Elephant Birthday

Hello! It's me! Making a card! Crazy, I know. I'm a little rusty, so bare with me... but I do hope to make this cardmaking thing a regular event in my stamp room once again...! Today I was brought back to the world of stamping because the Hambo Hoedown theme is to use an animal stamp. And I loooooove Hambo animal stamps! Especially my all-time favorite dancing elephant...

I paired the Elephant-5213 stamp with one of Hambo's great sentiments (Forgot to Remember - 1120). They have THE BEST sentiments if you like funny. The inside of this card says "I just forgot to tell you I remembered!". Yup, that's totally me! I wanted to put a little balloon in his hand so I drew that myself and colored. The Hemptique cord and the fun Simple Stories patterned paper both came from i {heart} papers. And the sketch is the current retro sketches.

This particular Hambo Hoedown challenge ends in just a few hours as I type this - but they post a new challenge on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday each month!

Thanks for stopping by,

A special hippo...

Today I'm playing with my Hambos, which always brings a smile to my face!

First of all, I adore Ballerina Hippo (#1722), she's one of my all-time favorite Hambos. But the message - HA HA HA HA HA!! Yes, I giggled while I made this card! The stamp is called Be As Special (#4210). The card also has Basic Grey Plumeria papers and a little Stickles and gems for good measure.

I'm playing along with the Hambo Hoedown today, yeehaw! This week the challenge is "Anything Goes" - make any sort of card using a Hambo and you're good to go! You have until Monday, September 17 at 10pm CST to play along - you'll even get a cutie patootie digi, check the Hoedown blog for all of the details!

Thanks for stopping by,

Happy Happy Birthday to Monica!!

Tomorrow is Monica's birthday and we're having a surprise blog hop to celebrate! Yay!! Monica is the owner of Hambo Stamps, one of my favorite stamp companies on the planet. She is kind and generous and funny and gave me my very first design team opportunity many moons ago and has put up with me all these years. She's THE BEST and I am so very grateful that she was born! Happy Birthday Monica, this card is 4 Ewe!


I used one of my favorite Hambo stamps, Party Sheep! I also played along with this week's Hambo Hoedown, which happens to be a sketch challenge. So much fun!


As for the hop, you should have arrived here by way of another great, funny, creative friend of mine, Leslie. If you just arrived on my blog by blind luck, make sure and start back to the beginning at Jenn's blog. And to continue on, hop on over to another one of my very favorite peeps, Dina! Be sure and leave comments along the way - there will be a special Hambo Birthday surprise to one lucky, random hopper! The winner will be announced at the Hambo Hoedown on Wednesday, August 17.

Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Party Sheep - 3202 and 4 Ewe - 3205
• Paper: Kraft from HA, Pink from SU, BoBunny & My Mind's Eye DP, white
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Accessories: Spellbinders die, PTI scallop die, Fiskars stamp-edge scissors, SU oval punch, Michael's ribbon

What's Cookin' Wednesday - Banana Muffins!

Remember when I used to post recipes on Wednesdays? Thought it was about time I post another one! But first, a card...


I thought this Wee Henry Cuppie digi image from Hambo Stamps was perfect, because the recipe I'm about to post is one that Carter and I whipped up together yesterday afternoon! It's so much fun cooking with my kids, they get so excited about the simplest things. Like "I get to dump the flour into the bowl?? WOOHOO!!". Wouldn't it be nice to still find such joy in the little things?

Speaking of joyful things - today the new Hambo Stamps design team, aka the Bacon Bits, are being introduced on Monica's blog. AND, they have their debut on the Hambo Hoedown, sharing some *adorable* new digi images. Make sure & check it out! My card today's fits this week's Hoedown challenge too - I used a button!

And now on to the recipe - this is one I doctored to make a bit more healthy. Next time I make them I'm going to try subbing the refined sugar with honey - do you ever bake with honey? Do you have any other suggestions to up the health-factor in these muffins? The kids love them as-is, and they are the pickiest eaters on the planet so I have to be a little careful. But maybe I'll add some sort of veggie puree next time too. Maybe sweet potato! :-)



BANANA MUFFINS
---------------------
1 c wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan.

In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In separate bowl combine banana, sugar, egg, vanilla, applesauce and cinnamon. Mix well. Slowly add dry mixture to banana mixture. Mix well.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin pan. Bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool.

Makes 12 muffins.

I plugged this recipe into My Fitness Pal, and it says each muffin has 84 calories, 1g fat, 19g carbs and 2g protein.

Happy stamping, AND baking! :-)

Valentine's Day Blog Hop! + Hambo Hoedown!

Hello and welcome to the Virtual Valentine's Day Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from the blog of the amazing and talented (and organizer of this hop!), Taylor Usry! If you didn't, hop on over there for a minute, then come right back here. I'll wait. ;-)

Taylor had this fabby idea to post Valentine's cards today and have a little blog hop. Little, HA! It's gotten to be a big, huge, awesome blog hop of 40+ designers, and a whole mess of sponsors!! There will be 21 prizes available for random commenters along the hop, so make sure and leave a bunch of love all over the place! And visit Taylor's blog for ALL the details!!

Now how about my card??


This is my second card for this week's Hambo Hoedown Challenge #2 - I had to make another so I could use this super duper cute Eye Monster image from the Hambo Stamps digi store! I love him so, he just cracks me up! All those silly eyeballs! I made them even sillier by popping them up...


I just knew I had to add some red Stickles to the heart that the monster is holding (it is required by Libby Law!), but I wanted all the little red heart brads to coordinate with the blinginess, so I dabbed a bit of Stickles on each of them as well.

(All you digi lovers out there, have you checked out the Hambo Hoedown yet?? You get a FREE DIGI when you participate!! How cool is that???!!)

Now back to the hop info for a sec - if you get lost along the way, visit Taylor because she has the entire list of hoppers there on her blog. But hopefully you aren't lost yet, as I'm just stop #2 along the way (and that would mean I messed up already and that would be very, very sad!).

To continue along, please head on over to visit the fabulous Cyndi Bundy!!

And here's a look at the wonderful companies offering prizes for this hop! Remember to leave those comments!! And why don't you visit these links, too, and check out what they have to offer? I have to admit, some are brand new to me and I am racking up quite a huge wishlist!!

StampInsanity * Meljen's Designs * Pixie Dust Studio * Lizzie Anne Designs * Christian Paper Crafts * Paper Pretties * Karber Digital Images * Di's Digi Downloads * The Scrappychick Boutique * Stampendous * Pink Cat Studio * Amber Ink * Simply Betty Stamps * Mark's Finest Papers * Dreamweaver Stencils * Chi Chi Memories * Little Potato House * Kenny K Downloads * Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps

Now before I go, I have to show you the Valentines that Carter made for his preschool teachers - I think they turned out so cute! I saw the idea at Let's Explore (I subscribe to their blog via email for fun ideas of things to do with my kids!). So I gathered the heart-shaped doilies, die cut the red hearts and cut out the fairy wings, then let Carter assemble them and draw the head & limbs. My favorite part - all those fingers! Hee hee, too fun!


Thanks for stopping (& hopping!) by! Happy Valentine's Day!! xoxo

• Stamps: Eye Monster digi from Hambo Stamps
• Paper: SU Real Red, GP white, old DP from my stash (?)
• Ink: Copic markers, black Glaze pen (for eye centers)
• Accessories: Spellbinders die, SU slit punch, Christmas Red Stickles, heart brads, machine stitching, foam tape

Hambo Hoedown #2!

Wowza the kickoff of the brand new Hambo Hoedown last week was a HUGE success!!! We all got so excited every time another crafter would add her card to the mix!! Woohoo! But now it's a new Wednesday and that means it's time for a new Hoedown! And this week we're supposed to use HEARTS! I made a Valentine...


Isn't that spy THE CUTEST?!? And I love that sentiment too, although I have to admit I'm blushing a little, LOL! Both of these images are from a digital set over at the Hambo digi store. And it shows that you don't *have to* use this week's monster digi image for the Hoedown - *any* fabby Hambo stamp or digi image will do! You just need to include some hearts! So what are you waiting for? Come do a Hoedown with us!! :-)

The sketch for this card came from the Totally Gorjuss challenge blog. Hopefully this is gorjuss enough for them. :-) (Ladies, just picture him as being a totally gorjussssss spy under that disguise!) :-)


I'm also submitting this card to:
Digital Tuesday Challenge 97 - From the Heart
Bunny Zoe's Crafts Challenge 8 - Love is in the Air
Cards for Men Challenge 3 - Valentine/Love
Stamps R Us Challenge 14 - Valentine/Love
Papertake Weekly Challenge - Have a Heart
A Spoonfull of Sugar 138 - Let's see some love
Bearly Mine Challenge 3 - For Men or Boys

Thanks for stopping by today!

• Image: Spy- digi from Hambo Stamps
• Paper: SU Basic Gray, Bo Bunny heart DP, The Paper Studio denim DP, GP white
• Ink: Copic markers
• Accessories: Christmas Red Stickles, Spellbinders dies, SU scallop edge punch, machine stitching

Hambo Hoedown Kickoff & SUPER sale!

So have you all visited the new challenge in town? The Hambo Hoedown kicked off this week!! YAY!! And the best part - because it's a super weekend, they're giving everyone this sweet little football girl image to play with!


Isn't she cute? And her sweet bear too? I have to admit, I don't particularly care about the game today. I only made her jersey green to match the DP I wanted to use, it's not because I am pulling for a certain team (although I do love cheese!!). In fact, I'm sending all of my family members off to a party tonight and I plan to stay home all by myself and work in my stamp room!! Woohoo!! So I guess I *am* excited about the game. :-)

Now about the Hambo Hoedown - you MUST check it out!! If you play, you get a free digi. Plain and simple. How awesome is that??? The first week's image is right there on the blog, so go download her and get your sample made!! You have until Tuesday at 10pm. Actually, you don't even have to use this image, any Hambo design will do - but the theme this week is football. I can't wait to see what you make!

And speaking of Hambo - they are having a SUPER sale this weekend!! 30% off of all regular-priced stamps!! WOOHOO! And there's a contest, if you guess the Superbowl score your order is FREE. Check out the details here!!

Back to my card for a minute, in addition to the Hambo Hoedown, I also played along with Jen's February Sketch For You To Try for the card layout.


In fact, I loved Jen's sample card so much that I borrowed more than just the sketch - I loved her rounded corners, and also her cute ribbon/button embelly. Thanks for the inspiration, Jen!

I also have to tell you about the stitching on my card. I meant to do a zigzag stitch, but my machine didn't cooperate and I got this tight little straight stitch. At first I thought it was awful and almost threw away the card, but then I decided it was sorta cute with a little girl image, kinda kid-like, ya know? So I went with it and added it everywhere. Happy mistake!

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you have a SUPER GREAT day!

• Stamps: Football Girl digi from Hambo, handwritten greeting
• Paper: Hero Arts Sea Layering Paper, GP white, Fancy Pants Designs DP
• Ink: Copics
• Accessories: Spellbinders die, Corner Chomper, machine stitching, ribbon, button (MFT), twine (from The Twinery)