and hang out for awhile. We went out for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, and then came back to the house to visit for awhile after the boys were asleep. We vegged, we laughed, we bitched, we caught the tail end of The Wizard of Oz on tv for no good reason (lol!). It was a good time.

I wanted some pictures for the blog, but hubby was busy doing homework in another part of the house, so we had a little photo shoot of our own. You know, the kind where you hold the camera out two feet in front of you and smile? It only took four trys to get a good picture. :)

Anyhow, I just thought I'd share.

Have You Seen Her?

...tell me have you seen her?

Ok, am I the only one singing this old MC Hammer song now? LOL! Sorry, I couldn't help myself. I love to quote lyrics whenever I can. ;o)

Anyhow! The "her" I am referring to is none other than Ms. Emily Weems. As you know, I am offering up some BLOG CANDY courtesy of i {heart} papers. One of the things I'm giving away is Inkadinkado's Christmas Character's set, and Emily has been ROCKIN' that set lately! The card she posted today was just too cute, so I asked her if I could share it with all of you! I was thrilled that she said yes, so here it is:


Isn't that awesome? I love it! You can check out her original post HERE, and you can see another great acetate card made with this set on her blog HERE. Go on and show her some love, she deserves it! And don't forget to enter my blog candy if you haven't already done so!

Since we're talking Christmas, I have to tell you that I splurged today and bought a new CD. It has been AGES since I've bought a new cd. I usually wait until I can get it for cheap on half.com, or at a used CD store. But I was at Target and noticed this new Christmas CD by Kristin Chenoweth. Kristin is on my favorite tv show, Pushing Daisies, and I just love her (she got her start in the original cast of Wicked on Broadway if you're wondering where the singing comes in). I had to buy it. I HAD TO! Christmas cd's are really hit or miss with me. I seem to either love them or hate them. There's no middle ground. Let me tell you, I LOVE THIS CD! OMG. It is sooooo good. Her version of Little Drummer Boy moved me to tears. Seriously, it's that good. You need it. Trust me.


I'm listening to it right now. I've been listening to it ever since I bought it. Yeah, I know. Whatever. ;o) On a side note, if you'd like a good laugh, check out this video clip of Kristin on Ellen recently. Ellen sent her into the gym on the lot to play a little prank on people. It's hilarious.

Ok friends, that's all I have for you today. Aren't you glad you stopped by? :o)