MoJo Monday #71

Quick post as I head out the door to a wrestling tournament (DH coaches high school wrestling). Once again, I'm late with my MoJo Monday creation...but better late than never, right? This card uses Julee's MoJo Monday sketch #71. Head on over to the MoJo Monday Blog and play along each week with the MoJo Makers!! Sorry for the poor quality photo - no time to photoshop today! Stamps: Sweet Valentine (Verve)
Paper: Close to Cocoa CS, Pink Pirouette & Close to Cocoa textured CS, Candy Lane DP (SU!)
Ink: Vintage Cream Palette hybrid ink (Papertrey)
Accessories: Chocolate Chip ribbon (SU!); Wire mesh (Making Memories); Scallop Border Punch (SU!); felt heart (American Crafts); pink adhesive pearl (Island Paperie)

OK, I gotta run to watch some wrestling. Go Baldwin Bears!!

It's Your Day

I'm so lame. I've had this post ready to publish for over a week now and *almost* completely forgot!! I made this card specifically for Jen Del Muro's gigantic blog tart challenge thingy, which you can read all about HERE. I'm so sorry for the late notice if you're just now finding out about it - but you do have until the end of the day today (Saturday, Jan 31) to make your card and get it mailed to enter Jen's giant give-away for a chance to win $450 worth of stamping goodies....so you better get on it!!!

So anyway, here's my card....I used the new Mouse under Party Hat stamp (isn't he ADORABLE!?!?) by Whiff of Joy paired with the "It's Your Day" sentiment from Party Sentiments. The sketch is based on SCS sketch challenge #212 and I used Old Olive CS along with some yummy American Crafts Everyday DP and white textured CS. The main image, colored with Copics, was stamped on GinaK Pure Luxury 80 lb CS in Momento Tuxedo Black ink. I added some coordinating American crafts ribbon to finish it off and that's it! Pretty simple.

Sweet Valentine Card Set

Just a quick post before heading to bed tonight.

I've decided that Dean is teething after all. He's still running a fever off and on, but otherwise hasn't really developed any illness other than a mild runny nose. He had a TERRIBLE time with his first set of molars and that was about a year ago. I've been reading that the second set of molars often comes in about a year after the first set. This is starting to seem all too familiar with the no sleeping, crankiness, fever, runny nose and not being at all interested in eating anything. The first set of molars took about a month and a half to fully come in with the rough patches coming and going in 3-4 day spurts with a few good days in between. We'll see what happens in the next few days....but I'm really missing my sleep. Any crazy thoughts we might have entertained of a new baby (ummm....actually those thoughts have been non-existant, but our convictions of being a one-kid family have been confirmed!!! ha!) have been squashed by this relapse into sleepless nights - one thing I do know is that I need my sleep!!!

Anyway, I made this simple Valentine's Day card set several weeks ago using Verve's new Sweet Valentine set and some printed digital papers from the Chick or Sweet kit by Scrapkitchen Designs (Sweet Shoppe). The basic design of the cards is pretty simple - Kraft CS base, some DP, and the sentiment stamped in Versamark and embossed in Detail White. I packaged the cards in a clear box wrapped with a "belly band" to match! That's it!!
Hope you're all enjoying your Monday!!! Have you had a chance to check out the Verve Project Parade going on over on the Verve Blog?? The divas have been coming up with some FAB creations!! Be sure to check it out and then go get busy on your project - the oh-so-generous Julee is offering up some Verve Bucks to a lucky winner!!!

Oh, wait...funny story....yesterday Dean (who is all of 2 years old) dropped the f-bomb TWICE!!! yes, I know...I'm pretty sure this reflects quite poorly on our parenting skills. But that's beside the point. The point is...he sounded JUST LIKE Joel (DH) when he said it - same tone and inflection, even putting a well-placed "ah" in front of it. (as in "ah f$%&"). He also used it at a very appropriate time contextually - he was in the process of taking a very big bite of yogurt when the spoon shifted and the blob of yogurt landed right in his lap. He looked down and very matter-of-factly said "ah f*&$". It was SO HARD not to laugh!! Of course, then I lectured Joel about how this is our sign that it's time to clean up our potty mouths for real this time. Then, a few hours later Joel drops an f-bomb in front of Dean!!! The Nerve! So I very sternly scolded Joel (just to clarify Dean is my 2-yr-old son, Joel is my husband) and made him sit in time-out for 2 minutes. Surprisingly, Joel complied and sat his whole 6'3", 230 lb self on the little time-out stool, trying very hard to look appropriately remorseful. Dean just watched the whole thing with huge eyes. After the 2 minutes, Joel had to apologize to both Dean and I for using disrespectful language in our presence. Funny thing is that Joel hasn't dropped anymore f-bombs since then!!!! (although Dean did say "dammit" under his breath when he broke his crayon while coloring last night - but I'm pretty sure he got that one from me....I failed to mention that to Joel so as to avoid the time-out chair myself!!!).

Box of Valentines

Hey there!! Well, my weekend has not been nearly as productive as I'd hoped. My little guy, Dean, is sick so I've been on Super Mommy duty yesterday and today and am just hoping I don't catch it!! I'm not sure exactly what's wrong, but he definitely doesn't feel good. Look at the poor little guy...This is pretty much what he's been like all day today. He normally only gets to watch an hour of TV each day, but I have to admit that it's been on most of the day today. He also normally only gets a binky (pacifier) in bed, but I decided to make an exception today - as long as he was laying down on the couch (no walking around or playing with it). He has a fever and keeps crying and saying "Mommy mouth ouchie" and asking for a band-aid. He's been REALLY upset that he can't have a band-aid in his mouth. I've decided it's not really his mouth but his throat that hurts. He's not teething that I can tell, but he is congested and he has a fever. We'll see. He's only been sick one other time in his 2 years of life, so this is unchartered water for all of us (one of the benefits of living on Maui is that we don't get a lot of the seasonal colds and flus that come with the weather changes on the mainland).

Anyway, I'm sure you're not here to hear me complain about my Day From Hell, so I'll get on with it!

This just might be one of my favorite projects I've ever done!!! I picked up this unfinished hinged wooden box at Ben Franklin a few months ago and had never gotten around to using it. As Valentine's Day loomed, I decided to use it to hold a kid's Valentine Kit - complete with all the ingredients needed to assemble fifteen 3x3 Valentines (card bases, DP, embellishment & sentiment, glue stick - nicely altered to match the kit, etc).The papers and embellishments are actually printed from the new All You Need is Love digital kit by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe Designs). I used Baja Breeze, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip for the card bases. Here are the sample cards put together with the cut-out embellishments and sentiments from the same kit:To alter the box, I first gave it a few quick (sloppy) coats of white acrylic paint, then used Mod Podge to adhere the DP to the top and sides as well as the inside of the box top. I created the box base and dividers from Riding Hood Red CS. Here are a few more pics of the finished project:So what do you think?? I think between Libby's Love Shack and Dani's All You Need is Love - I'm set for Valentine's Day!!!

MoJo Monday #70?

Have you had a chance to check out the new MoJo Monday Blog? This would be a great week to start playing along - the sketch is awesome!! I decided to use some of my new Scenic Route DP for MoJo #70.I used a Kraft CS base as well as some Very Vanilla CS. I stamped the sentiment from Verve's Grateful Elegance in Versamark ink and embossed with detail white powder. The butterfly from Verve's Fluttering By was stamped in Kiwi Kiss on Very Vanilla CS and cut out with my hobby knife. I added some half pearls from Island Paperie as a finishing touch.

Funk in your spring...

I'm back - 2 days in a row - aren't you proud!?! I thought I'd share these 2 fun hybrid cards I made this weekend. Isn't that printed paper yummy?? It's from the new Funk in Your Spring kit by Juno Designs and Angie Kovacs.

This first card uses Lauren Meader's Sketch #19. I used a Kraft CS base with my printed digi papers matted on Very Vanilla and Elegant Eggplant CS. The Beautiful You flower and sentiment from Verve were stamped in Momento Tuxedo Black directly on some printed digi paper. I added some Very Vanilla ribbon and dew drops as finishing touches.
The second card is also on a Kraft CS base, but this time I used the Comfort Plain Jane by Verve and added Chocolate Chip (ribbon and CS) into the mix along with some paper piercing.That's it from me today. Have a Happy Martin Luther King Day tomorrow!!

It's been a week...

Does this ever happen to you? I've been feeling SUPER creative this week and getting lots done, but just can't seem to find the motivation to put down the paper cutter and actually post my creations!! I don't know how you guys who post daily do it!! (but I do appreciate it)!! My theory is that once the MoJo finally starts flowing I'm subconsciously too afraid to stop that I might lose the MoJo...my posting ruts always seem to coincide with my most productive and creative times. Weird. I just noticed it's been a week since I shared anything and I have SOOO much to share! I'll start with this...

Stamps: Hearts on Fire by Verve
Ink: Versamark
Paper: Pink Pirouette & Close to Cocoa textured CS; Candy Lane DSP (all SU)
Other: Metal rim tag (Making Memories), detail white embossing powder, ribbon (SU), staples, paper piercer, scallop border punch (SU)

OK, it's late here so I'm headed to bed. I promise to come back tomorrow with a few more of my projects from this week. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!! :-)

Just something fun

OK, so I totally stole this from Shannan's blog, but it was so much fun reading about all the "shannan-igans" (ha! get it?) she's gotten into in her life that I thought I'd share mine... The items in bold are things I've done in my life...with commentary...

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band ( I ROCK the cowbell)
4. Visited Hawaii (obviously)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (funny story...I totally went through this raging PETA phase in college....I won't go into details, but I'm mostly over it - although I still agree with the principles they stand for).
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (ok, technically not an OVERNIGHT train, but I've slept on a train).
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill (who, me?? NEVER!)
24. Built a snow fort (back before my days as a Hawaii resident...when I was an Okie)
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (does T-ball count?)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (yeah, my ancestors are all from the same birthplace as me...I'm just the first one to escape that tiny little town!!! ha!)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (technically I probably didn't teach MYSELF)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance (in the passenger's seat once when my Dad was being transported...does that count?)
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing (ok, I've been on a boat while OTHERS were deep sea fishing)
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (home movie! LOL)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class (I'm totally counting Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo)
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (actually I haven't because embarrassingly enough I don't weigh enough, but I would love to do this and would if I could - I have WORKED a blood drive before though).
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book (ok, I didn't AUTHOR the book, but I'm getting published IN a book that is due out next month)
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - ummm, NO.
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

I promise I'll be back in a day or two with a Crafty post of some sort!! Thanks for humoring me!!

Whiff of Joy Trio

Whiff of Joy recently released an ADORABLE new set of Party Animals stamps and I received my guest DT package in the mail a few days ago!! I couldn't wait to get these little critters inky and they are sooo cute!! I'll get right to the cards...

This first card features Henry Celebrating Mouse - isn't he precious?? I used an old MoJo Monday sketch (#10 to be exact) with some American Crafts everyday papers. [you can see the new MoJo sketches here]. The sentiment reads "Wishing you a Perfect Day" and is from WoJ's General Sayings set. This image, along with those on the following 2 cards, was stamped in Momento Tuxedo Black ink on GinaK's Pure Luxury 80 lbs cardstock (some of the best paper I've found for use with Copics!!) and colored with Copics. This second card also uses the same set of American Crafts paper, but this time I chose to use the Presents stamp paired with a sentiment from Taylored Expressions' A year of Sweet Sentiments.Finally, this last card uses an older WoJ stamp, but one of my faves, Willow with Umbrella. I used some Basic Grey Lily Kate paper and MoJo Monday #67 for the sketch. It turned out much softer and "girly-er" than my norm, but I love it!!

Verve New Releases & some Love Shack

Did you have a chance to pop in the Verve New Release Party last night? It was lots of fun and the Divas showed off TONS of amazing projects with the new releases! If you missed it, you can still go back and scroll through the posts here. I thought I'd share a few of my New Release projects with you today. I'll have more to share in the coming weeks, but here's a little teaser for you...

All of these projects use printed digital papers from the new Love Shack kit by Libby Weifenbach (Sweet Shoppe Designs). Did I forget to mention my SUPER exciting news!?!? I'm a Sugar Babe!! Well, Hybrid Babe to be exact. A few days ago the Head Babe, Robin Carlton (owner of Sweet Shoppe Designs) sent me an e-mail asking me to join Sweet Shoppe's hybrid team...of course I said YES!!! Check it out...you can see me here on the Sweet Shoppe's staff page...scroll down to "Sugar Babes and Hybrid Babes" and I'm on the bottom right!!! YAY! Anyway, I was already on Libby's fabulous Creative Team, but I just had to share that exciting news!! So back to Love Shack. This just might be one of my favorite kits Libby has designed - I LOVE the colors, the graphics, everything!!! It's so fun and not too froo-froo, ya know!?!? (and you all know how I hate froo froo!!!).

This first project is a cute little CD Mini Album combining the Love Shack kit with some of the Circle CD Brag Book Templates by Darcy Baldwin (Sweet Shoppe) and the new Hundred Hearts stamp set and of course pics of my adorable little man, Dean!! The album was so easy to complete...just use the clipping mask function in photoshop to clip in your papers to the template, print it out, stamp on your sentiments and glue the whole thing onto an old CD using Mod Podge and you're done!! I used my Crop-o-Dile to punch a hole in the corner to slide a book ring through and added some Stampin' Up and American Crafts coordinating ribbon. I also added some buttons and twine, staples and photo corners as well as popped up some of the printed and stamped digi papers on dimensionals for some interest and depth. The thing just turned out too darn cute!! See for yourself...This next little project is very similar to one I did for Verve's November Release here. I bought a package of Cinnamon suckers from See's Candies and took apart the little box thingie they were packaged in, laid it out flat on my printed digi paper and traced it out. Then I cut it out with scissors and used sticky strip to put it all back together again!! So simple! Once again, I used some yummy Love Shack papers on this project, this time paired with Verve's Sweet Valentine Stamp set. I added a chipboard frame and ribbon (Stampin' Up).Finally, this simple card also uses Love Shack papers and the Sweet Valentine set on a Kraft CS base - so simple!!

A few cards...

Happy Thursday!! I hope everyone's having a fun week! I'm sitting here watching my Sooners play for a National Title, fingers crossed, stressing out. It's still early (9 minutes left in the first quarter), so anything could happen at this point....BOOMER SOONER!!!

Have you been checking out all the FABULOUS Verve Sneak Peeks?? Don't forget you have several chance to win new Verve sets this week. Here's a rundown of some of the ways you can win yourself some Verve (go to each link to read the details about how to win):

• comment & answer the question of the day on each day's sneak peek post on the Verve Blog to be registered to win that day's Sneak Peek set
• Participate in the Looking For Love Release Challenges going on in the Verve Forum at SCS.
• Make yourself a MoJo-rific card with this week's MoJo sketch over on the all-new MoJo Monday Blog

Because all this Verve talk has me in a Verve-a-licious mood, thought I'd share another sneak peek with you today as well as a couple of oldies.

Based on MoJo Monday #68
Stamps: Sweet Valentine (new release - available Jan 9 from Verve Stamps)
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White CS (SU); SEI DP
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: oval & circle nesties, ribbon & silver cording (SU), 3-D adhesive

Stamps: Grateful Elegance (Verve)
Paper: printed digital paper from Mimosas in Charleston by Eva Kipler (Sweet Shoppe Designs)
Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware (SU), hobby knife, 3-D adhesive

Stamps: Beautiful You (Verve)
Paper: printed digital paper from Mimosas in Charleston by Eva Kipler (Sweet Shoppe Designs)
Ink: Momento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: nesties, ribbon & hardware (SU)

Verve Sneak Peek

It's that time again!! Time for another AMAZING Verve Stamps Release!! This Friday (Jan 9), Verve is release SIX new sets and believe me, you do NOT want to miss out!! This is my first release as an official Verve Diva and I'm so excited to show you the first Sneak Peek of this release...Meditations is such a versatile stamp set. I just love those beautiful flowers...and don't they look great embossed with detail white powder?? I made this quick gift set for a friend using a mini paint pail I picked up a few weeks ago at Ben Franklin filled with Hershey's Chocolates. You might have noticed that I've become obsessed recently with this color combo...Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze and Kraft (with a little Chocolate Chip thrown in for contrast) - so yummy!! I added some American Crafts glitter Thickers, paper piercing and ribbon as finishing touches.

Be sure to head on over to the Verve Blog to check out the other amazing Sneak Peeks of this set from a few of the other Divas and enter for a chance to win Meditations for FREE!! (and keep checking back throughout the week as we peek the other new sets and for more chances to win some FREE Verve!!)

And...are you ready to party Verve Style?? On Release Day (Friday, Jan 9th), Verve will be throwing a fun bash you won't want to miss. The party starts at 8 PM Eastern in the Verve Forum at SCS, so mark your calendars! We'll see you there!

Viva La Verve

Happy Friday! There's a new Friday challenge in town! Starting today, Amber Hight is heading up a twisted sketch challenge in the Verve SCS forum each week. Every Friday she'll be adding a new Viva la Verve sketch challenge with a twist of using something with the sketch. Come play along! Each month Verve will choose a random participant from all of that month's entries to receive the next Verve release for FREE! Woohooo! Verve stamps are not required to participate, but if you've got 'em, why not flaunt 'em? ;)

Here's the challenge thread with the sketch and all the details for this week's challenge. If you upload to SCS, please use keyword VLVJAN01. I hope you find some time to play along. Amber always has the coolest layouts on her cards, and I'm so excited for her fun sketches! Here's my card...This week's sketch has a twist of hardware, so I added some Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware to mine. The main image is from the Verve set Beautiful You, colored with copics and matted on "Nestified" Chocolate Chip CS. The sentiment is from Verve's Grateful Elegance. I used some of my new Basic Grey Urban Prairie DP along with a Kraft CS base and a piece of Chocolate Chip ribbon finished it up!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2009!! We were up pretty late last night - not because we were partying - but because everyone in our neighborhood was shooting off fireworks (and I mean BIG ones) until about 2:00 am!!!. We started off our 2009 with a nice relaxing morning at Keawakapu beach. My good friend Mark is here visiting from Oklahoma, so Joel and Mark went kayaking for about an hour while I relaxed on the beach and read. Later, our good friends the Shapiros arrived and Ari was nice enough to let us try stand-up paddle-boarding. I'm happy to report I kicked Joel's a$$!!! I will say that he outweighs me by about 120 lbs (and the board we were using is probably made for someone closer to his size), so little ole me standing on that board is about like standing on a boat! And it probably helps that I surf. But I was very pleased when I popped right up and paddled around!! What a great core workout. And in case you're wondering what in the world stand-up paddle-barding is, here's a pic of me in all my glory (with a much-too-big paddle)...OK, back to papercrafting...The Whiff of Joy DT's Papercraft of the Month was to make gift packaging / wrapping for chocolate. I decided to cover a little paper-mache box filled with Hershey's nuggets. I used the Whiff of Joy stamp Melinda Blowing Kisses, colored with Copics. You can't see it in the picture, but her wings the heart "kisses" are colored in with a clear and red spica glitter pen for a little extra bling. Isn't she adorable!?!?
For covering my box I used Riding Hood Red and Baja Breeze DP along with some Chocolate Chip and Kraft CS cut with my nesties. I added some Riding Hood Red ribbon to hold the box lid on. I cut Melinda out with my hobby knife and popped her up on dimensionals. Be sure to check out the Whiff of Joy gallery for all of the other projects the DT came up with this month!!Also, Whiff of Joy is having a release party for their new stamps tomorrow, Jan 3, at 5 pm EST in the Whiff of Joy group over on Papercraft Planet. Join us there for lots of fun and for some sneak peeks of the new stamps - you don't want to miss it!!!