I'll Be Dammed....

Bwa ha ha ha! I am IN LOVE with this new Bubs The Beaver (Our Craft Lounge) set I got from i {heart} papers!! This sentiment is totally what sold me on the set, but I love the whole thing. It's perfect for Valentine's cards, birthdays, or just general fun. Seriously, you have TONS of options for wording on the inside of this baby!

I was *supposed* to make a Valentine's card this week (or so I told myself), but Bubs was just crying out to be paired with this Basic Grey Deciduous paper from the retired Mellow collection. Even though this paper is no longer available, Kate has TONS of Basic Grey in stock, including the new Bittersweet pads that everyone is raving about! Be sure to click over and take a look! That reversible satin ribbon is just to die for as well. It's sooooo soft! Am I the only one who pets ribbon? Seriously? Nah, I didn't think so... ;o)

I also want to take a moment to give a shout out to some wonderful blogger friends who have tagged me recently with these awards. This comes from my good friend Lorie over at Live, Laugh, Love, Create. Lorie has to be one of the single most encouraging people I've ever met in my entire life. Be sure to check out her blog if you haven't already, and give her some love!

This is from my (relatively) new blogger friend Heather. Heather and I met when she posted an insanely hard challenge on PCP one day. LOL. I love you Heather, but I still haven't done that challenge! hee heee heeeeeeee! She is a total sweetheart, AND will be one of our Pink Cat Studio Guest Designers this year, which is super cool! Be sure to visit her at Heather's Heavinly Stampsations if you haven't already done so!

Finally, this comes from another new blogger friend, Lisa, of Stampin' For Sanity. Lisa's work is A.MA.ZING., and severly under appreciated, in my opinion. I mean really. How does a card like this only get 2 comments? Is that even possible? And if you think that's cute, you should check out the rest of her blog!

You might remember from the last time I posted awards, that I've decided to no longer play by the rules with them. Instead, I've decided to point you to some of the cool new blogs I've found. I haven't been adding much to my reader lately, but my newest entries include:

Jenn Balcer - Yeah. I know. I'm probably the last stamper on the planet to add this blog. Don't ask me why it took so long, but it did. I'm guessing the odds are you've already seen it, but on the off chance that you haven't, be sure to check it out. Jenn's work is amazing!

Stamp A Little Love Baby - Again, I know what you're thinking. What stamper doesn't have Cambria Turnbow in their reader? Well, until recently, that answer would be me. Cambria is one of the masterminds behind Our Craft Lounge, which is the company that makes my beloved Bubs the Beaver.... hence the new addition.

With a Stamp and a Song - Deb is an amazing stamper, and like so many who are, I don't think she believes it. She actually called me last week (!!!) and is a joy to talk with as well. I'm so glad I've had the chance to "meet" her!

and finally...

i hate greenbeans - This has nothing at all to do with stamping. Or greenbeans, as far as I can tell. My friend Noelle recently introduced me to this blog because Lincee had a cute recap of episode one of the new season of The Bachelor, and I knew instantly I had to add her. She's hilarious. So if you're into The Bachelor, or random entertainment news, this might be a good choice for you, too!

i {heart} papers card supplies:

Bubs The Beaver (Our Craft Lounge)

Brown/Pink Reversible Satin Ribbon

Enjoy the day!

Missing the Fun

Hallooooooooo my stamping friends! And welcome to another Bellaholics Anonymous Sketch Challenge! I've been in a Valentine-y mood lately, so I went with pink and white for this one. Here's the sketch:


And here's my interpretation of it:

I'm loving the sentiment stamped on vellum. *Smacks forehead* Why didn't I think of that sooner? Oh yeah, because I hate working with vellum. I stamped this in Staz On though, and I *think* it dried fairly quickly. It KILLED me to not do the smudge test to find out for sure, but I learned my lesson on that a bazillion other times. I swear, no matter how dry you think that ink is, it's still wet. That's one of Murphy's Laws of Stamping. ;o)

I love that Katherine Hepburn quote, too (stamp from Stamping Bella, as is the dotted ribbon)! Kate is a woman after my own heart, I tell ya. Loved her. When I bought this sentiment (solely because it was a quote of hers, mind you), I intended to use it with something else... Something a little more edgy. But then I thought, hey, why not pair it up with Miss Goody-two-shoes here? :o) hehehehe. This girl is clearly obeying ALL the rules, and therefore will never have ANY fun. You see where I'm going with this? So what do you think? Do they work together? Or not so much?

Here is a close up:

Be sure to stop back tomorrow for an i {heart} papers card. Then I'm going to take Sunday off, and will be posting three days of sneak peeks Monday through Wednesday for Pink Cat Studio. The new stamps Melissa designed are sooooo cute. Just wait until you see 'em! Woot!

Enjoy the day!

Jack in a Basket

I thought I'd share a few pictures I took of Jack the other day. He just turned 9 months old a few days before these were taken. He was being super fussy that night, so after trying everything else I decided to toss him into a laundry basket with a few toys. He was happy in there for a good half hour!

I love that bottom picture. You can tell he'd had enough! His personality is really starting to blossom lately too, which is fun to watch. :o)

CPS Sketch

Sweet n' Sassy Stamps is sponsoring the sketch of the week this week over on the CPS blog. Be sure to click over and see more great cards made with this sketch! And if you're a layout junkie like I am, bookmark the site while you're there. ;o) Anyhow, here's the sketch:




And here is my interpretation of it:

I used SNSS's newly released Purr-fect Day set. Aren't the cat and mouse just the cutest? I love 'em! I inked the cat head with my SU! Basic Black marker, and left one eye off, so I could draw it in as a wink (otherwise both look like the circle eye), and I also drew in that little grin. Ha! I love it! Here is a close up:

He totally reminds me of my kitty, Luke. Always being playful, and looking for trouble! Here is a close-up of the main image:

I cut the sentiment out with my oval nesties, and then cut the mice out separately so I could later them over the top. The heart (a stamp from the set) is raised on dimensionals. The background paper is all Basic Grey. I *think* it's from the Eva collection, but I'm not 100% sure on that. It was a gift.

And just a quick reminder to those who left a comment the other day saying the wanted to participate with me in The Biggest Loser's Pound For Pound challenge.... you should be starting, or have already started! We'll do our first "Wednesday Weigh-In" next week to see how everyone is doing. If you are still interested in joining, it's not too late! Check out this post for more information on how to pledge, and leave a comment there to let us know you're participating. I started my journey yesterday. I had a bowl of Fiber One cereal for breakfast (love that stuff, really don't know why I hadn't been eating it before this), one small 7-layer bar (like, literally, 1" square) at Grandma's for a snack, a bowl of chili for lunch, and a bowl of soup with a few pieces of cheese for supper. Not bad in the snacking department, if I must say so myself, and the food choices weren't bad either. Granted I probably could have found lower calorie alternatives at lunch and dinner, but hey, they're better than what I had been eating! I also did some crunches and stairs tonight. Woot!

Fly

Well, today is another CBC Challenge Day. And this week's challenge is to make a card that is inspired by your favorite cd. It sounds like a fun idea, doesn't it? HA! You fool! I thought so to! In fact, I hate to admit it, but it was even my idea to have this challenge in the first place! Seriously, what was I thinking? *sigh* ETA: I just realized this is next week's challenge! Bwa ha ha ha! This week's is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Ah well, you can't win 'em all. Take a look at my ugly card, then go RRR! :o)

Ok, maybe it's not that bad, but it certainly was a challenge. I guess that's why Tuesday's aren't CBC Make-a-really-easy-card days, huh? ;o)

I thought about all of my favorite cd's (I have about 20 faves out of the 575 I own, and no, neither number is a typo), and I wasn't getting any inspiration from any of them. So then I thought I'd just flip through all of them until I found one that kinda looked like a card. Bingo! The Show Boat Soundtrack totally fit the bill! I could use my oval nesties, and layer a sentiment, stick it on a blue background, and voila! BUT, then my conscience got the best of me, and I realized that easy as it may be, that was not one of my favorite cds. *sigh*

So, I buckled down, and found inspiration in my favorite girls (no Mindee, not *those* girls. HA!), The Dixie Chicks. I lurvvvve the Chicks! My bff Chris and I saw them in concert in Minneapolis and they were a.ma.zing. Loved it! Anyhow, here is their cd:


And here is my card:

I wonder if I get bonus points for sneaking in the title of a favorite (Norah Jones) song, too? ha. :o)

So anyway, there's my card. And yeah, it's kinda ugly. But in a strange way, I kind of like it, too. I don't know how to explain it.

Check out the links to the other CBC Chicks in my sidebar to see what everyone else created. And when you play along (because I know you will, right?!), post a link to your card back on Courtney's blog for a chance to win a little prize!

And big thanks to everyone who tried to guess my middle name. I knew none of you would get it! I was named after my great grandmother, Bessie. Therefore, my name is Sarah Bess. I was not always a fan of it, but I have loved it for many years now, and even more so since my grandma passed. It's a nice connection to her, as she was one of my favorite people in the world.

Enjoy the day!

Lily the Fairy Contest

Did you see that Melissa at Pink Cat Studio is having a little challenge? You can see all of the details here, but basically she has produced this super cute image of Lily the Fairy in an electronic format. All you have to do to enter the contest is print the image, make a card with it, and email it to Melissa at pinkcatstudio(at)gmail(dot)com. The DT will help to choose a winner, and the winner will receive a PCS stamp set of her choosing. AND, if you win you could even choose one the SUPER CUTE new sets that are being released on January 15th! How cool is that?!

For this card, I used the new nesties and adorable hearted ribbon that I recently received from i {heart} papers, along with some Basic Grey background paper that was a gift from Korin over at Sweet n' Sassy Stamps. The base color is Pink Pirouette, layered with Gable Green. I picked up the little heart brads at Michael's. I figured they'd come in handy over the next month or so, and I was right! I colored Lily with my Copics, but her rosey little cheeks didn't come out the way I'd hope. Just ignore that part, mmmk? :o)

Oh, and before I go.... Holly left a comment on my Bee card asking what my middle initial (B.) stood for. She guessed Beth, but she was wrong. Anyone else (who doesn't already know) want to guess? I'll give you the answer on my next post. ;o)

Pound For Pound Challenge

I've decided to participate in The Biggest Loser's pound for pound challenge, and just wanted to mention it briefly in case (a) you noticed the widget on my sidebar and wondered what that was all about or (b) wanted to join me.

Basically, the challenge corresponds with this season of TBL (which begins Tuesday night, 1/6/09). If you go to the Pound For Pound Challenge website, you can pledge to lose a certain amount of weight between now and the end of this season (roughly May 5). For every pound of weight that is lost, TBL will be donating the equivalent monetary value of a pound of food to Feeding America. Really, it seems like a win win situation to me. I can help myself while simultaneously help others.

I went to the website the other day and pledged to lose 28 lbs between 1/6 and 5/5. I plan to track my progress here. If there are enough people interested in joining me, I was thinking about having a "Wednesday Weigh In" every week where we can note our progress - good and bad - in the comments section for the day and help encourage one another. If no one is interested, that's cool too. I'm in either way!

Of course I could stand to lose far more than 28 lbs, but I'm trying to be realistic about what I can do in five months. If I lose more, great! 28 lbs is my goal though, and I'll track my progress in a line above that PFP widget in my sidebar.

Diets, in general, do not work for me. I am the kind of person who wants nothing more than the thing she can not have. You can lock me in a room with all of the chocolate in the world, and I won't touch a bite. But take it all away, and I'll crave it like there's no tomorrow. Therefore, I have to set some guidelines for myself. Although they are subject to change, my thoughts are these:

I will:

• Increase my water intake to at least 128 oz per day (up from about 64 now. I know it seems like a lot, but with nursing it's really not).
• Do my very best to exercise at least three times per week. I am one of those sick individuals who actually enjoys following aerobics videos, so as long as my kids nap and my achilles tendonitis doesn't flare up, I should be golden.
• Stop eating by 7:30pm every night. This will likely be my biggest obstacle, and we tend to eat dinner around 9, after the kids are in bed, so we can have a little peace and quiet.
• Make healthier food selections.
• (And subsequently,) no longer order or stop for pizza three times per week.
• Eat a three meals per day.

I will not:

• Call this a diet.
• Eliminate any food from my list of options.
• Use words like "always" or "never" when it comes to my future food and/or exercise plans.
• Be ruled by a number on a little plastic machine.

So, there you have it. Would you like to join me? If so, leave a comment here. It's always easier with a friend (or twenty!). I will start the Wednesday Weigh in next week (1/14/09), either as a part of my Wednesday card post or in a post all its own if I don't have a card for that day.

Happy Bee-Day!

Here is another card using this Hap Bee Day set that I am absolutely in love with from i {heart} papers. You may have noticed from comments I've left on your blog that my SCS name is "Sairabee". B is my middle initial, and the beginning of my obsession with these little critters. :)

The background paper you see here is called Venetian Lace. I love the texture of it, it's almost a canvasy feel with a foil type look. Lovely! And the paper is printed on both sides... the black and white you see is one side, and the yellow is the other.

If you haven't clicked over to i {heart} papers in awhile, be sure to go take a look. Kate has lots of AWESOME new Valentine's supplies in stock (gorgeous papers, and super cute stamps, among other things)! Did you know she also carries Our Craft Lounge stamps? Aren't those just the cutest things? I got one of the sets in my January box and can't wait to show you some samples! Stay tuned!

i {heart} paper supplies:
Hap Bee Day
Venetian Lace paper
Stardust Stickles (on wings and balloon dots)

What A Friend

Helloooooo stampers! Today is day TWO of our two day new release blog hop for Sweet n' Sassy Stamps, and I'm thrilled to be showcasing this new set called Floral Flourishes! For this card, I used a Basic Gray (SU) base, with Pretty in Pink layered on top of it. The "stems" were stamped in black and then stamped off to mute the color a bit. The other inks are real red and pretty in pink. I wrapped a band of vellum around the main image, then tied it with narrow pink organdy ribbon over the top of grey taffeta.

And the best part of all? You can win this stamp set! (a winner has been chosen! Thanks for entering!) Woot! Here is the whole set:

All you have to do to win is leave a comment on this post (a winner has been chosen! Thanks for entering!) .... but don't hesitate! The drawing is tonight at the SNSS release party over on our forum. Stop by the party to see if you've won, and participate in some fun challenges while you're there. It all starts at 8pm CDT this evening.

Be sure to check all of the other blogs in the hop today as well. ALL of us are giving away candy! How cool is that?!

Here are the links for today:

Chris
Sarah (<---that's me!) Jeanette
Sandy
Lorie

So if you missed Chris, start there. Otherwise, continue on to Jeanette!

Dino-mite!

Happy New Year! Today is day one of our new release blog hop for Sweet n' Sassy Stamps! Woot! All of the DT girls are offering blog candy (me included, stop back tomorrow for that!) and the winners will be announced tomorrow night during the release party on the SNSS forum.

The card you see here is made with the new Dino-Mite set (this and others will be available after tomorrow nights release party). Isn't it such a cute set? I drew in the ground, but the rest of what you see is all from the set. I popped the trees up on dimensionals, and cut the sentiment out in a funky shape to go with the prehistoric theme. :) The ground has stardust stickles on it for texture. Here is a close up of the dimensionals:

Now click on over to my sidebar and scroll down to the bit about the BLOG HOP, and start hoppin'! All of the girls are offering candy, and super cute sneak peeks of all the new sets. Be sure to stop back bright and early tomorrow for candy here as well (I saw bright and early, because the whole entry period will last less than one full day!).

I also wanted to share this super cool idea I was introduced to on my friend Kate's blog, about a New Year's resolution, of sorts. It's called One Little Word, and basically is a word that you choose to epitomize you in 2009. Kate's word is Balance. I've thought about this all day, and have decided that my word is:

I will believe.... in myself, in my talent, in the future, that this too (insert current dilemma here) really shall pass. That everything has a purpose, and that I have the strength and the stamina to get through anything. My first idea for a word was simply "be", but I think I like this better. I will not only be, I will believe. If you decide to take part in this, leave me a comment. I'd love to know what your word is and the reasoning behind it.

Enjoy the YEAR!