Waltzingmouse Blog Party - think SPRING!

Good Afternoon!! (Well, here anyway!)  It's the 17th, so that means is time for the Waltzingmouse Blog Party!  Yaaaay!  I haven't gotten to play along in quite some time, but this month's theme got me going.  I can't think of Spring, and not think of cute little First Communicants. :)  This year, my big girl, as well as my Nephew (and Godson) will both make their First Holy Communion.

The nephew was born ON St. Patrick's day, so really, how could I NOT use Claire's Celtic Heritage stamp set for his card?? LOL.  

The cross image is heat embossed with detail gold embossing powder, and lots of little green gems were added to dress it up a bit.  The sentiment (also from Celtic Heritage) was stamped in Green Galore Ink from SU! - though I'm fairly certain it has been retired.  It looks a little washed out in my photo, but is a nice hearty green.  The roped background is stamped with the braid image from Irish Blessings, in Sahara Sand ink, also from SU!

Looking forward to making the rounds -- thanks for stopping by!!  Wishing you all a marvelous weekend!

Supplies:

Stamps: Celtic Heritage, Irish Blessings (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Ink: Green Galore (Retired), Sahara Sand (SU!)

Paper: Select White (PTI)

Accessories: Mega Mat Stack #4 die (PTI) Filigree Gold EP, Amuse and Doodlebug gems

Make it Monday # 53

Coasters, huh?

Just by chance, I happened to get some of these in the bag of goodies I received when I was lucky enough to go to Nichole Heady's house last month, so I figured I had no excuse NOT to play along!

I also, just happened to need a Valentine for my Valentine ;).  I used my Mat Stack #4 die on my coaster, and then I spritzed a little water on the coaster.  Then I brayered it with Canyon Clay ink (I didn't have the refill, so I did the best I could!).  Then I broke out some smooch spray (I think it was spun sugar, it's the only one I have) and since the nozzle wouldn't unclog, I had to get unconventional.  I grabbed an extra piece of scrap paper, and I pushed the nozzle stem down on the paper a bunch of times, then I used my brayer to pick up the spritz, and rolled it onto my coaster.  Now it was time to run it through the Cuttlebug with my woodgrain impression plate.  Funny thing, my coaster must have been a little TOO saturated, because it squeezed a lot of ink and water out onto the plates! lol.  BUT -- when I added the dark chocolate ink (direct to paper) it gave it this awesome look, just like a real piece of wood.

I die cut 2 hearts from Canyon Clay CS, and stamped them with the heart image from Love and Marriage, and then used my Vintage Touch tea dye inks around the edges.  I Stamped the block of famous couples down the side of my base from Rustic Cream CS in Canyon Clay ink, and the sentiment in Dark Chocolate ink, completed with 2 small gems.

I hope you had a nice Valentine's Day - mine was simple and quiet...just the way I like it! :)  Thanks for stopping by!!  Have a great week!!

Make it Monday #51

Another week, another challenge over on Nichole Heady's blog.  This week's Make it Monday challenge is to add a dimensional sentiment banner to your project.  I needed a card for a dear friend of mine, and she's very Irish, so I thought it might be fun to base it on luck!

I pulled out my Wonderful Words dies, and Wonderful Words Additions stamp set.  Hmmmm.....now what?

Yes! Some polka dots...why polka dots?  I don't know, thought they would just work well, ha ha.  I used my Mat Stack #1 die (thank you Nichole! ha ha) and cut a piece of New Leaf CS.  I stamped the medium sized polka dot pattern from Polka Dot Basics in Versamark, and set aside.

Then I stamped a random background in Fresh Snow ink on a Kraft base with the Dot Spot stamp set.

I die cut my 'lucky' from Kraft CS, and glued it to the Mat Stack #1 die cut, but only in a few spots, and let it come up off of the layer a little in a few spots to add dimension.

Then I added the remainder of the sentiment on a 1/2" strip of white CS.  The backside was stamped with the small polka dot pattern from Polka Dot Basics in New Leaf ink that was stamped off once.

Thanks for dropping by!!

Supplies (All PTI unless otherwise noted):

Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Dot Spot, Wonderful Words Additions

Ink: Fresh Snow, True Black, New Leaf

Paper: Kraft, New Leaf, Select White

Accessories: Mat Stack #1 die, Wonderful Words dies, Jolee's shamrock bling sticker

Make it Monday #50

Hello and Happy New Year!  Well, here on the blog anyway!

My family and I enjoyed the holidays this year, very relaxed and just plain wonderful!  We are so blessed.  I just came back from a special trip that I will be sharing details of soon!

My trip revitalized my mojo, and I am SO THANKFUL!! :)

I decided to participate in this week's Make it Monday challenge over at Papertrey Ink.  This week's challenge was to incorporate a shaker box on your card.  It's been a while, but I love making these fun cards.

The background was made with Fancy Flourishes, and Winter Penguin on Hawaiian Shores cardstock using Fresh Snow ink.  The shaker box uses Limitless Layers 1.75" circle dies, as well as the Delightful Doilies dies, and my favorite little penguin.

Lastly, the sentiment (from Hello, Friend) was added using the Skater Dude die, which I trimmed off the end that went off of the Hawaiian shores layer.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Tracey

Happy Birthday Grammy!

Really??  The weekend is over already??  I SWORE it just started!! :)

It's been a great weekend, filled with lots of work, AND lots of fun!!  We had a great time at the tree lighting last night, and then today, we continued celebrating!

This time, we switched gears from Christmas to birthday, as it was my Mother-in-Law's birthday Wednesday.  All of the kids and their children headed out to where my in-laws live, and surprised her by showing up to Mass at their church this morning, then we headed over to their house, and all of the kids made a HUGE brunch for the entire family (7 kids, plus spouses, and 15 grandchildren!)  It was an awesome day.  The kids all had a blast, and it was nice to spend time all together.

Here's Grammy's card, made with the new Stitches & Swirls stamp set from Papertrey Ink, and Signature Greetings, one of my FAVORITES of all time.  Both were stamped in SU! Elegant Eggplant.  I colored in the stitches and swirls with my copics, and it's hard to see, but I used my gold spica glitter pen to add some highlights and a little sparkle.

That's about it, easy peasy.  I hope you all enjoyed the weekend, I'm ready for bed, I swear those pancakes had tryptophan in them!! ha ha ha  :)  OH -- Here are the copic colors I used :)

So Merry...

Happy Saturday!!

All things Christmas are in full swing around here!  The tree is decorated, the outside lights are up, and we are all in the spirit...MOST of the time, anyway ;).

Tonight is our town's tree lighting ceremony and parade.  The kids are looking forward to it, and so am I. :)

I loved the Make it Monday challenge over on Nichole Heady's blog this week, the challenge was issued by my friend Dawn, who just loves ruffly ribbons :).

I pulled out a few of my new (or like new, as in, unused) Papertrey goodies, and got to work.

My base is Aqua Mist, covered with white 'lattice' made from the new Quaterfoil die.  Then I made my wreath with two pieces of Simply Chartreuse saddle stitched ribbon, cinched, and layered on each other.  I added some "berries" and a little red felt bow I found in my stash.

The sentiment is a die cut from the Wonderful Words: Holiday die set, and mounted on a strip of kraft CS that is stamped with the snowflakes from the SUPER cute Winter Penguin stamp set...c'mon $5??  AWESOME!

Thanks for dropping by today -- a few things to do before we head off to the festivities in town!!  What are some things YOU do in preparation for the holidays??

Have a great weekend!

Black Thursday????

I don't have any cards to share today, but I just really needed to share some thoughts on tomorrow's upcoming holiday...you know, Black Thursday.  What?  It's Thanksgiving you say???  Really???

It seems every year, stores are opening earlier and earlier for "Black Friday Sales" - well yeah, most of them are now open on THANKSGIVING to avoid someone getting trampled at the door, or riots. 

REALLY????  Is this what has become of society?

When I was younger, I always thought Black Friday sales were a bunch of hooey anyway - I'd rather sleep in if I had the day off, but I will admit to being out there at 5am in recent years to catch some deals at Kohl's, or Michaels.  They do have some great deals, but things are just getting out of hand now.

I read an article the other day about a guy who works for Target, who started a petition because he has to go into work at 10pm Thursday night, to be there when the store opens at midnight.  Some of the comments following the article really struck a nerve with me. 

I get that the economy sucks, despite what "the officials" say, trust me, I live it.  Paycheck to paycheck (or less), and luckily (one of the things I am grateful for this Thanksgiving) is that both my husband and I are both employed.  But to belittle this guy and begrudge him for wanting the day off to spend with his fiance making plans for their upcoming wedding with her family just seems downright awful.

Thanksgiving is SUPPOSED to be about spending time with family and friends, enjoying each other's company, and making memories.  Life has us all so busy during the REST of the year, the holidays are the only time some have to be together, and now THAT is being taken away, because we have to buy a big screen TV for $200...so that's where our priorities are, huh?  I think it's pretty disgraceful.

Ok, yeah, so you don't have family, and you want to score a great deal on a laptop - but the guy selling it to you had to miss dinner with his family the day before so he could get a few hours of sleep before he had to be in to work by 11pm, to be treated nasty by the people clawing over eachother to get the last one....

At this rate, why don't we forget about Thanksgiving, and just call it the National Day of Scoring a Good Deal on Useless Crap.

I don't begrudge anyone a good deal, to make their budget stretch further (I've been eyeing the sales) but I am TRULY bothered by the stores who are open ON Thanksgiving, or those that are opening on or just before midnight, because "Polls show that people would like to go out shopping after Thanksgiving dinner".  PLEASE.  Stay home, watch some movies, eat another piece of pie, and get some sleep to start shopping at 5 am. 

To those that still truly VALUE the holiday tomorrow, and what it means, I wish you, from the bottom of my heart, a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING... I will be the one on the couch with a piece of pie, watching movies... and maybe I'll head out to the stores early Friday, to pick over what the vultures have left behind...to all the rest...enjoy Black Thursday, or Happy National Day of Scoring a Great Deal on Useless Crap!