looking up

This is a card I made for my friend Margot who I just found out had emergency brain surgery! I'm happy to say that she is going to be okay, the surgery went very well. She is at home recovering and it will be some time before she's back on her feet. I sent her this card along with one of our stamp sets...I thought it might be fun for her to do a little crafting while she is off work (that's what I would do!)

I used our High Hellos set for this card. I used more ribbon from Zena's store and also paper from Making Memories Noteworthy line...I've been using a lot of MM patterned paper lately, I think they are coming out with fabulous stuff. The topiary has little flowers on it that look a lot like the green flower ribbon and also the pattern in the paper so I think it all "flows" together nicely...

In other news, my aunt who was coming to visit this weekend couldn't make it, she got sick at the last minute and was nervous about coming up and getting my kids sick. Darn! :( So she'll have to reschedule for next month. Her birthday is in April...I was going to give her the French Soaps early, so now I think she might get it right on time, ha ha! It SNOWED here this weekend (ugh!) so I'm thinking this was meant to be...the Tulip festival is in April and it's a lovely time to visit.

mon amie - my friend

I'm so excited about how my little gift for my favorite aunt turned out. These are French-Milled Gardenia soaps (and oh my they smell delicious) and they already came in a very lovely package. So all I needed to do is take out my Ooh La La stamp set (a perfect choice for a box of French-milled soaps, don't you think?), dress it up a bit, make a matching card and it was ready to go!





Things I love about this project:

1) I got to use my new Nestabilities Scallop Circles! Yes, I broke down and bought the Nestabilities. I will still use punches because they are more convenient but I just LOVE how the Nestabilities emboss. So for projects like this when I want a softer, more sophisticated look, they really come in handy!
2) I also got to use some of the new ribbon I just bought from my good friend Zena. Zee helped us at our CHA booth and she has a little eBay store. She asked me if I would go "shopping" at the show with her and help her pick out ribbon. Gee, twist my arm. ;) So of course I encouraged her to buy all my favorite ribbons so I could then buy them from her, ha ha ha! This lovely pink and brown polka-dot ribbon is one of them. Zee's store is Stamp n' Sparkle if you want to see the rest of the ribbons we chose!
3) Making this little gift made me very happy and was just what I needed yesterday. I was feeling a little down and I'm telling you, as soon as I started stamping I felt instantly better. I can't wait to give it to my aunt Shauna. She arrives tomorrow! I'll post a photo of us. My aunt and I are so similar...it's funny...much more so than me and my mother. She is one of my closest friends and we have a blast together!

Supplies:
Stamps: Ooh La La and Simply Sentiments (happy birthday sentiment on card)
Ribbon: Stamp N' Sparkle
Striped Paper: Making Memories Noteworthy
Punches: Nestabilities
Ink: Ranger Adirondack Espresso and SU Regal Rose
Pearl Brads

busy lady

I am one busy lady this week, yes I am....so busy in fact that I needed a baby shower card and didn't have one. So, remember this card? I used our Baby Carriage stamp and turned it into a baby card! HA HA HA! It worked well with the "Welcome" on there don't you think? And I'm going to add a little sparkle to that baby carriage too. I had a different card to give to my new neighbors...hopefully they don't read my blog. ;)

So one of the reasons I'm so busy is that I'm finishing up my stamp designs for our Spring Mini Release (which we will be announcing in our April newsletter) and I have to say, I'm doing the happy dance right now. I've got my design groove on and I can't wait for you to see what we've come up with! And I can't wait to use them too! Yeah!

I will be breaking out the stamps later this week...my favorite aunt is coming to visit me this weekend and I have a little birthday present to give her. I also just found out a good friend of mine had emergency BRAIN surgery (um, yeah) so I want to send her a get well soon card. Luckily she is recovering well and it looks like she'll be okay...you never know what life is going throw at you. Update on this story coming later.

A few final Lizzie Anne stamp-related things to mention. If you've been looking for out-of-stock items, most of them are back in stock now. It's been a very busy month. (For example, our last order of Far East sold out in five days. FIVE. Yikes!) Also, we have some of our Christmas-themed stamps on sale right now on our website, and that sale will be ending very soon on March 31st. We rarely put anything on sale and these *will not* be going on sale again this year. In this case we just had a little left over from last season. So just a heads up that it won't last long! :)

I'll be back later in the week with my Get Well Soon card and birthday gift idea....

at the egg hunt today...

...they really cleaned up on the Easter egg candy today. Does the Easter Bunny really need to come and bring more tonight? Yeah I guess he does. ;)

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!

i {heart} art

I wanted to share this photo of me (on the right) and my friend Bridget at the PONCHO Art Auction here in Seattle last month. I have another friend (Amy) who is the event coordinator for this art auction and she blessed us with tickets so we could go check it out. It was so fun to walk around the gallery and see all the local art that had been donated before the auction/dinner started. That was one SWANKY party too...everyone was dressed to the hilt and I expected Frasier and Niles to walk around the corner at any minute... ha ha. I would have loved to bid on one of these works of art...all the proceeds were going to different Art programs in the state of WA. Unfortunately the piece I really wanted, a fantastic blown glass vase, went for about 25K. About what I paid for my car. Yeah a little out of my price range but maybe next time! ;)

This event really got me thinking about how much I love the art scene in Seattle. I love all the choices we have here...it's one of the reasons I love living here. The Seattle Art Museum just doubled in size, and we're lucky that Mr. Gates lives in the neighborhood because he's always sponsoring amazing exhibits (I'll never forget when I saw Leonardo DaVinci's Codex Leicester. Amazing.) This is also where Chihuly's glass studio is, and you can get a walking map of all the buildings around the Seattle area that have chandeliers or works of art by Chihuly that you can see for free! My favorite are the chandeliers in Benaroya Symphony Hall. We have the Museum of Glass too where you can go and see Glass Blowing demos...pretty cool! And one my very favorite things to do when guests come and visit me now is go and take them to see the new Olympic Sculpture Park. Not only are there awesome sculptures to see, this park has an amazing view of Puget Sound. On a warm sunny day it's a fabulous way to see Seattle.

Just a few ideas for you if you love art and ever come to visit Seattle! I love my town ;)

lucky girl

The winner of today's blog candy is Marilyn! Here is what Marilyn said about Spring...

"Definite signs of Spring here are all of the trees that have budded out - this has always been what I have looked for; and in a few weeks my tulips will be peeking out of the ground. All the beautiful colors of Spring have always brought so much inspiration to me - yellow is my favorite color, and has been for close to 45 years!"

Yellow is one of my favorite colors too... I love yellow with lavender and green.

Marilyn, email me your mailing address (click on that say hello link on the left) and I'll get your Blissful Blossoms set out to you!

Happy St. Patty's Day everyone...don't forget to wear green!

signs of spring - and some blog candy

Okay, so I've been talking about Spring and making Spring projects and playing with Spring stamps, Spring Spring Spring. Do you get that I want Spring to be here already?! ha ha!

So, in honor of all the Spring talkin I thought I should do a little Spring blog candy...it's been awhile. And what better stamp set to give away than our Blissful Blossoms set...the set I've been using on quite a few of my projects as of late! In fact one of our Projects of the Month is this Easter bucket gift. I keep meaning to tell you about what I filled that bucket with. I found these adorable egg-shaped candles at the craft store...aren't they cute?! Plastic eggs filled with candy are always a good option too, or those egg-shaped chocolates!

So here's how to win...leave a comment here on my blog and tell me something Springy...what you love about Spring or what your favorite Springtime colors are or what signs of Spring you have seen, etc. Whatever "Springs" to mind...ha ha.

I'll announce a winner on Monday morning!

Speaking of Spring...a lot of you have been asking us when our Spring stamp release is going to be! We *do* have a date picked and we'll be announcing it in our April newsletter!

another springtime card

There are signs of spring everywhere in my yard....I am seeing little buds on my Japanese Maple tree. It's coming!

Here is another card I made with the Spring Morning kit from A Walk Down Memory Lane. I love this yellow paper, it's called Pretty New Dress from Imaginisce. And there are also these cute chipboard shapes and stickers to match! The green scallop at the bottom of the card is actually another sheet of paper called MM Garden Party Scallop Square...I just cut off one of the sides and glued it on there! I paired our Blissful Blossoms stamp set with this card again and the Thank You sentiment is from Sketched Sentiments.

all dressed up

I've been wanting to dress up a baby dolly, um, girl in a pretty Easter dress since I was, well, a little girl with a dolly. ;) When I saw this little dress I knew it was perfect for Sammy...just the right shade of blue. I took her out for a little photo shoot on the side of my house where my neighbors had these beautiful flowers (are they Crocuses?) just pop up about a week or two ago. It was perfect timing...the sun was out that day and it felt like Springtime. I just love how my photos turned out...they were exactly what I wanted for this page!

Here is page one in more detail:




The chipboard letters are Making Memories Garden Party. I'm lovin all these die-cut 12x12 papers that are coming out...this one is from Making Memories (it's called Garden Party Artesian Diecut paper) and it has Easter words on it like "here comes Peter Cottontail..." etc. I took a striped paper and cut out my own, larger die-cut to go behind it just by following the curve on the MM paper.

Page 2 in Detail:



I did some stamping on this layout using our Blissful Blossoms and So Swirly sets. I'm reaching for my Blissful Blossoms set a lot this month because I think it's a great set for Spring...it went perfectly with my papers. I stamped the big flower from Blissful Blossoms right on some blue flowery printed paper, and then did it again on some green check paper and cut out the dot in the center. I stamped a couple butterflies right on the page too and colored them in with light Copic markers.

This is an example of one of my favorite things to do with stamps on scrapbooking pages...stamping right on the photo. I used a swirl from our So Swirly set and white StazOn ink to stamp the swirls on this photo. It works great! Photo paper holds ink really well.

Recipe for this layout:
All papers and embellishments are from the Spring Morning Kit which include products from the Making Memories Garden Party and Imaginisce For Peep's Sake lines as well as Bazzill and Prima.
Stamps: So Swirly and Blissful Blossoms

welcome to the neighborhood

Here is another magnet card I've made to give to the new neighbors who just moved in two doors down, a cute newlywed couple, pre-kid (wow I hardly remember those days!) I've been meaning to take them a Welcome to the neighborhood card with some goodies, and I thought a cute fridge magnet would also be a good house-warming gift. I used this HUGE paperclip I had for this one, it worked perfectly. Unfortunately I can't tell you where I got it because I have no idea, I've had it forever. I tend to buy and collect office supplies that I think are cool, like this gigantic paper clip. I'm sure you could find it on the internet though if you did a search...here's what it looks like. I can tell you that the paper I used on this card was from my Spring Morning Kit again! I just love the papers in this kit! And our Olivia alphabet set.

The first time I met my new neighbors was out in the middle of our street in the dark in my bathrobe and wet hair. Yeah, nice first impression! It was the night of the lunar eclipse and my husband called me and said "go outside and see the eclipse right now!" I had just taken a shower and wasn't dressed, but how often do you get to see a lunar eclipse? So I threw on my bathrobe and went outside. Unfortunately, most of our neighbors were also out there, and the new neighbors were like, "Um, hi! We just moved in..."

Embarrasing! At least it was dark. Hopefully my magnet card leaves a better impression. ;)

oh my...

Do you see what this shirt says, cupcake lovers? I found this shirt as I was browsing the Cupcake Royale website (cupcake store in Seattle). Bwhaa ha ha! I just may have to get this shirt. If you've been reading my blog you know I'm a bit of a cupcake freak. Think this would make a good stamp? :)

Another great cupcake blog I happened upon in Real Simple magazine...

Cupcakes Take the Cake

Okay, enough cupcake talk tonight, I'm not sure I can take it anymore. (want cupcake NOW.)

magnet cards

I have a really fun project to show you today, fridge magnet cards. They are a both a card and a gift at the same time!

Here is the recipe for this card. (Magnet instructions are below):
Stamps: Lizzie Anne Designs Daisy Dots
Patterned Paper: Imaginisce For Peep's Sake Drapin' Daisies
Velvet Flower Brads: Making Memories Garden Party
Cardstock: SU Soft Sky
Ink: Ranger Adirondack Espresso and Citrus
Ribbon: Bazzill
Basic Grey Magnetic Snaps or big yellow paperclip (any office store)

To make the magnet portion of the card, first stamp the solid daisy image from Daisy Dots in green ink on to white cardstock. Then stamp the outline daisy image over the top in brown ink. Cut the flower out. (Note: I actually prefer the two images to not line up. I think it helps give it dimension.)

There are two ways to stick your magnet on the card, which will make the center dot of the flower.

OPTION ONE: Find a brad with a big head and use it with a paperclip. The brad and the paperclip will help serve as a magnet base so find the biggest one you can! Have the paperclip "hug" the brad and it makes a nice little area for your magnet to stick to. This works pretty well. Dress up the paperclip with a cute piece of ribbon!

OPTION TWO: The other way you can stick your magnet on the flower is by using Basic Grey Magnetic Snaps (photo below.) Choose a snap with the plus sign. These are really easy to use because you just peel off the sticky backing and then stick it right in the middle of the Daisy cutout. Then just place your magnet on top!


HOW TO MAKE MAGNETS:

Supply list:
Imaginisce For Peep's Sake Spring Fling patterned paper
Marvy Jumbo 1" Circle Punch
1" Circle Magnets
Making Memories XL Page Pebbles
Double-sided tape

The Spring Fling paper was *perfect* for this project because it has a bunch of adorable little spring circles that are the perfect size to punch out with a 1" circle punch.


Next, use double-sided tape to stick your dot on to a 1" circle magnet. The last step is to stick a Making Memories 1" (XL) Page Pebble on the top, and you're done! Here's a little sample of all the magnets I made...these are all on my fridge. :) Aren't they cute? These make perfect little gifts!

Here is another Magnet Card I made. These all use papers from my Spring Morning Kit and also stamps from Blissful Blossoms, Celebration Sayings, and Shapes and Stitches.


Enjoy! I have another magnet card I'll post later this week....

springtime baby

Meridith and I were asked to be Guest Designers by Lisa from A Walk Down Memory Lane for her stores 5th Anniversary....which would involve Lisa sending us each a papercrafting kit from her store full of all kinds of goodies that we would get to play with. Of course my response to that was HECK YEAH! :) I was sent the Spring Morning Kit. I got to play with this kit last weekend and I've got a bunch of fun projects featuring papers and embellishments from Imaginisce "For Peeps Sake" and Making Memories "Garden Party" to show you this week.

First project...two baby cards (recipes below.) Jeni Allen from our Design Team just had a baby and I've been wanting to send her a welcome baby card, so this was the perfect opportunity to do so! I thought a lot of the papers in this kit were perfect for baby projects. I did a boy version and a girl version...

BOY VERSION:


I love using double-sided patterned paper because it makes it so easy to coordinate that way. The yellow pattern and the blue pattern are both from the same sheet of paper. I stamped the image in brown ink and gave it a little Copic marker love.

Patterned Paper: Imaginisce For Peeps Sake - Pretty New Dress
Chipboard Letter: Making Memories Garden Party Chipboard Alphabet
Stamps: Lizzie Anne Designs Petite Phrases
Star Pin: Fancy Pants Designs
Ink: Ranger Adirondack Espresso
Decorative-edge punch: Martha Stewart
Other: Light blue cardstock, sheer polka-dot ribbon, Copic Markers

GIRL VERSION:


This uses a similar color scheme but I threw in a little pink too.

Patterned Paper: Imaginisce For Peep's Sake Drapin' Daisies
Flower Brad: Making Memories Garden Party
Stamps: Lizzie Anne Designs Petite Phrases
Ink: Ranger Adirondack Espresso
Baby Pin: Making Memories
Other: Light yellow and pink cardstock, sheer polka-dot ribbon, pink gingham ribbon, Copic Markers, scallop-edge scissors

So, which of these two cards do you think I will be sending Jeni?

To find out if she had a boy or a girl...you'll have to visit Jeni's blog! :) Congrats Jeni!

march is here!

We made it through February...yippee!

Here's a little St. Patricks card idea for those of you with our Celebration series of stamps sets. I have this Ranger Distress ink pad called Peeled Paint that I've been wanting to try out and it was perfect for this project. I distressed the edges of the squares a bit and then I used Adirondack Citrus for the lighter green. The paper is by Daisy D's. There's a lot of green going on here...carry this card around with you on St. Patty's Day and you won't get pinched! :)

The March Projects of the Month are up on our website so make sure to check them out...we have three really creative gift ideas this month. I've used the Celebration stamps again to decorate an Easter bucket for one of them (I'll post more details about that project later in the week) and we have an adorable Tea Bag gift idea from Trudee and Princess Notes idea from Kirsten. I already have a few friends in mind who these gifts would be perfect for...