Jen Del Muro's SFYTT

I had so much fun doing Jen Del Muro's Sketch for You to Try last time that I thought I would try another one. I had so much fun making this card! I have had this Wild Bunch stamp set from Unity and have been itching to use it but was kind of creatively stumped and when I saw this layout, I knew instantly that I wanted to use this stamp set. Since it's a card for a little one, I really wanted to use vibrant, fun colors. I think it turned out really cute in the end. I love the flourishes from the Unity Fanciful Dots stamp set. I had stamped the "Little One" sentiment in the center of the Pumpkin Pie cardstock and it looked kind of bare, so I added the flourishes and am happy with the outcome.

Creative Juices Were Flowing this AM

I went to Pam's last night for the first workshop of the new year. She had 15 people there, which was a really large group. We all had a great time and made some really cute creations. I always, always look forward to her workshops. After I get home, I feel completely inspired. I feel like I can never measure up to Pam's talent, but that is not the point.

So anyway, I saw this idea in the Stampin' Up catalog and fell in love with it. They sell note cards with the scalloped edge that is shorter than the bottom of the card and then you stamp a sentiment on the bottom of the card so that it shows when the top flap is closed. I didn't buy the note cards, but I did take the idea and made my own version. I think the end result is adorable! I also got a chance to finally use my Unity Fanciful Dots set that I got for free with an order a few months ago. I think it's fun and very "fanciful."

My Winged Friend

Sometimes I get an idea into my head way before I sit down to make a card and other times I sit down, look through my stamps, look through my paper, and search for inspiration. For this card, the idea (including the colors and paper) came to me first. The only thing I had to search for in this case, was the stamps. I already knew the design and paper I was going to use (minus the ribbon and flower and button, which I added in the process). I love this little bird from Unity and the sentiment as well. I have been nostalgic lately and was inpsired to make a card for a dear friend. The only problem is that I have so many dear friends, now I just have to decide which one will be the recipient. Having too many friends is never a problem I am so blessed!!!!

Birthday Week Continued

Yesterday we met my Dad and Valerie at the Elephant Bar for lunch in Santa Barbara to celebrate my birthday with them, since Kendall was at winter camp last weekend and we didn't want to celebrate without her. The Elephant Bar is very special to Jay and I, since that was the location of our first date. It was great to be back and we had a really nice visit. Fortunately, the restaurant wasn't too crowded, so we were able to stay for a couple of hours without feeling guilty for taking up a table from waiting guests.

After lunch, we went to the Santa Barbara rescue shelter to look at dogs. We took a few out and played with them and took them for walks, but didn't feel a strong connection until we met Sprint. Sprint is a mini tiny Lab mix and he is very timid, but is so, incredibly sweet. We all fell completely in love with him. We filled out an application and are waiting for a phone call back. There were already two applications out on him, so we're trying not to get our hopes up, but if it is God's will for Sprint to join our family, we would love to have him. He has such a sweet little presence about him and he's very lovey dovey and cuddly. We'll keep you posted!

Loving Hearts

When I was at Target last week picking up the Scrapbooking cases for my unmounted rubber stamps, I stopped by the $1 bin and found this cute pack of Valentine's DP and some matching chipboard as well. I used Kraft cardstock as the base and used my hearts stamp from the Sock Monkey SU! stamp set and stamped the hearts in Bravo Burgandy and then cut them out and used dimensionals to adhere them to the DP. I think sometimes simple really works in a card and this is one of those cases.

Garden of Thanks

It had been a while since I used my Fresh Cuts stamp set from SU! and wanted to do something different from the Fresh Cut note cards. I used Chocolate Chip cardstock and used a DP from a multipack I got at Costco (there was enough paper in there to last me about 10 years). I stamped the Fresh Cuts stamp in Really Rust onto Kraft cardstock and stamped the Thank You stamp in Chocolate Chip onto Kraft cardstock and used my oval punch to punch out a piece of Chocolate Chip and Kraft cardstock and then added some flowers that I got on clearance (I think they may be Bazzil, but I'm not positive) and then added the brads. I just love this stamp set and I need to use it more often.

Kendall the Queen

Kendall was in a play at school today. Unfortunately, Jay couldn't attend because we just found out yesterday (yes, yesterday) that it was today at 12:30 and he had to be in a briefing at 12:00. I was fortunate enough to be able to work from home today, so I was able to make it and bring along the video camera. I taped the whole thing for Jay to watch tonight when he got home. Unfortunately, I wasn't really able to take pictures, because I am just not coordinated enough to hold the video camera with one hand and the digital with the other, but I took a couple of quick shots after the play while Kendall was still in costume. Sorry, they are not the best because I was rushed, but at least you can see how adorable she looks.

The play was very cute! Kendall played the queen. The play is about the queen, who has several daughters and granddaughters and they have all gone out and spent all of her money and she is absolutely broke. So, she tells the daughters that they have 3 days to go out and find rich husbands. Not the greatest moral story, but it was done so well and was very funny. Kendall was hysterical and played the part perfectly. All of the other little actors were fabulous as well, they did such a wonderful job. They ran a little over and the kids had to go to lunch, so they did not perform the last 3 scenes, so I don't know how the play ends (except that Kendall told me she marries a prince's grandpa, which would be such a hoot to watch because the kid playing the grandpa was amazing). The good news is that Jay will be able to go tomorrow and catch the last 3 scenes since he couldn't be there today and he can take some video so that I can see how the play ends and then hopefully we can burn the whole play onto DVD's for the grandparents, aunts, uncles, Mom and Robert back in KS, etc. to see. I say hopefully because we have had nothing but problems with our video software, but there is always hope. As long as we don't have to do any editing, I think we'll be ok :).


Kendall's costume turned out really cute, don't you think? We went to a thrift store and found the dress immediately. I was really excited that it was velvet. Our instructions were just to find a purple dress and some black boots and we found this dress right away. We bought a little black top to go underneath and we found some crazy high boots that were just hysterical. Kendall's teacher wasn't excited about them, but we were not up for hitting every thrift store in the county to find just the right boots and we liked the ones we got her because they were funny and this was a funny play and they made her super tall!!!!


Here's the queen herself. She did such a great job, she did not act nervous at all and remembered all of her lines. She's a little natural.