JenTapler Designs

Purge Blog Hop / Blog Candy Winner

2012-01-30T08:00:00.001-10:00

Hi there! Just a quick post to announce the winner of my Purge Blog Hop / Blog Candy! Thank you so much to everyone who stopped by the blog to comment and play along in the giveaway. We had such a good response to our giveaway and have already been talking about doing this again in a few months!!

I used Random.org to choose a winner - congratulations to Heather, from the blog Wire Wrapture, who said "I think one of those SU! punches is one I've had my eye on for years. How great would it be to win it!? But I'm not picky, your whole giveaway looks amazing. Thanks for the chance to win."

Heather, please e-mail me with your mailing address (must be within the United States as stated in the original Purge Blog Hop post!) and full name and I will get your goodies out to you right away! You have until Saturday afternoon, February 4 to claim your goodies! :-) You can e-mail me at JenTapler at gmail dot com, or just click on the "View Complete Profile" in the top right of my sidebar over there and you'll find a link to e-mail me.

Thanks again everyone for the great response to our giveaway and congrats Heather!

January 2012 SFYTT, Post #3

2012-01-29T19:49:00.004-10:00

We're in the final days of January and that means you only have a few more days to get those Sketch For You to Try creations submitted!! The SFYTT Sisters are all playing with the sketch for a final time in the last days of the month, be sure you play along with us! Here's my 3rd card using this month's fabulous sketch:

Our sponsor this month is The Cat's Pajamas and once again I played with another one of their adorable sets. This time I paper pieced that fun bear from Bear Hugs with some of the same printed digi papers I used on the rest of my card. Those papers are from the I Like Love You kit by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe).

Come on and join us! Remember, there's a HUMONGOUS prize package available for participants at the end of the year, but you're only eligible to win if you play along each month! All of the details can be found on THIS POST on Jen's Blog.

Sweet Sunday Sketch #151

2012-01-28T21:00:00.000-10:00

It's Sunday! And it's a Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge week!! YAY! Karen has a fun sketch for us this week AND we have a fabulous Guest Sweet Sunday Stamper joining us. But first, here's a look at this week's sketch:

My MoJo seems to be in hiding right now and I'm NOT loving what I came up with for my sample card this week. I do like the sketch, but I just couldn't get it together.

I think it's that bland color scheme. It's just not doing it for me and then I had a lot of trouble finding the right stamp set that didn't just get lost in all that red, Kraft and chocolate. Finally I just grabbed my new, uninked Happy Day set from PTI and just made it work. Not my favorite card that's for sure, but it's done!

I'm sure the other Sweet Sunday Stampers did a much better job with the sketch, so head on over to their blogs and check it out:

AND...we're super excited to welcome our very first Guest Sweet Sunday Stamper, Anita Madden!! Be sure to stop by and see what she's created with this week's sketch too and give her a big congrats on her guest gig! :-)

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Project Life 2012 - Week 3

2012-01-22T18:40:00.005-10:00

January is just flying by, isn't it? I really can't explain how happy I am that I'm doing Project Life. Not only has it changed the way I scrapbook, but I really think it's helping me to slow down and ENJOY the little day to day, small moments that really are what life is all about. I'm kind of disappointed that I waited this long to get started on something like this. But anyway, here is a look at my Week 3. A lot more journaling this week. I like how it's flexible that way - some weeks seem like they'll be way more photo-heavy and some weeks more word-heavy. And that's OK.

And here's a closer look at the left side of the layout, which features the first half of my "Weekly Overview" journaling card, a screen capture from my phone of the rather boring 7-day forecast for Kahului, photos of Joel and I on MLK, Jr day when we participated in Kaiser's (my employer) Community Day of Service by painting Ka Hale O Ke Ola Homeless Resource Center, a small photo of my completed (finally!) December Daily album, Dean at the dentist on Wednesday as well as our reminder card, and a set of photos from a family hike we did on Sunday - I used the Flip Pockets again as well as some 4x6 templates in order to fit in several photos from that hike.

Here's a few closer shots of some of the details:

And a look at the right side of the layout:

This week I took a quick photo of and journaled about the gas prices on Maui - mostly because I'm annoyed that they never seem to go down. It seems like they've stayed right at $4.37-4.47 for most of the past year - except when they've been higher. It seems like we've never been lower than $4.37 a gallon in a few years here on Maui, yet Oahu gas prices are regularly less than $4.00 a gallon. How is that right!? Anyway, moving on...I also documented the tough time Dean seems to be having with losing during Family Game Nights at this age (5 yrs old). He doesn't take it well, but we're working on it! The rest of the week was pretty uneventful until the weekend. I had book club Friday night and journaled about that (bottom left). Saturday was a busy day - Dean and I had breakfast at Krispy Kreme (ugh) while Joel got some yardwork done, we went to a fun birthday party at Maui Mini Golf, and then Joel and Dean did some fishing and grilling and guy stuff at the beach Saturday night with Joel's friend Vince.

Here's a closer look at some of the details:
And that about sums it up. Working on my album a little at a time throughout the week is still working well for me. I'm using a lot of printed digital elements and for the most part still printing at home. I do a little bit of something - whether it's printing out a photo or journaling card or sticking a bit of something into a pocket - almost every day. Sunday seems to be my day for wrapping it all up and mostly just finishing those Week in Review journal cards. So far it's been a pretty busy year so I've had lots to photograph and say. I am a little concerned about the boring weeks - but I'll deal with that when it comes up. I did have an empty 3x4 pocket this week and just filled that with one of the little "filler" cards from the turquoise digi kit and that seems to have worked out just fine. I'm sure I can manage to do that when I need to.

So is everyone still OK with me sharing this here? I'm considering moving these posts over to my Family Blog instead because I think family would enjoy seeing them and I'm not sure if my regular blog readers really care about this much detail about my day to day life?? Is it weird?

InLinkz.com

January 2012 SFYTT, Post #2

2012-01-21T06:00:00.001-10:00

Hi there! Have you had a chance to play along with the January Sketch For You To Try yet? You've got until January 31st at midnight, so there's still plenty of time to create something and it's a SUPER fun sketch this month!

Don't forget we have a fabulous sponsor this month - The Cat's Pajamas!

Today, half of the SFYTT Sisters are posting another sample on their blogs using this month's sketch. I decided to create another Valentine's Day card using another fun set from TCP:

Isn't that penguin the cutest? Those papers are all printed digi papers from Crystal Wilkerson's Vintage Cupcake Collection (links to individual paper packs at the bottom of the post). The stamp set is TCP's Got Love, one of my favorites from them!

Be sure to stop by these other SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they're sharing today with this month's sketch!

Jen del Muro
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles

InLinkz.com

Purge Blog Hop

2012-01-21T03:00:00.000-10:00

One girl's junk is another girl's treasure, right? Or something like that?? Well, my junk pile is getting out of control. A few blogging friends and I are having a hard time letting go of some of our much loved crafting goodies. The only way we can part with them is if we have a party and share them with all of you, knowing they are going to someone wants them and will use them. So we are having a Purge Hop!

It’s starting today and running for a whole week! Comment once on the hop spots you want a chance to win and tell us what you spy as your favorite item. The hop will stay open until January 28th, 5PM ET. Each of my friends and I will post a winner from our Purge Hop posts on Monday, January 30th! Unfortunately, because of high shipping costs and the weight of the items I'm giving away, I can only ship to U.S. addresses - so the giveaway is open to U.S. residents only - Sorry!

So here's a peek at what I'm giving away - it's mostly lots of embellishments - ribbons, brads, chipboard, glitter, stickles, rub-ons, etc. There are a couple of Stampin' Up punches, some random stamp sets from various manufacturers, and lots of 6x6 patterned papers. I'm not going to list everything that's here so please don't ask!! It's FREE people. If it looks good to you and you think you want it, comment. ;-) LOL. Basically all of this stuff fills up a Medium Flat Rate USPS Priority Mail Box (I'll be covering the cost of shipping to the winner).

Here's a list of the other participants in the Purge Hop:

Project Life 2012 - Week 2

2012-01-16T21:42:00.004-10:00

I'm sticking with it! And I'm still LOVING IT! This is going to be another long post with lots of photos and blah blah, so prepare yourself! First off, here's a look at Week 2 as it will look inside my album (once I finally get my album), with the inserts in place - I have 2 inserts this week - you should be able to click on any photos to see them larger or read the journaling. {side note: links to all products can be found at the end of this post}

I was so excited that one of my favorite designers, Karen Lewis, released some fun new journaling cards last week that were the perfect size for Project life. I used both the Wellington Document Pack and Wellington Document Pack 2 as well as the full Wellington Designer Kit (for the number 2 and some random embellishments) this week. Here's a look at both the left and right pages with the inserts removed:

And how about a closer look at all of it? First, the left side of the page, which basically covers Sunday through Wednesday.

Because I seemed to have more to say this week than last, I couldn't fit my "Weekly Overview" onto one card, so I split it in half and put it on two cards. A look at the first half pretty much sums up the left side of the page, except I didn't mention that amazing full rainbow I caught over our house after dropping Dean off at school Wednesday morning. The photo is probably self-explanatory though.

The first insert for this week is actually a 8.5x11 insert that I just cut down to the size I needed, then used my sewing machine to close up the right side, leaving the top open. I slipped in part of Dean's Kindergarten Progress Report from school, which we received on Tuesday. The front has a really cute self portrait. I added some journaling to include a snippet of what his teacher had written on his more formal report card.

For the second insert, I used the Words and Photos 6x12 Layered Templates by Ali Edwards (Designer Digitals), slipped into one of the 6x12 page protectors. There were a couple of longer stories from this week that I definitely wanted to remember and this was a great way to capture those memories. I added just a couple of applicable small photos to the top of the template. I slipped a painting Dean did on Friday night into the protector behind the template (and the back side), cutting it down to the right size. LOVE this.

And finally, the right side of the layout. We had to buy Dean new Keens this week and they arrived Thursday. A piece of the box made a nice insert. I finished a great book on Wednesday (Cleopatra's Daughter) and printed out a photo of that along with a "1 of 24" sentiment flag - you may remember from Week 1 that I set a goal to read 24 books in 2012. I also created a little pull-out envelope to hold some important receipts from this week (the Vitamixer, Dean's Keens, as well as a few other purchases for the house). We had a family game night Friday night and spent a fun afternoon at Kamehameha III Beach Park Saturday for a baby luau (first birthday party). I also captured a photo of Dean playing on one of the Kindle Fires this week and created a little collage of some of his favorite Kindle Apps, which I think will be fun to look back on years from now.

I thought I'd mention that I started participating in Cathy Zielske's Move More, Eat Well class this week. I'm not a very good student. I think it's hard for me to be motivated mostly because I don't need to lose weight. However, I definitely DO need to exercise more and eat a lot healthier than I do. I'm now 35 years old and starting to both look and feel my age, which I don't like. I also have a 5-year-old son who I probably need to start setting a better example for. So, yeah. Old habits die hard. And my theory is they die harder when there's very little extrinsic motivation (such as the need to lose weight) to kill them. (especially when it's not really socially acceptable for a thin girl to talk about these things as if they were a "struggle". I get that). Moving on.

And finally here's a closer look at that 2nd half of the "Weekly Overview" journaling card:

That about sums it up! I'm still keeping things pretty simple with this. I've found that I'm working on my layouts a little bit here and a little bit there throughout the week and that seems to be working out pretty well so far. I've been printing my photos at home, which I didn't think I was going to do because I worried about the print quality. There are a few photos that I love that I think I'll go ahead and have re-printed from Persnickety Prints, which is also where I'll be ordering my 6x12 templates from now on. I had the 6x12 insert from this week printed at Costco and it really looks terrible. The photos at the top are awful - they're so dark. I had it printed on a 12x12 sheet along with another 6x12 that was intended to go in front of my Title Page, but that page looked SO BAD that I actually threw it in the trash. The colors were so completely off that it was ridiculous - I should have returned it, but Costco is one of my least favorite places to go. Actually, maybe I should dig that print out of the trash and do a comparison post when I receive my new one from Persnickety (and then take them both in to Costco to show them how bad theirs is). We'll see. Anyway, I had a point with this rambling. Oh yeah. I seem to be someone who just works on Project Life a little bit every couple of days. When I have a photo or story I want to include, I go ahead and add it in rather than waiting until the end of the week. I keep seeing blog posts with all of these fancy planning pages and such and I'm just not putting that much thought or time into mine. This project for me is more about just getting it done and capturing my family's memories.

InLinkz.com

Sweet Sunday Sketch #150

2012-01-15T16:48:00.004-10:00

Well, I'm super late with this post for no other reason than I just completely forgot to make my sample card! Seriously. Dropping down to every other week for the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge has completely thrown me off I guess! I was browsing through Pinterest this morning and I saw that sweet Nancy Riley had the sketch pinned and I was like "What is she doing? We haven't done that sketch yet. She can't post that", completely ignoring the fact that Nancy is no longer on the team! LOL. And then it hit me. I swore a couple of times and quickly figured out what I wanted to do, sent an e-mail to the rest of the gang promising to get right to work, and then I went on a hike with my family! ha! I was already late, so what the hell. Anyway, here's this week's sketch, which I'm sure you've all already seen by now:

And here's a look at my hybrid card, using some of the fabulous new Verve stamps that just released Friday night as well as a new digi kit by Libby Pritchett (one of my favorite combos)!!

First off, those fun (and much more girly than is typical of me) papers are from the new Love You Out Loud kit by Libby Pritchett (Sweet Shoppe). I also used the new Wings of Love stamp set by Verve, which is seriously such a fun set! The "be mine" sentiment is from the older Love Notes set. And that's about it. So easy!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

I'll be back sometime tomorrow with a look at my Project Life 2012 Week 2!! Still loving that project! :-)

InLinkz.com

Project Life 2012 - Week 1

2012-01-08T16:56:00.008-10:00

Well, I've decided to jump on board the Project Life bandwagon this year and for the first time in a very long time I'm getting back to my traditional paper scrapbooking roots and creating a "real" scrapbook! I just wrapped up Week 1 of my Project Life 2012 and I have to say - I'm LOVING this style of scrapbooking!! And overall I'm pretty happy with how my first layout turned out. I'll mostly be using the Design A pages, although I haven't committed to an album yet. I'll also be adding in a variety of different sized protectors throughout the year depending on the different "stuff" I have to add - you can see below that I've already added a few extra inserts. I did purchase 2 of the core "paper" kits (Turquoise and Clementine), but then I also bought and downloaded a few things from the digital version of the Cobalt kit, printed and used it for week 1 and I'm already using some other printed digi goodies for week 2. So I'm definitely taking a hybrid approach to my Project Life.

Anyway, I'll go ahead and get on with it. Links for all of the products I used can be found at the end of the post. Please tell me what you think. Are you doing Project Life this year? Have you found any good inspiration links? Please share! I'm compiling a Project Life Inspiration Pinterest Board and I'd love to fill it up!!

Here's a look at both pages for Week 1 as they'll look together in my album:

The "Photo a Day" approach definitely does NOT work for our family - I work part-time as a Physical Therapist 3 days/week and those work days are LOOONG (10 hours) and photos just don't usually get taken on those days. Because usually we just don't do much as a family on those days (although I plan to journal if Joel and Dean or my Mom and Dean do something fun after school - but neither Joel nor my Mom is great about taking photos. It just is what it is). So anyway, my Project Life will be more of a "Weekly Overview" type of project. Which I like. Some weeks will be busier and have more stuff (and likely more inserts), some weeks will be more boring and have more pockets with just embellishments to fill up the space. I'm OK with that.

Here's a look at the left-hand page. Week 1 was pretty full. Joel and Dean had an "adventure" on Sunday where they spent the morning at the beach and then went and saw the movie Chipwrecked. I stayed home and did some cleaning and laundry and grocery shopping, which almost always means 2 stops - Safeway and Whole Foods. Monday was a holiday for both Joel and I, but Dean spent the day and night with my Mom, which meant a rare Date Night!! (we went to the movie Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

And the right-hand page with a look at a few inserts, including an altered page protector that I cut down and sewed closed to hold a small drawing Dean made of a Color Wheel (along with some journaling). Also on Monday Joel took the Christmas lights down from the 3 big Palm Trees in our front yard. The rest of the week was filled with back to work and back to school after a lot of time off during the holidays. Saturday we went on a hike in the morning and then had a family "Slumber Party" in the living room - ordering pizza and watching the movie Rango while snuggled in our sleeping bags (and spending the night on the living room floor - Dean LOVED this!).

Here you can see the page with the color wheel insert turned over, out of the way. This reveals the rest of the page - the tag from my new chair at work that we received on Thursday (big excitement over this!), and a few other things.

Probably my favorite 2 inserts from Week 1 are these 2 3x4 cards - one capturing a conversation between myself and Dean and the other a small clipping from some of his doodled artwork he created while waiting for dinner to be ready Friday evening. Both a perfect capture of Dean right now and a perfect example of why I'm doing this project!

2 more 3x4 inserts this week - a "2012 Goals" freebie from the Plucky Momo blog (she's doing a Project Life freebie every friday!) and a journaling card with our "Week in Review". I plan to do some type of Week in Review each week. Loved how this turned out.

I can already tell the hardest thing for me with Project Life will be narrowing down my photo selections to just a few photos for each "event". We basically had two real outings as a family this past week - we went to the beach and we went on a hike out in Makena (King's Highway Trail) and both outings resulted in about 50 photos each. Picking just a few photos to tell the story for each event was agonizing for me. And that's what's nice about these extra inserts! For the beach trip, I just used up a few of the pockets from the first page protector. For our hike, I added a Flip Pocket and also used a 4x6 Template to create a photo collage for the bottom photo. It worked out great! You'll probably be seeing this a lot.

So that's it. Week 1 is done!! I am on a mission to finish all 52 weeks this year and to stay fairly caught up throughout the year. I'll try to share my pages with you here. Hopefully someone will find something inspiring. If you do, please let me know! Thanks!

Products Used:

InLinkz.com

January 2012 SFYTT

2012-01-07T06:00:00.000-10:00

It's finally here! A new year, a new first Saturday of the month, and a new Sketch For You to Try!! Lots of exciting things in store for participants of the monthly SFYTT this year, including a chance to win another fabulous huge prize package at the end of the year!! All of the details can be found on today's post over on Jen's blog, with some of the details outlined in the "In a Nutshell" graphic at the end of this post.

So, first things first...we're kicking 2012 off not only with a super fun sketch but with an awesome sponsor, The Cat's Pajamas!

And how about a look at the new sketch, which quickly went into my "favorites" folder to be used again and again (do I say that every month?)

I created a fun hybrid card using the Happy Camper stamp set from the Cat's Pajamas and some printed digi papers from a few different paper packs by Crystal Wilkerson (individual links at the end of this post).

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've done with this month's sketch!

Jen del Muro
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles

InLinkz.com

Verve Diva Inspirations January 2012 Blog Hop

2012-01-05T02:00:00.001-10:00

Hey there Verve Fans! Welcome to the first Verve Diva Inspirations Hop of the New Year! We'll be bringing our Inspiration Creations to you on a new day of the month (the 5th) this year, so mark your calendars and join us for a little Verve Inspiration using some of those past Verve sets from your stash (or the ones you've had your eye on in the store for awhile!).

You can start the hop at the beginning on the Verve Blog and continue on through each fabulous blog - be sure to leave a little comment love along the way and you just might win some Verve goodies of your own! If you arrived here from the talented Jen d's blog, then you're on the right track!

Since I was so bad about making and sending Christmas cards this year, I decided to get an early headstart on Valentine's cards! I pulled out some of my favorite love-themed Verve sets and got to work creating my first Valentine of the year!

That heart DP is from the With Love collection by Pebbles. I love it. I also created some of my own DP with the "be mine" stamp from Heart's Desire. I don't do that very often because it's time consuming and honestly kind of hard to line up those words all even like (and you all know I'm not one for doing anything that takes a long time!), but I'm really liking how this turned out. I just might have to twist my own arm and try it again. The focal image (can it really be called an image? large sentiment? Whatever.) is from an extremely versatile set that I really don't use often enough - Sweet on You. I just LOVE that scalloped border (and am set on convincing Julee we need a set of 2 dies to go with it - one for just cutting out the whole thing and another one for cutting out the inside oval to make a frame. Now quick! Everyone start bugging Julee about this so my evil plan will work! bwahahaha). I also added a little flagged "xoxo" sentiment to the bottom, from the Love Notes set. And I know it's really hard to see in the photo, but there's a little felt flower under that red button, that was cut out using one of the From the Heart Dies - it looks really cute in real life, trust me!

OK, that's it from me. Now head on over to the boss-lady herself, Julee's blog, for some awesome eye candy! She's next in line on the hop!

And one final reminder, be sure to mark your calendars for the upcoming Release Party, Friday, January 13, 9:00 pm Eastern in the Verve Forum!! The Release Team will be sharing creations using the fabulous new stamps and dies that you won't want to miss!!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #149

2012-01-02T00:25:00.005-10:00

ETA: I have been trying to post this for more than 24 hrs. Sorry it's so late! I'm not sure what's going on, but our internet has been so sloooow! I've had the post all typed up and ready to go for 2 days, but I couldn't get my photos to load!! ugh. Anyway, better late than never right?

Happy New Year!! I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday season and is having an amazing start to 2012. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to spend less time "plugged in" and more time unplugged just enjoying togetherness with my family. So, much like the past few months, you'll probably continue to see these sporadic posts from me. I've cut WAY back on my Design and Creative Team commitments and I have to say, it feels really good to have the extra time with my family! I will be scrapbooking a little more this year and am still trying to decide how much of that to share here - I'll be doing Project Life and continuing to digi scrap as well. I'm just not sure how much you guys really want to see that? I'd love to hear if you're interested in having me share my scrapbooking with you? It seems like when I do share my scrapbooking layouts I don't get much (if any) response, so honestly I just don't want to waste my time writing up blog posts if nobody really cares ya know? ;-) I just about have my December Daily album finished, if anyone is interested in having me post my completed pages, let me know and I'll take some photos and share it.

OK, anyway, moving on to the reason you're all here...It's a New Year of Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenges!! And 2012 is bringing a few exciting changes to the Challenge - first off instead of a weekly challenge, you'll be getting a new Sweet Sunday Sketch every other week in 2012!! Also, there will be chances to earn a Guest Designer gig with the Sweet Sunday Stampers team just by playing along with us! More details over on Karen's Blog. And finally, this year the sketch will periodically have a sponsor!! How cool is that?

And this week just happens to have our first sponsor - Sparkle Creations! Play along with the sketch below before Friday, January 13 (post links on the Sweet Sunday Sketch #149 post on Karen's Blog), for a chance to win Charlotte with a Rose AND Scooter Chloe! You can enter as many times as you want, so start creating!!

Fun sketch, right?

So I decided to pull out some neglected Verve for my card this week and came up with this:

Those papers are printed digi papers from the new Pipe Dreams kit by Libby Pritchett (Sweet Shoppe) - it's actually a Super Mario themed kit that is SUPER cute! Be sure to check it out if you have any gamers in your family! I used Verve's Up Up and Away stamp set for the hot air balloon and my all-time favorite, Bountiful Backgrounds, for the sentiment. Quick and Easy - just how I like 'em!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #148

2011-12-17T20:22:00.007-10:00

Hi there! Well, it's the last Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge of 2011! Unreal, right? I can't believe there are only 2 more weeks left in this year!! I seriously think 2011 has been the fastest year of my life so far. So anyway, We'll be taking next weekend off to spend the holidays with our families, but be sure to join us this week!! And then tune in on New Year's Day for the first sketch of 2012!! Here's a look at this week's sketch:

I created what is likely to be my final Christmas card of the year, which is funny since I STILL haven't mailed any out! I'm terrible, I know. I'm the world's worst card-mailer, but the BEST card collector!! You should see my stash! ;-)

I tried to get fancy with one of the fun new Christmas Verve sets, Bright Spirits, but it didn't turn out quite like I intended. Most of you know I'm not much of a technique girl - well, this is why! I tried to mix some glitter with some Crystal Effects and then "paint" it onto the ornament. It definitely looks glittery, but you lose the pretty pattern that's on the ornament stamp. I was hoping you'd still be able to see it through there, but I think I used too much glitter. And it took so long for the Crystal Effects to dry that I just said to heck with it and cut it out and used it anyway! The sentiment is from my go-to Christmas sentiment set, Holiday Phrases. (Are you tired of seeing that one yet?). All of the papers are from the fun Holiday Style paper pad from October Afternoon, which I'm loving. I also added one of my all-time favorite embellishments - a glittered chipboard star from the MemrieMare etsy shop. And that's it!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Bright Spirits Stamp Set (Verve)

Holiday Phrases (Verve Stamps)

Holiday Style Paper Pad (October Afternoon)

Martha Stewart Glitter - Red / Pink

InLinkz.com

Sweet Sunday Sketch #147

2011-12-10T21:00:00.000-10:00

Hi there! Well, after taking last week off, I'm back this week with another fun Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge sample card for ya! It's a fun sketch this week - one I'll definitely be saving in my "to use again" folder!

I used some of my fave Verve holiday stamps on my sample:

Fun and simple, right? Just the way I like them!! I just love those ornaments from the Holly Jolly set paired with a sentiment from my go-to Christmas sentiment set, Holiday Phrases. The patterned paper is printed digi paper from Fa-La-La by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe). I added some orange grosgrain and was done!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

December SFYTT

2011-12-03T02:00:00.001-10:00

It's the first Saturday of the month!! You know what that means - time for another fabulous Sketch For You to Try! And it's December, the last month of the year, which means if you've been playing along with us each month this year and continue this month, you could be eligible for some FANTASTIC prizes!! (details over on Jen's Blog). For now, let's get on to this month's fun sketch.

As you know, we've had some amazing and extremely generous sponsors this year! One of those was my beloved Verve Stamps and I decided to play with Verve again this month (you can never have too much Verve-y eye candy, in my opinion!!). My son Dean's 5th birthday is next week so I was in need of a fun boyish birthday card. The sketch and Verve did the trick!

My regular blog readers know that Dean has a little keepsake tin that I have been slowly filling with cards I've made him over the years. About once a month I make him a card and fill the inside with a "letter" - my thoughts and feelings, funny things he's said or done, or just little things I want him to know about how it feels to be his Mom at this time in his life. He doesn't really care too much about these cards right now, but I'm hoping that some day this will be a treasured keepsake for him. Anyway, the thing is that it's really a lot easier for all of the cards to be the same size. So, I changed the sketch a bit for that reason - that's why my sample's not square. I also put the card together away from home and couldn't remember how big that circle was supposed to be, so I kinda messed that up. Oh well. I think it'd look better if the circle was a bit bigger like in the sketch, but I don't hate it enough to re-do it. It'll work. So anyway, the card deets...All of the papers are printed digi paper from the Masked Marvels kit by Julie Billingsley (Sweet Shoppe). And the stamps? I used one of my favorite birthday stamp sets - Birthday Bash from Verve. I just love paper piecing those fun balloons!!

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've done with this month's sketch!

Jen del Muro
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Have a fun weekend! We headed out yesterday morning (just after I typed up this blog post) on a fun family stay-cation on the south side of the island to celebrate a handful of milestones. We're staying at the Grand Wailea resort this weekend to celebrate Dean's birthday, my Mom's 60th birthday, and mine and Joel's 6th wedding anniversary which is on Dec 9th. I'm SOOOO looking forward to 3 full days of relaxing by the pool, playing in the sand a bit at the beach (although, to be honest, we probably won't do much of that since we can do that any old day), and just doing a whole lot of nothing while soaking up some warm Maui sun! I'll be back early next week with my first December Daily post!! Can't wait to share that project

Holiday Joy SFYTT

2011-11-27T21:06:00.006-10:00

Hi there! Now, don't keel over, but I'm back with another post - 2 days in a row!! I couldn't resist making one more card using the fabulous November SFYTT! (You can see my original November SFYTT post HERE).

I pulled out several goodies from this month's SFYTT sponsor, Verve Stamps, and got to work on another hybrid holiday card.

I used a total of 5 Verve Products on this card - 3 stamp sets and 2 Die Sets!! (Product Links are at the end of the post. I'm trying out the Link Manager thing. Let me know if you like this or if you prefer links in the write-up). I just couldn't seem to stop digging into my extensive stash for more stuff!! I'm still not too sure about those Mica Flakes. They didn't turn out exactly as I'd envisioned, but I don't hate them. (The Mica Flakes are from Stampin' Up, btw. No link for that).

So there are only a few more days to play along with us in the November SFYTT - better get busy!

Holiday Phrases (Verve Stamps)

Christmas in the Air (Verve Stamps)

Love Notes (Verve Stamps)

Frosty Snowflakes Die Set (Verve Stamps)

Classy Label Die (Verve Stamps)

Blitzen Digital Kit by Libby Pritchett (Sweet Shoppe)

InLinkz.com

Sweet Sunday Sketch #145

2011-11-26T21:00:00.000-10:00

Hi there! Well, you might have noticed that I never did make it around to posting my sample for last week's sketch. I ended up feeling under the weather and then the week just got away from me and now here we are - it's already Sunday again! So that means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! Here's a look at this week's fun sketch:

I added another simple hybrid card to my holiday stash, we'll see if I actually get around to mailing any out this year (I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you):

I used printed digi papers from the new A Merry Little Christmas digi kit by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe) and finally inked up my Tremendous Treats Christmas stamp set (PTI). I didn't cut my image very straight / centered with my circle nesties, but since I loathe coloring, I decided to just pretend it was fine and be done with it. No biggie. I'm learning to overlook these things, as much as it pains me.

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Sweet Sunday Sketch Sample Delay

2011-11-19T21:06:00.002-10:00

Well, I really did have every intention of getting my Sweet Sunday Sketch sample card done on time this weekend, but it just didn't happen. We had a big Garage Sale this morning and every spare minute this week was spent sorting and organizing and pricing. I'm SOOO glad that's over with! And now, after 4 years in this house, I think we might finally be able to park a car in our garage!! :-) I honestly don't know where all this crap came from. We moved into this house from a 750 square foot condo!! Seriously, how have accumulated this much STUFF!? Anyway, I'm just way too tired to get my card made today so I'm going to do it first thing tomorrow morning. My boys are going to the beach and giving me some much needed "Jen Time"! For now, I'm going to bed! (It's still Saturday night here on Maui!!). But here's a look at the sketch in case you want to go ahead and get started. All of the details are over on Karen's blog. I hope you'll play along with us!

December Daily 2011 - Cover and Foundation Pages

2011-11-13T13:05:00.007-10:00

Get ready...this is gonna be a super long, photo-heavy post!! I'm SO excited that I finally have time to create this fun album project this year! I've watched as Ali Edwards created amazing keepsake December Daily albums the last several years, but with all of my Design Team commitments I was just never able to find the time to get things together and get an album assembled and ready to go in time. Earlier this year I significantly cut back on my Design Teams, stepping down from a few much-loved teams to have more time to devote to my family as well as to crafting and creating projects with no requirements or restrictions - projects that are just for the love of creating - projects exactly like this! I have been working on the foundation of my December Daily album the last few weeks and just about have it all ready to go. Hopefully when December 1st arrives, I can focus on making memories and spending time with family and the documentation will go fairly quickly and easily. We'll see.

So anyway, I thought I'd share my cover and foundation pages with you all today, as well as some product links. For the most part, the inside of my album will be looking very Ali-ish. I like her style and I didn't want to have to think too much. I also want the photos and stories to be the focus, so I'll be using a lot of her digital products in the album. Product links for new products are at the end of this post. I also used a lot of stuff from my stash.

So here's a look at the cover of my album. I used the American Crafts chipboard album designed exclusively for the Ali Edwards Studio Calico December Daily kit. It took me forever to decide what to do with this cover. I wanted so badly to embellish the crap out of it, but it just didn't seem practical since I knew a pair of grubby little boy hands would be all over it year after year. So instead, I painted it red, added a lightly embellished "25" to the front and then heat embossed a small "December 2011" at the bottom. I'm pretty happy with it. I like the sloppy white paint, despite the fact that I painted it in too big of an area. It still works. I may add some paint splatters later. We'll see.

When you open the cover, I have a fun little clear pocket thing that I made. I got the idea for this from something I saw on Etsy, it was a confetti pocket (I made some confetti to use in a smaller pocket later in the album), and I decided to make something similar. I cut down some small page protectors to a square and filled it with red and silver confetti that I purchased in the floral dept from my local Ben Franklin, then I sewed the top closed. I added a striped twill tab, button and jingle bell embellishment along with a sentiment strip and the first of many glass glittered stars (purchased from one of my favorite Etsy shops - MemrieMare).

Next is a calendar page that I'll use as a sort of table of contents with the basic activities of the month. The Studio Calico kit came with several of these, I cut it down and slid it into a trimmed down page protector.

After the calendar, I used one of Ali's digital Long Journalers to jot down a "December Bucket List". I recolored the journaler in Photoshop and changed the title, then printed it out (I actually printed out LOTS of these long journalers to be used throughout the album, each with a different holiday-themed title) and slid it into a custom page protector I made by trimming down and sewing closed a regular 8.5x11 page protector. My son Dean and my husband Joel helped me come up with a list of all the things we want to do before Christmas. I got the idea for this when searching for ideas for my December Daily on Pinterest and knew I wanted to do something similar!

Finally, we come to the "guts" of the album. Each day has it's own numbered cover sheet / divider of sorts. I alternated between vellum and Kraft for these. Don't worry, I won't show you all 25 of them, just a few so you get the idea. I kept things pretty simple and repetitious for these.

Another thing found throughout the album are these little pocket pages. I got this idea straight from Ali herself. I saw her use these last year and noticed she's doing it again this year too. I absolutely LOVE the way these look! They're 8.5x11 baseball card sleeve page protectors (I actually purchased mine at Office Max, but the link at the bottom of the post is to the higher quality We R Memory Keepers brand), trimmed down so that there are 4 pockets. Some of the pockets are already filled with little holiday-themed trinkets and do-dads and then sewn closed. The other pockets have been left empty for now. I'll fill those with photos, journaling, and little pieces of memories I collect throughout the month (receipts, ticket stubs, etc). You'll notice that some of my pockets are a direct copy of some of Ali's. If it ain't broke...

For now, these pocket pages are just randomly placed throughout the album for the purposes of taking photos (only a few are shown, but I have about 10 of them total). In actuality, before the first of December, I will remove them and just use them as I need them. The same is true for the Long Journalers. They are not numbered and are embellished generically enough that I can use them on any day that I have either more photos / memorabilia and/or lengthy stories to tell. Here's a look at all of my Long Journalers (except for the one already used for the December Bucket List). I'm still waiting on a special order of Red Glass Glittered stars from the MemrieMare Etsy Shop to arrive so I can finish embellishing a few of them, then I'll be done!

Every single day of the month has a printed December Daily Overlay that is already slid into a full-page page protector (the pages in this album are 6x8.5 inches). I will paste either one large photo for the day or several smaller photos or a combination of photos and journaling on these pages. Some days I may spill over onto the back and use Ali's digital Templates if I have lots of photos.

So that's it. I'm pretty much ready to go and I think you all get the idea of what my album looks like. It's pretty unfinished now and will likely have a lot more embellishment added to it as I complete the daily pages in December. I'll probably do a post or 2 each week of December to share with you how it looks as it all comes together! Thanks for humoring me with this long post.

So are any of you doing December Daily this year? What are you plans? Have you started your album? I'd LOVE to see it - leave a link in the comments so I can check it out!!

Studio Calico December Daily Kit (Ali Edwards)	2011 December Daily 6x8.5 Overlays (Ali Edwards)	Long Journalers Value Pack (Ali Edwards)	Christmas Memory Tags (Ali Edwards)	We R Memory Keepers 8.5x11 Baseball Card Style Page Protectors
American Crafts Silver Hardcover Foil Thickers	Glass Glitter Gold Stars by MemrieMare (Etsy)	Glass Glitter Silver Stars by MemrieMare (Etsy)	SIlver Jingle Bells (Ribbon Girl)	White Tiny Ric Rac (Ribbon Girl)
Black Tiny Pom Pom (Ribbon Girl)	Black Tiny Ric Rac	Red Tiny Ric Rac (Ribbon Girl)	Red Twill Stripe Ribbon (Ribbon Girl)	Tag Sale #4 Die (PTI)
Limitless Layers Die Collection (PTI)	Holiday Photo Finishers Stamp Set (PTI)	Calendar Basics Stamp Set (Papertrey Ink)	No Peeking Embossed Paper (Pebbles)	Merry Christmas Paper (Pebbles)
Candy Cane Embossed Paper (Pebbles)	Maraschino Red & White Baker's Twine (the Twinery)	Peapod Green & White Baker's Twine (the Twinery)

InLinkz.com

Sweet Sunday Sketch #143

2011-11-12T21:00:00.000-10:00

Hi there! It's Sunday. You know what that means. Sweet Sunday Sketch time!! As always, it's a fun one this week:

I only made some *minor* changes to the sketch this time. Specifically, I left off that vertical strip - I couldn't decide if I wanted a ribbon or a piece of paper or what and in the end with all my indecision, it actually looked OK without it, so I just said screw it and left it off.

My birthday card stash is in need of replenishing, so ya know. I dug into my stash and used some Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky paper along with the Tiny Treats: Birthday stamp set from PTI and finally broke in my 2.5-inch Limitless Layers dies that I thought I had lost (I didn't. They were wedged in between some stamp sets and I was so excited to find them that I couldn't resist using them!).

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Stay tuned later today (hopefully it'll be today. But I make no promises). I've been hard at work getting my December Daily album ready. This is my first year doing this project and I'm SO excited that I actually have time for it!! I love how my album is coming together and can't wait to share it with you. I finished up my cover last night and will be putting the finishing touches on the foundation pages this morning, so as soon as that's done and I can get some photos taken, I'll share.

Sweet Sunday Sketch #142

2011-11-05T20:00:00.000-10:00

Happy Sunday! You know what that means - Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge time!! Karen has a fun one for us this week:

I changed things up a bit, making it a 4.25x5.5 vertical card instead of a square. I don't know why. I'd like to think it's because they're easier to mail, but who am I kidding? I only actually mail about 3 cards per year and the rest go into a gigantic box until 2 years later when I get tired of looking at them and then either donate them or trash the crappy ones, LOL. Tell me I'm not the only one!!

I've been gearing up to work on my December Daily Album (I'm DETERMINED to do one for the first time this year) and so I needed a break from all that Christmasy nonsense and decided to make a Thanksgiving card. I pulled out some neglected Campfire DP (October Afternoon) from my stash and finally broke in a couple of PTI stamp sets (Autumn Acorns and Gobble Gobble) and coordinating dies. I'm kinda loving those felt acorns!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

November SFYTT

2011-11-05T02:00:00.002-10:00

Hi there! It's the first Saturday of the month and that means it's time for another fabulous and fun Sketch For You to Try!! We have a Totally AWESOME sponsor this month - Verve Stamps! Verve is one of the most generous companies I've ever worked with and Julee (the owner) has something special for you this month (I mean in addition to some pretty sweet sales she has going on!!) - One lucky SFYTT participant who uses Verve in his/her SFYTT creation will receive a Verve Stamp set of their choice!! So be sure to play along with us this month for a chance to win!

This month's sketch is super fun - I already have a few more ideas for this one, so you'll probably be seeing it again a time or two. Take a look:

And SURPRISE! I have a super early Sneak Peek for you today of a few new Verve Goodies that will be part of the November 11 release. The "official" Sneak Peeks don't start until next week, but a few of us Verve girls twisted Julee's arm and convinced her to let us play with some of the new stuff for today's SFYTT ;-) - in fact, a few of the Verve Divas are playing along with us regular SFYTT girls today too (You'll find a complete list of participants over on Jen's Blog), and I'd be willing to bet there might be a few more early sneak peeks in the mix!

I have a MAJOR need to start building my holiday card stash in a serious way. I think I only have like 3 cards done? Something like that. Yikes. So these new Verve Stamps couldn't have arrived any sooner! I also printed out some new digi papers from the Deck the Rooftop kit by Libby Pritchett and Melissa Bennett (Sweet Shoppe) for my card. And do you spot the new Verve? I used 2 new dies and 1 new stamp set! The stamp set, Bright Spirits, is a fabulous set of 20 stamps (10 beautiful sentiments and 10 amazing images). A few of the images have coordinating dies, too! You might notice the new Lovely Marquee die as well as those fun stars from the Winter Fun set (a set of 3 dies). And finally, I finished the card with my favorite pom pom trim! All of these new goodies will be available after the Release Party on November 11!!

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've done with this month's sketch! And a warm welcome to our super talented new Designer of the Month - Broni Holcomb!!

Jen del Muro
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Here are all the pertinent SFYTT details you should know...
1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

Verve Diva Inspirations November Blog Hop

2011-11-01T02:00:00.001-10:00

Welcome to the November Diva Inspirations Blog Hop! Our Diva Inspirations team is here to start your month off right with a little Verve inspiration! Take a little peek at each of the fabulous blogs below and leave a little comment love for their Verve-alicious eye candy and you just might win some Vervey goodness of your very own!

1. Julee	6. Lynda
2. Betty	7. Shannan
3. Dawn	8. Sony
4. Jen d.	9. Susan
5. Jen T.

We've hidden a little mystery prize on one of today's hop spots, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop around for a chance to win!
Comment Deadline: 11:59pm Mountain, November 7
Prize: $30 gift certificate to Verve.

For my sample card, I decided to play with this month's fabulous Stamp of the Month - Poinsettia Christmas (currently 40% off through the end of November!!)

This has long been one of my favorite Verve Christmas sets and I couldn't wait to pull it out and get it inky again. My clean and simple card was initially inspired by this card by Kristina Werner, although what I first had in mind didn't really work out and I ended up changing things up a bit and making it even simpler than originally planned. But I think it works. I dug into my holiday stash of paper and pulled out some older October Afternoon striped DP (I think it might be called Very Merry??) for the scalloped strip, added a narrow scrap of Kraft, then popped up my stamped sentiment and poinsettia from Poinsettia Christmas. The whole thing is anchored by a vertical stamped strip of polka dots from Bountiful Backgrounds, achieved with Versamark ink and clear embossing powder. I have to admit that I totally goofed when rounding my corners - I meant to round the top and bottom right corners but wasn't paying any attention at all and totally just rounded both top corners. I was so upset initially, but the look grew on me and I decided I could definitely live with it rather than starting all over!!

One last thing...

Save the Date!

Our next release is just around the corner! Come countdown to our holiday release by joining us at our Release Party on Friday, November 11 from 9-11pm Eastern in our SCS Member Company Forum. Look for our New Release Spotlight Hops starting Wednesday, November 9 on the Verve Blog!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #141

2011-10-29T20:00:00.001-10:00

Hi there! Has it really been 2 whole weeks since I blogged? Sorry I've been so quiet - things have been hectic around here with work, school, and sadly we had a death in my extended family a few weeks ago that has had me a bit distracted. Anyway, I have a few posts I want to try to get in before the end of the month, so the next few days will be a bit of catch-up around here. First though, how about a new Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge? It's a fun one this week!

I made the last of my Halloween cards for the year, finally getting a new Verve set inky:

I couldn't get this one to photograph well and the ribbon ended up looking a lot darker / brighter than the orange in the DP - you'll just have to trust me that in real life, it's all nice and matchy-match. Aren't those ghosts cute? And the pretty font on the sentiment? Love it. They're from the new Boo to You set (Verve). There's also a really great pumpkin in the set that I can't wait to use on a couple of Thanksgiving cards!!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

I hope I schedule this post correctly. Have you mainlanders had daylight savings time changes yet? We don't do that in Hawaii and I always get confused when that happens (and obviously don't even know for sure when it happens - I just know that at some point most of the rest of you Americans will "fall back", right?). Oh well. I guess we'll find out. Somebody tell me when daylight savings time starts (ends? whatever).

Sweet Sunday Sketch #139

2011-10-15T20:00:00.000-10:00

Hi there! As I type up my post for Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #139, I'm realizing that I never posted my sample card for Sketch Challenge #138, which I DID finish but was unable to post on time due to internet outage and then things just got away from me this week - my grandmother is still here visiting (she leaves Tuesday), I have a sinus infection that is really starting to annoy me, and I started volunteering in Dean's kindergarten class this week (which was LOTS of fun, but will take away one of my 2 days off work each week. I'm planning to continue this on a regular weekly basis, so this will bite into some of my crafty time, but that's the sacrifice you make and part of the reason I cut back this fall on design team commitments). So anyway, yeah...I never posted that card. Sorry! Maybe I'll get to doing that eventually. Maybe not. We'll see how things go this week. But on to this week's sketch. I LOVE this sketch and I had lots of fun with it!!

I decided to get some new-ish Verve stamps inky for the first time and create a cute "hello" card to add to my Just Because stash:

I have to say I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out! Those cute little coffee cups are from the Better With You set (which is currently on SALE btw!!) and I paper pieced them with scraps to match the rest of the card. All of that paper is printed digi paper from the Birds of a Feather digi kit by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe). I decided to stray a bit from the sketch and instead of a banner I stapled a cute little tag to the top left corner of my card. And that tag is totally stamped too! The tag and the "hello" sentiment are from the Tag Time set (also on sale at Verve). For finishing touches I added some pom-pom trim, a little baker's twine and a button and was done!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Swimming for Katie Blog Hop

2011-10-09T22:56:00.004-10:00

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by today. It's an important day as today I'm one of 125 stampers who are coming together over the next 3 days to support, encourage, and share a little aloha with fellow stamper and beautiful young mother and wife, Katie Renz. Battling terminal Stage 4 Gastric Cancer since last Christmas, in her most recent blog post Katie talked of shopping for cemetery plots and planning her own funeral. This blog hop is to raise funds to help Katie's young family as well as share some love with a talented young woman who's time here is limited. Katie's story begins HERE and the idea for "Swimming for Katie" came from a more recent post HERE.

The image used on my card, along with other images and cut files are available to purchase HERE. All of the proceeds go to Katie’s family. Donations are also accepted, the donation button can be found on each blog hop post, as it is here:

Day One Blog Hop List:

AJ Otto

Beate

Carolyn Mustopa

Dawn Burnworth

Deb Felts

Gretchen Belknap

Heather Jensen

Jen del Muro

Julie Ranae

Kate - i {heart} papers

Kendra Wietstock

Lisa Johnson

Loretta Lock

Lori Tecler

Lynn Mercurio

Marianne Walker

Michele Gross

Stacy aka Twinshappy

Tracy Schultz

Debbie Olson

Cindy Lawrence

Cindy Haffner

Julie Koerber

Christine Okken

Tammy Hershberger

Danielle Kennedy

Barbara Anders

Makiko Jones

Ashley N Newell

Shannan Teubner

Taylor Usry

Jen Tapler

Jenn Balcer

Jenny Chesnick

Jess Larsen

Jessica Knutsen

Jimmi Mayo

Joan Bardee

Joan Ervin

Julia Aston

Julie Day

Julie Ebersole

Halloween Countdown Calendar

2011-10-07T08:05:00.006-10:00

Hi there! I wanted to pop in and quickly share this super cute Halloween project I created a few days ago. Inspired by a project I saw on Pinterest, I created a hybrid Halloween Countdown Treat-filled Calendar using a mini muffin tin tray and printed digi paper and elements from the fabulous new Autumn Fun - Ghoul's Night digi kit by Jady Day Studio (After 5 Designs). Each muffin tin hole is filled with a small Halloween candy or toy and like an Advent Calendar, we'll use it to count down the last 24 days until Halloween.

Jady Day Studio is the Guest Designer in October over at After 5 and she has some FABULOUS stuff planned for this month! (you can her regular shop filled with lots of other amazing kits HERE at Scrap Matters). But that Ghoul's Night kit is seriously so cute! I just had to share. So many fun Halloween papers and elements. I love it!

ETA: I've had a couple of questions about what I used to attach the paper to the tin. I just used regular paper adhesive. Like the tape runner variety. I typically use the red E-Z Runner from Scrapbook Adhesives and I just put 1 or 2 strips in each corner of each paper square and stuck it on. They peel off easy enough from the tin and don't seem to leave any adhesive behind. If it does, I'll just scrape it off with a fingernail. That being said, I could make this more re-usable year after year by using something like magnets, but there's not much overlap of the paper onto the tin around the hole (if that makes sense?). I suppose I could buy the adhesive magnet sheets and cut small strips to put on the sides of the paper? It's definitely worth trying I think. Each paper square measures about 2 1/8 inch square. I printed them out at 2.5 inches, but ended up needing to trim them down quite a bit to get them to fit. They're just a little over 2 inches each.

OK, that's it from me today. My Grandma is still here and it's still Fall Break. We're headed Upcountry this morning to Giggle Hill to the playground to try to let Dean burn off some energy. I think we'll drive back down the mountain on scenic Baldwin Ave and end up in Paia and have a couple of Cinnamon Crepes for lunch (nice and healthy, ya know!) at Cafe des Amis. Sounds like a perfect way to start a weekend to me. We have to get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow - my Sooners game kicks off at 6:00 a.m. here. ugh.

Verve Diva Inspirations October Blog Hop

2011-10-03T02:00:00.000-10:00

Welcome to the October Diva Inspirations Blog Hop! (Really!? October!!?? Unreal.) Our Diva Inspirations and Release teams are here to start your month off right with a little Verve inspiration! Take a little peek at each of the fabulous blogs below and leave a little comment love for their Verve-alicious eye candy and you just might win some Vervey goodness of your very own!

1. Julee	9. Charmaine
2. Betty	10. Sankari
3. Dawn	11. Teresa
4. Jen d.	12. Andrea
5. Lynda	13. Tosh
6. Shannan	14. Maureen
7. Sony	15. Amy
8. Susan	16. Laurie

I decided to play along with this week's MoJo Monday sketch when creating my card for the hop. Take a look at the sketch (and a little side note: It's MoJo Madness Contest Week, meaning there are even MORE Verve Prizes up for grabs over on the MoJo Monday blog!!). Here's a look at the sketch:
I created a super clean and simple hybrid version of the sketch for my card using a couple of my favorite Verve stamps:

Pretty soft and feminine for me, yeah? But I kinda dig it. All of the patterned paper is printed digi paper from the Beautiful You digi kit by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe). I heat embossed the three sizes of outline flowers from Great Friend with detail white embossing powder on light pink cardstock and cut them out, layering them with foam adhesive. I added a little flagged sentiment strip from Accent Notes and was done!

A few extra things I don't want to forget...
- October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and we're doing our part to raise awareness. Verve has a special Think Pink SALE, with all in-stock stamps and dies 20% off October 1-16. And to sweeten the deal, Verve will donate 10% of proceeds from this sale to the Susan G. Koman For the Cure foundation!!
- A New month brings a new Stamp of the Month...Harvest Blessings will be 40% off during the month of October!! What a steal!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #137

2011-10-01T19:45:00.006-10:00

Hi! It's Sunday and that means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! I absolutely LOVE this week's sketch and will definitely be using it again and again!!

I'm keeping things short and sweet this week - my Grandmother arrived for a 3-week visit and we're spending lots of time just hanging out and enjoying her company, but things are a bit hectic. So I'll get right to my sample card this week:

I made a fun hybrid Halloween card using printed digi papers from That Old Black Magic by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe). I also used my new Halloween Treats and Sweets stamp set and coordinating dies (PTI). I LOVE the way this card turned out and think this is one that will actually get mailed!!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Hope everyone's having a fabulous weekend! It's still Saturday here on Maui - we went to the Maui County Fair today. Below are a couple of photos from our fun-filled day. It was lots of fun, but it was HOT and dirty. But living on Maui, opportunities to ride any type of ride (and get heckled by Carnies) are few and far between. Anyway. the first photo is so funny to me - I don't do spinny rides that go in a circle (not even a Merry-go-round) due to extreme motion sickness, so Joel is quite the sport. I love that he'll stuff all 6'3" of himself into one of these tiny helicopters so Dean doesn't miss out!! It was hilarious!

October SFYTT

2011-10-01T02:00:00.000-10:00

Can you believe it's October!? Unreal. It also happens to be the first Saturday of the month and that means it's time for another fabulous Sketch For You To Try! One of my very favorite companies is our sponsor this month - Waltzingmouse Stamps!! So exciting!

I had lots of fun playing with a new (to me) stamp set and digging into my extensive WMS stash to create my sample card this month! But first things first, let's take a look at this month's fun sketch:

Now, I'll admit I struggled with this one at first. Mostly because I really wanted to use my new Compliments of the Season stamp set and I had a hard time figuring out how to make it work with that large main panel. Then I decided that nobody said that had to be a main image / stamp panel, right? Who said I couldn't add my own little layers to the sketch? So I did!

I think you can still see the basic sketch there, I just added a large sentiment flag using a stamp from my Compliments of the Season stamp set. And that fun musical notes patterned paper? Yep, made that myself using the Musical Backgrounds stamp set. All of the other patterned paper is from an old Girl's Paperie holiday line from last year (sorry I don't remember the name!), because I don't have any new and updated holiday paper! I added a mini rosette with button center and some glittery twisty things that I picked up last year in the holiday section at K-Mart (they come in a bunch and are supposed to be ornaments, but I just cut the individual branches off and use them as accents on cards). And that's it! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and proud of myself for creating my first holiday card of the year - I didn't send out a single one last year! ha!

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've done with this month's sketch!

Jen del Muro
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Here are all the pertinent SFYTT details you should know...
1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

Sweet Sunday Sketch #136

2011-09-24T23:43:00.004-10:00

Well look at that - I'm only a few hours late this week with my Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge sample card! One of these days I'll get my act together and actually get my post done on time! Here's a look at this week's sketch:

I must have fall on the brain, because I created another fall-ish card for my sample, which is weird since we don't have fall on Maui.

I used a pretty new digi kit for just about everything on this card - that amazing tree and all of the papers are printed digi supplies from the Indian Summer kit by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe). I added a stamped Autumn Blessings sentiment from the Autumn Acorns stamp set (PTI) and some ribbon and called it done.

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

A Verve-y SFYTT

2011-09-24T11:33:00.005-10:00

Happy Saturday! I have a quick post today to share this card I've had sitting here on my desk for almost the entire month. For some reason, I just haven't gotten around to writing up the blog post until now! And now here we are, only about a week left to participate in the September Sketch For You to Try - so I thought it was as good a time as any to remind you guys to hurry up and participate! We have a fabulous sponsor this month in Skipping Stones Designs! All of the details are over on THIS POST on Jen's Blog. As a reminder, here's another look at this month's sketch:

You can see my original SFYTT sample using one of Skipping Stones' fabulous stamp sets HERE. I loved this month's sketch so much that I couldn't wait to use it again and decided to pull out a few of my Verve stamps and some printed digi papers to create a fun fall-ish card:

I used one of the flower stamps from Verve's Sunny Days, stamped directly onto some of the printed digi paper and then cut out with my craft knife, to create those flowers. The sentiment is from my old favorite, Bountiful Backgrounds. All of the yummy papers and the scallop circle mat is printed digi goodness from the Camporama Designer Kit by Karen Lewis (the Digichick).

That's it from me today. Hope everyone's having a fabulous weekend!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #135 - Finally!

2011-09-18T18:45:00.004-10:00

OK, well here I am FINALLY with my sample card for Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #135. First, another look at this week's sketch:

My sample card is a special one this week. I made it for my son Dean, who hit a special milestone at school on Friday. His teacher uses a Rainbow-themed Behavior Chart in the classroom in which each student has an assigned clothespin. Students begin each day in the middle of the chart, on green (Ready to Learn). Students may be asked to move their clothespin up or down the chart during the day depending on their choices. Students who make strong choices will receive class recognition as they move up the chart to Blue. Students who continue to make strong choices move up to the purple level. Students who reach the (ultimate) Rainbow Level are rewarded for their strong choices by receiving a prize and a special certificate. Dean has made it to the blue or purple level each day this month and is always happy to tell me about the strong choices he made each day that led to him getting to move his clothespin up the chart. He also is always sure to tell me which kids got moved down to the dreaded Yellow (Warning Level - Take a seat and think about the choices they're making) or Orange Levels (Students who continue to make weak choices will move to orange, this will result in a consequence). So far according to Dean nobody has made it to Red (Parent Contact). When I picked Dean up from school Friday, Dean ran out of the building with the biggest smile on his face, as soon as he got to me, he threw his backpack off and pulled out his Behavior Chart and showed me where he had colored in the rainbow for Friday! He was SO proud of himself for making it to Rainbow and being rewarded for his strong choices on Friday!! We decided to celebrate this weekend and created a couple of Rainbow-themed crafts (Thank You Pinterest!) and I made him a card to let him know how proud we are of him for being such a good boy so far in Kindergarten and for making Strong Choices at school!

I used a couple of Verve goodies on this card. All of those little hearts were created using the From the Heart die set from A Cut Above by Verve. I added the "So proud of you" sentiment from the Uplifting Phrases set. All of the patterned papers are printed digi papers from the Dream Come True kit by Julie Billingsley (Sweet Shoppe).

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

And here are a couple of pictures of some of our fun Rainbow-themed crafts, both ideas we got from Pinterest.

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge - Delayed

2011-09-17T21:28:00.003-10:00

Hi there! If you're here looking for my Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge sample card, it's going to be a little late this weekend! Of course I never get things done ahead of time and had planned to work on my card in front of the TV this afternoon (it's still Saturday in Hawaii) while watching my #1 Sooners beat the #5 Florida State Seminoles, but that game was just a little too exciting (translation: stressful) and I didn't get a thing done. And of course we had dinner plans immediately following the game, so my card still isn't done! And now here it is 9:30, I've had a couple glasses of wine (which is a couple glasses more than normal for me - I'm usually a cheap date! ha!) and all that hollering at the TV this afternoon wore me out. I'm going to bed. I'll make my card tomorrow morning and post it then. You guys will just have to deal. But here's a look at this week's sketch in case you want to get started without me:

Boomer Sooner!

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #134

2011-09-10T20:00:00.000-10:00

I can't believe it's already Sunday again!! You know what that means - time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! Here's a look at this week's fun sketch:

We had another crazy busy week around here, so I took the easy way out again and created another no-stamping, all-hybrid card for my sample:

I have a nice little stash of Teacher Thank You cards going! YAY! All of the papers and that cute little school-house are all printed digi goodies from the new School Memories 4 Little Kiddos kit by Jady Day Studio. I recently joined the Jady Day Creative Team and am so excited to be doing hybrid work for this amazingly talented designer! I added some PTI ribbon and buttons to the card and was done! Another 10-minute card - gotta love those!!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

I have a few other things I've been meaning to share with you, so if I can force myself to sit down and write up the blog posts I'll be back a couple times this week! Have a great weekend!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #133

2011-09-03T21:44:00.005-10:00

Hi there! It's Sunday and that means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! I'm running a few hours late with my post - my brother is on island, visiting from Montana with his girlfriend and a few friends, so we've been on the go all weekend. And of course I had to take some time this afternoon to watch my #1 Sooners play some football. I had mentioned on facebook that for a minute, when they were showing pics of the stadium and the team running out on the field and you could hear the band playing Boomer Sooner, I was wishing I was back in Norman for game day. And then they said that it was 99 degrees at 7:00 pm!! And I went to the beach this morning and was complaining about being hot because it was 87 degrees! So yeah. I got over that pretty quickly.

Anyway, here's a look at this week's sketch:

Because I was running so late I created a super easy all-hybrid, no-stamping card:

Seriously, I think this card took me all of 15 minutes to make, including print time for the digi stuff! SO quick and easy! Everything on this card (except for the Kraft CS) is printed digi goodness from the Aloha kit by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe). That's it. Told ya it was easy!!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

September SFYTT

2011-09-03T02:00:00.000-10:00

It's the first Saturday in September and that means two things - (1) College Football has officially begun in the Tapler house - BOOMER SOONER! and (2) it's time for a new Sketch For You to Try AND a new sponsor! This month's challenge is being sponsored by Skipping Stones Designs, a fabulous company with a large selection of fun stamps. I'll be honest and tell you that this was my very first Skipping Stones Designs stamp set, but it definitely won't be my last!! I was very impressed with the quality of the stamps and now have several things on my "wish list"!!

Here's a look at the September Sketch - it's a fun one that you'll definitely see me using again!

I was in need of a birthday card for one of my favorite people in the world, my good friend Sankari (who's birthday is TODAY, so go tell her Happy Birthday!), so I decided to use the sketch to create my sweet friend a pretty card to help her celebrate her day:

Totally out of my comfort zone with all that pink and floweredy paper (is floweredy a word? I'm pretty sure it's not. I think it's flowery, or maybe even just floral, but it comes out of my mouth as floweredy. weird). But I got to use one of my favorite embellishments - a glittered up chipboard butterfly! yay! And how about that stamp set? I used 4 stamps on this card, all from the Dandelion Dreams set from Skipping Stones Designs. I just love this set! The hardest thing about using it was deciding which ones to use and how to arrange all those greenery stamps! I love them. Oh, and that floweredy / flowery / floral paper and other matching patterned paper? it's printed digi paper from The Sweetest Thing kit by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe).

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've been doing with the sketch this month. And BIG NEWS - we have 2 new DT members joining us today, so be sure to give a warm welcome to Becky Carafa and Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)!! And of course we also have a new Designer of the Month - Alyssa!

Jen del Muro with guest designer Alyssa from ACS Paper Creations (her blog)
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Becky Carafa
Carole Burrage
Iwona Palamountain (Chupa)
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Here are all the pertinent SFYTT details you should know...
1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

Verve Diva Inspirations September Blog Hop

2011-09-01T01:00:00.000-10:00

Welcome to the September Diva Inspirations Blog Hop! Our Diva Inspirations team and a few special guests from our Release team are here to start your month off right with a little Verve inspiration! Take a little peek at each of the fabulous blogs below and leave a little comment love for their Verve-alicious eye candy and you just might win some Vervey goodness of your very own!

1. Julee	8. Susan
2. Betty	9. Andrea
3. Dawn	10. Sankari
4. Jen d.	11. Teresa
5. Lynda	12. Tosh
6. Shannan	13. Charmaine
7. Sony	14. Maureen

After living on Maui for 7+ years, I have to say that Fall is truly the only time of year that I ever feel homesick for Oklahoma. And I really think that's only because of college football - nobody on Maui really cares much about college football, certainly not like they do in Oklahoma!! Here people usually only watch a game if it's televised after dark, or if the waves are too crappy to go surf, or if it's raining. Otherwise, too much to do outside to waste an entire Saturday watching TV! But that usually means nobody really pays much attention to what's going on so there's nobody to talk to about it either. I have to say that the Taplers have learned that there really IS more to life than college football in the fall! It has been a hard lesson and we're slow learners, but we're starting to figure things out. And once last year we even TiVo'd a game to attend a wedding and waited until we got home to watch the game delayed a few hours (gasp! - I mean, first of all, who in the world gets married on a Saturday during football season!? That definitely does NOT happen in Okahoma!!). Anyway, I'm rambling. And none of this has anything to do with my card other than I had fall on the brain this week. So I created a fall-themed card.

I used the September Stamp of the Month set, Autumn Splendor, (currently 30% off through the end of September!!) to stamp that fun trio of leaves. The sentiment is from Happy Fall. All of the patterned papers are from the new Off We Go digi kit by Susan Bartolini (Sweet Shoppe). I also added some fun velvety trim I picked up last year at a scrapbook store in Wichita, KS (sorry I don't know the brand or the name of the store).

One final note, during September all Autumn Themed Stamp Sets are 25% off!!

Hello Friend

2011-08-30T21:18:00.004-10:00

Hi! I thought I had this post scheduled to publish Monday, but it disappeared, so we'll try it again. Is Blogger being weird for anyone else or am I just losing it? Anyway, I have a Verve-y hybrid card I've been meaning to share, along with a story. First, the story...

One of my oldest friends (old as in we've been friends since we were babies, not old like old lady), Tiffany, was very recently diagnosed with Stage 3c breast cancer. Tiffany, 35 years old, is an amazing mother of 3 young children, wife, daughter and friend. Tiffany and I grew up together in small town Oklahoma - our Moms have been good friends since I think before we were born. Tiffany's maternal grandmother died at a too-young age from breast cancer. My sweet friend had a modified radical mastectomy and axillary dissection on July 6, they found her tumor was very aggressive and she had 10 of 12 positive lymph nodes. She started chemo on August 3 and will undergo radiation after her chemo is completed. In this very short time from diagnosis to surgery to a few chemo treatments and already the loss of her hair (shortly after the loss of her breasts), Tiffany has remained amazingly positive and is such an inspiration. I hate that I am so far away and feel somewhat helpless. So, for a lack of anything else to do, I've been sending Tiffany a "hello" or "thinking of you" card in the hopes of just making her smile and letting her know I'm thinking of her about once a week. So, consider this fair warning for lots of those types of cards on the blog in the coming months! And please keep Tiffany and her sweet family in your thoughts.

So anyway, I created the following card to add to my stash of "Tiffany cards", ready for mailing.

I used a mix of old and new Verve goodies on this one. Those fun felt flowers were created with the Loopy Blooms Die Set and some 100% felt I can't seem to stop buying from the Felt on the Fly Etsy shop (awesome prices and selection). My favorite thing about this card is that cute little circle tag - it's stamped from the new Tag Time set and then punched out with a 1 1/4 circle punch (SU). I added a little glitter around the edge for some shimmer. Then I just simply attached a little sentiment strip right on top of the tag, from one of my most-used sentiment sets, Friendly Phrases. All of the patterned paper as well as that cute vintage looking bicycle image are printed digi goodies from the Charming kit by Misty Cato (Sweet Shoppe).

And finally, I wanted to end with this hilarious photo of me and my friend Tiffany when we were little girls. This was taken before some kind of dance recital way back in 1984, when we were about 7 years old. I'm the short one with the ill-fitting costume and no front teeth on the left (always the short one, even back then. Some things just never change), Tiffany's on the right.

I know what you're thinking and no, we're not horribly sunburned...that's our makeup. And yes, it was like that on purpose apparently. And no, our Mother's did not let a legally blind drag queen do our makeup before the show (at least not that I know of. It's possible though, but I'm betting our makeup would have looked better). It was 1984. 'nuff said.

Sweet Sunday Sketch #132

2011-08-27T20:01:00.004-10:00

Well, hi there! I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I blogged! I haven't taken that long of a break in quite some time. I have to wonder if anyone even noticed I was gone? ha! We've been trying to get into a groove with school and work schedules and figuring out the whole drop-off and pick-up thing and I'm still adjusting to this 5 days a week of school. I'm used to having my little man around quite a bit more often - but at the same time having longer hours of alone time a few times a week when he'd hang out with my Mom in Kihei, which is where his preschool was. I'm definitely missing that!! His elementary school is just a couple of blocks from our house so he's not getting to see Tutu (my Mom) as much. We're all feeling the shock and adjustment of that! LOL. On top of the adjustments and my tennis elbow (which is slowly getting better thanks to some PT treatments I've bribed my co-worker into providing as it's just too hard to do PT on yourself and trying to coach your husband into doing manual therapy and joint mobilizations on a hypomobile radial head just doesn't really work very well, but I digress), anyway we also all got sick last week, which I'm blaming on a whole new set of little germs. Oh well. Immune System Strengthening, what doesn't kill us, and all that blah blah blah!

Anyway, it's Sunday and that means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. It's a fun one this week:

As usual, I decided to go hybrid again this week and created a Teacher Thank You card to have in my stash. We'll probably use it in a few weeks when we go to Open House.

Those awesome patterned papers and fun school-themed embellishments are all printed digi goodies from the School Daze kit by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe). I also used the School Time stamp set from PTI for the sentiment. Super quick and easy!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #130

2011-08-13T20:00:00.000-10:00

Hi there! It's Sunday and you know what that means - time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! Here's a look at this week's sketch:

I took some creative liberties with the sketch this week, leaving a few layers off, but I think the general idea is there. I really wanted to use these awesome new Verve stamps and I think I made it work:

First, all of those papers are printed digi papers from the new Free To Be Me kit by Melissa Bennett and Libby Pritchett (Sweet Shoppe) - aren't the colors fabulous!? I used a few of the brand new Verve goodies that just released Friday night - have you guys checked out the AMAZING new products from Verve's Anni-Verve-sary release? If not, be sure to head on over to the Verve Store for a look. I really think this is the best Verve release Julee has come up with yet! So many beautiful stamp sets and coordinating dies!! And...there's a pretty sweet sale going on right now with 10-40% off ALL stamps and dies!! On my sample card above I used one of the tag stamps from Tag Time (which has a coordinating die!). The flowers, sentiment and sprig of leaves are from Sunny Days. And I'm SO excited about the Leafy Sprigs die set!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

That's it from me today. I might be a little more quiet than usual the next several weeks. I'm dealing with a severe case of Lateral Epicondylitis (aka Tennis Elbow) on my dominant arm that is exacerbated by using the mouse (and to a slightly lesser extent using a paper cutter, scissors, bone folder, etc). As a Physical Therapist, I know what I need to do - or more accurately what NOT to do in the case of a repetitive strain injury such as this - and that means lots of REST and avoiding the aggravating activities. So, I'll probably just be sticking to my minimum requirements for now and not be too chatty until it all clears up. Like I said, I'm a PT, so I'm in good hands and treating it and expect to fully recover. But as a PT I see firsthand how these things can turn into a chronic MONSTER of a nightmare and I do NOT want to go there!! So I'm trying to be a good patient and swallow my own bitter medicine. It's hard being on the other end!!

Also, for those of you who are interested, Dean started Kindergarten last week. It was a huge success!! You can read all about it and see photos from his first week over on our Family Blog if you'd like. I think he's pretty cute! ;-) Have a great week - I probably won't be back until next Sunday!!

I {heart} U - Anni-Verve-Sary Spotlight Hop

2011-08-08T03:00:00.002-10:00

Welcome to our Anni-VERVE-sary Spotlight Hops! Hop along with the Divas all week long as we share our first looks at a few of the new products releasing from Verve on Friday night! One lucky commenter from each day's hop will win the sets and dies featured that day, so be sure and leave a little love in the Divasphere! Check out the Verve Blog today for all the prize details and deadlines.

Isn't that fun!? I am absolutely in love with the soon-to-be-released You and I stamp set and coordinating I Heart U dies used on this card. SO MANY possibilities. The You and I stamp set includes 18 stamps that just might be the most versatile in my entire stash! And I'm sure they will be some of the most-used (so just get used to seeing them!!). And those letter dies? I'm already hard at work on a campaign to convince Julee to release an entire stamp / die alpha in that amazing font! So everyone go ahead and join me in that OK? Maybe if we all start bugging her now we'll drive her crazy enough that she'll cave. :-) Anyway, I created this card to give to my son Dean as he starts kindergarten this week (eeek!). The papers are all printed digi papers from the Zoom Zoom kit by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe). Does that card sketch look familiar? It's the August Sketch For You To Try!!

Be sure to stop by all of the participating Diva blogs today and the rest of the week - it's my opinion that this is the best Verve release EVER!! (and the Spotlights started yesterday, so you might want to catch up if you missed those).

1. Julee	9. Laurie
2. Charmaine	10. Maureen
3. Tosha	11. Amy
4. Andrea	12. Jen d.
5. Teresa	13. Shannan
6. Jackie	14. Lynda
7. Sarah {Guest}	15. Jen T.
8. Marisa {Guest}	16. Betty

Card Supplies:
Stamps: You and I (Verve)
Paper: Kraft, Soft Stone (PTI); Printed digi paper from Zoom Zoom by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe)
Ink: Lucky Limeade (SU)
Accessories: I Heart U Die Set (A Cut Above by VERVE); Glass Glitter (SU); Baker's Twine (the Twinery); Ribbon, button, Polka dot embossing plate (PTI); Sewing Machine

Sweet Sunday Sketch #129

2011-08-06T19:49:00.006-10:00

Hi there! It's Sunday and that means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! And can I just say that Karen has *almost* made up for last week's crazy tilted panel with this week's AMAZING sketch!! I absolutely LOVE this one!! Definitely will be using this one over and over again!

My sample card this week is an all-hybrid, no-stamping card and I'm so happy with how it turned out:

I've recently fallen in love with Jady Day Studio's digi kits and can't stop scooping them up as fast as she releases them! When I saw this new Silly Silly Bo-Billy kit I couldn't add it to my cart fast enough! All of the papers and those cute little silly monster-like people are printed digi goodies. This is another card I'll likely be giving to my son soon! I can't wait to scrap with this kit too! It's so full of fun stuff!!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

August SFYTT

2011-08-06T02:00:00.001-10:00

It's the first Saturday of August and that means it's time for a new Sketch For You to Try AND a new sponsor!! This month's challenge is being sponsored by Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps! (psst...I heard that they're having a new release coming up on August 21 with some peeks starting on the 18th, so be sure to check them out!).

But first things first, here's a look at the August Sketch:

Now, if you're a regular reader of my blog you know that I'm NO fan of the dreaded tilted panel and I will admit I was cursing Jen del Muro QUITE A BIT in the process of making my sample card. I *almost* caved and made the stupid thing nice and straight, but since I'm kind of the new girl and all, I didn't want to go breaking the rules this early in the game and get myself fired or something! {wink}. I gotta get nice and comfy and suck these girls in with my sweetness (ha!) before I go all crazy on them. But man, I don't know how many more tilted panels I can take. Although...with a little language therapy (read: swearing and muttering under my breath) I pulled through and can grudgingly admit that it's actually a pretty great sketch. I'll even admit that I might have made a 2nd card using the same sketch (WITH another tilted panel! gasp!) that I'll be sharing in a couple of days, so stay tuned. Anyway, enough of that. Let's get on to my sample card.

I used the cute little Jilly the Jellyfish stamp along with some printed digi papers from All Wet by Melissa Bennett (Sweet Shoppe).

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've been doing with the sketch this month:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Tenia Nelson
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Here are all the pertinent SFYTT details you should know...
1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

Week in the Life - Day 1

2011-08-01T00:31:00.003-10:00

I'm participating in Ali Edwards' Week in the Life Project, but a week behind everyone else (last week was just too crazy for me to get anything done). I'm hoping that by blogging about it I'll actually stick with it this year! However, I'm blogging this project over on my family blog - Tapler Ohana. (WARNING: If you go over there, you're going to see me in my pajamas and my house messy and my kid being a brat. I don't filter or edit photos much on my family blog). I'm doing it there because it's so family photo heavy and the grandparents all want to see those photos and they don't ever come to this blog. Just getting them to figure out how to go to the family blog was difficult enough. So if anyone is interested is seeing my process for Week in the Life, head on over to my Family Blog and check it out (I'll post a few reminders throughout the week this week - it will help keep me motivated I think). Also, I just did a big Blog Makeover on my family blog with a new-ish Zoe Pearn Blog in a Box kit and I think it looks super cute! ;-)

Sweet Sunday Sketch #128

2011-07-30T20:00:00.000-10:00

What the? No, your clock is not wrong. I'm actually posting my Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge sample ON TIME this week!! I KNOW. But I better hurry and write this because I'm cutting it close to the wire. So here's this week's sketch. And yes, I'm pissed about that stupid crooked panel. Karen and I still aren't talking. ;-)

And here's my sample (feel free to congratulate me on actually using a crooked panel. It was extremely painful. And I'm going to complain about it throughout this entire post. So fair warning).

I changed things up a bit from the sample. The crooked panel threw me off my game and I honestly don't know what happened. But I think it's close enough to still count. We'll just go with it and Karen is probably still recovering from seeing me actually use a crooked panel that she won't even notice that besides that stupid crooked panel it really looks nothing like the sketch! LOL. Oh well. I used my new Sweet As Can Be stamps and matching died from PTI on this card and added another glittered star (I do realize addiction is an illness). The felt ice cream is from the Felt on the Fly etsy shop - they have the best quality felt for really amazing prices (WAY better deals than I've found anywhere else, including popular stamp companies, and the quality is the same, and it comes in a ton of colors - so check them out). The polka dot paper is from the Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky collection from My Mind's Eye.

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

July SFYTT - I heart You

2011-07-27T21:48:00.003-10:00

Only a few days are left to play along with the July Sketch For You to Try girls. In case you missed my post earlier this month, we have another fabulous sponsor this month - My Favorite Things!! First, take a look at this month's fun sketch:

I pulled some MFT goodies out of my stash that had yet to see ink to create another sample and came up with this - it's another card I made to give my son. I've been giving Dean a card about once a month with a little letter written inside full of my thoughts on being his Mom at the time, funny things he's done lately, or just sharing my feelings. He doesn't care too much now but someday I hope this will be a special keepsake for him. He starts kindergarten on Monday and I wanted to write him a little note both to tell him how proud of him I am and also to capture my mix of emotions at this milestone. I wanted to make the card look more like a "Big Boy" card and I think I accomplished that.

I used the Say What die and stamp set from MFT and am so happy I finally played with this set! I'll definitely be using it more often! The papers are all super old SEI and Scenic Route DP I've been hoarding. I added a glittery heard, some buttons, a ribbon and baker's twine as embellishment. I also tried out some of my new (to me) OA Sprinklers paint misters / spray stuff. I'm not sure I like how that turned out, but I'll be experimenting with it a little more in the future. I also wanted to mention that I'm always seeing people comment about not wanting to add a ribbon or bow on a masculine card, but I almost always do. I don't think ribbons or bows are a strictly feminine embellishment at all. We typically add a bow to a boy's gift, right? I always thought that was kind of the purpose of adding a ribbon / bow treatment to a card - it's just embellishment. There are no rules. I used a glittery heart on this boy card, but I still think it looks like a masculine card. It's for a little boy - MY little boy. So I can do whatever I want. So can you. Don't limit yourself with all these "rules" because there really aren't any! If it looks good to you and it works with the message / feel of your card, go for it! (ok, stepping down from my soapbox, LOL).

OK, so I hope you'll play along with us this month! We'll be back with an all-new sketch in just a little over a week! Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've been doing with the sketch this month:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Debbie Carriere
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Here are all the pertinent SFYTT details you should know...
1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

Sweet Sunday Sketch #127

2011-07-23T21:53:00.004-10:00

It's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and I'm on a roll with being late!! That's right folks, I figured I might as well stick with my now-4-week-strong tradition of posting my sample card late. LOL. Seriously though, I can't seem to get my crap together this summer! Oh well. Good thing the boss lady is so cool or I would have been fired from this gig a long time ago!! ;-) Anyway, here's a look at this week's sketch:

It looks pretty easy, but I struggled this week for some reason. I think it's more because of missing mojo than the sketch though, because I like the sketch. I'll definitely be coming back to it to play again and see what I can come up with. I also think this would be a good sketch to rotate 90 degrees - I see lots of possibilities that way!

Once again, I created a Verve flavored hybrid card for my sample this week. It had been awhile since my Many Blessings stamp set had seen ink, so I decided to play with that one. All of the papers are printed digi papers from the Those Who Want to Sing kit by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe). The rest is pretty self-explanatory I think.

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #126 - late again

2011-07-17T17:23:00.004-10:00

Hi there! Well, here I am - more than 24 hours late with my Sweet Sunday Sketch sample once again! Summer seems to be getting the best of me when it comes to stamping responsibilities! But I have a good excuse - making memories with my family!! We had a fun (albeit COLD at 6200 ft elevation!) weekend camping up at Polipoli State Park on the slopes of Haleakala. But anyway, since I'm already so late, I'll just get right down to business. Here's a look at this week's sketch in case you haven't already seen it:

I created a no-stamping, all-hybrid sample this week:

All those yummy papers, the sentiment and the sun image are printed digi goodies from the new My Only Sunshine digi kit by Meghan Mullens and Amanda Heimann (Sweet Shoppe). I simply added a ribbon, button and twine for embellishment and was all done! Simple and easy!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #125 - FINALLY!

2011-07-10T15:23:00.004-10:00

OK, OK - here it is!!! I finally got my "creative" AND technical issues resolved...well, the technical issues anyway! ha! This is definitely not one of my favorite cards I've ever created, so I won't claim that the creative issues were fully resolved! But, it's done. Here's a look at this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch:

Once again, I pulled out some Verve stamps and printed digi papers and created another hybrid sample this week:

Did you have a chance to check out the new releases from Verve that went live in the shop Friday evening? If not, you're missing out!! I used the new sentiment set Small Phrases on my card. The set of 22 sentiment sets is definitely going to be one of my new most-used Verve sets for sure! I also couldn't resist my old favorite label stamp from Love Notes, perfectly cut out with the Classy Label Die of course! And how about those fun patterned papers? They're all printed digi papers from the new Dog-Eared kit by Traci Reed and Meghan Mullens (Sweet Shoppe). I added a corrugated chipboard, glass-glittered-edged butterfly from Jillibean Soup as embellishment and was done!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #125 - delayed

2011-07-09T20:35:00.003-10:00

It's coming - I promise!! My sample card for Sweet Sunday Sketch #125 is going to be late. I started out having "creative" problems (translation: no MoJo), finished my card about half an hour past the posting deadline and now I'm having major technical issues so am posting this from my phone (and am SERIOUSLY impressed with myself that I figured out how to do that! LOL). It's actually Saturday night here in Hawaii and we're headed out the door for some fun, so my sample will just have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry guys! But head on over to Karen's blog to see the sketch and for links to the rest of the team's creations - ya know, the ones who weren't total slackers!! :-)

Viva La Verve!

2011-07-06T20:59:00.004-10:00

Hi there! Have you all been checking out the Verve Sneak Peeks this week from the release team? If not then you're missing out!! Head on over to the Verve Blog and take a look at the New Release Spotlight Hops that are going on this week leading up to the Release friday night! There are some really fun and beautiful new sets that I know you'll definitely want to get your hands on! (And as always, the oh-so-generous Julee has some fabulous giveaways going on this week...)

I'm not sharing anything new with you today but instead I pulled out one of my favorite and most-used Verve sets from the not-too-distant past and played with last week's Viva La Verve sketch.

Isn't that fun and cheery? The yummy papers are from the Lime Twist Life of the Party Collection and I stamped the smallest flower from Dream Big in ink colors to match (SU's Bermuda Bay, Kiwi Kiss, Ruby Red). The sentiment is from Birthday Phrases (currently on sale!!). I kept the embellishments pretty simple - just adding some twine-tied buttons to the flower centers and a little machine stitching and it was done!

Here's a look at the July Week 1 Viva La Verve sketch if you'd like to play along. If you complete all of this month's sketches before the end of the month you'll be entered for a chance to win next month's ENTIRE release! All of the details can be found HERE in the Verve Forum at SCS.

Have fun!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #124

2011-07-02T20:00:00.000-10:00

Hi there! I hope all of my U.S. readers are enjoying their nice long 4th of July weekend! We're having a fun relaxing weekend full of mornings at the beach and lazy afternoons at home! Tomorrow evening we're headed out on a sunset boat trip on a Catamaran around to Lahaina side where we're watch the fireworks display from the boat before heading back to Maalaea harbor after dark. Please keep your fingers crossed for calm waters as I get EXTREMELY seasick - I haven't been on a boat in YEARS for this reason. I don't go on whale watches or snorkel cruises because it's just not fun to have your head in a bucket puking your guts up the entire time!! And no, none of the wrist bands or ginger candy or anything else on the market works for me (I think I'm the most sensitive person I've ever met - sometimes I even get seasick when I surf, sitting on my board waiting for waves and I'll just have to go in. I also only go paddleboarding or kayaking early in the morning on FLAT days or else I'll be sick). Dramamine doesn't even work for me. I do use prescription Scopolamine patches, which I think work better than anything else I've tried, but unless it's really calm I'll probably still be hanging over the side making chum for the fish all evening! So yeah, fingers crossed OK? ;-)

Anyway, you're probably not here to read about vomit, right? So it's Sunday. That means it's time for another fabulous Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! I had lots of fun with this week's sketch and this one went straight into the "Use Again" folder!!

I created a fun and easy hybrid sample this week...

The papers and that super fun margarita element are all printed digi goodies from the SPF 45 kit by Traci Reed (Sweet Shoppe). That oh-so-appropriate sentiment is from the Chillax stamp set from Taylored Expressions. A simple twine-tied button was all the embellishment it needed!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch. A few of the girls are taking the week off this week due to fun stuff, but stop by anyway - their blogs are always full of inspiration!

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

July SFYTT

2011-07-02T02:00:00.000-10:00

I can't believe it's July already! I mean really - where does the time go? It's the first Saturday of the month and that means it's time for a new Sketch For You to Try Challenge! We have another awesome sponsor this month - My Favorite Things!! I don't know about you guys, but I have a GIGANTIC wish list of MFT goodies and it was super hard to decide what to play with for my sample card! Because it's summer (and I live in Beach-tastic Maui of course - so it seemed appropriate) I decided to grab my very first Pure Innocence sweetie with the adorable Beach Bum set. I couldn't resist the Sunshine die-namics as well! All of the patterned papers on my card are from the Splash line from Echo Park.

Here's a look at this month's sketch:

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've been doing with the sketch this month:

Jen del Muro with guest designer Debbie Carriere
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

We're sad to be saying good-bye to the amazingly talented Kelly Lunceford who is stepping down from the SFYTT team as she prepares for the arrival of another little bundle of joy. Congrats Kelly - we'll miss you!

To play along with the July SFYTT, just make a card or other project using the sketch and link it up HERE anytime before the end of the month. Those who participate in all of the 2011 sketch challenges will be eligible for a mega prize drawing at the end of the year. All of the contest details and rules and such can be found on Jen's blog. And remember, all future guest designers are chosen from current participants!

Happy Stamping!

Verve Diva Inspirations July Blog Hop

2011-07-01T01:00:00.000-10:00

Sit tight for a super long post - but it's worth it!! Welcome to the July Diva Inspirations Blog Hop! Really? JULY!? This summer is FLYING by! Our Diva Inspirations team and several special guests from the Release team are here to start your month off right with a little Verve inspiration! Take a little peek at each of the fabulous blogs below for some Verve-alicious eye candy and you just might win some Vervey goodness of your very own!

1. Julee	9. Susan
2. Betty	10. Andrea
3. Dawn	11. Charmaine
4. Jen d.	12. Teresa
5. Jen T.	13. Maureen
6. Lynda	14. Amber
7. Shannan	15. Amy
8. Sony

I realize I'm cutting things a little close to the wire with just now finishing up a Patriotic project like this just a few days before the 4th of July, but once I got the idea for this in my head I couldn't resist creating this Americana Banner using a handful of my favorite Verve stamps! And I tried to keep it generic enough that it really could be used for a variety of occasions (birthdays or other celebrations). All of those yummy papers are printed digi papers from the Liberty digi kit by Libby Pritchett (Sweet Shoppe) - aren't they fabulous!? And I used a combination of stamps to create the central / focal banner piece - Dad's Day for the oval frame thing (LOVE that stamp - it's so versatile and I'm glad I recently rediscovered it - you can be sure you'll be seeing it much more often in the future on all types of cards and projects!) and Birthday Bash (currently on SALE!) for the celebrate sentiment. I added a few color-coordinating little buttons to this one and some Martha Stewart silver glitter to the edges of all my rosettes.

Each of the other banners features little cut-out stars stamped from the Seeing Stars set, the larger ones with a silver brad added to the center (love that look!). The I also added a copic-colored firecracker image from American Hero to the banner on the left.

The banner on the right is my personal fave. That red and cream rosette? It was created using one of the stamps from the Bountiful Backgrounds set - isn't it PERFECT? I also added a few red and silver glittery bits and pieces cut from some random floral sprays I pulled out of my Christmas stash - they were the perfect finishing touches!

Now, I mentioned a little something earlier about a sale - did you catch that?

July is birthday time here at Verve, with five Diva birthdays, including my own AND the head Diva Julee herself! To start the celebration in style, our July Stamp of the Month is one of my absolute favorites... Carpe Cupcake! And at 40% off during the month of July, Carpe Cupcake is one SWEET deal!

That's not all - A brand new month also brings along a new sale here at Verve!
During the month of July, save 20% on all of our birthday stamps! Check out all the birthday goodness on our SALE page.

And finally, Verve's Gift to YOU!
What's a birthday party without goody bags? We've gathered together some of our favorite things... doilies, My Mind's Eye paper, tags, ribbon, plus a few other goodies and put them in brown paper packages! And during the month of July, if your order is $75 or more, you'll receive one of these goody bags free! There's nothing to add to your cart, we'll just be sure to include it when your order ships! Celebrate good times, c'mon!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #123

2011-06-25T20:01:00.004-10:00

I'm running late this week, so I'll get right to it. It's Sunday and that means it's time for another fabulous Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. Here's a look at this week's sketch:

I pulled out some patriotic (and ON SALE!!) Verve and created a hybrid card for my sample this week:

That stamp set is Verve's American Hero - isn't it perfect for this time of year? And - it's 40% off through June 30th!! WOW!! I did some paper piecing on the firecracker and star. All of the patterned paper is printed digi paper from the 12 Months: July kit by Penny Springmann (Sweet Shoppe).

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch. A few of the girls are taking the week off this week due to fun stuff, but stop by anyway - their blogs are always full of inspiration!

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Hulabella SFYTT

2011-06-25T00:11:00.004-10:00

This adorable hula girl image has been on my wish list for quite some time and so I was THRILLED to find out that Stamping Bella was the June Sponsor for Sketch For You to Try! Just the excuse I needed to grab it!! :-) Hulabella is colored with Copics (and fair warning - I'm NOT a good "colorer of people" images) and I finally used some Splash patterned paper from Echo Park I've had in my stash for over a month now - with a piece from the Lime Twist collection from My Mind's Eye thrown in as well. I added a ribbon and a button / twine combo to the bow as finishing touches and called it done! The layout is based on the June Sketch For You to Try:

There are only a handful of days left this month to play along and we'd love for you to join us! All of the details, as well as the entry link system, for this month’s SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY can be found on THIS post on Jen's blog from the first Saturday of the month.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the SFYTT Sisters' blogs to see what they've done with the sketch this month (I'm sure they have a SFYTT category or tag list in their sidebar - or just browse / scroll through all the yummy goodness on their blog - you're sure to be inspired!):

Jen del Muro with guest designer Joanne Basile
Amber Hight
Amy Sheffer
Carole Burrage
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Susan Liles
Terri Moore

Thanks for stopping by!

Key Ingredients Cards

2011-06-24T15:07:00.003-10:00

There are only a handful of days left in the month - can you believe that!? I wanted to share a few quick and easy cards I whipped up using the June Key Ingredients kit by Taylored Expressions. My grandmother recently asked me to send her a packet of simple (and relatively flat) cards she can have on hand to send to friends. She wanted a variety of all-occasion cards and the Key Ingredients sure came in handy when putting these together for her! Here's a look at a couple of the cards included in the packet:

That one uses several of the Basic Grey Sweet Thread patterned papers included in the kit this month - I just cut them into strips, used my sewing machine and some zig-zag stitching to attach them to a piece of bright pink cardstock and added a sentiment strip and flower and that's it! The sentiment is from the Labels of Love stamp set (one of my new Taylored Expressions faves!).

And that one is my favorite of the pair, probably because it features my favorite of the Sweet Thread papers so prominently. Then I just added a narrow strip of cardstock to the edge, with the corners rounded using my Corner Chomper, another flower and sentiment strip. Again, the sentiment is from Labels of Love. And that's it!

Don't forget to check out the Key Ingredients Gallery throughout the month for even more inspiration and ideas using this month's kit from our DT!! And do stop by the Key Ingredients Blog - there is so much information about the kit, inspiration, and fabulous other links to check out!

Also, be sure to stop by the Key Ingredients DT Blogs throughout the month to see what they've been up to - their blogs are listed in my sidebar over there on the right!

ANNNNDDD...there's a REALLY awesome special going on for new subscribers to the Key Ingredients right now through the end of June that you won't want to miss out on! New subscribers can get a FREE Taylored Expressions stamp set! You can read all the details HERE on Taylor's Blog.

I'll be back a few more times this weekend with some sketch challenge samples (SFYTT and Sweet Sunday Sketch), so stop back by!!

WMS Sketch Challenge #52

2011-06-22T18:44:00.004-10:00

I had some time to myself this afternoon so I decided to play along with the Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge! Because it's their 1-year anniversary of sketch challenges, participants got to choose their favorite sketch from the past year and use it this week. I decided to use Sketch #20:
I rotated that long skinny panel by 90 degrees, but I think my creation still counts...

I used Free Spirit Boy and Free Spirit Sentiments on my card and love how it turned out - you guys know how much I like my boy cards! All of the supply details are below.

Stamps: Free Spirit Boy, Free Spirit Sentiments (WMS)
Paper: Kraft, Soft Stone CS (PTI); Not Quite Navy CS (SU)
Ink: Not Quite Navy (SU); Fresh Snow (PTI); Faber Castell PITT Artist Pen Big Brushes (for coloring surfboards)
Accessories: Baker's Twine (the Twinery); Trio of Tags die (Spellbinders)

Thanks for stopping by!

Father's Day Make a Page Monday (on a Sunday)

2011-06-19T15:11:00.003-10:00

Father's Day has been both happy for me this year as we celebrate the amazing Daddy and husband Joel is for our family, but also bittersweet as this is my first Father's Day without my Dad. I'm not going to say much as I don't want to dwell on being sad today, but I wanted to share this layout I made awhile back. It's of our final Father's Day with my Dad, just one year ago.

Journaling reads "Susan, Jen, Joel and Dean went to visit Eddie for Father’s Day 2010 at the Assisted Living Center where he was staying. They took him a cupcake from the bakery at Whole Foods, which he seemed to really enjoy! The nurses had given him a flower to wear on his shirt and we saw a bit of the old Eddie grin when we put his OU hat on him for our picture. It was a bittersweet day as I think we all knew deep down that this would be our last Father’s Day together. Little did we know this would be the last family photo we would take with Eddie."

Credits:
Credits (all from Sweet Shoppe)
Cindy's Layered Templates #52 by Cindy Schneider
He's the Man by Traci Reed and Dani Mogstad
Misc. flowers and elements from Sweet Escape by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Sunshine of My Life by Susan Bartolini.

Sweet Sunday Sketch #122

2011-06-18T20:00:00.000-10:00

Hi there! It's Sunday and that means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge!! Karen has another fun sketch for us to play with this week:

I created a bright (and girly) hybrid birthday card that is definitely a bit out of my comfort zone as far as the colors go, but I think I'm liking the finished results:

I dug into my Verve stash and pulled out the Birthday Bash stamp set and paper pieced the balloons - one of my favorite looks using that set! I added a simple Birthday Wishes sentiment strip from the Birthday Phrases stamp set. And all of that bright patterned paper? That's actually printed digi paper from the Sun Kissed digi kit by Melissa Bennett (Sweet Shoppe). Overall, a super simple but fun card just in time for a 5-yr-old birthday party next weekend!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Make a Page {Thursday} - Anniversary Edition

2011-06-15T23:35:00.005-10:00

Well, I didn't get my Make a Page Monday post done on Monday, but I thought today was a good day to share a couple of very special layouts I created for my Dad's Tribute Album. Today would be my Mom and Dad's 39th Wedding Anniversary if my Dad were still living. It's kind of a bittersweet time with that AND my first Father's Day without my Dad just around the corner. But working on this album has been such a comfort to me. It is so nice to be able to remember my Dad before Alzheimer's came along and to see him smiling and happy in these photos!

So here are the layouts with credits below. The first one is of my parents on their wedding day, June 16, 1972. I'm actually not sure I'm loving this layout. Mostly it's those 2 large flowers (at the bottom of the photo but on top of the photo - the blue one and the pinkish-purplish one) - I think I need to get rid of one of them. The symmetry is distracting me. Or maybe make one smaller? It just looks weird right now. I don't know. All I see are those 2 big flowers. What do you think??

All available at Sweet Shoppe Designs:
Cindy's Layered Templates - Half Pack #3 by Cindy Schneider
Wonderful Tonight by Julie Billingsley and Jady Day Studio
Alpha from In His Footsteps by Traci Reed

And this one is of my parent's 35th Anniversary just a few short years ago (my parents are the people in the top photo) when they went to dinner at Spago's in Wailea to celebrate with sweet friends Jim and Linda who happen to share the same anniversary:

Template by BellaGypsy Designs (Gotta Pixel)
Note to Self by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe)

And that's it from me. I'll be back with a few card posts this weekend, so be sure to stop back by! Have a great day!! And thank you all for humoring me in the sharing of my scrapbooking layouts each week - your support keeps me motivated to continue working on this special project!!

June Key Ingredients

2011-06-15T06:00:00.000-10:00

Hi there! In case you haven't already heard and checked it out, the June Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions has been revealed and the Design Team has been busy sharing sample projects over on the Key Ingredients blog all week - be sure to stop by and check it out (today is my day to post over there -hint, hint). So I'm sharing a little glimpse of my project as well as some exciting information about a special {AMAZING} Promotion for Key Ingredients subscribers so be sure to keep reading for all the details!!

This month's kit featured the Basic Grey Sweet Thread papers and they are so yummy and fun to play with! Several weeks ago my Mom and I enjoyed a nice Spa Day together at the Grand Wailea Resort and they had THE cutest cupcake solid bubble bath bombs in the gift shop and I just had to pick up a few - I had a project exactly like this in mind! I knew one of these adorable cupcakes would fit perfectly in the Mini Kraft Bakery Bags and it would make the perfect gift for a special friend! Of course, a gift just isn't complete without the perfect tag...

I really kept the entire project relatively simple - the whole thing came together in about 15 minutes! I just made a little "frame" for the window on the bakery bag using some circle nestabilities and that was it for the bag (I didn't want to distract from the pretty cupcake inside). As for the tag, I simply altered an old Maya Road chipboard luggage tag I've had in my stash for years with little strips of paper from the kit. The sentiment is from the Sprinkled with Love set and I also used the Small Scallop Border Die along with a couple of the flowers included in the Key Ingredients kit. I grabbed a ribbon from the kit and tied the tag to the bag and it's ready for giving! Here's a look at the project with the cupcake out of the bag (doesn't it look yummy!?)

Now, how about that Big Promotion I mentioned earlier!?

If you are not a current Key Ingredients Subscriber, now is a great time to join the monthly kit club! You will have so much fun creating with all the coordinating elements right at your fingertips! Perhaps you've been sitting on the fence thinking about it for awhile. And if all the regular subscriber benefits aren't enough, we might have just the Special Offer you need to take the plunge!

Enroll in a 6 month Key Ingredients Subscription with payment to be charged to your credit or debit card monthly and receive your choice of one of the following Mini or Petite stamp sets absolutely FREE: Crafty Expressions, Beary Special Accessories, You're my Type Upper, You're my Type Lower & #'s, A Little Love, Moka Olivia, Moka Charlotte, Capture my Heart, Collectors Anonymous, Summer Wreath.
Enroll in a 6 month Key Ingredients Subscription with one upfront payment and choose a FREE stamp set (Full-size, Mini or Petite) from this list: Miniature Motifs, Borderlicious, Fashionista, Bakery Business, Trick or Sweet II, Sweet Indulgence, Love Everywhere, Tweet Hearts, Luxurious Labels, Sweet Occasions, Crafty Expressions, Beary Special Accessories, You're my Type Upper, You're my Type Lower & #'s, A Little Love, Moka Olivia, Moka Charlotte, Capture my Heart, Collectors Anonymous, Summer Wreath.
IMPORTANT: Do not add the FREE stamp set to your cart. Leave a comment at checkout with your selection and we'll make sure it gets included with your first KI shipment.
Offer good to new Subscribers only through June 30th. You will receive the June KI kit while supplies last. If we run out of June kits, we will notify you and your first shipment will be the July kit.
A note to our current Subscribers - you received a special renewal offer via e-mail last week. Please e-mail us at kits@tayloredexpressions.com if you missed it.

OK, that's it from me today! Don't forget to check out the Key Ingredients Gallery throughout the month for even more inspiration and ideas using this month's kit from our DT!! And do stop by the Key Ingredients Blog - there is so much information about the kit, inspiration, and fabulous other links to check out!

Also, be sure to stop by the Key Ingredients DT Blogs throughout the month to see what they've been up to - their blogs are listed in my sidebar over there on the right!

Birthday Party Across the Miles!!

2011-06-12T02:00:00.001-10:00

**If you're here looking for my Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge Sample, it's right below this post!**

Welcome to the Fantasy Birthday Tour for my sweet friend Taylor VanBruggen. Happy Birthday Taylor!! Since we all couldn't be together to celebrate with you, we decided to have a Virtual Birthday Party Across the Miles - and guess what? Everyone's invited to join us to help celebrate Taylor's special day!! You should have arrived here from Jessica Diedrich's blog, but if you didn't you might want to head back to the beginning at Jami Sibley's Blog.

It wouldn't be a Fantasy Party without Fantasy gifts, now would it?? If money were no object, my gift to you Taylor would be a First-Class, Five-Star, all-expenses paid MAUI VACATION!!! :-) Because I mean, I know it's technically YOUR day and all - but I should get something out of this too, right!? And I know that deep down, all you REALLY want for your birthday is to come visit me!! ;-) Right? (Did I mention you'd be visiting me on MAUI, as in PARADISE??). The only catch is that we have to spend at least one day of your Fantasy Birthday Getaway stamping, OK? But the rest of the time we can spend here...

or here...

or here...

Totally up to you. And Here's a link to Maui's Official Travel Site so you can plan the rest of your trip. :-)

So I did make Taylor a birthday card, but I totally didn't get it in the mail in time for her to receive it by her birthday (sorry Taylor!). Here's a pic of the card I mailed her:

I used a few fun Taylored Expressions goodies. All that yummy paper is from the Lime Twist Life of the Party collection by My Mind's Eye. I paper-pieced the ice cream cone from Sprinkled With Love and added a little Happy Birthday sentiment from Labels of Love. I also used some Espresso Dimensional Pearls (that came in my Make a Wish Project Pantry Kit) to add the sprinkles on top of the ice cream! Oh, and that awesome sketch? That's the June Sketch For You To Try!

Well, that's it from me. Now head on over to Jackie Pedro's Blog and see what kind of fabulous Birthday Fantasy she's got in store for Taylor! And don't forget to stop by Taylor's Blog and wish her a Super Happy Birthday!!

And Taylor, I'll go ahead and set up our stamp table here...

Happy Birthday!!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #121

2011-06-11T20:00:00.001-10:00

Hi there! I hope everyone's summer is off to a good start! I've been hearing about lots of super hot weather (like in the 100s in some place! yikes!!) on the mainland, so I guess it's time for me to stop complaining about it when I'm sweating because it got up to 89 degrees in Kahului in the afternoon! I think when you live in a place like Maui, you completely lose your tolerance for extremes of temperature. I've learned that I'm pretty much only comfortable between the temperatures of about 72 and 86 degrees. Anything below or above that range and I'm unhappy. Fortunately though, we don't have too many days outside of that range, so I'm good most of the year!!

Anyway, I'm sure you're not here to listen to me blab about the weather. It's Sunday and that means it's time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge!! I had lots of fun with this week's sketch - it's another keeper for sure!

Dean's been super cute lately, saying lots of things I wanted to jot down and remember (like when he lost his big toenail last week after running over his foot with the bathroom door and he said "I'm going to go put this {the toenail...ewww} under my pillow and tonight the toenail fairy will come and leave me a present" - seriously!? First of all this kid shouldn't even know about the TOOTH fairy yet, let alone be able to extrapolate that into making up the TOENAIL Fairy!! LOL. and also last week at school when all the kids painted pictures - most of them painted things like rainbows or flowers or stick figures of themselves with their families - and Dean painted nothing but a bunch of multi-colored question marks all over the paper. When I picked him up from school and asked him to tell me about his painting he answered me - in a tone of voice that suggested I was the stupidest person who ever lived - "It's a MYSTERY Mommy". Well, duh! ha!). Anyway, I figured it was time to make Dean another special card and write him a little letter inside sharing some of my thoughts and feelings and some of those adorable memories I want to capture. And of course, it's once again a Space-themed card. Hope you're not getting tired of those!!

I also hope you're not getting tired of my new obsession with my glass-glittered stars! I promised myself I wasn't going to use one on my next few projects, but I just couldn't help myself on this one. I had to. It was too perfect for it. The papers are from Rocket Age by October Afternoon and the Stamp Set is Half Pint Heroes by Waltzingmouse Stamps.

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Well, that's it for now. I'll be back in just a few hours with a very special blog post, so stay tuned!! I'm also planning on making a cute little box sometime soon to hold all the little keepsake cards I've been making for Dean this year. I've been making him a special card filled with memories and thoughts on his childhood a few times a month and I think they need a fancier home than a shoebox! What do you think?