Viva la Verve!

Happy Halloween! Completely out of sync with today, I have a Christmas card for yesterday's Viva la Verve challenge. I guess I can't win them all, lol. My new Verve stamps came in the mail this last week, and I've been anxious to ink up a few of them.

Amber threw us an absolute doosy of a challenge this week, too. It was a 1-2-3 challenge. We were only allowed to use:

1 kind of embellishment

2 cardstock colors (plus a neutral)

3 stamps

Since I was using ornaments for my stamps, I decided to use traditional Christmas colors of cardstock. My embellishment is stickles. I added stardust stickles to the ornaments and the holly leaves, and red to the berried.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Halloween! I think I'm going to stay home and hand out candy to the trick-or-treaters... but my roomie, Amy, is working hard on convincing me that we should go to Disneyland tonight and watch the Halloween fireworks. I'm starting to lean in her direction. Especially with daylight savings being tonight.... I'm not so worried about being out a little later, knowing that I get an extra hour of sleep. :) I love fall daylight savings!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Holly Jolly

Paper- Whisper White, Garden Green (SU), Pure Poppy, Bitty Dots dp (PTI)

Ink- Garden Green, Red Riding Hood, Memento Tuxedo Black

Accessories- copics, stickles, MS border punch, nestabilities, dimensionals

Viva la Verve!

All right. Here's an only card that never got posted. It's a Viva la Verve challenge, and Amber's twist that week was to use absolutely no orange or brown on our cards. Apparently, she was a little overwhelmed by fall colors. :)

I pulled out my Urban Garden dp and got to work. I kept the whole card pretty simple over all, adding a few green brads for the little circles. I'm not sure why the colors came out a little weird on the computer... oh well.

I officially survived my first week back at school/work after surviving the swine flu. It felt so nice to be back into a normal routine and see my kiddos every day. Even the little munchkins.... And I have now officially survived the crazy Halloween celebration. I tell ya, this week is one of the worst every year. The kids started out great at the beginning of the week, but behavior starts to take a serious dive the close to Halloween it gets. They just can't help themselves... They're too excited! But we successfully had our costume parade and classroom party without a hitch and I sent them out the door at 1:00 to a 3-day weekend. LOVE it!

Now for a nice relaxing weekend. I do have a few errands to run that have been on hold until I was healthy again, but other than that, the plan is to be home to hand out candy! (which I still need to go buy... oops!)

Thanks for stopping by!



Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Wishing You
Paper- Not Quite Navy, Old Olive, Whisper White, Urban Garden dp
Ink- Not Quite Navy
Accessories- dimensionals, brads

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #44

Good afternoon! It's a gorgeous day here in So Cal. Love 80s, sunny, light breeze. And I'm watching it all from inside, lol. Still not going anywhere today. It's my last rest day before heading back to real life. I am feeling so much better today. Antibiotics really do work miracles when needed! I'm so ready to be healthy and back into the swing of things. The last two weeks have felt like an eternity.

I founds some energy today to play along with Mercy's Tuesday Sketch. I snagged some really fun fall-ish papers at the scrapbook convention a few weeks ago, and this in one of them. I love the flowers and the colors on this paper!

I pulled out one of my all-time favorite Verve sets, Tall Oaks, and set to stamping. The pumpkins always make me think on Cinderella. I think I sat here humming and singing the whole time I made this card! :) Bippity, boppety, booo!

I stamped the pumpkin trio in Memento Rich Cocoa and colored with my copic markers. I added some orange stickles for a little extra shimmer. Other than that, it's a pretty basic card.

I think I might actually cook something today. Shock! I'm so excited... I don't think I've cooked anything in over two weeks! I haven't even gone grocery shopping in that long. I hope I have all of the ingredients on hand.... My roommate's mom brought down some granny smith apples from her apple tree and they are just screaming at me to make apple blinis. Kind of like an apple pancake. And thankfully it's not too hot outside to fire up the stove inside.

Well, wish me luck at work this week! It's going to be a little crazy tomorrow morning trying to prep and run things for a week of Halloween craziness. Being out of the classroom is seriously more work than being there. Routines of prepping, correcting, etc. all go out the window because all you can do is furiously try to catch up with what they did while you were gone. I hate it. But, I have some amazing parent helpers, and hopefully things will come together this week.

I've got a mile-long to do list for at home as well. I haven't even finished unpacking from our big move! We were only here for about one week before I caught the dreaded pig-virus. And I've got some hard core baking to do to send to my amazing friend Beth whom is currently serving a tour of duty as a nurse in Iraq. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday! Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Tall Oaks
Paper- Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, BoBunny dp
Ink- Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories- ribbon, stickles, dimensionals, nestabilities, copics

Verve Release Challenge Card- E

Last card! The release party was last night, and it seems so silly, but I always enjoy hanging out in the release forum for a little while and chatting with all of the familiar names. I also love seeing all of the additional cards the Divas made over the last week to show off the new stamps.

I did order a few new stamps to play with and with Julee's speedy shipping, they'll probably be here Monday or Tuesday! She's amazing! I'm excited to get crafty with them and see where the inspiration leads.

This last card may be in a tie for my favorite from this release. I love the simplicity of the sketch, and definitely kept it that way. There's no glitter on here, no sparkles, or jewels, but it just makes me smile.

I popped up the sentiment panel, punch a wavy border with my EK Success punch, and tied a pretty little bow. Pretty simple, but with such a big impact.

Well, I'm off to lounge around once again today. I'm trying to lay as low as possible so that I can heal as quickly as possible. Spending less energy = more energy fighting this bug! Thanks for stopping by today!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Philippians 4:4, Swan Song
Paper- Whisper White, Pale Plum, Basic Grey Wisteria dp
Ink- Close to Cocoa, Pale Plum
Accessories- EK Success border punch, ribbon, dimensionals

Verve Release Challenge Card- D

Yup, I'm milking this release for all it's worth here on the blog. :) And you love me for it!

This is the card I whipped up for the fourth sketch. Only one more to go tomorrow. I hereby admit that this card probably took me the longest. I really wanted to use more of my Wisteria dp, but it just overwhelmed this card as a large background.

So what's the next best thing? Embossed polka dots! I kept with the glittery theme and use kaleidoscope embossing powder to give the polka dots some super shimmer. I did sneak some of the dp onto the card as a frame and in the little half-circle embellishment. I used my circle punches to create the little side embellishment. Cheating, I know, but it works!

I'm so glad that today is Friday. This week has seemed so long since I've been wiped out from being sick. Let's just say I got LOTS of sleep at night. Early bed times for me! I ended up not going to work Wednesday through Thursday due to another lovely development in my episode with the H1N1 virus. This is not a bug you want to have! Just take my word for it and move on. I'm hoping to get to head back to work on Monday, but am definitely not going to push it this time. If I even think I need another day, I'm taking it.

Here's hoping your weekend is nice and relaxing as well! And stay healthy! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Thankful Thoughts, Swan Song
Paper- Pale Plum, Whisper White, Basic Grey Wisteria dp
Ink- Close to Cocoa, Pale Plum, Versamark
Accessories- kaleidoscope ep, ribbon, circle punches, dimensionals

Verve Release Challenge Card- C

Good morning. I'm back with yet another Verve Release challenge card. This is the third out of five. It's kind of fun to have something to post on the blog every day this week. I miss consistently posting like during the summer, but it's just so difficult to do with work. My daily stamping time gets so chopped and many days eliminated because of meetings and late nights. So unfair, lol!

This card is probably the most different out of all the cards I made. I just didn't have a good partner paper for that deep purple dp, so I pulled out some other patterns from the Wisteria line. I did try to chose ones that had a touch of purple to keep the color theme going.

I added another glittery frame around the verse, a little extra layer to punch a border, and some buttons to the lonely bottom corner. My card just ended up having a top-heavy feeling, so those buttons helped to balance it a little better.

It's another looooong day at work today. I have a meeting immediately after that won't allow me to get home until around six. Ugh. I hate these long days. I'm always worthless when I get home. Good thing there are good shows on TV tonight!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Psalm 121:1-2
Paper- Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, Basic Grey Wisteria dp
Ink- Close to Cocoa
Accessories- ribbon, buttons, EK Success border punch, glitter, glue pen, dimensionals

Verve Release Challenge Card- B

Good morning! I'm back with the second card for Verve's October Stamp Release celebration.

This may have been my favorite sketch out of the five. I just love the tilted panel and the visual interest it adds to the card. I really need to tilt my panels more often. I do it all the time when scrapbooking, but somehow never made that transfer into stamping. Weird.

I used more of my beautiful Wisteria dp from Basic Grey and kept this card pretty simple. I really wanted the paper to do most of the talking. I stamped a simple thank you, some more branches from Swan Song, and added a glitter frame around the sentiment. I used my glue pen to create the glitter frame. Such a simple little trick to add some sparkle to an image. I popped up the sentiment and added a quick little bow to the bottom. Done! :)

Hope your Wednesday is going well so far! Only two more work days! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Thankful Thoughts, Swan Song

Paper- Whisper White, Pale Plum, Basic Grey Wisteria dp

Ink- Close to Cocoa, Pale Plum

Accessories- glitter, glue pen, dimensionals, ribbon

Verve Release Challenge Card- A

Hooray for that wonderful time of the month when Verve releases new stamps!! It's kind of fun to be back in normal shoes again this month and being just another person participating in the challenge fun. Though, I will never ever complain about all of the fun I had last month being a Guest Diva, too! It was a BLAST!

Here is the first of five cards following five sketches created by the fabulous Julee Tilman in honor of the October release. Gotta get me some free stamps! :)

I actually completed all five of the cards tonight! That's seriously a first for me! Usually I'm cramming them in right up until the last minute. But, I had some time this evening, and I'm feeling much better. Still got a little cough to shake, but the energy is slowly coming back. I also decided to keep things simple for myself and use one color scheme, and if possible, only one dp. Well, I came close. I cheated a little on one of the cards you'll see in another day or two. hehe

For this first card, I pulled out a beautiful purple patterned paper from the Wisteria line by Basic Grey. This paper alone was why I wanted this paper set. I also used one of the accompanying stickers as the circle element in the sketch. Ugh, that circle took some work. I think I tried about four things there and still am not sure I'm completely happy with this... but I needed to put something there! I stamped one of the little thank you freebie stamps that Julee includes in our orders occasionally. I love these little things! To match the dp, I also stamped the branch from Swan Song around the sentiment in Pale Plum.

One down, four more to show you! Hooray for them all being done! Now I can work ahead a bit this week and stockpile some cards to share with you. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- Verve: Thankful Thoughts, Swan Song
Ink- Close to Cocoa, Pale Plum
Paper- Whisper White, Pale Plum, Creamy Caramel, Basic Grey Wisteria
Accessories- ribbon, Basic Grey Wisteria sticker, dimensionals

Mojo Monday

Well, this is actually last Monday's sketch, so don't get confused. ;) I had a few spare minutes yesterday when I felt pretty good and decided to try and whip out a few cards while it lasted.

I loved the simplicity of last week's Mojo Monday sketch and decided to honor that simplicity. Shock, I know. I sat down with some Urban Garden dp and decided to see if I could keep things simple and make a few card with it.

I stamped a few flowers from PTI's In Bloom around the sentiment for some more visual interest. A big, green bow finished it off.

Sorry I'm not too chatty today. I went back to work today, survived, but am exhausted! I had yet to make it through a day without taking a nap since falling sick with the flue. Now I'm in desperate need! Off to take a nap! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-

Stamps- PTI: In Bloom

Paper- Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Urban Garden dp

Ink- Basic Gray, Not Quite Navy, Old Olive

Accessories- ribbon, dimensionals

Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #43

Ok. I think I'm officially three weeks behind on my Mercy sketches. How in the world did that happen?! I'm sure moving and being sick had something to do with it... but three weeks?!

It felt wonderful to sit and stamp again today. We are suspecting that I may have just survived the h1n1 virus (aka the swine flue), and spent the majority of the week in bed. The good news is that I am doing much better and am hopefully heading back to work tomorrow for the first time in a week! I do miss my kiddos, and it's so rough on them to not have me there.

I pulled out some more of my new paper from the scrapbook convention last weekend. This is the Wisteria line by Basic Grey. I was going to just pick up a few sheets, but this whole pack is gorgeous! I had to have it all! I kept my card rather soft, elegant, and dare I say shabby? Weird for me, I know, but I really like this card! More than anything, it's just good to get back into a card-making rhythm.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great rest of you Sunday!

Supplies-

Stamps- Verve: Happiness Found

Paper- Brocade Blue, Very Vanilla, Basic Grey Wisteria dp

Ink- More Mustard

Accessories- pearls, dimensionals

Sweet Sunday Sketch #39

Has it really only been two weeks since I've made a card? It sure seems a whole lot longer than that. Sheesh!

Well, it's a gorgeously rainy day here in So Cal, and I actually stayed home from work thanks to a lovely cold a kid graciously shared with me. Since I'm not so incredibly achy today, I decided to brave sitting for a little while to make a card. The craft room is still in shambles, a definite work in progress, but I couldn't ignore the call of my stamps any longer. :) I also have tons of new paper goodness to play with from the Scrapbook Convention.

I fell in love with this Cosmo Cricket paper the moment I saw it. What fun colors!! And I really can't resist polka dots.

I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch to help this card along. I kept this card pretty simple, as usual. The oval kind of threw me for a loop at first. I couldn't figure out what stamp to use in it. I really wanted to use a "fall" stamp, preferably a sentiment, but I couldn't find just the right one. So, out came the trees to create my own "fall" scene. I popped up the oval panel, added some twine and a cute little bow (using a fun new technique that I read about on Nichole Heady's blog yesterday!). I love using ribbon and bows, so new ways to use 'em are always welcome!

Oh, and for my picture, I tried out a piece of colored paper in the background to make the cream-based card stand out a little bit more. I also used my new natural lighting lamp to help out since I take most of my pictures in the evening or at night during the week. Not too shabby, eh?

Well, that's about it out of me today. I think I'm off to lounge in bed some more and warm back up. It was so fun turning on the heater today for the first time in months!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-
Stamps- PTI: Everyday Button Bits
Paper- More Mustard, Very Vanilla, Cosmo Cricket Early Bird dp
Ink- Chocolate Chip
Accessories- Aqua Mist ribbon, buttons, twine, dimensionals, nestabilities

Stamaholics Anonymous

What a crazy-filled few days! I have yet to have stamping time (maybe tonight!), but I've not been out of the stamping loop.

First, on Thursday I did the quick 20 minute drive over to Monrovia and a little scrapbook store that was hosting a class taught by Taylor Vanbruggen. We made some Christmas cards all using her newest set release. And the paper was so fun! Some nice, nontraditional Christmas colors. I even gussied up and asked to take a picture with her. Can I just say that Taylor dwarfs me and had to squat down, lol. Not to hard to believe... I am slightly vertically challenged. And she was wearing heals! :)

Then, on Saturday, the Scrapbook Convention came through Ontario! LOVE it! My cousin just happens to work at the Ontario Convention Center and oversee parking, so he scored a friend and myself free tickets and parking! Can you say "more money to spend inside?!" I mostly bought some new papers and a few new nesties to try out. I can't wait to break them all in!

In other thrilling news, my roommate and I felt all manly today! We installed vertical blinds all by our little 'ole selves WHILE watching football! Go us! Only two more windows to go!

Well, I'm off to bake some cookies for dessert at my cousin's house tomorrow and for book club immediately following. I feel like a bad book club member this month. With all the moving, unpacking, installing, assembling, etc. that have taken place this month, I'm not even halfway through the book! Eek! Hopefully they will forgive me. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

A Brush With Fame...

So, I'm off to stamp at a local scrapbook/stamp supply store tonight. They're having a special guest instructor this evening... Taylor Vanbruggen of Taylored Expresions fame!!! Can I just say that I am pretty stinkin' excited to get to meet her and absorb through osmosis some of her creative genius?!

Taylor's blog is the first stamping blog I ever visited, and I think that was after literally doing a search for "stamping blogs" in google, lol. I've been her fan ever since. I love her clean style, her beautiful colors, and lately, her beautiful stamp line!

I admit, I do have a few of those adorable cuppies sitting around somewhere in my stamp room. Who knows where they are at the moment, lol. I can't find anything!

I know she's bringing a long a few of their newly released Christmas sets for us to play with, and we're going to get some copics training squeezed out of her! Woohoo! I've got my adhesive packed and ready to go!

And just to share with you, here's a picture of our new home. :) I am soooo lovin' my 10 minute commute to work!

And yes, it's pink. We just figure we are extra prepared for Valentine's Day.... No decorating necessary. ;)

Home Sweet Home

I just wanted to pop in here and let you know that I survived my big move.  We got our U-haul, successfully loaded and unloaded everything and are now diligently working on unpacking. It seems so unfair that unpacking should take longer than packing, lol.

The cable man isn't coming until tomorrow to hook up our Internet, so it's gonna be a little quiet for the next day or two until I can get my stamp room set up and working.

Hope your week's off to a great start!!

-Kristina