New Blog!!

Hello friends!!  It's been almost a couple of months since I've posted here, but I wanted to be sure to let you know about a couple of things and introduce to you my new website!

Many of you may or may not know that I have been an "on and off" Stampin' Up! demonstrator since January of 2000.  I have always loved and continued to use their products because it's something that I started out with stamping and it's pretty much the "staple" for me when it comes to choosing colors and many tools as well as sentiments and punches!  Since I've never really seemed to "out-grow" Stampin' Up!  I've decided to embrace that part of me and let it continue to motivate my stamping and my passion for sharing with others...which as you all know this is something I really love to do! :)  So I've decided to start very fresh with it once again and I've created a new website that I will be posting on a regular basis.

I would LOVE it if you'd join me over here:

www.stampsmiles.com

I will be sharing mainly Stampin' Up!, but may throw in an occasional "something else".  I am also in the process of creating a special page of items/stamps from various different companies including retired Stampin' Up! products for sell at a great price if you're interested in seeing what I put up for sell.  I do not have much up now, but I will be putting up MANY more items as I get to it.

(My son is getting ready to graduate, so my calendar is full of those things right now, but I will be getting to posting many items as soon as I can this Summer.)

BLOG CANDY GIVE AWAY EVERY MONTH!!

Starting in June, in promoting my new website...I would like to get you and your friends over to visit my website and promote it by giving away some special blog candy every month (starting in June) until the end of the year!!  Doesn't that sound like fun?!!

So if you're following me here now, I'm sorry, but I won't be posting on this blog any longer.  I will, however, leave it up so that you can enjoy my older postings and tutorials, but for current and regular postings, please follow me on my new blog!  I'd love to have you stop by and share a smile with me!  :)

Take care friends and thanks for your continued support!  It means so much!

Pastel Pretties at Elphine House Australia!

Hello my crafty friends!  Hope you've all had a lovely day so far!

It's time for another fun challenge over on the

  Elphine House Australia Challenge Blog!

We have an awesome color challenge for you to try out...

Pastel Pretties  

We'd like to see your creations made with those pretty pastel colors that are inspired by this time of year with Easter and Spring!!  So get out those soft pretty pastels to come play along with us!

*remember you must use any Elisabeth Bell image to play along...shouldn't be too hard to find one!  The only problem I have is figuring out which one to use! LOL!!*

So here's what I came up with for the challenge:

Perhaps some of you may already know that I just LOVE pastel colors...especially the purple hues like the soft purple lavender color!!  So of course I had no problem with this challenge! :)

I found some fun pastel Easter papers in my stash that I had been saving for some scrap-booking, but pulled them out to use a piece for this card.

And the very SWEET image that I used here from Elphine House Australia is called Carrie on Trike.  So be sure to hop on over to the store and check out all of these really sweet stamps designed by Elisabeth Bell!  They are all so very cute!! :)

I have colored her in with my Copic markers being careful to try and use the softer tones for the pastel color look.  I've also made some clouds in the background as well as adding some soft colorful flowers for accents.  Parts of the trike was colored with my silver glitter pen and I've added a silver corner accent to the image.  I found this really awesome sketch design in a magazine I was reading and thought I would use for my inspiration in making this card.  I don't always use buttons so much, but the layout made it easy to add them to my card design.  I had fun with this design and I hope you have enjoyed it as well.

I think it looks like she just got a brand new trike for Easter, don't you?!

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On another note, I'd like to add that this will be my last posting as an Elphine House Australia design team member.  I have to say that although I've only been on this team for a short time, Helen and the design team have made me feel apart of the family immediately.  Such a wonderful company to design for and I will be missing this all so much!  I wanted to thank each one of them for their support and kindness....it really means so much to me.  I wish them all the very best.

And a huge thank you to each one of YOU for your kind words and encouragement!  I will be taking a blogging break for now due to life just getting in the way and me not being able to have the time to do the things that I really enjoy doing.  And don't worry, I'm fine...so please don't be concerned, but I wanted to be sure to let you know so that you don't go "searching" for me and wonder what happened! LOL!

I will be missing you all so much and wish nothing to you but

BIG HUGS AND SMILES!!! :)

Let's Party Reminder!!!!

Hello friends!!!  Wow! Can you believe that April is here!?!

I think it makes me want to party a bit...how about you?!

Nothing says PARTY like these adorable House Mouse critters....

Now doesn't this look like a party that you'd like to go to?!!  What could be better than cake and ice cream with your friends... including your "feathered friends"!! LOL!!

I was trying to think of something good for this challenge theme and came across this really adorable House Mouse stamp called none other than PARTY!! (Click on the name to take you to the stamp at the official House-Mouse Stamps store.)  The oval sentiment on the creation comes from a Stampin' Up! stamp set called "Afterthoughts".

The papers I've used are Basic Grey which seemed to match up with the Perfect Plum card stock and button that I've added to my layout.  I found this fun chipboard arrow in my stash and added to the sentiment.  The knife the meece is holding along with the spoon in the ice cream container are colored with my glitter pen which gives it that shimmer.  I topped the cupcake with some glitter.  I thought this image was going to be such a pain to color, but I actually really enjoyed doing it!  I just love all of the streamers and confetti hanging down!

So, if you'd like to see even more PARTY INSPIRATION, then please CLICK HERE to see the gorgeous creations that my fellow sister meeces have made to inspire you and remind you to enter our "Let's Have a Party" challenge!!  They are such a creative bunch for sure!! :)

If you'd like to go directly to the challenge post and enter your card, PLEASE CLICK HERE to get there and have a look!!  We'd love to see what you come up with as we really enjoying seeing your lovely House Mouse pretties!!  *Don't forget to use the special key words HMFMC116 when entering your creation in any on-line gallery so we can better find what you made!!*

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- On another note, I'd like to let you know that this will be my last creation for the House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge Blog as a design team member.  I deeply regret that I cannot continue as I thought I'd be able to and I'd like to thank each and everyone of my fellow sister meeces for their continued support and kindness with everything!  You are all a blessing to know!!  Sometimes life just gets in the way and we can't always do the things that we'd like to do, but it was so much fun while it's lasted!

BIGGEST HUGS and SMILES to you all!! -

Thanks so much for stopping by friends!!  I enjoy sharing with you!! :)

April Showers with Christmas Power!!

Hello friends!!!  I have a special creation to share with you today on the

Belles n' Whistles Inspirational Blog...

So please click on the link to be taken to the blog post to see the FULL card!!

I hope you enjoy a little Christmas with your April Showers!! :)

I also have an announcement to make that this will be my last posting as a Belles n' Whistles design team member.  I've had SO MUCH fun with these images and will truly miss the friendships I've made with these wonderful people!  Wishing each and every one of them the best, but sometimes life just gets in the way and we aren't able to do the things we'd like to.

Don't go away just yet....I will have another post to share with you later this morning!! :)

Thanks for checking in!! HUGS

Just Magnolia Diamond Fold

Hello friends and it's Friday already!! YAY!!

I'm ready for a great weekend with my family...we have lots to do!!

Today starts another challenge at the 

Just Magnolia and hAnglar & sTanglar Challenge Blog!!

Our lovely hostess Anne would like to see "MORE than one fold"!

I decided to try out something new this time that I've never done before...

This is called the Diamond Fold card and you can find the complete instructions on how to make one yourself following the tutorial I found HERE on Splitcoast Stampers.  I really had so much fun making this one and it's alot easier to make than what it appears...trust me! :)

This is what the view of my creation looks like when you untie the ribbon and open up the card a bit.  It has lots of dimension to it and expands out to 12 inches long.  I added the doily on the inside edges along with the flowers.  The back scalloped die cut square was cut in half so you can open up card.

And here's the same photo that you will see on the Just Magnolia Challenge Blog.

This is what the Diamond Fold Card looks like when it is closed up and the ribbon is tied around the card to hold it all in place.  The folded/closed up card measures 4 inches square...so it would easily fit into an envelope....the surprise is when someone opens it! :)

I've colored this adorable Ponytail Tilda with Copics and carefully cut her out and mounted her on top of the die cut circles over top of the diamond shape center.  The scallops on the circle have liquid pearls and I've also added a "friendship" tag to the top right of the card which you can fully see when you open up the card.

And here's another view of the creation from a different angle so that you can see how the diamond center sort of "springs up" a bit.  I think it gives your creation some great dimension!

So if you are looking for a different "fold" design with more than one fold, I recommend you try one of these out!  They're so much fun! :)

Here are some other challenges I'd like to enter this for:

addicted to stamps - recipe: rhinestone, flowers & ribbon

Secret Crafter Saturday - Doilies aren't just for cakes

Everybody Art - Friendship

Creative Inspiration - anything goes

Cute Card Thursday - anything goes

Hope you've enjoyed my creation today and please be sure to stop by the Just Magnolia Challenge Blog to see full details of this challenge and please check out the awesome talent from the rest of my fellow teamies!! I know they have some wonderful eye candy to share!!

That's it for me today!!  I wish you all a very wonderful weekend!!

Thanks so much for stopping by friends!! I appreciate it!! HUGS

Spring Showers/May Flowers at Elphine House!!

Good Evening to you all on the first day of Spring!!

It's so weird the way my creations are posting along with the weather!

(Please scroll down to see my first posting today if you've missed it.)

This morning the weather was so sunny, warm and breezy...perfect for Spring.  This evening the weather is calling for some severe thunder storms!!  I think our Spring really came in like a lamb for sure!  It's already been such lovely weather for the last couple of weeks!

So anyhoo....I have a creation to share with you as it is also the brand new challenge for the

Elphine House Australia Challenge Blog!!!

The theme is none other than "Spring Showers bring May Flowers!"

So you have your choice of making a flower or shower theme this time...hope you'll join us!

Here's what I came up for the challenge:

LOL!!  I had so much fun with the new stamp called Tommy Splashing Puddle from The Elphine House Australia!  Tommy has all that special cuteness that all Elisabeth Bell images have for sure!  He was so much fun to color!  I thought it wouldn't be complete without adding a bit of sparkle to the puddle!  It's hard to see in the photo, but I've added some glaze over his boots and the little froggie jumping away.  LOL!

I've got a fun template for scrap booking that had these raindrops and so I cut them out, sponged the edges in white ink and added them to my layout.  The sentiment and raindrops stamped on the image panel are from a stamp set by Flourishes.  The bottom sentiment is from a Gina K. stamp set.

Here are a few other challenges I wanted to enter:

Sunday Sketch & Stamp - sketch

Crafty Catz - red, white & blue

Totally Gorjuss - Spring

allsorts - 3 in a row

Stampin' Sisters in Christ - related to the new Season

Creative Stamp Friends - Spring

Stamps & Fun = Creativity - Spring

So that's it for me today friends!  Hope you've enjoyed my Spring Shower creation and that you hop right on over to the Elphine House Challenge Blog to see what my talented teamies have come up for this theme!!  If you play along with us, you have a chance at winning your choice of TWO stamps....that right there is totally worth playing along for!!  We can't wait to see what you come up with! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and your comments really make my day!!

Strawberry Stitches

Hello friends!!!  It's a really happy day today because....

IT'S OFFICIALLY THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING!!! YAY!!!!

You know what I love about Spring-time?  I love the flowers, the green grass and the yummy fruits in May and June like STRAWBERRIES!!  So yummy!!!

I'm so in the mood for Strawberry Shortcake, sitting outside and enjoying the sun!  OK...but before I do that, I'd like to share a special creation I made for some challenges going on:

When I saw Elisabeth Bell come out with this darling Curly Locks Kiki digital image, I just KNEW I had to get it!! :)  A few years back in the day, I enjoyed doing some cross-stitching and it reminds me of this!

And you would've thought that I'd pull out some of my cross-stitch fabric and thread and create a nice little piece with this image, right?  Well, that WAS my intention, however...time gets in the way of all of us and so I just settled for some good 'ol faux stitches!!  I sure had fun with this one anyway!!

I saw the lovely bowl of strawberries in the image and thought I'd base my color scheme and theme around that!  I thought it worked out really nice with my strawberry papers and charm!  After I was finished, I decided to spray the whole card with some vanilla smooch spritz.  You can see the bit of shimmer...

So...I thought I'd play along in some of these challenges before they end!

Elisabeth Bell's World - stitches and swirls

DigiBells Blog Hop - Flowers

Sweet Sketch Wednesday - yummy sketch

4 Crafty Chicks - Chicks rule

Paper Play - BINGO (Stamping, Stitching, Inks/Ink pads)

Papertake Weekly - BINGO (Die Cuts, free spot, glitter - I used glitter pen & spritz)

Hope you enjoyed my creation for you this morning!  I do have another post that will be coming up this evening to share a new challenge with you...so I hope you will come back again for that!!

Enjoy your very first day of Spring my friends!!! HUGS