Back to school...

I know some places have already gone back to school. We don't start until the week after labor day, so we've got a few weeks of Summer left :).

The My Time to Create Challenge this week is to use one of Lauren's Templates with a 'back to school' theme.

I just L-O-V-E the new Tucked Away template. It's so PERFECT! I love the shape, the flap in the front...I think it just might be my favorite to date.

I made these delicious cookies the other day...it's a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. Just look at this plate full of YUMMY.














I know I've read a lot of times NOT to make something home made (baked goods, that is) for teachers...well, for me, it's a little different, since I've known a lot of these teachers for 3 years now. It's a small preschool with the same 8 or 9 women year after year, and they're all so wonderful to BOTH of my girls. I can make them home baked treats :).















I've had this fabulous paper from Imaginisce since May, it's been calling out to me, so when Pam doled out this challenge, I thought it would be perfect. I also picked up that adorable little apple stamp -- isn't it sweet??? It matches the teeny apples on the paper. Too cute.

The sentiment on the die cut on the top of the box is from Papertrey Ink. The set is Teacher's Apple, and it has a lot of TERRIFIC sentiments.

The ribbon handle was attached to the box using some SU! Star Brads...they're HUGE, I'm glad I finally found a use for them! LOL.

















To keep the inside of the box neat, I lined the inside with Waxed paper. you could put them in a baggie too, but I'm fresh out, so I went ahead with the waxed paper. I just used a piece of score tape to adhere it to the CS (before assembly) and trimmed around the edges with my hobby blade. take a look inside, it fits the cookies quite nicely, and the waxed paper just folds over the top.

I really hope you all get to play along this week -- *I* need some new ideas, as DD#1 starts Kindergarten -- and I won't be baking for them! ;).

Here's what the rest of the team did:

Alicia

Dana G

Jennifer

Kendra

Kristen

Lisa

MacKenzie

Maria

Odette

Pam

Tamara Harder

Tracey Cuccia

Be sure to use Keyword MTTC05 when uploading your creations to the online galleries -- and post your link to the Mr. Linky on Lauren's blog :)

Hope you all have a great weekend, thanks for stopping by!!!

Supplies:
Stamps: snag it single apple stamp from Imaginisce, Sentiment from PTI's Teacher's Apple
Ink: Basic Gray (SU!), Pure Poppy (PTI), Memento Black
Paper: So Saffron (SU!), Pure Poppy (PTI), Imaginisce DP - Teacher's Pet
Accessories: waxed paper, PTI saddle stitched grosgrain (pure poppy), SU! Star brads - and cookies :)

Waltzingmouse Stamps

Man -- I've gotten SO behind on posting things! I had this card made weeks ago, and haven't gotten to upload.

Have you heard of Waltzingmouse stamps??? Claire Brennan has gotten into the stamp design business...and boy am I glad! Her sets are FABULOUS, and apparently others think so too, as this last release, all 4 of the sets she introduced SOLD OUT.

I have to admit, when I ordered my Celtic Heritage and Irish Blessings set, it was SO cool to receive 'Royal Mail' LOL. These are nice quality stamps that really fill a niche I have yet been able to fill in the current stamping market.

I'm on the waiting list for the Halloween set too -- it's genius! Now, I bed if you went back to the start of my blog...you'd see where I said something about swearing off any new Halloween sets...I think it's an illness, I just can't resist!

Alright alright -- I'm sure you've heard enough gushing...how about a card??? One of the images in the Irish Blessings set was an adorable little cottage that I couldn't wait to watercolor. The fonts and the sentiments included in these two sets are WONDERFUL! Ok, ok, really, onto the card now...















Now, please cut me a little slack on my water coloring, it's been a WHILE, as I've been mainly using my Copics. The other issue I had was dopey me used the wrong black ink, and it ran in a few places, but not TOO bad...I was still happy with it overall. In retrospect, I'd leave a sentiment off of the outside entirely, and just leave that adorable little cottage to do all the talking. I used my Labels 4 nesties and put the die back over the layer after I adhered it to the cardfront, and then traced around it with my gold paint pen.

Go on over to Claire's site -- show her some love!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Irish Blessings, Celtic Heratige (Waltzingmouse stamps)
Ink: Memento Black (DUH!), Encore Gold
Paper: SU! Watercolor Paper, SU! Handsome Hunter
Accessories: Labels 4 Nestabilities dies, gold paint pen

I missed it...

YESTERDAY (the 16th) was my blogaversary...I can hardly believe it's been a whole year since I've started this blog! Thanks to everyone who comes to check in often, or who might just happen to pass by!

I'm back to share some more Halloween cards with images from Dustin Pike today. I had wanted to do it yesterday, but family takes priority, and we had a busy day of swimming and laughing and playing to do :).

Hoping you all had a wonderful weekend. It FINALLY feels like Summer here. HOT and humid. Normal for this neck of the woods, I thought Mother Nature forgot we were here ;).

Soon enough it WILL be Fall, and we will be looking forward to the beautiful colors all around...here's two more samples with some images available HERE from Dustin Pike.

This first one has some fun Halloween digi paper from Scrap Girls Witches Brew Kit, and YES that green mat and the main image layer ARE crooked...I did it on purpose ;). The 'happy' is from Waltzingmouse Stamps 'Celtic Heritage' set, and the 'Halloween' is from Dustin. I should have made it a bit bigger, but I still like how it came out...now this next one is my favorite...

I couldn't wait to color this one in and cut it all out. Lots of fun, lots of sparkle...lots of dimension. I mounted this on a piece of Halloween paper I picked up from My Favorite Things last year, thought it worked well with the purple and green in my focal image. The corners were punched with my ticket corner punch - and I added some Kaiser dark purple gemstones. The image is mounted on dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the world!

Sooooo -- just so I know -- in the coming year -- is there anything that you would CHANGE about my blog? Is it too busy? Do I not give enough details? Do you like 'me' just the way I am??? I'm open to suggestions, and love to hear feedback -- so let me know!

Have a super day!

I'm going on a date :)

With my hubby. We're going to a dinner party at a friend's house, and it'll be nice to have a little time to ourselves.

It's Saturday too -- time for another My Time to Create Challenge! This week is a color challenge, put together by my teammate Pam. Here's what she came up with:













Since our friends Sue & Mike are hosting, I thought I'd make them a little card, to go with the bucket of prepared Tastefully Simple Pomegranate Blueberry Martinis, and some DELICIOUS jam thumbprint cookies I'm making tomorrow.
















I've had this set from My Favorite Things for a WHILE now, with the intention to make 'Girls Night Out' invites -- but haven't had the time to HAVE a GNO. Sheesh! Hopefully soon. Having hardly any creative time this week -- thanks to the intermittent power outages, for seemingly no reason at all, I kept this clean and simple.

Note to self: Next time you tie a black bow -- use a colored background for your photo -- sorry about that folks!!

I added a few sparkly details, in the drinks -- I 'salted' the rim of the margarita, and added a cherry to the martini.

I hope you get the chance to stop by and see what the rest of the team has come up with

Alicia

Dana G

Dawn Easton

Jennifer

Kendra

Kristen

Lisa

MacKenzie

Maria

Odette

Pam

Tamara Harder

Tracey Cuccia

-- if YOU get to play along (which I hope you do!) Use keyword MTCC05, and be sure to link to your creation on Lauren's blog -- did you know she's now highlighting 5 people each week with projects from the previous challenge?? fun stuff! So - play along, it could be YOUR TIME to shine :).

Hope you all have a happy Saturday!!!

Check back in tomorrow -- I've got some more new release stuff from Dustin Pike!

Trick or Treat, Smell my Feet...

Seems crazy to be thinking about Halloween already, but hey -- that's the retail industry, isn't it??? When you see what Dustin Pike has cooked up for this week's release, you'll find it hard to resist also!

Lots of super cute images this week -- here's my first sample to share with you.
















I kept this clean and simple -- printed the spider image on my CS, so that when I printed it out, if I cut the CS in half lengthwise, it made my card. I colored in the image with my copics, and then went over the whole web with stardust stickles.

I added the cute sentiment from CC Designs to finish it off.

Be sure to stop by the DT's blogs this week, from what I have seen, there's some cute stuff that you'll get to look at!

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps: Halloween sentiment from CC Designs Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black Paper: Gina K Pure Luxury White

Brightly Inspired :)

Happy Saturday to you all!!

I'm off for a busy day filled with family and friends...it's been absolutely beautiful these past few days, have totally enjoyed being outside!

It's Saturday -- My Time to Create Challenge day!! So what's better in beautiful sunshiny weather than to hang you clothes out to dry, right??? Check out this week's inspiration photo:




















those fun bright clothes are just fab!

My eye was really drawn to the fuschia and turquoise dress...do you see how the polka dots start out larger, and then get smaller?? I thought this was a lot of fun, so I did that on the front of my card.


















I kept the rest fairly simple, since the background should really be the focal point.

Let me know what you think -- fun and funky, or too much??

Hope you get to play along - be sure to use MTTI05 as your keyword if you do! There's also a Mr. Linky on Lauren's blog. Be sure to check out what the rest of the team has cooked up this week! I've listed the whole team, the ones that are in bold are playing along this week.

• Alicia Weiman
• Dana Gustafson
• Dawn Easton
• Jen Tapler
• Kendra Wisenbaker
• Kristin Bueter
• Lauren Meader
• Lisa Kind
• Mackenzie Bruckler
• Maria Levine
• Odette
• Pam Imholz
• Tamara Harder

Thanks for stopping by -- have a SUPER weekend!!!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday Basics (PTI)
Ink: Tempting Turquoise (SU!)
Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Select White (PTI), Tempting Turquoise (SU!)
Accessories: various sized circle punches, Ribbon from American Crafts, large green Prima flower, Labels 1 (or is it 2???) Nestabilities

Rainy Day Sunday...

Hello all ~

It's been a busy weekend around here -- though today is pretty quiet (THANK GOODNESS!) It is, however, raining like crazy -- again.

Thought I'd pop in to share a fun Dustin Pike card I made a while back, but never got the chance to upload. Maybe before the day is over, I'll actually get to photograph the one I made for the current release, as it seems my camera is fixed -- yipee!

Isn't he fun?


















Thought it might bring a little sunshine to an otherwise gray day. I also have a detail photo to show all of the dimension. I printed this guy 3 times, and cut out certain pieces, and put them on dimensionals to give it a lot of pop.



















The happy birthday sentiment is from PTI's Birthday Basics - and the ribbon is some I've had in my stash from American Crafts.

Thanks for stopping by today-- hoping it's sunny where you are! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Birthday Basics (PTI), digi image (Dustin Pike)
Ink: Memento Black
Paper: Spring Rain (PTI), New Leaf (PTI), Pumpkin Pie (SU!) and Whisper White (SU!)
Accessories: Spellbinders dies Labels 3 & Classic circles, dimensionals, copics, ribbon (American Crafts)

Mytime to celebrate an ANYAversary!!

Hey all!!

This post is twofold. Not only is it a big blog hop extravaganza over at The Greeting Farm, but it's Saturday...and what is Saturday?? It's My Time to Create Challenge Day!!

This week is a sketch challenge -- here it is:



















To be part of the Anyaversary bloghop, you had to make a birthday card with any TGF stamp(set). I loved this new Hippie Anya, and had to have her right away, cute, right??? The sentiment was created on my computer, and the patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Lime Rickey collection (which I LOVE).





















Be sure to check out what the other gals on the My Time to Create Team have done this week -- FAB-O is all I can say :)

• Alicia Weiman
• Dana Gustafson
• Jen Tapler
• Kendra Wisenbaker
• Kristin Bueter
• Lauren Meader
• Lisa Kind
• Mackenzie Bruckler
• Maria Levine
• Odette
• Pam Imholz
• Tamara Harder

I hope YOU get to play along, so I can see your take on the sketch -- be sure to use keyword mytimess34 when uploading, or link to the Mr. Linky on Lauren's blog!

And -- go check out the Anyaversary blog hop as well -- LOTS of uber talented peeps out there!

Have a WONDERFUL Saturday -- I'll be spending mine with family :).

Thanks for stopping by!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hippe Anya (The Greeting Farm) sentiment - computer generated
Ink: memento black
Paper: SU!'s Yo Yo Yellow, Whisper White, DP(Lime Rickey - Basic Grey)
Accessories: SU! Orange Grosgrain, BG green button, dimensionals