Swap Projects

RECIPES BELOW
This first card looks like it's Pink Passion, but it's actually Pixie Pink. I was inspired by the layout on pg. 145 of the 06-07 catalog, only I changed the colors to pastels instead of primary colors.

I love this next stamp set, Pick a Petal. It has so many different options! This image has a little to do with my photography experience with the rule of thirds. Many of you probably know, but for those that don't, pictures (or stamped images in this example) look more interesting if they are not in the dead center of the frame. One of my pet peeves is a photograph of a landscape and the horizon is stretched across the center of the picture, like its cutting it exactly in half. GRRRR! Anyone else hate that? Or am I the only one with a serious problem?

This next card was inspired by JanTink on SCS. Love the color combo of the new "IN Colors".


I was challenged when I decided I wanted to make this flower card with the "grass" fringe on the bottom. I challenged myself to use the Groovy Guava because I actually don't care too much for that color out of all of the new colors, but I put it with Always Amethyst and Certainly Celery, and guess what?? I really like it now!


I like to peruse Nichole Heady's blog even though I don't use Papertrey's stamps, but I love her style. I found this little box she made quite a while ago and I always wanted to try it. One of our swaps was a non-card swap and I decided to make these little boxes for everyone. You can find the directions here. I used River Rock and Basic black and also made a simple band instead of tying it with ribbon.


Recipes:

Card #1
Stamps: Three for you Punch Box
Paper: Pixie Pink, Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Groovy Guava, Apricot Appeal, Bashful Blue
Accessories: White Grosgrain, Word Window Punch, 1/16 punch, 3/4" square punch.

Card #2
Stamps: Pick A Petal, Warm Words
Paper: Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Lg & Sm oval punches, brads, Crystal effects, Dazzling Diamonds

Card #3
Stamps: In The Spotlight, Happy Everything
Paper: Blue Bayou, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White
Accessories: Black Gingham ribbon

Card #4
Stamps: In the Spotlight
Paper: Groovy Guava, Certainly Celery, Almost amethyst, Whisper White
Accessories: 1/2" circle punch, brads

Boxes:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Paper: River Rock, Basic Black
Accessories: Brads

Just Stuff

Bon Voyage!
We'll be leaving for vacation starting tomorrow (without a child!!) and coming back Wednesday. I just finished my swap cards for the new catalog, and I'll post pictures next week when I get back.

Is that what I think it is?
Yesterday as I was relaxing, I felt a fluttering in my stomach, and I thought maybe it was the baby, but just kind of ignored it because I'm still pretty early to feel that. But today I am feeling it more and more! It's such an experience to feel my baby move for the first time! What a gift!

Three Weeks With My Brother
I just finished this book last night. Since it is a completely different type of book Nicholas Sparks has written, I didn't know what to expect. To be honest, I thought I would read the first page and take it back to the library. I actually enjoyed the book. I thought the plot would be just about their trip together, but there was more. He reflected back to his childhood up until the time they left for the three week journey. I thought it was really interesting reading about his life and get a glimpse of how he lives. But what I really got out of it was not to take anybody in your family for granted, because anytime you see or talk to someone, it could be the last time. It's sad to think about, but very true.


Have a great weekend!

UPDATE

For those who read the post below...My dad is home now and is doing fine. The colonoscopy went good. They found an inflamation nearby where the biopsy was done and they fixed that, so all is well.

Thank you for your thoughts & prayers. Have a good evening! I'm off now to see "Knocked UP" Kind of appropriate for me right now :) I heard its pretty funny!

Positive Thoughts & Prayer

Its been an interesting couple of weeks as far as the health of family goes. First, we hear that my dad has to have a biopsy done, then the same week my husband's grandmother had to go to the ER for chest pains. She's feeling fine now, just has to go in for more appointments to see what the cause of the pain was. Back to my dad...His biopsy came back negative last Friday and we found ourselves praising God for the great news! But something happened yesterday that is a bit of a mystery. He had to go by ambulance to the ER. And let me tell you, I HATE those kinds of surprise phone calls early in the morning. He spent the night and today he's having a colonoscopy done. I have no idea what they'll find, hoping its something minor. See, my dad had a major heart attack 2 years ago-almost to date, and miraculously recovered and has been following doctors orders and eating healthier than many people I know. It just seems like it shouldn't be happening to him, almost surreal. But I know I need to keep thinking positive and trust God on this one. If you're reading this, please say a little prayer for him. Its amazing the power of prayer!

Please also say a prayer for Kat's Sister, Karen who was diagnosed with Breast Cancer last week. Kat is a demonstrator friend of mine and has answered many questions and supported me on my blog work. She is also asking for people to send her sister homemade cards to lift her spirits in this trying time. You can find that information on Kat's Blog

Have a great day, thanks for stopping by~Sara

Baby Cards

SO...Obviously I'm in a baby mood! Plus I wanted to make something with my new stuff. Isn't this little zebra so cute, and the monkey below? I just love the little zoofari animals! I was inspired by the ribbon on this card, and used all of those colors. They look pretty together and adding the Close to cocoa really makes it pop.

Recipe:
Stamps: Zoofari, Warm Words, Everyday Flexible Phrases
Paper: Ballet Blue, Sage Shadow, Bashful Blue, Close to Cocoa, Watercolor paper
Ink: Stazon, Close To Cocoa, watercolor crayons
Accessories: Ribbon Originals, buttons, Slit punch for scallops.



This was the 2nd card I made today, and I thought the first one was perfect for a boy, I'll make a girly card. This is so soft and girly with the flower and soft scallops. I used markers on the striped stamp from background samplers (I saw Laurenm use that idea once).
I was teased when pregnant with my first baby. Coworkers told me I had a monkey in my tummy because I ate at least 2 bananas a day. I don't know what I'll be eating a lot of this time, I really haven't had a lot of cravings yet.

Recipe:
Stamps: Zoofari, background samplers, label classics, dotted background
Ink: Blush Blossom, soft sky, barely banana
Paper: Blush Blossom, Soft Sky, barely banana, whisper white
Accessories: corner rounder for scallops, daisy punch, blue gingham ribbon, word window punch, brads.


Thanks for looking today, Have a great Monday!!

Expecting Something??

Yes, I am! Well, most of our family knows now and I guess its okay to tell the world now that I am pregnant with baby #2! Due right around Christmas, too. (about 13-14 weeks) Just wanted to make the holiday season a little more interesting, (or chaotic, stressful, tiresome, exciting) plug in your own adjective. Either way, (as somebody from my husband's family said yesterday) it will be the best Christmas present we'll ever have.
I'm pretty excited about being pregnant this time. With Cassie, I was scared to death with anything, especially delivery. And I ended up having a c-section anyway, (unplanned) so I missed out on being able to deliver her myself. Which, in a way was a relief, but I was scared to have the c-section when I wasn't expecting it. The 2 1/2 months following the surgery were very painful and that's something I would rather not go through again. If possible and if everything goes well, I'll try vbac.
As far as finding out, I would like to, Nate thinks otherwise. He wants a surprise, but I feel I need to be prepared this time, even though it really doesn't matter what we have. I ask Cassidy if she wants a baby brother or sister, she always answers "SISTER!" She'll be a little over 3 and I think she will be a good helper and a great sister.
That's my baby in the ultrasound picture above. Normally, the hospital I go to does not do any ultrasounds other than the 20 week, but when I went to my first appointment at about 10 weeks, the doctor said that I feel (uterus) like I should be about 12-15 weeks. Huh. I was sure my dates were right and everything was like normal, what the heck? Anyway, she said we'll schedule an ultrasound to measure the baby and see what they find out. She also said that we can't rule out the possibility of twins. Twins??? Ha! I laughed at her right then! She said its really not that uncommon-about 1 in 100. Needless to say I was a little nervous until the ultrasound only showed 1 baby. THANK GOD.
So until Christmas, I'll be Happy Nesting!

New Stuff!

My order arrived!!


With this card, I was subconsciously inspired by Audra on SCS. On my card I stamped the background with the flourishes, but it didn't show in the picture well. I actually stamped off once to make it a softer background. I really like the River Rock and Purely Pomegranate colors together. Such an elegant pair. Just a simple card here, just wanted to get something made!

Recipe:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs
Paper: Purely Pomegranate, River Rock, Very Vanilla
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, River Rock
Accessories: Celery Organdy Ribbon



This was the first card I made with the new stuff. Although I'm not too crazy about the way it turned out, the colors are fun anyway.

Recipe:
Stamps: 3 for You Punch Box
Paper: Whisper White, Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi
Accessories: White Organdy Ribbon, Slit Punch



I had to do a little test to see how close some of these colors are to our current colors. I think a couple are very close-for instance: Purely Pomegranate & Rose Red, and Blue Bayou & Not Quite Navy. I really can't tell too much difference except the Rose Red and Blue Bayou are a *tad* lighter than the others. All in all, They are all great colors and my favorite is Purely Pomegranate & Wild Wasabi. I haven't played too much with the others, but I'm sure I'll fall for them sooner or later.

SO EXCITED!!

I am a BIG fan of Nicholas Sparks and it's only been about a year since I discovered his books. (yeah, I don't know where I've been.) I started with "The Notebook" and decided I should read in order of when the books were written. I think I'm 8 books along now. I always go to his website after I get done reading any of his books and learn the background and his personal notes about the particular book. Well...I recently finished "The Wedding" and went to the website and found this:

"Production of the feature film version of Nights in Rodanthe began on May 9, in South Carolina. Richard Gere and Diane Lane will star in the movie, which is being directed by George C. Wolfe
30 May 2007"

I literally jumped out of my chair, I was so excited!! I love the books & I also love the movies that have been made: The Notebook, Message in a Bottle, A Walk to Remember. And next year Nights in Rodanthe will be added! Starring the dreamy Richard Gere! I'll be impatiently waiting for next spring :)

Waiting for new stuff!

I'm killing time at my computer today waiting for my new preorder stuff to arrive (should be this afternoon!). I don't usually spend this much time on the internet, but seriously, once you start watching videos on youtube or metacafe, its very hard to get away! Here's a favorite I found that I wanted to share with you today:


Funny Dutch Commercial - Click here for the most popular videos




OMG~Too dang funny! That poor guy! I'll be back after playing with new stamps!

Color Challenge

It's been a while since I've posted, and I kept thinking I need to do some stamping.
Do you realize how much of a withdrawal you can go through if you don't stamp for over a week? I guess I've been busy enough I didn't really realize it until today, and I'm sure it will not get much better for the rest of the summer. I should stop there, because I am willing to bet you money I'll be living in my stamp room when my new PREVIEW stuff comes! I didn't order as much as I normally would because I'm still saving for the big catalog! There might be something that I like even better in there, I'm sure! Here's what I ordered: 3 for You punch box, Baroque Motifs, Pick a Petal, On Board blossoms, Zoofari, and all of the new In Color Ink Pads & Paper. I was tempted to order the bling brads, and sentiment sets, but I just didn't want to waste any money right now. Like I said, I'm just waiting for something I might like better:)
So anyway, this card I made today was a color challenge on Dapple Designs Blog. I found her blog on Stampin' When I Can. This was just the challenge I needed, nothing too hard, just right. This challenge was to use Close to Cocoa, Mellow Moss, and Apricot Appeal. This sunflower set is a good 2-step stamping set. I really like that you keep layering the colors and it makes the image look like it has a lot of depth. I did a little technique on these sunflowers called "Rock-n-Roll". I took the first petal stamp (large) and inked it in Apricot, and just rolled the edges in cocoa. I think it looks like the petals drying out. I also made this card 5 1/4 X 5 1/4". The ribbon was frayed at the ends and I did a lot of sponging. Thanks for visiting! BTW~Thanks to everyone who left their super kind comments for me! I really appreciate it!

Recipe:
Stamps: Serene Sunflower, Warm Words, Weathered Background
Paper: Close To Cocoa, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla
Ink: Close To Cocoa, Mellow Moss, Apricot Appeal
Accessories: Small & Large Oval Punches
Techniques: Sponging, Frayed Ribbon