A Jacksonbelle Sell!!!!

Hello, All! I know that everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving Day. Whether you are starting to cook or preparing for travels, this is a busy, busy time. Just want to mention some really super exciting news. Lindsey is having a huge sell over at Jacksonbelle Embellishments. From today (Wednesday) - Monday everything in the store is 20% off!!!!! Be sure to use coupon code THANK08 to receive this awesome discount! So while you are waiting for that turkey to bake OR if you just need a few minutes to yourself- be sure to sneak off to the computer and check this out! Hope you have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!

Jacksonbelle Tuesday

The week of Thanksgiving is always exciting for me! In my mind it is the beginning of the Holiday season and my favorite time of the year! With all the fun and fellowship, comes a lot of hustle and bustle. Each year I vow not to get too stressed. So far, I have not been overly successful but I am slowly learning to take the "little" things in stride and focus on the true meaning of the season. Keeping that in mind, I was faced with 2 "tasks" (although fun) yesterday evening. Since today is the last school day before Thanksgiving, I had to get Rachel's birthday party invitations ready to take to preschool. Also, it is Tuesday and time for a Jacksonbelle Embellishments Design Team challenge. This week we are to use our favorite Jacksonbelle supplies when making a card (narrowing my favs down is a daunting task)! To kill two birds, so to speak, I decided to make a card that would do double duty. Two of my favorite products from JBE are Inkadinkado stamps and Shimmerz. I, also, love the adorable Imaginisce line "Fairest of Them All" and find it perfect for all the little girl projects that I make! Keeping in mind that the card had to be mass produced and that it might be "examined" by curious preschoolers, I decided to be selective with my embellishments. The class has children from 3-5 years of age and I am always careful about including any hard embellishments on projects for the children. When Rachel saw the completed invitation, the look happy look on her face made my night. Of course, she wanted to know if today is her birthday party- it is going to be a long 2 weeks!! Be sure to check out what the other DT Gals have selected as some of their favorite Jacksonbelle Goodies:

• Broni Holcombe
• Dee Jackson
• Kisa Peters
• Lila Holgate
• Lindsey Botkin
  
• Lynda Benden
• Maren Benedict
• Rachel Hope

I hope to be back before Thanksgiving but if not please have a enjoyable and safe one! And just a little hint: you might want to check in at Jacksonbelle Embellishments over the weekend- you never know what Lindsey might have up her sleeve in the way of a sale. Wishing you fun Times and inky fingers. Take care!

Invite deets: Stamps: Beautiful Fairy- Inkadinkado, Sentiment- PTI
Paper: PP- Imaginisce- Fairest of Them All, CS- PTI
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Supplies: Shimmerz, ribbon- PTI, Cuttlebug, Swirl Embossing Folder,
MS scallop border punch.

Cozy Winter Wishes

The last 2 mornings have certainly shown us that there are colder days just around the corner. I actually sent Rachel to school wearing a coat instead of a light jacket. Now in true North Alabama fashion, we may very well wish we had on shorts on Thanksgiving Day but you never can tell! To mark the change in the seasons, I decided to post a card that I made with one of the latest releases from the Artful Inkables set, Frosty Mug Mates. I stamped the little snow fellow, then masked the image to place the tree "behind" him. After coloring the images with Copic markers, I added Liquid Appliqué and heat set it for a fluffy snow look. The little yellow stars and the snowflake embellishments were made by running a sheet of red sticky tape through my Cuttlebug with a snowflake die. After adhering the stars to the card (and the snowflakes to a die cut cs version,) I covered the other adhesive side with Art Glitter. PP is Paper Salon's last year wintry print and ribbon is PTI. Wishing everyone fun Times and inky fingers! Take care!

Jacksonbelle Tuesday & A Design Team Call!!!

Whohoo! Yes, you read that right! This is not just any ole Jacksonbelle Tuesday! Today Lindsey is announcing a search for 5 new Design Team members! Believe me, if you are interested in becoming a designer this is a great team! With the Yahoo group, I have come to know some really awesome gals that encourage, support and make you laugh sometimes all at once! Be sure to check out the details at the

Jacksonbelle Embellishments Store Blog.

So on to the challenge which was to incorporate a Christmas or a snowflake theme. I am working on Christmas cards right now so this was perfect for me! We would love to have you play along and link you card to a comment on this blog so I can see your awesome Christmas creations!
For some super inspiring ideas, be sure to check out the blogs of the following DT members:

• Broni Holcombe
• Dee Jackson
• Kisa Peters
• Lindsey Botkin
  
• Lynda Benden
• Maren Benedict
• Rachel Hope

I have a ton of things to catch up on this morning so I will just leave you with the card deets.
All stamps are Inkadinkado (bird ornament, sentiment, holly flourish); PP is Basic Gray Wassail; ribbon is May Arts- all from Jacksonbelle Embellishments. The scallop and tag were cut with Nestabilities dies; Ink is SU Always Artichoke and Versamark; Clear and Gold EP are Ranger; CS-Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke, & Mellow Moss; pearls are from Ellen Hutson. Wishing you fun Times and inky fingers! Take care!

Wishful Thinking...

Yes, these little snowmen from the latest Artful Inkables release are probably about as close to snow as this southern gal with get. These fellows can be found in Frosty Mug Mates, along with a super selection of other snow friends! Not much time for a long post today. I have an extremely busy week ahead with 3 A Muse classes, Girl Scouts, Dr.'s appointments, hopefully lunch with another local A Muse addict, Vickie Cooper (Hiya, Vicky) and then the usual- taxi to dance lessons, horseback riding lessons, Upward cheer leading practice, and oh yeah, homeschooling in the middle of all of that. Time is definitely more precious than money. Anyway, today's goal is to get the house cleaned and laundry for the week done. Doesn't allow for much blogging or crafting time. I will be back later this week with my Jacksonbelle Tuesday challenge, and at least one more card from Frosty Mug Mates, and how about a look see at the A Muse cards that I will be teaching on Monday at Once Upon a Scrapbook. I know I have promised an account of the fabulous Seattle trip but I really want to wait until I can give it the time it deserves. So I'm going to leave you with the down and dirty deets of this card and Wishing you fun Times and inky fingers! Take care!

Card deets: Stamps- Frost Mug Mates, paper- Real red, white cs, MME, ink- Memento Black, supplies- Top Note die from SU, Cuttlebug, Copic markers, Liquid Appliqué , paper snowflake- Imaginisce, rhinestone brad-MM, snowflake brad and ribbon from stash.

Jacksonbelle Tuesday

First, a heartfelt Thank-You to all the great men and women of this countries military, both present and past, who have stood up for the freedom that we are so very fortunate to have! A Happy Veteran's Day to you!

I'm very squeaking in this Tuesday's card for the Jacksonbelle Embellishment challenge. After my weekend away in Seattle, I have needed to spend some time with the family I love! We have all missed each other and I truly felt the need to slow down the pace of things for a couple of days and enjoy my wonderful husband and sweet daughters!

This is NOT to say that the trip to Seattle was not totally incredible. Truly an experience that I will remember for a lifetime. My trip did end up having a rocky beginning. My fellow travelers and I were all buckled in ready for take off of the flight out of Huntsville headed to Dallas/Ft Worth when the starter on the plane would not work. So... I ended up leaving on Friday morning (after an extra night in my own comfy bed) and thus did not arrive in Seattle in time for the Copic Certification class. The gals that attended the class said it was great BUT that they felt a lot of it did not pertain to coloring the stamped images that we use. Luckily, Marianne from Copic did a mini inservice as part of our Saturday itinerary, and I at least learned that my technique was correct- of course, I still think I need to continue practicing because I see myself feeling more and more confident at time goes by. Tomorrow I plan on sharing more details about my incredible trip and the AWESOME company A Muse!

Today, Jacksonbelle Embellishments DT members were challenged to make a card using this sketchThis is such a fun sketch and we would love to have you play along! If you should make a card using this sketch, be sure to link a card to a comment for this post! I would love to see you beautiful cards. For some more ideas, using this sketch be sure to check out the participating DT members blogs:

• Broni Holcombe
• Kisa Peters
• Lynda Benden
• Rachel Hope

My card today features: Stamps from Inkadinkado, Wassail paper from BG, brads from Imaginisce, and paper ornament from Prima- all available from Jacksonbelle Embellishments,
ink (Always Artichoke), scallop punch and ribbon- SU, scallop rectangle punch- Marvy

Tomorrow I will be back with more deets about Seattle. Until then, wishing you fun Times and inky fingers. Take care!

Hello from Seattle

If all went well with my scheduled post, it is Friday and I am in Seattle taking the Copic Certification class! I cannot wait to get home and share with you, my friends, about my trip! Until then I have another card to share. These pretty little snowflakes from the Artful Inkables brand new release "Paper Snowflakes" are very likely about as close as I am going to get to any of the cold, wet stuff this year! So I better enjoy them any way I can! And who wouldn't have a good time playing with this beautiful set? It comes with 4 unique snowflakes and 2 sentiments for either a Christmas card or winter well wishes. Here is a look at the rest of the images of the set:

I made this card during the wee hours of the morning and shot my photo right away. The lighting was particularly poor for this pic and you cannot see all the sparkle and texture on this card. The light blue base layer is actually a piece of velvet paper that I ran through my Cuttlebug using the Snowflake embossing folder. The wonderful snowflakes are covered with Dazzling Diamonds after being traced with a Sakura Quickie Glue pen. Be sure to check out the samples created by Pam and Terri using the beautiful set. I guarantee these gals will inspire you! Also, remember to use this coupon code for savings on your order.

Wishing you fun Times and inky fingers! Take care!

Card deets: Stamps- Artful Inkables Paper Snowflakes, paper- KI velvet paper, Lovely Lilac, Whisper white CS, Ink- Lovely Lilac, Supplies- Cuttlebug, Snowflake Embossing Folder, circle punches, Silver Cord- SU, small oval punch, ribbon- May Arts, Dazzling Diamond, Sakura Quickie Glue pen, Stampin' Dimensionals

A Cup of Tea...

Hiya, Friends! Just a quick post in the midst of getting ready for my trip to Seattle. I am so excited and a bit anxious because flying is not my favorite thing! Anyway, I have quite a bit to do between now and take off and one important and FUN thing is to share this card that I made with the darling "Warm Drinks for Cold Days" by Artful Inkables. This is yet another of the 5 new really released sets! Although it uses "cold days" in the title of this delicious, it definitely can be used year round for any coffee or tea fan! Here are the rest of the images of this awesome set:
Today I teamed up the cute little tea pot and cup with Urban Prairie by Basic Grey. Now I love BG but this may be my favorite line yet! I love the eclectic color mix and all the little "nature themed" surprises you will find in this pretty paper! The image is colored with Copic markers and the "tea" is Bees Wax Shimmerz. I cut a little folksie flower from the PP and added a stem with a black Copic to give the tea pot personality. Buttons are from my stash and the terrific ribbon is A Muse. Be sure to check out DT members Jenn and Julia's blogs for some more ideas of using this cute set. Also, remember to include coupon code save10BT for your 10% discount on all of your AI purchases! Wishing you fun Times and inky fingers! Take care!

Whohoo! Some New AI in the House!

Yes, yes, yes! It is time, once again, for another incredible new release from Artful Inkables. Kristin has been super busy creating FIVE beautiful new sets! I am so impressed by the versatility she has given to her designs. While several of the sets have images that would make wonderful Christmas and winter holiday cards, you will find that they will be appropriate throughout the year! For example, here are the images of this first set, "Peaceful Wishes."

Right away, I'm a huge fan because of the sweet little pine cone image! Definitely a must for a nature lover card anytime of the year! The gorgeous deer images would work great on the front of a Christmas or for a masculine birthday card. Another neat feature about this set- both the pine cone square and the poinsettia square fit perfectly in a 1" square punch- instant Inchies. That was the first thing that inspired me when I first saw this set. I knew I had to make a card with a trio of pine cone inchies. I had some Cosmo Cricket Wonderland paper left over from last year (absolutely a favorite of all time holiday paper) and thought this pine cone print would make a great background. The beautiful shimmer ribbon is May Arts and a brand new product for Artful Inkables! Be sure to check out my sister DT members Julia and Jenn's blogs for some more samples using "Peaceful Wishes!" And don't forget use this coupon code for 10% off your order!

I will be back later today with a fun sample from another AI new release "Warm Drinks for Cold Days" yummmmm!

Card deets- Stamps- Peaceful Wishes, Ink- Adirondack Espresso, Encore Gold, Paper- Cosmo Cricket Wonderland, Chocolate Chip, Poison Ivy, Supplies- ribbon May Arts, 7/8", 1" 1 -1/4" square punches, Stampin' Dimensionals, button from stash, Gold Cord- SU

Jacksonbelle Tuesday

Finally, a Jacksonbelle Tuesday challenge! After not being able to play last week due to my sick little Rachel, I was so ready to for today! Lindsey carries all my favorite products so these challenges are truly my time to get to create for fun! My post right now will be extra short because I am getting ready to take Rachel to preschool and then go to VOTE. Today's challenge is to CASE a card from the awesome collection of sister Design Team member Kisa Peters. The hard part about this was choosing only 1 card from this super talented gal's inspiring collection! This cute little Prima Panda stamped card pretty much follows the sketch to a tee with the addition of some Shimmerz painted Primas- a truly Kisa touch. Be sure to check out the other DT members blogs to see how they were inspired by this very creative gal.

• Broni Holcombe
• Kisa Peters
• Lila Holgate
• Lindsey Botkin
  
• Lynda Benden
• Maren Benedict
• Rachel Hope

If you would like to play along we would love to have you join us. Just link up your card to a comment on this post! Enabler alert: Jacksonbelle Embellishments has added some awesome new goodies to the store- Memory Box, the new Shimmerz "Blingz," new May Arts and more!
Wishing you fun Times and inky fingers! Take care!

Two Scoops of Fun

Wahoo! Can you believe that it is November already? With all the wonderful things that are associated with the years end, I am excited to announce that pre-sale orders are being taken for the delightful stamps of Two Scoops Rice Designs, as well! If you haven't checked out these adorable stamps you are truly missing the cherry on the top of your sundae. Just click on the above logo and it will take you right to the blog/site to pre-order yours today. Design Team members will be getting their sets soon, so be sure to check back for some samples.

Things have been beyond crazy around here! My youngest DD missed preschool all last week due to bronchitis and asthma- antibiotics, steroids, breathing treatments- the whole shebang. Then hubby came down with it (guess who was tougher through the ordeal- teeheehee.) My oldest daughter changed her mind about her Halloween costume at the last minute and so I was sewing a Little Red Ridinghood costume on Thursday night and Halloween Day- BTW other than cards, I had never sewn. It was an interesting experience. Youngest DD had her final soccer game on Saturday morning and then I started coming down with the crud. I'm feeling better, as far as, that goes but had to have an epidural for my back today (still kinda loopy from the meds.) I think Little Red Ridinghood and our last SU Stamp Camp did me in as far as that goes. I have several DT assignments due this week (can't wait to show them to you) and get ready for my trip to Seattle to meet all the awesome ladies from A Muse! Whew! Except for being sick, I LOVE it all! Wishing you fun Times and inky fingers! Take care!