Love wrapped in a big white bow :)

Well, kids.  This is my last post for 2009 {sniffle}...

The good news is that 2010 is just around the corner!  Hopefully it will be full of nothing but good things for everyone!  Thanks so much to all of my loyal readers... you truly make my day with your kind words :)

Enough of the sappy stuff... onto the bit o' loverly-ness for this evening!  This was so quick and easy to make, and the sentiment can be switched out lickety-split!

Stamps:  Fabulous Frames (coming soon!), Flourish Trees of Hope (sentiment)
Paper:  black & Premium white cardstocks
Ink:  Noir Palette
Other:  Nestabilities Labels 4, Corner Chomper, CB swiss dot embossing folder, gems, and misc. satin ribbon

A nice card for a wedding or shower gift, or for that special someone :)


What do you think?
.

Wonder and Joy

Ok... I'll say it... I think this is the ca-YOOT-ist image so far from TAC's pre-release bundle for the upcoming Serendipity Magalogue (aka Spring Maggie)!  There were a ton of stamp sets, but I'm tellin' ya'... this set is a MUST HAVE for anyone who likes to paper piece or color.

I fussy-cut a sheet of Mimi dp to make it look like little Miss Joy is perched on a flowery pink vine in the middle of imaginative garden.  Freakin' adorable, right?!  I KNOW!  Check out those rosey cheeks and the look of wonder on her face.

You can't really see in the photos, but I used pink & green glitter pens on her hair ribbons, cuffs of her pants & the bottom edge of her dress.

Stamps:  Wonder and Joy (coming soon!)
Paper:  More Mimi double-sided dp, White UltraSmooth, Mimi & Mia's Cottage cardstocks
Ink:  Palette Noir
Colorant:  Prismacolors with mineral oil blending
Other:  Cloud Scissors, Pop Dots, sheer pink ribbon

Why yes... it DID take some time to cut her out... thanks for asking ;)  The ol' craft knife had to come out for this one... but o-so-worth-it.  Pop dots are a wonderful thing.  I think I'm gonna keep this card for myself :)


What do you think?
.

Heartfelt Hello quickie

Another sneak peek... and I used scarlet red... I know... unbelievable!

This is one of TAC's new Level B Hostess sets, All Seasons Hello, available February 1st!  It's very homey feeling, with it's stitched border, so I paired it with some b/w gingham ribbon.  I added the stitches to the heart, along with some Christmas Red Stickles.

I LOVE the large polka dot embossing folder I got not too long ago... it's from Quickuts.  The front looked so plain, even after embossing, so I got the Stickles out again :)  Me likey... a lot.

I popped the "hello" up on foam tape & the heart is on a Pop Dot.  Having the heart off center helps to create even more of a 3-d effect, I think... I don't know why, but it makes the "o" appear more rounded.  Or maybe that is just the crack pipe talking ;)

What do you think?
. 

{cute, high-pitched voice} La la la... hmm hmm hmm...

...this is what kept going through my head when I was coloring this little sprite.  Isn't she cute?  Yeah, I know... LOTS of pink.  Well, this was the only paper that matched her dress.  And then, I caught a glimpse of the felt trim across the room... had to include it.

I really like how the black Nesties Labels 3 mat looks with the white circle.  I'm glad I used the little gems instead of the brads... adds just a bit o' bling :)

Stamps:  Spunky Sprite Girls
Paper:  Brighten My Day dp, White UltraSmooth & black cardstocks
Ink:  Palette Noir
Colorant:  Prismacolors w/ mineral oil
Other:  Nestabilities Labels 3 & Large Circles, felt flower trim, gems

What do you think?
.

 

Ok, whoever wished for a white Christmas... you can stop now

Good grief.  I don't know how much snow fell Christmas eve until now, but it was a lot!  Check out the little snow drift next to the shed... there were some HUGE ones when we were out yesterday.  It reminds me of when I was really little and one winter there was this GI-FREAKIN'-NORMOUS snowdrift in the front yard... the top of it was as tall as the soffit of the house!  It was a ranch house, but still... a 9'-10' snowdrift is a biggie :)

Ok, on to the fun stuff, right?  This is a super clean & simple card with kind of a retro feel to it, I think.

I wanted to use TAC's new Fabulous Frames that coordinate with the Nesties Labels One... isn't it lovely?  I'm not sure about the scarlet cardstock, but you know me and red... we just don't jive.  Of course I had to use more of that icy seafoam aqua cardstock from Reece... me likey sooooo much.

I love the subtlety of the Ballet Blue star flower behind the sentiment.  You can't really see it in the photos, but I also left the frame in the Nestie & sponged more BB ink and left a white edge.  And yes, I broke out the Stickles again.  This time using Diamond... o-so-pretty :)

Stamps:  Fabulous Frames, Awesome Blossoms, Savvy Sayings (all coming soon in the new Magalogue!)
Paper:  Reece, white UltraSmooth, black & scarlet cardstocks
Ink:  Noir & Ballet Blue Palettes
Other:  Diamond Stickles, Scor-bug, foam tape, Nestabilities Labels One, Corner Chomper


What do you think?
.

Sweet Toodle Bunny

As promised, here is the sneak peek I told you about last time.  It's not a huge peek, but maybe a little something to "peak" your interest... get it... peek/peak... I know, I'm a nerd :)

The bunny is from the upcoming February Stamp of the Month:  Cuddly Critters.  There are two cute bears, another bunny, and four sentiments.

The large dotted circle is from the new Serendipity magalogue... from a set called Awesome Blossoms.  There are a bunch of bold graphic flowers, polka dots, and circles.  I LOVE how this dotted circle fits perfectly with my Nestie circle & scallop circle.

Stamps:  Cuddly Critters & Awesome Blossoms (coming soon!!), Sweet Thing (retired)
Paper:  Toodle Loo SWIC, Toodle Loo & White UltraSmooth cardstocks
Ink:  Reflection Blue & Noir Palettes
Colorant:  Prismacolors w/ mineral oil & blending stumps
Other:  Turquoise Scrapper's Floss, Nesties, misc. button, stick pin, lace & fabric

I dug through my fabric stash to find this swatch of dotted swiss and lavender lace.  This card lends itself to a baby or little girl card.  Too sweet.

Hopefully I'll get a few spare minutes to make a couple more with some of the other images.

What do you think?
.

Holiday decor...

Just thought I'd share a few shots of the living room, decked out in it's holiday wares :)

These photos do not EVEN do the tree justice... it is so much prettier in person.  It's a 9' pre-lit tree... and there are actually enough lights on it :)  Usually, the pre-lit ones just don't have enough.  Having the lights already done saved me at least a half a day in decorating.

This is one of my favorite ornaments... square & orange... me likey.  My colors for winter decorating are:  copper, purple, violet, sage, lime & just a bit o' orange.  No traditional green, red & gold for me!  No sir-ree!  I do have a few ornies that do not fit into the scheme, but MUST be on the tree... you have to look hard for them :)

One is an old clothespin reindeer with googlie eyes, pom pom nose & felt ivy that I made when I was in either 2nd or 5th grade... can't remember.  I can't believe none of the elements have fallen off yet... gotta love Elmer's glue, right?!

I finally paired down all of my winter holiday decorations!  I didn't do any garland & lights around the half walls & banister this year, and Igor isn't decorated either.  I LOVE how I've got the Halloween & Christmas-y stuff mixed together... very... ummmm... me :)  AND, I went from six of those gi-freakin-normous storage tubs down to three!

Tomorrow, I'll have a sneekie peekie card for you... remember... the new Serendipity Magalogue will be coming soon!

What do you think?
.

Another SnowGirl...

... and this time, in pink & green :)  I just love these snowpeople from TAC's Merriest Wishes stamp set.  This one is probably supposed to be a guy from the type of hat, but the pink wings are a dead giveaway that he's a she, right?  ;)

This is another of the images I colored in Illinois... not know what I was going to do with it until I sat down & put it together the other night :)  The seafoam aqua cardstock is one of my favorites!  It matches the ground shadow perfectly.

Stamps:  Merriest Wishes, Thinking of You (Hostess Level C), retired TAC snowflakes
Paper:  white UltraSmooth, Mimi (green), Lilly Anna (pink), & Reece (aqua) cardstocks
Ink:  Noir Palette, VersaMark
Other:  Lyra Aquacolor crayons, Niji waterbrush, Scor-Bug, Transcendence EP, White Scrapper's Floss, May Arts green grosgrain, misc. pink ribbon, EK Success scallop border punch, and misc. starburst gems


I've already put this bad boy in an envie with postage & it is ready to go into the mail on Monday :)  Did you get YOUR Holiday cards finished?!


What do you think?
.

Holiday Sprite

I do hope you are not getting tired of this image.  I think she is just the CA-YOOOT-ist little thing!  Although, I believe this is the first non-Halloweenie version I've made with her :)  I colored these two while in Illinois last week.  I didn't have my card base or dp with me, but I knew I wanted to use Reece... I crossed my fingers that I would get the colors right ;)  Jackpot!

Stamps:  Spunky Sprite Girls, Vintage Santa
Paper:  Reece SWIC, white UltraSmooth, black & Reece cardstocks
Ink:  Noir Palette
Colorant:  Prismacolors with mineral oil blending
Other:  Scor-Bug, Patina Stickles, white tulle, sanding block

I stamped and cut out the snowflakes and popped them up on foam tape over the image of the flower after coloring the flower black to act as a shadow.  The flakes don't work as well as the skull like I did HERE, but I think they still work :)

The tulle was a leftover scrap from when I did the potion bottle sample for TAC Project Playlist for Halloween... and, no... no I DON'T throw many scraps away ;)  This little piece of tulle has been fluttering around my table for a couple of months now!

Two more Holiday cards done!!  Yeay!  I guess I'd better start getting these in the mail... if you are one of the recipients, and the card just happens to be a day or two after Christmas, I hope you will still enjoy it :)

What do you think?
.

Squirrely Snowman

FINALLY!  Right?  Well, don't get too excited ;)  I've just got a quick, no-layer card today... but oh-so-cute.

And can you believe this... no Stickles!  I know... crazy... what WAS I thinking?  ;)  It took great restraint, let me tell ya'. 

Stamps:  Squirrely Girl, Merriest Wishes
Paper:  White UltraSmooth cs
Ink:  Palette Noir
Other:  Lyra Aquacolor Crayons, Niji waterbrush, Scor-Bug, Tombow White gel pen

I had fun showing one of the cousins & second cousin (she's 5) how to use the Lyra crayons... Little M. picked it up in no time... she is so crafty already :)

Next time I make one of these, I'm going to mask off the sentiment first instead of having to "white-out" part of the outline of the snowman.  But, I'm hoping the recipient of this card likes it anyway :)

What do you think?  Is it a keeper, even without ribbons, and bows, and Stickles (oh my!)?

.

I really do have a good excuse this time :)

Thanks to all of my faithful blog followers!  It's been a week without a peep from me.  I was out of town visiting the hubby's extended family in Illinois since the wee hours of the morning on Friday... 3:45am to be exact... yep, that's when we left.  OMG... I am sooooooooo NOT a morning person.  I should have just stayed up instead of taking an hour & a half nap before we left  :)  Seven hours later, we pull up to Poot's cousin's house situated out in the country near Carlock.  

We were able to see several aunts, uncles, cousins, and of course Grandma K.  They are THE nicest group of people you'd want to meet.  I mean, they are truly genuine... I don't know if it is because most live in small towns or what, but it was such a wonderful visit.  Most of them don't have a tv because it takes too much time away from family interaction... how great is that?!  I know I am addicted to tv & the net, so this weekend was a nice relaxing, unplugged time!  

I did manage to get a couple of images colored in so that I can create something for your viewing pleasure in the next day or so.  

I promise.  

No, reeeeeeaaaally.  

I mean it.  

Seriously.  :)

Did ya' miss me?
.

Check it!

I almost forgot!  You should go check out my WOSFF Laurie's blog... she made the cutest card out of a drawing I gave her.  Great card, girl!

Find it HERE!

I'm supposed to be working...

... from home today, but I just can't seem to get started.  It is so cold & windy here... and the shining sun is just a tease.  As if to say, "it really isn't that cold out here"... what-e-v-e-r!  There is a big o' draft coming from my sliding glass door... NOT GOOD.  Well... enough griping... on to the fun stuff!

Another button tree.  And more of that swirly pink paper... yummy :)  That little birdie is just so cute... staring at the wintery swirls... freezin' her tail feathers off!  Or maybe I'm just reading that into it based on the aforementioned gust of wind blasting through my house ;)

Stamps:  Early Bird, Hello Snow (both retired TAC)
Paper:  Toodle Loo & Premium white cardstocks, Bo Bunny dp
Ink:  Noir Palette
Other:  White Scrapper's Floss, Icicle Stickles,Cloud scissors, foam tape, Copics, misc. buttons & fuzzy rick rack trim

So sorry I've been bad about posting, but my mojo has not been showing up lately.  I actually had to force myself to do this one!  Tonight should be fun, so maybe it will bring me back.


What do you think?


BTW... Carol claimed her prize, so NO MORE PRIZE DRAWINGS FOR YOU (to be said soup-nazi style)! 
.

The March of the Snowman Blog Candy winner...

... is...

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

43

Timestamp: 2009-12-08 18:35:42 UTC

Carol M said...

WOW! What a great snowman and you are an inspiration for fellow angels.

December 5, 2009 9:18 AM

 

 

Yeay!  Congratulations, Carol... just email me your snail mail and I'll get a little mystery package out to you!  If I don't hear from you by Monday, I'll draw another winner!

.

March of the Snowmen Blog Hop!

Hello to all of you Frosty fans!  I know you've got that song playing in your head now... "thumpity thump thump, thumpity thump thump, look at Frosty go..."  And it will be playing there all day... haaa haaa {suckers :)}

Well, today I'm participating in the 1st Annual March of the Snowmen Blog Hop  :)  A bunch of us wanted to share our love for those blustery winter icons of the season... papercraft style!  

You might also want to know that many of the participants are giving away Blog Candy!  I'm not telling you who or what, so you'll just have to visit everyone to find out ;)  I will tell you that I'll randomly select a name from all comments left on this post for a little mystery giveaway of my own!

Thanks to Melisa Waldorf for organizing this hop {mwah!}  There are a ton of talented ladies on this journey, so be sure to visit them and show them some love:


Angella Crockett
Barb Foster - this is me :)
Deb Felts
Jen Carter
JenMarie Taylor 
Jodi Heuser
Kelly Landers
Latisha Yoast
Laurie Unger
Laurie Willison
Linda Duke
Melisa Waldorf - our fearless leader :)
Michelle Bartnett
Mona Pendleton
Pam Imholz
Stacy Rogers

I had planned to have a plethora of chilly goodies to show you today, but alas... time once again slipped away from me.  BUT, I did manage to finish this guy... doesn't he look like he's playing in the falling snow?!

I needed a large snowman image and I just didn't have one in my rubber stamp arsenal ;)  So, what's a girl to do?
 
Draw one by hand.
 
Oh yeah, baby...
...that's what I'm talkin'-bout :)
 

I blocked out my card front on a piece of copy paper and sketched my snowman in pencil.  Then I traced him onto white cardstock with a micron pen, using my light table.  The micron pen worked nicely, as it didn't smear when I used the mineral oil blending with my Prismacolors.  I will say that I messed up the scarf, but I'll fix it next time I draw another one ;)

Anyhoo... after coloring him (or her?) up, I cut him out and popped him up on dimensionals.  I added a ripped cardstock snowdrift and a love-erly shimmery bow.  Then... I went Stickle-happy (gee, ya' think?)!  Yep, using Icicle Stickles, I attacked the snowdrift, the snowman (even his hands!), AND the Bo Bunny background paper :)  Everything is better with Stickles!

Image:  hand drawn by moi :)
Paper:  Toodle Loo (pink), UltraSmooth & Premium white cardstocks and Bo Bunny dp
Colorant:  Micron ink pen, Prismacolors w/ mineral oil blending
Other:  Icicle Stickles, misc. sheer ribbon, Pop Dots

Oh... you want more snowmen?  How about these oldies but goodies from waaaaaaaaaay back... gift tags using the ol' Sizzix & some retired stamps from The Angel Company!


AND if you want to see more you can go HERE!


Thanks for joining me for a bit o' frosty goodness!  Be sure to hop over to the other March of the Snowmen participants for even more wonderful snowman creations!!

What do you think?
.

OMG... Barb ACTUALLY cooked...

Yes... yes it's true :)  I made enough potato soup to feed a small country!

Barb Foster's Potato Soup




Ingredients:

• (1) 5 lb. bag o' yellow potatoes
• (1) 16 oz.  bag o' carrots
• 1 large white onion
• 1/2 large brick o' Velveeta
• 1-1/2 sticks o' butter
  
• 1% milk (I just pour until I get it right, so you are on your own!)
• granulated garlic
• fresh cracked pepper
• sea salt
• 1 tbs. Mock Spinach (dill mix) pantry staple (Homemade Gourmet)
• 2 tbs. Garlic Basil pantry staple (Homemade Gourmet)

Directions:
Wash potatoes well... no need to peel 'em!!  Cut into small cubes and cover with water in HUGE Dutch Oven pot (trust me, it will need to be a biggie) and start boiling.  Meanwhile, shred or finely dice carrots & onion and saute with 1/2 stick butter, healthy sprinkling of garlic, pepper, sea salt, the Mock Spinach mix, and 1 tbs. Garlic Basil mix in deep skillet.

Potatoes should be cooked so that a fork can easily poke through.  Drain so that most of the water is gone, leaving about "three fingers" of water in the bottom.  Add stick of butter & cubed Velveeta to melt.  The carrot-onion mixture can be added at this time to speed up melting process.

Start adding milk after butter & cheese are melted (or close to it).  I added a lot... it all depends on how thin of a base you want.  Add one more tbs. of Garlic Basil, and simmer until piping hot.

We like thicker soups & stews and this soup almost has a bisque base... a result from the mixing & melting process.  Yummy.

I plan to freeze most of this so we can have it throughout the winter.  If you decided to try this, may I suggest you half the recipe, and let me know how you like it!!

What do you think?
.