Way to Go Wednesday

In my ever striving attempt to organize my life, I have decided to add some weekly features. So far you may have noticed I have Jacksonbelle Tuesdays when I post my challenge card for the JBE Design Team. Today I decided to share some back patting for family and friends (both blogging and local) on accomplishments they have achieved over the week. Now if you note, I stated that I was "striving" to organize my life. I certainly have not even come close to meeting my goal, so if by some chance my scattered brain forgets to show someone the love, please do not take it personal! Just chalk it up to the fact Rachel has probably covered the living room with 10lbs of flour (again), my Girl Scout troop has a big event coming up, Mary Elizabeth just can't "get" something we are learning in homeschool and one of the gerbils has escaped!

This week has been a most awesome week for Good News:

My blogging friend Cheryl of Engineered Expressions returned from a family vacation in Jamaica to find out she had been invited to join The Paper Elements Design team AND found out that after submitting 6 of her scrapbooking layouts for publication to Scrapbooking.com magazine, they had accepted ALL 6 which will appear in their July publication! Please stop buy Cheryl's blog and check out all of her fabulous scrapbook layouts (and photos of her adorable little girl.) You will be so pleased that you did! A sideline about Cheryl- she can whip out incredible 12 x 12 layouts in the time it takes me to make a card!

Fellow Design Team members from Jacksonbelle Embellishments have a fruitful couple of weeks. Both Erin and Maren received news that they would have projects published in the October edition of Cards and Amber was invited to be the newest member of the fabulous Verve Visual Design Team! A great big Wahoo to all of you ladies!

Finally, I would like to introduce everyone to one of my BFF, Dianne. While Dianne does scrapbooking and stamping, her true passion lies in painting. She is a certified One Stroke instructor and taught at our local Michael's until they did away with that program (boo)! Dianne does not consider herself creative. She says that One Stroke is simply a technique and that she only "copies" things. Well, excuse me Dianne, but I must say "PooPoo" to that 'cause in actuality Dianne completely ROCKS! During the frustrating time that Michael's was on the fence about the One Stroke program and all the instructors only had rumors to go on, Dianne was dealing with another problem. Her hands started becoming numb at times and at other times very painful. She went through many months of going from one type of specialist to another without any answers. Finally, on her second nerve conduction test, she was diagnosed with carpel tunnel syndrome, has since had surgery and is doing wonderfully! During this frustrating time, Dianne became involved in a forum for Jansen Art Studio and began taking an on-line class called Traditions. She was a bit slow to get started with her lessons but let me tell you, over the past couple of weeks she has really stuck to it and I am so very proud of her. Please give yourself a treat and check out her blog to see what this talented gal has done while "learning" a new painting style!

I wish for all those mentioned above to accept a warm hug and "pat-on-the-back" from me! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Jacksonbelle Tuesday

It's Tuesday and that means it's Challenge time at Jacksonbelle Embellishments. This week the very talented and creative Lynda Benden came up with a sketch that just radiates potential! We would love to invite everyone to play along so feel free to check out the sketch here then upload to SCS using keywords JBE004! Part of the design teams challenge was to use some of the new Prima products from Jacksonbelle Embellishments (be sure to check out the other DT submissions by clicking on the blog list to your left.) IMHO, these paper packs are some of the most beautiful ones that Prima has produced yet! My card uses PP from the Harmony pack and guess what ? There is absolutely NO stamping on this card. This is a first for me but if you saw the state of my craft room you would understanding. We spent the day Sunday turning our computer room into a playroom with hopes to keep our great room less cluttered with toys! We did quite a bit of purging and re-organizing but right now there is ALOT of extra stuff pushed aside in my space. I am hoping to start getting things back in order tomorrow afternoon! Anyway, back to the card! The focal point is a paper flower from, not Prima, but Bazzill. I absolutely love the rich look and feel of these flowers and I just didn't have a Prima in the right size and color. The center of the flower is a cute little face embellishment from Petaloos. I absolutely fell in love with these and you will definitely be seeing them again, soon *wink*! I added Cosmo Cricket Fleuriste rub-ons to some of the petals, as a photo corner in the right upper corner and as my sentiment. The rub-ons are embellished with rhinestones from MMBI. One of my favorite papers in the Harmony pack is the yellow one I used on the bottom half of this card. To accent its cute print I trimmed along the little flowers, hearts and flourishes to give it a whimsical border. The black with white polka dot ribbon is some I had in my stash and the little stitches are Karen Foster's Scrapper's Floss. This is definitely not a typical card for me but it was such fun to make! Sometimes I think it is good to step outside your comfort zone to enhance your creativity. It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Bloom card recipe:
Stamps: none
Ink: none
Paper: Prima Harmony, Bazzill (black CS)
Supplies: Bazzill paper flower, Petaloo embellishment, MMBI rhinestones, Cosmo Cricket rub-ons, paper piercer, Mat Pack, Scraper's Floss by Karen Foster, ribbon from stash

Memorial Day Sale at Jacksonbelle Reminder

Don't forgot to check out the Memorial Day Sale at Jacksonbelle Embellishments! Everything in the store is 15% off until Tuesday, May 27th at midnight. Just use the promo code JBE15! I had been purchasing supplies from Lindsey for many months prior to the honor of being chosen for her Design Team. She offers incredibly quick turn around for orders AND her customer service is TOP NOTCH! Just add some of the latest, most awesome products and reasonable shipping and handling and you just can't loose! A happy Memorial Day and heartfelt gratitude to those who serve and protect our freedom! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Make a Splash

Hope everyone is having a SUPER Memorial Day weekend! Much to my husband's astonishment (and relief) we had absolutely nothing planned for this weekend! It will be a much needed reprieve from our usual hectic schedule! I wanted to quickly share a card I made for my DDs BFFs birthday that was a couple of weeks ago. She had a pool party at her home so I though this cute little mermaid from By The Sea by Lizzie Anne Designs would be so cute for the theme. I hand wrote on the inside "at your birthday bash"- yes, corny but kinda cute, too! First, I stamped the mermaid and her bubbles on Stamper's Select CS in Memento Tuxedo Black. As I have mentioned, this is my absolute favorite type of ink to use with my Copic markers at present. Yesterday, I found a site that carries the FULL- sized Memento ink pads and they are on sale, no less! So I placed my first order with Creative Play Stamps for both the Tuxedo Black and the Rich Cocoa pads (shipping is very reasonable, too.) After stamping my image, I colored her with Copics markers, using Spica glitter pens for highlights. The bubbles and shell top are covered with Crystal Effects and the top sprinkled with Pearl glitter from Barbara Trombley's Art Glitter. The image was then die cut and matted on Tempting Turquoise using my Cuttlebug and Nestabilities. The little shell accent was created the same way using Apricot Appeal. Her background is a piece Cool Caribbean CS (does anyone else miss that color besides me?) embossed with a CB Swirl folder. I went over the swirls with a Versamarker then popped them with Shimmer Chalks by Pebbles. Ribbon is May Arts (I think) and the shell is attached to the image with a turquoise pearl brad by The Paper Company Studio. This was all mounted onto a Pixie Pink base which had the corner trimmed with my Marvy Uchida Paper Trimming Buddy (scalloped blade) and the sentiment stamped in the resulting corner. Voila, a birthday card for a 10-year-old girl! Just wanted to stop by for a minute. Rachel has been sick with fever and cold-symptoms since Friday night and she is needing my attention. Once again, wishing all a Happy Memorial Day! It's ALWAYs a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

I'll add the recipe later!

Enabler Alert: Sale at Jacksonbelle!!!!!

Be sure to check out the awesome Memorial Day Sale at Jacksonbelle Embellishments! Everything in the store is 15% off between now and Tuesday, May 27th- you gotta love it!!!!! Wishing everyone a SAFE and FUN Memorial Day Weekend! Hope to have something creative to share tomorrow! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Jacksonbelle Tuesdays

It's Tuesday, once again, and time for another Jacksonbelle Embellishment DT Challenge. This week's challenge should be super easy for most of us- to use a stamp(s) we've had in our stash but never used. Can you say "hoarding?" We (be sure to check-out all the DT posts by clicking on their names in the left hand column) would love to have more folks play along so if you have any stamps that you just had to have- teeheehee- yet, have found them sadly neglected, please post your creations on SCS, keyword JBE003. Can't wait to see what everyone has hidden away in their "collections."

My challenge card uses Lizzie Anne Designs L'Amour stamp set. It is a rare occasion that I am neglectful of Lizzie Anne stamps- I do so... love them but I purchased this particular set for making Valentine's cards and by the time I had the set is my inky little hands, I was OVER making Valentine's! So there it sat, and sat.... While looking at it today, I thought it might make a sweet wedding or bridal shower card so I gave a shot and here is what I came up with.

Pretty straight forward card. I paired L'Amour with PTI Pink Patterns PP, and Berry Sorbet and Sweet Blush CS. The little heart tail feathers and heart flourishes are color with Copic Marker R14, as well as, the little pearls along the upper right hand side of the card. The Sweet Blush satin ribbon is embellished with a K & Co. rub-on. The ribbon slide is a Sizzix die of chipboard cut from my Cuttlebug and covered with the Pink Patterns PP. The little flower is a piece of chipboard I had left over from a Crafty Secrets Sweetchips kit covered in Sweet Blush CS then stamped with a PTI Mixed Messages sentiment and surrounded by little pearls. Note- it was not until I uploaded the photo that I noticed one of the tiny pearls had fallen from the flower. Of course, the battery of my camera died just as I was shooting this photo and I cannot retake it until the battery has charged. I will replace with a better shot tomorrow. One thing that really excited me about making this card was getting to use my brand new Treading Water punch from Fiskers. I knew that there are several waiting list for these since they are on back order but I just happened to be in my local Michael's on Saturday and low and behold, there one was hanging with the rest of the Fiskers border punches! Well, of course, it had to come home with me, coupon or not! I really like the way the Berry Sorbet shows up behind the little holes on top of each scallop! You will definitely see more of this tool in the future. Well, I had better go get my beauty rest- Mary Elizabeth and I have appointments for a Spa day tomorrow. Rachel's last day of preschool is Thursday so we thought we would take advantage of our precious time alone. It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Recipe for L'Amour card:
Stamps: Lizzie Anne Designs L'Amour, PTI- Mixed Messages
Paper: PTI- Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet, PP- Pink Patterns
Ink: Memento- Dark Cocoa
Supplies: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities, Sizzix dies, adhesive pearls, Copic Markers, Fiskers border punch, ribbon- PTI, rub-on K&Co, chipboard- Crafty Secrets

New Prima Paper!!!!!

I had about 25- 30 minutes to actually make a card today. Fortunately, I had already colored this cute little Tilda image last night prior to my oldest daughter getting sick (she still is not up to par but doing better this evening) so all I had left to do was quickly layer some of the beautiful new Harmony paper by Prima I got from Jacksonbelle Embellishments. I had seen the Prima paper packs before and thought they looked nice but my attitude was I had plenty of paper already. What I didn't know besides getting the beautiful double-sided 12 x 12 papers you, also, receive a yard of gorgeous coordinating ribbon (and I'm not talking you run-of-the-mill grosgrain or satin) and a sample of Prima flowers. Totally awesome! So, I stamped Tilda on Crycogen White shimmer CS using Memento Rich Cocoa ink. This is my new favorite line of inks to use with Copic markers. They leave a nice rich image and dry very quickly. So far I have experienced no smearing. After coloring the image with Copic markers and "grounding" the little gal with a brown Staedtler Fineliner pen, I matted her on a brown piece of floral paper and then on Brocade Blue CS. The little acrylic bird is by Prima and I stamped the back of it with Canvas BG stamp in Butterscotch Dauber by Ranger. The ribbon tied through the button holes is May Arts and the little photo corner is from the Pewter Hardware Collection by WRMK. The sentiment is from one of the 3 new Inkadinkado lines (be sure to see this post regarding information on the Inka contest.) Well, I have my monthly scrapbook club workshop to attend in the morning so I had better call it an early evening. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend! It's ALWAYS a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Prima Tilda card recipe:

Stamps: Tilda by Magnolia, sentiment Inkadinkado

Paper: Brocade Blue, Crycogen White, PP- Harmony by Prima

Ink: Memento- Rich Cocoa

Accessories: Copic markers, Staedtler Fineliner marker, May Arts ribbon, paper piercer, Mat Pack, Prima Clear Shapes, WRMK hardware (pewter), Stampin' Dimensionals

A Inkadinkado Challenge

Just peaking in for a moment to say that my "little head cold" turned into something viral of more substantial proportions! I've finally turned the bend and am feeling much better although my usual energy is just not there. I had a wonderful mail day today receiving my order from Jacksonbelle Embellishments containing all brand new Prima products- papers, ribbon, tapes, stamps, embellishments and of course, beautiful flowers! Certainly enough to bring me off my death bed and make a card. So tonight after getting the girls to bed, I stamped my image and colored it with my Copic markers in colors that will go so awesomely with my new pattern paper when daughter #1 comes out of her room- SICK. It's now a few hours later and I think/hope I have her settled in for the night but my card will definitely have to wait until tomorrow! Until then, I want to make sure that you gals know about the Inkadinkado Challenge that Mrs. Lindsey is sponsoring through Jacksonbelle Embellishments! Hmmm, maybe it should have been called a "contest" because this challenge includes a PRIZE!! Be sure to check out the details at SCS. It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Happy Mother's Day

Just a quick hello and good wishes! My youngest, Rachel, gave me a head cold for Mother's Day so it's been lots of fluids and lots a rest today. A day of rest is awesome no matter how you get it!

Far East Thanks

Please excuse today's short post. I spent the morning with my daughter's preschool class at the local petting zoo and I am wiped out! I hope to have some decent photos to share soon! Now for the card: Here is actually the first card I made for the Jacksonbelle Embellishment Color Challenge. For this card, I teamed up Lizzie Anne Designs "Far East" with BG "Sultry, both products that I love. I wasn't quite sure about my finished product with this one though. I felt the gray element of the pink, green and gray color combo looked like an after thought and just didn't flow, although it does make the bright pink mulberry paper in the tag really pop-out. Hope everyone has a super Mother's Day weekend! It's ALWAYs A Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Card recipe:

Stamps: Lizzie Anne Designs Far East

Paper: Garden Green, Pink Passion, gray CS, mulberry paper, PP- BG sultry

Ink: Pink Passion, Basic Grey

Accessories: May Arts ribbon, Dew Drops, Scalloped Circle Punch, MM Tag Maker, paper piercer

Jacksonbelle Embellishment Challenge Number 1

One guess as to who had taken my camera...

I have no time for blogging this morning to I am going to leave you with photos of my challenge card. I'll be back later to fill ya in on the details, as well as, a second card for this challenge. The challenge was to make a thank-you card using pink, green and gray. It was definitely a challenge for me because I never use gray! Actually had to go to my lss and purchase some gray CS!!! Please fell free to play along. When you're done, I'd love to have you link your cards to a comment on this post so that I can see them! Be sure to check out the other DT members challenge cards by clicking on their names in the left hand column. Be back soon!!!

And the Winner Is.....

ALLISON!!! I'll be e-mailing you to get your particulars! Thanks to all of my blogging friends that left such sweet comments and well wishes on my great fortune to join the awesome Jacksonbelle Embellishments Design Team. My only hope is that I am able to live up to this opportunity! Stay tuned for our first design team challenge to be posted in the morning. I have my card, now if only I can find my camera... Did y'all know that my 4-year-old DD is a budding photographer- please keep a good thought for me and my camera! It's ALWAYs a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!

Happy National Scrapbook Day

Edited: Since e-mails from her feed go out 1 day late, Lindsey has been sweet enough to extend her National Scrapbook Day sale through today, Sunday, May 4th. To take advantage of the sale today please use coupon code NSD151. Hope you have a super week!!

Here's hoping that everyone gets to play with all their favorite tools and supplies today- National Scrapbooking Day. Whether you scrapbook or not, do you really need an excuse to get all inky-lol!
I hope to have some handmade goodies to share later on today but for now be sure to leave a comment regarding you favorite Inkadinkado stamp from Jacksonbelle Embellishments on the previous post for a chance to win blog candy. AND while you are deciding which stamp is your favorite, be sure to check out all of her other goodies! For Saturday, May 3rd only, in honor of National Scrapbook Day, Lindsey will take 15 % off your order. Just use coupon code NSD15. It's ALWAYS a Stampin' and Scrapin' Good Time! Take care!

RAKs, BRAKs, Goodies and News!

This post will definitely be a day for "housekeeping!" I have been so very fortunate to receive a few RAKs from super blogging gals and some BRAKs for my April birthday, as well. To top off my good fortune, I have a couple of blog candy wins to share but will do that tomorrow due to the lenghthy nature of this post. So... first, I will share with you my good fortunes and if you hang out 'til the end, I'll be showing you how I plan to "pass it forward" and share what it some super exciting (at least to me) news!!!!


My first RAK is from, Tinla Woo. Tinla does not have a blog of her own, but the super sweet and super talented Tracy Clemente featured her and her work on her blog a little while back. Boy, was I happy that she did! Tinla is a super talented stamper and great fan of A Muse products. I left several comments for Tinla during her stint as Guest Stamper and I have gotten to know her better over at the A Muse Addicts Forum. So you can imagine how very pleased I was to receive this precious Elzybells RAK from her! Thanks so much, Tinla!

Now then, how about this... a lady is kind enough to organize a ribbon share using the new A Muse stitched ribbons and encloses a hand stamped notecard with each order!!! That is exactly what Tracy Clemente did! And let me tell you, this was no easy share- not that any shares are easy- but this one had trials and tribulations all of its own! So imagine how surprised I was when I opened the package with all my yummy ribbon and I got this super sweet notecard, as a bonus! Kudos to you, Tracy!!



As I mentioned, I celebrated my birthday on April 21st and found myself so very blessed my the folks that acknowledge the date with a card. First, is from a fellow SCSer who sent a card out to everyone who shared her birthday- how wonderful is that! Thanks so much, Alycia Clark!





The next one is from my very dear friend, Belinda. I met Belinda through scrapbooking at our lss and even though she has moved away, I consider her one of my dearest friends (not to mention so very talented)! Thanks so much for this beautiful card, Belinda! Mary Elizabeth and I cannot believe how much your grandson, Jack, has grown!!!


Last, but certainly not least, I received this awesome BRAK from the talented, Lindsey Botkin of Jacksonbelle Embellishments. I have been a huge fan of Lindsey and her delightful webstore for sometime. This little jewel of a card showed up with an order I had placed using a gift certificate hubby gave me for my birthday. Lindsey went above and beyond to help my poor stamping-gift impaired husband give me something that I really wanted! Thanks for everything, Lindsey!

Now speaking of Lindsey and Jacksonbelle Embellishments, I have some exciting news (well, at least for me)! I've had to keep it under wraps for a couple of l-o-n-g days but I have been selected to be on the Jacksonbelle Embellishments Design Team!!!! I cannot begin to express how honored and excited I am to be a member of this super team (please, be sure to check out the sidebar for awesome DT blogs)! If you would like some inspiration, be sure to visit Lindsey's blog, Embellished ,both today and tomorrow. She is posting ALL of the submission (1/2 each day) and they are wonderful!! So with that, I definitely feel the need to pass on my good fortune with some blog goodies. For this "contest" you need to head on over to Jacksonbelle Embellishments and pick-out your favorite Inkadinkado stamp and post it in the comments of this entry (1 post per individual, please.) Using a random number generator, I will choose 1 name on Monday, May 5th sometime after 8:00pm and the winner will receive that stamp (or a substitute of their choice it that particular one is no longer available)! Easy peasy! Remember it is ALWAYs a Stampin' Good Time! Take care!