Friday, August 27, 2010

The drive way is DONE! The drive way is DONE!

Hi everyone!  I am super happy to report that the driveway, walkway and garage floor is DONE!  Man, it feels good to have it complete.  AS IN DONE, nothing lingering on like with the kitchen (update, my contractor is coming next Wednesday to complete the last little things, whew).

Wanna see pics of the BIGGEST RUBBER STAMP EVER?  Check this out.  We opted for a concrete stain and stamp along the border of the driveway and continue it on to the walkway.  SUPER COOLIO! 
The big blue thing on the left is the stamp, sorry for the shadows, it was super sunny this day!
Here are some before pictures to let you know what we lived with for 7 years.

And alas... here it is now!
 I can't wait to put back my porch bench, decorative planters and spruce it up with new landscaping!! 
I also have a card to share today.  This one uses a couple of Verve's new release sets, Great Friend and Happy Hello.  I love how versatile the flower blossoms are in Great Friend.  You can use the outline image for paper piecing OR for a delicate flower outline like I did here.  And of course, Julee never misses a beat with the layering options with her flowers. 
My layout is from Taylor's sketch (TESC125) from last week.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend.

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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Driveway remodel: Day 9

Hi everyone!  Yesterday, the cement driveway was poured!

As I type, the walkway is being poured.  We have gone with a concrete stain and stamp.  Have you seen that done before?  It will be amazing.  Some of you have asked, and no, we did not take out our HUGE Blue Spruce tree.  We cut the 3 major roots and sealed them and will pray it survives.  I LOVE this tree, I mean really LOVE it.  I will keep it as long as I can.  

Anyway, here are 2 from yesterday:
Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great day!

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Monday, August 23, 2010

Mojo Monday ON a Monday

Hi everyone!  I actually have a Mojo Monday sketch card to share with you ON a Monday!  That so never happens -LOL!  But, with all the crews here all day prepping for the concrete pour tomorrow, I have to stay home.  TRANSLATION: I want to stamp instead of clean! 

I love Julee's sketches!  This Mojo153 sketch ROCKS!  I have used a similar sketch in the past and using 4 squares is always a hit with me.  My card uses 2 newly released Verve sets, Happy Hello and Dream Big.  The sketch lends itself perfectly for that cute square border in Happy Hello!  I stamped it on Vintage Cream in Basic Gray ink, masked it off and stamped the medium sized leaf branch from Dream Big.  I colored in the small square border with the W1 Copic marker to add a bit of pop.

I have a couple pictures of how I masked the squares.  First I stamped the square image on the cardstock and on a post-it note.  Using a craft knife, I cut out the inside of the square on the post-it.

I then lined the square outline onto my cardstock and stamped the image over it.  Easy peasy!

Driveway Remodel update:  Well, at the end of last week we had complete demo and haul away of our driveway, walkway and garage floor.  We were hoping to only demo the left side of the garage, but after everything was demo'd we discovered some serious unsound structural issues, so we had to demo the entire thing.  Ugh, we were hoping to save on the cost.  Oh well, it is for the best and will turn out MUCH better in the end!

So today, the crew brought in and leveled off the gravel, placing the drains and are setting the forms.  We are still on schedule to pour concrete tomorrow morning in the garage!  This will be super cool!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Card Deets:
Stamps - Dream Big, Happy Hello
Ink - Always Artichoke, Basic Gray
Paper - Kraft, Vintage Cream, Basic Grey Manilla 6x6 pad
Accessories - 3/8" blue grosgrain, blue rhinestones and green burlap string (all Pinkhedgehog Papercrafts), Tag nestabilities

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Friday, August 20, 2010

Friends with Flair, home style

Welcome to Friday with Flair!  It's been awhile, but I love it when I have time to play along!  Angela has the master list of all the 50 designers participating in the FWF this week, so take a lookie at the Unity Blog for the names/links of everyone.

Today I have a couple more Housewarming cards to share.  My real estate agent asked me to make him 20 and I am chipping away at the order in between this week's Verve Release Spotlight peeks and house renovations!  CAS is the name of the game with these.  AND Ippity's House a Home is the perfect for all my cards. 

I got the layout idea from the incomparable Julie Ebersole -queen of CAS!!  The pattern paper is from Bella Blvd from my scrap folder, but most are from Man of the House line.  I love Bella Blvd papers because they are great for masculine cards.  I have to REMEMBER that I can't make all the cards girlie with flowers!  Some have to be masculine -which is very tricky for us girlie stampers -LOL!

Here is another with different colors and papers.  I like how these turned out, not too girlie, right?
 Before I go, yesterday was Demo day 1 for my driveway/walkway and garage!!
I have a couple pics to share.  Today they finish the demo and clean up and all next week they set the forms, lay and stamp the concrete!  I am so excited!  Here are the before shots:
Believe it or not, this picture doesn't show any demo.  It's a close up of the condition of our driveway.  The HUGE Blue Spruce tree roots have done unbelievable damage!

Here are some demo shots -yep the 3 guys tore up everything with a jack hammer!  I think my neighbors HATED me cause they started at 9:15am!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!!  I hope to see you tonight at the Verve Release party!



Card Deets:
Stamps: House a Home (Ippity)
Paper: White, Man of the House PP (Bella Blvd)
Ink: Soft Suede, terracotta tile, Hawaiian shores
Accessories: Jute string (Stamp Simply Ribbon store), circle nesties, corner rounder, Copic markers and buttons from Pinkhedgehog Papercrafts

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Thursday, August 19, 2010

Verve Release Spotlight: Great Friend


Hi everyone!  Welcome to today's spotlight for Great Friend.  Hands down, Julee did it again!  You will LOVE this set!  It has 6 flower bloom images, 3 leave stems and 3 amazing sentiments.

I am afraid my card doesn't do this set justice in any way, but here it is -LOL!  

I used one of Julee's Anni-VERVE-sary Sketches for this card.  I stamped the flower bloom 2 times, colored the bottom part with a copic marker and paper pieced the top one.  Isn't this one BRIGHT?  I just love the colors from the Cosmo Cricket paper, DeLovely.  They just makes me happy!!  Again, as with my other cards this week, I went with a simple card.  There's just not enough hours in the day, right?  LOL!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the Divas below and see what samples they have for you today.  AND don't forget to leave some love for a chance to WIN THESE STAMP SETS!!  Winners will be announced at our Anni-VERVE-sary Bash Release Party that night.  And for even more chances to win new stamps, play along with our Anni-VERVE-sary sketch challenges, going on this week in our forum! 

Here's the official link list of today's spotlight hops featuring Great Friend:


1. Laurie8. Teresa
2. Amy9. Jen T.
3. Michelle10. Tosh
4. Mercy11. Julee
5. Susan12. Jackie
6. Maureen13. Lynda
7. Sankari14. Amber









Happy Hopping!  Be sure to leave some comments along the way for a chance to win!  Have fun and we'll see ya tomorrow at the VERVE RELEASE PARTY!!!
Card Deets:
Stamps -Great Friend (Verve Stamps)
Paper - White and Raspberry Fizz cardstock, DeLovely PP (Cosmo Cricket)
Ink - black and Hawaiian Shores for edging sentiment
Accessories - 3/8" hot pink grosgrain ribbon, copic markers and button from the Bubblegum collection (all from Pinkhedgehog Papercrafts), corner rounder



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Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Verve Release Spotlight: Kind Words and Happy Hello

Hi everyone!  Welcome to the Spotlight for the Verve sets, Kind Words and Happy Hello.
My card today uses the set, Kind Words and is a double challenge card!  I used the super fun sketch from Mercy (MTSC87) AND the current Embellish Magazine Challenge to make a cute/simple card using the colors: peach, cream, kraft and sea foam green.

My card uses the flower image in the set and one of the 6 sentiments.  The pattern paper is Lullaby Lane from Webster's Pages.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out what the Divas below have for you today.  AND don't forget to leave some love for a chance to WIN THESE STAMP SETS!!  Winners will be announced at our Anni-VERVE-sary Bash Release Party that night.  And for even more chances to win new stamps, play along with our Anni-VERVE-sary sketch challenges, going on this week in our forum!

Here's the official link list of today's spotlight hops featuring Kind Words and Happy Hello:

1. Sankari8. Julee
2. Lynda9. Teresa
3. Charmaine10. Michelle
4. Amber11. Amy
5. Jen d.12. Jackie
6. Maureen13. Mercy
7. Sony

Happy Hopping!  Be sure to leave some comments along the way for a chance to win!
Have fun and we'll see ya tomorrow!


Card Deets:
Stamps - Kind Words
Ink - Chocolate Chip and Groovy Guava
Paper - Kraft, Cream and Lullaby Lane PP (Webster's Pages)
Accessories - cream grosgrain ribbon (PTI), circle nesties, peach button, white pearl colored with a copic marker 






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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Verve release spotlight -Dream Big

Hi everyone!  Today we are Spotlighting the amazing set, Dream Big.  It is an amazing flower set with 3 sized flower blooms, various sized stems and leaves and 8 sentiments.  I had some fun with this one.

I stamped the flower bloom in Hawaiian Shores ink, cut them out and added stickles to the blooms.  I just LOVE the font inn this set -very fun!  The ribbon is my newest love -the amazing new striped twill and the pattern paper is Jubilee from Memory Box.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out what the Divas below have for you today.  AND don't forget to leave some love for a chance to WIN THESE STAMP SETS!!  Winners will be announced at our Anni-VERVE-sary Bash Release Party that night.  And for even more chances to win new stamps, play along with our Anni-VERVE-sary sketch challenges, going  on this week in our forum!

Here's the link list of today's spotlight hops featuring Dream Big:


1. Julee6. Teresa 11. Sankari
2. Michelle7. Maureen12. Shannan
3. Mercy8. Jen T.13.Charmaine
4. Sony9. Amber
5. Lynda10. Laurie

Happy Hopping!  Be sure to leave some comments along the way for a chance to win! 

Driveway remodel update: Thursday is DEMO day!  I will take some before pics and pics of the demo to post.  I am super excited about this project!!

Card Deets:
Stamps - Dream Big
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - White, Jubilee (Memory Box)
Accessories - Copic markers, striped twill ribbon, Circle and Rectangle Nestabilities, Button, stickles

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Monday, August 16, 2010

Verve release spotlight: Birthday Bash and Carpe Cupcake

  Hi everyone!  Welcome to another Verve Release Spotlight!  Today we are spotlighting the amazing sets, Birthday Bash and Carpe Cupcake.  

I have a sample for the COMPLETELY FUN set Birthday Bash!  This set has 5 images and 8 sentiments.  Aren't the balloons are fun and whimsical?  I wanted a happy feel to this card, so I used some of my Love Me Do paper scraps.  I pieced both balloons, colored in the stars and added some white gel pen accents.  Fun and easy!

This next card uses the amazing wedding set we peeked on Day 1, Love Story.  Sigh... this set is so beautiful. I see endless possibilities.  I chose to go with a slight whimsical feel, but you could just as easily go really formal with this one!  I saw this amazing card by Birgit (BIGGAN on SCS, warning you need to be a Fan Club member to view this) and LOVED the idea of gluing die cuts on to the card.  I actually used some of the huge Bridal confetti tin from Michaels.  I added some tiny pearls to the center.  The sentiments are stamped on a Labels One nestability block and adorned with some Prima flowers from the Athena line.  See the 1/4" silk ribbon tucked in the corner?  I got this idea from Sharon shown here.  BRILLIANT.  I love the soft feeling of this card.  AND it was easy to make.  BONUS!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out what the Divas below have for you today.  AND don't forget to leave some love for a chance to WIN THESE STAMP SETS!!  Winners will be announced at our Anni-VERVE-sary Bash Release Party that night.  And for even more chances to win new stamps, play along with our Anni-VERVE-sary sketch challenges, going  on this week in our forum!

Here's the link list of today's spotlight hops featuring Birthday Bash and Carpe Cupcake:


1. Julee6. Teresa
2. Michelle7. Maureen
3. Jen d.8. Jen T.
4. Sony9. Amber
5. Jackie10. Tosh


Card Deets -Birthday Bash:
Stamps - Love Story
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper - Kraft, Love Me Do PP (My Minds Eye)
Accessories - Red taffeta ribbon (SU!), Round crystal wheel (Zva Creative), white gel pen, Copic marker, button, white embroidery floss



Card Deets - Love Story:
Stamps - Love Story
Ink - Turquoise Gem chalk ink (VersaMagic)
Paper - Vintage Cream
Accessories - Labels One Nestability, 1/4" cream silk ribbon (May Arts), Athena Flowers in Skylight (Prima), Bridal confetti in cream, Round pearl wheel (Zva Creative)



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Saturday, August 14, 2010

Another 2 house cards and Verve Spotlights begin

Hi everyone!  Well, here are another 2 housewarming cards for my real estate agent.  These both follow this week's Fall To Layout sketch #103.  Quick and easy!  I am gonna need to pick out a few more favorite FTL sketches and make more cards!  17 to go!

Again, I used Ippity's House a Home set.  These are pretty simple, just a bit of coloring and ribbon.  This card uses the PTI Simply Chartreuse saddle stitched ribbon and Pacific Point cardstock.

This card uses October Afternoon's Fly a Kite paper and the amazing SU! 1/4" Taffeta ribbon in Daffodil.

AND, it's that time again...

The VERVE stamps release is this Thursday and all this week the Divas are Spotlighting the new sets.  The New Release Spotlight will be a bit different this time, each day the Verve Stamps blog will have a master list of all the Divas showing cards that day.  

As usual, with Verve releases there are challenges -this time Julee has created 5 amazing sketches!  Check them out here there are a couple ways to win.  The Release Party will be this Thursday, 5pm Pacific over on the Verve Forum on SCS.

Today we are Spotlighting the fabulous set, Love Story.  This is an amazing wedding set that features 6 images and 14 sentiments!  You will love this set!  Be sure to check out the Verve blog to see what Divas have samples to share!
Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

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