YEAH!!!!

WOW!! I just received the Kreative Blogger award from Patty Chesky over at A Touch From The Heart! This is a huge honor for me because I LOVE her blog. Her cards are amazing! Be sure to stop by and check it out.

My nominations for the award are:

1. Amber Hight at The Stamping Scrapbooker

2. Jackie Pedro at The Scalloped Edge

I found both of these blog from the Verve blog and LOVE their work. They quickly became daily stops!!! Thanks for all the inspiration from you fine ladies!!!

Friendship Bird

Don't you just love when an idea just comes together. I was outside yesterday playing with the kids when I picked up a random stick and just began snapping little pieces of the end off. I then happened to notice that this stick was pretty cool. The shape was good, it was straight {lightbulb} hey this would be cool on a card. I have just the bird for it. I could hardly wait for nap time to try it out. I inked the bird from SU's Always set with Taken with Teal first and then added a little Chocolate Chip. I love the way it looks. I cut him out, inked the edges in Chocolate Chip and I'm pretty sure he loves the new home I gave him. The cardstock is from SU also and the decorative paper is My Mind's Eye. I used a strong craft adhesive for the stick.

The layout just sort of came about on it's own. I had a scrap paper of teal in my scrap drawer that was 6 6/8 x 8 1/2 and I just went with it. I scored at 4 1/4. I like this size. It makes for little longer card which worked well with the branch. The only thing I would do different is swap the decorative paper and the plain panel. I think the bird would have stood out a little better this way. I used my Slit Punch and Crop-a-Dile to make the scallop border and I have to say this is one of my favorite's anymore. The ribbon is of course Stampin Up too!! Oh and the sentiment is from an SU set, I'm pretty sure is was a SAB set but I can't remember the name right now. I can't wait to make more cards with found and recycled objects. I have some "recycled" stuff to make a scrapbook layout hopefully I'll get to it this week!

Have a Happy Weekend!!!

Splitcoast Sketch Challenge

This looked like a super fun sketch and I couldn't wait to play. I love all the little squares in the background. I think this will easily be one of my favorite layouts to turn too. I used my Tart and Tangy stamp set and Summer Picnic paper from Stampin Up. Your last chance to order it is June 30th since it is a stamp from the mini catalog. The paper too!! The sentiment is from Gina K's How Sweet It Is set and just seemed to fit perfect. I am always in need off a birthday card and it's the ones I seem to make the least of. I have so many sentiments I really like just not so many birthday ones.
Anyway, I inked the edges of the main panel in Real Red and added some red eyelets too. The orange sliced is sparkly thanks to my Stickles!!
Thanks for looking!

I'm Three!

I am completely in love with this layout!! I love the "shabby" style. Ever since I got my last Verve order I knew I wanted to make a flower garden on a scrapbook layout. I took this picture of my daughter on her third birthday and knew this would be the perfect chance to try it. Photography happens to be one of my other "creative" outlets {I have a few} and I really like the way these pictures turned out. This one is my favorite and is on page 2 to this layout:
The papers used for this layout are My Mind's Eye, Making Memories and a vanilla cardstock. I stamped the flowers from Petals and Stems on the decorative paper in Close to Cocoa ink and cut them all out. I then used my sponge daubers to ink the edges to shade them a bit. This also helps to clean up the cut edges if you happen to leave a little "white" on the edges. I used glue dots to adhere dew drops to the center of each flower. The stems are from Floral Whimsy. I stamped them in Certainly Celery and inked the bottom of the page in the same color. The title "three" was stamped with my SU set Best Friends Alphabet. I love this set and it is one that is retiring. :( Everything else was inked with my Ranger Antique Linen ink. I took some close up shots so you could see the detail. I tried to show that some of the flowers were mounted on dimensionals but it is kind of hard to tell in the photos.

My Craft Room!!

It's done!! All painted and clean! I'm dying to get creative in there. The color is so peaceful it is most definately my favorite place to be. I forgot to take before pics but just imagine all white everywhere and you got it.

*You can click on each picture to view it full size*

I also love this room because I get to display my other OBSESSION in life. DOPEY!! From Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. I have loved him since I was a kid and until we moved here all my collectibles were tucked in a closet.

I even was lucky enough to get a little "dopey" of my own!!

(This is my son Miller last halloween)

Thanks for looking! I'll be back tomorrow with some new creations!!

Just Getting Warmed Up!

Apparently my stamping mojo is MIA!! I needed to make a card for a wedding yesterday and this is what I came up with. I used Julee's Mojo Sketch, which I love, but the card, not so much!! I love the panels and the ribbon and the brads, just not the stamped image. I'm blaming it on the fact that 1.) I don't have a really good wedding stamp, 2.) my main panel was way to small (see sketch) and 3.) that cake has blue frosting. I tried to pick up the colors in the paper and blue was what I used. I thought I would be okay with it..turns out I'm not! It only took about 15 minutes to throw this one together which was good because it was a very last minute card. I want to try this sketch with a scrapbook layout! Hopefully this week. I have big plans to reunite myself with my craft room!!

My New Goodies!

WOOOOHOOOOOO!!!

My birthday came a little early this year. I have been dying to get a Cuttlebug since I got started making cards. Well a present came in the mail in the form of a 50% off coupon from Michaels and I seized the moment. I also picked up the new big bite too!!!

Can't wait to play with them and FINALLY get some new creations posted. I'm also just finishing up get my craft room put back together now that it is all painted and I will get pictures of that too!!

Happy Weekend!

New Home Decor Product

For all you subscribers you probably wondering why you are getting a post so similar to the one you already got today. Well apparently the link I provided for a "sneak peek" is for demo's only. I had to remove the link but wanted to put the info about the products on my blog so you'll have to bear with me.

Stampin' Up! has just announced a brand product line. They are expanding their Definitely Decorative line to include the brand new Decor Elements. Decor Elements are vinyl rub-ons to be applied to many different surfaces: walls, mirrors, home decorative items, windows, etc...

I'm so excited about them that I started painting my craft room today in preparation for the one I am going to order for that room!

I'm sure you've seen similar items in catalogs and home decorating shows on TV. They are easy to apply and remove. This makes them perfect for apartment owners, college dorm rooms or those who change their decorating style often. They add a perfect decorative element to your home without the worry of doing something permanent to your walls like paint or wallpaper might do!!

I can order mine today (lucky me)!! You will have to wait until July 1st!! If you are interested in receiving a catalog please drop me an email and I will get one to you when I get my order in.

Thanks for understanding my misunderstanding!

Excuses, Excuses

I'll be the first to admit that my blog has been slightly neglected lately. But... I have a few excuses and pictures to prove it! Yesterday my daughter Mattea turned 3 so we had A LOT of preparation to do for the party. We actually celebrated on Sunday and made it a big bash for her birthday and father's day. We had a lot of family coming and our yard needed some work. We bought this house in November and yardwork was still very much needed even after all the work we have done. I spent about 7 hours one day and 5 the next just pulling weeds....AHHHHH. My hands were a little sore for a few days but the yard looks great. I haven't had a chance to make any new cards lately :( but I did do a little digi scrapping and thought I would show you some of the fun we had!!

These are the page layouts I made for Mattea's birthday.

This is the layout for Father's Day but more importantly the whip cream war between my Dad and my Uncle. My dad is the one that started it and ended up with a face full himself. It was hilarious!! I titled this layout "Brotherly Love".

So I hope this proves I haven't been neglecting you all. I'm hoping to get to a few card sketches and challenges this week, finger's crossed!!!

***For these layouts I used digi products from Shabby Princess and Melissa Bennett Designs***

Stampin Up Retiring List

Click {HERE} to view the list of stamps that will be retiring from the current catalog. These stamps will be gone forever to make room for the new stamps releasing in the next catalog on August 11th! Also, your last day to order from the Mini Catalog is June 30th!!!

Email me at scraps_by_m@hotmail.com or call at (970)454-2489 to place your order!!

To My Husband

I did it. I finally broke down and ordered the Father Figure stamp set from Verve Visual. I'm really glad I did. I love the sentiments in it. Plus, Verve is having a sale right now and how can you resist :). I used Basic Grey cardstock from Stampin Up and paper from My Mind's Eye. This card was pretty simple to make, I didn't want to over fuss and make it to girly. I think it turned out pretty good and I hope my dh loves it!!

Sorry for the short post, we are super busy getting our house in order for my daughter's 3rd birthday party and a father's day get together!!

Laundry Inspiration

I have being eyeing this shirt of my daughters for the longest time just waiting to make a card. Everytime I fold it when I do laundry I get the stamping bug. She wore it the other day and when I was helping her into her jammies the shirt came with me!!!
Part of the reason I delayed the card for so long was I didn't know what stamps I wanted to use. I knew my new Verve stamps would be perfect!!! I used Stampin Up's Taken with Teal, Rose Red, Pixie Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery and Basic Grey. I am in love with the color combo!!!! FYI, Children's clothing are a great inspiration if your ever stuck! While I really love the color combo I'm not jumping for joy about this card. I like I just don't love it. I stamped everything in my Versamark ink. I don't have all SU's ink pads yet but this worked just as well. I cut out all the flowers are layered them together. I added stickles to the centers for some glitter! The butterfly too was stamped in Versamark ink and he is glittery too! I had cut and layered a butterfly in the same colors but last minute changed my mind. The pink frame was a tiny pain to do. I used my fiskars paper trimmer and had to do math to get it uniform. I'M NOT A MEASURER!! I prefer to eyeball things but I wanted this to look good. Took way to much time, Math and I don't mix :)
If you just love this color combo you should try it and link me back so I can check it out. These are such fun summer colors!!! Thanks for taking a peek.

And for those of you who have been asking, yes my sister had her baby boy. Ethan James and he's a doll!!!!

I {heart} challenges!!

This one started out as one of Jen Del Muro's SFYTT. I have been trying hard to really follow sketches exactly. This one was going to be too. I had it all laid out JUST like the sketch. Then...the sewing machine got a hold of it. This was another card I made while my children where helping me and I now know why my sewing machine keeps messing up. When my son grabs both dials and just starts twisiting something bad is bound to happen. Needless to say I had to do some rearranging to cover up the boo-boos. The Happy is covering the bad spot so then the three heart circles had to be moved. I like this layout too, at least I didn't have to start over from scratch. I made this card for a wedding whose colors are Robin's Egg Blue and Brown. I'm not sure if this color is Robin's Egg blue (it's SU's Bashful Blue) but it was the closest I had. The dp is My Minds Eye. I really love the pattern. Both panels are stiched, as if you didn't already know. I made the scallop border with my slit punch and crop-a-dile. This has to be my new favorite. I can't wait to put some on a scrapbook layout. All the edges were inked in Close to Cocoa (no surprise I know)! I need to become less predictable, don't I!!!!
Hope you have a great weekend!! Thanks for looking!

Welcome Baby!!!

Not just any baby. My brand new nephew!!! My sister is being induced today and I can't wait to meet the new little guy. It occured to me only yesterday that I hadn't made him a card. Actually I have quite a few to make. I forgot about Father's Day, my daughters third birthday, well not the days, just that I needed cards. I spent this whole week painting my living room and am SOOOOOO close to being done. Just a bit more trim work and then I can relax, well without painting anyway! I'll have before and after pics when I'm finished!!

For this card I used the newest Mojo Sketch from Julee at Poetic Artistry. I really love these sketches. Of all the challenges these are one of my faves. I thought from the sketch this one might be really challenging and surprisingly it wasn't. It took almost an hour to make but only because I had three little "helpers" in my craft room with me. I knew I wanted to use my much neglected Unfrogettable set from Stampin Up. This was the first set I bought and I really don't know why it appealed to me so much. I HATE FROGS!!! Worms and frogs.....BLAH! Nothing creaps me out more than worms and frogs. My husband and kids squeal with delight as they chase me around the yard with one. This set is still one of my fave's though but it wasn't until I got my Copic markers that I really LOVED this set. I had a hard time coloring these frogs without them. Nothing ever looked right. I even tried paper piecing them but nothing ever worked.

The card base is Basic Grey. The color blocks are Bordering Blue and Certainly Celery. I was originally going to use these colors only as a backing for two different decorative papers but once the edges were all inked up I liked the simplicity of the solid colors. I used my Marvy Giga Punch for the Chocolate Chip scallop. I stamped Mr. Frog on Whisper White and added Certainly Celery just it a little something else. It looked kind of plain with just the white. I had stamped another little circle with a cute little grasshopper for the small circle but then this new container of plastic flowers caught my eye. They are from American Crafts and I bought them for scrapbooking but I really like it on this card. I attached it with a silver brad and the on the sentiment too. I followed Beates Mini Tutorial for rounding one side of the sentiment. Everything was inked in Close to Cocoa, my new favorite ink!!! For the scalloped edge I used my SU corner rounder. That is where the card opens at. I wanted the sentiment to be on the inside too. I tried to show this in the second photo. Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I'll be holding our newest family member soon!!!!!

June Promotions

So I'm only a few days late on sharing the June Stampin Up Promos with you ;)

eScape Promotion

To celebrate eScape 2008, Stampin' Up! has put together the following bundle

available the month of June at a 25% savings!

Love Notes Assortment (p. 167)

Circle of Friendship Stamp Set (p. 143)

Rose Red Classic Stampin' Pad (p. 165)

Very Vanilla 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon (p. 191).

The total separately is $40.10 but bundled together it's $30

(click here for a on-line spring/summer catalog)

You can get more information and see the products {HERE}

Fresh Cut Sneak Peek Promotion

This promotion is a Sneak Peek into the new catalog that come out August 11th. Why wait until then to begin collecting the newest stamps.

June 1-June 30, you can purchase your very own Fresh Cuts set in advance for $21.95 and get the die-cut, coordinating Fresh Cut Notes for just $5. If you prefer, you may purchase the Fresh Cuts Stamp Set (#111634) separately for $21.95 and the Fresh Cut Notes (#111882)for $8.95.

Hostess Benefits: Also, from June 1 through June 30, place a Stampin' Up! product order of $400 or more and you will receive the Fresh Cut stamp set and coordinating Fresh Cut Notes FREE. This is a $30.95 retail value in addition to regular hostess benefits.

You can get more information {HERE}

Happy Life Together

It's been a long time since I have stitched on a card and when I got a special request I knew right away this was the perfect chance. Although had I known one of my kiddo's had been playing with my sewing machine lately I probably would have opted out. This card only took me about 20 minutes to design and stamp. However, I spent an hour in my craft room trying to fix my sewing machine. Yes, I probably could have just skipped it but once I started messing with the machine I was more and more determined to win!!!!

And win I did!!!!

I think this card turned out super cute. I love the simplicity of the layout yet the scalloped edge and the stitching really make the layers pop. I used my Happy Everything set from SU for this card. The inside says Life Together! I couldn't resist and had to stamp the filigree's from my new Verve stamps on the inside. The cardstock I used is Close to Cocoa and Blush Blossom. I heavily inked all the edges in Close to Cocoa and stamped my sentiment in Chocolate Chip. I really like the shabby end result of this card, but I'm definately a shabby kind of gal. Clean lines just don't seem to work for me. I love em, just can't do em!!!

Thanks for looking!!!

{M}

SFYTT

There have been so many cool sketches lately I have been dying to play with. The problem everytime is that I can't always remember them exactly like they are suppose to be. I don't have a printer hooked up to my laptop so I usually just jot down the sketch or if it's really cool (like this one from Jen Del Muro) I just store it in my memory. Since my memory isn't what it used to be, by the time I make it to my craft room some of the details become a little unclear. I followed pretty close to the sketch with just a few oopsies!!

I knew I wanted to use my new Verve stamps because they are my new faves and there are SO MANY in the new sets. It's going to take a while before I get them all inked but I will have so much fun doing it.

The cardstock is Whisper White and Chocolate Chip from Stampin Up. The papers are scraps I had out from My Minds Eye. I love these three papers together. Usually an image like these flowers would have me instantly reaching for my markers but I was in a paper piecing mood. I think everything turned out really cute!!! The ribbon is SU's Chocolate Chip grosgrain (my fave). I used my new Robin's Nest bauble thingy's ( I don't know what they are really called) on the two flowers on the side. The sentiment is from Short and Sweet. I just love the font on these stamps. I rounded two of the corners just because and am really pleased with the results. I'm hoping to get back to posting daily but I just got back from Home Depot where I purchased the paint for my living room. Hopefully stamping time will get squeezed in!!!

Have a great week, thanks for looking!