Fab Friday #175

Ohmygosh! Is it Halloween yet??? Sheesh!! I got the COOLEST costume this year, and I've been working on a cool setup for our neighborhood Trunk or Treat! I can't WAIT111 I took a little time out to make this card for this week's Fab Friday Challenge. And I went WAY away from fall and Halloween on this one!

Gingham looks good with everything, doesn't it??

Stamps: Silhouette Scenes
Paper: Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Neutrals DSP
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Ovals Dies, Stitched Rectangles Dies, Burlap Ribbon, Frosted Epoxy Droplets, Country Floral Embossing Folder

Lots of possibilities with this one!








Here's a link to the Fab Friday Challenge Blog so that you can play along:

Fab Friday Challenge Blog

Mindy Backes
Heather Heroldt
Brian King
Amy Koenders
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers

Tonight is our local elementary school's Halloween Carnival. I have been helping with this for MANY years (since my oldest was in 1st grade!). Halloween is my favorite!

Monday Montage #39

My husband and I are celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary (which is kind of amazing since I am only 27!) ... so I was happy to have something fun to create for our Monday Montage Blog Hop for my husband ...

I had to have my Silhouette fixed right around Christmas ... I didn't get it back until sometime in late January ... FINALLY pulled it out to create this card. Sadly, it still seems to be having a cranky fit about some things, so I really had to work with it to get it to cut ANYthing close to what I wanted. I will be happy when I get it working properly again ... I have MISSED it!

Stamps:  NONE!
Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Coastal Cabana Whisper White, Red Glimmer
Ink:  NONE!
Accessories:  Hexagon Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, White Jute Ribbon, Linen Thread, Burlap Ribbon, Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim, Real Red Taffeta Ribbon, Mini Clothespin, Silhouette eCutter
MDS Download: Love is All Around (Love You)


Click "Back" for Melissa Stout and "Next" for Amy O'Neill ... more creative GENIUS from BOTH of them!

Fab Friday #50

Can you BELIEVE it???? Fab Friday is turning 50 today!!! I am happy to have been involved with this awesome challenge team since the beginning (two years ago!) ... and I think I have only missed playing along with THREE of these challenges up until now!! I am ALWAYS inspired by our sketches and color challenges and what not only my fellow team members come up with, but also with the beautiful creations made by our friends and Fab Friday Challenge participants! SOOOO much fun!

This week we are celebrating with a little bit of gold ... or a LOT!! Our color challenge is gold and white (and another neutral color if ya need one!)!! I threw in a little Crumb Cake ... 'cause you can NEVER have too much Crumb Cake (and if SOME of you are confused as to whether I am talking about the COLOR or the FOOD ... I'll just leave it up to YOU to decide if I'm talking about one or the other ... or BOTH!)!

Made this card up for my brother and sister in law who are celebrating their anniversary this week ... so blessed to have them in my family AND to be able to include them amongst our best friends as well!

Stamps: Stippled Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper:  Whisper White
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Gold Encore
Accessories:  Fun Frames Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Bitty Banners Framelits, Linen Thread, Gold Embossing Powder, Gold Sequin Trim

Purdy colors, right??? Plain and simple and elegant ...







Here's a link to the Fab Friday Challenge Blog so you can play along:

Fab Friday Challenge Blog

Check out the Fab blogs of my fellow Fab Friends:

Mindy Backes
Cindy Beach
Brian King
Justin Krieger
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers
Marla Reed
Pam Steckman
Jan Tinklenberg

Happy Friday and have a FANTASTIC weekend!!

29 Years of Happy ...

... and Counting!!! Today is our 29th wedding anniversary! (Which is kinda remarkable, in and of itself, since I am ONLY 27!!)!!! My husband and I had our very first date on March 9, 1984, and were married almost EXACTLY one year later on March 8, 1985. That first date was his brother, Rob's birthday ... and my soon-to-be-husband taught me how to ski (how BRAVE was I for even TRYING that on a first date??) ... and Rob broke his hand (he and a couple of his buddies also came on our first date ... which was oh-so-fun!)!! And I was a big ol' wet, frizzy (think 80's-perm-run-amok style), freezy mess by the time we were finished (my husband says I looked adorable ... but whatever ... which is probably one of the reasons I love him still!)!

So this page is to celebrate our anniversary (I was laughing at my BIG hair in the "then" photo ... when I realized my hair isn't a whole lot smaller NOW!)!! I am so blessed and grateful for having spent so much of my life thus far with my best friend ... he still makes me laugh (in fact, this morning he brought me a box full of yummy donuts and said, "Don't worry about eating as many of these as you want ... they are made with all REAL ingredients!"). He is thoughtful, kind, hard-working, fun, happy, adventurous, a great father ... who could ask for anything more?? (Ok ... he DOESN'T sing ... and I mean not EVEN with the RADIO ... which was one of the things on my "requirement" list that I had written as a teenager for "prospective future husbands" ... but I am ok with that ... he CAN whistle!)!

Here's to you, babe ... and an eternity of togetherness ahead of us. Love you!

MDS Supplies:
Stamps: Family Spotlight ("then" and "now"), Family Fun Photobook ("happy")
Paper: This and That Epic Day (LOVE THIS STUFF SO MUCH!), Calypso Coral
Punches: 1.25" Square; 1.25" Circle
Embellishments: This and That Epic Day (arrow 5, stitching 2, chevrons), Top Notch ("us" speech bubble)
Font: 2Peas Ditzy

Surrounded ...

... by flowers!! I am embarrassed to admit that most of the new stamp sets I bought from the catalog are floral ... of one sort or another! Embarrassed??? Okay, maybe too strong of a word. But I do think that it is funny that I am drawn, over and over again, to flowers!! (and it's not like I don't have about a gajillion flowers stamps already!)!

I made this for my niece and nephew who are celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary (and getting ready to welcome baby #6!). Soo happy for them and their beautiful family!! (And is it weird to admit that I am in LOVE with this Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon??? I'm using it on EVERYthing lately!)

I am heading up to Utah State University with my daughter tomorrow so she can do the orientation thing, and then we can go to our family's condo at Bear Lake. YAY Bear Lake!! My weekend begins tomorrow ... HOORAY!!

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Island Indigo, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party
Accessories: Word Window Punch, Itty Bitty Circle Punch, Adorning Accents Edgelits Die, Paper Piercing Mat, Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Pearl Basics

Guilty ... Again ...

If you can indulge me one more day ... I couldn't help myself!!! I've had soooo many things staring me in the face just BEGGING to be used, and this little stamp set is one of those things. Another case of "rubbahdultery" ... I know, I know ... it's not Stampin' Up, but the paper and ribbon are!! As are the punches and embossing folder ...

I knew as soon as I had seen this image that I HAD to make an anniversary card out of it ... just couldn't HELP myself!! This is some retired (OLD) DSP of Stampin' Up's called Chocolate Chip ... I lovelovelove this!! My friend, Cheryl, says it reminds her of Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman" ... you know the scene where she is at the polo match in the brown/cream polka dot dress?? I {{heart}} that movie!!

Looks like I'm gonna hafta find my craft room under the piles of paper/stamps/punches and ribbon. I'm having a class here on Saturday morning and MUST have some room for my friends to CREATE!!

Have a WONDERFUL weekend!!

Stamps: Rain or Shine by Unity
Paper: Chocolate Chip DSP (retired), Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Wide Oval Punch, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder, Early Espresso Taffeta Ribbon, Oval Cutter, Brown Pearl Stickers, Dimensionals

CASE-ing a GENIUS!!

When I first starting stamping way-back-when, I was pretty awful (and it didn't take me long to realize I had a LOT to learn!!). Along came Splitcoaststampers ... at least it was new to ME when I joined it back in the day! The gallery was a virtual cornucopia of beautifulness ... and I saw sooo many things that I fell in love with that I was CASE-ing stuff - EXACTLY - all the time!! Not only would I CASE things (for those of you who don't know, CASE means Copy And Share with Everyone), I would then make FOUR of each to place in my "stash" of cards.

As time went on, I started to find my own style. After a while, I would only use other peoples' creations to help INSPIRE me to make something slightly SIMILAR. Most of the time, I'm just wingin' it on my own. HOWEVER ...

Once in a while I come across something sooo wonderful ... sooooo GENIUS .... that I just can't help myself!!! While I still don't ever copy something EXACTLY, I sometimes come pretty close. Case-in-point with this card (which I sent to my aunt and uncle for their anniversary). One of my fellow Control Freaks, Mary Brown, is one such Stampin' Genius. I swear, I can't tell you how MANY times I have come across a card in SCS's gallery or the gallery on Stampin' Connection that I just LOVE ... and it turns out to be Mary's!! She is pretty much BRiLLIANT!! Soooo ... in order to give credit where credit is due, here is a link to Mary's BEAUTIFUL card (on which I based the card I am posting today):

Mary's Field Flowers

I know, I KNOW!! AMAZING, right???? I {{heart}} you, Mary Brown!!

Stamps: Hello Doily, Field Flowers, Occasional Quotes
Paper: Very Vanilla, Basic Black
Ink: Crumb Cake, Basic Black Craft
Accessories: Very Vanilla Seam Binding, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, Basic Pearls