It's a Chichiboulie Blog Hop and a PRIZE for you!

I couldn't resist this fun opportunity to join in on this Stamping Bella Blog hop featuring the Chichiboullie stamp line. I hope you came from Monica's blog, if not then start here so you don't' miss out on all the wonderful ChiChi Bella creations.

I used my Poppy Bittyblooms and pieced her all up with some gorgeous papers by Memory Box, Butterfields. The sketch comes from Card Patterns this week.

We've sweetened the pot! How about a prize? In addition to the fabulous eye candy, we have decided to hide a prize somewhere along the hop! One pre-selected blogger will draw a random winner from the comments on her post, and the winner will receive a $25 Gift Voucher to Stamping Bella!!! The fun part is...we're not telling you who it is! So as you hop, make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! We will announce the winner on Friday in the Splitcoast forum. MWAH!Thanks so much for stopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to Jane's Fabulous card in her gallery! Have fun and don't forget to leave everyone a comment for a chance to win some bella bucks! Hugs, Lisa

Bella-Riffic Friday!

I am in love with my new Stamping Bella stamps. This week, the sweet Emily gave us a challenge to do anything kid related! I still had to get my new Coco has a Cuppycake from the adorable Green Bean Baby line inky, so I thought a cute little teacher thank-you would be kid friendly and great for this challenge. Love the Jillibean line, Alphabet Soup. That's where the papers are from, well, the dp is anyway! Colored my image with copics and used Mercy's Sketch again. Can you tell I'm diggin the circle? It's such a fun way to highlight a main image! That's the end of the posts for today. I do have a weekend treat for you and it's another Bella related post. Stop by tomorrow for a fun Chichiboulie blog hop! It's sure to be full of fabulous inspirations, PLUS Stamping Bella has some new releases today. I'm afraid to look, I know my credit card is going to HATE me! Hugs, Lisa

TGIF and Friends With Flair!

Here is post #2 for my what seems-to-be-normal, 3 POST Friday! I'll keep this one short and sweet! I was having some fun with my Scrapping collage stamps, UR(ect....), this week and decided to make a card. I'm in love with this color combo-bermuda bay, olive, razzleberry and chocolate chip! Oh, yeah, there's a touch of saffron in there too! I also {{{heart}}} the word fabulous, I just think it is soooo FABulous! So I used it here! Off to see what other wonderful Unity creations the rest of the FWF participants came up with! See the full list here. See you back in a bit, I've got one more post for today! Hugs, Lisa

Stamp Something Friday!

This week's Stamp Something Challenge is Cute and Fuzzy! We were lucky to get images from our sponsor, Ildico digi stamps, to work with. I just loved this little guy! I think there are so many sentiments you could use for him-stressed, relax, chilled, enjoy.....I chose the fun Unity sentiment, frazzled from the Sept. KOTM. I colored little Mr. Bear, Cuddles Coffee, with Copics and pieced his little cup with some October Afternoon dp. The sketch comes from Mercy's Tuesday sketch. I loved the swirl embossing folder with this one, kind of reminded me of the steam coming off the cup of coffee.
Hey, Crystal, look what I found? I have to share, that my PTI shopping buddy and dear stamping friend, and best enabler around, Crystal, and I bought this ribbon waaaayyyy back months ago. We just had to have it. Well, it was so unlike me to NOT use it soon after I received it and you know what happened? I lost it!!!! Happy to say it made a reappearance the other day, and I just had to use it on this card. Yeah!

So, come play along for a fabulous prize from the Stamp Something blog. Our sponsor has some goodies for you. Be sure you are creating a new card and linking it to Mr. Linky on the Stamp Something blog. Come back later, it's another 3 post Friday for me! Hugs, Lisa

Float, Flutter, Fly!

Nicholas just finished watching the Backyardigans and it just so happened to be the Race to the Rock episode. They sing this song in it, Float, Flutter, Fly and it just made me think of butterflies. This is my kid's (and mine, too) favorite kid show and the songs stick with me all day long. So what does all this have to do with Butterflies? That's our theme this week for the Limelight Sketch Challenge. We are lucky to have the uber talented, Lauren Meader as our guest star stamper. She created this sketch for us to work with.

Here's what I did with it along with the pretty textured Mia Crate Paper and Bevy of Butterfly set by Unity.

As always, you can play along and have a chance at a fabulous prize. Here's what you need to do.

***Use the sketch provided and think Butterflies!!
**Key word for SCS upload is LLPC033. **Post a comment with a link to your card on Mandy's post by Sunday, Nov.1, at midnight.
The prize this week is...... Stampendous Mod Dot Butterfly Stamp AND Stampendous Ruffled Butterfly Rubber Stamp!!!

Make sure you also visit the rest of the DT to see their wonderful texture creations! Mandy, Amy, Lee, JenMarie, Ryann, and our October Guest designer Sarah!

It's a SCREAM of a sale! Now through Saturday, October 31, enter BOO at checkout to receive 20% off of your entire order!

AND.....there's a DT call for a new Six Chicks spot with the Limelight Design team. Check out Mandy's post for all the deets!!!!

phew! is that a lot of fun stuff or what? Can't wait to see what you all do with the sketch. Have fun and bring out the inner butterfly in you! Hugs, Lisa

Happy Holly Days!

How about some Christmas today? I cranked out a bunch of Holiday cards for the Verve new release challenges last Friday. If you did all 5 sketches, you were entered for a chance to win some FREE stamps. I was so excited when Julee announced the winners....I was one of the Lucky 6. Yeah me! Since I won 1 set, I also bought 1. You won't believe this... I ordered late Friday night, used standard shipping, and my stamps were here on MONDAY!!!! How's that for customer service?!!!
This was one of my favorite of the sketches from the five. Here's the card I did for the challenge followed by another one I did with the Holly Jolly Christmas set I won. This one is also a new stamp, it was a FREE digi download that Julee offered up last week. Aren't those mittens just darling? Papers are fun Jillibean soup. I guess I was still in a polka dot mood cause without knowing it I used some grey dots by October Afternoon on this next one.
I added stickles glitter to the ornaments, punched them out and popped them up. See their hooks? I'm a little embarrassed to admit that after almost 9 years of stamping that I finally bought a silver encore ink pad. What a cool ink, I love how it stamps. So there you have it. Have a Holly Jolly day! Check back tomorrow for our Limelight product and sketch challenge. We have a Rock Star guest designer with us, you won't want to miss out! Hugs, Lisa

Sweet Man of Mine!

I have a treat for you today, I guess because of the challenge you could call it a sweet treat! lol! I have a scrapbook page!!!! I know it seems like forever since I last scrapped and I've been dying to get my photos inky. Week 6 of the Unity Bachelor Challenge was to create something sweet for your man AND you could only use Pink and Brown!!! I have never done a page of my honey, so I decided today was the day. I {{{{heart}}}} this picture of Tim all studly driving the boat. I used lots of Unity stamps on this baby-confessions, the new scrapbook kit (I opted out of the customer KOTM so I could get the scrapbook kit instead. It's awesome! with lots of fun papers, too!), Frame this Alpha, and bitty backgrounds. I giggled the whole time I made this, knowing that Tim would hate all the pink on it. You know what? I don't' care, cuz I think it turned out soooo sweet! Thanks for all your comments! I truly appreciate your kind words, they always make me smile. Hugs, Lisa

Girly Girl, Bling and Ruffles!

I've had this one done for days and should have just posted it over the weekend, or even last week. So I guess you get two posts today! I used all PTI on this card, well, except for the grey, it's from SU. The Embellish online mag issued another challenge, Embellish the Cure with Bling: Fuschia, Grey, and Light Pink with some Bling! I was in a girly mood and wanted to use ruffles for the Moxie Fab Challenge, too. So that's how this card came to be.
I used my Merry & Bright set, added lots of stickles (those are the small dots on the centers of the polka dots and snowflakes) and a crisp white felt snowflake with a rhinestone brad in the center. Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow. Hugs again, Lisa

Monster's Ball!

Oh, boy, was this one a doozie for me! I am not a late night stamper and let me say, it was 11:37 pm (est) when I finally uploaded to SCS. I finished, love it and couldn't wait to get it entered.

TheMFT week 3 challenge for their So You Think You Can Stamp contest is WALTZ! I've been thinking and thinking on this one and just couldn't get the mojo flowing. Finally it hit me yesterday afternoon and I didn't get a chance to work on it until after DH left for work (yep, Tim worked a nite shift last night).

When I think waltz, I think elegance, ruffles, flowing fabrics, ribbons, and love! I created this elegant wedding/anniversary card with the adorable monsters from Monsters Ink. I dressed them up with some elegant Pink Paisley papers, pearls, ruffled stitched ribbon, scallops and a white organza bow. I even made her a pretty little skirt with some tulle and pearls. Isn't it just the cutest?I think I was trying to create something that just wasn't me, and when I finally stayed true to me, it all fell into place. Thanks for the challenge, and thanks for looking! I've got another post later today, it's all girly and full of ruffles! Hugs, Lisa

It's a Sunday Post with PTI Blog Hop!

Hello, hello! Hope you've had a great weekend. What better way to end it, than with some fabulous Holiday fun with Papertrey Ink and a blog hop! Here's a quick CAS card using last years, Take A Bough set. I used a classic holiday color combo-ripe avocado, spring moss and Pure Poppy. I helped give an updated and fun look with the nestabilities, Lables 4 die. Popped up the ornaments with some dimensionals and finished it off with some piercing and a pretty button/bow! I did stamp a sentiment but you can barely see it, it's in Vintage Cream ink (my pad needs some re-inkin'), anyway it's in the upper right corner. Can't get any easier than this and with the hectic holiday season soon upon us, I can whip out a dozen or so of these in no time! thanks for stopping by tonight! see you in the forum. Hugs, Lisa

Friday, Post #3, and Friends with Flair

I'm back, with my thrid and final post for today, it is Friday after all, lol! Here is my Unity creation with one of my favorite images and sentiment from the October Store KOTM, Wonderful You. I don't know why, but this was the first image that caught my eye. Maybe it's because I don't have anything like it and it's a smaller and oh-so- cute.
Are you a SCS Fan Club member? I have been for over 2 years now mainly for the instant uploads and being able to upload on Sundays, BUT another huge perk is access to the Dirty Dozen gallery. IT'S AMAZING!!!! There are also some challenges that members are aloud to play along in and this month has really grabbed my attention. It's all about circles and treats. I'm always drawn to circles and treats of course. So I've got a round card and in all fairness it has been a while since I've done one. I used some of the gorgeous Jenny Bowlin papers that came in the Scrapping KOTM.

I also finally used the new, FREE, backgrounders. To stick with the circle theme, I used the one with all the little tiny open circles, they reminded me of the little bubbles that might be bubbling up from the love potion. And of course I finished it off with one of my button-bow combos. Seriously, I've tried to leave off the buttons, but my bows feel so naked when I do, so I always end up tying one on. Be sure to check out Angela's blog or the FWF signup in the Unity forum for the full list of bloggers with Unity goodness today!

and if Angela's specials over at Unity weren't enough for you yesterday, be sure to stop by Limelight Papercrafts. Mandy has lots of Unity on sale (along with other Halloween goodies!), PLUS if you suscribe to her newsletter, here's what else you can get:

And just for our newsletter subscribers, order the Unity October (or September) store kit of the month and choose another Unity single or kit $8 or less for FREE! Just enter your choice of free stamp kit at checkout

Hugs, Lisa

annnnnd Post #2! It's a Bella-Riffic Friday!

I just couldn't stay away from this week's Bella-riffic Friday challenge. You know I've recently added some new Bella stamps to my collection. There are some amazing other lines that Emily carries and that's what I picked up earlier this month. The theme today is Flowers! Here's my Poppy Bittybloom with a SCS sketch from a few weeks back. I was dying to use more of the MFT perfect plaid ribbon so I went searching for a bright color scheme to pair up with the yellow ribbon.

I thought the pretty Lemonade dp by Basic Grey was a good fit. Did you see this blog candy goodness? Joanne is so sweet and I just LOVE her style! Gotta love buttony bows! Enjoy your Friday! Hugs, Lisa

Stamp Something Halloween

We have had wonderful, perfect fall weather all week! I wish it would stay like this all winter long. The colors are definitely at their peek-so bright and vibrant! Next week is Halloween, yes, already and then you know what that means?......yep it will be November!!!! Our sponsor this week at Stamp Something is Cute Daisy May stamps. Our theme is Halloween Something, easy nough! Get in the spirit and create a Halloween card, link it on the Stamp Something Blog for a chance to win a prize. We were given the cutest Halloween images to work with, but I couldn't get them to print right. sniff, sniff.....so change of plan and I went with the cute pumpkin/made into a jack'o lantern from Autumn Harvest by Stampin' Up! and paired it with this great CAS sketch from the Mojo Monday challenge. Here's the sketch.

I used the pumpkin in place of the circle, and the sentiment on the main square image panel. I'm lovin' this color combo for Halloween, too-razzleberry, curry, black and pumpkin. It's kind of the updated version of the old orange, purple, and black combo you've seen for years. I've got more to come, so come back later today. It's my usual 3 post Friday :)

Hugs, Lisa

A Card for Coach!

As promised, here is the card I made for each of the boys soccer coaches. I am in loooooove with this new line from Stamping Bella, Green Bean Baby. There's just something about all the images that make me smile. This one, Jackson the Soccer Player, was a no brainer for me to get, since we are such a big soccer family. I colored little Jackson with Copics and used Mercy's Tuesday sketch to mount him up on a card. I loved this sketch, a good CAS layout. I customized his little jersery to match each boy's team colors. This one is Joshua's card. Paper is by Fancy Pants. I stamped the soccer ball twice, cut one out and popped it up.

One final note, thanks for all your empathy from yesterday's post. Being a mom is tough, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Last night was much calmer and without incident! Hugs, Lisa

A Woe is Me Moment...

....actually, I just thought I'd share this story for all mom's out there, and well, to anyone who has had to care for little ones. If you don't care to read all this, feel free to scroll down!

We had an A-typical evening last night. It was our last soccer practice AND a Scouting night. Tim was home sleeping and getting ready for a night shift so I was solo mom for our activities, no biggie, I do that all the time. The fun starts when we get home. It was late and all of us are tired. Late, meaning it was after 8:30 when got home and the boys are usually in bed by 8pm. Oh, and the baby didn't nap, so he is reallllly cranky. When we come in the big boys go straight upstairs to get jammies on, Nicholas is standing in the laundry room and says, "mommy, I pee'd!" He soaks the carpet, his clothes, his coat since it was on the floor were he was standing. Ugh! Now I have to do a load of laundry at 9 pm. The night continues....I get them all in bed by 9. Ahhhh, I settle down on the couch with a glass of wine and the DVR all to myself after I put the load of clothes in the wash.

About 30 minutes later I hear incessant coughing (Joshua had been sick over the weekend with cold-like symptoms). I know he is up out of bed as I'm walking up stairs I hear SPLAT. He is inches from the toilet and manages to throw up all over the floor. So, now I'm scrubbing a bathroom floor and changing his clothes and then end up having to strip his bed and put clean sheets and a blanket on his bed. It's 9:45 and I have to change out the wet clothes to the dryer, fold the towels that were in the dryer from yesterday, AND start another load of laundry. I sit back down on the couch for 2 minutes and then hear Nicholas crying for me. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????? He was fine, just needed a little back patting to get him back to sleep, since he was over tired. He was just restless. It was one LONG hour and a half, with much more house work than I cared to do at 9 pm at night! It's tough being a mom, I tell ya! lol!

Okay, so now on to my card. You might think it a little odd, but it did turn out rather cute. It is a Halloween Anniversary card.

A friend I've met over in the MFT forum is celebrating her 3rd Anniversary and she posted a little challenge on her blog with some awesome blogcandy! Her Anniversary is on Halloween, hence the theme of my card. Here's a detailed shot.
If you want to play along, here's the link to LaToya's blog. Thanks for stopping by today. I've got a cute soccer card to share tomorrow! Hugs, Lisa

Disco Fever, MFT style!

It's week 2 of the MFT, So you Think You Can Stamp Challenge. This week it was a Disco theme. I have to admit, I love disco music, but then I really like all kinds of music. In college we used to get dressed up and hit this one club on Disco Night. It was always a good time. I'm a huge Donna Summer fan and her song, MacArthur's Park kept ringing in my head. Here's a link , if you're not familiar with it. The lyrics are quite silly, but I just love the music. Here's a bit of the words:

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark

All the sweet green icing is melting down

Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think I can take it

'Cause it took so long to bake it

And I'll never have that recipe again, oh no....

So there's my inspiration for this challenge. I created the scene with an easy shadow box card (yes, two techniques, two weeks in a row. Patting myself on the back. This was a bit easier than the double slider from last week). I used You Take the Cake and Grow Love to create the park and cake scene. I added the little umbrella from Rainy Day Friends and some raindrops with crystal effects. I went through my stash and found this funky, retro paper by Fancy Pants. I added lots of stickles to make it all glittery, disco was all about the Glam! This is so different from most things I create, but I really like how it came together. It feels good when you have an image in your head and it turns out just like you envisioned it. Happy Tuesday! hugs, Lisa

Unity Bachelor Week 5

Good Monday morning to ya! I'm keeping this short, I'm still half asleep and I'm cold. Brrrrr, our weather was unseasonable cold with our first frost of the season yesterday. Good thing is, we are supposed to get temps back up in the 60's by mid week.

The Unity Bachelor challenge this week is to use something from around the house you wouldn't normally use on a card. I looked through my Unity stamps (this is how I usually get started on a challenge-see what I've got and then think what might work). I guess I was cold and hungry cuz I saw the Jolly Little Winter set and then hit my cupboards. I decided to use Kosher Salt and sugar to make some snow.

I stamped the hilly/fence background image twice, once on the circle kraft piece and again on a scrap piece. I covered the scrap piece with strips of redline sticky tape and then sprinkled on the Kosher salt. It looked great as is, but I felt there was a bit of open space between chunks of the salt, so I filled those in with sugar. Here's a close up.

The other detail I just love (well, aside from the new ribbon from MFT. The perfect Plaid ribbon bundle is awesome!) is the red stitching. WOW! I changed out the thread in my machine (something I have rarely done) and think the pop of color is just the perfect touch this card needed. The stamps and paper (Cosmo Cricket,jolly by golly) can be purchased at Limelight Papercrafts.

Now through Friday, 10/23, take advantage of extra savings on selected Fall and Halloween stamps, papers, and embellishments! Click on the SALE tab to check it out!

I also did up the inside of the card and forgot to take a picture of it. I added more strips of paper, red stitching and the Let it Snow sentiment. Thanks for stopping by! Hugs, Lisa

Unity and Friends with Flair !!

I'm away from my stamp room again. My parents are visiting and sleeping down there, my craft room is my guest room when I have company. Good thing is, I got to clean it up a bit and now I can't wait to get back down there and stamp again. Thankfully I'll have Sunday afternoon to work on a few projects, since Tim is working. You came for the Unity card, didn't ya? Well here it is. I used this fabulous sketch from the 2 Sketches 4 You blog. I've seen them floating around for quite some time and have never done one. My dear friend, Kristin and I try to virtually stamp together once a week or so and this week she challenged us to pick a challenge we have never done before. That's why I took the time to work with this one. I used some fun October Afternoon dp along with the fun pin cuschion image and sentiment from the Oct. Store Kit...Wonderful You (get it all at Limelight Papercrafts!) All righty, I'm outta here. Be sure to see the full list of FWF participants HERE. See you on MOnday! Hugs, Lisa

Stamp Something and Show your Bling!

Can you tell I've been working with my Kindergartner? They are all into the rhyming lessons and we rhyme everything around here lately. I had to keep from laughing as he was finding words to rhyme with duck....we were going through the alphabet, buck, cluck, duck, ....you know where I'm going with this don't you. LOL! Innocence is such a blessing.
Anyway this week's challenge on Stamp Something is to use Bling on your card. Load up your creations for a chance to win another fabulous prize from iCopic (man I wish I could play!). Plus we are continuing to post our TOP 5 each week. Earn the honor, come play along! Here's my simple CAS holiday card. I love the combo-kraft, razzleberry, and bermuda bay. Fun and non-traditional! I also added some shimmer with some shimmer paint in frosty white. It's an all SU card, well, except for the bling. Check back for my Friends With Flair post and Unity. Hugs, Lisa

Ribbon and Limelight!!!

Today I have a fun sketch and product challenge for you by Limelight Papercrafts. Our focus this week is Ribbon! Probably not a challenge for most of you, but have some fun with it. Limelight carries a large variety of ribbons. Go see. Here's the sketch:And here is my card. I'm sporting the Jillibean Soup and Oct. Unity Store Kit on this one!

I love this ribbon, it's so fun and I can't wait to use it on a scrapbook page. The ruler on it will be perfect with a school page. So here are the deets on this challenge. Come play along for a chance to win.

***Use the sketch provided and think Ribbons!!

**Key word for SCS upload is LLPC032.
**Post a comment with a link to your card on Mandy's post by Sunday, Oct.18, at midnight.

The prize this week is...... Pink Paislee Tinsel Town Ribbons!!!

Make sure you also visit the rest of the DT to see their wonderful texture creations! Mandy, Amy, Lee, JenMarie, Ryann, and our October Guest designer Sarah!

Along with our fabulous DT, we have some friends joining our team today. The Etsy Inspired Challenge design team is doubling up as guest design team members for Limelight for this fun sketch!!! Here they are:

Etsy Team Members: Ashley, Joy, De, Shannon, Emily, Heather, Kerry, Jackie, Kristen

Guess Hoo?

I had a happy mail day yesterday....my MFT order came. I had a little extra in the crafting funds this month thanks to a great final month with SU. I splurged and ordered the new Thinking of Hoo kit. Have you seen it? Go check it out! It's only $25 and here's what you get:

• Thinking of Hoo stamp set



• fossil scalloped note cards



• chocolate stitched ribbon



• baby braddies



• vanilla perfect panels



• and this gorgeous dp by Memory Box!

I am in love, be prepare to see this little guy for a while. You know I have a thing for Owls and this little one is just A-dorable with a capital A!!!

I'm adding this in, since I was thinking about this card in my sleep and just had to create it early this morning. Thankfully my little guy slept in a bit and I was able to pull this one together after putting the boys on the bus. I also got the fabulous Grow Love set from MFT and it looks wonderful with this same Memory Box dp (Butterfield is the name of it, if you were curious). I found this awesome sketch from Taylor Expressions and decided I would try for her call for a few new members of her sketch crew. Here's my go at it.

Happy Hump Day! See you tomorrow for the Limelight Six Chicks sketch and product challenge. Hugs, Lisa

Electric Cyber Slide!

to the left, to the left....to the right, to the right...now slide, baby,slide.

Okay, so I know that is not the Electric Slide song, but it all ties in, my title and the song, and now I got you singing. I'm sliding in at the final hours of this week's MFT, so you think you can stamp challenge. This week's challenge is a West Coast Swing All the cool kids are doing it, and so can YOU! This is a dance filled with FUN! Think lift, flip and spin! So my card slides.

I've changed my mind a million times on what I wanted to do, and finally settled on this double slider card, plus it was the first time I've been able to stamp since the challenge was issued. It was super easy to make, it was just time consuming for me (now I know why I like CAS so much, lol!) and thank goodness for You Tube. I am a visual learner. here's the video link for the tutorial I used. Dawn's slider card tutorial. I soooo {heart} this card and can't wait to send it off to a special cyber friend, she is one of my stamping idols and I love everything she does (not saying who, cuz I know she'll see this before it arrives). You pull on the little ribbon tab and out slide the top and bottom at the same time to reveal the fun sentiment. Here's a view of it open.

It is so fun to play with, interactive cards are the best! These still pictures just don't do them justice. Here's a close up of some details.
I used the Who's that E-girl set along with the Early Bird dp by Cosmo Cricket. You should go check out all the other entries, there is some amazing talent that hangs out in the MFT forum. Hugs, Lisa

ACK! I've been busy stamping...

....that's why there's been no updated post yet today! It's worth the wait (at least I think so), wait till you see what I've been working on. I was so sad that I missed out on the week 3 Unity Bachelor challenge, I DID NOT want to miss it again this week. I just haven't had time to stamp until today. Love the fun family weekends, but it's crampin' my crafting time, LOL! Anyway, this week's challenge was to complete a recipe card. What? Seriously, who has time to make fancy cute recipe cards? Now I want to!

I LOVE to cook and have tons of recipes (although seriously, unless it's baking I rarely follow a recipe. I use it as a guide line, but totally gestimate on amounts. ). I also think I am a pretty good cook. This weekend I whipped up some fabulous lasagna, crablegs, blueberry muffins, and Cesar salad (yes, I make a home made dressing). It was DH's birthday and these are all some of his faves. Aren't I a good wifey-poo?!!!

In challenges like this, does anyone else have the issues of wanting to use every other stamp you don't own on the project. I had so many ideas fly into my noggin and then I'd say, "if only I had that stamp!" Soooo, in using what I have, I decided on this yummy hot cocoa recipe I got from Nichole Heady a few years back. I seriously make my own cocoa every winter now that I have this recipe.

I used lots of Unity stamps-Frame this Alpha, the new scrapbook/collage kit...ect., and Hodge Podge of Happiness. The fun Cosmo Cricket papers, Jolly by Golly were the perfect fit with this project. Wish me luck, I'm hoping to win one of these weeks.

Oh, and here are the specials for Limelight this week:

*The new UNITY STAMP CO STORE KIT IS HERE!
Cosmo Cricket NUTMEG is HERE!!
The new Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co collection is HERE!
*All 12x12 patterned paper BUY 3, GET 1 FREE!
*All Stampendous stamps BUY 3, GET 1 FREE!
*Shimmerz & Shimmerz Blingz BUY 1, GET 1 FREE! (excludes Spritz)Simply enter your choices of free products in the Comments section at checkout! (Free items should be of equal or lesser value, please.)

Hugs, Lisa

and finally......Friends with Flair!!!

Please scroll down for the Stamp Something Challenge and my Bella-riffic Friday post.

Now it's time for your Unity fix. I've got some new images to share today. The Oct.09 Store KOTM, arrived at my door step Tuesday (super speeding shipping from Limelight Papercraft!). Have you seen it? It's another great mix of images.

I used this week's color challenge to make this fun holiday card-mellow moss, kraft, and white. I feel like I need to add some sparkle, it just feels like it is missing something. I loved the layout, so I thought I'd share it anyway. I just replenished my kraft cs supply so I've been using it all week. Good thing these color challenges called for it! This one uses the sketch challenge and the colors from the color throw down blog. Dontcha dig those coffee cups?

So there you have it! Be sure to see all the other fun Unity inspiration today. here's the link to the sign up thread on SCS. Leave the ladies some love! Hugs, Lisa

Bella-rific Friday! -post #2

Yeeeaaah!!!! I'm happy to say I got out some very neglected stamps and got them inky! Can you believe I actually stamped a card just because? Well, to be honest I made the birthday card because I had out my cute little Bella's for this challenge today. So I guess you get lucky and get to see both of them today.
I think these Bella's were one of my first "contraband" (you know, non-SU images) I purchased over 2 years ago. It's funny how things can spiral out of control, now I think I own just as much non-SU stamps as I do SU. Boy am I glad, there are just too many other good things out there. Lately, lots of cute images from Stamping Bella have been catching my eye. I started following the Bellarific Friday blog hop and ended up winning some Bella Bucks (it sure pays to play! once in a while I get lucky!) and now lets say a fun little order is on it's way to me :) I thought it was only fair to use some of the images I had on hand before the new ones arrive. So here I am for the Bellarific Friday challenge....anything baby! I forgot how much I love this image, Teddybella. It's perfect for my son's teacher who is due next month with her first baby! The sketch is from Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge #42. I used the same cute polka dotted paper (October Afternoon, Ducks in a Row. Get yours at Limelight Papercraft!) on my next card. This is the one I made all by myself (no challenge involved!) for my college BFF. Her birthday was yesterday, so this is on it's way to her.
Thanks for stopping by. I'm sure you'll be seeing lots more Stamping Bella cards. Stay tuned! Hugs, Lisa

3 Post Friday!!! here's #1... Stamp Something Brown!

Yep, I told you I'd make up for not posting on the weekends. Now you have all weekend to check out all 3 of mine! Let's start with Stamp Something! This week our sponsor is iCopic! This is my go-to store for all my copic needs (okay, should have at least used my markers on this card, but my other posts cover any marker needs you may have!). Their prices are low, the shipping is fast, and the customer service is great.

The challenge this week is to use brown + one other color. I went with soft suede, kraft and real red. My DH's birthday is on the 11th so I made a very simple card with some new SU toys (movers and shapers die!).

This was going to be the card I give him, but then I realized I used the Dear Dad sentiment, lol. Sooooo, the boys will give this card to him. It also makes me laugh because I used the tie image from Holiday Blitz and Tim HATES ties. One reason he chose not to work at one of our area hospitals was because the docs had to wear a tie. If he can avoid wearing one, he will.

All right, get to stamping and pull out your browns, it is such a great neutral and goes so well with LOTS of colors. Embrace it! Make sure you link your card up to the Stamp Something Blog for a chance to win a great prize and even make the TOP 5 of the week! Hugs, Lisa

Fun With Fabric!

So, my next crafty shopping spree will involve me getting some fabric. It's something I've wanted to do for awhile now, but it just never seems to get done. This week I had to get creative ( hey that's what we do anyways, right? ) with the Guest Designer Challenge for MFT. Yesterday was the big release day for MFT and they have gone back to a monthly guest designer challenge. The call was for Fabric! I've been slowly weeding out the baby clothes as Nicholas outgrows them. Up until now I've held onto everything. I was able to use the hand-me-downs for each boy. Now that we are done having babies, it feels good to purge once Nicholas has moved onto the next size. So I went to his latest bin of too-small clothes and pulled out a few things to cut up and use for this challenge. I paired it up with the adorable little Cuddle Up Carter set and made this card. I love that my Bigz dies cut through so many different materials, fabric being one.
I used the top note and the Stars #2 dies. The trick was finding a way to attach the fabric to my card. Guess what I found out? My trusty Janome doesn't just sew paper, it really DOES work on fabric, lol! Give it a go, try your hand at using some fabric on a project. Hugs, Lisa

Saved this one!

I made this one a week or so ago. It was for that awesome color challenge-razzleberry, curry, and black. Love how this medallion stamp can make such a great CAS card. See my strip of curry paper at the top? Any guesses as to why I added it? Yep, tried to stamp the sentiment without my SAMJ and got it crooked. Seriously, I rarely stamp with out this tool anymore. Gotta love the textured cardstock, too. Adds just the right touch of, I don't know what. I just like it!
Hugs, Lisa
ETA: tootin' my horn....did you all see this? Yeah, me!

Limelight Monthly Project

Today is the 6th, so that means it's time for the monthly Limelight Papercrafts Project Parade! This month we are featuring Fall or Halloween Home decor with a matching card. My project popped into my head one night while I was falling asleep. I am happy to say it came together much better than I expected. I think it is so cute and adds such a fun element to my kitchen island. I got out all my other fall decorations today, so this fits right in. I made the cutest little fall tree with branches from a tree we have out front of our house. I love that I brought in a little bit of nature!I used the acorn and leaf images from the Unity Sept. Store KOTM (YES, those are my favorite images from the kit, along with the grateful sentiment) and accented the branches with the brown gingham ribbon, Off Beat Buttons, and some gorgeous October Afternoon papers. Here's a close up of the vase tag and tree ornaments. And here is the card I made to match. I actually made this first and used this as my inspiration for the tree. Those polka dots and stripes together just make me smile.
I added stitching and some die cute leaves to help give the fall feeling to the card. Once again, I used my stamp-a-majig and markers to stamp the sentiment just right! Follow me and come see what fabulous Fall/Halloween projects the rest of the DT came up with. Mandy, Amy, Lee, JenMarie, Ryann, and our October Guest designer Sarah Martina!!!