Sweet Stamp Shop: guest designer.

I adore Sweet Stamp Shop stamps and was thrilled when I was asked to do a guest design post! Here is a link to the post.

 I worked with the It's Raining stamp and made a tag with some of the Pink Paislee Portfolio line.

Then I also made a few cards. This stamp really made me want to use my cloud papers.

 Can't say thanks enough to Nicole for this opportunity! It was fun:)

celebrate card

I'm running low on Your Memories Here supplies & I'm waiting on an order to arrive. Hopefully this week!

In the mean time, I rounded up a few supplies I have left to make this card. I was inspired by the challenge at Paper Smooches this week. This was the inspiration photo: 

Paper Smooches

 & here is my card:

I used Paper Smooches sentiment sampler for the sentiment. 

The papers are from Pink Paislee Nantucket & Cosmo Cricket Hey Sugar. Also from the store, I grabbed sun sisters Glimmer Mist & spritzed the yellow cardstock background (it didn't photograph well). I stamped with Tim Holtz walnut stain distress ink. My little banner tag that I cut is popped up with a Zapdot  in the 1/2 inch size.


Not from the store: Studio Calico label, American Crafts decorative tape, & Sassafras entwined blooms.  

A close up shot of the stamping & layering:

Gelatins intro post!

is up on their blog :)

hey there [card].

I made a card tonight inspired by the Paper Smooches challenge. This photo is so pretty - I really liked the yellow/coral & the blue chevron. 

I used this sketch as well. 

I know this photo isn't the greatest; I just snapped it with my iphone.

The labels are from Crate Paper (paper heart collection) & the doilies are Maya Road (kraft doilies).  The stamp is from Paper Smooches sentiment sampler stamp set.

thankful [right now].

Two posts today! I also have a layout to share. 

Inspired by the challenge here  to create a layout showing what you are thankful for. I jotted down a list earlier this month of 30 things (for 30 days) that I'm thankful for. Then I used my typewriter & typed it out on to some strips of paper. My typewriter is a few years old & even though I just bought new ribbon for it it is still having some issues.

I also scraplifted Lindsey's layout, which you can see here.

Everything is from the everyday Eclectic collection by Echo Park except the white transparent doily that I added in. I snapped this photo with my NEW iphone5 (!) on my way to my mom's for Thanksgiving earlier this week. I really loved it so I grabbed it off Instagram to scrap it :)

be you card.

I made a card today based on a sketch I found here. 

Papers are from Crate Paper, decorative tape by Pink Paislee, stamps from Unity Feb 2011 kit of the month. 

I'm also linking up here.

volunteering.

I've been volunteering with our local humane society for just over a year now. When I first met with the volunteer coordinator, I wanted to work with the dogs (they ask you to choose dogs or cats so you can be dedicated to one area). However, she also needed someone to go to PetCo on Thursday mornings to take care of the cats there. 

There are four cages that Petco allows the shelter to keep at the store and the shelter does adoptions from Petco. It's a great way to get more interest for the humane society and specifically for the cats that are there that week (or sometimes several weeks). So every Thursday morning I go feed & water the kitties & empty their litter boxes & play with them a little bit. I usually take photos of them with my phone & share them on Facebook or Twitter. I thought it was time to include some of the kitties in my scrapbook :)

I actually did a double page layout, which I very rarely ever do. I used Cosmo Cricket for my background and accent papers. The grey cardstock is Tim Holtz kraft core & I used a border punch with it. I accented with the Winsor rub ons by SEI and center kisses by Prima (which must be sold out because I can't find them in the store anymore). Here is a link to the ribbon I used. It can be dyed or misted but I just used it plain on this page. Some of the accents were popped off the page with the 1/2 inch Zapdots & my adhesive was the Helmar tape runner (as usual).

Other embellishments are some of Amy Tangerine die cut shapes, ephemera from Pink Paislee Portfolio & the stamps are from the Unity Feb 2011 kit of the month.

well, that was a surprise!

Just found out my layout was a winner over at Scrapbook Circle! 

 How fun!

giving thanks [card].

I found some cards that are approximately 4x9 inches & thought I'd experiment with those this week. I pulled out my Cosmo Cricket Hey Sugar papers, which I used on this layout. I'm a big fan of the colors in this collection although they didn't photograph particularly well. It's getting dark so soon that I didn't have much light to work with!

 I used several punches & layers. On top of that I added a punched circle, a piece of a banner (Maya Road love chipboard banner) covered in American Crafts decorative tape, & a London Market chipboard button by Pink Paislee that's coated with pink lady Glimmer Glaze. It's so pretty - pink & silver! I used some of the Helmar zap dots for added dimension.

a close up shot of the dimension

a close up shot of the stamping

 The stamp set is Unity Simple Blessings & I used Tim Holtz walnut stain distress ink. I just like the rich brown. Thanks for joining me this week!

news!

From their Facebook site: 

Its always so hard choosing a new design team, as there is sooo many talented stampers out there!!! 

We are proud to announce our newest gel-a-tinas: 
Dawn Mercedes Barrett 
Susie Cannon Moore 
Ashley Hamm
Jessica Pascerella 
Taheerah Atchia 
Sharon Callis 
Tanya Privalova 
Kate Nolan-Denham 

congrats ladies! Can't wait to show off your talent with our products!!

the night I met Gary Allan...

I lovelovelovelove Gary. Love him. Thursday night is the 8th time I've seen him (since 2008) & we already had tickets to see him next month in Chicago (#9!) 

A local radio station had a contest for their Up Close concert series. You could win tickets to see Gary in their studio. I entered online daily like five days in a row. One night I got an email saying I won tickets. I kind of wondered if it was spam but it said I'd be emailed more details October 31. So I waited...

& October 31 I woke up & checked my email & sure enough I had won tickets!

via Instagram

I could not even believe it! 

So Thursday night came & I didn't get chosen for the meet & greet (I was #166. They called #156 & #176) but I was just glad to be there. Except that he only sang five songs. His new one was one of them.

It ended all too soon & we thought we'd walk around to the alley & catch him getting into his bus to leave. Well there was a parking garage that required a passcode - no alley. We decided to head around the block toward PF Changs. When we turned the corner there was a public parking garage & we were sure we could get through to where his bus was. We were sure the two garages were connected. We headed around the wall to start up the sidewalk toward the garage & as we rounded the corner, there was his bus!

 Long story short - he came out!

I want to kiss his face!

I did not expect to be able to take a photo with him or talk to him - I thought he would be in a hurry & jump into the bus. Fortunately for us, he headed toward us! There was one other boy there who got an autograph & a photo. I can hardly remember what happened - I was so shocked that this was really happening! He shook my hand & I just said, "ooohmyyygoddddd!" like a total fan crazy little girl. So embarrassing. He put his arm around me & I put my arm around him & we smiled... & TJ couldn't work the camera. So he gave it to me & I zoomed it out & handed it back & Gary told him to hold the button down. Gary put his arm back around me & I put my arm back around him & knocked his drink out of his hand. #fail He said, "That's ok. It didn't get me." So embarrassing again. So then TJ had his photo taken with him & we said thank you & walked away...

& when I got around the corner I started jumping up & down. Then I remembered I had one of his CDs in my purse that I wanted to get autographed. But I was too embarrassed to go back.

Hoping to get a 2nd chance in Chicago next month! #fingerscrossed 

enjoy today.

When I was in fifth or sixth grade we took a field trip to Wolf Park. I remember it as being a really fun time - I always love zoos and anything to do with animals. I had been telling TJ I thought his nephews would enjoy going & one evening this summer we had a chance to go. 

 I didn't take this photo - we bought a few in the gift shop for the boys & this was one of them. The photos I took were through the fence & kind of far away. Anyway, we arrived a little late & the question/answer session had already started. We learned a lot from the speaker & then she & another lady interacted with the wolves. The cool part, especially for the boys, was hearing the wolves howl. Once they got started, all the wolves in the park joined in & it was really neat to hear.

Based on this challenge & this color challenge.
I used ephemera from Pink Paislee Portfolio, a label sticker from MME, & some die cut cardstock shapes from Amy Tangerine. Papers are Echo Park rose garden (green)& Lily Bee Design double dutch lemonade (yellow). The woodgrain paper is MME.

Thanksgiving tags

 I decided to try something different this week. I wanted to work on a smaller scale so I made a couple of tags with a Thanksgiving theme.

I used the Mistable die cut tags by Pink Paislee & I misted them with Glimmer Mist in sun sisters. The cardstock is all from the Tim Holtz kraft core collection. I inked the edges of both tags with Tim Holtz distress ink in walnut stain.

Here's a close up of the misting:

other supplies: 
button: Crate Paper 
white ink: pigment ink by JoAnn craft essentials 
orange label sticker: Studio Calico 
decorative tapes: Pink Paislee; American Crafts
scallop punch: Fiskars stamps: "so grateful" Unity June 2010 kit of the month Fly Free; "give thanks for all things" & "leaf" Unity August 2010 Harvest of Memories 

happy adventure.

SC Daydream Believer

 Based on this blog post from back when we were preparing to foster. We never imagined it would lead to adopting Bentley!

Also used this challenge at City Crafter. The papers are all from Studio Calico Daydream Believer kit & the embellishments are all from the Pink Paislee Portfolio line.

sweet.

Happy November! I can't believe this year is almost over!

I've got a layout to share for Your Memories Here. This photo was from LAST summer but I'm trying to finish up my 2011 photos. 

My background is Mistble Pink Paislee sheet coated with Ranger Distress Ink in walnut stain & crushed olive. Most of the papers & embellishments are from Pink Paislee Portfolio collection. I used my Helmar tape runner to attach everything.

This layout is based on a sketch I found HERE.