Beautiful California

Hello everyone!

Just wanted to stop by here real quick and share this great picture of some of the talented ladies I was able to meet today, while on prep for CHA, which officially starts tomorrow. No sight of Tim Holtz yet, but believe me, we are on the look out lol.

I'm super tired, and the show hasn't even started yet! I think that it must be the time change that's killing me. I am off to relax right now for a bit. Tomorrow will be a very busy day. Thanks for stoping by!

Just a super quick post today, since I am super duper busy getting ready to leave for CHA today. (Are you planning to attend? I'd love to meet you!!! I'll be at the Lindy Stamp Gang booth on Sunday and Monday. Stop by and say hi!)

I wanted to share the sneak peeks at the projects I created using the February Design kit from The Paper Niche. Another great kit that will be released at the beginning of the month. Take a look:

I'm dreading the 6hr plane ride, but can't wait to get there. Hopefully I'll be able to take some video, and photos, so stay tuned for that, and also for an upcoming giveaway! Yay!
That's all for now folks! Have a great weekend!

Brothers

I had such a good time scrapping my husband's old pictures, I decided to make another layout with one of them. The Paper Niche's January Design kit was just perfect for these pictures, so I just kept on going.

Even though it's a boy layout, I did not mind adding the flowers to it. I usually stay stay from flowers when making "manly" layouts lol, but I thought a few would not hurt, considering the paper and other accents I was using on it. The boys were young at the time, so that also allowed me to play a little more with the embellishing.

I think it came out alright. What do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. As always, thanks so much for your comments!

Surprise Blog Hop for Susi!

Hi everyone, and welcome to Susi's Suprise Blog Hop! First off I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUSI (aka sillyshysushi on YT)! This Blog Hop is in your honor, and I hope you enjoy the wonderful projects that all the talented ladies created with you in mind. I myself I'm super excited to share and see what all the ladies created too, since we all tried to incorporate owls into our project, your's and my favorite!!!! So super excited, so lets get started!

I created what I consider a super cute Valentine's Day card using one of my favorite techniques at the moment, using micro fine glitter. Since Valentine's Day is just around the corner, I thought I'd start the festivities early, I mean, it's your birthday, and we're partying already, so why not, right? lol

LOVE the micro fine glitter, because once applied it looks, and feels like smooth velvet on your card. It is just stunning how the glitter is there, yet it is not all flashy and crazy like some glitter can be sometimes lol. The entire owl is done with the glitter and I love it.

Of course you recognize the owl, it's a Stampin up punch, and yes, I used all those different colored glitters to put this little guy together. A little tedious because of the small pieces, but, oh so worth the work. Just look at this little guy!

I used some MFT dies (Decorative Doily, and the Faux Crochet border), paper from Authentique---the Uncommon Collection, a Tim Holtz embossing folder for the woodgrain look in back of the owl, the Owl punch from Stampin up (the small hearts came from that punch as well), and finally a Hero Arts stamp for the sentiment. Coordinating cardstock is from Bazzil.
I hope you all enjoyed the project (specially you Susi), and I encourage you to keep on going through the line up of all the talented ladies participating on this hop. Here's the line up:
Linda - http://www.nanoysushi.blogspot.com
Alee - (will be posted on the nanoysushi blog)
Pam - http://www.poconopam.blogspot.com
Nancy - http://www.pinkbellamia.blogspot.com
Sharon - http://www.smscrapperdesigns.blogspot.com (YOU ARE HERE)
Elizabeth -http://www.beadybombom.blogspot.com
Tereese - http://www.fridayscreations.blogspot.com
Vero - http://www.goldenmomentssometimes.blogspot.com
Thanks so much for stopping by, and Linda (aka scrapchica on YT), thanks so much for organizing all this, and allowing me to participate. Happy Birthday Susi!!!!!!!

Super Simple Friday: It's your day!

Another super simple card for you guys using the first Greeting Farm Stamp I ever purchased! I love the Greeting farm stamps, and honestly need to use them more often. I made this card for someone who loves to fish...it was his birthday, so this was the perfect image for him. Since it was for a guy, I restrained from adding any bling or flowers, and tried to make it as plain as possible. I decided I was going to let the designer paper do the talking this time.

I used the Splash Collection by Echo Park. Just love the super bright colors, and their theme, well, they just went perfect with this card. I used some Doodlebug ribbon I've had in my stash for a while, as well as some Stampin up Stamps for the sentiments both inside and outside of the card.

Again, another super simple, super fun card. Thanks for stoping by today and hope you can join me back tomorrow for a super fun project, and blog hop involving OWLS!!! My favorite. See you then!

Just Smile

As time has gone by, and Emily has gotten bigger, it has definitely become a challenge to get a good picture...it seems she can't sit still, or refuses to smile. To get a good picture, it takes an army, and it's a total workout! 

Today, I'm sharing another one of my January layouts, using the Paper Niche's January Design kit. Super pretty papers from Prima in this kit. Loved how this one came out. It's hard to believe that the next picture right after this one displays a total meltdown on Emily's part. Not pretty at all I might add lol. Well, lets enjoy the pretty one, right?

With CHA just around the corner (Oh I can't wait to see all the new stuff coming out! Can you???),  it's been a challenge to get a second to sit, and blog a little. I have a few projects I've finished for CHA and I'm super excited to share, but I have to wait until I can reveal them, once the show starts, or is over. 

I have several other news, and things to share, but it's going to have to wait until I have all the details straightened up, and a little more time to sit quietly and write. Thanks for stopping by today, and like always, thanks for all your comments!

Silly Little Boy

Yes, I'm rocking a new look on the blog! Do you like it? I just thought, I needed a change, so I tweaked some things around. It's going to be a work in progress, but I'm liking it right now. I think that for not knowing too much about programing etc, I've been doing pretty well...I just don't feel like spending the money to have someone else make it all look fabulous, when I know I can make it look somewhat  decent myself, and for free! I'd love to hear what you think.

I came across some old pictures I had put away, and I decided to pick a few to scrap, after all, it's been quite a while since I've scrapped pictures that are older than two or three years. I picked these three from when my husband was little, and thought that some of the products included on the Paper Niche's January Design Kit would work very well with the colors in them. Here's what I came up with.

It was my first time splattering paint all over a layout, but I knew I need to make it a little messy and not so clean and "pretty". I stepped out of my comfort zone, and made it work. Love the old, messy, vintage look of this layout. I enjoyed working with these pictures so much that I picked another one to make a different layout which I'll be posting next. Right now, I have to run. Have a fun weekend!

Perfect Timming

It is not often that I get to have a good picture (or video for that matter) of me and my Emily....I seem to not have very good luck having other people take our pictures, though my husband makes a good effort every once in a while lol. On this layout, I featured one of my favorite picture of her and I, and it was all a matter of perfect timming. Due to the picture's gorgeousness (is that even a word? lol), I almost could not believe that my husband took it (if you ever read this, sorry babe lol). It is just rare that perfection in a picture like this can be achieved around my house, even by picky me, considering how much my little munchkin moves. It's a miracle I get some decent pictures of her now a days, when she seems to move faster than a speeding bullet 24/7!

Anyways, I have to give credit to whom it's due, and yes, my husband took this picture (thank you honey),  and I love it. It speaks volumes.....so much more and louder than what any words could express... love above all measures all the way around. I am truly very thankful that at least one picture in my arsenal captures it all, and honestly hope there are many more like this to come in the future, so they can tell our story.

I used the Paper Niche's January Design Kit to make this layout,  and I did edit the picture's colors and overall look to match what I was looking to create. I do that from time to time, and have really become fond of my iphoto quick editing program, and also the Instagram Application on my phone.

I love what  this layout portrays, and how it came out. I would not have it any other way.

In other news, I can happily say, I'm the proud mommy of a loving and smart two year old (time sure does fly!). She just turned two, and we are so blessed to have her in our lives. More projects to come!

This picture is my submission to Embrace the Camera for today.... 

Winter Tags with LSG

I don't know about you, but it seems like lately, everyone seems to be freezing all over the U.S., even here in Florida! We've been experiencing several cold fronts that have definitely made me rethink wether we are in Florida, or in some northern state! LOL It has been COLD! We really are not used to this kind of weather down here, so it's been quite an ordeal, specially for farmers, who seem to be the most affected in these situations, loosing tons of their farmed goods due to freezing temperatures. Lots of money lost, that's for sure.

I made these winter tags to attach to some presents, using tons of Lindy's Stamp Gang products, I love the distressed look and shimmer I got.  Here are some close up shots....

I used clear embossing powder yo stamp the snowflakes on this one, some Vintage Photo Distress Ink, and on top a layer of Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz. LOVED the "clean" but distressed look of these tags!

The angel in the middle I colored using Grab a Guy Gold Starburst Spray, and for the snow flake I painted the largest one with white acrylic paint, then sprayed it with Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz. For the smaller snow flake, I used a glitter acrylic paint from my local craft store and painted the raw chipboard with it.

For this next tag I pretty much did the same thing, except of course I used different colors---Stormy Sky Distress ink on the base of the tag, topped it with Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz, and for the angel I used Afternoon Delight Denim Starburst Spray.

In this next one I used Forrest Moss Green Distress Ink, and on top I sprayed with my Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz. I colored the angel with my Green with Envy Green Starburst Spray, and for the smaller snowflake instead of glitter  paint, I used some Diamond dust, which you can find at your local craft store.

 For this last tag you see I switched things around a bit, and embossed the snowflakes using Lindy's Stamp Gang Embossing Powder in the color Kaiser Rudolph Russet, and sprayed the white medium chipboard with my Cactus Gold Glitz Spritz.

This is a simple way of getting a lot of tags out using your Lindy's produtcs. You can watch a video with details of these tags HERE. Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today. Have a great week!

Super Simple Saturday: Birthday Card

I have to admit, I've started writing this post three times already this week, and each time I just gave up and decided not to post anything. I guess you can say I've been a very lazy blogger this week lol. I do have stuff to share, but I've been really distracted with other things (Pinterest anyone???), but most of all, I just haven't felt up to it. Today I finally decided to get to it, and I can already tell this is going to be a hard post to pull out (because I AM posting this time! lol).... as I write this, I feel like shutting my computer down, and doing something else lol. Has this ever happened to you? Who knows, may be I'm the only crazy one with these issues lol.

Anyways, I've been meaning to share this card I made for a friend a bit ago. Super simple, yet super bright, colorful, and fun. Used my new Stampin up Pennant Punch, and stamp set I got on my last Stampin up haul (you can find the video of that by clicking HERE). I also used some Echo Park Paper (can't think of the name of the stack at this moment), and that's one thing I want to get a little better about----writing down exactly what I use in order to let you know here----I promise I'll start getting a little better about that.

I used some of the twine I got from the Twinery, some cute little EK Success punches, which made those cute little cupcakes you see, and some glitter glue (Studio G) for the candle flames.

It's one of those super bright cards I like to make every once in a while just for fun. The friend who received it was surprised and very happy with it, so like I say sometimes, it was a mission accomplished on my end. Super simple. Super fun.

Happy 2012!!!

Happy New Year everyone!!! Today is the first day of 2012 and it is SO awesome that we've made it to today! Many have started tons of goal lists, resolutions, challenges. It's really a clean, new start for many, and a very exciting time. I wish you all the best for this new year, and like I said on my Facebook yesterday, that this year you may be blessed with all the things that really matter: Family, Friends, Health and most of all LOVE...may you always remember GOD is LOVE!

Today I come to you with my January Designer Kit Sneak Peeks. You all definitely have a great kit to look forward to. I had a lot of fun working with it, and it will be released at The Paper Niche this week! So much fun packed in this kit. You DO NOT want to miss it! So, enough rambling, here's what I've got for you to look at:

Hope everyone has a wonderful week, and that you can stick to all the resolutions you put your mind to achieve this year!