Diaper Invite

I am creating 50 of these for a baby shower for my cousin. Aren't they just the cutest thing you've ever seen. I took a template from Splitcoast Stampers resource section and altered it a bit. I love how this one turned out. The invitation information is on a pullout inside. The stamp in the middle is from Stampin Up So Many Scallops stamp set.

Hop on over to Bunny Chic Boutique, they're celebrating their 75th blog posting. They're giving away a sweet tote and wallet here. The blog is so awesome.

Wooowww Do I Have Lots of Dust Flyin...

Ok sorry that I've not been updating lately...There've been several things keepin me from being creative lately and it's killin me. First, hubby took a buy out at work and we're trying to keep our income down the remainder of the year so we don't sail over to the next federal tax bracket...so hubby is stayin at home for a couple of months....I love him being home, but I need some crafting me time.

Second, we're having new carpet put down in the living room, hallway, our bedroom and vinyl flooring in kitchen and laundry room. So the hot water heater and all the appliance have had to be taken out to the barn. I'm sleeping on a mattress on my family room floor. This is driving me to a nervous breakdown and I was so mad yesterday I couldn't see straight. The installers came Friday @ 10:00 am to install. Friday when they left here, not one room was done completely. The installer was suppossed to come back on Saturday. For all the troubles, he said we had a piece of vinyl large enough for the bathroom and would install it for us for free. He didn't show up so at 12:00 we called the carpet place. They weren't aware that the job wasn't complete and couldn't get ahold of the installer. The owner was suppossed to try to track him down and call us back. 2 hours later he still hadn't called us back. So I called them back. They had to call me back after they tried to find someone else to come and complete the job. (Mind you another 3 hours of work to be done, at least. They hadn't even started on the bedroom carpet.) Within 15 minutes she called back and said that she got ahold of someone to finish the kitchen and the bathroom that wasn't even part of the deal so that we could at least take a bath and put our kitchen back together and someone would be out Monday to finish the carpet. This was acceptable to us. The guy that was coming to do it was 45 minutes away at the mall with his wife and he'd be here as soon as he could get here. Mind you it's now 3:30 and they close at 5:00. Well guess what comes next...7:-- and he's not there yet AND no way to get ahold of anyone cause the store is closed.... I'm so mad... The bad thing is that we paid the full amount up front so that we could get a better deal..So from their point of view, they've got their money, why should they care if we're happy.

So I hope to one day soon get back into creating consistenly again instead of when I get a chance.. Thanks for listening to my rant and don't give up on me.. I will be back.

Pardon The Dust

Please pardon the dust while I remodel my blog...

All Birds Welcome....

Nicole over at Capture The Moment had the most adorable template for a birdhouse. I immediately had this idea...I printed the template on vellum and thus made my birdhouse. My intention is to put a light bulb from the string of lights on the Christmas tree to light the inside of the vellum birdhouse...Not perfected entirely, but will work on it some more.

Everything Paper Crafts Candy

Be sure to stop by and check out Everything Paper Crafts Blog. There are some wonderful creations there as well as CANDY..yes I said candy.

Busy as a Beaver...

I first and foremost have to appologize to all my lovelies out there...yeah all you tremendous blog followers of mine. The last several weeks have been extremely busy. Not to mention that I had a terrible bout of I just don't feel like stampin, scrapin or creatin. I do have to tell you though that I've been working on this big project that to be honest with you, has really caused a huge mess. I'm talking computer reformat and the whole nine yards. So stay tuned in the next few days for the release of this fun new project. I think you'll all like it. I do have a random project to share.

This first project is one that I was challenging myself to do a 6 X 12 layout. Boy was this a toughie...I'm used to having so much space to scrap in. This was hard to get everything that I wanted to fit into this smaller space. It was definently a challenge...One that I challenge you all to try.

Supplies Used: Flair Designs DP, Colorbok CS, Prima Flowers, Heidi Swapp Brad, Colorbok Cats Eye Pigment Ink, Teresa Collins Journal It, Colorboc Chipboard Photo Corners, Cricut George Font, Martha Stewart Edge Punch.

I did use a sketch from Page Maps for some inspirations.

If you decide to take the challenge, please make sure to post a link to your completed project in the comments so that I can see what you've made.

Blog Exposure & New Friendships

You want some exposure to your blog? Go on over to Blog Around The World. Debbie has taken on this huge endeavour of somewhat of a blog directory by state...So hop on over and sign up here. Debbie has completely lost her mind, as I have a feeling this could be huge.. You could get some new visitors to your blog as well as make some friends. As I understand this, she'll spotlight different states and blogs along the way.

Croppinsville

Hey all...Allie at Croppinsville has her online store back up and running. Make sure that you stop by and check it out..She has some very cool stuff, not to mention, she's also great to work with and SUPER quick to ship. You'll love the selection that she has. She's worked very hard to pick vendors with style. Great job Allie...welcome back.

JAD'S Anagram Challenge

I recently began as a designer for Jean's Art Dolls. I decided to post an anagram challenge there using the word:

B ~ Brads

R ~ Red

A ~

D ~

S ~ Stamps

The idea is to create a project using the given items and then completing the anagram using items of your choice for the remaining letters. So I created the card below.

For some reason, I'm so in to Red, Black & Cream right now. The color combo is very rich looking. I used Brads, Red Ink & Flowers, Autumn Leaves Paper, Dew Drop Ink by Tsukinek and Autumn Leaves Prepare to Be Amazed Stamp to complete the anagram. I hope that you'll join us in the challenge here and post a link to your completed project.

Supplies Used: Colorbok CS, Autumn LeavesRed, Black & Cream Foof~A~LaPP, Misc Prima Flowers,Target Dollar Spot HeartBrads, Cloud Nine DesignsTear Drops, Autumn LeavesStamp, Colorbok Cats EyePigment Ink Dune, TsukinekBrillance Dew Drop Ink RocketRed and Graphite Black,Cuttlebug Embossing Folder,Bazzill Bling CS.

Jean's Art Dolls

Hey folks...hop on over to Jean's Art Dolls and help get new members to join in the chats, challenges and fun. Come on over and check it out.

I'm sad to say that over the weekend I found out the Croppinsville Hometown Bloggers is being discontinued. Due to a delay in the webstore opening, the owner of Croppinsville needs to focus on other things right now. I was very sad to learn this as I was having so much fun participating and being a part of the blogger crew. I guess, I'll just have to start looking for another place to join. Thanks goes out to Allie for giving me the opportunity that she did...

Happy Birthday...

Today is my little sluggers 10th Birthday..I decided to create him a baseball card. I learned to make these cards at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts. This one was made with come modifications as I had to account for the larger size baseball. These cards are so much fun to make. I hope that my little fellow loves the card. I hope that you'll go visit Dawn's Blog and try one or two of her cards.

I've been a creating fool this morning...one of the ladies over at one of my yahoo groups created a waterfall card...Next thing you know others are challenging each other to join in and have some fun. So I decided to give this a whirl. It seems that since many are having Christmas in July fun, that I should do a Christmas water fall card. I hope that you like it.

Hop on over to Croppinsville's Blog.. Yesterday I posted the Friday challenge..Here are the deets. This was also part of a sketch challenge for Scrapping Friends, an msn group.

Yeah....finally another week has past and it's time again for another Friday Challenge at Croppinsville. And I'm only 3 days away from vacation at the lake. This week, the challenge is a manufacturer's challenge. Allie decided to highlight Flair Designs this week. Croppinsville carries several collections, if you're local, be sure to stop in and check them out. You can also call her to place an order. The challenge this week is to create a scrapbook page, altered project or card, using any Flair Designs collection.

I select the Hit The Beach Collection, since I'm headed to the waters on Monday night. Flair’s Hit the Beach Collection will make waves with hula girls and beach bums, too! These colorful papers and stickers are perfect to capture every tropical memory, from cruising the seven seas to sunbathing at the shore. This collection was also perfect for the photos I took at Myrtle Beach last year, while we vacationed. Yes, I'm just now scrapbooking them.

People are always commenting about the funny things that kids say. Well in my sample one of the photos I selected is a great example of the funny faces that kids make. This was our first trip to the ocean. My son was shocked when the waves came rolling up behind him. Talk about a photo we all laugh at each time we see it.

Flair Design Products Used: Paradise Found DP, Beachy Keen DP, One Fish Two Fish DP, Sun and Sand CS Stickers. Misc Products Used: Misc Flowers, Cricut George Alphas, Colorbok CS, Colorbok Cats Eye Pigment Ink, Photo Turns and Brads

So if you take the challenge, please be sure to post a link in the comment section below for all of us to see.

Blog Candy Alert...

Make sure you stop by and check out Mayas Hobby Blog...She's got some super awesome blog candy to give away and a great blog..... Make sure you stop by and say hi.

Also be sure to check out Linanna Designs for yet another chance at some yummy candy...Black & pink my favorite color combo of all times...Her blog is awesome, too.

The Other Side of Me also has some exciting goodies up for grabs..

Christmas In July

CHRISTMAS IN JULY CROP AT CROPPINSVILLE, JULY 18-20TH

CHRISTMAS IN JULY CROP BLITZZ: Oh my gosh!!!! Allie is out of town for CHA and while the cat’s away the mice (staff) are gonna play! We are in the mood to get Christmas started early this year!!! We will have classes all weekend long (Friday evening until Sunday evening) with projects you can work on for Christmas, including CARDS, MINI-BOOKS and ORNAMENTS. At 5 pm Sunday, we will have a Christmas Card and Ornament Swap. What a great way to get a nice selection of cards and ornaments for family and friends. You will have plenty of time to complete cards and ornaments to swap with the other croppers during classes and crop time so be sure and keep your eye out for the class schedule closer to the date. COST: $12 all weekend or $5 per day to reserve your table and project costs will vary. Snacks will be provided. Fri. July 18 7 PM – Midnite, Sat. July 19th 10 AM- Midnite, Sun. 10 AM-7 PM.

Ticket vouchers will be given to reserved croppers for snacks and drinks.

Your table reservation fees will apply toward your purchases/class fees only for this weekend. No credits will be given for future purchases/classes/crops.

FOR OUR ONLINE CROPPERS-I WILL POST PHOTOS AND DIRECTIONS FOR ALL THE ACTIVITIES DURING THE CROP SO YOU CAN PARTICIPATE ALSO!!!!

CLASS SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY…
7:30-9:00 pm Cost: $2.00 DEXAHEDRON CHRISTMAS BALL
9:30-10:30 pm Cost: $3.00 ORIGAMI GIFT BOX ORNAMENT
11:00-11:30 pm Cost: $2.00 CHRISTMAS CARDS (2 different cards)

SATURDAY…
11:00 am-12:30 pm Cost: $10.00 ALLIE’S STAR BOMB BOOK
1:30-2:30 PM Cost: $5.00 2 PAGE CHRISTMAS LAYOUT
3:00-4:00 pm Cost: $1.00 CHRISTMAS TREE ORNAMENT
5:00 – 6:30 pm Cost: $2.00 DEXAHEDRON CHRISTMAS BALL
7:30-8:30 pm Cost: $3.00 ORIGAMI GIFT BOX ORNAMENT
9:30-11:00 pm Cost: $8.00 CHRISTMAS PURSE WITH 4 CARDS

SUNDAY…
10:30-11:00 am Cost: $2.00 GOODIE BOX CONTAINER
11:30-1:00 pm Cost: $8.00 CHRISTMAS PURSE WITH 4 CARDS
2:00-3:00 pm Cost: $1.00 STAR ORNAMENT

SWAPS…
5:00-5:30 pm ORNAMENT SWAP (FOR EVERY HANDMADE ORNAMENT YOU BRING, YOU WILL RECEIVE ONE IN RETURN FROM SOMEONE ELSE). This will require at least 4 people to participate.
5:30-6:00 pm CHRISTMAS CARD SWAP (FOR EVERY HANDMADE CARD YOU BRING, YOU WILL RECEIVE ONE IN RETURN FROM SOMEONE ELSE). This will require at least 4 people to participate.

Supplies needed for classes: liquid & dry adhesive, black fine tip pen, brown ink

You can contact the store using any of the information below if you're in the area and interested.

CROPPINSVILLE, USA
1106 West Main St.

Collinsville, OK 74021

30 minutes North of Tulsa...

918-371-0071 store

918-371-0041 fax

Croppinsville@att.net

Day #8 of 40 Day Events

In honor of celebrating day #8 of the 40 Days of Birthday fun for Bev, I've created this card. What better way to do that then to create a birthday card for her. Bev, please email me your addy so that I can send this to you.

Pam from Pam's Eclectic Stuff is hosting this day. It's a fab forty challenge. You don't have to use 40 things, the theme is FABULOUS. You have a choice of several items as well as a few must haves.

Here are the fab must haves- one piece cardstock, two pieces patterned paper, Plus choose three items from the list below-

Felt

Fabric

Floss

Fiber

Flowers

Findings (brads, metal items)

Freebie (one item of your choice)

Here are the items that are free to use (they don't count as your free item, anyone can use them)ink, stamps, thread -regular sewing, not floss, sanding or distressing, trimmers, punches, cutters, etc...1 color pen for journaling or doodling.

The theme? What you think is fab! You can create cards, layouts, or altered art. The rules- Please post a pic on your blog with a link back here when you are done creating your fab project. Due date is midnight EDT July 15, 2008. All eligible entries will be put in a drawing for some fun blog candy. Hop on over and join in...You still have a couple of days to complete it. I did and had so much fun doing so.

Challenge Items Used: DCWV All Dressed Up PP, Misc Pink Stripe PP, Pink Colorbok CS, Kaiser Crafts Flowers, Queen & Co. White Brads, White Sheer Ribbon.

Misc Items Used: Colorbok Cats Eye Pigment Ink Cranberry and Orchid, DCWV Metallic Silver CS, Colorbok Black CS, Black Stazon Ink, Whipper Snapper Stamps, Dove Blender Pen.

40 Days of Birthday Fun

Beverley Todd, one of the Croppinsville Creative Crew Members is celebrating turning 40 in 40 days...Come and join the fun, there's lots of exciting challenges, prizes, RAKs and games. Each day there's something going on. She has a link to those participating here. So hop on over there and join in the fun...

I authored the Friday challenge at Croppinsville Blog. This challenge is a little bit different. It'll be an anagram challenge.

For the anagram challenge, I'll select a word. I'll then select an item or two using the first letter of the word. The remaining letters are up to you. You must then use the supplies listed along with items you selected for the remaining letters to create your project. This weeks word is: CROP.

C~
R~
O~Orange
P~

So your challenge is to use something orange. Then you'll need to come up with something for C, R and P. Hope you enjoy!
The sample I've created is a shakerbox gate fold card. This was very fun to create. I love the old shakerboxes. Shake...Rattle...Roll...makes me want to dance. Enough already.

C ~ Circles
R ~ Ranger Ink
O ~ Orange
P ~ Pink

There will be more of these anagram challenges at Croppinsville to come in the future. I hope you enjoy them and will participate. If you chose to participate, please post a link to your completed project in the comment section.

Supplies Used: Colorbok Orange and Yellow CS, Sassafras Lass DP, Martha Stewart Scallop Punch, Misc Beads, Ranger Ink Walnut Stain, Skittles

Happy Birthday Allie....

Allie over at Croppinsville is celebrating her birthday today. Drop on in and say hello and wish her a very Happy Birthday. At the store, they're celebrating and cropping today. If you live in the area, drop in and wish her a Happy Birthday in person.

Technique Tuesday at Croppinsville

Today was technique tuesday over at Croppinsville's Blog. Nancy Leimer shared this really awesome technique on heavy embossing. I tried it out today. I didn't put my stamp in metallic ink before stamping in the wet embossing powder. Next time, I think that I will. This is definently a technique that I'll try again.

The supplies used: Colorbok CS, BoBunny Glee Dots PP, Misc Flowers, Skittles, Misc Ribbon, ColorBox Pigment Ink, Sparkle N Sprinkle Cosmic Opaque Embossing Powder in Marquis Orange and Cat's Pajama Happy Trails Stamp.

Altered Metal Barn Star

I wanted to make my mother a unique mother's day gift. I came across some cheap metal barn stars and decided to create this project for her for mother's day. I was inspired to share this by Melanie over at the Croppinsville Blog. For this altered barn star, i cut all of my paper pieces using a pattern. I printed my pictures on photo paper and cut them using my pattern. I inked the edges of my paper using cranberry Colorbok Cats Eye Pigment Ink. Then I put modge podge all of the star and attached my pieces. I followed up with 4 additional coats of modge podge. This is the end result.

Croppinsville Hometown Bloggers Blog Challenge

Jen over at Croppinsville has posted a blog challenge.

What 5 crafting tools could I not live without?

1. Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife ~ available at Croppinsville $4.29.
2. Carl Rotary Paper Trimmer ~ straight cuts most everytime.
3. Cricut ~ I love it.
4. Computer ~ Need for journaling and photo printing & editting.
5. Ruler ~ straight lines and perfect measurements.

So make sure that you take this challenge on your blog...Post a link at the Croppinsville Blog so we can find out just what you like.

Croppinsville Is Open For Business

Croppinsville online is now open for business. Please make sure you go and check out what they have available...

Croppinsville is a truly unique Stampin' and Scrappin' Spot. We specialize in carrying trendy, funky independents in addition to your favorite brands - the latest and greatest - we like to order the whole kit-n-caboodle too, so you can find everything you want in one place. We love to support small businesses, and we even encourage our own designers and try to develop their own designs. Find something new and exciting. We're working on our own line of products as well!

At Croppinsville, you'll find a unique Designer's gallery, there's also a gallery for customers! Don't miss our BLOG - staffed by a team of guest designers and Hometown Bloggers - they are constantly at work bringing you tutorials, challenges, games and prizes. Join our community and participate in swaps, contests and more. Make Croppinsville your Hometown too!

Croppinsville rewards you for your loyalty as well - for every $150 you spend, you receive $25 to spend. No silly restrictions, strange qualifications, etc. - spend your money any way you want and earn your reward! Shop the sales - you still earn your rewards! You want low shipping and you want your goodies fast - you pay only half the shipping for orders up to $60 and for orders over $60 - shipping is free! Orders received by 3 pm ship the same day! Always find a little something special and unexpected in your box - a little Random Act of Kindness. You can shop anywhere, and we want to thank you for shopping at Croppinsville!

Our goal at Croppinsville is great Customer Service - to provide inspiration, resources, and all the materials you need... and we want to do this quickly, carefully, and at a great price.

Croppinsville was founded by Allie Gower, a stamper and scrapper who simply knows that the specialized art of customer service has not been lost. She loves to eat, sleep and breathe creativity! She firmly believes that online shopping does not have to be a cold, impersonal experience, and that she and her employees, and her fabulous designers and Hometown Bloggers are completely committed to serving all those who come to Croppinsville - whether it's through the doors or over the internet waves. Because Allie is also passionate about the environment, Croppinsville is a GREEN company. The store itself is comprised of a majority of recycled fixtures and materials, and she has purposefully chosen many vendors that utilize GREEN technology, like Creative Imaginations and Prima Marketing. To quote one of her favorite designers, Nina Perrin, "when life gives you scraps, make something."

Stop in and check out the blog at Croppinsville Blog there's a lot going on over there in honor of the opening.

I'll be heading up Grand Opening Bingo...Here are the details. Go check it out and join in the fun.

Hometown BINGO!
Welcome to Croppinsville. We’re go glad you’ve stopped by and we hope that you’ll join us for lots of fun games, challenges, tips, techniques, tutorials and swaps. In honor of the recent opening of the new online and Brick & Mortar store, we’re hosting a grand opening bingo game. It’s pretty simple. You’ll pick 50 words from the list of 100. All the words are scrap related goodies or manufacturers carried at Croppinsville. Once you select your 50 words, you must email them along with your name, email address and a link to your blog (if you have one), to croppinbingo@yahoo.com before 11:59pm EST on June 21st. Beginning on June 23rd we’ll call 16 words each day. The first 8 (eight) words will be posted by 7:00 am EST and the last 8 (eight) words will be posted by 9:00 pm EST. So make sure to stop by to check out the bingo words twice daily and while you’re visiting, check out the other happenings at Croppinsville.Allie, the owner of Croppinsville is offering a $15 gift card to Croppinsville for the bingo winner. To be the winner of the grand opening bingo prize, you must be the first to cross off all of your bingo words and post a comment on this blog post. You must also send an email to croppingbingo@yahoo.com calling Bingo. We’ll then verify the word list you originally emailed against the words called and the winner will be determined.So why not join us in the fun… Remember to get your lists in by the deadline. A confirmation of the word list receipt will be sent to the email address provided for verification that the list was received prior to the deadline. Also remember to stop in at Croppinsville and check out all of the great products.

The Breast Cancer site is having trouble getting enough people to click on their site daily to meet their quota of donating at least one free mammogram a day to an underprivileged woman. It takes less than a minute to go to their site and click on 'donating a mammogram' for free (pink window in the middle). This doesn't cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors /advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate mammogram's in exchange for advertising. Here's the web site!
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com

Coconut Showdown Challenge #1

I decided to join in the fun over at Coconut Scrapshop . They're having a little contest from now until the end of June. The first challenge was to use the modern grid technique to create a layout. I'm really not all into stampin on my layouts but I did try to accomodate the challenge..

The supplies used: DCWV Glitter CS, MM Pink Artisan CS, Unity Stamp Border of Bell from the Vintage Blue Bells Set , CM Journaling Pen, Cuttlebug Swiss Dot Embossing Folder, Colorbok CS, Heidi Swapp Blossoms, HL Glitter Alphas, Misc Buttons, Target $ Spot Butterfly Stamp, Walmart Rubon, Studio G Stamp, Marcella By K Black Ink

A New Kit Club

There's a new kit club starting up... Go here Shopcropsuey to check it out...Be sure to post a comment letting them know that Janean C sent you. This should be fun and exciting to see how this new kit club developes. They've also got a design team call...Check it out!

Focus on My 12 Year Old...

Today's post is to focus on the creativity of a child. My 12 year old daughter, has always been advanced for her age. She could read when she was almost 4, she could spell cuccumber when she was 5, she could memorize stories after having read it one time and the list goes on...She's also been blessed with this monsterous amount of creativity. She loves to create with me. She's created some pretty amazing stuff for a 12 year old.

Yesterday we had a pretty rainy day so she hit the scrap paper box... On her own, no guidance, no sketch, just out of her head she created 4 cards. She stamped, designed and watercolored each one completely on her own. So I thought I'd share with you what she created.

If you can't tell, I'm quite proud of her. So everyone who visits, please leave her a little love.

Swap Signups...

Hurry over to Croppinsville and join the first ever swap. The first 9 to signup will participate. You'll receive a free Autumn Leaves "Prepare To Be Amazed" stamp. This stamp will be used to create 11 identical items. You'll receive 10 items in return. Allie, the store owner of Croppinsville, will keep one item from each swapper. Some may be used to display in her b&m store. There will also be an online viewer contest.