Happy March!

So, can you believe it is March already?? I definitely can't! Easter is right around the corner. I LOVE Easter, perhaps even more than Christmas! I love the baskets and the little chicks and the spring colors and the warm weather and the fun Easter candy.... And above all else, I love knowing that my Savior Christ Jesus not only loves me enough that he willingly DIED for me (get that? for ME) but also is powerful enough that he rose again, conquering death and the grave. My God reigns! I am of course, also looking forward to making Easter cards and projects. I have made five or six cards already. Go figure, I NEVER finished my Christmas cards, but EASTER cards...about halfway done already!

This card I am sharing today is a simple birthday card I made for one of the youth in our church. It uses justjohanna's Cupcake Row. I love using this stamp several times on a card to make LOTS of little cakes! :) I don't know if you can tell because of the black background, but the edges of this 4 1/4" square card are inked in black.

Stamps: Cupcake Row (jj). Paper: Stamper's Select White. Ink: Palette Noir. Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Basic Grey DP, Stickles, Pink Hero Arts rhinestone.

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!