ONLY for One MORE DAY...

Hey, everyone!

Can you BELIEVE it's the last day of February?

I definitely can't-and have TONS to do this Monday so I'll make this short and sweet-but I couldn't let the rest of the month go by without reminding you about the FABULOUS Key Ingredients Kit from Taylored Expressions this month!

Are you familiar w/the Key Ingredients subscription program?  Each month, Taylor puts together a GORGEOUS array of cardstock, patterned paper from the latest and greatest lines, and matching ribbon/embellishments and boxes it all up along with exclusive idea sheets, access to the Key Ingredients gallery, and a one-time 10% off offer each month!  

You'd be surprised at just HOW many creations can come from ONE months' kit!  Not only that, but the BRAND NEW Key Ingredients BLOG features almost an entire week of samples and product spotlights so your mojo will get an awesome head-start!

I have another card using one of my favorite new TE sets, "New Beginnings".  I love this verse:

"Only as high as I can reach can I GROW,

Only as far as I SEEK can I GO.

Only as deep as I LOOK can I SEE,

Only as much a I DREAM can I BE..."

SO beautiful and true, isn't it?  I addaed some flowers and ADORABLE epoxy brads from the My Mind's Eye "Lush" line, ALL included (You get a WHOLE PACK!) in this month's kit....so HURRY!  Last day to order!  Tell Taylor I sent ya :)

Have a HAPPY Monday, everyone!

~xoxo...

A Saturday at the Beach!...

Sigh...
DON'T.  I. WISH!

{{{oh-BY the WAY...if you are looking for my CLAUDIA & CO. BLOG HOP post, please just scroll down one post, thanks!!!}}}

Haha nope not going on any tropical vacays but it's time for a Saturday Sketch at Club Anya & Friends along with a preview of a BRAND NEW stamp...

CHEEKY BEACH!

She's a tropical dream w/ her wavy flowing hair, cute vintage suit and fancy schmancy hibiscus in her hair!   I'm hoping she'll wiggle her nose and teleport us to Maui...but I won't hold my breath ;)

She WILL be able to visit YOU though, beginning March 1st when she's released, along with Twirl Anya and the ONE-DAY presale of the new Creepin' Kit!  Exciting stuff!

Here's the sketch for this week at Club Anya & Friends:

Well, I'll be back later with a fun Stamping Bella card but for now, be sure to visit:

• 
  
• Buttercup's Blog
• Emma Eads
• Sari Hanninen
• Tanya Tahir
• Kristy Young
• Elena Joldersma
• • Anna Maria Nilsson
  • Jen Shults

Thanks and see you soon!
~xoxo...

Claudia & Co. BLOG HOP!...

{{{PLEASE SCROLL DOWN for my TGF PREVIEW POST...thank you so much!!!}}}

Hello and Welcome to Claudia and Company's first ever Customer Blog Hop!  We’re so excited to have you join us!

Today Claudia and Company is celebrating all of us- their dear friends and customers and that includes YOU!

If you’ve just joined the fun, be sure to pop over to the Claudia and Company Blog to start the hop and get all the deets!

I've been a HUGE fan of Claudia & Co. ever since my Die Cuts R Us DT days and was really excited to find out about this opportunity!   I stumbled across this ADORABLE digi "Girl with Kite-Sugar Sticks" BY LORI Designs and just HAD to use it for today's hop :)  BRING on the Spring!  Is this image not the CUTEST?

I decided to add some dimension using the paper tole technique and think this little Sugar Stick girl is TOO darling for words!   I hope you enjoy it as much as I do  (DP is Echo Park, who's whole current line is available in the Claudia & Co. store!)

Be sure and leave a comment on each of today’s fabulous posts, to be eligible for the PRIZES that are up for grabs! You'll have until Monday, February 28, 12pm EST to comment. Winners will be announced on March 1, during their Release Day Showcase.

Here is the complete list of stops on the Hop! Thanks for joining us and happy hopping!

LORi

Tracy

Sheri

Sandra

Krista

Kadie

Piali

Joni

Gwen

Sheng

Margie

Kelly

Jeanette

Cara

Kimmarie

Arielle

Hannah

Beverly

Sharette

Joy

Susan

Carol

Nicole

Paola

Mary J

April

Barb

Lorie

Sarabeth

Catherine

Veronica

Jessica

Judy

Taylor

Lysa

Jen

Jess <---you are here!

Pam

Heather

Mary

Claudia

Twirlin' into March releases with TGF...

Hello, everyone!  

TGIF!

I'm here today with some SUPER fun news and a preview from The Greeting Farm and a BRAND NEW Farm Fresh Friday challenge!

Just a few NEWSWORTHY things:

***Don't forget that on MARCH 1st, and March 1st ONLY, TGF will be having a ONE-day only PRESALE event on the new 8.5x11 "Creepin'" Kit!   ONLY on release day!  The kit will presale for a special price of $40 and then (no exceptions!) will not be released again until APRIL 1st, 2011.  HOORAY!***

***Please welcome ELENA, our March Guest Designer for Team Anya!***

That's SOME news, huh?  And now...for our first March stamp preview-introducing:

TWIRL ANYA!

Twirl Anya will be available on March 1st at The Greeting Farm, but you can WIN her today!  Be sure to visit the TGF Blog for all the details and to play along with this week's "Twirlin' into SPRING" Challenge for Farm Fresh Friday!

Thanks for stopping by today and be sure to visit:

• Buttercup's Blog
• Emma Eads
• Sari Hanninen
• Tammy Maxvill
• Tanya Tahir
• Elena Joldersma
• • Anna Maria Nilsson
  • Jen Shults

I'll see you back here soon for a CLAUDIA & Co. Blog Hop that I've been looking forward to!

~xoxo,

Hip Hoppin' with LOTS to share!...

HOLLA!  It's Thursday!

Time to HIP HOP.

Time to share LOTS of excitement!

First of all, tonight is the big night-the NUGGETS basketball banquet.

I am SO. SAD. that our season is over.  I so wish for my boys that B-ball was YEAR ROUND-

it is their favorite thing in the world...and since they are two of MY favorite things in the world,

I LOVE to watch them.  HAPPY. Thriving.  Determined.  SMILING.

Our coach this year is very special to us.

Three practices into the season, the coach they SHOULD have had...well, up and disappeared. Poof. Quit.  Just like that.  We were pretty upset...

While I don't know the whole story, I DO know that you don't do that to eight year old boys.  They were devastated.  Til this one Dad stepped in.  And ended up being the BEST. COACH. EVER.

So, for my first project today-here's the Chipboard album that I made-that we'll be presenting to him tonight at the banquet:

I used the stamps from the "Champ" set for many of my pages:

(Champ is available as a Stampin' Store kit-and not on the Unity website. For a list of stores, click HERE)

I also used the Itty Bitty stamp called "Tell Me More" to create this page:

There are no Unity stamps on this page, but that is MY BOY shooting a free throw-so had to include it, haha :)

Last but not least, another page created with the CHAMP set:

And here's the back cover, with the pennant stamped again saying "Thanks Coach".  My boys signed it for the coach already and I will be bringing it for the rest of the team to sign before we give it to Coach Brian!    

I have ONE more project to show you, but before I do, can I TELL YOU how stoked I am that our first NEW UNITY CHALLENGE is catching on so well?  I am THRILLED!  We have over 40 players so far and you guys have until March 14th to play along!  WOO HOO!

And SPEAKING of CHALLENGES?  Last but not least?  Today is a NEW Hip Hop Sketch challenge:

And here's a quick little fluttery creation I made using up some October Afternoon scraps (do you catch that this week as a theme?  I am USING. SCRAPS.  Hooray! Gotta prepare for some YUMMALICIOUS new CHA releases and the only way I can justify that is to use up what I have-I'm proud of myself ;) 

The stamp is a new "Itty Bitty"-do you know that there's a NOT SO ITTY BITTY sale going on at Unity right now?  Buy THREE Itty Bitties, get ONE free...and so on...buy SIX, get two free...you see where this is going!  SO you can scoop up this adorable "Dream Big" stamp along with SEVEN PAGES of other CUTIE PATOOTIES!   

Make sure to visit the UNITY BLOG for other news, and then it's onto my pal Jimmi's blog next!  

have a WONDERFUL Thursday, everyone!

~xoxo,

Elegant Encouragement...

Hi there, peeps!

Sorry, my post is up a little late today as I have been hit...kind of more like smacked, with a 2nd round of stomach flu :(  Totally NOT fun.   Thankfully, my sweet DH is home today and has saltines and chicken soup at the ready.  So it's just me and my laptop (and the puppy ;) curled up under a blanket at the moment.  Could be worse things, right?  ;)

Today I have a super simple yet elegant card I want to show you from the February KEY INGREDIENTS kit by Taylored Expressions. Have you seen this month's kit?  Check it out, in all it's BEAUTY:

Isn't it pretty?  It features yummy textured paper and brads (a WHOLE pack of them!) from the My Mind's Eye "Lush" collection, some gorgeous ribbon, rich jewel-toned cardstock, flowers, and MORE!  If you're not subscribed yet to the Key Ingredients kits, you're missing out on a SWEET DEAL!  Each month, a new kit comes to you door that is chock full of cardstock, papers, and embellishments that literally take the guesswork OUT of cardmaking!  There are sooo many possibilities, from clean and simple as I'll show you here, to a little more intricate which you can view on the KEY INGREDIENTS BLOG!

For my project today, I used the New Beginnings stamp set by Taylored Expressions and I just adore this Frame it Up #1 die that goes perfectly w/ the framed stamp.  I'm also really partial to this two-step stamping rose-isnt it beautiful?  I added one to my card along with some ribbon and some flocked paper (SOOO yummy!) and there ya have it-that's pretty much it. The beautiful and encouraging sentiment is also from the New Beginnings set.

You can find out more about the Key Ingredients subscriptions HERE.   If you're not already a subscriber, there are a lot of benefits you can start enjoying when you sign up, including a one-time offer for 10% of your TE purchases each month, exclusive access to the Key Ingredients Idea Gallery (brought to you by ME and our FANTASTIC Design team!), and how much FUN would it be to look forward to that package coming to your door each month!?  


Check out our FAQ page to have all your questions answered and you'll soon see why you *need* the Key Ingredients :)  


Thanks for stopping by today, everyone!  ~xoxo,

Tea-riffic Tuesday...

Hey, everyone!

Thanks again for stopping by today-I had a nice relaxing day yesterday, crafting with my little one in the morning and then catching up on housework down to the last load of laundry for the moment which feels good to at least be on top of things-you're never really "done" with laundry..ever, right?   LOL

During my fun crafty time yesterday I pulled out one of my FAVORITE stamps from Stamping Bella, "Scarlett the Teacup Girl".  When these teacup girls came out a few years ago I swear I had stamp envy FOREVER before I finally bought them, and then of course had no time to use them!   Now that things are a bit calmer I couldn't wait to color her up :)  Isn't she adorable?

I used this week's SCS320 Sketch for my card.  I grabbed some scraps of October Afternoon Thrift Shop DP and also Papertrey Ink's Distressed Dots along with my two fave PTI cardstock colors- Hawaiian Shores and Harvest Gold :)  Beautiful colors!  Sentiment is also from PTI and the adorable felt flower is from Maya Road!  

Thanks so much for stopping by for a spot of tea with me on this Tea-riffic Tuesday!

I hope you guys are having a SUPER start to your week!
~xoxo,

EXCUSE me?...

Howdy peeps!

Happy Monday!  I'm home w/ my little one today-she goes to a private preschool so she is off for President's Day :)  My older three were supposed to be but because of all the days off for weather, they're in school today!   I have tons to do so I'll keep this short and sweet but I hope you all had a FANTASTIC weekend and thanks for your sweet comments and emails about my post over the weekend.  It felt really good to write and I'll be doing it again soon!

Well, today at Club Anya & Friends we are CASEing a card from the TGF Galleria by DOREEN!  Such a great jumping off point for cardmaking this week-thanks, Doreen!

I used the new Cheeky Chat stamp from The Greeting Farm and Im sorry the photo came out so grainy :(  I dropped my camera- ughhhhhh...not sure what's up w/ it but I noticed when I photoshopped it that the settings were all crazy. Gonna have to have it looked at!  

I used some scraps from the awesome "Thrift Shop" and "Fly a Kite" lines by October Afternoon and had a great time case'ing Doreen!  This is a FANTASTIC layout that can be used over and over again-can't wait to see what you create when you enter Mystery Monday challenges at Club Anya & Friends!


That's it for me, but be sure to stop by the rest of the team's blogs to see their creations today:

• Peggy McCurry-Feb. Guest Designer
• Anna Maria Nilsson
• Amber Hight
• Kristy Young
• 
  

Hope you guys all have a SUPER kick-start to your week and I'll talk to you all soon!

~xoxo,

Determination.

Just a little non-crafty snippit.   Well, it's ALMOST non-crafty ;)  I am going to TRY to start doing this once a week...and as much as I would and SHOULD do it on my own accord, I'm even more flattered to say I've gotten a few emails asking to elaborate on some of my more 'inspiration' posts.   Wow, did that feel good!  And the answer is-OF COURSE <3

Anyway, I was thinking about determination today and how far it's gotten me in life.  I have always been a really determined individual and I'm not sure where the drive even come from...but it's alive and well within me...has been for some time.  More importantly it's in my children, and it's really amazing to watch life unravel here, day by day :)

My mother reminded me of a story not too long ago about RUBY SLIPPERS.   I have been a singer all my life and was proud as punch when I received the role of Dorothy in my 2nd grade production of "The Wizard of Oz".   What's more?  I was even MORE excited about wearing Ruby Slippers than I was about singing Somewhere over the Rainbow, let me just tell ya :)

Back then, you could not go to Target and buy the $9.99 Circo glitter studded shoes that almost every little girls owns a pair of now.  In fact, I think between my 2 girls we've had the red, the pink, AND the silver here, LOL.   Anyway, in 1983 or something these were not readily available.   My mother was always a good shopper.  She never spent a ton of money or spoiled us rotten but we were "borderline" rotten, haha.  No, really-we never wanted for much but if I had brand-name anything it was from the Clearance rack-nothin' wrong w/ that.  She also knew the department stores like the back of her hand and when she told you there were no Ruby Slippers?  There WERE no Ruby slippers.  This was ALSO before the age of the internet.  You could not "Google" anything.   Sigh...I pouted.  For days.

Then a lightbulb went off.  I very reverently and politely asked my mother for a bag of red sequins (you can see where this is going).  That day after school, she had gone to the craft store and bought the bag of sequins.  

"Mom?"
"Yes dear?"
"I need glue."
"What kind of glue?" my mother replies.
"I...dunno...that white glue in the gold bottle..."  (I am almost CERTAIN that this is the same "Aleene's Tacky Glue" that is still around today!  :)
"Here you go....what are you doing?" Mom asks.  Running down the basement stairs, I reply..
"Yooooooou'll seeeeeeeeeee!"

Ok, so remember these?

Yep.  Jelly Shoes.  Circa 1980something.  I think I had a few pairs of these.  Not sure what the allure was.  They were uncomfortable, left a little webbed impression on my feet, smelled that weird rubber smell, and were slippery when it was warm out.  Ew.   Still, it was "the" thing.

DETERMINED to have ruby slippers, the NIGHT before the play, I glued 86 million red sequins, ONE by ONE onto my white jelly shoes.  I put them carefully in a brown paper lunch bag and took them to school with me the next day for the big production.

I want to say that there were probably 84,000 red sequins on the floor of the stage by the end of the production, but I was a happy girl.

My Dad also recently reminded me of this during our family trip to Maui this past fall.  My parents took us on the trip of a LIFETIME and there was a beach that was in this really remote place, cliffside.  The only way down was to literally scale a fence but it was the most beautiful beach I had seen and I REALLY wanted to be there.   Now, those of you may not know this about me but i'm not exactly the most physically fit person in the world (LOL!!!!!).   But there I was, husband and father IN AWE (mom wouldn't look, she was too scared I would hurl myself too far from the fence and fall 150 feet to my death) as I said "WHO KNOWS when the next time I will EVER be so lucky to get to Maui?  WHO KNOWS if there will ever be another beach this beautiful?"

I LOVE determination.

IT's ALL about attitude.

Perserverance.  LOVING yourself and your goals and CHERISHING the ones

who believe in you.  My parents.  My family.  Good friends.  Love you guys :)

Knowing what it feels like to REACH that goal.  Baby steps or GIANT leaps-

BE determined :)

Reminds me of part one of my favorite quotes:

..."you've got to jump off the cliff and build your wings ON THE WAY DOWN".

xoxo,

HIP HOPPIN into Thursday with a NEW SKETCH!...

Howdy, peeps!

Now that the initial excitment has worn off regarding the NEW Unity Challenge (missed it?  Click HERE for the deets), let's not forget that today is HIP HOP THURSDAY and what does that mean?

Well, not only will hopefully we run into some of you on the Unity SCS forum, but it's time for a BRAND NEW SKETCH CHALLENGE!  Here is this week's sketch:

I LOVE having a sketch challenge as an awesome jumping off point for creativity.  Have you guys been PLAYING in the weekly challenge?  There are PRIZES each week and Jimmi does an AWESOME job keeping it all together HERE :)

I used the UBER adorable new Itty Bitty stamp, "I'm Here" for today's sketch and added some fun buttons and a touch of ribbon to the layout.  I am trying to use up some spare patterned papers that I've had laying around FOREVER before I even am tempted to get anything new (HELLO new Echo Park, basic Grey, Crate and Sassafrass?!?!  What's a designer to DO?!  lol).   I really like the colors on this one :)  Hope you do, too!

Well, make sure you stop by my girl Jimmi's blog next to see what she made for today's HIP HOP Thursday and be sure to visit the UNITY Blog to see what the dealio is for today!  Thanks so much for stopping by...and I'm sorry if I've been a bad bloggin' buddy!  I have like 700 posts in my reader but I plan to get to you!   Between CHA madness and coming home sick for a week it's just been a wee bit crazy!  I appreciate all your support!  MWAH!

~xoxo

Have you HEARD the NEWs?...

SOMETHING NEW.

Something EXCITING!  What could that be?

THE NEW. UNITY. CHALLENGE!  

We are totally excited about this NEW monthly challenge and NEW BLOG Page featuring a theme, monthly prize, and a HUGE Grand prize for anyone who plays each monthly challenge through the end of this year!

That's what I LOVE about UNITY-always something new and exciting!

This month's theme is HEARTS.   I <3 hearts!   I was never a "heart" person until Facebook where I became giddy when I saw that if you put the < and the 3 together you'd get this cute little heart, LOL!  NOTHIN' wrong w/ spreading the love, right?

For today's card, I wanted to showcase that you don't have to make a Valentine's themed challenge project so I used the new (and UBER adorable) "Family Tree" Itty Bitty by Jillibean Soup for Unity and the sentiment "Thanks a Bunch" is from the new Jillibean set "Blossom Soup"!
How CUTE (and SPRINGY-I am sooooooooooo ready for Spring!) is this sweet tree?

I highlighted the HEART from the tree by coloring w/ Copics and added some Stickles cuz I always love a little bling!   And YES, it's ANOTHER WHITE. BASED. CARD.  Thoughts?

I SURE hope you'll play in the NEW UNITY CHALLENGE and you can click HERE for all the deets as well as grabbing a BADGE for your blogs, too!

You guys have ALL month to play-NO pressure, just TOTAL fun and can't WAIT to see what you create!!!

~xoxo,

Boxed up with LOVE...

Hey, everyone!

I'm totally BUMMED that this didn't go live when I wanted it to-SORRY!

ANYWAY, CHECK ME OUT!  I'm over on the Taylored Expressions Key Ingredients BLOG today featuring a project that's BOXED up with LOVE!

Here's a little sneak peek:

I hope you'll go visit!

JUST a few FYI's about this month's KIT and the Key Ingredients SUBSCRIPTION programs:

IF you're already a subscriber, then your February KEY INGREDIENTS kit will be on its way to your doorstep on the 15th. And in the meantime, you can place orders for 10%off plus free shipping at the TE Store! You should have received your subscriber discount email already with your special coupon code. A few more things to remember:

1. You can find all of the February coordinating products HERE. This is a great way to get extra mileage out of your kit while knowing that everything will still match beautifully!

2. The design team is continuously adding projects to the Key Ingredients Gallery so make sure you check back often!

3.) If you're not yet a subscriber, I hope you'll consider joining us! Take a peek around here at the Key Ingredients blog and you'll find all the information you need to know about our kit club! Click here to learn more about subscribing or click here for our FAQ page! 

Well, that's about it for me today, everyone!  Thanks for visiting and I can't wait to see what YOU do with your Key Ingredients kit this month!

Other than that, see you over on the BLOG!  THANKS for visiting!

Want to WIN the i-rock?

Check out my review at Craft Critique today and you can enter to WIN one that they are giving away!   You can read all about the i-rock and let me know what you think of my review HERE.

Thanks again to my friends at Craft Critique for choosing me as their Guest Blogger today-I miss writing for them and had a blast doing this product review :0)  See ya over there!

What's in STORE this February?

Hey y'all!

Happy Saturday to you!   I'm here to show you the adorable new Stampin' STORE kit (available at retailers only and not on the main Unity site) from UNITY STAMP Company!

This month's kit, "Oh, Happy Day!", is seriously the MUST-HAVE Birthday set!  It's PERFECT, complete with numbers, presents, and bows!  Seriously if there is ONE occasion set you need this year, this is it!

Here's a card I made with this new set for my brother, Dann :)  You might have seen on yesterday's post, it was his birthday and so this will be a few days late but will swiftly be on its way to SoCal. SOON :)

Be sure to stop by the UNITY Blog today to see even MORE creations from our uber-talented DT members and to see WHERE you can purchase this cute kit!

See you all on Monday...I'm off to my boys' basketball tourney!

HELLO Friday!...

Hey everyone!

I have to say, that for the first time in a while, I am really feeling the TGIF today!  Normally, since I don't work a traditional job, Friday is just another day at the office LOL-and although I LOVE weekends to be able to relax a bit, we usually have early morning games or something else going on so I don't always have that "TGIF" mentality.  This week though, between the good ol' stomach flu and some extra work piled up from being gone, I have put in a ton of hours and it just feels good to be DONE with the week.  So HELLO, Friday!  HELLO weekend!

Speaking of HELLO, how cute is this Anya from the Miss Anya "Hats Off" collection by The Greeting Farm?  Today on the TGF Blog we have a new Farm Fresh Friday challenge-it's a color combo:

Cool thing is?  YOU get to choose the 3rd color!  How fun is that?!   I chose to add a splash of yellow and some fun puffy clouds with some Bella Blvd DP on my card:

After putting some fun papers together and the finishing touches on this colorful card, I really like it's bright and cheery color palette and as you know, I am MORE than ready for spring, LOL!

Be sure to visit the other Farmers and check out their beautiful creations for today's challenge:

• Shaela Odd-Feb. Guest Designer
• Buttercup's Blog
• Emma Eads
• Sari Hanninen
• Tammy Maxvill
• Tanya Tahir
• 
  

Last but not least, today is my wonderful brother's birthday.  Happy Birthday, Dann!  My brother and I are super close and he's also amazing with the kids and close w/ my DH too.  I love that.  Although I don't get to see him as often as I would love to, I got to spend some time with him while out in L.A. last week.  We hung out at the beach :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, brother!  LOVE YOU!!!
See you soon, everyone!
Hugs and TGIF!