Tea like Gratitude

I bought my first ever My Time Made Easy Templates the other day. I bought a few to say the least and this is my first one made... the teapot. Isn't it just adorable. Lauren really does a great job with her instructions and photos. I have wanted this teapot forever now I have it. So plan to see a lot more of these for awhile. I made this for a close friend of mine Ann. Sometimes you just want to make or do something for someone just because and this is it. I used the sentiment from the Heartfelt Sentiments from CDS. I love this Memory Box paper called Minuet and I have more on order since I have used just about the whole pack already. I am filling the teapot with either her favorite tea that only comes in flake form from the fresh tea company in town. Or her other favorite chocolate.... How can you go wrong with chocolate for anyone? ha ha I hope you have a wonderful day!

HM&F Challenge 92 Hard Core Sketch

The House Mouse and Friends blog challenge today is from Natascha with a great sketch. Our Sponsor this week is Di's Digi Downloads with a prize of 3 Digi's . Hope you get a chance to play along with us.
I flipped the sketch to fit my image. I noticed I put my brads in the wrong spots after I was done. Oops... You get the idea though. ha ha I think this Muscle Mouse is so darn adorable. If only all our workouts were with Lifesavers. lol Very fun encouragment for a friend. We all need workouts to stay healthy but it should be fun and enjoyable. Thanks for stopping in with me today.

WWW A Date is set

Miss Kelly and I announced to the family last night we finally set a date for the wedding, April 6th. We didn't want to try and compete with the Royal Wedding at the end of the month. We are just two people in love and want to celebrate in a quite ceremony. As I thought Miss Kelly loved my thoughtfulness in making invitations for our upcoming wedding. Now to leave all the details of planning to the ladies. A man can only do so much in regards to a wedding besides show up. ha ha Now Miss Kelly knows I am kidding. We have had several attempts from Fruitcake at finding out about our big day. She even involved shall I say.... a Bounty Hunter. yep *THE* Bounty Hunter named MotherMark. Now this bounty hunter is ruthless, sneaky and clever! She even has the postal service on her payroll to help her find people even... Gasp.... stamp sets for her. ACK... However, we are confident that this will be the quite little family and close friends wedding. hee hee Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Fresh for spring

Today is Flourishes Free for all Friday. I felt rather springy when I made this card. The Lenton Rose set is a beautiful flower that really can be used for most occasions. Since the sentiment is left off this it's perfect for a go to last minute I need a card moment. ha ha I used several Copic collections on my coloring. Hollyhock Collection as the main color, with a touch of Copic Y02. The leaves are colored with Spring Greens collection. This fresh and springy paper is called Jack n Jill Celebrate from Prima, oh how I adore this pack of paper. Added a few Square Blush/Rouge Rhinestones and complete for an all around occasion card.

Be sure to check out the wonderful creations from the other DT today:

Christine
Cindy
Julie
Leslie
Dawn
Danielle
Barbara

Jan MarieRemember: Today is the last day for our New Release Bundle sale for 10% off! Our Gambler’s Sale has dropped down to 45%! Hope you have a great weekend!

Miss Kelly said YES!!!

I am the happiest man on the range today. Miss Kelly said yes last night to my proposal. Yes sir I am the happiest man! Since I was sure she was going to say yes I showed her the invitations I had made for our wedding and hoped she was going to love them. I put my heart into these. I wanted her to know how dedicated I am to our love and new life together. We have not set a date quite yet so I am not going to show you the full invite. But here is a little sneak at the invitations... Miss Kelly wants a little wedding. I will however make sure the important invitations are sent out first. :0) I used her favorite colors red and white. I hope she decides to have it soon.

Oh when will the big day be??? Stay tuned for more... hee hee

WWW He is going to pop the question

While he was out on the trail today he thought hey "why am I waiting, why not just propose". I have waited years to find Miss Kelly and I don't want to lose her. We have nothing holding us back. So I plan to do it tonight! Good Ole Smokey here will get me home safe and sound tonight. After she cooks up her mean dinner that she does I am going to sit by the fire and hunker down on the floor with a blanket and pop the question! Yep I am going to do it. Now to get this cattle all rustled up so I can get cleaned up and ready. What a surprise this will be for Miss Kelly. Wait till you see the wedding invites... I am working on them to surprise Miss Kelly after I pop the question. But ssshhh... Don't tell Fruitcake. She might try to *make an apperance* un-invited if you know what I mean.

Bawhahah... Oh you should see me. Talk about having fun stamping! This Wild Wild West set is fun teasing everyone with. DH said to make sure that I insure it when I mail it back to Pat. he is keeping up on the story line and the comments as well. I am loving it all. hee hee Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Frame for Roberta's Mom

My youngest sister asked me to make a large shadow box frame for one of her co-workers mom that is in her last days. She wanted her friend to have something that would be in memory of her mom always on display. Please forgive my photo I couldn't get a good one for nothing with the glare from the glass. This is a front on view of the frame.

She found a poem or some write up that they loved and had me print that to add to the frame. I have sponged around the panels that were white with a bit of pretty in pink ink. This is a large framed shadow box of 12x16. A lot of space to fill with just the photo that will go on the left and the poem. I used Spellbinders Grand Calibur Grand Nestabilities Grand Ovals, and Grand Labels One. I used a whole packet of pearls on this baby. Along with several other goodies such as Rose Floret Flowers, Pearl Flourish Brackets, Pink Velvet crochet ribbon, velvet leaves and even more pearls. This paper is from K&C company and has a rather victorian feel to it. My sister truly loved this and was amazed at how it turned out. It was rather simple but I won't tell her that. hee hee I wish you could see how really elegant this looks. Several butterflies are around the frame that I added pearl centers to with the wings spanned out. Thanks for stopping in with me today. I hope you have a wonderful day.

WWW Found a Woman

Here's the Story:

Well girls I am happy to inform you that I have found a woman and I am settling down. Yep this Wild man is going to grow some roots and settle down with a woman and her name is Miss Kelly. She lives in Idaho and is looking for a solid, strong man... that man is me. You see my wild ways have been fun, exciting and make for some great stories. But who can hold stories at night? Who can make a scrapbook of fun and excitement when they aren't with someone you love??? So I am settling down. She made this beautiful Light Red scarf that I am wearing and sent me out on the range today with my Light Red rose to remind me to come home early for dinner. So I plan to do just that after I get the cows all rangled up. Awwww... to finally find the one woman I want to settle down with. Spend the evenings looking at the stars with.... Life is GOOD

Good thing I got home on time like Miss Kelly requested. She informed me that we have a Black Tie Dinner to attend tonight. I hurried and cleaned up and got my best jacket and dress wranglers on. I am about out the door to hitch ole smokey up when Miss Kelly hands me my new dinner scraf she made. Yes mamm.... she sure is a fine woman and taking care of her man. I have to tell you lone rangers out there. When you find *the woman* there is nothing like it. I am not a man to get all gussied up but tonight sure is worth the fancy smancy black tie dinner we are going to. She will be on my arm and I will have my head held high walking with her. :0) Hee hee

Fruitcake Heard the News. I was afraid of this. After I made the official announcement that I was settling down and starting some roots. A few names came to mind that might become a concern for Miss Kelly and I. Sure enough **fruitcake** found out and boy was she hot. She even made a threat. Might have to call in the local sheriff to keep watch for that wagon comin to town. Miss Kelly and I sat down and this morning and talked over coffee. We thought it best to send Fruitcake a card explaining why I am hanging my boots up with Miss Kelly. I sure hope she understands and all. Ofcourse we won't put our return address on the card just incase she tries to come and *visit*. She is a sneaky one I give you that. Had a lot of fun with her.... but that is all behind me now! Best wishes Fruitcake...
Now that you are wondering what the heck is she doing? Has she totally lots her mind. LOL This set is a retired SU set called Wild Wild West. A much used and editorialied stamp set if you will. My gracious and wonderful friend Pat Smethers lent me the set to make a few gifts for my sister... Miss Kelly ;0). Some of the ladies are a bit upset as you can see that Da Man as he is so lovingly called is settling down. He has a few more suprises down the road so be on the look out. Super fun, hope you got a giggle out of it anyways. These cards were all made for one challenge or another. Have a great day.

TS Monday Paper Piercing

Today on the Totally Stampalicious blog the challenge is Paper Piercing. We had a blog hop and new release last Thursday incase you missed it. One of the new sets released is called Birthday Gus which is used here. I am giving this card to my dad this year. hee hee A bit of piercing around the frame very simple. Added some silver cord and brads along the side.


Check out the challenge details on the blog and hope you can play along with us this week!

At the Zoo Blog Hop

Welcome to Clear Dollar Stamps Monthly Blog Hop. If you just came from Laurie's blog you are in the right spot. If you are just joining us start over on CDS Blog to start hopping. This month its **At the Zoo**. What's in it for you? 2 lucky winners will recieve a $10 gift card to the CDS store. Winners will be randomly chosen from comments received on two DT member blogs and winners will be announced on the CDS blog Wednesday, March 23rd.

My house is always a zoo with twin boys. ha ha But I choose to go Dino Zoo for this blog hop.
This set called Dinomite is totally cute and such a boy set. I made a fun birthday card for a few of the girls at DH work. I even made an extra one for me to have on hand. Inside says *Dinomite*. Your next hop is on over to Jerusha Blog. Happy Hopping and good luck!

Party Favors!!!

***Totally Stampalicious Blog Hop Post is HERE***

Last day of Flourishes Sneak peeks of the March Release. Did you have a good time at the Release Party? Lots of eye candy for you there. Today we are showing you the sets called Birthday Bash and Strips and Stripes. These sets coordinate with the Spellbinders Shapeabilities Nested Lacey Pennants and Nested Pennants.

Here are a few party favor ideas that I plan to use later this summer. This little basket holding the candies is made using the Grand Nestabilities Label One by punching out the largest one. Then scoring at 2 inches on all four sides. Folded and secured the sides. You have a fancy little top edge this way. Stamped out my Strips and Stripes on the side added a few jewels of the same color. Finished it off with a few primas and silver cord. The party favor card can be used as an invitation, thank you or just decoration on the tables. I frayed some ribbon and secured it inside the pennant tops. Added the same embelishments.

This one I let the paper do all the work for me. A super adorable paper pack from Prima called Jack n Jill Celebrate. Talk about an adorable set of papers. I went simple with a bit of ribbon and added the tags with the birthday sentiment on the one.

Don't miss the last sneaks from the Design Team and joining us are some girls from Spellbinders Design Team:Barbara Anders
Christine Okken
Cindy Lawrence
Danielle Kennedy
Dawn Burnworth
Julie Koerber
Leslie Miller
Stacy Morgan
Jan Marie Caruso
Heidi Blankenship
Beth Pingry
Margie Higuchi
Holly Simoni
Mona Pendleton
AJ Otto
Latisha Yoast
Deborah Young
Kazan Clark
Terre Fry
Don't forget about the Release Bundle 10% off with all the sets being released. DID YOU CHECK OUT FLOURISHES FIRST EVER SPEED CHALLENGE? Click HERE to find out how you could QUICKLY win this entire release! Happy Shopping!
Clear Dollar Stamps Monthly Blog Hop is Sunday 20th. See you back Sunday, have a great weekend!

Totally Stampalicious March Blog Hop

Welcome to Totally Stampalicious March Blog Hop and New Release. If you just came from Julie's Blog you are in the right spot. If you are just joining us head back on over to the Totally Stampalicious blog to start your hopping. Here are some details about the New Release!
We are very excited to share the LATEST and GREATEST additions to the Totally Stampalicious Bugaboo Line! Available NOW at Totally Stampalicious Store!
As always we have PRIZES to give away and all you gotta do is get hoppin' and leave a comment on each of the Design Team's Blogs to be eligible to win one of these FABULOUS PRIZES:
Grand Prize - All 4 New Stamp Sets
2nd Prize - $15 Gift Certificate
3rd Prize - $10 Gift Certificate
Don't forget that we are still running our Stampalicious Scarlette Promotion!
The first card I am going to show you is using the new set called Best Bud Brats. I had to stamp the boys out first. This is actually a twin card meaning I made two of these one for each of the boys to put in their lunches this week. They are going to love this set. A simple little easel card fold. I added a textured star to the background and stamped the sentiment. I think its simple and sweet.

Next up is Present Scarlette. I love the different sentiments in this set. This awesome new dp I got is from Memory Box called Pixie and I am just about out of the pack I have used it so much. Fun little Spellbinders Nested Pennants in the corner and voila a fun birthday card. I really like how this turned out also.

Your next stop in the Blog hop is over to Joanne's blog. Enjoy the rest of your blog hopping and happy shopping!
See you back here tomorrow for the last of Flourishes Sneak Peeks for March.

Bunny Gift set and tutorial

Welcome to day 2 of Flourishes March Release. This is a long post since I have a tutorial so bare with me. Reminders: Power Hour Release party TONIGHT 9pm central in SCS Forums. Your chance to win the entire release is by playing in A Cut Above The Rest Challenge. Also your chance of winning the set today called Spring is Sprung over on Flourishes Blog.

The boys teacher is a huge collector of bunnies. Thinking ahead for Easter I thought I would create a little gift basket of note cards with the bunnies for her. I know she is going to love these cards. Here are a few of them showing and what the inside of my box looks like when its empty.
Maybe my second tutorial so be gentle with your thoughts. lol This first photo is the supplies mainly used. The Spellbinders Grand Calibur is awesome! I have pictured the Spellbinders Classic Oval but I never ended up using that one so disregard that part. My box base is using Nestabilities Grand Scalloped Squares
I took a piece of 8x11 soft suede and cut out my shape and embossed it. You see below here.






Then I scored 1 1/4 from both sides. Turned and scored at 2 inches on each side. Folded each scored line and then cut on the shorter scored lines for the edges. Secured the box with scorpal 1/4 inch tape for a good bond.

Next I took another piece of soft suede that measured 4 1/2 x 10 inches long. Scored at 3 inches. From the scrap piece of the square I traced and made a scallop edge on the top.

Next I cut and decorated the inside of the box backing so when the cards are empty their is a little surprise inside.

Below is how I adhered the insert to the inside of the bottom of the box to make it a lot sturdier. I forgot to take a picture when I added tape to the back also.

Next you slip it inside the box and press to adhere the tape and bottom together. Decorate the outside as you would like. I added the Basketweave stamp to the outside and ran some white braided trim around the box. Had some pink Rhinestones that looked perfect and a new Rose Floret Flower to the center. Voila an instant little gift for the boys teacher.

Now if you are still with me thank you. ha ha Please be sure to check out the fabulous creations from the DT:
Christine
Cindy
Julie
Leslie
Dawn
Danielle
Barbara
Jan Marie
The Gambler's sale is now 40% OFF!!! See you tonight at the Release Party! Have a great day.

Introducting Lenton Rose....

Flourishes March Sneak Peeks start today. Some beautiful sets for you to drool over this month once again. You have a chance at winning the entire release by playing in A Cut Above The Rest challenge. Enter the drawing for today's set Lenton Rose over on Flourishes Blog. Don't forget to mark your calendars Thursday night is Flourishes Power Hour Release party at 9pm central in the SCS Forums.

I am going to show you two cards I made using the new set Lenton Rose. This first one is springy and fresh. I really love the yellow satin ribbon so I went with that for my color. Copic collections used were Buttercup and Fields . Added a few pearls to the side to finish it off.



This next one I went with another large image in the set and thought of creamy caramels and chocolates the whole time. So that is my colors for this one. ha ha Ofcourse I had a few chocolates while I was working which helped me out a bit. :0) Copic collections used were Flesh tones 1, Flesh tones 2 and Spring greens. I added the lovely brown velvet crochet ribbon to the back panel. Some pearls along the top and called it good. I love how this turned out even if the flowers are brown.

Be sure to check out the wonderful creations from the DT:
Christine
Cindy
Julie
Leslie
Dawn
Danielle
Barbara
Jan Marie
See you back here tomorrow!

HM&F 91 Welcome Spring

Happy Monday! It is time for House Mouse and Friends blog challenge 91... This weeks challenge is brought to us by Mary. Our sponsor is none other than Simon Says Stamps and up for grabs is a $15 gift card. Mary's challenge to us is welcome spring.

I choose these darling mice flying their kites called Butterfliers. Spring time ushers in all kinds of activities that have been put away during the winter months. Kite flying is a lot of fun if you know what you are doing. ha ha These guys look like they are enjoying themselves. Kept this very simple with a bit of swiss dots and some ribbons. I just think they are too darn cute don't you? Be sure to check back at the HM&F blog for the DT creations.

This week sure is busy with new goodies coming your way. Flourishes March sneak peeks start on Wednesday. Plus our Power Hour Release party is Thursday night.

Totally Stampalicious March blog hop and release is Thursday night at 6pm. Still have things to finish up for the week! Hope you have a great day, see you back here on Wednesday!

TS Monday Cheers

Over on Totally Stampalicious blog the challenge is Cheers. Use your favorite beverage on a card. Well the person this is going to is a beer drinker so it fits perfectly. ha ha Simple and sweet masculine card. I used Beer Guzzlin Gus for my card along with the MB Curio paper that looks like something from the 70's lol. I think it goes great with Gus don't you? Hope you can play along with us this week! Don't forget Thursday 6pm central is TS Blog Hop and New Release. You won't want to miss these new sets!

Flourishes A Cut Above the rest

It is that time again for Flourishes Pre-Challenge and your chance to WIN the ENTIRE new release for March. Check out *A Cut Above the rest Challenge* over on Flourishes blog for all the details. Don't forget the Gambler's Sale is at 35% off now!

This has been a long week for me so I went simple beauty with my card and the challenge. I will explain my week after the details. A Year in Flowers 2 is my favorite bunch of the series A Year in Flowers. I used the gorgeous roses out of this set. They are layered on Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Ovals SM. Rhinestones always glam up a card, then who can resist the gorgeous yellow silk ribbon for a fresh spring feeling? Satin ribbons were my favorite on cards until they came out with the silk. I haven't look back at silk since. lol The background dp is from the new Prima Sweet Fairy pack and I have used just about all of the papers in this pack. Its a wonderful spring set! The sentiment is from my go to set called Tag Lines. Be sure to check out the beautiful creations from the DT:
Christine
Cindy
Leslie
Dawn
Barbara
Jan Marie
Danielle
Julie
Now for my week.... I am feeling much better today and just glad that this cold is behind me. The kids are starting to feel a bit better also. My hubby was out of town teaching a class this week. I never do well when he is out of town anyways and to feel cruddy doesn't help. So he calls on Monday night as usual to tell me he is in the ER. And with the class he is teaching I was alarmed instantly. However it had nothing to do with that. He got a piece of steak caught in his chest at dinner and they had to sedate him and put a tube down his throat to get it out. Normally this happens if you have acid reflex a lot, smoke or have eustashia (spelling is wrong sorry) but he had none of these issues ever. They got the steak out, scrapped a biopsy sample to send off for results back to our local dr. to make sure there is no cancer or anything we are not aware of. Monday night was a long night since I am 4-5 hours away and could not be with him. Luckily he is with several officers that all knew what to do. Throw the sleepless night into over drive since he left the hospital at midnight, the kids all day field trip that I was a driver for and not feeling well you can say I am glad this week is over. So simple was the best way to go for this challenge this time. :0) If you are still reading I hope you have a wonderful day!

SSC #79 Hydrangea

Good morning! I am feeling much better today. I had a chance to color last night waiting for DH to phone. Pulled out my Hydrangea set from Clear Dollar Stamps and played in Stampin Sisters in Christ Challenge 79 stamped flower. This Hydrangea is so fun to cut out, and come to think of it I have done that several times now. Go with what I works I guess. Added a few jewels with the silver finishing touches ribbon slider for my ribbon. This new paper from Memory Box is called Pixie and I really do love the colors in this set. Very springy and fresh. Thanks for stopping in with me today! See you on Friday for Flourishes Pre-Challenge for the March Release. Sneak Peeks start on the 16th!

Bling Thing Scarlette

Good morning! I guess its almost afternoon really. I am feeling a little better today and hopefully completely on the mend. The kids seem to have gotten what DH and I have, nothing like family sharing when your sick. ugh... Anyways... I got in the stamping room this morning to make a card for Totally Stampalicious Monday challenge. to Try a New Technique or one you haven't done in awhile. I haven't paper pieced so I thought I would give Scarlette here a new dress. Bling Thing Scarlette is the set I used. I added a few jewels for her bling and the sketch from C4C sketch challenge. Fun sketch and I really like this new paper from Prima called Sweet Fairy. Some gorgeous papers in this pack. I should eat something and then rest while I can today. I will catch up on blog later this week. Have a wonderful day!

Friday Focus on Dimension

Over on Flourishes Blog today Christine is showing us ways to bring dimension to your creations. She has a fabulous tutorial be sure to check it out. My husband is one of the greatest treasures that God has given to me and I thought about making a card to slip into his lunch this week.
Deciding on the stamp to use wasn't hard. I adore A Guiding Light set for just about all masculine cards. The sail is perfect for adding dimension so a win win situation. First I stamped out the ship and then the sails seperately two times. My brown frame panel was easy peasy to make. The Grand Calibur is awesome for any of my Spellbinders shapes I have. This one was using Spellbinders Nestabilites Petite Ovals LG. After it was cut out I added dimensionals to the back of the panel to pop it up.

Below you will see a close up of the ships masts (isn't that what its called) It looks like three layers this way. I have the base layer of the image, then I cut out the whole shape of the masts as one layer popped up. Then I cut out just the first set of masts you see in the image for the third layer. A bit of stickles on the water for a shimmery look and voila a card for hubby!



Be sure to check out the fabulous dimension creations from the other DT:
Christine
Cindy
Leslie
Dawn
Barbara
Jan Marie
DanielleHave a wonderful weekend!

TMS83 Classy Dress

She is devine isn't she. hee hee This is for the Tuesday Morning Sketch 83 blog challenge. Scarlette fits perfectly in the sketch I thought. Her classy dress and her sparkly new diamond are so fun. Officially she is called Bling Thing Scarlette. I adore the whole line of Scarlette's, she is spunky and fun all around. I kept this very simple and didn't added much other than the sparkle. A very versatile sketch over all I think. Thanks for stopping in today!

Four of a kind

It is time for Flourishes Christmas Spirit challenge for March. This months challenge is to have Four of something on your card. Four images or four embellishements anything you want as long as you have four of it. Read all the details, the winner of last months challenge and to play along HERE.

Four images is what I choose for my four. This candycane is from Sweets of the Season. Each of the bows is cut out and popped up on dimensionals and has a hint of sparkle to it. Added the sentiment onto a Spellbinders Fancy Tags and some silver cord and candycane twine to tie my bow. Simple and sweet and another one down. I hope you get a chance to play along with us! Dawn my wonderful friend and fellow DT over at Flourishes has a Christmas Spirit Sample to share with you also. Have a wonderful day.