Swap Group Card and a Little Friend....

I have the privilege of being in a swap group with ladies from SCS that are incredible stampers. The last swap we did was a technique swap, and I made this bleach stamped card. Well, I haven't gotten any time to stamp (maybe I will today) so I thought I would take this opportunity to share one of the cards I received with you. This card is made by Carrie Clary (cackrc on SCS). She did a magnificent job with the polished stone technique. Her card has so many neat details, and you can't see it very well but there is paper piercing along the right edge of the So Saffron on the Elegant Eggplant CS. What a great card!!! Check out her gallery on SCS (click on her SCS name in "eggplant" above) for more great projects!

For a tutorial on Polished Stone from SCS, click here. This is one of my favorite techniques!!!

Info for the card from her recipe on back:
Stamp Sets: Doodle This, Curvy Verses
Ink: Black Staz-On, Elegant Eggplant, WWC (lavender lace, eggplant, so saffron), Reinkers (lavender lace, eggplant, silver)
Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, So Saffron, Naturals White, Whisper White, Glossy
Accessories: Lavender ribbon, HH--pewter, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects, Dimensionals, Tool Kit, Sponge, alcohol, cotton balls


This is a little friend that the girls and I watched for a few minutes yesterday until he flew away. I just love his vibrant orange markings and how "soft" he looks on his wings near his abdomen. Also, see his proboscis (tongue) sticking out? I think he was either trying to dry from the rain we've had, or he was new out of a cocoon because he acted like he wasn't the best flyer and flapped his wings a lot as he sat. Similar behavior to some Monarchs I've hatched before. Anyway, enjoy!

A Sunday post and an answer to Dawn Mercedes' question....

I don't usually post on Sundays because that's our family day. After spending time at church from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and not having a husband at home from about 6:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. I like to relish the time that we have together. I can't wait until we move and we're in a normal-sized church so that we don't have so much responsibility in callings usually reserved for "older" people. Having said that, I've probably jinxed us and Peter will be in the Bishopric at our next ward :) Him be the 1st counselor in the Branch Presidency (AND in the District Young Men's) and me a counselor in the Relief Society keeps us busy enough. If you're not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I'm probably speaking a bunch of gibberish to you, so I'll stop. If you would like more info about our beliefs (we ARE Christians, Christ is the keystone of our Church), check out this site.

I thought the above would be a decent post for a Sunday and I also wanted to answer Dawn Mercedes' question about my refrigerator magnet. She asked what the bottom layer was. Well, in order from bottom to top:

1. rectangular piece of wood from Michaels - it's pretty thin (as I called it earlier - sorry I don't know what it REALLY is)
2. True Thyme layer of CS
3. "woven" Recollections DS paper
4. all other embellishments :)

Here's the picture again so you can look as you read:


If you're speaking of the "Friends" tag, the bottom layer is Naturals White CS, then Bravo Burgundy, then Naturals White CS sponged with just the slightest bit of Cranberry Crisp ink and then stamped and topped with the Cracked Glass technique.

Laughlin Air Force Base Adventure Race

Over 60 teams competed today in a triathlon of sorts. It is called the Adventure Race - here at Laughlin - and people from other bases come to compete in it. It started early in the morning and the last team finished the race over 6 hours later. They start out riding bikes from the base all the way to Lake Amistad (it's around a 27 mile bike-ride). The teams consist either of 4 people or 8 people. The 4-man teams are called Extreme Teams because they can't sub anyone out. The 8-man teams always have 4 people doing the event, but have certain points in the course of the event where they can substitute someone if they want. The 4-man teams are hardcore, but will probably never win the race overall. They do have a category for the fastest Extreme Team though. Anyway, after biking, they run a little over 6 miles with three substitution points available. After that, they row on Lake Amistad in a 4-man inflatable raft. I'm not sure how far they row, but it takes about 45 min or so (I think) for a FAST team to row the course. This year, they threw in some non-athletic events - for what reason, I don't know - so after the run you had to do a water balloon launch (not one of the teams successfully completed it) and then after the bike riding 2 of the team members had to complete a Sudoku puzzle before they could move on. After the rafting, the team got out of the boat, all met together (if it was an 8-man team) and ran up a tiny trail from the lake to the finish line.

With all that being said, my husband was in this race representing his squadron. I've been heckling him because he flies so much he hardly has time to work out. I didn't even take my camera because I'm a dork like that usually, plus I didn't think there would be much to take a picture of if they finished only "okay." Well, STUPID ME - his team WON!!!!! I'm so happy for him because if he's anything like me, 2nd place is the first loser. I know, I know, they say winning isn't what's important, just that you tried your best, but I'm a typical type-A personality. That's why the Air Force Academy was so hard - everyone there is type-A!!! :) So here I am, regretting that I didn't have my camera with me and that we live in such a tiny little town that the local paper won't have anything about it in an article for me to at least have that picture. I guess I'll have to wait for the base paper to come out on Thursday evening this week. I'm sure it will be on the front page of that. They say that Laughlin's Adventure Race is the best one out there - and now other bases are trying them too. Peter's teams have always done okay, placing as high as around 5th one of the three years he's done it (he skipped last year or it would have been all four that the race as existed), so I really didn't expect much. Some of the teams really train for this race. Peter's team just did what they could - they work too much for the most part to have much time to train. I'm sure most of the Active Duty teams were that way too.

So, that's where we were all day today and why I didn't get any stamping done. I was busy watching Peter win out of 60 teams and we're super proud. Take care until Monday - have a great weekend!

Refrigerator Magnet Decoration

Today I got to spend time making this little project with a good friend of mine that's moving in about a week. Gotta love military life - you make strong friendships fast 'cause you know your time is limited, but then that time to leave comes and it's hard to say goodbye. So, I got this refrigerator magnet (to the right) in a gift exchange I did with a Yahoo Group I'm part of. It was made by a wonderful stamper named Tina Silva. Naomi (my friend) has been wanting to get together and make this and we FINALLY got it done the last week she's here.

I kept a lot of it the same, but changed some colors here and there. The overall shape of it is a rectangle instead of a square, and I changed the background CS from Chocolate Chip to True Thyme. It was fun to make and I can't believe that Tina made around 22 of these for our swap!!!! It was tedious work. Here is the one we made:

This project has cracked glass over the word friends, I'm not sure if you can see it. It involves a lot of paper piercing and stitching (if you don't want to use your sewing machine like me - I'm not brave enough to do that yet!). It was fun, and I've never "woven" paper before either so that was neat to try. Anyway, here are the details:

Stamp sets: Small Sayings, Love Matters
Ink: Brown StazOn, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Cameo Coral, Cranberry Crisp, Mellow Moss, True Thyme, Blush Blossom, VersaMark
Paper: Recollections DS Paper, Cranberry Crisp CS, True Thyme CS, Naturals White CS, Bravo Burgundy CS
Accessories: Tag Corner Punch, Antique Brass HPH, sponges, Twill Tape, Cranberry Crisp stitched grosgrain, Moss gingham, negative heart image from On Board Accents, Glassy Glaze Embossing Enamel (for cracked glass), heat tool, piercing tool and guide, thread, needles, large oval punch, old SU! layer system (little circles you put a pencil in and roll along edge of paper to create the mat - can't remember the name), rectangular piece of wood from Michaels

Used Stamp Sets for Sale

I have the following stamp sets for sale. If you are interested, we will find the cheapest shipping method and add that to the sale price of the stamp set. Please e-mail me at mcclellans@stx.rr.com and it is first-come, first-serve. Thanks!!

Say it Simply: (set of 4 – Level I hostess set from 2005-2006 Catalog - retired) One stamp gently used, others unmounted - $10.00
Link to picture of set: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/359133?cat=4570

Made from Scratch: (set of 4 – Level I hostess set from 2005-2006 Catalog - retired) All stamps gently used, mounted - $10.00
Link to picture of set: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/310149?cat=4568

Happy Hearts: (set of 6 – retired) 3 stamps gently used, others unmounted - $15.00
Link to picture of set: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/310279?cat=806

Holiday Blocks: (set of 8 – former Hostess Incentive set – retired) All stamps mounted and gently used - $19.00
Link to picture of set: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/309194?cat=4854

Definitely Decorative Daisy: (set of 13 – retired) All stamps used and some have slightly stained rubber (staining of rubber in no way affects quality of stamped images) - $25.00
Link to picture of set: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/367118?si=Daisy%20index

Juanita...Paging Juanita

Juanita, I hope that title caught your attention :) I was hoping you could e-mail me your address so I could send a little card your way. I have been so appreciative of all of your wonderful, positive and motivating comments and just wanted to brighten your day with a little mail. You don't have any kind of link with your name so I can't figure out how to contact you except through a post. Thanks!! :)

I've Been Tagged!

Well, I got tagged in the newest round of Blog Tag. This time, I get to tell you (I'm sure you're super excited - yeah right, huh?) 7 things about myself and then tag 7 other people to do the same. Alli over at Rubber Rambles tagged me. She has a wonderful blog, so give it a peek! Here are 7 things about me:

1. I am terrified of heights - I found that out on the obstacle course at the Air Force Academy when I had to climb up a 7-or-so story tower by literally climbing up my classmates. I had to grab on to the front of them as they held the level above, and climb up their body to the next level. If I had been a little taller, I might not have had to do it that way. It's hard to picture, but I realized that I really don't like being up high.

2. With number one being said, I earned my Parachute Jump Wings from the Air Force while at the Academy by jumping BY MYSELF out of a plane 5 times and being in free fall each of those times for at least 10 seconds. It was the most AWESOME experience of my life and I would do it again in a heartbeat. You NEVER feel the sensation of falling. If you could lay on a giant fan, that's what free fall feels like, and then when your chute opens, you just feel like you're gliding/flying around. It was incredible.

3. I thought that I would be the "first" female _____ in the Air Force. I wasn't sure at the time what I would be the first at, but I am very competitive and like to give 110% so I was sure that would happen.

4. Making the career change to being a stay-at-home mom has been so rewarding, I can't describe it. I know that it is where I belong, and it is the HARDEST job I've ever had. No lunch break, and you don't get to leave the job behind at the end of a long and tiring day. All joking aside, I knew that I couldn't have anyone else raise my kids for me, so that's why I'm doing this.

5. At the US Air Force Academy I majored in Biology and minored in Spanish. I graduated by the skin of my teeth because I was of the mindset that "I'll have a job when I graduate no matter what, so I can focus on other things." Boy, what a mistake that was - your GPA does matter later if you want to get your Masters, etc. Oh well....

6. I want to go back to school when my youngest child (will it be this soon-to-be-born baby #3 or will we have one more? I don't even know!!) is in school. Things I've pondered studying are Law, Nursing and being an educator (not sure what age yet).

7. I was a falconer at the Air Force Academy. Four people are chosen at the end of their freshman year to be on a team of 12 cadets who get to raise, train, care for and handle the Air Force Academy's mascot, the falcon. Usually the Academy has around somewhere between 6 to 10 different falcons. They are trained to perform during half-time at football games and at other public events. I would like to pursue falconry again when our military career is over. They are amazing creatures.

Now, for my 7 people tagged. I'm not even sure where to start. I have so many blogs that I check daily and I don't want to hurt any feelings. I think I will randomly pick some people with that same random number selector program I use for my drawings and give each spot in my sidebar a corresponding number from 1 to whatever the last one is. One second....

1. Linda - Celebration Moments
2. Lori - Inking Aloud
3. Paula - Love Bloom's in Me
4. Jenny - Paper Daisy Chain
5. Jan - Paper Tango
6. Ronee - Ronee Malama
7. Jennifer - Stampin' Crazy Jennifer's one of my downline, so I was excited that her number got "picked" :)

Idea Book Inspiration

I was kind of stumped with starting one of the many Mother's Day cards I want to make. I didn't have a stamp set in mind, just colors. I didn't have a layout planned either, so I wasn't sure where to start. So, I pulled out my trusty SU! 2007 Idea Book and Catalog and decided to USE it as an Idea Book for once! I flipped through and on page 73 there's a cute little card with the Parlez-Vous Français? stamp set and what I liked about it was the ribbon and how the artist attached it. I didn't realize it, but subliminally I also CASE'd the distressed edges of the CS - I thought it was my idea because I hadn't noticed it, but on 2nd look that card has some too (just not everywhere I did it). The only part that might need explaining is that I used my 3/4" circle punch on a piece of Chocolate Chip stamped with Chocolate Chip ink and my Aida Cloth BG stamp to create the Chocolate colored button. I used my SU! Tabletop Paper Trimmer to cut a "thread" of Cool Caribbean CS. I really wasn't sure if it needed the button, so I probably shouldn't have added it, but I wanted something more on the card. Oh well, here's the card:


Stamp Sets: Artfully Asian, Curvy Verses, Headline Alphabet, Aida Cloth BG
Card Stock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Cool Caribbean (for "thread")
Ink Used: Chocolate Chip, Brown StazOn, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Cool Caribbean
Accessories: Clear Button, SU! Distressing Tool, Blender Pen, Antique Gold Brads, SU! Chocolate grosgrain, Caribbean Grosgrain, Olive Grosgrain, 3/4" circle punch

Cards for Troops

Recently, as I've mentioned before, I helped organize an event here at Laughlin AFB where volunteers
came and stamped cards for the members who are deployed right now from our base. There are 68 or so that are deployed and that's a lot considering the mission of this base is to train Air Force Pilots, so most of the Active Duty on the base are Officers are deployed. Of that 68, most are enlisted troops from Security Forces, Civil Engineering, and so on. A lot of them leave family members behind, and there are also many of them who are single. Either way, we like to send them care packages to show that (as the name says) we care and miss them and are praying for their safe and speedy return. Well, the card that we made them is obviously the first picture. I kept it simple since almost none of the 15 or so volunteers had ever stamped.

These other pics are a couple I took of the volunteers stamping. What a great way to spend some time doing something for someone else!! Isn't that what we're doing MOST of the time as stampers? I don't think a whole lot of us sit and make cards for ourselves, or even most of the other projects we make. I challenge you to make a card today for someone in the military.

Whether it's someone you know or you just want to send the card in to someone that's organizing card collection for the troops, take a few minutes to do it. As everyone likes to say, there isn't a Hallmark in Iraq (or any other deployed location).

Here are some links to a couple of ladies who are organizing collection of cards to send to troops:

Debbi Dresser

Kyla Maestas

Dawn Griffith

Of course my girls had to stamp while we were there and Emma really wanted me to post a picture of them too, so here they are:

Take care!

Emma's Birthday

Four years ago today I gave birth to my little baby girl, Emma. I can't believe she's already FOUR!!! The time sure does fly by and I'm sure that when she's a teenager I will think that it was just yesterday that she turned four. We can't take any of these days we are blessed with together for granted. You never know what may happen and I think that if we can just remember that we can all be better people. So, happy birthday Emma!!!

She probably wouldn't consider it a present, but the girls new furniture (beds) arrived today so I got to finish their room. Of course, Peter helped tons too, but you know how us moms are with all of the details. I've got more ideas of ways to add cute/fun things in, but will do them slowly instead of all right now. The beds were a pretty big purchase!!!

Here are 3 views of the girls room. The first shows both beds - Sarah's on the left and Emma's on the right. Their bed sheets are reversible and of course each of them wanted a different side showing. It will give you a bit of insight into their personalities. Emma is a princess through and through, and Sarah is my tomboy (not that these sheets are boyish at all!) and loves blue, so teal had to do in this case :) We have 3 purple walls and one teal one. The valance I made from the bottom of one of the twin bed skirts since they're not needed for these beds. In the doorway is a beaded curtain that's in progress. We bought it at Target and the picture showed it all full of beads, but it only came with TWELVE strands of beads. So, we found another here in Del Rio (Target's 3 hours away) and I took it apart and added it in and we still need one more that I'll get next week. We added purple the 2nd time, so I think this next one will be pink beads. They each have a butterfly over their bed - Emma's is pink and Sarah's is teal. I've still got to make Sarah a name frame, but Emma's is over her bed (not too visible) and they each have a little framed picture of Christ that I got at a Deseret Book store a long time ago sitting on their headboards. They each lined up their "babies" on the shelf on their headboard - Sarah put her "aminals", as Sarah calls them, on hers, and Emma's really are (mostly) babies.

I sure hope they like their new shared room, and more importantly I hope they SLEEP in it!!! :)

RAK pictures I promised

Here are the pics I promised in yesterday's post. See it here.

Vera's RAK:



















Here's the Blogger's RAK I got from Kathy:

























Thanks a bunch again, ladies. I love them both!!!

RAK's - THANK YOU!!!!

I just want to give a quick thanks to Kathy (Kathat on SCS) and Vera (Vera on SCS). I'm not sure if Vera has a blog, but Kathy does and if you click on her name above, you'll go to it. They both have great galleries, and Vera is someone that I've become very familar with on SCS. I LOVE her work and was so honored to get a card from her. Kathy sent me a card inspired by one of my own, and that is another honor to have someone like something I did enough to CASE it. Thanks so much ladies, and I will post pics of the cards tomorrow.

Today has been CRAZY!!!!! We have been painting the girls room and trying to arrange it so that their new beds arriving tomorrow actually have a place to go. With our little boy on the way in July, we're trying to put the girls in a room together (we only have 3 bedrooms) which will be interesting. We wanted the stress of this new sleeping/living situation to happen before the baby comes so that the girls don't associate it in any way with him. I spent much of today and last Saturday painting the girls room, and there's nothing quite like an often uncoordinated pregnant lady trying to paint in a tight space (much of the furniture had to stay in the room so we could get the painting done so it could dry). I'm sure you can just imagine how much paint ended up on me instead of the walls. :P LOL

Speaking of CRAZY, I've had to move all of my stamping stuff into a small area in the baby's/guest room. Oh, how we need more space!!! It looks like it will work out but I lose my stamping area as far as actually DOING my stamping in that area. I had to fold up my craft table and call it a "workshop" table until further notice. :) I'll be using the kitchen table now and will have to bring everything out there and put it all right back. Uggh!!!!! Anyway, someday we will hopefully have more room, but for now this will have to do.

So, this is what I've been busy with and why there are not any pictures today. I still have to upload the pics from the Cards for Troops event, and have to take pics of the two lovely RAK's I received. You will get to see them though, I promise!!!

Take care, and have a great weekend. I'll post a picture of a card tomorrow so check back!!! :)

Blog Tag and my 2nd Butterfly Kisses Swap Card

Just to let you know, I'll post the pics of the cards we made for troops deployed from here at Laughlin tomorrow. What fun that was!

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!!! Two of the stampers that I admire most for their unique styles and absolutely beautiful work actually tagged ME to name 5 blogs that I recommend for you to check out. I thought that since of course the Beate's, JulieHRR's, Sharons Harnists, Jenn Balcers, Debbie Olsons, Lisa Strahls, and many others are at the top of my "check every day list" and probably everyone else's too, that I would name 5 that I added to my Google Reader most recently. The two ladies that tagged me are Yvette and Chris. Yvette has the best watercoloring/any type of coloring ability that I've seen anywhere. I check her (new) blog every day now that she has it, and it's so fun to get to see a little bit of what she creates each day to motivate my own stamping. The "coolest" thing about Yvette isn't even her creative ability, it's that she's from the best state in the US - Kentucky!!! That's where I lived until I went to college and head-first into the Air Force life. GO BIG BLUE!!!! :) Chris Smith has a wonderful style of her own too. She knows just how to balance a card with the perfect embellishments and layouts. Her color choices are stunning, and recently she even showed how she made some patterned Kraft colored CS with some stamps and a white gel pen that is GORGEOUS!!! So, like I said I'm going to tag some of my recent Google Reader additions and recommend that you check everyone in my sidebar because I think they're ALL worth your time! :)

1. Lesa's Paper Possibilities

2. Evie's Create-EV Stamping

3. Misti's Misti Stamps 4 Fun!

4. Lisa's Silver Stamping

5. Kristine's Ink Something!

Enjoy these blogs - they'll be added to my sidebar today, and here's my card:


This card was made with Kraft, Buckaroo Blue, and White CS. White Craft Ink, So Saffron Craft Ink, Stickles, SU!'s distressing tool, a 1/4" circle punch, White grosgrain ribbon, the stamp set Butterfly Kisses by Papertrey Ink. I hope the ladies in the swap like it!!! I was trying to NOT use any of the "main" butterfly images to show that the other stamps in the set could make a cute card too. Take care!

Cards for Troops - Contest

Kyla Maestas is having a great contest for a good cause, so please take a few moments to check this out on her blog. I actually have sent cards in to Debbi before (see this post) and will be posting pictures tomorrow of a Cards for Troops event that I provided the supplies and directions for for the deployed members of my own base - Laughlin, AFB Texas. This is worth your time, and will be greatly appreciated by those your act of kindness affects. Thanks! Click here to go to the post on Kyla's blog. Take care, and enjoy this little notecard that I made in just a few minutes. I used the SU! stamp set Sassy Stems, Black StazOn, Prismacolor pencils, baby oil, blending stumps, and SU!'s notecards and envelopes. It's nothing much - just a quick note to a friend, but I thought you might like a picture along with this post. :)

Butterfly Kisses Swap

My father-in-law stopped in for an over-night visit last night so I was a little too busy yesterday to post anything. To make up for it I'll post two pictures today. :) First, this is a picture of the blog candy that Nancy won. It should be well on its way to Canada and her mailbox by now, and I'm sure she'll be getting it soon. I hope she has fun with it!! She's getting 28 pieces of 6 x 6 patterned paper, 4 selections of ribbon/trim, an alterable frame, 15 pieces of CS that have been embossed with 5 different Cuttle Bug A2 Embossing Folders, 7 sets of Cuttle Bug die-cuts, AND the stamp set Doodle That!!! It doesn't look like much in the picture, but that's because I didn't spread out all of the paper, CS and dies. I tried to coordinate some of the embossed CS with the patterned paper, but my main desire was to give her lots of different colors of items to play with. You never know what supplies someone already has to work with. Hope you enjoy it Nancy!!

This card is one that I made for a swap I'm in. It's a full-card swap, but we only had to make 5 + 1. I'm really enjoying this stamp set made by Papertrey Ink. It's so versatile, and I hope that my 2nd swap card shows that - I didn't use the butterfly images at all. I'll show you that one tomorrow ;) Anyway, for this card I used Marigold Morning, Whisper White, Basic Black and Kraft CS. I used Marigold Morning ink, Black StazOn, and a white Signo gel pen. I also used my corner rounder punch to make the scalloped edge - a technique I'm still working on! :) Lastly, I used some black organdy ribbon that I got from Wal-Mart with polka-dots. I tried to tie in the dots in the butterfly with the ribbon and the dots on the scalloped edges. These are not usual colors for me, but I wanted something bright and happy for a birthday card. I hope the ladies in the swap like them!

Butterfly Thank You's

Here are the cards I mentioned a few posts ago that were for a friend's baby shower on Friday. I hope she likes them. I've been having a lot of fun with this set! The colors used are my Soft Subtle pink Colorbox Petals chalk ink, and Brown StazOn. I stamped the little butterfly on the envelopes from the Butterfly Kisses set too. That's what's sitting under the card. The rest is pretty self-explanatory. Take care, and have a wonderful weekend!

Last Butterfly Kisses...

...in the trilogy of cards I stamped. This one is definitely different. I got tired of the greens and switched to Cool Caribbean and Not Quite Navy. I also changed the layout because I wanted my butterfly off-center and I felt the horizontal layout allowed for a more visually appealing image. The dots are made with my Not Quite Navy marker to give the butterfly flight. Again I used my Paper Tray sentiments and added a small Butterfly Kisses flower with Not Quite Navy brads to the words. I used Stickles again on all of the little circles in the patterned butterfly image - I hope you can see them!!! Have a great weekend!

Milk Mumu Nursing Covers

I'm sure a lot of you out there reading this have grown children, don't have children, or don't want children, but for those of you that (will) have a baby or know someone that has or is having a baby and wants to breastfeed, I thought I would pass on info about a friend of mine and her business. Angie is amazing - she's a stay-at-home mom, used to be in the military, is super talented and creative (she should be a stamper!!!) and created a little business in her home that is just growing and growing. She makes nursing covers for moms that allow them to breastfeed with the security of knowing the cover isn't going to get yanked down by a little one, and the fabrics she uses are designer fabrics!!! So, like I said, if you breastfeed, will breastfeed in the future, or know someone who does, check out Angie's store Milk Mumu (added to my sidebar under Sites of Interest). They make great gifts, she gives them to all of our friends and so everyone wants her at their baby shower!! ;) I can't wait to get my hands on one, or two, or..... When you're in her store, just click on"The one and only: Milk Mumu Nursing/Breastfeeding cover" and it will take you to the page where you can view all of her fabrics. Just so you know, some of the fabrics are listed under a paragraph of descriptions, so don't assume you've seen them all until your page won't scroll any further. She has 100% positive feedback and it really is an incredible thing that she has done creating this business so why not support her!?!? Take care!!!

Butterfly Kisses Again....

As promised, here is the next card I made with my Butterfly Kisses stamp set. I decided that I didn't like the masking around the butterfly so much - it made the image seem heavy and I wanted it to have a more light and delicate look. Plus, there was no sparkle to the butterfly and that had to be changed! I did like the somewhat unusual color choice for my butterfly with the greens, so, here's what I came up with. I did change the patterned butterfly image's color to a lighter green than the Garden Green I used before. This time I used Old Olive. I also added some little dots to look like the butterfly was in flight with my Old Olive marker. You'll notice (hopefully) that each circle on the butterfly has some Stickles added to it for a little sparkle. I have the hardest time getting the Stickles to show in photos! Also, one other small detail I changed was that I added the flower with the sentiment to both sides instead of just at the end of it. I stamped the sentiment in Certainly Celery and added Old Olive brads to the flowers. I hope you like it. Take care!

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

Click this link to find out! When I took the quiz I found out that I was at least supposed to go to the 6th grade :)

This is Addicting

Well, I thought I was smart, I mean I passed this test that's going around in e-mail about whether you're smarter than a 5th grader or not!!! Try this out:

Idiot Test

Butterfly Kisses....I'm in Love

I am having lots of fun playing with my newest Papertrey Ink stamp set, Butterfly Kisses (for more info see Papertrey link on right-side of screen). I got a little stamping time yesterday, and after making a bunch of Thank You cards with the set for a friend's baby shower this Friday (I'll post them on Saturday so I won't spoil her surprise) I made three more cards. I was on a single-layer kick, and over the next three days you'll see the evolution of my idea. By no means are these cards spectacular, but I had fun changing things slightly from one card to the next. Here's the first one:

I started with a simple Whisper White CS base. I used my Giga Scalloped Circle punch to create a mask for some reverse masking. This was a challenge on SCS this week (TLC111), to do reverse masking. I sponged my Certainly Celery ink inside the mask, and then I stamped my solid butterfly in Old Olive followed by the paisley butterfly in Garden Green. That was simple, wasn't it? For the sentiment, I used my other Papertrey Ink set, Paper Tray, to stamp "With Love", and then I added a flower from the Butterfly Kisses set and put a little Old Olive brad in the middle of it. I can't wait for my next Papertrey set to arrive - the Green Thumb set is to die for - but it's on backorder because it's so awesome!! Anyway, I hope you like it - let me know what you think! Tomorrow you'll get to see what I changed to make my 2nd card. Take care.

Blog Candy WINNER and a card

I loved all of the comments and suggestions. What a fun way to get ideas. The hubby and I aren't really any closer to choosing, but I will let you know when we do. I wish it was decided yesterday, I hate waiting, but we'll see what happens.

As for the contest, the winner of the blog candy as picked by random.org is lucky commenter #6, who was Nancy. My e-mail is mcclellans@stx.rr.com and if you will get me your address Nancy, your stuff will be on it's way ASAP. Congrats and here's what she said in her comment:

Nancy said...

Hmmm, a good name... I can tell you one I wouldn't use (again tee hee). Our youngest is Matthew. Love the name. But let me tell you, every Matthew I have come across since we had our Matthew has been a big monkey! Use this name with caution!!

This is a card that I made for a swap that I'm in. I hope that the ladies like it. We did a technique swap, and I chose to do stamping with bleach. Both the paisleys on the card, and the background pattern on the Chocolate Chip CS were stamped with bleach. I simply turned a piece of folded up paper towel into an ink pad by pouring a little bleach on it. The red is SU!'s Ruby Red, and the flower and "joy" are stamped on Very Vanilla CS 'cause it matched the bleached out colors better than Whisper White. I used my new spiral punch along the edges, my markers to color the flower and stamp it, my stamp-a-ma-jig to position the outline stamp for the flower petals, and also to position the word "joy" from one of the sentiment stamps in this Spring Mini stamp set Polka Dots & Paisleys. The Chocolate Chip CS behind the flower image has its edges distressed with the SU! distressing tool - I love that little gizmo!! The ribbon is also Vanilla and that's really about all there is to the card. I hope they like it and I would love to hear what you think. Thanks, and take care!!

Blog Candy Drawing Today

The drawing for my blog candy will be today. I have to go into town though, and I'm not sure I'll be back by noon, so we'll say that it will close and I'll generate the number for the winner at 1:00 p.m. Central time or as close to that as possible. Last chance to enter it, see this post. Take care!

Angel Company Stamps

My friend Anne borrowed my black StazOn re-inker today and I just figured what are friends for? Not a big deal, really. Well, to my surprise, she came to my house and gave me a stamp set from the Angel Company (sorry, I don't know the name of it) that has several all-occasion images in it: a rain cloud, an Easter basket, a bunny's head, a flower, a Pilgrim's hat, a shamrock, an egg, etc. It makes me think of spring and it's super cute! I had a picture in my head right away of something clean and simple to make with just about any of the images. The card pretty much turned out how I envisioned it, and I think I'll use the same kind of layout for another with some of the other stamp sets. You should check out Anne's Angel Company website. They have GREAT papers, very cost-efficient embellishments, tons of different types of inks including the new Dew Drops that are all the rage, and of course some really cute stamps. Here is the link to her site. Below is the card I made. I simply stamped in black StazOn, colored in with my Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery and Old Olive SU! markers, added some words from my Papertrey Ink set, Paper Tray (coloring only an "a" in one of the words to make the actual word, a), and then putting some brads on for at least a little dimension. I hope you like it!!!

PS - Don't forget to put yourself into the running for my blog candy drawing that closes tomorrow at noon Central Time. See THIS post.

Card and Blog Candy Update

I'm having so much fun reading all of your suggestions for our baby's name!! I thought that Lynda's comment about calling him Robert Peter was funny because his initials would be RPM :) Some of you have said you don't know my last name, it's McClellan. I noticed that a lot of you like Ryan, and I've been thinking about Brian myself - kind of the same sound to it. I also like Daniel, and a few of you have suggested that too. Well, keep 'em coming, and make sure to post them with THIS post so that you're entered into the blog candy drawing!!!

I made this card for a friend's baby shower. I gave her 12 of them. I used my Tiny Bubbles (is that the name?) A2 embossing folder by Cuttle Bug with my Big Shot to emboss that Barely Banana CS. I used glossy white CS to make the strip of paper that's behind the Apricot Appeal "Thank you" strip. On the glossy white, I stamped with my black StazOn and used my Doodle This stamp set from the Spring Mini, and then used some white crayon to add the crayon resist look. Next, I sponged my three colors (Apricot Appeal, Barely Banana, and Cool Caribbean) on the glossy CS and then cut the 8 1/2 x 11 paper into small pieces for each card. The card isn't girly looking, and she's having a girl, but I thought that they were still really cute. Oh, and the Thank you is stamped using my Papertrey Ink stamp sets Paper Tray and Butterfly Kisses (the small flower image) and the flower in the center of the card is created much the same way as the glossy strips I just described only I didn't sponge all over them. I just wanted to highlight the flower. Lastly, I tied some organdy polka-dot ribbon from Wal-Mart on the left. In hind-sight, I think I would have liked to have added Apricot to the white circles and places where I used crayon in the center flower image instead of leaving it white. It might have tied in all three colors better since on the strips I made I don't think that the Apricot stands out so much - at least not in a picture. Enjoy!!!

Blog Candy!!!!

I can't believe that I'm so close to 15,000 visits to my blog!! I will be giving away some blog candy which will include a stamp set and some other goodies. When I get a chance, I'll add a picture to this post. You know the drill, leave a comment on this post and you're entered into the drawing. To make it fun, why don't you give me a suggestion for a first name for our baby boy. I can't guarantee we'll use it, but who knows!!! ;) His middle name will be Peter, if that helps. It's typically a first name, but we're putting his Daddy's first name as his middle name. I'll use a random number generating program to pick the winner this time. You get to enter up until Tuesday, April 10th at noon, at which time I'll announce the winner. I'm pretty sure that I'll hit 15,000 by then :) Can't wait to see your suggestions!!!

Edited to add: I have decided on most of the blog candy. It will be the stamp set Doodle That from the Spring Mini catalog. See it here. I will also include an alterable picture frame, some 6x6 patterned paper, some embossed pieces of card stock (using my Cuttle Bug A2 embossing folders), some ribbon, and some die cuts made with my Cuttle Bug dies. I hope it sounds fun, and sorry for not having a picture. We're trying to recover from my parents leaving early this morning and I doubt I'll get time to take a picture before the drawing. I promise whoever wins the stuff will love it!!!

I'm no Beate....

I won't even pretend to be on the level of Beate, or Julie Ebersole, or any of the other stamping/blogging goddesses, but I'm curious as to why my counter from the Stampin' Top 50 doesn't say anything? I heard if you're in the 200's it works, is this true? I should have a number in there then, and even if it's 299 and it's supposed to work, I would be darn proud!! Can anyone shed some light? I e-mailed the Stampin' Top 50 people and never heard anything back. Thanks in advance!!

Some cards....

First I want to share the Blogger's RAK that I got from Ronee, and then I'll share the card I made for the swap that I'm hosting with my customers/friends that has a "spring" theme. Enjoy!!

Please check out Ronee's blog here, and here is Ronee's adorable Blogger's RAK card:



This is the card that I made for my swap. It uses Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron and Whisper White card stock. I used my Cuttle Bug A-2 Embossing folder called Divine Swirl (with my Big Shot) and I used my White Craft ink pad to put ink on the raised surface with the direct to paper technique. I still need a little work on that one, there are spots on the cards where the pad hit where it wasn't supposed to. Luckily I could hide some of them with the ribbon and the main image. The stamp sets used were Petal Prints and Everyday Flexible Phrases. I used my Barely Banana marker to color the center of the flower, my Apricot Appeal marker to do the petals, and I "Rock-and-Rolled" the flower in Pretty in Pink ink to get the edges pink. I added some Stickles to the flowers in random spots and I hope it shows up! I used wide White organdy and Apricot grosgrain (all from SU!) and that's about it! Let me know what you think, and take care! Tomorrow is my last day with my parents so I probably won't be posting. I won't see them again until August and that will be a stressful time. I'll have a 1 month-old and my sister is getting married then! :) Take care!

Emma's Birthday and Gretel is in da House!!

While my parents have been here, my hubby has been out of town so he's been missing out on getting to know our new puppy Gretel. She is super sweet and friendly. Even though we were sad that Peter had to go while they're here, it was good timing for me and he can meet the little one when he gets back. My parents have been so helpful and I even got some peaceful stamping done today!!! Some of the things we have done this week are: we celebrated Emma's birthday on Monday so that she could have it with her grandparents, my dad and I went out and hauled dirt to the house from the base's compost facility, and he and I put it in my front garden area. My mom and I planted a ton of flowers, and I've been able to actually keep the house fairly clean - not immaculate, but not super messy either. It has been great! Here are some pics from the princess party and of Gretel.

Of course, they had to dress up as little Princesses:


We had to give Sarah some presents too - they're both still a little young to understand that it's the other one's birthday and they don't get anything too. It made it more fun to have both of them happy anyway:


Here Emma is while blowing out her candles (the darn camera's so slow they were all out!):


And HERE is Gretel!!!!

Thank You Ronee!!!

I got a cute card in the mail from Ronee and wanted to let her know that I got it. I will try my bet to get it to get it posted tomorrow when there's a "lull" in the visiting with my parents who are in town. Ronee has a great blog with some cute cards (and some cute girls!), so check it out here! Thanks so much for the card Ronee!!!

Woo-hoo!!!!!

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!! We are super excited at the news. We went to Mexico this morning to have a 3-D ultrasound done and conclusively our little one is a boy. My parents are in town, so other than a swap that I need to get done I won't be doing much stamping/posting. Sorry. I hope you all have a great day, and here's the answer to a question I was asked.

Someone who posted a comment asked me how I keep my crimping straight. Well, I'm a bit of a perfectionist (that's why those 2 oops cards bothered me so much!) and I watch from the back side as I insert my paper into the crimper to make sure that it's straight before I clamp down and start twisting and crimping. I hope that helps, it's an easy thing to do and is a quick fix to any crooked crimping. Take care!