oh my!!

Oh my goodness!! I haven't realized it's been sooooooo long since my last post :(
I've been so busy with my teenage girl, work & volunteering at school!! My daughter had finals this week, one of them Algebra (yikes), 2 projects and a speech!! I can't believe we survived this week without any of us going crazy hahaha Oh, I forgot to mention that the previous 2 weeks she had the CST state exams..phew!

During all this craziness, it was Ashley's best friend's 14th birthday!! She wanted to make something special for her friend. I was so impressed with the way it turned out. How rare is it these days that kids make something instead of the usual iTunes cards or t-shirts?? What do you think?

Also I thought I'd share a quick card for today. It's so darn cute :o)

That's all for now. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend.

~hugs~

Peachy Keen Challenge

ok This will be a quick post.

Here's my card for the Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge

Can you tell I L*O*V*E owls??!!

Hope eveyone is having a great day :o)

update. . .

Hello blog buddies. I've been MIA for two weeks....there was no time for crafting!!
My first distraction was the book fair at my daughter's middle school the last week of March.
This is my third and last year organizing the book fair. It's plenty of work and very time consuming, but it's for a great cause. the kids! This event kept me away from my craft room for an entire week...oh my...

My second big event was my daughter's trip to Washington DC & Williamsburg, VA last week. I can't believe I survived Ashley being away on the other side of the country for a week!! But on a positive note my hubby and I spent plenty of quality time together and I took a break from making dinner the entire week, woo hoo!! .....and I also organized my crafting area :o)

Here's are some pics from Ashley's trip:



Card Cupids Challenge #17

We have a Spring Themed challenge for you this week! This should be easy for everyone as I am sure we are all busy thinking about flowers, birds and sunshine :o) Even though I live in Southern California, it has not been so sunny here lately...just gloomy rainy days...

I am so super thrilled to share our sponsor this week:
Scrappy Mom's Stamps 

OMG!!! If you have not checked out and already purchased stamps from Scrappy Mom’s, I cannot begin to tell you how amazing these stamps are and they are so reasonably priced! These are must have stamps for any card maker!

One lucky participant in this weeks challenge is going to receive the newly released “Kid’s Incorporated” stamp set!

I had so much fun using this set and I made the sweetest card.

Whatcha think?

CLICK HERE to join the challenge!!

Challenges:

Sugar Creek Hollow - Anything Goes

Pink Paper Paradise - Anything Goes

Paper Cutz Challenge - Anything Goes

Card Makin Mamas - Animals

Tuesday Morning Sketches - For Kids

Thanks for taking the time and visiting my blog.

Hugs!!

Card Cupids Challenge #16

You all are going to *LOVE* this weeks challenge! It is so appropriate for this time of year! The challenge is to create a “Green” card. With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner we thought it would be fun to see what green inspired cards you could come up with! We also have a brand new sponsor this week! Our challenge sponsor this week is Copic!
The winner of this challenge will receive this amazing prize from Copic!



Isn't this a fabulous prize?!?! Copic was kind enough to provide our Design Team with Spica Pens to use on their projects. If you are not familiar with Spica Pens you must check them out! They have such brilliant color and I cannot begin to tell you the amount of glitter they can put on your project!

Here's my "green" card.

I used A Child's Year cartridge for card base & hat.

The sentiment I found online.

I used spica pen (pitch black) on the sentiment & around the clovers.

Now it's your turn to create a "Green" card & join the challenge!!

CLICK HERE

St. Patties Card

Who doesn't love green??? Yup, it's almost St. Patties Day!!! No, I don't do anything crazy to celebrate the day, but I will enjoy a green beverage :)

I made this fun little card for my daughter. It turned out too darn cute lol

card recipe:

Simply Charmed cartridge

Pot card base (pg. 33, mirror & weld shadow feature, cut at 5")

Pot (grey card stock cut at 5")

super cute leprechaun buddies cut at 2.5"

peachy keen stamps (pk-490 & pk-460)

1" circle punch (for 'gold' coins)

stickles, spica glitter pen, white gel pen

sentiment is an image I found online

Challenges:

Celebrate the Occasion - St. Patrick's Day

Paper Cutz Challenge - St. Patrick's Day

Crafty Hos' Challenge - St. Patrick's Day

Send a Smile 4kids - Anything Goes
Crafting with Cristina - St. Patrick's Day
Crazy About Cricut - St. Patrick's Day

1 green card----->a few challenges

There are so many fun challenges going on out there in blog land =)

I made this adorable card this evening so I can join a few challenges.

Isn't this the cutest beaver? I love these chipboards by DCWV

Challenges:

Peachy Keen Stamps - sketch challenge

More Than Favors - zoo theme

The Paper Variety - green card (at least 50% green)

Reasonable Ribbon's Ramblings - green theme

Card Cupids Challenge #14

Good morning!! It's time for another Card Cupids Challenge!! Hooray!!
This weeks challenge is to create a shaped card! No squares, no rectangles – think out side of those four corners and get creative! If your die cutting machine has been collecting dust this is a great challenge to dust it off and put that old friend to use!
This challenge is sponsored by Some Odd Girl and the winner will receive 3 Digital Stamps of their choice from the Some Odd Girl store!
CLICK HERE to join the challenge.



Here's my card. I used one of the Some Odd Girl digi stamp. Super cute!!

Card Recipe:

Card base: Wild Card cartridge (pg.52 Doily cut at 5" & Liner layer cut at 4 3/4")

SU! card stock: certainly celery

Cuttlebug folder: Bloom Dots

Some Odd Girl digi: Earthy Mae

SU! ink: chocolate chip

Memento ink: tuxedo black

Martha Stewart: butterfly punch

EK punch: real estate sign

vellum paper, sentiment stamp, white gel pen, Spica glitter pens, copic markers

Challenges:

GAB Challenge - wet/dry embossing

Hugs! XoXo

a Frame & a few stories

Hey everyone =) Hope you all had a pleasant weekend. I was busy mopping floors and dusting for the past 5 days since we remodeled the guest bathroom. It was crazy with all the dust, noise, people, did I mention dust??!!?? But everything is back to normal now & I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out. Who knew a bathroom could make me this happy..heehee
So now you know the reason for my lack of posts & submission to challenges.
I missed being in my craft room!!

Over the weekend I worked on a picture frame I made for my daughter. She is truly a gift in my life. I know she is now a teen (I can't believe she will graduate from middle school in 3 months!!) , but she is still my goofy little girl =)
I purchased the frame at Michaels ($1), and I used Mod Podge (matte finish) to seal the paper to the frame.
Other supplies I used: MS Doily Lace edge punch, craft paper (K&Company Carolyn Gavin Greenhouse stack), Tim Holtz paper distresser, flower punch, various chipboard & stickers.

I also wanted to share Ashley's clay project for her adv. art class. Poor thing, she had such a difficult time adhering the pieces together. First, one of the hearts fell off on the way to school, then the head fell when one of her friends took a 'closer' look. She was so grumpy while working on this project, all the unfortunate mishaps. But she had success at last & turned in her project in one piece!!

My final share for the evening is a package I got from Norway!! OMG, I was so freaking thrilled & excited. My sweet & darling friend Lilli a.k.a. The Crazy Card Maker sent me the nicest package. It was filled with goodies!! She even crochet my daughter some hand warmers, which came in so handy since it's been freezing over here in So. Cal. & to top that off (I didn't think it was possible!!!), she gave me a cartridge that SHE won in a challenge!! Can you believe this girl!! I was tearing up when I saw the note she sent me and the fact she was so generous to think of me. I just love her! Hopefully one day I will be so lucky to meet you in person, Lilli. You are the greatest friend <3

Thanks for stopping by & visiting me =)

Card Cupids Challenge #13

Hooray! It’s time for a new challenge! This weeks challenge is sponsored by our friends at Bugaboo Stamps and the winner will receive 7 digital stamps of their choice from the Bugaboo Store! They have so many adorable digital images!! I just love them!

This weeks challenge is to use buttons and/or ribbons on your card. Simple enough!

Here's is my creation. I am so pleased with the way this card turned out!

Hugs! XoXo



a Few Awards

OMG I can't believe it!! I've been away for a week and I missed so much excitement.....happening at my own blog!! hahaha I'm talking about being so lucky to have been thought of for these lovely & very awesome awards!

I am so thrilled I was considered for this award by Lilli. She is just a sweetheart. I adore her!!

& my friend at http://mypassion4scrappin.blogspot.com/.

Make sure to visit these two very talented gals!! Their work is just amazing & I know you will get some inspiration & ideas from them :o)

As a recipient of this award you must share the love and pay it forward by:

1.Creating a post where you blog about the Liebster award & reveal your 3-5 blog picks

2.Let them know you chose them

3.Copy & paste the blog award on your blog

4.Have faith that your followers will rally & show their crafty love back out to those you awarded

5.Have fun!

I chose these really great blogs to pass this award to:

Joe Anne @ http://jojoscraps.blogspot.com/.

Debi @ http://dizzylizzyscreations.blogspot.com/ 

Radwa @ http://stepstowalk.blogspot.com/

Ashley @ http://cricut-crazed-lady.blogspot.com/

Sue @ http://suealthouse.blogspot.com/

This lovely award I received from:

Brooke @ http://scrappedwithlove.blogspot.com/

 Lala @ http://scrappinwithlala.blogspot.com/

Kelli @ http://adventurezinchildrearing.blogspot.com/

Lilli @ http://crazycardmaker.blogspot.com/

Thank you so very much for providing me with this great award!

I truly appreciate it!!!

I feel so so lucky to have met so many wonderful & talented friends through this blog!!

I wish I could give each and everyone one of you a HUGE hug!!



Card Cupids Challenge & A Winner

It's time for another challenge over at Card Cupids. Yay! I love our challenges!! We try to come up with new concepts to make it fun & interesting :o)
This week’s challenge is a color challenge! I bet it’s not the colors you expect though! The challenge is to use Red, White and Blue in your project! This will be a good break from all of the Pink, Red and White that I am sure many of you have been using on your Valentine’s. Our challenge sponsor this week is Bugaboo Stamps and the winner is going to receive 7 Digital Stamps of their choice from the Bugaboo shop!

Here's a little inspiration to get you started. I love this little wizard.

Reminds me of a young Harry Potter heehee

......And now, for the winner of the Robotz cartridge!!! Since there wasn't a huge number of entries, I decided to put all the participants names into a hat & my daughter 'fished' out the lucky winner before heading out to school this morning.

......drum roll please......

#7 Janice.

Congratulations Janice, you will love this cartridge!!

Please email me at cesp1978@gmail.com with your address so I can go ahead & ship your prize.

Thanks everyone for participating on the blog hop & joining the challenge.

You guys are all super talented!!! I loved your projects & comments!!

Thank you also to my new Followers!! I am always excited to meet new friends and being introduced to new techniques & ideas.

You are all awesome!!!

Hugs!! XoXo

Love Challenges

Valentine's Day is tomorrow!! This is also my last chance to catch up on making those few xtra cards for those special 'loves' in my life, like my sweetheart husband, my sweetie pie Ashley & my darling friend Jill.
I already made a few cards for my daughters' friends and she also purchased a few flower grams at school. I think the kids take Valentine's Day a lot more seriously than most of us adults LOL

Ok, here's the card I made for my hubby. It's literally so stinking cute :o)

Card Recipe:

card base 5 1/2"x5 1/2" (Craft Essentials card pack)

butterfly stamp (heat embossed)

adorable skunk (DCWV Green Stack chipboard)

felt heart (Martha Stewart)

Sentiment (SU! Three Little Words)

scallop punchs, pearls, ribbon & white gel pen

Challenges:

A Spoonfull of Sugar - Show Some Love

Crafty Ho's Challenge Blog - Love Theme

My Pink Stamper - Black with your fav. colors

Sew Many Cards - Valentines

Stamping Scrapping Challenge Central - All About Love

The Pink Elephant Challenge - Be My Valentine

Don't forget, there is still time to enter my Blog Candy Giveaway.

(challenge ends February 14th, 2011 at 11:59 pm) 

Hugs!

Card Cupids Valentine's Day Blog Tour

Welcome to the Card Cupids Appreciation Blog Tour!

If you have just hopped on the tour, please go to the first stop over at Card Cupids. If you have arrived from Janel at The Scrappy Life of Mine then you are in the right place. Thanks for stopping by!

Card Cupids mission is to provide encouragement and joy by sending Card Cuddle Care Packages to children who are facing difficult challenges in their young lives regardless of their economic background. Card Cupids believes that every child needs to know that they are loved. A stuffed animal to hold, along with cards that share a positive message can help lift the spirits of children that are faced with difficult challenges. Card Cupids collects handmade cards to be sent to children along with new stuffed animals, coloring books, activity books, crayons and markers. Card Cupids hopes to provide numerous Card Cuddle Care Packages to children in hospitals, foster care, homeless shelters as well as children facing difficulties.

Card Cupids is collecting handmade cards, new stuffed animals, coloring/activity books, crayons and markers for Absolutely Incredible Kids Day on March 15 as well as cards for Kate and Christopher and their siblings. If you would like to donate handmade cards or care package items, please visit Card Cupids for more information.

Our Blog Tour theme today is Valentine’s Projects for Children.

I decided this would be a great opprotunity to do my first ever Blog Candy!! I'm so excited!!
I just adore this Robotz cartridge & I know you will too!!

All you have to do to win this fabulous cartridge is be a Follower of mine (if you are already, a million thank you's), become a Follower of Card Cupids & share a link to a Valentine's Day project you recently made on Mr. Linky's at the bottom of this post (it can be a card, scrapbook layout, box, ect). Due to shipping costs, I will only ship within the U.S. & Canada

Now, onto my project for today. I just totally love the way this card turned out. I wanted to do something a little different other than pink & red.

Isn't the birdie super cute?? :o)

Card size is 5"x5" and I weaved ribbon together for the background.

The die cuts are K&Company (I got from Target)

Thanks for stopping by today! The secret word from my stop is IN .

Remember, to win the Blog Tour prize you have to email the words to info@cardcupids.org by 11:59 pm February 14 with subject: Blog Tour Prize.

Now hop back on the tour bus to visit your next stop, Luisa at Creative Designs by Luisa.

Don't forget to link your Valentine project for a chance to win the Robotz cartridge!!! Please post your links by 11:59 pm February 14th, 2011. One entry per person. I will announce the winner on Tuesday, February 15th, 2011. Have fun & I can't wait to see what you guys come up with =)

Card Cupids Challenge

I am having crafting withdrawals!!! My daughter got the flu last Thursday and she was finally able to return to school today!! It was horrible :o( 
As a parent you feel so helpless, you just want to take the discomfort away and make them feel better. At one point her fever was 104!
She slept for 4 days!! My poor baby!! Luckily the flu medicine & cough syrup are helping. I found out this flu epidemic is so bad, seems like everyone was or is sick at school, the classes are half full!!

For today I wanted to share a simple card since I was unable to spend much time in my craft room.
It's another challenge over at Card Cupids.
This week we are making boy themed cards.
I don’t do too many boyish projects so this was a great way for me to step outside of my comfort zone! This challenge is sponsored by our friends at Fresh Brewed Designs and one lucky entry is going to receive 3 Digital Stamps of their choice from the Fresh Brewed Designs store!
Post your project over at Card Cupids!!!!

here's my card...super simple...

Also, make sure to stop by my blog on Saturday, Feb.12th for a

Valentine's Day Card Cupids Blog Tour.

I will post a Valentine project and some Blog Candy!!

You don't want to miss it!!

Hugs & best wishes

Algebra Project

I know what you are thinking....how can the title have anything do to with crafts??
Well, today I actually wanted to share a project my daughter, Ashley, has been working on since Monday for her Algebra class. They are learning a new lesson that is a bit  (A LOT) complicated, so the kids had to put together notes with a theme, how cute huh??!!
I helped Ashley with some of the diecuts (she did most herself) & the PKS faces.
Everything else, my girl did on her own. she's not completely done with the notes portion yet, but I am so very proud of her hard work and dedication :o)

Front Cover

Inside layout

Right side of panel

Left side of panel

I will be posting my latest card tomorrow. It's another challenge over at Card Cupids, so I will show you guys what I have been working on.

Hugs!

Monochromatic Challenge

Yea, at first I wondered what a monochromatic challenge was. But it's pretty simple, basically you have to incorporate tints and shades of the same color.

This is the card I created based on that concept

Card Recipe:

Std. A2 card base (Recollections card stock)

4"x5 1/4" pattern paper (My Mind's Eye-Simply Delightful)

4"x3" pattern paper (k*i memories-classic prints pad)

5 1/4"x1 1/2" SU! card stock (Brights Collection)

Martha Stewart diecuts- felt hearts

Peachy Keen Stamps- pk490 Everyday Character faces

metal accents (heidi grace-sweet whimsy)

SU! ink (cherry cobbler)

scallop edge punch

metallic ribbon (Michaels)

button (Recollections)

white gel pen, twine & sticker for sentiment

Challenges:

Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge

Frosted Designs

Kaboodle Doodles Challenge

Another Card Cupids Challenge

Hey everyone!! Don't forget to stop by over at Card Cupids and join this week's challenge which is sponsored by Some Odd Girl Stamps

Some Odd Girl Stamps has been such a wonderful supporter of Card Cupids and I cannot say enough good things about their stamps! So many adorable images to choose from.

One lucky winner is going to get to choose 3 of those wonderful stamps to be their very own! For a chance to win, all you need to do is create a card using the following sketch (provided to us by Becky Fleck at Page Maps)

Here's my take on the challenge:

Feel free to leave a comment. I really enjoy reading what you guys think.

Have a wonderful & blessed weekend =)

a Cute Valentine card

My daughter asked if I could make a Valentine's card for one of her very good friends, and of course I was thrilled to do so. I wanted to make something cute, girly & pink!!!

Materials used:

• 4 1/2"x4 1/4" card base (bazzill card stock in berry sensation)
• Sizzix embossing folder (valentine set#4)
• Distress ink (fired brick)
• elephant die cut (I found at Target by K&Company)
• Martha Stewart loop punch (I love this one! I seem to be using it a alot lately)
• Martha Stewart felt heart die cuts
• ribon (from Michaels)
• white gell pen, purple gell pen, pop dots & yellow scrap paper

Challenges:
Lexi's Creations-Valentine Challenge
Stamping Vacation-Valentine Challenge

Scrappy Moms Tuesday Challenge

There are so many challenges this week :o) Hooray!
This one is over at Scrappy Moms Stamps. This week you have to use the Sweethearts cartridge (or anything similar). I was so lucky to purchase the Sweethearts cartridge a couple of weeks ago at Michaels for $9.99!!....and I absolutely love it!!

So here's my entry. The little details on the cake took forever to assemble, but I am very happy with the way the card turned out.

Materials used:

• Std. A2 card - Bazzill card stock (berry sensation)
• Sweethearts cartridge (pg.64 for cake & pg.32 for couple)
• Elegant Cakes cartridge (for cake details)
• pattern papers - s.e.i. Chocolat paper pad
• green ribbon (recycled from Origins makeup)
• Martha Stewart felt heart diecuts
• rub ons - KaiserCraft (devonshire collection)
• pearls, bling, SU! chocolate chip ink & white gel pen

Challenges:
Celebrate the Occasion - Any Occasion (use green, white and 1 optional color)

Awards & cupcakes

Hello my bloggy friends!! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!!

I received a couple of awards last week that I'd like to share. I was so thrilled & very grateful. First I'd like to thank my friend Elaine at Expressions by Elaine. Thanks so much for thinking of me :o)

Now, for receiving this award, I need to state 3 things that make me different from everyone else, and nominate 5 other bloggers to receive the "My Blog has Attitude Award."

1. I have been married to my sweet hubby for 12 years & we are proud parents of our beautiful daughter, Ashley who is 13.
2. I can survive on sushi!!
3. I am addicted to craft stores!!

Here are the 5 bloggers that I would like to share this with.

• My darling friend Lilli @ http://crazycardmaker.blogspot.com/
• Angela @ http://pumpkinbutts.blogspot.com/
• http://amomicricut.blogspot.com/
• Jo-Anne @ http://jojoscraps.blogspot.com/
• Samantha @ http://samanthascricutcreations.blogspot.com/

Now it's your turn to pass the award (doing the same thing I've done here). You should also display the Blog Award Badge in your sidebar (you can copy and paste it and link it back to me).
Congratulations to all of you!!

Second, I'd like to send a big thank you hug to my darling friend Lilli at http://crazycardmaker.blogspot.com/ for presenting me with a "Stylish Blogger Award".

Thank you so much Elaine & Lilli for being so kind & thoughtful.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Now for todays' card. It's for my sis in law who's birthday is next month....one of many...

Challenges:

• Kaboodle Doodles Challenge
• Paper Playtime
• My Pink Stamper
• CardzTV