Hambo's "Ham & BACON" Blog Hop!

Hello and welcome to the "Ham & BACON" blog hop!! I'm joining the Hambo Stamps team today for this hop. They always come up with the best, funniest themes for their hops! And this one is no exception... "Ham & BACON" is... wait for it... a KEVIN BACON inspired hop!!! LMBO!! We are sharing cards inspired by Kevin Bacon movies!! HOW FUN IS THAT?!? But before I tell you which movie I chose, let me back up a little. You should have arrived here via the talented & fabulous Lisa Cassidy's blog. If you didn't, why don't you head back to the very beginning, at the Hambo Hoedown challenge blog, so you can take in all the Kevin Bacon-inspired goodness? :-)

And here is my card. I played with a few different Hambo stamps for this! Rabbit - 0917 is sitting atop a diecut bicycle. The cute little clouds are Hambo, too. Clouds - 3407 to be exact. And the message is Get This Party Started - 2706. I used my watercolor paints to add color to the bunny & the clouds. And that watercolored starburst pattern - the reason I did that was because I was inspired by the movie poster for the film I chose. Can you guess which Kevin Bacon movie this is?? Going way back to 1986, it's Quicksilver!!

I couldn't actually decide which movie to do. I immediately thought of The Greatest Kevin Bacon Movie of All Time, Footloose, but I was worried everyone would choose that. Then Monica reminded me that he was in a movie about bikes. So of course I had to pick the bike movie. HELLO! (If you don't know me - I like bikes.)

And now I shall ramble on for a moment - feel free to skip this paragraph if you'd like! ;-) It's kind of funny that I couldn't think of a Kevin Bacon movie to do, because he's famous for being in sooooo many movies! Remember the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game?! My brother reminded me about The Oracle of Bacon - a site that uses IMDb to figure out the link from any actor to Kevin Bacon! This site has been around for soooo long but it's still there, generating Bacon numbers. In case you ever have a Bacon emergency and just HAVE TO KNOW! And you know what? I'm not in IMDb, but I *was* an extra in a movie once!! My husband and I sat in a Texas high school football stadium for the better part of a night while they filmed the movie Varsity Blues! James Van Der Beek was there. Jon Voight was there. So yes, I was TOTALLY in a movie with Jon Voight! I plugged him into the Oracle and got a Bacon Number of 2. Jon Voight was in Zoolander with Endre Hules (who??), who was in Apollo 13 with Kevin Bacon!! And I was in a movie with Jon Voight, so MY BACON NUMBER IS 3! I rock. Heh.

Ok enough of that nonsense, you've got some hoppin' to do!!! There's a prize involved!! Hambo is giving away a $15 shopping spree to their digi store to one lucky person who comments on every blog along the hop. There's only 9 of us hopping today, so it's not too much work for you to get entered! And Hambo's digis are adorbs so you totally should. The deadline for comments (for prize consideration - you can leave me a comment ANYTIME just to make me smile!) is Monday, April 14 at 10:00pm EST. The winner will be announced on the Hoedown blog on Wednesday, April 16.

Head on over to Jane Elizabeth France's blog to continue on!

Did you ever see the movie Quicksilver? Did you like it? I actually never did! Or if I did I don't remember because, you know, 1986 was ages ago. Maybe I should check it out sometime. If you remember it, let me know what you think down there in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by,

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 Mellow Yellow Graduation Card

My niece Alicia recently graduated from the University of Michigan. If you're keeping score, you may recall that I went to Michigan State University. This of course means that University of Michigan is my nemesis!! Making a yellow and blue card is just about the very last thing I'd ever want to do. BUT - my niece is awesome and we are very proud of her, so I put aside my distaste for all things UM and made her a little card... ;-)

Hambo Stamps had the perfect digi for my card - Wee Henrietta Grad. She's so cute! I just colored her with my Copics. The little UM logo on her collar was an image I found online & printed. Stickles was added to the diploma - because really, who wouldn't want a sparkly diploma??

This card is also my Quickfire creation for the latest Catered Crop Recipe Swap! Linda's Mellow Yellow challenge asked up to use yellow on our cards. Done and done!

The Recipe Swap is open until June 8 - plenty of time to link up your yellow creation! Join us!

Thanks for stopping by,

Stamps: Digi - Wee Henrietta Grad from Hambo Stamps, Great Expectations from Verve Stamps
Paper: White cardstock, blue cardstock, patterned paper
Ink: Tsukineko (Memento Tuxedo Black), Copic markers, printer ink
Other: Washi tape, My Favorite Things Die-namics (Blueprints 1), Stickles, machine stitching

Chess + giveaway winner!

Today my son played in his very first chess tournament. It was a big one - all of the clubs in the metro-Atlanta area were there, over 1000 kids. I decided to make a little card to tuck into his backpack as a surprise on his special day.

Since it was late Friday night when I decided to make this card, I was happy to find that Hambo had the perfect digi image to use - Chess Set. I love that you can buy the Hambo digis and have them immediately to use! I added my own message (a little chess humor, hee hee!) before I printed it out, then I colored with Prismas. I used polka dots because, happily, I'm back to playing along with Linda's Catered Crop Recipe Swap! Yay! And Linda chose polka dots for our challenge this time around.

Here's my boy posing at the tournament. When he found his card in his backpack, he gave me a big hug. Made me so happy!

Now before I go - it's about time I announce a winner from my 1000th post! Congratulations to... comment #19, Heidi H! Please send me an email with your contact info to stampinlibby at gmail dot com and I'll get your goodies out to you!

Thanks for stopping by,

Name That Toon - a Hambo blog hop!

Welcome to "Name That Toon!", the latest Hambo Stamps blog hop! Today Hambo friends and the Bacon Bits Design Team are bringing you a dozen fun creations that depict comic strips! It might be our favorite, or just one that was fun to design. If you arrived here from Lyn's blog you are in the right place! If not, you might want to start back at the beginning at the Hambo blog to make sure you are eligible for the hopper prize!

So - can you tell which comic strip I chose?

Being the enginerd that I am, Dilbert has always been my favorite! Back when I was part of the working world at Motorola, Dilbert strips were always so timely, capturing what we were doing, or what management was doing. We were absolutely positive Scott Adams had to have a mole inside Motorola, gathering ideas for his strip! When I saw the theme for this hop I knew I wanted to do a Dilbert post, but I was stumped! Monica pointed out a card with the Three Ties - digi would be perfect. Especially if I captured the "Dilbert look" by turning up the end of the tie!

Thanks for the great idea, Monica!! I paired the tie, which I just colored with black & red stripes to look like Dilbert, with the Birthdays Happen - 1808 message to finish it off.

I have to share one of my all-time favorite Dilberts! Not sure it will amuse anyone else as much as it did me, but I worked in Quality Assurance and always had this one hanging up in my cubicle, LOL!

(Image found here. The embed code from that site was not working.)

Now back to the blog hop particulars - a prize will be awarded to one participant whose comic strip-themed creation tickles the Bacon Bits’ fancy in a hammin’ jammin’ way!  Another prize will be awarded randomly to a hopper who comments on all of the blogs along the way. The winners will be announced on the Hambo company blog,Talk to the Ham, on Wednesday, January 23, as well as at the Hambo Hoedown challenge blog. We love comments anytime, but the deadline for prize entry comments is Sunday, January 20 at 5 PM CST. Don't miss it!

Now laugh on over to Carolyn's blog for another great Comic Strip!

Broadway Bound ~ Hambo Stamps Blog Hop!

Today I'm hopping with Hambo Stamps designers and customers, and the theme is Broadway Bound! Woohoo!! If you didn't come here by way of Jan's blog, how about heading over to the Hambo blog, Talk to the Ham, to join us for all of the Broadway + Hambo goodness?? I love the theater, and I love love love musicals!! We were supposed to depict a show with our card. Can you guess which one I chose?

Crazy plants? A psychotic dentist? Blood dripping? Yes my friends, that's right - Little Shop of Horrors!!! I love this show, it's hilarious. And kinda sick. But mostly just hilarious! To create my little scene, I edited the Mad Scientist digi in Photoshop to get rid of the brain in his hand and make him into a "dentist". With his arm up like that I thought he looked a bit like he's dancing around, unaware that the flowers behind him will soon be having him for dinner! And that's why the Smiling Flowers - 0136 are smiling - dinner has arrived! HA! I turned Hambo's Icicles - 3101 into dripping blood (mwuhahaha!) and thought the Beast Wishes - 3816 was somewhat appropriate for this beastly flower musical.

This show appeared on Broadway in 2003, but where I first fell in love with it was the movie version from 1986. Steve Martin played the sadistic dentist. Too funny!

More about the hop - did I mention - a PRIZE will be awarded to one participant whose Broadway-themed creation tickles the Bacon Bits' fancy in a hammin' jammin' way! Another prize will be awarded randomly to a hopper who comments on all of the blogs along the way. The winners will be announced on the Hambo blog, Talk to the Ham, on Tuesday, September 25. We love comments anytime, but the deadline for prize entry comments is Sunday, September 23 at 5pm CST. Don't miss it!

Now let's continue hopping and see what other Broadway shows have been depicted in Hambo stamps! Next stop is Jen - I'll see you over there!

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,

A Happy Little Hambo!

Today I have a happy little Hambo card to share with you, but before I do - did you leave me a comment during the April Fool's 'Slop Hop' this past weekend? If you did, be sure to head on over to the Talk to the Ham blog and find out if you're a lucky winner!!

Now on to my card. This is the card I started making for the Slop Hop. But then I realized I was using some retired Hambos! Derrrrrrrrr. Well the sweet little elephant is still current, and actually he's one of my very FAVORITE Hambos!!


I played along with the CPS sketch challenge, but of course it ended before I got my card posted. Story of my life, LOL! I colored the little elephant while my sweet friend Colleen was here for a stampy get-together. A wee bit nerve-racking to have a Copic expert in the house, so I did my darndest to get some decent coloring on him. LOL! (I'm kidding - Colleen is the SWEETEST and doesn't ever make anyone feel bad about their lacking skills (HA!) but would you just look at what SHE colored while she was here!! WOW! --> HERE!) I also added Stickles to the balloons & popped up the elephant, just for fun.


Using retired Hambos made me realize I really MUST do some organizing! Do any of you have methods you love for organizing bare rubber stamps? I would love to hear your suggestions!

Thanks for stopping by,

• Stamps: Elephant - 2513 from Hambo Stamps, balloons & message retired Hambo
• Paper: Kraft from M's, Memory Box DP
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Other: StarDust Stickles, Corner Chomper

The Slop Hop!!

Welcome to the “SLOP HOP” - the Hambo Stamps Blog Hop! The Bacon Bits are here to help you start your month off right with a little April Fools laughter and fun. If you arrived here from Paula’s blog, you are in the right place. If not, you will want to start back at the beginning at the Hambo blog – TALK TO THE HAM. We don’t want you to miss anything!

Let's start things off with a little joke, shall we?

"Why did the pig buy an oven?
Because he felt like bacon."

Hee hee!! Now on to the card...! Being the horrid procrastinator that I am, I immediately fell in love with the message I used on this card. The outside doesn't appear to be too funny, really...


...but check out the inside! HAHAHAHA! Oh, so true, so true.


That message is one of Hambo's HI-LAR-I-OUS Fractured Funnies, and this particular one is called Sending Early. The sweet little turtle is called Turtle Present.

I also played with some wonderful ribbon from Ribbon Carousel. The background is covered with some fun May Arts woven ribbon. Something a little different.


Now listen up!! A little surprise is hiding on one of the blogs today, so be sure to leave some comment love as you “hoof it” around the hop. One lucky commenter on the mystery hop spot will be in hog heaven and win a $15 gift certificate to Hambo Stamps!

And guess what else!! Because Hambo is so super awesome, I get to give away a digi myself, too!! In keeping with my turtle theme, I am giving away one of Timbo's fabby digis - Turtles. Because I mean really, what's more fun than a big stack of turtles?? Pretty much nothing! Just leave me a comment here by the deadline and I'll draw a random winner!


We love comments anytime, but the deadline for prize entries is Tuesday, April 3 at midnight CST. Check the Hambo blog - Talk to the Ham - on Thursday, April 5 for winner announcements!

Since I started with a pig joke - how about I end with a turtle joke?

"Where do you find a turtle with no arms and no legs?
Right where you left him!"

Next up on the hop is Beverly - I just know she'll have something fabby to share with you!

Thanks for stopping by,

• Stamps: Turtle Present - 4218, Sending Early - 4702 from Hambo Stamps
• Paper: Hero Arts (green), Georgia Pacific (white), Stampin' Up (teal)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Hero Arts Hero Hues - Black, Copic markers
• Other: Spellbinders die, May Arts ribbon (from Ribbon Carousel), Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher staples

Hop Art Designs Kickoff!

Today I have some very exciting news to share! The wonderful, kind and fabulous Asela Hopkins has teamed up with Hambo Stamps to launch her very own new digital stamp line - Hop Art Designs! And that's not all - proceeds from this digi line will benefit Operation Write Home! How wonderful, kind and fabulous is that??! Extremely!

Today I'm working with Asela's adorable Bella Ballerina!


I squealed when I saw this image because, well, I have a thing for sweet little ballerinas! Especially when they only wear one leg warmer. :-)


I love that the messages included with the image are "Have a beautiful day!" (I will use it to make little cards to stash in Courtney's lunchbox!) and "Thank you" (I will make cards for Courtney's ballet teacher!).

The rolled flowers are supposed to mimic the roses in Bella Ballerina's hand. I made simple spiral-cut flowers. I was going to use a fancy die to do them, but I had a bit of a craftastrophe. My die is currently jammed inside my Big Shot. Don't ask. How I will get it out, I am not at all sure. Sigh.


I played along with Jen's Sketch For You To Try for March - that makes me three for three this year, woohoo!


Now head on over to the Hambo Hoedown - it is the official site of Asela's launch, and one of her images is this week's freebie if you play along! You'll also find links to all the Bacon Bit blogs - we're all featuring different images from Asela's new line!

Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Bella Ballerina digi image from Hop Art Designs/Hambo Stamps
• Paper: SU pink, Bo Bunny pink DP, GP white
• Ink: Printer ink, Copic markers
• Other: Fiskars scallop edge punch, SU circle/scallop punches, Tim Holtz stapler

My Ode to CNN...

Today's card is all about the news!


It's one of my creations for the current Catered Crop Recipe Swap. Linda has us playing with print! When she first told us it would be print, I thought about newsprint. And that made me think of this cute Newscaster image from the Hambo Stamps Digishop - I had to play with him!! I also had to give him some lovely silver hair. But more on that in a moment... First some more about the challenge!!
Linda is creating the most gorgeous Pinterest boards for her challenges, I just love them! Here's her summary inspiration board, but also click on over to her Pinterest board for the current challenge for even more inspiration. It's gorgeous!!


So all you have to do to play along is create a card that incorporates some sort of print! Even though I was thinking about "newsprint" for my card, I actually used a page from an old book I keep in my stamp room just for using on projects. But any sort of print will do! One of my favorite companies - Texana Designs - is this week's sponsor!! YEEHAW! :-) I plan to be back tomorrow with another Recipe Swap card featuring Texana stamps, yay!

For linking up YOUR creation, and all the other deets, visit Linda's blog!

I also played along with this month's Sketch For You To Try (SFYTT) for my card layout. Jen always has the best sketches!!


Ok now back to my love of news. I am a certified (certifiable?) CNN junkie. I have it on a lot, mostly for background noise. And I am a huge Anderson Cooper fan!! I just love him. Especially when he giggles. I live in the Atlanta area now. Home of CNN! Of course Anderson doesn't work from Atlanta, boo hoo! But I still like to visit CNN Center. And drag my kids along. They have a foodcourt there so it's a good place to go for lunch. The kids can have nuggets and mom can have her CNN fix. Here's some photos from our last visit.


Courtney with the big logo as you enter.


Courtney saying "Look mommy, it's that man you love!"


Yes Courtney, Anderson is someone you can look up to. Hee hee.


I also love CNN's weather guy, Rob Marciano. Because, um, he knows so much about the weather.... yah, that's it...


I sent him a tweet on Twitter the other day and OMG HE REPLIED TO ME!!! Cheap thrills.


Ok I better stop now, I'm embarrassing myself a bit with this post. Time to go fold some laundry. And turn on CNN... ;-)

Happy Stamping!

• Stamps: Newscaster digi image from Hambo Stamps
• Paper: Bazzill cardstock (blue), Flourishes paper (ivory), October Afternoon DP, book page
• Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Other: Spellbinders die (circle), PTI die (scallop), brads

Hambo Blog Hop!

Welcome to "Green Eggs and ......Hambo" sponsored by Hambo Stamps! Today Hambo customers and the Bacon Bits Design Team are bringing you fun creations that depict book titles! It might be our favorite book, or just one that was fun to design. If you arrived here from Andrea's blog you are in the right place! If not, you might want to start back at the beginning at the Hambo blog to make sure you are eligible for the hopper prize!

A prize will be awarded to one participant whose book-themed creation tickles the Bacon Bits’ fancy in a hammin’ jammin’ way! Another prize will be awarded randomly to a hopper who comments on all the blogs along the way. The winners will be announced on the Hoedown blog, as well as on the Hambo company blog, Talk to the Ham, on Wednesday, February 1.

So I was chatting with my friend Leslie about what to make for the hop, and she mentioned this book - but she didn't own a stamp to make it happen. But woohoo, I did!! And she said I could borrow her book title. Can you guess what it is?


How about a closer look. There is real duct tape on the mouths of the "lambs"...


That's right - SILENCE OF THE LAMBS!! hee hee hee!! I used the Hambo Party Sheep, but masked out the party hat & noise maker when I stamped the image. Then I cut some teeny tiny pieces of duct tape to put over their mouths. Which I'll have you know was NOT easy. Turns out duct tape is super sticky. (That's your newsflash of the hop. HA!) I decided after the card was complete to add a little Liquid Applique to the sheep for fuzzy wool texture. Another thing about duct tape - it sorta shrinks and melts when you hit it with a heat gun. Who knew?? Oops.

For the card layout, I decided to play along with the CPS #252 sketch challenge. Thanks for the inspiration, CPS!


And just in case any of you are doubting me, I want to assure you that Silence of the Lambs really is a book. Not just a movie. The book is even better than the movie, if you can imagine! Ok I'm fibbing right now, I've never actually read the book. I just read that the book is fantastic. As was the movie. SUCH a great movie!!

I was the final stop on the blog hop today. I do recommend that you head back to the Hambo Stamps blog one more time, though, and let Monica know how much you enjoyed this hop! Because Monica is awesome, as are Hambo Stamps!

Until next time,

• Stamps: Party Sheep - 3202 from Hambo Stamps
• Paper: Stampin' Up cardstock, Echo Park patterned paper
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Other: Swiss Dots embossing folder (Cuttlebug), circle die (Spellbinders), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), ribbon (American Crafts), twine (American Crafts), Liquid Applique, duct tape