Inky Button - Ink Along With Me

Do you ever....?

Good Morning Sistahs!

It's Friday!  Woo Hoo!  It's also the last day of school for me before Spring Break.  I just have to make it through the day.  (I think I can...I think I can....I think I can...)

Every year the elementary school I work at has a big celebration called For the Love of the Arts.  Basically what it is, is our school community comes together and shares their love of art.  It is mostly parents and staff that share, but we get a wide variety of entries.  We have photography, wood working, musicians, poets, hair stylists, actors, singers, dancers, drummers, bakers, paper crafters, and everything in between.  For the past two years I have been asked to display some of my paper creations.  What a wonderful opportunity for me to share my love for paper crafting with my students!  

In years past I have only been able to display and talk about my art, but this year we used it as a fundraiser with 20% of all profits going back to the school.  Brilliant...especially since the money will be used to pay for my position at the school next year.  I of course have tons of cards just hanging around so I have plenty to put on display.  People started asking questions, and eventually folks started inquiring about the prices.

PRICES?!?  Um....they are PRICELESS...well, not priceless, but you know what I mean.  Many of the cards I had created with someone specific in mind, some were challenge cards, and some were nothing more than a labor of love.  As people perused the cards, seeking one to fit their needs, I felt myself getting anxious at the thought of letting them leave me.  Were they going to a good home?  Eventually I got over myself and just let things go, but for a minute, I seriously contemplated packing up and retreating to my stamp room with all my creations.

So with this sistahs, I ask you.....

Do you ever have a card that you just can't give away?

Whew...I got that off my chest.  Now, I can show you one of the cards I was commissioned to make last night.  We have a family here that just loves Hedgehogs, and it was certainly appropriate to use this very old, and very retired Stampin' Up! set.

 

I feel like it needs a little more, but sometimes...less is more.  (I'm probably going to do a more is more layout with this one soon.) *giggle.

Alright Sistahs, enough of my babble, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!  

Inky Hugs & Happy Stampin'

Three Days In A Row!

Good Morning Sistahs!

I am so excited that I actually have something to show you today.  Now, I only took one picture, but I think I'll try to post more a little later.  So today I went to meet friends to make cards and stamp my heart out.  I packed my car to the gills making sure I had every tool, ink pad, and scissor known to man, so I would be sure to be able to complete my task list.  And what did I do?!?!  Yep you guessed it, I forgot my stamps at home!  DOH!  I know!!  How does one forget their stamps?!?!  

So rather than drive all the way across the Earth to get home, I decided to finish a project I've had brewing in my mind for a few months now.  And surprisingly I didn't forget the photo CD at home.  *giggle  Now, before I show you this photo, I want you to read my disclaimer:

I do not scrapbook.  I only make cards.  I made this acrylic album for my very dear friend whom I love dearly.  I know that she will in no way judge me for what I do and do not do with these photos.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, here's a little peek at the album I worked on ALL DAY today.

I know you can't tell from this super simple layout how much work went into creating this project.  I made this album for the kids that I watched over the summer.  I put all our fun photos in this album and had fun reliving our summer together.  I actually finished all 12 pages.  (Well mostly finished it, there are just a few minor details to add.)

I am completely exhausted!  I don't know how you scrapbookers do it.  This was hard work!  I promised I'd have fabulous things to share, but because I have no brain cells left, I could only show you what I did with paper and pictures, and not what I did with ink and rubbah.  Please forgive me!  I hope to have my fabulous card posted for you tomorrow...or Thursday...or...well you get the idea.

Thanks again for stoppin' by to see what I came up with.

Happy Stampin'

I've committed myself!

Good Morning Sistahs, 

Yes, it's true, I've committed myself.  To the 29 Days of Gift Giving Challenge!  For those of you who know me, you know I love to put peace and love out into the world, because I am a firm believer that what you put out into the world comes back to you 10-fold.  So this is the perfect challenge for me.  It's not the giving that I'm going to find challenging, but the 29 consecutive days part that might be tricky.  I contemplated starting a separate blog for the challenge, but for right now, I think I'm going to keep it here.  There are so many things that I make, that just sit around waiting to be mailed, or given, or even stamped for that matter, that I feel that this will be a good sounding board.

My Stampin' Sistah Pheebs turned me onto the Challenge.  I was the lucky recipient of her first gift.  What was it you ask?  Why....rubbah of course.  She was so kind as to give me the Ronald McDonald set from the Fall/Winter Stampin' Up! Catalog.  When she told me about her 29 day challenge I knew I wanted to play along.

I signed up late Wednesday night, and decided my giving would officially begin on Thursday.  I went to sleep feeling all the excitement in the world, wondering what I was going to do for my first gift, and who was going to be my first recipient.  Thursday would surely be a great day!

DAY 1

So, I woke up Thursday morning and got ready for work.  As I was opening the garage door to go out to start my car, I was a little startled to see that there was a thick layer of ice on my car windshield.  This of course is never a good thing because I usually only leave myself enough time to get in the car and go, I didn't budget for some heavy-duty ice scraping.  So, I started the car so the defroster could do it's thing while I was trying to scrape my windows.  Well, my loving son, didn't want me to scrape so he grabbed the scraper from the back and started de-icing my windows.  Isn't he a doll?  Well, I was waiting, I realized my hubby was running a little behind too, and decided I would start his car for him, and scrape his windows so he wouldn't have to.  I ran into the house, grabbed the spare keys, started the car, and started scraping.  Not only were his windows nice and clear, but his car was nice and toasty too.  Only after I got into my own car did I realize that I had already given a gift for the day and it wasn't even 7:00 am.  Isn't that awesome?!?!  It was such a beautiful way to start my day!  I had such a super wonderful feeling that I carried with me all day.

Since I've decided to post my giving here, I would feel horrible if I didn't share some cards with you too.  So here is my card for the day:

The sentiment isn't as far to the right as I would have liked for it to have been, but I love it anyway.  Amy Rysavy's Friday Sketch challenge was to create a one layer card using any embellishments you wanted.  This is what I came up with.  Something nice and simple with not too much fuss.  Waddaya think? I think I'm going to have to mass produce these puppies. *wink

Thanks for listening to all my babble, and if you would like to join me on this new gift giving adventure, please do so!  I have a feeling that you'll begin to notice all the wonderful things you are putting into the world, and that your blessings will become more evident.

Happy Stampin' & Giving, 

Why do we Blurf?

Good Morning Sistahs!

Today is just a random day for me.  I've been busy working on some fun projects, but nothing I can share just yet.  So in the mean time, I'll post what I can, and share some random thoughts with you.  *wink

So I was talking with my BFF Dars, and I was asking why it's called Blurfing?!  I mean, I understand, Blog + Surfing = Blurfing.  But, to me it sounds like something a cat does when it's coughing up a hair ball, or the noises my dog makes when he's chasing rabbits in his sleep.  So with a little bit of thought, and a captive audience, I am beginning my movement of no longer Blurfing, and instead, I'd like to introduce to you: BLOPPING!  It sounds so happy, so jolly, so lively!  Let's BLOP!  Can you hear the song?  Let's BLOP again, like we did last summer!  Let's BLOP again, like we did last year.  Okay, I can admit it, I'm getting carried away.  *giggle  When I get home and I'm trying to catch up on all the blogs I LOVE, I don't say I'm going to surf on over to Nicole's Blog, I say," I'm gonna HOP on over and check out what's going on."  Whadda think?  Think it'll catch on?  

Okay, enough of my random thoughts, here's another card I made for Taylor's Challenge.  It's not my favorite, but it's not my least favorite so I thought I'd share it with you anyway.  

Can you tell which color combo is my favorite?  I'm such a sucker for the Aqua and Red these days.  Fear not, I'm sure Chocolate will be back in order soon.  

Thanks for reading my babble!  I hope you all have a fabulously fun Thursday.

Oh, and I've started something new, I can't wait to tell you all about it tomorrow!

Happy Stampin'

Wow! I'm so honored!

Good Morning Sistahs!

I am just bubbling over with happy wonderful feelings!  So many wonderful things to share that I just don't know where to start, but I'm going to give it the ol' college try. 

First...yesterday was the first day of school!  

It's always exciting to wake up on the first day of school.  We usually start off our year as pirates because in first grade we study islands.  But since this is an olympic year, we started off the year as Olympians.  We had a torch that was passed to each child in the classroom and we talked about striving for excellence.  We all were wearing headbands we decorated ourselves and had fun singing "Oh What A Beautiful Morning."  Ahhhh....the first day of school.

Second...I received an invitation to design cards for Scrapbook Destination's Make-N-Take Frenzies!!

How awesome is that?  I mean, to be asked to design cards for a local store is one of the biggest honors a girl can have.  I will design two cards each month, and they get to feature the Bellas.  (You know I'm in Bella Heaven!)  Seriously!  And it's really official because when I went in to fill out my paperwork, Mary Kay showed me the EK Success 3" Scallop punch!  I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  I haven't been able to play with it just yet because I had a test to study for, but believe me, this is going to be fun!  So all you local gals are going to have to come and play with me in September.

Third...I received honorable mention on Taylor's Blog for my Bottle Cap Halloween Card!!!

I had no idea how she was going to pick from all the fabulous cards everyone entered, but somehow mine made it as an honorable mention.  I am such a fan of Taylor's that I almost jumped out of my skin when I saw my name.  Wow!  Seriously...how sweet is that?  

So needless to say, I'm on cloud nine and can't wait until I have more time to stamp.  So many cards to make, so little time. I can't wait to see what next week brings!!

Thanks for sharin' in my joy Sistahs!!

Happy Stampin'

Look What I Got!

Good Morning Sistahs!

I have to tell you that my mother is the greatest mom on Earth.  I sent her the card I made a few weeks ago for her birthday, she took it into to work yesterday and now I have some orders for more cards!  Doesn't that rock?  I will have to admit, her card was mailed late because it was one of the ones I wanted to display at the Bella Ball.  So not only is she great, but incredibly understanding.  *wink

I want to say, "Hello!" to all the people from my mom's office that stop by to look at my cards.

I have also been honored to have received this award from Marie:

Isn't this the sweetest?  I am so honored to have received this.  The rules for this award say that I have to nominate 7 blogs and they nominate 7 blogs etc.  I will pass this on to 7 fabulous blogs, but don't want to put pressure on anyone else to nominate another 7.  Really I just want them to know that I appreciate the time they take to maintain their amazing blogs. So here are my nominees:

1. Emily

2. Taylor

3. Jan

4. Amy

5. Leanne

6. Tobi

7. Monika

Thanks Marie for your nomination, and I hope your move to CA goes smoothly.

PSA******

Jan of Stamps, Paper, Scissors is selling her Cuttlebug and her Sizzix.  Both inexpensively.  If you're interested, check out her blog quick!

More to come later because I'll be picking the winner of the "Button Challenge" later this evening.  Oh, and I'll be posting another challenge.  Sound good?

Happy Stampin'

Wanna Get Dirty?

Good Morning Sistahs!!

I have been super busy this weekend getting my hubby off to band camp, so I didn't get a chance to play with Taylor's Cupcake Challenge or do much of any other stamping either.  Grrrr!  Oh well, such is life right?  I'll be sure to play Friday this week.

Speaking of playing....

I hope you are all Fan Club members over at SCS because this week is *Dare to get Dirty* week, and  SCS is celebrating the anniversary of the first ever "Dirty Dozen" with all kinds of fun challenges.  Do you dare to get dirty?  Now, the thread to the challenges is visible by Fan Club Members only, so if you're not a member, quick...sign up now!  I absolutely love the challenges they give us, and I especially LOVE looking at all the creations they've made for it.  Everyday this week they post a different challenge at 9:00 am PST and ask us to play along!  I've already checked out today's challenges and I can hardly wait to get inky!  I might even use a button or two. *wink

If anyone out there decides to play along with the Dirty Dozen I'd love to see your creations!  So, if you post your links here, I'll pick a few of my favorites and send out some goodies!  Sound like a plan? 

Also, I'd like to mention that one of my all-time favorite stampers was selected this month to join the *Dirt Pile*.  If you get a chance, visit Emily Giovanni's Blog and congratulate her on this wonderful honor.  (Her site is also linked on my sidebar permanently under the title Stamping and Stuff.)  I love all her work and she's so fun to follow.

Okay, enough rambling for the day, get out there and stamp.  Then post your links so I can see all the fun things you've made.

I'm off to play with my stampin' buddy Cordie, I'll be home later to post my creations for the day.

Happy Stampin'