Happy (belated) Birthday, Mawmaw

Yesterday was Drew's Mawmaw's birthday. We are always careful to remember to send her a birthday card because she is one of those ladies who remembers EVERYONE'S birthday! She also remembers anniversaries and such. Isn't is so nice when someone remembers your special days? I made this card using a stamp set I haven't pulled out in a while! This is SU's Outlined For Fun. Love this set. I got the idea for the paper flower using the scallop punch from Lauren Meader's blog... See this post ---> http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2008/02/23/do-you-know-what-time-it-is/

I cut a couple of extra pieces of a green scallop into hearts to be used as the leaves for my flower. I colored in the words with my new Copics.... I LOVE these things! I only have about a dozen of them right now, but they are fantastic! Such smooth coverage and easy blending.

Valentine - Wednesday Stamper

I made this card for this week's Wednesday Stamper challenge! This week's theme/challenge was to create a Valentine. You can access the challenge (and all the great cards!) by reading the Valentine post at http://wednesdaystamper.wordpress.com/. For my card, I used justjohanna's Pedal Vendor stamp. As soon as I saw this stamp, I knew I *NEEDED* it! I haven't seen anyone else use this stamp, but come on...the possibilities are endless! Think of all the creatures that could ride the bicycle and the great little things you could put in the basket! Cupcakes! Fruit! Birds (especially with a kitty driving)! Kitties (especially with a little birdie driving)! Money! You get the picture... I punched some red hearts with the retired SU! folk heart punch. I still love that thing. I cut a slit in the basket with my craft knife and tucked the hearts into the basket.

I know that the colors on this card are a little nontraditional, but I think that is why I like it. The red hearts pull it back to Valentine's Day, and the idea of a heart vendor...Well, very Valentiny!

Thanks for visiting.

Stamps: Pedal Vendor (justjohanna). Paper: Only Orange, Stamper's Select White, Real Red. Ink: Palette Noir. Accessories: Yellow Grosgrain Ribbon, SU! Folk Heart Punch, Stickles (Yellow, Orange Peel, and Fruit Punch), Watercolor Crayons, AquaPainter.

HILARIOUS!

Okay, so did you see the creepy Tom Cruise interview video about Scientology? This lady did a scrapbooker parody...VERY FUNNY! Watch the whole thing. The last 45 seconds or so are great! Click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvwh7uAVc2E&feature=related

Pretty Cupcakes, Chocolate Pudding, and a House Half-Full of SICK!

Hello! The past several days have been pretty hectic around here. As you know, I had to go on Valentine's Day for some dental work. No fun. But actually, I am doing very well after it! I didn't need to take Advil for the pain until yesterday. My jaws were hurting, not the teeth! Being the big baby that I am, I opted for nitrous oxide during the procedure. You see, I'm one of those people who are NEVER numb enough! I really think the nitrous was a great thing to do because it helped me to relax and not tense-up. That is often what causes extra pain, etc. ANYWAY, both Drew AND Cameron have the flu! Eww! Katy and I are desperately trying to avoid getting it. This is obviously one of the strains of the flu that are not covered by the vaccine. Poor Cameron was REALLY not feeling well yesterday. All he wanted to do was lay around and be held. He is also not eating a whole lot. That brings me to my first item of business.

Have you ever checked out the food blog http://www.smittenkitchen.com/? If not, you are certainly missing out! I've tried three of her posted recipes, and each was phenomenal. I made some peanut butter cookies (Drew's favorite), Blue Chip Chocolate Chip Cookies (the best...EVER!), and now the chocolate pudding. I thought pudding would be a great thing to offer Cameron to eat while he is sick because he loves it, it's easy to eat, and it has lots of milk. This pudding is both delicious and easy to make. It takes the same amount of time - start to finish- as it takes to make the boxed Cook-and-Serve puddings! I will post a link to the recipe on Smitten Kitchen: http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/02/best-chocolate-pudding/ I hope you try it, and I hope you love it as much as we did! :)

I made this card using jj's Cupcake Row. I just LOVE cupcake images! And who wouldn't, right? I love this card because it is sparkly, pink, and sweet! The glitter just makes these cupcakes seem all the more sugary sweet, doesn't it? The background was made using that same Cupcake Row stamp. I inked it up in Pixie Pink and carefully stamped rows. Stamps: Cupcake Row. Paper: Stamper's Select White, Pixie Pink, Cool Caribbean. Ink: Pixie Pink, Palette Noir. Accessories: Sheer Blue Polka Dot Ribbon (May Arts), Reinkers, AquaPainter, Stickles, Ticket Corner Punch.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I hope you are all having days full of love and surprises! :) Know how I will be spending today? I am going in just a couple of hours to the DENTIST. I will be having a crown replaced. I do not LOVE the dentist. I am, therefore, not all that thrilled about today this year! But nonetheless, Drew did take today off to take care of the kids, so this isn't ALL bad. ;) I thought I'd make a list of ten of the things that I love and also share a card that I LOVE as well, in honor of V-Day, of course.

Things I love:

1. Jesus

2. My husband

3. My children

4. My family (outside of my husband and children; this one isn't redundant!)

5. Candlewyck Baptist Church

6. Stamping...DUH!

7. justjohanna stamps!

8. Good friends...Lorie and Jaime, this especially means you!

9. Chocolate... Yeah, it's superficial. But let's be honest here!

10. People who read my blog! ;)

Okay, I love the following card! I love both the image and the idea of how to use it! :) I wanted to use justjohanna's I Love Tea background stamp and only that stamp. I thought it would be supercute to put the image on a mug-shaped card! The card was very simple in design, but it took me FOREVER to do all the coloring! Well, it wouldn't have been so bad, but I did, like, four all at once because I wanted a couple to have on hand. I don't have much of a template for this. I just drew the mug.

Stamps: I Love Tea (justjohanna). Paper: Very Vanilla. Ink: Chocolate Chip. Accessories: Old Olive, Lovely Lilac, and Apricot Appeal Markers, Sponge.

Be My Valentine

We had a wonderful visit with my family! We got to see my cousins, a few of my aunts, my grandparents, and my immediate family! It was great to be able to visit and spend some time with the people we love but do not get to see as often as we'd like. We didn't do anything especially noteworthy, just visited and shopped a little. Gotta love that. ;) I did make some valentines for my mom, dad, and brother. The cupcake card I showed the other day was for my mom.

This is the card I made for my brother. When each of us were born, my dad gave us a stuffed animal. I received a little panda, and Mike received a penguin. Since then, those have always been "our animals". Mike has always been a fan of penguins, so this Stampin' Up! penguin was perfect! Shown with the card is a Nestle Crunch Crisp bar that I just wrapped with some patterned paper I had lying around.

Stamps: Wild About You. Paper: Basic Black, Stamper's Select White. Ink: Palette Noir. Accessories: SU! Heart Punch (retired), Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Silver Brads.

Okay, this is the card I made for my dad. Very simple, and very quickly executed. I didn't have much time with all the getting ready! I had this Rock Star (DCWV?) paper, and since Dad is GREAT at playing the guitar, I thought it was perfect! Can you tell what the justjohanna "you rock" sentiment is stamped onto? It's a guitar pick! (Not a Hershey's kiss!)

Stamps: you rock (justjohanna). Paper: Basic Black, Rock Star DP, Going Gray. Ink: Black. Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Silver Brads.

Have a happy Monday!

To Grandmother's House We Go...

We are going to visit my parents tomorrow, so we are spending today finishing up with the cleaning and laundry and packing! Drew is taking the youth on a ski trip this weekend, too, so it is going to be crazy here tonight and tomorrow with the preparations! :) It'll be good, though. As you can see, the kids are excited about visiting their grandparents. They made the sign themselves. Yep. Cameron got into the Sharpies, and Katy did the lettering. She has the better handwriting of the two, afterall. Ha! Enough with the silliness...for now!

Here is a card that I made the other night, and I'm so excited about it! It is really more of a tag or a card you'd put with a gift bag or something, but it's so cute! I stamped the Cherry Cupcake from justjohanna on white cardstock (I used SU! Whisper White for this because I wanted to bend the cardstock a little more precisely!), folded at the "paper liner" on the cake, and trimmed all around on both layers of the cardstock. I took a picture of it open as well so you can see what it looks like. Sorry for the blurry pictures; I had a hard time photographing this one! All the sparkles! I made this for someone special who I know reads my blog. I hope she'll act surprised!!

Stamps: Cherry Cupcake (justjohanna). Paper: Whisper White, Imaginesce DP. Ink: Palette Noir. Accessories: Reinkers, AquaPainter, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter.

Okay...one more picture today! This is Cameron in his Valentine's Day shirt! I thought it was so cute, so I had to snap a picture! He is a little Lovasaurus today! :)

Hi

I just realized that I have a card I've never shared with you! I love this card...It looks like a quilt, kind of, and it sparkles because of the sparkly white rickrack!

I just love the happy colors in the paper! I think the designer paper is called Prints and Paisleys, but I'm not sure. I got it last year from Stampin' Up!

Stamps: hi (justjohanna). Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Prints and Paisleys DP. Ink: Basic Black. Accessories: Stickles, Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Shimmery White Rick-rack (Wal-Mart!).

Well, I've got lots to do. The kids and I get to visit my family, and we are leaving Thursday. I have laundry, cleaning, packing, etc. to do! Thanks for visiting!

Sweet Kiddos!

Okay, so I just had to snap this picture... Cameron had just woken up this morning and saw Katy lying on the bed asleep. He went over to her and gave her a hug! He was just staring at her so sweetly! Don't you just love this?!?

February justjohanna Sketch and a Special Deal!

This is this month's justjohanna sketch. I really enjoyed this one! I made two cards so far following the sketch, but the white, red, and turquios is definitely my favorite! It has a fresh, clean look to it, in my opinion.





Lovebirds Card
Stamps: Madame and Monsieur, lovebirds. Paper: Stamper's Select White, Real Red, Imaginesce DP. Ink: Palette Noir, Real Red. Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, AquaPainter, Red Gingham Ribbon, Prima Flower, Pearl Bauble (Stampingbella).


Steeped in Love Card
Stamps: Grand Teacup, Steeped in Love. Paper: Stamper's Select White, Lovely Lilac, DP (I will have to look into who makes it!). Ink: Palette Noir. Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, AquaPainter, Pink Hero Arts Gems, Ticket Corner Punch.


Also this month, Johanna is offering a SWEET deal! You can get this phenomenal February bundle at 25% off, making it only $27.37!!

By the way, if you are not receiving the justjohanna newsletter and would like to, email johanna@justjohanna.com and request the newsletter!

Have a happy Monday!

Twitterpated Mailbox

This is a V-Day mailbox I made using a red mailbox I got from Target last year. From what I hear, they have PINK mailboxes this year! How fun is THAT? These mailboxes are great for presenting small gifts or notes throughout the year, but I think they just REALLY lend themselves to Valentine's Day! Hmm...that gets me thinking. I need to come up with a good Valentine's Day gift for my husband...something thoughtful but not very expensive. Anyone out there have any good ideas? ;)

Stamps: Big Al, You Make Me All Twitterpated, Paisley Heart, Spring Hearts. Paper: Basic Grey Blush DP, Stamper's Select White. Ink: Palette Noir, Real Red (Sponged). Accessories: Ribbons, Sponge, Reinkers, AquaPainter. WOW! I didn't use any glitter! (Just realized that!)

Lovebirds Notepad

These notepad holders are the cutest things! I learned how to make them back in September when I went to the NC Demos Quarterly Meeting. For this project, I wanted a V-Day theme, so I chose these cute little lovebirds from justjohanna!

Stamps: Madame and Monsieur, lovebirds (justjohanna). Paper: Glossy White, Real Red, Imaginesce DP. Ink: Palette Noir. Accessories: Markers. Other: Scratch Pad (WalMart), Mini Gel Pen (Staples).

Winter Stamp 08 at 2 Peas!

2 Peas in a Bucket is holding Winter Stamp 08! This event starts today and runs through the 9th. There are lots of great challenges being offered, and I am excited to say that I am one of the hostesses! :) Justjohanna is offering a great little goody pack if you are the winner of this challenge. I wish I could win the prize! HA! If you would like to participate in this event, visit this link to the thread:
http://twopeasinabucket.kaboose.com/mb.asp?cmd=display&thread_id=2426176

Here is my challenge:
Make it Move: justjohanna Challenge - mandycheshire (Mandy) Create a card that involves movement-it could either be movement of/on the actual card (for example, a spinner or swing card) or an image that portrays movement (for example, a ball being kicked or a bird flying). It is not required to use justjohanna images, but if you have them, why not use them?!

PRIZE!!!: RAK provided by Just Johanna!! A batch of handmade cards from the design team; a small embellishment treat; $10 off your next justjohanna order coupon; and a Thorny Heart Stamp. There will be a random drawing for this prize. The more times you play, the more chances to win!

Leave me a comment if you have any questions! Good luck!