Teach & Read.

this is my second post for today - be sure to scroll down for my latest giveaway

Yippeeeeeeee - it's Friday!

Don't you just love how like every what, like 7 days or something, we get a Friday again? *giggles*

Alright - a couple of fun square school cards to share with you today featuring Jenni Bowlin bingo cards.

My first card features a base of New Leaf which is just the prettiest shade of green ever and goes perfectly with the green in these bingo cards. I added some fun stitching, ribbon and buttons and...I guess no stamping!

My second card is on a base of Ocean Tides, with more patterned papers by October Afternoon and another canvas flower from Jillibean Soup. I stacked a couple of Aqua Mist buttons, and stamped a little sentiment from Mega Mixed Messages which I would say is the one stamp set from Papertrey Ink that you gotta have.

TGIF!

:: It's Another Giveaway - MS. Jewelry Design ::

Yup, that's right, I said it - "it's another giveaway".

And wanna know what? There are....well....more to come *wink*

So why don't we just go ahead and make it official...:

When Miss Sara sent me the photos of these earrings my first words to her were "shut up!!" - - are these not the prettiest, most precious earrings you ever did see? Oh I'd feel like the sweetest, purest little thing wearing these. Just beautiful. These are Rose Swarovski Cubed Earrings courtesy of MS. Jewelry Design.

So here's the details.....:

Comment on this post by end of day Monday, May 3rd.

For extra entries:

(a new comment for each entry must be left for these extras to count)
01. Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this post.
02. Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post.

03. Follow MS. Jewelry Design on Twitter (sales & coupon codes!)

04. Become a follower of Sara's blog.
05. Become a follower of this blog - over there on top right side the little Google thingy.
06. Follow me on Twitter.

(If you already do some of these things, post a separate comment saying you do.)

The winner will be announced HERE ON THIS POST Tuesday, May 4th.
Congratulations, Carol!
Please contact me using the "contact me" link on the sidebar.

Reach for the highest star.

Hey Girls!

I've got a fun little school card that would be great to tuck in to your child's backpack maybe on test day or the first day of school. I've got fun patterned papers from October Afternoon, I love that spiral notebook punch from SU!, my stamp is from Star Prints which has stars in it and the star punch coordinates with the stamps, and that little green clip is from Making Memories.

Have a wonderful day!

Teacher's Apple.

Happy Halfway-There Day!

Got some more teacher cards to share with you today. These are actually mini cards - not tiny, but not standard A2 either - somewhere in between. I've got some fun Sassafras papers on kraft cardstock, these great canvas flowers with letters on them from Jillibean Soup, and my stamps are from Teacher's Apple.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Best teacher.

Teacher Appreciation Day is a week from today - do you have something ready for your kids' teachers? This week I've got bunches of school-themed cards to share with you, so let's get to it.

I love this stamp from Imaginisce - it's one of my favorites of the cheepee stamps - I've stamped it in Dark Chocolate on some Hibiscus Burst and then punched out little apples from The Girls' Paperie papers. I've got some fun stitching, colorful ribbons and buttons, some glitter on one and a fun clip on the other, and we're callin' it good!

Have a great day!

:: Rachael Ray Giveaway ::

I'm soooooooooo excited about today's post!

Any of you who know me well know how much I love food *giggles* I am addicted to the Food Network, and I {heart} Rachael Ray so much - she's totally my style...30-minute meals? Rock on! I have been dying to try out some of her cookware for a while and was sooooo happy when CSN Stores contacted me about trying and giving away some Rachael Ray!
CSN Stores has over 200 online stores where you can find TV stands, furniture, toys, home decor, and so much more!

CSN Stores is generously giving one of my blog readers a Rachael Ray lasagna dish of their very own (a $40 value!). If you're like me, you have a white porcelain 9x13 that you use for lasagna and it's all yucky from the stains of burnt cheese and red sauce - LOL You need this!




So here's the details.....:

Comment on this post by Thursday, April 29th to enter.For extra entries:

(a new comment for each entry must be left for these extras to count)
01. Tweet about this giveaway with a link to this post.
02. Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post.
03. Become a follower of this blog - over there on top right side the little Google thingy.
04. Follow me on Twitter.

(If you already do some of these things, post a separate comment saying you do.)

The winner will be announced HERE ON THIS POST Friday, April 30th.
Congratulations, Teresa! 
Please contact me with your information using the contact me link on the sidebar.

And check this out - something to look forward to here on the blog-o, I'll be reviewing this Rachael Ray bake set. I'm not the bestest baker in the world - remember this? - so if I can work some magic with this bakeware, you can too!

Happy Monday!

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Hello - and thanks for stopping in along the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. This month's focus is tissue paper. I've seen lots of pretty flowers out there in blogland made from tissue paper and while they are quite lovely, I figured this month's Hop would be full of them. So I went a different direction: patterned tissue paper.

I went through my gift-wrapping box and found this pretty Victorian tissue paper and adhered some of it to some scrap cardstock and then with my Top Note die ran that through the Big Shot. I layered a strip of Sweet Blush on to some Ocean Tides cardstock, coordinated some Ocean Tides ribbon with some seam binding and a pretty little sparkler from Webster's Pages. My sentiment from Spiral Bouquet is stamped in Ocean Tides on a little scrap piece of Rustic Cream.

See you on the Hop!

Girls & boys.

Happy Happy Sunday!

I hope you had a fun or maybe a productive Saturday.

Today I've got a couple of cards - one for a girl and one for a boy...both featuring Studio G stamps, and fun patterned papers from My Little Shoebox.

For my first card I cut out this big ol' butterfly from this All A Flutter sheet and then I embellished it with buttons and some Studio G Glitter Glue. I also used my new favorite stitch to add a lil' frame and I used some leftover bits of Prima pearls that I can never seem to part with so I hold on to them waiting for the perfect opportunity for them to add a lil' sum-sum and this was it *wink*

This card I have been thinking about making for the longest time. I love this busy sheet from the Away We Go collection and when I saw this die from Papertrey Ink I knew they would be perfect together! Again I've got a lil' stitched frame, and a fun Studio G sentiment up there by my polka dot button.

Be sure and come back today at 3pm my time to check out my Papertrey Ink Blog Hop card.

Have a great day!

Green at Heart.

Happy Saturday, Girls!

It's been quiet out in blog and Twitterland lately - me thinks everyone is finally out enjoying the beautiful weather - which is totally well-deserved. We're supposed to have weather in the high 60s this weekend which is just fine by me - not too hot and not too cold and that will make hanging out at the soccer field really nice.

Today I've got a couple of cards using Basic Grey's Green at Heart paper pack and coordinating chipboard. This first card has a base of New Leaf, pretty, big ribbons from Practicing Creativity Designs, and a little stamp from the Men of Life set.

I'm less-than-thrilled with this second card. I think the Ripe Avocado matches well, but that sheet of patterned paper kind of has that drab kraft look to it and it's just not workin' for me. I'll give this birthday card to someone I'm not over-the-moon in love with *giggles* My sentiment is from the Asian Fusion set - I really love the sentiments/font in this set.

Hope your weekend starts off great!

Big wish.

Happy Friday, Girls!

Webster's Pages. Love. It. Seriously love it! I've got some Webster's patterned paper on here, a strip of bloomers on the bottom and then I used a little piece of a journaling card up in the corner to stamp - gasp - a Verve sentiment on. Have I used Verve sentiments all week? I think I have - LOL Oh! And I got one of those fancy-schmancy 2-way glue pens like Nichole Heady and I added some glitter on here just 'cuz.

TGIF!

Birthday wishes.

Ohhh I'm so happy today is here! My Papertrey order will be here when I get home from work this evening - love it! Can't wait to make something with that little car.

Anywho - seems only fitting that I've got some Hawaiian Shores cardstock, ink and ribbon on this card that I got last month. Pretty paper and chipboard here are from Prima; a little Jenni Bowlin embellished butterfly; some Studio G Glitter Glue on my flower center; and yes, again with the Verve birthday sentiment.

Yipppeeee - it's Friday Eve!

Happy belated birthday.

Happy day, Girls!

Happy belated birthday. So sad that I made a card that said this. But hey - they made a stamp with it, so I ain't the only one who sends cards late - LOL I used to be really good about getting things out on time if not early. Now what I find myself doing is having everything ready and just not actually getting it mailed. So when that happens, time to swap out the card to something like this *giggles*

I've got a base of Scarlet Jewel from Papertrey Ink with coordinating ribbon and ink; patterned papers by Prima, and another fun birthday sentiment from Verve.

Have a wonderful day!

Happy birthday.

Hey Girls!
Is anyone else as happy to see Tuesday as I am? I hate Mondays - absolutely hate them. And I am sooooo tired at the end of the day and I don't feel like doing anything when I get home. Just....blech. But today is a new day - up and at 'em!

So I've got another birthday card today - this time for a little boy. I love these fun papers from Jillibean Soup. Jillibean Soup has a way of making kraft come alive with bright colors and fun patterns. My sentiment is a lil' Plain Jane from Verve - Plain Jane means it's a $3 stamp! Cardstock, ribbons, buttons and ink by Papertrey Ink - but you should know that by now *wink*

Thanks for stopping in today!

Birthday wishes.

Happy Monday (insert groan here).

This week is birthday week here on the blog-o. I've got a gazillion birthday cards to share with y'all so let's get to it.

Remember when I said I was struggling to work with the fun papers from Cosmo Cricket's Garden Variety paper pack? I decided this time to use the papers that weren't full of fruits and veggies - and I think what I got was a clean but fun card. My sentiment is from Verve's Big Wish set.

Here's hoping the week flies by!

Home sweet home.

Alright - gonna start off today with a little off-topic home stuff. Although my blog doesn't say anything about bein' just cards or crafts or whatever, so it's only off-topic if you have an expectation *wink*

Got a little couponing adventure to share with y'all. I love me some couponing. Albertsons had doublers in the newspaper last week - double your manufacturer's coupon up to $1. I practically cry tears of joy when I see doublers in the newspaper. And then I beg, borrow and steal all the doublers I can find from friends, family, neighbors, co-workers...even a stranger here and there - heh. Here's my haul....:

...and this is what you're lookin' at:

(4) boxes of Pepperidge Farms crackers - these are REALLY good.
(2) packs of Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies - not pictured...ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies *giggles*
(10) Del Monte Fruit Chillers - cups and tubes...fruit that you freeze and enjoy
(4) boxes of Stove Top stuffing
(4) 2-liters of diet 7-up
(4) packs of Sargento shredded cheese
(2) loaves of Cinnabon cinnamon bread - this has GOT to be good
(7) packs of Dannon kid's yogurt
(2) boxes of Smart Taste pasta
(2) big packs of Land-o-Frost deli meats
(2) boxes of Betty Crocker apple streusel muffin mix
(1) bottle of Febreze Air Effects

Regular retail price: $149.83
I paid: $13.74
Yup - that's a 91% savings, girls; cha-ching!

And because we're on the topic of home/personal stuff today, I thought I'd share with you some porch decor courtesy of my 7 year-old son. He taped this no-smoking sucker right under the doorbell - he got this from trick-or-treating and I'm surprised it's been up and stayed up since November 1; all through winter and still hangin' strong. The other day I came home from work and noticed the white paper. Thought it was a FedEx notice but no - just a reminder that we don't yell in the house. Funny kid.

Alright - movin' right along to the card part of the blog-o....
I got a little click-happy when I was ordering patterned papers from Jenni Bowlin a while back. Her papers are less expensive than most - because they aren't as thick - usually 59-cents a piece. So I decided to get all the new papers in this collection and just went down the list not really paying attention and click...clicked....clicked away. I get my order and this sheet is in it:

- um...yeah, hi? What in the Sam Hill am I gonna do with this? LOL I don't even know what a scrapbooker would do with this. Those squares are HUGE. That's some serious love for chowder if you actually chose to buy this sheet - ha.

Anywho - this is what I came up with. The checkerboard on my card is not from this same sheet, because like I said - those squares are H U G E. Funny.

Hope you have a nice Sunday.

Birthday wishes.

Yayyyyy! - it's Saturday!
Soccer...laundry.....cards - love it!

I've saved the best (at least to me) for last of my cards made with pretty pretty papers from Webster's Pages. I brought out more of my favorite cardstock too *giggles* I had 2 scrap pieces left and I can't see wasting even the teeniest bit of these papers, so I put them together with some pretty eyelet trim that I picked up from A Million Memories, and then added some Melon Berry ribbon for my bow. I embellished with some Prima chipboard, Fancy Pants pins, yes, another Martha felt birdie, and then I stamped a little Studio G birthday sentiment in Terracotta Tile and topped that off with a Melon Berry button. Don't look now, but I think Melon Berry is growing on me!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Get well soon.

Happy Friday, Girls!

Got somewhat of a mini card to share with you today featuring more Webster's Pages goodness. These papers have a lot of pretty prints on them so I struggle with doing too much because I really want to show off what pretty papers these are. So I added a little decorative edge, a double ribbon treatment, embellished with another felt Martha birdie, put a little Studio G Glitter Glue on the yellows of the daffodils, and then finished it off with a sentiment from Communique Curves Sentiments - gotta love those $5 sets *giggles*

See you tomorrow for one more Webster's Pages card - and it's my most favorite of the bunch!

TGIF!

Sweet.

Hi, Girls!

Alright - now we're back to our regularly scheduled programming: Webster's Pages papers....yummmm. I really like how a lot of the paper manufacturers create things *I think* with matching in mind. Like creating papers that will coordinate with cardstocks and ribbons from other manufacturers. Or maybe it's just coincidence. But I like it when that happens because these papers for example are a perfect match with Papertrey Ink's Ripe Avocado and the blues and greens in the Webster's papers also go well with the Prima chipboards. Love it.

So yeah... Some Webster's papers...and fabric trim topped with some Prima chipboard pieces and then some trinket pins from Maya Road and Little Yellow Bicycle and a button from Papertrey Ink. A lot of my favorites all in one place!

I didn't put a sentiment on this one either because I didn't want it to compete with the "sweet" on the chipboard. I did that one time with a card that I submitted to Paper Crafts - the chipboard had a word like this on it and then I had a thank-you sentiment stamped elsewhere on the card. They wanted the card - but they had me cover up the chipboard word. It kinda bugged me at first, but then I kinda got their point. So I left this one as-is.

Have a sweet day!

Tags from scraps.

Just a slight detour today from our Webster's Pages journey as I'm up today over at the Simply Renee/Clip it Up! blog-o and I wanted to share my post with you all here too. Back with more Webster's goodness tomorrow *wink*

If you're like me, you fall in love with every new line that comes out from the various paper manufacturers. Everything that comes down is the bestest design you've ever seen and you can't wait to get your hands on it. And just like a little kid with a new toy at Christmas, you forget about it once you open the next one.

So I decided to make some tags - starting within my scrap box....

I pulled out various cut/torn pieces of colored cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

I ran the larger pieces through my Big Shot using the Top Note die, and the smaller ones I just cut down and rounded the corners.

And then I went way back to Cosmo Cricket's Honey Pie paper pack. This pack for me is my most favorite collection from Cosmo Cricket to this day. It's like classic Cosmo Cricket - the fun colors - both pale and primary, the country feel, the great sentiments, the quilted pieces - just so much goodness in this one collection.

I have bags of scrap ribbon hanging off my Clip it Up! ribbon organizer that I can see and reach for to complete my projects.

Gotta have my Glue Dots. If there are buttons on my project - which is like 99% of the time - there are Glue Dots on my craft table.

A little love taggie with some great ribbon that I picked up at Practicing Creativity Designs.

The "dreaming of" piece was probably meant for a scrapbooking page. I'm not a scrapbooker, so I just covered that up *wink*

Topped with more ribbon from Practicing Creativity Designs - and look, more buttons *giggles*

And a fun little JOY tag - can use this for a baby gift....wedding - or maybe even a wintery Christmas package.

I hope you've enjoyed my post today - and I would encourage you to show your scraps and those old patterned papers that you've been hoarding or forgotten about a little bit of love; they miss you!

Happy Birthday.

Test time!
Q: What's my least favorite color from Papertrey Ink?
A: Melon Berry.
I typed the answer in white - you can highlight the area to see if you got it right. Anyway - blech. I just have never like that color. It's flat to me like clay or something. Just so blah. However, blah though it may be, it matches perfectly with a lot of the papers in the new paper packs from Webster's Pages. Soooo...I forced myself to use it - heh.

I've got a few different patterned papers here, some fun stitching in the middle right on top of some pretty coordinating Webster's trim topped with some Vintage Cream Luxe Satin ribbon. My bow is accented with some Maya Road trinket pins and a pretty Vintage Sparkler from Webster's; and my fun birthday sentiment is from Verve stamped in Terracotta Tile.

Happy day to you!

Live the life you have imagined.

Happy Monday, Dolls!

I had the most crafty Sunday, it was just really really fun. Creating with no particular focus or goal or deadline in mind is just the bestest thing ever. And, it sort of ended up being a one-track thing which means another one of my little theme weeks here on the ol' blog. So this week plan on seeing lots of patterned papers from Webster's Pages.

Today's card has no sentiment on it - I decided to let the words on the patterned paper speak for itself: live the life you have imagined. I've got 2 separate pieces of Webster's papers in there, joined together with some pretty ribbon I picked up from Practicing Creativity Designs, stitched that down and then topped it with some yummy Ripe Avocado ribbon. My embellishments are a fun little mix of things from Prima, Martha, Fancy Pants and Little Yellow Bicycle.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Love you.

Happy Day, Girls!

Today I've got a sweet little card inspired by this picture from A Creative Mint for an inspiration challenge over on Melissa Phillips' blog. Now I am so not a challenge person. I really do feel stymied when I have to use certain colors or elements or papers or whatever. But these kind of challenges I do feel a little more free with, so I thought what the heck, I'll give it a try. Because after all, it is Melissa Phillips - the goddess of all things vintage, sugary, girly, frilly and whimsy.

I really liked a couple of things about this picture - the black mixed in with the sweet pinks, and the mixture of pinky pinks and orangey pinks. I was so excited to use my new papers from Little Yellow Bicycle that I picked up at Archivers - and the coordinating doilies and pins. I am a sucker for pins. I would put them on every card if I could. I also have some new vintage ribbon from MemrieMare's ETSY shop. I have seen this around a lot now and finally gave in and bought every color she made. I've got a little Martha felt embellie in there, along with a little Jenni Bowlin embellished butterfly. My sentiment is from Studio G. This is one of those times where I get so excited using a Studio G stamp because I know people turn their nose up at these little $1 stamps - but really if you've got a pretty card with pretty pieces, does a $1 stamp bring it down? I don't think so.

Hope your Sunday is a sweet one.

Birthday bag.

Happy Saturday!

OK so check this - my kids both have summer birthdays so inviting their school class and having a big, fun party isn't really an option. So we usually have big parties but with just a couple of kids. This year I was thinking of having a party for both of them together, like before school gets out and inviting both of their classes - how fun would that be? The trendy thing around here these days is birthday parties at a place called Monkey Bizness - indoor play structures, rock wall and whatnot. My daughter went to her third party in as many months there last night. I told my husband to get the pricing info. For last night's party, 20 kids, an hour of playtime, pizza, water bottle favors filled with candy, and a balloon - they spent over $350. THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS. For real? That's straight crazy. We have a teeny house, so space is a definite issue. Not sure what we'll do now...suggestions? And don't suggest nuthin' that's gonna cost me $350 either because that ain't happenin' - LOL

Anywho - I made a gift bag and matching card that my daughter took last night to the party. I couldn't fit the card in the photo with the bag so I guess I didn't take a picture of it? Odd. And now it's gone. Ah well - it matched. Had a little hedgehog on it to coordinate with this bag made with patterned papers from My Little Shoebox's Little Critter line.

Busy day today. My daughter's first soccer game of the season. Should be interesting. Her team last year was so good, they crushed the other teams from week to week. So the coach kept the team together and signed them up to play an age level higher so that they actually get some competition. Kind of exciting actually. Then my mom is gonna come over and help with the cleaning of this pigsty we call home. And then in the evening my aunt & uncle and my cousin's kid are coming over for dinner. Busy - but fun - that's what weekend's are for!

Hope your day is fantastic!

Happily ever after.

Happy Friday, Girls!

Got a fun little collagey card to share with you today. I remember way back when there was a challenge on the CARDs blog to make cards that had the collage thing in like just an area and not the whole thing. Oh man did I strike out on that challenge. I always wanted to go back and try that again - and here I am. It was definitely a challenge - but wayyyy better than my first attempt.

I've got a base of Ripe Avocado from Papertrey Ink, some old school patterned paper from PTI as well, and then lots of random things from Jenni Bowlin, BasicGrey, Heidi Swapp, Hero Arts and A Million Memories.

TGIF!

You're invited to a dinner.

I have to admit - I really do like having family here in town now. Even though my family is straight crazy and every holiday is full of drama, it's nice after 13 years of living up here with no family to now having my mom and my aunt & uncle up here...just a few minutes away from us. We still keep our distance - because, like I said: those people are straight crazy. But I do like to see them at least once a month, well, no more than once a month - heh - and have them over for dinner or something. And I like to make a fuss - make something special, a new recipe for dessert, pretty plates, fresh flowers...and sending out a real invitation instead of calling or e-mailing.

The Garden Variety collection from Cosmo Cricket is perfect for a dinner invite - - and I can't think of anything else to use it for. It's really cute - fruits and veggies - but.....yeah, I'm most definitely challenged in using it for other things. So I guess I'll just host more dinner parties! Those chipboard letters are from BasicGrey - - I've seen people leaving in the insets instead of taking them all out and I thought I'd try it here; gotta admit: I like the look.

Have a great day!

March CARDs pubs.

Happy day, Girls!

I'm so excited to share with you today the (3) cards that I had published in the March issue of CARDs magazine.

This first card is one of my most favorite cards ever. Like ever ever. For real. And I'm so glad it got picked up because when am I ever going to use it? LOL I love all the bold colors, that fun ribbon, and the pretty piece of Graphic 45 paper there with the Gibson girls - just. love. this. card.

And this ca-ute card!! Oh it's just so sweet. It's no secret that I {heart} papers from My Little Shoebox so I was incredibly excited to get something published with their papers. The little Verve sentiment in the corner was perfect to fit in that little tree - just cute cute.

And my lil' owl card. Not near as cute as the previous cards - maybe I don't like owls? Ha. But I sure do love that lace that I picked up from A Million Memories - yum!

Thanks for stopping in today!