Hi Stampers and Friends,

It is a Holly-Day today, so I am going to bring you Something's Fishy.... A cute MFT A La Mode. This one is retired and we have one left in the store, so get it while you can!

I inked her up in Memento Black, used the Best Glue Ever, and colored her up in Copic Markers. I have been hoarding this Echo Park paper for such an occation, lol. I used five dies - MFT Insert It Instaframe, Fishtail Flag Stax, Fishtail Flag Stax Layers, Bubble Borders Cutter die from CC Designs, and a newly released and soon to come to the store La La Land Die called Cattails.

Can you believe this is the last day of May? For some reason I keep referring to next month as July, lol. But I know, it's going to be June. Just a bit a head of myself. Yesterday was my son's last day of the 4th grade. He was so excited I was off work and he could actually come home at 12:05! lol. I'm also planning on keeping him home on my days off. He loves vacation at home, so he can finally play with his million dollars worth of toys, watch TV and play with the dogs. I think we might have to throw in some baking in there too!

So what are your summer plans? Going anywhere fun? I hope so! Take a look through the stamps in the store and see how many would really spruce up your scrapbook pages. I have LOTS of plans for mine, lol.

Oh and don't forget about our current challenge going on over at the Loves Rubberstamps Challenge Blog - Bows!

Have a great day!

Holly

A letter to you

Hi Friends and Stampers,

This is my reminder post about the All That Scraps Challenge going right now.  It's Anything Goes!  Today I am using the adorable New Drozy's Darling's - Letter for You.  Be sure to check them all out.  She was so much fun to color up with my Copic Markers.  I found this fabulous sketch at Sketch N Stash.

When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was to sit down and write letters to my family.  I am not sure if they like them or not but I kept a steady stream of them going in the mail, lol.  I was so sure my Grandmothers would want to know every single thing I had been doing that day, lol.  So this image reminds me a lot of those times. 

I hope your Wednesday is going well and you are able to find some crafty time today.  I have been busy with the three dogs and the family lately so I have not been making much extra beyond my Design Team cards, but I am so thankful to have the perfect excuse to sit down and color up some cute stamps! 

Have a great day!

Holly

Make a Wish

Hi Friends and Stampers,

It's definitely a Holly-Day today, it's the beginning of my holiday weekend and my day to show you some inspiration over at The Loves Rubberstamps Inspiration Blog. Have you seen all the cute Pure Innocents in the store lately? I know Laura has a lot more to add to the store.

This new Pure Innocents is called Make a Wish. I am making a wish that everything turns okay with Laura today bringing her Grandma home to recover. There is a lot to do and I know she has been getting prepared for this all week, so I hope things go perfectly today and this weekend.

I used the Die-namics Insert It - InstaFrame and I love how these look like Polaroid pic's. When I was eleven, in the sixth grade, my Mom had a Polaroid camera that I used to play around with and take pic's of me and my friends. I had so much fun with that and so I really love having this frame to play around with my cute little images. I also used Fishtail Flag Stax and Upsy Daisy. I had to go on a wild goose chase to find this paper. It was, "somewhere" lol, and boy don't I ever need to get organized. lol. I colored her up with my Copic Markers, and used X-press It Blending Card.

I hope you have some great plans this weekend and have a little crafty time to play with us in our Current Challenge - Anything But A Card! It was be a great excuse to get a Christmas or Birthday Tag done and still be in our challenge for a chance to win a prize! But whatever you do, have fun!

Thanks for stopping by today,

Holly

P.S. Archie Bunker update - Well this is the end of the second week of having Archie.  The gal at the Animal Rescue is coming up this weekend again to see how things are going and it will be decision time.  Not that there is any decision to make, he is so already part of the family.  lol.   Even in the Gremlin moments.  We have taken Archie for better or worse and we already love him so.  There have actually only been four Gremlin moments and each time they are less severe and each time, I can pretty much talk him down and divert his attention to other things.  Lucky Day is re-establishing her role as the Alpha slowly but surely and even Krackin Up is starting to become a little more aggressive in his turn for attention and what he wants.  All three are a joy to our family and have brought much love and happiness to us.  So he stays. 

If you have been thinking about getting a dog or a cat lately, I would encourage you to check out all the animal rescues in your area.  Some are better than others, but most will have already taken the dog to the Vet to be checked out, spayed or neutered, shots up to date and home bound ready.  I am amazed at how many pure breeds there are available in these Animal Shelters, so if you are not finding what you are looking for right away, do not give up, keep looking! 

I {heart} you

Happy Wednesday!

I hope everyone is having a great day today.  It's time for a New Challenge over at the All That Scraps Challenge Blog!  And it's my favorite one, anything goes! 

If you decide to play with us here's what you need to know:

• Your project must use a C.C. Designs stamp, including - AmyR, Drozy's Darlings, Mashi's Muffins, Sweet November, Lil Lads & Lolitas & Webbie's Words. It will be deleted if not.
• Link up with Inlinkz by June 4th. This challenge will run two weeks.

Today I am using Sweet November Fairwee Piper and Mia Banner.  My little heart stamp was a bit big for my banner but of course I didn't realize that until it was stamped, lol.   I wrote in the I and U.  This was a lot of fun to color up.  I decided to use my Cutups clouds as a base and sponge my sky and ground.  I did use copics for the ground just under them though. 

I barely got this one in under the wire.  My son has been sick with the flu and it seems like it's been one thing after another.  I am not usually too far ahead but rarely behind.  I must confess though that watching the news took priority  to catch up on the Tornado updates.  I will definitely keep those victims in my thoughts and prayers.  It's going to be a major undertaking to start over.  I was so amazed to learn that this happen in the exact same place a while ago.  I think I might be moving the town over one way or the other and just call this area, "Tornado Way." 

I can see Friday just over the horizon peeps!  Hang in there!  It's a long weekend coming up and that means catch up and get ahead time!  lol. 

Thanks for Looking and for your kind Comments.

Holly

AnyThing But a Card

Hi Stampers and Friends,

It's time for a new Loves Rubberstamps Challenge!  Anything but a card!  Well, this one always stumps me.  It's not that I don't make three D projects, it's just that when pressed to do it, I am always deer in the head lights! lol.   My Sister is embarking on a new adventure in life and I love making her journals because I know she writes every day.  So I used this opportunity to make a journal cover and will work on the inside for next weeks Challenge, lol.  Is that cheating? lol. 

As some of you know, Laura Love from Loves Rubberstamps, has had a few family emergencies and has been really busy with life lately.  She is working on getting emails answered and orders shipped but has time for very little else other than her family, so I wanted to thank you for your patience and let you know that she does think of all of her challenge players and customers as priority right after her family.  

Also I have been so bad at getting back to comments and checking out my readers blogs because I have been double duty on blog posting and so busy lately.  Archie Bunker has kept me busy and I want his first few weeks here to go well, so I have been spending lots of time with the dogs and the family.  I feel like time is on warp speed and unfortunately I am not, lol.  I will get around to seeing your projects and blogs again soon! 

These are the products I have used:

Saturated Canary - Pack Light
MFT Die-namics: Deocorative Doily die, Upsey Daisy, Fishtail Flag Stax, Fishtail Flag Stax Layers,
La La Land - Large Flourish
MME DP
Copic Markers X-press it blending paper
Copic Markers
Best Glue Ever

Thanks for Looking and for your kind Comments!

Holly

Thoughts and Prayers to the Tornado victims in Moore, Oklahoma

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Moore, Oklahoma Tornado victims.  Those that lost their homes and everything they own, those that lost a family member, and those who are traumatized by this violent tornado. 

Holly

Teacher Appreciation.....

Hello Friends and Fellow Stampers!

Happy Holly-Day Friday and TGIF to me, because I am off this weekend! What's even sweeter is my guys are headed to L.A. for the weekend to go visit a guy friend, making it an "all guys" weekend and they are headed to see the new Star Trek movie at the IMAX. You know what that means? Whoo Hoo, stampy time for me! lol. What are your weekend plans? Have you had a chance to play in our current Loves Rubberstamps Challenge yet? May flowers! So easy. And there is a prize (actually two) involved!

Today I pulled out a few of My Favorite Things and made a LATE teacher appreciation card. We also got Mrs. Chavez a couple of Apple shaped treats from See's Candy that she is going to love! And we are presenting her with this card and Candy on, "Open House" night, lol. Smart huh? lol

MFT - ALM - An Apple for Teacher

Die-namic Rounded Banner Trio

Die-namic Fishtail Flag Stax

Die-namic Fishtail Flags Layers Stax

Die-namic Open Scallop Doily Duo

Copic X-press paper

Copic Sketch Markers

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Designer Paper

 



Remember, if you see something in the store that is sold, just drop Laura an email and ask her to get it for you, or if she carries a line that you are looking for a particular item from and don't see it, email her. It's just that easy. That is how I started with Laura. I was hoping she would carry a particular Flourishes Stamps set and she ordered it for me....okay, she ordered all three of them for me, lol.

I'm playing in the current sketch Challenge for MFT's.

Anyone ready for an Archie Update?

He stands about 12 inches tall and is about 12 inches long, and he is the new Alpha. lol. He rules the roost, or so he thinks. Everything was going fabulous until I had to put him in his cage at night. At my house, all dogs in at night and each one has their own cage in our room. Once I closed the door he went all Grimlin on me. Snarling and biting at the cage and growling at me. Of course I had to bark and growl back at him, lol, he did not know what to make of that at all. However the next couple nights I have lured him in with a treat and now he happily bounces into the cage and makes himself comfortable for the night. In fact, when the alarm goes off, he can be found laying on his back all stretched out, sleeping like a baby. The second event happened when my husband carried him outside at dinner time. He actually snapped at him and bit him, but not hard. He does not like not being invited to dinner at all, lol. But the last couple nights I have again lured him out with a treat and he is just fine with that. So as long as it's Archies idea and he can freely walk into the situation, he is fine, lol. Otherwise, he is cute, adorable and loves me as much as I love him now. So we are a work in progress on some rules and boundaries, but he is catching on quickly. The other two dogs just don't know what to think of him and they keep looking at me as if to say, "Isn't it time for him to go now?" lol. I'm sure in time they will all work it out.

Thanks for checking in and I hope you get a chance to play in our May flowers Challenge this week!

Holly

Bling it Shaped Card

Hello Stampers!  Another mid week reminder about our Shaped Card Challenge over at All That Scraps!  If you haven't made yours yet, you still have a week....yeah! 

Today I am using Bling Emma, part of the April Release that I hadn't had a chance to ink up yet.  I made this for my co-worker who was recently married.  This time I used my new BluePrint dies from MFT to use as the shape and the frame.  I added some bling to the corners and viola!  I cut out another black panel with my larger frame and scored just at the inside scallop and adhered it to the back. 

I hope you are having a great week and have a chance to play in our Challenge.

Your project must use a C.C. Designs stamp, including - AmyR, Drozy's Darlings, Mashi's Muffins, Sweet November, Lil Lads & Lolitas & Webbie's Words. It will be deleted if not.

Link up with Inlinkz by May 21st. This challenge will run two weeks.

Thanks for looking and for your kind comments!

Holly

Spirit of the flowers

Happy Tuesday!  It's time for another Challenge over at the Loves Rubberstamps Challenge Blog, this time we want to see your May Flowers!  I would like to thank our Sponsor - Birdie Brown for providing all the design team members with her wonderful images. 

Okay, well my little owl gets jealous when it's not posted too, lol.

Today I am showing you, Silhouette Kids.  I managed to get the boy and the field of tulips on Adobe.  From there it went south and so my dear sweet husband put the boy on the flower field for me, lol.  I am so not tricky, but I knew what I wanted to do, so that counts.  I have seen pictures layered one on the other so many times, I just decided that I wanted to try it myself.  Just clean and simple, but layered with dimensional foam.  Now I do like it, but I think in retrospect, I might have added a black layer between the layers.  What do you think?  I layers this up with my MFT Die-namic Blue Print 1.  Now I now Laura has them because she gave me this set!  Wasn't that sweet?!  And of course you know I love it because I have been using it over and over again, lol.

I am keeping this short and sweet today.  I am up an hour past my bedtime and I have to work an extra shift this week.  EEEK!  Is it Friday yet? lol.

Thanks for Looking and for your kind Comments.

Holly

Sensational Blog Hop over at Loves Rubberstamps

Good morning everyone and Happy Sunday!! It is time for another Loves Rubberstamps Sensational Sunday Blog Hop! My fabulous team mates have created some gorgeous projects for your inspiration. Make sure you check out each link and leave a comment. If you get lost along the way, each stop will have a full list of links. One of the Design Team posts is the hop's Sensational Sunday Sweet Spot and a name will be drawn from that list of comments to win a $10 Loves Rubberstamps store gift certificate. So, all you have to do is hop along, take a look at all the fabulous creations and leave a little love for the Designers! You have until Saturday, May 18, at 8pm CST. Have fun and enjoy the hop!

MFT- My Favorite Sentiments
Simple Stories

I used this weeks sketch at MFT's and wanted to try out the chalkboard technique that I have been seeing all over.  I love it! 

Thank you so much for playing along in our hop today! Be sure to stop back by the Loves Rubberstamps Inspiration Blog and let us know what you thought! We'll love to hear from you!

In case you got lost, here is this week's roster:

Laura - Loves Rubberstamps Inspiration Blog
Dangina
Athina
Shanna
Lydia
Marcy
Ivonne
Holly - I'm the last stop!  Now head on over to the Loves Rubberstamps Store and see what's new! 

Thanks for looking and for your kind comments!

Holly

Here comes the Bride

Whoooo Hoooo!!!! Happy Holly Day Friday!!!!  Can you tell I am off this weekend?  lol.  Today is my day to share on the Loves Rubberstamps Inspiration Blog.  I am using the following products:

Wedding Day Marci -La La Land
Heart Tree - La La Land Die
Filigree corner - La La Land Die
Memento Ink - Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers
Copic X-press paper

I'm also entering in the La La Land Facebook Group Contest #13.    In fact, while these are not the exact colors, I did learn this wedding dress coloring style from Irina herself.  For some reason, this took me a couple hours to color up, lol.   I think I was concentrating on the C1, C2, C3, C4 too much, lol.  I fussy cut this out and knew the exact paper I wanted to use.  I just added a couple dies and some rhinestones and called it quits so as not to take away too much from the paper.  This is yellow bicycle swoon paper.  The bird and her hair color match!  LOVE it.  lol.   Irina says that Marci is like one of her children that exist in her mind in La La Land, lol.   Do not ask for a pregnant Marci whatever you do! lol.  To her, Marci and Luka are dressing up and are about 6 years old.  Funny huh?

What are your Mother's Day plans?  I am having a little four footed visitor.  His name is Archie.  He is in an animal rescue in L.A.

OMG!!! He pulls at my heart strings.  He reminds me of my beloved Charlie that left us over 10 years ago.  Charlie was also a westie-poo and was given to me when he was two.  Archie is four and while he is a different dog, I am hoping that we make the same bond.  I'll let you know how things turn out!  The application process was fierce!  My friend compares animal adoption from rescue services is equivalent to human adoption, lol.  

Thanks for Looking and for your kind Comments!

Holly

Shaped Card Challenge

Yeah, It's Wednesday and I can see Friday in the near future!!!  It's time for another Challenge over at All That Scraps, this time we are asking to see your shaped cards!  At first I was a little unsure of this one and then I went through my Spellbinders and viola, I have lots of large shapes to make my cards with.  I measured a half inch less on all four sides, added the other half inch to the left and scored it and then added that to the back so it's an actual card. 

Today I am using:

May Day Birgitta

Four Seasons Fence

 

I also added a Flourish and flowers from LaLaLand and a Marianne Parasol die I just got in the mail.  OMGosh this Parasol die was difficult to cut out.  It wanted to stay in the die and tears easily.  I finally had to try that trick I read about.  I put wax paper between the die and my card stock and it came out much easier.  I may have been using too thick of a card stock for this particular die, but the trouble was worth it, because I love it! lol.

 

I also cut out my Spellbinder and adhered to the blue paper and then cut around it to get the larger shape.  I cut out the designer paper with the same die and cut that down smaller.  I found if I went around the whole thing with my copic pen that it was easier to see where to cut out. 

 

Have you ever used Viva Pearl Pen?  Irina uses this all the time in her flowers.  So I bought some that had been in my bag for about 9 months and went to use it.  First I did a test pearl on scratch paper and then I went to the nearly finished card and a great big huge glob came out.  It covered the top right hand flower, across her legs and part of the big flower on the left.  I got my baby wipe out and was like, "please no, no, no, no."  lol.   So I had to replace the top flower and you know, a little yellow here and there never hurt anything, lol.   Geez!  I still love my pearl pen but I think I might shake it down next time before I use it! 

 

Okay that's all I got today, I hope you are having a fabulous week!  I cannot wait to see your fabulous creations. 

Your project must use a C.C. Designs stamp, including - AmyR, Drozy's Darlings, Mashi's Muffins, Sweet November, Lil Lads & Lolitas & Webbie's Words. It will be deleted if not.

Link up with Inlinkz by May 21th. This challenge will run two weeks.

 

Thanks for Looking and for your kind Comments! 

 

Holly

Framed Princess

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

It's time for another Challenge over at Loves Rubberstamps Challenge Blog.  This week is easy, "Anything Goes"!  As I told you a couple weeks ago, I would be showing you this Shadow Box I did at the La La Land Workshop.  Is this not the cutest thing?  I have to give credit to Irina as it is her design, but heck, I did all the work, lol.  The first half of the day was a coloring class and I so needed the mojo boost.  There was a lot of "oh yeah" that I had learned some time ago and then just either forgot or I got lazy, lol.  And she has a lot of rule breakers when it comes to art and coloring and I of course, LOVE that. lol. 
products used:
La La Land:
Marci with a key
Grass Border die
Water Lily Flower die
Birdcage die
Fence die
Roses die small and large
Scallop Border die
Large Flourish die

Copics
Best Glue Ever!
Copic Express Paper 

Thanks for Looking and I cannot wait to see your fabulous creations!

Holly

Get Well Soon

Hello and Happy Holly-Day Friday!

We made it through another week!  Yeah.  I do have to work this weekend but that is okay, that means I have the next three weekends off and that makes me happy.  Today is my day for the Inspirational Post at Loves Rubberstamps.  I am using a cute new MFT PI called Under the Weather.  This will be in the store soon!  Remember, if there is something you see that is not in the store, just drop Laura off an email asking her.  I used the circle Stax 1 and circle stax 2 Die-namics as well as the Vine Border Die-namic.  And I colored her up with my Copic Markers, inked her up with my Memento, used the Best Glue Ever and some Echo Park 6X6 papers. 

I don't think I mentioned the difference between Circle Stax Die-namics and Spellbinders Circles.  The Die-namics are covered with a see through shield that helps protect the image and my coloring.  There are more die-namic cicles than Spellbinders as well.  And they go well with their other die-namics.  However, if I want to do an out of the box image, I still reach for my Spellbinders.  I know it's crazy to have both, but I NEED both sets, lol. 

I colored the blanket Plaid.  I learned this at the La La Land Workshop last weekend.  Of course my lines are not perfectly even or straight, but it's a blanket on top of a body right?  lol.   And of course I used the sketch from this weeks, MFT's. 

Have a great weekend and I will see you on Tuesday!

Holly

Flying High

Whoo Hoo It's Wednesday Hump Day!  The weekend is in sight! lol.   I don't know why I am all excited about it, I have to work most of it, lol.  But it still resembles some time off, lol.

It's time for a reminder for this weeks All That Scraps Challenge - Anything Goes!  This week I have used Daphne's Ride.  Isn't she adorable?  I had so much fun coloring her up.  In yesterdays post I told you I went to Irina's workshop and one of the things she does is color cute little flowers on her images.  Instead of paper piecing.  So I decided to try it out on Daphne.  What do you think?  It's not hard at all.  I little criss-cross and then put a dot in the middle.  But it adds a little bit more.  I found this cute paper last weekend and had to pair it up with  her.  I also had some burlap on my desk that was getting in my way, so I decided to use it, lol.  I followed the sketch from Sketch Saturday this week. 

I hope to see your cute projects upload to the All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge Blog. 
If you decide to play with us here's what you need to know:

• Your project must use a C.C. Designs stamp, including - AmyR, Drozy's Darlings, Mashi's Muffins, Sweet November, Lil Lads & Lolitas & Webbie's Words. It will be deleted if not.
• Link up with Inlinkz by May 7th. This challenge will run two weeks.
• Prize for this challenge is 3 C.C. Designs rubber stamps of the winners choice

Thanks for Looking and for your kind Comments.

Holly