Time Well Spent

Finally took out the Time Well Spent stamp set that Stampin' Up sent as a gift to all demonstrators in December. The more cards I see made with this set the more I'm warming up to it. At first I didn't like it at all. This is a picture of my first card made with this set.

I really like the hardware from the Stampin' Up Hodgepodge Hardware kit. When these kits originally came out a couple of years ago I thought they were kind of expensive but once I ordered one and saw all of the hardware you get it's really a great value.

Adventures of Babysitting

Guess what I'm doing this weekend? Let me paint a picture for you -



You got it - I'm babysitting - for my 7 month old nephew. He's a such a cutie but boy I can sure tell I'm not as young as I used to me. For such a little fellow he's quite a bit of work. He's not too sure about his Uncle John and everytime I walk out of the room he starts crying like everything. If I walk back in he's fine. So he's sitting in his highchair watching Aunt G on the computer. In addition to eating, sleeping, crying, and wetting his diaper he loves to throw all his toys down and watch me pick them up. He's learning to make all kinds of noises - he's such a ham - he loves attention. I think his grandma has him spoiled. We took him out for breakfast this morning and he was so good.

Ribbon Storage

I knew there was a reason I just couldn't throw away those nice, heavy bags that my sheets, curtains and bath & body products came in. On one of the stamping groups I belong to Ellen Kemper shared one of the neatest ideas for organizing ribbon using these bags. Here is Ellen's post to the group:

I have been struggling with ribbon storage - and trying various methods to corral my ever growing stash - I want it organized and I want to be able to take it with me to crops/workshops etc

My upline bought a special gadget - a clear purse with holes in it to pull the ribbon through - great idea but $$$ - so I went home, dug out a heavy duty plastic bag that some sheets or curtains or something like that came it, punched holes all over it with my crop-a-dile, piled my ribbon it it, pulled just a couple of inches out through the holes, snapped it closed and so far - one week later it is working great - no tangles in the ribbon - super portable and all in one place.

So if you need new curtains- save the bag. Or if you need ribbon storage - go treat yourself to some new curtains!

I read Ellen's post in the early morning hours when I couldn't sleep and decided to give it a try. I'm not finished with mine but here's how it looks so far. This is such a cool idea - thanks for sharing Ellen. This project also gave me the opportunity to use my new Big Bite I just got about a week ago.

Fun & Fast Notes

I've been playing with my Copic markers working on perfecting my coloring skills but still have a very long way to go. This cute little hedgehog is from a new stamp set I just got, Fun & Fast Notes from Stampin' Up. The flowers were from the Family Accessories Stampin' Up stamp set. I added some teenie tiny dot sparklers from Stampendous to the centers of the flowers for an added touch. The polka dot cardstock is from the DCWV Nana's Kids collection. I bought one of the 4.5 x 6.5 packs which is perfect for making cards. The solid color cardstocks used on the cards are from Stampin' Up with the exception of the white which is from Papertrey Ink. I used the slit punch from Stampin' Up to make the scallops.

The purple card will go to my Mom whose birthday is next week and the other will go to my mother-in-law just to let her know she's in our thoughts.

Bugawumps

This is a cute little pullout card I made for my father-in-law. I try to send him a handmade greeting card every 2 or 3 days to help brighten his day. I finally used some of the Bugawumps stamp I bought at a stamping convention I attended a couple of years ago. I thought this line of stamps were so cute. I still struggle with my coloring skills but if persistence pays off I should one day get the hang of it.

Love & Happiness

I'm loving these new rub-ons from Stampin' Up and most of all you can get them for free! I've been making cards using the Love & Happiness rub-ons from the Stampin' Up Sale-a-bration catalog. You can get this package of rub-ons for FREE when you place a $50 order (before shipping & tax) from February 1 - March 17.

One thing I have discovered though is I'm having a really difficult time matching cardstock colors to some of these beautiful scrapbook papers that I've found great sales on at Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I've tried finding the perfect pink to match this very pretty paisley scrapbook paper I got at Hobby Lobby. None of my Stampin' Up or Bazzil cardstocks that I have on hand matches it that well. I'd always felt that the Designer Papers from Stampin' Up were a little pricey and I hated the thought of paying for double sided paper to use only the pattern on one side. Just recently I started purchasing some Designer Papers from Stampin' Up and I am absolutely thrilled with them. The colors coordinate perfectly with the Stampin' Up cardstocks and the quality of the paper is superb! After a recent visit to a scrapbook store and seeing their prices for scrapbook paper I've come to the decision that Stampin' Up's prices are about the same. I'm thinking I'm sold on the Designer Papers from Stampin' Up and will be ordering more real soon!

Here's the card I made today using the Love & Happiness rub-ons.

New Cards

Here are a couple of cards I made today. Isn't the little butterfly cute? He's from the Sale-a-bration rub-ons. I thought he added the perfect touch.