Festival of Trees Donation

Each year I donate a stack of cards for our area Festival of Trees to benefit Parkview Home Health and Hospice. I like to do non-traditional colors for Christmas cards. This year I decided to do Close to Cocoa and the new Baja Blue. I used the Baja ribbon. The stamp was by pennyblack.com and purchased at Archiver's. I used the Cutterbug embossing folders - snowflakes. I wish the picture showed the glitter I added - they really sparkle!

I hope all my stamping buddies are doing well! I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Pocket Silhouette

Hi friends! I love this little stamp set. Every morning when I head down to the basement to iron my clothes for work I see the silhouettes of my flowers in the basement window against the light of the rising sun. It reminds me of this stamp set! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I stamped for an entire weekend two weeks ago so I have tons of samples to share.

This paper combination is one of my favorites and worked well with this set. Paper: Kraft, Whisper White, and Basic Black. Ink: Black.

Pocket Silhouettes

I blew around a little dust tonight and cracked open some ink pads. I love the new "in-colors". I have to look at the stamp set each time I want to type the word "silhouette" - that's the only bad thing about this set! I like this set because it reminds me of my Mom's garden in the fall when everything is drying out. I hope you are doing well tonight and thank you very much for stopping by my little blog!

Ear and Life Update!

Hi Everyone! I feel like I have neglected this blog for way too long! I just wanted to say hi to all my stamping buddies and to let you know that I am still alive!

First I want to say thank you to all your positive comments and prayers about my ear. I have always felt that everything in life happens for a reason. There are lessons to be learned every single day. For those who don't want to read my last post and still be update here is the long story short - On Aug 2nd got hit hard in the ear with a water balloon, perforated my eardrum, had no pain, didn't know I hurt it so badly, about 3 hours later poured rubbing alcohol in my ear to "open it back" up, within 20 minutes became violently ill and dizzy, went to ER got better. End result - lost hearing and had nerve damage to my tongue.

The good news is that my hearing is nearly restored. I still have no taste on the right side of my tongue and it tingles constantly. There is a sensory nerve that controls part of your tongue that runs through the inner ear. I damaged it with the toxicity of the rubbing alcohol. I saw an inner ear specialist last week and there really isn't anything we can do but wait. It may take up to 6 months to heal. I am very blessed that I can hear again. The lack of taste has not kept me from eating either!!! LOL!

I've had a great summer. I have been playing a lot of golf this summer and working on improving my game. Some days are better than others! My kids are healthy and doing well. This summer we spent every single Wednesday (my day off) doing something extra special.

I can't wait to get back on the stampin wagon again! All the blogs I visit have been inspiring! I just finally got my first order from the new SU catalog. Thanks again for all your well wishes! My readers ROCK! Have a great day!!!!

Cupcake Birthday

Wouldn't you just love a cupcake right now? I sure would. Every time I see stamps of cupcakes I want to eat! I just want to thank you for all the nice emails about my ear. I appreciate your prayers! I hope you are all having a great weekend! It is so nice out, but I'm inside scrapbooking! It's nice to have the laundry done and time to craft! Take care! :) Julie

Birthday Month!

Wow! What a busy birthday month....my mom, mother-in-law, and two sister-in-laws! Three are in one week! :) I had a lot of fun making these cards. I definitely had difficulty stamping the words straight!

I was off last week on vacation and had plans to stamp the entire week. Sometimes God has other plans for us! The Saturday that my vacation started I was nailed in the head by a waterballoon (during a battle - it was accidental) and felt a searing pain that went away quickly and then I could not hear. Felt okay and spent the rest of the day out on the lake. About 3 1/2 hours I was tired of having "water" in my ear and had my sister-in-law pour rubbing alcohol in my ear to evaporate the water. NOT A GOOD SUGGESTION. I didn't know that my eardrum was perforated before I had her pour in the alcohol. Within 20 minutes I was so ill I couldn't stop vomiting and my vertigo was so severe I could get off the bathroom floor. I added too much fluid to my inner ear. I finally got to the ER to get shot for the nausea and anti-vertigo medicine. Needless to say, I didn't feel like stamping very much last week. So....the good news is that my ear drum has already healed. Bad news is that I have moderate hearing loss in my right ear (can't hear unless it is at least 70 decibels) and no taste buds working on the right side of my tongue. My hearing should have improved when the ear drum closed. The alcohol may have permanently damaged the hearing and taste. I saw an ENT yesterday who did not give me any encouragement. So please say a little prayer that my hearing improves! We are doing everything that we can - I took a steroid shot yesterday and start an oral steroid in 6 days and I am on oral antibiotics and ear drop antibiotics. I would appreciate prayers that my hearing improves. I am a speech therapist and I need it to hear the sounds my kids make at work so I can help them. If it doesn't improve I will get a hearing aid! God doesn't give us anything we can't handle....right??? Right!!!!!

Preppy Birds

We are celebrating my Mother-in-laws birthday tomorrow night and I needed a card. I cleared the dust of my stamping area and got to work. I think these birds look kind of preppy! I hope that you are having a wonderful summer! My kids head back to school two weeks from today...unbelievable! Take care! :)Julie

Long time no stamp!

Hi Everyone! Hope you are having a great summer! I recently had a party for my stamp club members and had all the paper stacked into a pile. I thought it looked neat and decided to take a picture of it...then I got to thinking about all the paper I've cut over the years and what that would probably look like!

I also made some more golf cards for a donation to our local "Rally for a Cure" golf outing. We've been keeping busy with t-ball and baseball. I look forward to having some time soon to post some more! Until then, take care!

Happy Retirement!

My father-in-law retired from teaching this year and has plans to play A LOT of golf! So, I thought this card would be perfect for him. I need to make some cards for a give-away for a benefit for Susan B. Koeman (I hope I spelled that correctly!). I think that I am going to use this set and somehow incorporate the color pink.

The hardest thing for me with this set was thinking of a background. There are only 3 stamps in the set. The golf balls worked out great.

Hope you are having a GREAT weekend! I got a little too much sun today!!! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Thank You!

I made this card for Ryan's teacher to say thank-you for a great year! The color inspiration came from kwerner's design blog. I like it when I don't have to do the thinking...don't you?

I've been spending today making sure I don't break my New Year's resolution - keeping up editing and developing 2008 pics. Boy is that hard!!! I also realized that I don't need to keep burning CD's....I bought a 4 GB memory stick at Sam's club. SO MUCH EASIER!!!!!! Hope you all are having a great day! Thanks for stopping by my little blog!

Here is the recipe:
Stamps: Always
Paper: Kraft, Real Red, Whisper White
Ink: Real Red, Tempting Turq, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, and So Saffron

Bird or no bird?

I was so excited to play with my new "Always" set by SU!. My favorite image in the set is the bird. However, I can't find a place I like it on any of the cards I'm making! I almost like the card better without the bird. What do you think???

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Have a great day!!!!

Here is the recipe:

Stamp Set: Always

Ink: Bordering Blue, Night of Navy

Paper: Bordering Blue, WW, Night of Navy

Accessories: Circle Punches

Simply Said

What a beautiful weekend we have had in Indiana! I got to do so many wonderful things! I spent time with my family and was also able to stamp a little bit (finally!). I hope no matter where you are, you had a good weekend!

Here is a really easy linear card to make (you know how I love straight, clean lines). I am going to ink up my new "Always" SU! stamp set tonight. I can't wait! I've had fun looking at all the cool samples online today. Thanks for stopping by my little blog!

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Simply Said, Warmest Regards

Ink: Basic Black

Paper: Real Red, Basic Black, WW

Accessories: Real Red Marker

Belated Mail Day!

Hi Everyone! Happy Wednesday! Charmaine sent me this wonderful card a while ago and since I've been a bit behind it's just now getting posted! Thank you for the sweet card Charmaine! Be sure to check out her great blog HERE.

It's a rainy day in Northeast Indiana today! A great day to spend stamping! When my little partner gets done with preschool today I think we will head up to our cave! Thanks for stopping by.

You Make Me Happy.

I've been spending a lot of time in the recent past scrapbooking and thought I would share a simple page I made. I am such a linear person! I love clean layouts with straight lines! I like simple things! This is a picture of my daughter and my neice. I used the sell-a-bration rub-ons SU!. The saying is "You make me happy".

I recently hosted a scrapbook weekend and 55 women were there. There were A LOT of cricut machines and cartridges there also. Does anyone else use the cricut? In my opinion, I feel that is the best invention for scrapbooking EVER!

I hope you all have a good week! I'm in Chicago at a conference right now. I drove around forever downtown looking for my hotel - they changed the name of it last week and I didn't know!!! Take care! :)Julie

It's about time!

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful, wonderful women out there!!! I'm so happy to be posting a card today!

I had bella-fever last night and inked up this pretty gal - Causeabella. This is one of my favorite bellas.

I hope that you are having a nice day wherever you are! The weather here is cold and rainy, but it was a great day yesterday! Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Fight2Win

This isn't stamping related, but it is something that is very important to me! Today marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Alese Coco. Her incredible life was cut short by complications from Hodgkin's Disease. She was as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside. The entries on her blog are some of the most inspirational words that I have ever read. She had an incredible spirit and belief in God. I followed her blog and prayed for her for about a year before she passed away.

Fight2Win was Alese's mantra. Her family has spent the past year setting setting up the Fight2Win campaign. Their mission is a 100% cure rate of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. This will be accomplished through research that focuses on Hodgkin's Disease. The research will be initially completed at the Alese Coco Hodgkin's Research Laboratory at Columbia University. They also have the goal to provide a support network for patients diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma. That is something that I would have benefited from greatly when I was undergoing treatment. Click HERE to read Alese's blog.

Please say a prayer for Alese's family today. This is a very difficult day, but also a promising time as they are finally able to move forward this incredible campaign. Please consider donating to this cure. There are so many young people that have Hodgkin's Disease. They went through treatment just like I did, however, they haven't made it to remission. Jennifer Willey is continuing her battle everyday. Click HERE to read her last blog entry. Please pray for strength and peace for her.

My birthday is coming up soon! Help me celebrate by considering a donation to Fight2Win. I will continue to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, but I will also start donating my card sales to http://www.fight2win.org/ . Thanks for reading my blog today and reading about something that is very important to me!

Hello!!

Hi Everyone! My little craft partner and I need to get busy back into our craft room and make some cards for the blog! We've been busy going on preschool field trips, visiting with our new baby cousin/niece, and enjoying the beautiful weather we've been having in Indiana. We hope you all are doing well and we hope to have some creations to share with you soon!

Something Different....

I really like how paper piecing looks. I thought it would be neat to paper piece the butterfly from garden whimsy. Here's the problem - that's a solid stamp. I couldn't figure out how to do it since it was a solid image. So....I inked it in Versamark, stamped on SU! DP, and then lightly colored it with chalk so I could see where to cut. I used different size hole punches to punch out the circles in the butterfly. I went ahead and placed cameo coral paper behind the butterfly. Then I stamped the image in chocolate chip on cameo coral and placed the wings I had cut out on top of the image. I'm no sure what this technique is called, but it seemed to work out. This card is much prettier in person! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!

Quickie

Hey everyone! I needed a real quick little note card so I just took some tempting turquoise and added a little rub-on the bottom. Rub-ons are wonderful! I just found a catalog called Uppercase Living....has anyone ever heard of that catalog? It's like giant rub-ons for your walls! Leave me a comment if you have ever used their products and how it turned out! Thanks!

A Little Birdie Told Me

Happy Wednesday! Wahoo! We are halfway to the weekend. Here is a little card I made for a friend. I love Basic Grey paper! I like how my SU! in-colors went well with it also. Thanks for stopping by my little blog!

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: A little birdie told me (SU!), "hi there" from Papertrey Ink

Paper: Basic Grey, Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou

Accessories: Wild Wasabi Ribbon, Dimensionals

Blog Candy Winner!!!

I just can't believe how many people came out of the woodwork to comment on the blog candy! I thought I only had a handful of people that regularly checked my blog! Thank you for all the nice comments.

I'm here with my friend Nikki and she is the random number picker today - she picked.....comment #29!!!

Congratulations to Jackie! She said.....

What's not to love about Spring - everything getting greener, flowers blooming, the smell of fresh cut grass, warm sun (at last!), and here in NC, badly needed rainfall! I love it all!
April 7, 2008 6:13 AM

Please email me your address Jackie! My email is go_hoosiers@sbcglobal.net

Blog Candy!

I'm giving away my first Blog Candy! Just leave me a comment about what you LOVE about Spring and I will randomly pick a comment on Wednesday, April 9th! Included is a mess of Wild Wasabi ribbon, SU Hugs and Wishes, SU pink passion ink, and Making Memories Chipboard Letters.

Come on lurkers! Leave me a comment! :)Julie

No Stamping Card

Good morning! It's another bright day here! We just can't get enough of them! I went to type "images (c) SU!)" on this picture and then I realized there weren't any stamped images. I made this card as a thank you for my mother who helped me with Easter dinner. Not only did she come and help me 2 hours before dinner (with my Grandma) she made my FAVORITE holiday dish - broccoli and cauliflower with homemade cheese sauce on top! It's a pain to make the sauce and she did it just for me. So, she was very deserving of a huge thanks!

I wish everyone a great day today! Have a good weekend!

Here is the recipe:
Stamps: None!
Paper: Certainly Celery, Pink Passion
Ribbon: Retired SU!
Accessories: Chunky SU Glitter, SU Chipboard

Please pray....

Please pray for a young family with the names of Tricia, Nathan, and Gwyneth. I've been following this blog for a long time - Tricia is prepping right now for double lung transplant surgery. This is an amazing story and has taught me a lot about the power of prayer. Check it by clicking HERE.

The sun is out in INDIANA!!!

Wahooo! The SUN is out today here! What a difference it makes! I feel that this has been one of the longer winters in a long time. Last Friday, it rained and then sleeted, and then became dark and we had thunder and lightening, and then we went to bed and woke up to a good amount of snow on the ground. Come on Mother Nature....figure it out already!!!!!

During my little break from blogging I told you I did a little shopping online. I went to Ellen Hutson and bought some Lockhart stamps. I have always wanted a cupcake stamp. I don't make cupcakes, but I like blogs about cupcakes, I like looking at cupcakes and I like eating cupcakes. I like to stamp cupcakes too! This was a single stamp and I just masked it to add the two on the sides. I added glitter for sparkle and Dew Drops by Robin's Nest for 3-D.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today! Have a great Wednesday!!!

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Full of Life (SU!), Cupcake (Lockhart)

Paper: Basic Black, SU! DP, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate

Accessories: Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Dew Drops, Markers and Blender Pens

Baby Mania!!!

It's been like baby mania around here lately! I am finding that I need baby cards again. I was digging through some old SU! designer paper lately and found these two old favs of mine. The base of both of these cards are the same - the boy card was taken in natural sunlight and the girl card at night under my OTT-lite. I'm working on rearranging some items on my blog. I added some links to blogs I visit regularly. If I visit yours and don't have yours listed, please let me know! It was an oversight and I would be more than happy to link your site to mine!!! I also spend a lot of time reading other types of blogs (gasp!) that are not stamping related. I listed some of those also. Today is the last day of vacation - sniff, sniff.... Thanks for stopping by my blog today!!!

Back to Stamping! Beate's Weekend Sketch

Hey everyone! I'm back!!!! I feel SOOOOOOOO much better since I had a week's vacation from work! I'm sleeping much better again! Thanks for visiting my blog even though I haven't been posting any samples. What a great way to start stamping again - completing Beate's Sketch Challenge! I did a little Internet shopping on my break from posting. I have wanted some Elzybells for a long time...I really like the holiday ones the best, but these little gals caught my eyes.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm really looking forward to catching up on my favorite blogs! P.S. I am getting some BLOG CANDY ready!

Here is the recipe:
Stamps: Full of Life (SU), Hugs (Elzybells)
Paper: SU DP, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Markers and Blender Pens

Insomniac in the House!

Hey blog friends! I was sitting here feeling badly that I haven't updated my blog much in the last two weeks! I'm taking a little break from posting until April. I haven't been feeling very well lately and I think that it is due to my chronic sleep walking! Yes, anyone who has lived with me in my life can attest that I am an avid sleep walker!! I've also been working a lot more than I am accustomed to (yes, I'm spoiled on part-time) and that is likely affecting my sleep too. Sooooo.....I'm trying to simplify my life for a short bit to get my sleep back on track! So, everyone take care and I'll be back soon!

Beate's Weekend Sketch

I've said it many times before...I LOVE SKETCHES! I love it when someone else does all the thinking for you! Sorry I didn't post this past week. I worked full-time and I haven't felt very well lately. I'm feeling much better today!

This was the first time I did the faux-criss/cross stitching. I think it adds to the card! I was also glad to get out this stamp set again! I love GARDEN WHIMSEY!!! Do you think we can petition SU! to NOT retire these IN-COLORS??? I can't wait to see what the new ones will be this summer!

Have a great weekend! Thank you for checking out my blog! Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Garden Whimsey

Ink: Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate

Paper: SU Designer Paper, Wild Wasabi, Apricot Appeal

Accessories: Purely Pom Double Stitched Ribbon, Paper Piercer

My Family

What a fun little project! I can't wait to make some more of these for my friends.

I ended up with fangs on my person because I stamped the head down too low! LOL!!! Oh well, some days the kids probably think I have fangs! Thanks for looking! :)Julie

UPDATE: I forgot the recipe for this project!!!
Stamps: All in the Family, Family Accessories

Sunday Stamping

I was browsing splitcoaststampers and was inspired to make this card by this card . I really liked the little side panel. What a great day for stamping. I'm taking a break to watch my Hoosiers. They are currently getting their bottoms kicked by Michigan State. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend. I'm just sure Spring will be here soon!!!!!!


Here is the recipe:
Stamps: Friendship Blooms
Paper: Blue Bayou, Chocolate chip, Whisper White
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky
Accessories: Blender Pen (soft sky), More Mustard Marker, Brad

Rub-ons ROCK

Happy weekend to everyone! I finally have some time to stamp this weekend! Yahooo!!! I hope you do also! Rub-ons ROCK!!!! I have loved them for years and I am happy that SU! has their own now!!! Here is a quick card I just made for a friend.

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Friendship Blooms

Paper: Regal Rose

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Love & Happiness Rub-ons, Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose Markers, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Stampin' Dimensionals

Scrapping!

Last weekend I was lucky and was able to attend an all-day crop at a local school. I can't keep up on our family album, but I keep up on 8x8 books for my son and daughter. I spent the day working on catching up on Kayla's album. I love 8x8 books! 8x8 pages are so quick and easy, plus I love how much the kids love them too! Here are a couple of pages I did that day! I don't stamp a lot in my scrapbooks, but I did use my SU alphabet for the "cousins" word. I had been waiting FOREVER to use the rub-on flourish on the "rock stars" page. I used certainly celery DP paper on that page too. I hope you have a great day today! I plan on one here!!!! Thanks for stopping by! :)

A Good Morning

Good morning! I'm just sitting here quietly in my living room watching the sun come up. Everyone is still asleep this morning. I love this time by myself. It's so quiet, just the sounds of the house (clock ticking, furnace running, keys tapping on keys) are around. I would love to have a cup of hot chocolate right now like the one on the front of this card. The whipped cream has dazzling diamonds on it, so it sparkles. I also popped up the peppermint stick. This is my last sample of the cards I made in Michigan two weeks ago. I better get busy stamping again! I was in scrapbook mode all day yesterday - a local school had an all day crop for their PTO. It was nice to get some work done in the kid's 8x8 albums. I might post some of my favorite little pages I made so you can see more of my family this week. Have a great day today! Thanks for stopping by my little blog!

Here is the recipe for my card:

Stamps: Thanks a Latte

Ink: Close to Cocoa, Soft Sky, Real Red

Paper: Soft Sky, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Soft Sky DS Ribbon, and the best glitter in the world...dazzling diamonds!

Need some sunshine?

Is winter about over? I needed some sunshine today! I walked into Walmart and these yellow flowers caught my eye. They were so cheerful and cheap I couldn't pass them up! I'm sooooo ready for some sunshine! I also wanted to share a card that I received from my SU! upline, Linda Bauwin from Jefferson, Ohio. This card sparkles so much in person. I just LOVE glitter! She used the Merci SAB set. Thanks for checking out my blog today. Have a great day!

Back to Blogging!

My self-imposed blogging/stamping ban is over! My taxes are done!!! WAHOOO!!! I do not know why I can't seem to keep up with my SU stuff each month. I just like to wait and do the entire year at one time! I hope that everyone is warm tonight - I hear the wind roaring here in northeast Indiana. This is another card I made from our stamping weekend. It was great to borrow sets from my friends that I do not have. This is from the SU set "Office Accoutrement". I need to get out my dictionary and look up "accoutrement"!! I cut out the flowers and layered them. Thank you for taking the time to stop by my little blog!

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Office Accoutrement,

Ink: River Rock, Purely Pom, Basic Black

Paper: River Rock, Purelly Pom, Whisper White, Basic Black

Accessories: Black Brads

A little birdie told me....It's the WEEKEND!

Boy, was it ever one of those days! I'm certainly glad that the day is about done and we are heading into the weekend!!! I wanted to share another card we made last weekend. I really like the set because it is super duper easy to color. I just used markers, but it will be super duper easy to shade with the aquapainter. I stamped the hat and it is slightly popped up with a glue dot.

This was the first time I had used Ballet Blue in a long time. It's funny how some of the SU colors are really hot for awhile and then they kind of go out for a bit.

I wish everyone a GREAT weekend and happy stamping! Thank you for looking at my blog today!


Here is the recipe:
Stamp: A little birdie told me
Paper: Ballet Blue, Only Orange
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Glue Dot, Markers

I love Wednesdays!

I just love Wednesdays! There are several reasons why. One of the biggest reasons is that it is my day off from work! My five-year old Kayla goes to preschool in the morning for 2 1/2 hours and then we have the rest of the day to spend together. She is my youngest and I can't believe that she will be in Kindergarten next year. So, I really treasure Wednesdays too!

While Kayla is a school I can stamp! I was so excited to see the color challenge on SCS this week - those are my FAVORITE colors together (tempting turq and green galore!) and I also love doing the sketch challenge. BUT, I can't stamp this a.m. I promised my husband I would get my portion of the taxes done (Stampin' Up! stuff)! YUCK! I want to stamp, not work on taxes!

Well, at least I can post a card that I made this past weekend! Have a great day today! Thanks for checking out my blog!

Here is the recipe:

Stamps: Happiness

Ink: River Rock, Real Red

Paper: River Rock, Real Red

Accessories: Real Red Wide Ribbon

Rated Excellent!

Thanks again to Charmaine who nominated for me for the "Rated Excellent" award. Now I am to pass this on to other bloggers. There are so many great blogs out there! I would like to nominate the following bloggers:

Janine at 2BKrafty

Lori at Inking Aloud

Josyln at What I Do

Nikki at Military Wife Stamping Spot

Wendy Jo at Ridiculously Addicted to Stamping

Kristine at Random Ramblings of a Scramping Addict

Gretchen at This n' That
Lauri at Paperville

Stampapalooza

Wow...I need some help with the titles of my postings! I wanted to share more of the cards that my friends made last weekend. I really tried to give credit where credit was due!!! Some of the cards were inspired or CASED off splitcoaststampers samples and I apologize for not having the original links to the samples.

Guess what? It's snowing here AGAIN! I'm am definitely ready for Spring! Hope everyone had a great day today. Thanks for taking a look at my blog!