Spring Dreams ~ on a gloomy day

Oh the day's have been so pretty and today is gloomy. Where did our pretty spring weather go? I guess I'll have to craft mine myself!

For this card I used my Spring Dreams TAC™ set. It's full of these cool funky flowers & swirls. A must have I say :)

I first stamped the swirl on the Garden Green card base with my Garden Green pad. I then layered a piece of Wild Wasabi paper with a piece of DP from the Cha Cha collection. All the DP on this card is from that collection. I sponged some Only Orange ink around that panel. I then took another piece of DP and made the scor marks from my Scor-Pal on it, sanded it with my block then sponged some Lovely Lilac ink around those edges. I layered that to a piece of Wild Wasabi paper and adhered it to the card. I then stamped the flower image and colored it in with my pencils, sponged Only Orange ink around the edges and layered that on to a piece of Wild Wasabi also.

I then took my 3/4" circle punch and punched out a piece of scrap paper and tied a piece of scrap yellow ribbon thru it. I placed it in the upper right corner then adhered that panel to the card.

I thought it turned out a little funky, but I was looking for something different. I really like how the DP looked after I scored and sanded it. Looks kinda "used".

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to ~ what have YOU been doing???

You cheer me up, too!

A special thanks to Jean over at It's in the cards! For this lovely award.

There are so many special people that make my day ~ who would of ever known that when I started this blog that I would have this many hits, let alone make so many blogging friends.

I look forward to every day signing in and seeing who's been by to leave a comment or just say 'hi!'.

I cant even begin to say "you cheer me up" or "you make my day" to just a few people. There are so many great people out there that I've met and started friendships with. So if you are here reading this blog consider yourself awarded!

Hugs, Joani

Friendly (muddy) Greetings

Happy Saturday everyone! I thought that I'd post this card this morning because that's what we planned on doing today ~ play in the mud. Ok, well actually we were going to get top soil so we could get ready to start the garden. And yes, flowers too! But no, the weather reporter said that we were going to have some storms and today was supposed to be icky. Well, we cancelled it. Now, as I'm writing this I am looking out the window and the sun is out. There are a few clouds, but nothing that looks bad.


Oh well. Maybe I will get to re-arrange the furniture in the living room? Hmmm. Or maybe just play with my new stamps :)


This card is made with theangelcompany™ Stamp of The Month set Friendly Greetings. I just think that little piggy is so cute! And yes, this was another quick and easy card. The base card is Chocolate Chip. I layered on a piece of Pixie Pink cs and a piece of DP from the Catelynne collection. I sponged Chocolate Chip ink around that layer.


I stamped the image and colored him in with pencils and gamsol. I sponged Chocolate Chip ink around that and layered that on to another piece of DP from the Catelynne collection. I sponged Chocolate Chip around that layer too! As you can see, I like to sponge the edges. I think that sometimes it just makes the card look finished. The edges don't look just plain. Then I tied some ribbon around that and adhered it to the card.


That's all that I have for today. I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend! And happy stamping!

Gloomy Friday

Today's a gloomy day. As I am writing this I am looking out the window it's gloomy, rainy and dreary.....

But what else brightens my day but talking to you all and stamping!! So on to the cards :)

I can't get enough of the little cow set's that theangelcompany™ has right now!! They are so adorable.

This card was pretty much a quick and simple one.

The base card is Real Red. I stamped the card with the cow print from An Udder Birthday with my Versamark pad. Then I took a piece of Basic Black, layered the cow print paper that I got years ago from Darcie's, added the red polka dot ribbon and adhered it to the card. I then stamped the little cow and colored it in with pencils. I sponged some Real Red around the edges, layered that on to a piece of Basic Black and glued that to the card. Lastly I stamped the words "an udder birthday" in black ink on the lower right corner and I was finished! See, told you quick and easy...

Here's another card that I've made with my new stamps. This is the Spring Dream set. Kinda funky flowers with that cool paisley print and some awesome swirls!!

The base card is Apricot Appeal. I layered a piece of DP from the Rustic Chic pad that I sponged Chocolate Chip ink around the edges. I then took another piece of DP from the same collection, sponged around the edges and layered on to a piece of Chocolate Chip cs. Before I added that to the card I added the little tag that say's 'happy birthday' from the Everyday Events set. I used my word window punch to cut out the saying, sponged Only Orange ink around the edges, added an eyelet and threaded some black hemp to attach it to the card. I then stamped the flower, colored it with pencils and sponged around the edges. I layered that on to a piece of Chocolate Chip cs and added it to the card. It was a little different at first, but the more I look at it I think that I like it.

I'm sorry that the word window punch was turned in the picture ~ I actually just noticed that.


I also wanted to share a RAK card that I received from a blogging friend in the Netherlands! You know how cool it is to get mail from far away. I just love to see things that others are doing.

This is from Joan over at Scrapmum. If you have a second take a peek at her blog. It's kinda cool! And it's neat to see how she has it in two different languages!

Thanks a lot Joan, it made my day!!!

OH! And one more thing. You may notice a little box at the bottom of my posts. Well that is something new that I thought I'd try. It's called click comments. You can run your mouse over the icons and click on what you think. It's something faster if you are not feeling like leaving a comment. Just something that I'm trying for now. Just enlighten me :)

Well, I'm off for now. Gonna go play with some stamps and then head off to the doctor ~ Mom's got another appointment. She's got arthritis in her hand and really does not know how much longer she may stamp with me ;(

Have a super day! It is what you make it!!!

Isn't this fun?!?

I am just having so much fun with my new stamps. Have you ever stepped outside your box and tried something new? For a few years now I have only been a SU! girl. Where I live there is really a very limited supply of stores so just about all of my purchases were thru SU! Well, blog hopping one day I decided to join the Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers and that was it! I met Toni my wonderful upline and it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Yes, theangelcompany™ and ME!!! I still love my collection of SU! stamps, but I can't say enough about TAC™. They are so reasonable and the quality is awesome!!! So now SU! has to move over in my heart to make PLENTY of room for these guys!!!

Ok, enough of my babble ~ let's get on with it!

This adorable little girl is from the Hello There set. She's just so darn cute. This is another card that I made for my little basket of cards that I'm selling.

I stamped the little flower on Pixie Pink paper with Pink Passion ink. I then took a piece of DP from the Sands of Time collection and sponged Chocolate Chip ink around the edges. I cut a piece of Blue Bayou cs and used my colozzle to make a square in the center of it. I don't have the square template so I made due with my rectangle one!! I then distressed the edges with my Heidi Swapp distresser (totally cheap for only $0.99) and placed the image that I colored with pencils & markers in the center of it. I wanted a quick saying so I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to place the words in the panel to the left of the image. I stamped one more flower, colored it in with markers and used a pop dot to place it in the corner over a photo corner I made from scraps. Quick, easy & cute!!

Here is another flap card that I made from the directions over at SCS. If you have not made one of these you've got to! They are SUPER easy and they are so cute.

For the base card itself I used So Saffron. I cut the paper and scored it according to the directions. I then cut a piece of DP from the Sands of Time collection and sponged Chocolate Chip ink around the edges. Before I glued it down I added a length of ribbon to it with a 'slide' that I made.

I took my designer label punch and punched out a piece of Old Olive cs. I then took my 1 1/4" circle punch and punched a circle from the same and adhered that on top of the label punch. I stamped the words "hey chick!" with Chocolate Chip ink, used my 1" circle punch and punched out the saying. I then sponged some Old Olive ink around the edge and taped that to the makeshift slide.

For the 'flap' part of the card I stamped the word peep in So Saffron ink. I stamped the chick images and colored them with pencils. I punched out that layer with my Mega Scallop Oval punch and layered that on to a piece of Old Olive that I punched out with my Giga Oval punch and adhered it to the card. To keep the flap closed I glued a tiny piece of Velcro on the inside ~ and I was done.

Another one of my favorite TAC™ sets is Little Friends. I think that the huge smiles on their faces are precious. So that brings me to the next card.

The base card is Soft Sky. I took a piece of Old Olive cs and layered a piece of DP from the Sands of Time Collection and used the sewing machine to sew those two pieces together. I then taped it to the card. I took another piece of Old Olive paper and layered another piece of DP from the Sands of Time collection, sponged around the edges with Old Olive ink and adhered that to the card.

I then took a label from the Catelynne collection and stamped the word 'hello' from the Just Giggle set with Old Olive ink and placed that to the right of the 2nd panel. I stamped the image from the Little Friends set and colored him in with pencils. I sponged some more Old Olive ink around the edges, layered it on to a piece of Old Olive cs and used pop dots to adhere to the card.
That was another quick and simple card.

And remember that in the month of April you can still receive double hostess rewards!! What that means is in the month of April if you hold a FUNshop worth $100.00 or more your rewards double. You will not only receive one, but two hostess sets free and not one, but two 1/2 price items in the catty! What a great time to get that Scor-Pal or Bind-It-All machine that you've been wanting!!! Plus your gift with purchases also double! Instead of only one free gift with purchase stamp for every $30.00 you will receive 2! How cool is that!!! Plus I will also throw in a free stamp set of your choice from the Big on Fun promo, you have 4 to choose from! If you have any questions or would like to place an order please don't hesitate to e-mail me :)

I hope that you all enjoy these few cards that I made ~ and I hope that it inspires you to go make something today!

Have a great day!

RAK from Linsey and some other stuff....

I first wanted to show you all a card that I received the other day from none other than Linsey at Outside the Lines. She is a most awesome card maker & paper crafter! And when I got the mail and saw what she sent me I was so excited. Me? She sent me a card? Wow! It's one that's going in my keepers for sure!!! I have a little shopping cart that I got a while back and I put all my "special" cards in it to look back on, and YES hers is going in there for sure!!

Isn't it pretty? And it's mine. Thank you so much Linsey ~ You sure made this girl's day!!! And if you have not yet you need to go to her blog and check out her creations, NOW!! But make sure to come back :)

The next card that I want to show you is actually a card that I made from a sketch over at my dear upline's blog Stampin Diva. Toni is another amazing cardmaker and she posted a sketch the other day. Well, I'm not sure if it's a crossed wire in my head or what ~ but I looked at the sketch and thought "I've gotta try this" and scribbled it down on a post it note to make. Yes, the scribble looked like the sketch, but when I was done with the card it sure did not look like the sketch. You've got to go peek at it here then come back and see the difference. Yup, I told ya, nothing like the sketch. I first of all did not have a punch large enough to make the image panel, and I don't have the square colozzle, just the rectangle (yes, it's the next thing on my order list) so I made the center piece a circle. Then I was supposed to add a circle at the lower right and I did not do that either.... Well, enough of my rambling, here's my card.

Yup, nothing like the sketch, but I started out with all good intentions.

First of all the base card is Purely Pomegranate. I love love love this paper, and you can bet that I'm going to order a whole box of it before it's discontinued.

I layered DP from the TAC™ Catelynne collection. Those papers are so pretty! I sponged Chocolate Chip ink around the top part of the card. I added a length of ribbon around where the two papers meet. For the top 1/2 of the card I used my colozzle to cut out the circles. I also used my edge distresser around the circles too. The Old Olive circle I sponged some Old Olive ink around it. I layered on a piece of Chocolate Chip paper and the image from my Enjoy Today set that I colored with my SU! watercolor crayons and I sponged Chocolate Chip ink around that layer too. I added a little tag from the Catelynne collection and punched a hole in the center to add the polka dot ribbon.

The bottom part of the card. Well, my Mother received a prize package in the mail the other day and there was these cool felt flowers in it. Well, I grabbed one. To make the flower I stamped the word 'bloom' from the same set and punched it out with my 3/4" circle punch. I sponged around the outer edge with Chocolate Chip ink and punched a flower with my EK Success flower punch with Chocolate Chip cs. I then punched out a 1" circle in Old Olive cs and then layered them all together on the felt flower. I then took out my Crop-a-Dile and punched a hole thru the entire thing and set an eyelet in the middle before I attached it to the card.

Well, it's not like Toni's sketch ~ but I still like it! I hope you do too. If you have time I suggest that you pop over to Toni's blog and try some of her sketches, maybe your's will look more like her sketch than mine did.

Have a great day!!!

Happy Birthday Cowboy!

I wanted to share this card with everyone because this little guy is so adorable! I'm just having so much fun with my new stamps!

There is a lady at my hubby's work who I made some cards for. Her daughter recently had a baby and she asked that I make the announcements ~ I couldn't resist. I really don't have a chance to make baby cards anymore. So she told my hubby that she has a booth at the Peddler's mall here in town. It's kinda like an indoor flea market, but this one is pretty much full of antiques more than garage sale items. She said that I could make some cards and put them in her booth if I wanted to. Well, heck ya!!! So, I've been on a card making kick! And what perfect timing ~ when I've got new stamps to work with!!!

This set is called Wild West and that little guy is just so darned cute! I stamped him and colored him in with pencils. The base card is Ballet Blue and I layered on it a piece of Brilliant Blue and a piece of DP from the Paper Patch that I sponged with Chocolate Chip ink. I stamped the stars, colored them in with my Summer Sun markers and then glittered them with yellow glitter. I cut each one out and glued them to the face of the card. I then layered the cowboy image on to a piece of Real Red cs. Before I layered that on to the card I stamped out the words 'Happy Birthday' in Brilliant Blue ink from the Everyday Events set on to a piece of Soft Sky that I used my Round Tab punch on and attached that to the back of the image panel. Once that was layered on to the card I stamped 'cowboy' under the image panel in Brilliant Blue ink and I was finished.

It was actually a quick card, even with cutting out all the little stars. I hope that you like it, and stop by tomorrow ~ I've got more to show you!!! Hope you have a great spring day, I will!!!

Another day, another card ~ or two!

Good morning everyone. It's still morning isn't it? I slept in a little late this morning.

I wanted to show you this card first. My DD was off on spring break last week. I felt so sorry for her. Her BFF who lives down the street was not around last week. She went to her grandparents house to spend spring break. Well when Danielle knew that she was coming back she wanted me to make a card for her. I asked Danielle why and she said "because she likes to get cards and she loves spring". This is true, the first day of spring she asked us to make her a card and I asked what for she said "because it's the first day of spring silly". I asked my DD to pick out something for the card and she picked out the Sweet Skunks set. I told her I could not do that one, she might be offended! Of course Danielle said no, she likes cute and the skunks were cute. I could not argue with that!

So for the card..... I used Tempting Turquoise for the base card. I layered that with papers from the Lilly Anna collection. I wrapped a length of ribbon around one of the panels. I then stamped the image and colored it in with pencils. I did use my markers on the flower. I punched that out with my Giga scallop circle punch, sponged some Brilliant Blue ink around that then layered that on to a piece of Brilliant Blue that I cut out with my colozzle. For a bit of sparkle I used my Sakura gel pen and I was done.

This next card I made with the awesome tutorial from SCS that you can find here. It was their tutorial of the week. I always enjoy seeing what they come up with next. Kinda being out of touch from the stamp stores and shows I look forward to what they post.

This card I made for a friend's sister that I sent a catty to. I think these cards are so cute ~ and so is that little chick. I used the Hey Chick set. I've not inked that one up yet, and thinking that I've got new sets I thought that I should at least use this one once!

The base card is Purely Pomegranate. I layered that with a piece of Chocolate Chip and a piece of DP from the Rustic Chic collection. I stamped the chick and colored it with pencils. I punched that out with my Mega Scallop Circle punch and sponged Old Olive ink around the edges. I then punched out an oval with my Giga Oval punch. I 'faux' stitched around the edges with my gel pen and then punched holes to give it a more "stitched" look. I did the same around the top flap of the card ~ but for some reason the needle was sticking. I could of been punching too close to the edge too. Then I added some ribbon that Mom just received in a prize package and I was done!

These cards are so simple to make, and they are quick and easy too! Maybe give one a try today and let me know who you did!

My DD's got an orthodontist appointment today ~ so I'll be back tomorrow!!

It's Party Time!

Yup, that's right ~ Party Time! The TAC™ set. What else did you think I meant?

I was in need of making a card for 2 dear friends for their birthdays. Yes, I've known that their birthdays were coming up ~ I even put the cards my Mom made for them in the mailbox days ago. I've just been busy. Really now!! I had oodles of naked rubber sitting there that needed to be taken care of! Geez, it's not like I was playing around or anything!!

For these cards I used the Party Time set by TAC™. I'm not always up with the fads, and of course I'm a little late with the cupcake one. It seems that all you saw everyday was cards with cute little cupcakes on them. Yes, I needed a cupcake - and that's probably why I bought this set, but now that I have it I don't see the cute little cupcakes anymore. I guess my daughter's right "I'm so not cool". She say's that only because I'm older than her, I'm sure. I hope, I think?


Anyway, I stamped the images from Party Time and colored them in with pencils and gamsol. I punched the images out with my 1 1/4" square punch and sponged around the edges with Pink Passion ink and applied stickles on them to dry. I then punched out 1 3/8" squares in Pixie Pink cs and set aside. The base card is Pink Passion and I layered a piece of light pink textured cs I had with a piece of DP from my Brighten my Day pad. I cut out a rectangle of Pixie Pink and layered a piece of Rose Red that I stamped twist and shout on from the same set, then sponged Pink Passion ink around the edges and glued that down. I then took the Pixie Pink squares and layered the images on to them and attached them to the front.

I still needed something on the lower 1/2 of the card. I took out my Designer Label Punch and my 1 3/8" Circle punch and made the matting for the lower part of the card. I stamped Happy Birthday from a Hero Arts stamp I've had forever in Pink Passion ink. I used my horizontal slot punch to punch out the sides to attach the ribbon to. I took a length of sheer pink polka dots (to somewhat match the DP) and laced it thru the sides and around back of the front panel. I then attached the whole front panel to the card and I was done.

I think that it was more confusing to explain it than it actually was to make the card. And yes, they are in the mail this morning. I'm sure that one of them will be late - but I did not forget...

I'm off to play with my new stamps. I've got them all mounted, indexed and yes - I sat there last night watching TV spending family time while I colored the indexing. I know I've received comments "how long will that last" but really ~ I enjoy it. I just take my pencils in the living room, pull out my lap tray and color while I'm actually spending time with the family. It's no big deal. I love to color and everyone's together so everyone's happy. And I can say that I stamped each and every image and colored them. I know that I can not honestly say that of all my other stamps. Some I need to dust off and cant really remember ever using them...

Well everyone ~ have a wonderful day!

Awards? For me? Shucks.....

I've been awarded - times 2!!

My dear blogging friend Linsey from Outside the Lines has awarded me the Arte Y Pico award. She said that I inspire her? Isn't that sweet? She's the inspiration I say.... Please check out her blog if you have'nt!!

Here are the rules:

1. You pick five blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and the link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.

4. Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

I am going to award these following five ladies the award:

• Maria @ Stampin Inspirations by Maria
• Gabby @ Confessions of a Stamper
• Mary Beth @ Stampin Space
• Patty @ Patty's Stampin Spot
• Sharon @ No Time to Stamp

Of course everyone's blog I visit has something to catch my eye ~ but here are 5 that are in my blog roll that I must visit everyday!


Another dear friend of mine Nicola at Gorillamama Greats gave me another award. It's the You make my Day Award. I thought that was very sweet of her. I've known Nic for a few years now and I always treasure the cards that I receive from her! They go into my "special basket" to pull out when I need a 'push'. She's also on my "list". The list that I keep to make cards for different holiday's and occasions ~ so just remember Nic, your on my list :)

I must Pay it Forward to 3 other bloggers, so here they are:

1. Toni @ Stampin' Diva
2. Betty @ Ladybug Scraps
3. Jackie @ Just Stamp It

So please take a look at everyone's blog that I've listed. There are so many great and talented people out there that I'm sure that I've missed. If I go to your blog each day and I've missed you (which I'm sure that I have) then please consider yourself tagged!!

Have a great day!
Hugs,

As you can see, I've been busy

I got my new TAC™ stamps in yesterday and got so far as to cut all the rubber apart. It was getting too late and I needed to do my wife duties. You know, dinner - dishes - lunches and such. We generally eat dinner fairly early, but it seems that after dinner the time goes by so fast and then it's bed time. So today I will pull out my new hot knife (I so don't know how I lived without that before!!!) and mount all these stamps. I've got to get them into the DVD or CD cases and then I can play with them!

So be on the lookout for some new images coming thru in the next few days or such. Then I've got another order to place on Monday from my Stampers 6 group. My goodness!! I'm going to have to find a new house soon or build an addition on to the craft room :)

Thanks for stopping by ~

Just some of My Favorite Things

Good morning everyone! I thought that I'd share a little bit of what I've been up to!

My friend Betty came over the other day and we actually got some stamping done. Each time she comes over we really don't get much done but sit and gab ~ well this time we got to stampin!!

I needed to make a card for an upcoming swap that I'm in and the theme is Coffee. For some reason I just love to make coffee cards! I knew what set to use (SU's Espress Yourself) until Betty brought this adorable set from My Favorite Things called 'hot stuff'. And the cool part, Betty did not like it! So I am the lucky recipient of this set!!! I have ordered her a TAC set to "replace" it.

The base card is Close to Cocoa. I stamped the saying 'thanks a latte' all over it in Close to Cocoa ink. I then layered on a piece of Pixie Pink that I stamped the coffee beans on with Close to Cocoa ink also. I stamped the image and colored it in, outlined it with my Close to Cocoa pen, layered it on to a piece of Pink Passion cs and then adhered it to the card. The card was still a little plain so I added some doodles around the outer edge of the Pixie Pink layer with my pink gel pen and made a photo corner and I was done. We also had to make an ATC to go with it so I basically made the same thing just on a smaller scale.

The jury's out on this card though. I might use it, I might not. It's still a little plain for me. I like to add more to a card ~ but we'll see. I still made another card "just in case" I don't want to send that one.

Here's the other card and (somewhat) matching ATC. They are different colors because I wanted to experiment a little. I like the orange, and I knew what pink looked like so I wanted to try blue too. I did not want to make another card ~ I'd have a huge stash of coffee cards laying around!

The base card is Kraft cs. I stamped the coffee mugs all over the card in Close to Cocoa. I stamped the main image and colored it in with my Only Orange marker and layered it on to a piece of Pumpkin Pie. I stamped the sentiment with Only Orange and layered that to a piece of Chocolate Chip cs and glued that to the lower right hand corner. I stamped a coffee mug from the set, colored and cut it out and used a pop dot to adhere it to the upper right corner of the sentiment panel.

For the ATC I used Brilliant Blue ink and Tempting Turquoise. I also stamped the sentiment "thanks a latte" and used my word window punch to punch it out and adhered it to the ATC.

I hope that they are well received cards. One of my favorite swaps is the coffee swap ~ and I really don't drink coffee too much.... Go figure!

Just one more item of "business". April is also Double rewards month at theangelcompany™. What this means to you the customer is, well, DOUBLE REWARDS. If you hold a FUNShop (or place an order of $100.00 or more) you are eligible to receive double rewards. You will get not only one, but TWO gift with purchase stamps for each $30.00 spent, 2 Level A hostess sets instead of 1 and not only 1 but 2 half off items out of the catty! Now THAT's a great deal right there. Have you been wanting to get the Scor-pal or the Bind-it-all? Now's your chance! You can get those items with your 1/2 off discount. Now where else can you get a Scor-pal for only $20.00??

Also this flyer has these special Limited Edition sets that are available April 7 - May 5! They are a mini version of the regular sets. Each one is $2.95 each with a qualifying order of $30. You can buy 1 or all 4 (but no more than 1 of each)! All sets have a retail value of $5.95 so this is a great deal! Hostesses of FUNshops get 1 FREE with every $100 in net totals. Now what are you waiting for?


If your in need a of a catalogue or have any questions please feel free to e-mail me anytime!

Well, enough of the business, I've got to get DD up and ready for a doctor appointment! Ugh, so early on spring break too!!!

Have a great day!! Hugs to you all!

Happy Sunday!

Normally I would not post on the weekends ~ that time I reserve for family stuff. But today is a weird day. I woke up this morning, same as usual routine. Then hubby came downstairs and asked if anyone wanted breakfast. He makes the yummiest breakfast's on the weekends. We all actually look forward to it.

Well, not really everyone was hungry ~ but he started cooking and we all got hungry fast. Then I had this realization - if that's what you'd call it. I thought "if I didn't work at Jimboy's when I was younger I would of never known how to make tacos like I do". Then I thought "if I never met my ex I would of never met this his friend and learned how to make his salsa". You see where I am going with this? Probably not, I do things like this sometimes. I get so side tracked. But what it all boiled down to was - everything happens for a reason. Yes, everyone thought that I was acting like I was taking drugs or something!!! But it's true. Everything happens for a reason. Of course my daughter was looking at me funny and said that I sounded like a fortune cookie ~ just call me grasshopper. Ahhhh.

So enough of my soapbox journaling ~ here's what I wanted to show you.

I am in a circle swap on my CMBH MSN site. Well, I thought for a few days before sitting down to make a card. Of course my Mom kept saying "I don't know what to make!" and I kept telling her to think outside the box. The swap theme is geometric shapes. But of course she was not blessed with the ability to think outside the box. When I sat down to make my card I had the idea of a circle card in my head. Just something a little different from the normal square cards.

I used my colozzle and cut out a circle on Pixie Pink. I had to use some of my new favorite paper from TAC, it's from the Brighten my Day collection. And yes, I like the pinks and greens together so I had to use the green paper. I once again used my colozzle to cut out a circle just a fraction smaller. I took that and stitched it with my sewing machine on zig zag. I then adhered it to the card. I then pulled out my Circle Sampler set from TAC and stamped the circle in Pink Passion ink on to Pretty in Pink cs. I stamped inside that circle the word 'thanks' from the same set. I punched that out with my 1 3/8" circle punch and layered that on to a piece of Pixie Pink cs that I punched with my scallop punch. I wanted to put something in the lower right corner so I stamped the words 'just a note' from the Trendy Greetings set in Pink Passion on Pretty in Pink cs and punched that out with my word window punch. Keeping with the geometric shapes I taped that on to a piece of Pixie Pink cs and cut it out in rectangle form.

Still, it needed something more. So I doodled the stitching around the edges of the card with my pink gel pen and added a few primas with the bling and I was through. I hope that the recipient likes it.


I also want to share with you something that I received in the mail yesterday. A good friend of mine Rita (who I miss dearly from California) sent me this adorable Easter card and these new gadgets (ok, maybe new to me) called Fantastix. They are to be used for my gamsol. What I've heard is there are many different uses for them - but I need to sit down and play with them first. Have any of you used them? If so, what do you think? Leave me a comment and let me know.

Well ~ I hope that you all have a wonderful rest of the weekend. I hope to see you all again tomorrow ~~

Happy Saturday!!

Hello everyone! Happy Saturday!!! The day is a beautiful one here. The sun is shining and the birds are out & chirping. Then what the heck am I doing at the computer???

This card was made for a dear friend thanking her for an order that she placed with me. I wont mention names, but I'm sure that she will see it on here before she gets her order :)

I used an image from the Everyday Events set. I stamped it and colored it in with what else ~ pencils and gamsol.

The card base is Soft Sky. I layered that with a piece of Brilliant Blue that I used on the scor-pal. All the layers are done on the scor-pal but I am sorry for the picture ~ I think I need a new camera. I stamped the word 'thanks' all around on the blue panel. I then took a piece of DP from the Lilly Anna collection and used the scor-pal on the outer edges. I sponged Certainly Celery ink around the edges before I glued it down. I then added the image (outer edges done on the scor-pal and sponged with Brilliant Blue ink) and glued that down more to the right side. I took a piece of DP again from the Lilly Anna collection, used the scor-pal, sponged the edges and layered it on to a piece of Pink Passion paper. It looked blank so I added 3 eyelets and some scrap ribbon that I stapled on before I adhered it to the card. I'm sure she will like it.

I had some more cards that I wanted to make for my stampers 6 group that's coming up. So if your a part of this group close your eyes ;-)

I took the image (from what I think just may be my favorite set) stamped it and colored it with pencils. I sponged some Positively Pink ink around the edges and layered it on to a piece of Pixie Pink paper. I the took out my Uptown Girl pad and used those papers. I first took a piece of the DP and used the scor-pal, which once again is hard to see and adhered it to the Basic Black card. I then took the pink gingham checks out and sponged around it with black ink. I added a length of pink ribbon and secured that to the card a little more to the right of the 1st panel. I then took the image layer and glued that to the far right of both the other panels.

I still needed a saying so I stamped 'muchas-gracias' with Positively Pink, sponged around that layer and glued it to a piece of scrap Pixie Pink and taped it to the far left of the card. You can not see the inside but I taped a piece of white paper slightly smaller and doodled faux stitching around it ~ then I can write on the inside.

Well I must go now and try to enjoy the rest of the day! Tootles to you ~ until next time!

I just had to share a few little things with you today.


I wanted to post some pictures of my craft room. Now, it's not the greatest ~ but at least I have one. When we were house hunting I wanted to make sure that there was a place for all my "stuff". This place had a sun room built on, how cool is that? Well COLD not cool! The room is right off the house as you can see - and with all the windows it gets cold in the winter, and actually not too bad in the summer. But it is my little space that I can create in and have my "little" fur baby at my feet.

And no, I normally keep the blind down so the ribbon does not get faded. I learned that with my paper the first year that I was here...

This is my space where I sit to create. I get lots of light from the windows which is nice. The one good thing about not having too much room is you keep your stuff more organized than you would if you have a larger space.

In California we had converted the garage into a room - that was our craft room. I can say that this little space is more organized than the other was. I had stuff spread out everyplace. Here, it goes back after I use it.

This is Mom's area. Yes, she's going to kill me for posting this. "Joani, my hair looks awful ~ it's not curled". Yes Mom, I know. You just washed it and can't do a thing with it. If she was a little bit more technologically savvy she'd get me back, but I don't have to worry about that :)

Notice the punch rack? Hubby just put that up for me not too long ago. That was another couple of drawers that I got to clean out. I love having them hanging up. The Mega & Giga punches are a little awkward on there but they fit.

This bookshelf is where most of my stamps are kept. The 7 boxes hold all of my SU! sets. Before I UM them they were on the 3 shelves stacked 2 deep. If you wanted to find something you had to move them around, stack on the floor and look. Now they are in the boxes by category and alphabetized. It's the OCD talking, sorry ;)

Now on to some creative stuff!

You can't imagine the look on my face when I got some mail the other day and opened the package. My dear friend Gabby sent this to me. Isn't i beautiful!! I could not believe my eyes. She is one amazing and awesome crafter. One of the most talented I've seen! And this was for me! Of course when I opened it I mentioned to hubby that she made this out of coasters and that a trip to Ruby Tuesday's was in order. Last year we went there for lunch and our waitress gave me a stack of coasters, I seriously scored big with those. So, when we went for lunch I asked the waitress for some coasters & she brought them to me with our drinks ~ they were round!!! Ok, that's fine. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth right? But now I'm going to have to make a few changes if I want to try this.

If you want to try this take a peek over at Gabby's blog and her wonderful tutorial! She makes everything look so easy.

Well of course my DD had to get her mitts on it and check it out. I told her that it was "mine, mine MINE" so she had to go make one. The kid can sit down and create a card in just a few minutes ~ it takes me all day. Well, that's the OCD again. If it's anyplace near crooked or if it has a little mark - or if it's just not right I start over.... But little missy sat down and made 4 of these! She has that ability. Me, I print of directions and read over them a couple times before I start on something.

Well, she made these and asked if I would take a picture like I do with my stuff. Of course I will. So, I had to show her creation off too...

Enough said for today ~ I will (hopefully) be back tomorrow with more. Have a great day!

Mounting Stamps

I thought that you would like to take a minute and see this video that I ran across the other day. It's very informative and it gives you a quick tutorial on how to index your stamps on the foam cling. Let's just say that I wish I had seen this before I (goofed) up all my new stamps and had to get more foam!!

This post today is going to be a short one. I can hear thunder in the distant and I sure don't want to lose the computer!!

I just wanted to take a minute to let you all know that thru the month of April theangelcompany™ is having a sale. It's double rewards! What that means is you host a FUNshop and you will receive double rewards. If your FUNshop is $100.00 or more you can receive any 2 items in the catty for 1/2 price! Now is a good time to get that Scor-Pal or Bind It All that you've always wanted!!

It is also a perfect time to sign up to be a demonstrator! Thru the end of March if you sign up to be a demo you will receive an additional $50.00 in stamps for free! Now, how cool is that?

I know that you'd enjoy being a demo for theangelcompany™ because I sure am. You get to meet so many nice people and get to represent a product that you will fall in love with. As a TAC™ angel the minimums are manageable at just $100 every 4 months - thats only $25 a month which makes it easy to maintain active status even as a hobby demonstrator!!

If you'd like to become an angel or would like more information just email me!! I'm here to help!

Have a great day and I'll be back tomorrow with more!

Happy Hump Day!!

Happy Hump Day everyone! Today is Wednesday right? My goodness, the past couple of weeks I've been so turned around and out of sorts. I think I'm in need of some ginko....

The past week or so I've undergone the task of sorting thru my UM collection of stamps. At first I wanted to just organize them. They are in the binders and I really don't care for that system. They are kind of out of site, out of mind. I knew that there were some stamps that I'd use more if I just take them out of the binders. There were stamps that lost their cling, that were falling out of the binders. There were stamps that the cling "slid" off the stamp and there was just sticky stuff stuck to the binder sheet. So, I took the binders and at night while sitting with the family I removed all the old gunky, sticky mess and took them down to the bare rubber. I do have more foam to mount them too but for now I am not. I picked out the stamps that I know I may use the most and re-mounted them and put them in the CD cases. It was not something that I thought I'd like to do. I do like the clam shell cases that SU! and TAC have, but that was not an option either. So BIG LOTS here I come for more CD cases.

Enough of that said ~ on to the card.

Well, thru the mass pile of rubber I had I found these cute little guys. I bought them at a stamps show many years ago in California. I so miss those shows! I needed to make a card for a Hawaiian swap that I am in and I saw the surfboard. What makes me think of Hawaii? Surfboards (ok, not surfing rabbit's - but Easter WAS just here). So I pulled out my stamp from Stamp La Jolla. I've got a few of these images, and I think that they are just adorable. Yes, once again - I've not used these stamps since I bought them. Out of site, out of mind....

The base card is Pumpkin Pie and I layered that with a piece of DP from Bella Press. Shhhh, don't tell my DD - but I "borrowed" that paper from her stash.... and I sponged a little Creamy Caramel around it's edges. I stamped the image and colored him with pencils and gamsol. I then sponged Only Orange ink around the panel, attached it to a piece of Certainly Celery and orange cs, added a length of Pumpkin Pie ribbon to it and glued it to the card. The sentiment, also from Stamp La Jolla is stamped in Only Orange ink also layered on to Certainly Celery and orange cs and placed on the card front. Very easy, and cute I might add....

This next card is also for a swap that I am in. It is a baby themed swap.
I will add that this card was not my idea, it was cased from Lauren Meader's blog My Time, My Creations, My Stampendance. Lauren has one AWESOME blog, and if you are surfing please add her to your blog roll. She has the most wonderful ideas...

I just love these baby cards. I really do not know anyone who is having children or is planning on having any children so I'm sure that I will not have to make any of these in the near future ~ so I was tickled that I could make them for a swap.
Thanks Lauren for the idea :)

The base card is So Saffron. I cut it out per Lauren's directions. I then took my Dotta-riffic pen (that I got years ago and honestly thought they were dried up) and make little dots all over the card. I stamped the image from So Many Scallops on Mint Melody paper with Mint Melody ink and punched it out with my scallop punch. I stamped it again on a piece of Barely Banana and cut just the word 'sweet one' and glued that down. I then used my 1 3/8" circle punch and my scallop punch to make the "trim" around the neck and leg holes. I cut a strip of white for the arms, doodled on some hand "stitching" and I was thru.

Please if you can take a minute to read Lauren's blog. It's very inspirational.

Well, enough for today. I've got some creating to do before my SIL comes to visit. She come's weekly and when she get's here it will be a gab fest so I'm sure I won't get much done.

Hugs,