12 Days of Holiday Projects - Day 4!

It's Day 4 of 12 and it's also Texas Tuesday! This card isn't very Texasy. Not at all, really. But the stamps are from Texana Designs, so that counts! It's not overly Christmasy either. Wow I'm just breaking all the rules!

I used the Texana Cardinal, but masked off the word "cardinal" from the stamp. The Holiday Spirit message is Texana too. I cut around the top of the head and also the tail before cutting him out with my circle die. (Does everyone know how to do that? If you need to see it just let me know!) :-) The leaves are also cut out & popped up, then coated with Glossy Accents for a little something extra - can't really tell in the photo, though.

I only colored the cardinal because I was playing along with the Play Date Cafe challenge, which is a color splash this week. A splash of maroon!

The sketch is Jen del Muro's FINAL SFYTT! *sniff*

Oh and speaking of The Play Date Cafe - I made the Fab Four last week! YAY!! So exciting!

Now head on over and check out what my blogging friends came up with today...

Barb Murphy
Ceal Pritchett
Donna Bowman
Jen Cuthbertson
Lalo Ik
Rachel Izakowicz
Rachel Kleinman
Regina Hardy
Veronica Zalis

Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas, Y'all!

Today I'm sharing a bit of holiday cheer, Texas-style!

I played with this great Christmas Texas stamp and message from Texana Designs. Of course that "Merry Christmas, Y'all!" totally works for me here in Georgia, too. I can just hear Paula Deen saying it...

I played along with a trio of challenges in an attempt to spark my creativity for this card (ugh I am sooo rusty!). First of all, it's my Quickfire creation for Linda's Recipe Swap! This time we're using lace on our cards!

The colors are from The Play Date Cafe - my favorite color challenge!

And the sketch is courtesy of Jennifer del Muro and her Sketch For You To Try for November.

Thanks for stopping by,

I *heart* Catered Crop Recipe Swap!

Hi crafty friends! A couple weeks have gone by since my last post (!) so that means once again it's time to pop in and post a card for Linda's Recipe Swap challenge! This week we are playing with hearts! I *heart* hearts!!


I also *heart* the ADORABLE Pure Innocence images from Heather Ellis! Heather is generously sponsoring this week's Recipe Swap. I chose one of my very favorite images to play with - Pure Innocence 019. So very sweet!! The doily is from a pack of Wilton doilies - I colored it pink with a Copic. And the heart buttons were at Joann's, I gave them a little sparkle with Stickles.


I just love Stickles, don't you? I know Ryan does. Hee hee!


Check out this GORGEOUS inspiration board Linda put together for this week's challenge. All you need to do to play along is include hearts somewhere on your design. Linda's Pinterest board is sooooo pretty, too! So much inspiration!


I played along with Jen's February SFYTT for the layout. I'm 2/2 so far this year, woohoo!


Thanks for stopping by today!

• Stamps: Pure Innocence 019 digi from Heather Ellis, Flopsey Bunch of Hearts (message) from MFT
• Paper: SU pink, My Mind's Eye DP
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Other: Wilton doily, circle punch, Favorite Finding wood button (Joann's), Martha Stewart twine, Corner Chomper, Diamond Stickles

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)

Lots of Hambo Happenings!!

Ok friends, I have a ton of stuff to share with you and you will most definitely want to PAY ATTENTION but first I need to show you a card I made. I went a little crazy with the embellies on this one...


Isn't that little guy THE CUTEST?? He makes me smile. Errr, she. Whatever. It's one of the latest images over in the Hambo digi store, called Hamster Heart. So what do you think, too many embellies? hee hee


I played along with Jen's SFYTT for January, yay!


So now let me update you on all the Hambo news, in case you missed it. It's lots of GOOD STUFF!!

- The Hambo Design Team Call is coming to a close TONIGHT!! So if you want to join us, get your submission together ASAP!

- There's several super duper cute new digis available at the site. But just a reminder, Hambo Stamps isn't just a digi store, they have wonderful, high quality red rubber stamps as well!

- The new Hambo challenge blog - Hambo Hoedown - is starting up on February 2! In the meantime, head on over there for a visit and grab the Hoedown button and follow the blog - it could earn you a free digi!! Then read this post from Monica's blog with all of the challenge details. If you like digis, and especially if you like FREE DIGIS, this challenge is for YOU! :-)

Thanks for stopping by today! I have some more design team news to share with you, but that announcement will come on Monday! Yay! (Although if you can't wait, you can always peek at my sidebar today, hee hee) Have a great weekend!

Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the Anni-VERVE-sary Blog Hop!! I'm so excited to be here hopping along with Julee, owner of Verve, and all of her other adoring fans! I remember the day Julee first announced her new little adventure on her blog - I really cannot believe it's been three years already! (Sidenote: I also cannot believe I've been blogging this long!) :-) If you've been hopping along, you arrived here via (my idol!) Jen's fabulous blog. If you just happened to stop by my blog today, head on over to Julee's blog for all of the info on how to win prizes and start hopping from the beginning!! And if you get lost along away, head on over to the Master Hop List to get back on track. Now that all the formalities are out of the way, how about I show you my card?


Not only is it Julee's anni-VERVE-sary, but yesterday was my wedding anniversary! So I decided to make an anni-VERVE-sary anniversary card for my hubby. :-) I busted out a couple oldie but goodie Verve sets - Wild Thing for the heart, and Feeling Groovy for the sentiment. As you all know, Julee's stamps have THE BEST sentiments - love them so much!

It's kinda funny that you came here from Jen del Muro's blog, because I used her fabby sketch for my card.


Ok, that's enough chit chat, you have A LOT more hopping to do! It's time to hop on out of here and check out another wonderful Jen - Jen Cuthbertson!

Thanks for stopping by today!

• Stamps: Wild Thing and Feeling Groovy from Verve Stamps
• Paper: Hero Arts Kraft notecard, Stampin' Up black & vanilla CS, DP from AMuse (red) and Pink Paislee (blue)
• Ink: Ranger Distress Ink (Fired Brick, Vintage Photo), Palette Noir
• Accessories: Cork (MFT), Scallop edge die (PTI), circle dies (Spellbinders), pewter brads, machine stitching