Attitude is Everything

Click HERE for Jo's Birthday Blog Hop!

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Fall doesn't officially start until the 23rd, but it arrived early here. It was 102 degrees on Saturday and 52 degrees on Monday! It's been chilly the last couple of days, the temps not even hitting 70. I had to dig out my sweatshirts!

I have to apologize for not getting around as much to leave comments recently. After a few days on life-support, my laptop died yesterday. It was an ancient two years old (note the sarcasm :) I'm pretty sure all of my problems stem from Vista. I bought my laptop when Vista was new and the next greatest thing. I even paid to upgrade to Ultimate. I have had non-stop problems ever since and now my hard drive is fried. I had problems about a year ago and the Dell rep tried really hard to get me to upgrade to Windows 7. I resisted on principle. I paid so much for the upgrade in Vista, I thought it was ridiculous to pay that much more that soon. I have a desktop computer, which I'm using now, but I use my laptop almost constantly. Because I use it for both work and play, I purchased an expensive model that I thought would last for years. So I'm pretty frustrated right now...a new computer put a serious dent in my craft supply budget...for like the next three years :(

I do have a card to enter into a couple of challenges today. For this card I used A Child's Year for the image and cut it four times to get the different colors. The background paper is from DCWV. I used a really shiny, glittery red paper for the apple. I embossed the top strip of orange with a Cuttlebug border folder. The stamp is from K Andrew Designs Positive Thoughts stamp set.

Recipe:

• K Andrew Designs Positive Thoughts Stamp Set
• A Child's Year - Girl image cut at 4 1/2"
• Base Camp - A, B and C cut at 2/3"
• DCWV Paper - background - rest from my stash
• Tim Holtz Walnut Distress Ink - edges
• Cuttlebug Border Embossing Folder
• White Gel Pen
• Twine From The Twinery
• Button From My Stash
• Foam Tape

 I am entering it in the following challenges:

• Cooking With Cricut Challenge #50 - School Daze
• Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog Challenge #76 - Back to School, Use 123's or ABC's

Have you seen the three new stamp sets Kristal of K Andrew Designs has coming out soon? They are so awesome and definitely must-have's!!

How fun do they look?! I can't wait to play with them...so many ideas for cards! Plus, she is offering a free stamp set to anyone who places an order of $25.00 or more! You can't buy this set!

Click HERE to place your order. But hurry, the Merci set is a limited edition!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a great day :)

Jo's Birthday Blog Hop!

Happy Monday everyone and welcome to Jo's Birthday Blog Hop! I hope you will join us in wishing Jo of JoBoogie Stamping a very happy birthday! Her birthday was actually yesterday but we are celebrating today with a hop in her honor!

If you arrived here from Jacilynn at Jacilynn Dashwood, you are in the right place! If you are just visiting my blog and would like to hop along with us, click HERE to start at the beginning with Jo's blog. There will be blog candy for one lucky person who follows all of the participants and leaves a comment on everyone's blogs. Once you have finished the hop, head back to Jo's blog and enter your name in Mr. Linky for a chance to win! Several of the participants with have blog candy as well!

The theme of this hop is "cute and young" birthday! For my first project, I thought I would have a band serenade Jo with a musical version of Happy Birthday! I constructed the stage using Elegant edges for the top cornice and attached it with about three layers of foam tape to give it dimension. I used Core Couture paper for the curtains. I used Rock Princess for the band, each cut at 3". The background paper is from DCWV. Happy Birthday was cut from Birthday Cakes at 1 1/2" and I used a gel pen for definition around the letters. I am entering this in the Birthday Sundaes Challenge #25 - birthday card with birthday wording.

For my second project, I made a cute little purse for the birthday girl! I used Forever Young to cut the purse at 6 1/4". I used Flower Shoppe for the flowers on the shoes, cut at 3/4", and added a crystal in the middle. I added crystals to the heels and handle as well. I used a Tim Holtz plastic charm and adhered the sentiment with Mod Podge. To show how versatile these stamps are, I use stamps from three different K Andrew Designs stamps for the sentiment! The happy is from Splashtastic Summer, the Birthday is from Coffee and Tea for You and Me, and Sole-Sister is from Fashionable Friends! Click HERE to purchase these awesome stamp sets!

I have blog candy! I won a pair of these scissors in a blog hop a few months ago from Angie at A Tuttle Time and I just LOVE them! I don't know what I did without them! I thought they were such a great blog candy gift, I am offering a pair for my blog candy!

All you have to do to be eligible for the candy is (1) be a follower and (2) leave a comment on this post along with a way to contact you. I will announce a winner on 9/12.

Your next stop on the Jo's Birthday Blog Hop is my good friend Susan of Cricut and Grasshopper! Head on over to her blog...she is so talented and she will have an awesome project for you! Here is the lineup in case you get lost along the way:

Jo - http://joboogie.typepad.com

Amber - http://my3escrapbooking.blogspot.com

Ashley - http://hearthugsdesigns.blogspot.com

Corinne: http://rinnesbliss.blogspot.com

Diana - http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com

Jacilynn - http://jacilynndashwood.blogspot.com

Lisa - http://indymermaid.blogspot.com <-- YOU ARE HERE

Susan - http://cricutandgrasshopper.blogspot.com <-- NEXT STOP 

Thanks so much for stopping by today and thanks so much Jo for inviting me to be part of your birthday celebration! :)

Too Beautiful For This Earth

Happy Saturday, everyone! I hope you have fun plans for the weekend! Those of you in the US, I hope you have a safe, happy Labor Day holiday! I'm headed to a cookout soon but I wanted to get a card posted before I go :)

The challenge this week at Cricut 360 is Grandparents Day. I haven't had grandparents for a long time. I never knew my Dad's parents. His dad died when he was 10 and his mom when he was 18. He and my Mom had just married and they had an instant family, raising his two younger brothers.

I was fortunate to know my Mom's parents. My grandfather was stern and my sister and I were a little afraid of him. He always threatened us that if we didn't behave, he would tell our parents. So we behaved! He died when I was 10. My maternal grandma, we called her Mimi, was the most incredible woman I've ever known. She was one of those rare people who don't come along often. She organized charity events, she fed hungry strangers, she volunteered her time whenever needed, she gave money to whoever needed it, even though she didn't have much, she believed in the good in people and she was simply incredible. She did all this while suffering through a host of illnesses including diabetes, Lupus and cancer. She never once complained, and you wouldn't have even known she wasn't feeling well. For one charity event she organized for children, she wrote several celebrities soliciting donations for an auction and raised a ton of money. Months after the event, she received a package in the mail. It was a framed clip from Alice in Wonderland, signed by Walt Disney, along with a personal letter from him. He had been out of the country and upon his return, he read her letter. He checked into the event and found out that it was long over and how much work my grandmother put into making it a success. He wanted her to have the gift for all she did on behalf of others.

This card is in honor of all of my grandparents, but especially my Mimi. She died when I was 11. I miss her so much and wish I had more time to spend with her but I sincerely believe God needed her at his side and she was definitely too beautiful for this earth. (Thank you Kristal Andrew for such a beautiful, perfect sentiment!!)

For this card, I welded the base on my Gypsy using Elegant Edges, and attached the frame with foam tape for a bit of dimension. The flowers are from Flower Shoppe and the crystal design is from a template for my iRock. The sentiment is from K Andrew Design Sympathetic Sayings stamp set. I used a Tim Holtz plastic charm and mod podged the sentiment to it.

Recipe:

• K Andrew Designs Sympathetic Sayings Stamp Set - Click HERE to purchase your own set
• Elegant Edges - shape and frame at 5"
• Flower Shoppe - flowers cut at 4"
• My Mind's Eye - stripes and orange paper
• DCWV - red polka dot and flower paper
• iRock - gem pattern
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Clear Charms
• Tim Holtz Fired Brick Distress Ink - sentiment and edges
• Tim Holtz Walnut Distress Ink - edges of flowers

Here is a picture of the framed Alice in Wonderland clip that Walt Disney sent to Mimi:

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a great day :)

Family Fun!

Happy Thursday, everyone! I hope you are having a great day! I have a card for a couple of challenges today. The challenge this week at Cooking With Cricut is Family Fun. Most summers growing up, my family loved to camp. This card is in honor of those wonderful trips!

 

I love the Campin Critters cart and I haven't used this cut of car and camper yet. I made a step card for the different layers. The trees are cut at 4" and I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder. The sign in the back is hard to read but the two arrows to the right point to "camp sites" and "lake" and the sign pointing left is the "road home". I used a K Andrew Designs stamp from her Positive Thoughts stamp set. Click HERE to purchase your own set!

 

Here is a side view. I used foam tape to give the sun dimension, to attach the sign, car and camper and the family fun sentiment on the front.

Recipe

• K Andrew Designs Positive Thoughts Stamp Set
• Campin Critters - trees at 4", car and camper at 2 1/2", sign at 2"
• Doodlecharms - sun at 1 1/2"
• Base Camp - Family Fun at 3/4"
• Swiss Dots Embossing Folder
• Foam Tampe
• Decorative Gems
• White Gel Pen

I am entering the card in the following challenges:

• Cooking With Cricut Challenge #49 - Family Fun
• You Had Me At Craft - Made it Myself Mondays

Thanks so much for stopping by today! Have a great evening :)