The Sweet Stop SSS45

HAPPY Saturday!  Well, I survived turning 39 yesterday, not too many tears, well, actually there weren't any at all!  I am just glad I am not gray yet! HAHA!  And since I have little kids, my youngest being four, people don't realize my age!! However, when I stand next to the almost 20 year old son people almost look at me sideways!  HAHAAA!

Today's SSS45 challenge at the Sweet Stop is an awesome one!  I LOVE this layout!  I used an image by Whimsie Doodles that was a freebie image if you are a member of their PaperCraftPlanet group HERE.  I think there is a new freebie, so go join up and grab it!  I also used this card for the Whimsie Doodles challenge for this week.  We were challenged to 'doodle' on our project.  That really PUSHED me outside of my box because I am NOT a doodler!  I think I have doodlephobia! LOL!

I used a cuttlebug embossing dots folder for the first time, although I have had it nearly 1 year to the day!  I got it last year at The Crop for the Cure, which is a Susan G Komen fundraiser where we crop all day!  Well, that's where I am headed today!  Funny that I just decided to finally try it out in my Revolution, worked great!  My papers are from SUP, I stickled the wings, the sentiment is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps HERE and the Oregon Raindrops are available at Pink Hedgehog PaperCrafts HERE!

I hope you have a great day and join in on this week's Sweet Stop Challenge!  Pop on over to the BLOG HERE to see all of the uber fabulous cards using the SSS45 sketch made by the SugarBabies Design Team!

Blessings on your Saturday!

These are the Copics that I used in creating this card!

The BEST BIRTHDAY EVAH with pictures!

Seriously, I just had the best birthday EVER and would just love to share it with you if you can tolerate a lot of jibber jabber!!!!!!!!  AND PLEASE, when you are done reading this entirely too long post, that you share your favorite birthday with me!!  I would love to hear it!

My hubby surprised me by taking the day off of work today and he even arranged a babysitter for our youngest, so we could spend the day together ALONE!  Maybe I should first clarify that we never ever ever spend time alone.  We live in a town where neither one of us has ANY family whatsoever.  I mean, like, NOT ONE.  So, we can't just drop the kids off at 'grandma's' and have a date night, you know what I mean?  And, we are both too tight to spend money on a babysitter to get some time alone.  But, after today, I think we might do it once a month, or every other month!  Because I honestly can not tell you how many times today that I have said, "This is the BEST BIRTHDAY EVAH!" and I am sure it has a lot to do with just being able to spend time alone and enjoy each other's company!!!! 

Wanna hear how the day has gone so far???

Let me first tell you that he let me sleep in!  YEP, he did kid/school duty!  That is not fun and not an easy task, let me tell ya.  Did I mention that we have ONE bathroom and three kids still at home?  7, 6, 4... and ONE bathroom, need I say more?  Besides KayLee not getting her teeth brushed, it went off without a hitch!
Scott took them to school, took Isaac to the babysitter and then took me away to Evansville, which is about an hour away.  First we hit Hobby Lobby!  I got tons of scrapbook papers by My Mind's Eye, some glitter brads, two embossing folders and two Copic markers!  {I didn't think it could get better!}  WELL, I was wrong!  He then took me to Dick Blick Art Supply!  I got 9, YES NINE, more Copics!!  WOOHOO!  I think they have ALL of the colors on display at their new store [insert giggle here]!  That was sooooooo awesome drooling over all the colors!! 

Once we finished there, we were getting pretty hungry, so we headed to my favorite restaurant EVAH, Rafferty's!  OH MY, their house salad is to die for and I had the prime rib with Au Jus!  OH MY GOSH, and I even added some Garlic Mashed potatoes! YUM!  We were going to have the cheesecake, but I just couldn't do it!  Scott had to finish my steak for me!  HA!

After we let our tummies settle, we headed for the mall!  Just Bath and Body Works, that's all we had time for since I spent too much time drooling over those Copics!  LOL!  I HAD to go to Bath & Body Works, you see, because I had a coupon for a free item, albeit a travel size!  I will take anything free!  Well, I ALSO had a 20% coupon off my entire purchase AND they were having a 'Buy 3, get 2 FREE' special, SO I TOTALLY indulged on that!  HEEHEE!  I got two of my favorite Velvet Tuberose Body Washes, another in Black Amethyst, a Black Amethyst Body Spray and a Black Raspberry Body Spray!! OH and my travel size item I got a new 'flavor' White Citrus body spray!!   OH MY GOSH, I forgot to tell you that I even bumped into two of my long time gal pals, Karen Skorge and Kiley Martin!  They were kidless today and decided to head to Evansville, too!!  So, it was great to see them and share my day with them and let my hubby soak in all the glory!  LOL!

Before we left Evansville, Honey, (if you don't know, I NEVER call Scott by his name.  I always call him Honey, or call him Daddy when talking in front of the kids) ....tried talking me into the Pie Company for a gourmet coffee and slice of dessert, but I was still so full so I refrained!  We had a nice hour drive home talking about 'us stuff', like our future plans and the possibility of us getting a larger home if we decide to stay in Jasper for more than five years.  After we got home, I retrieved the mail and had NO BILLS!  AND I got a card from one of my sister-in-laws, Jodi!  That was so supah sweet of her to remember me, especially since her birthday was five days ago and (although I didn't forget her birthday) I failed to send her a card!  I KNOW, I KNOW!  I am a cardmaker that forgets to send cards! 

I had 15 minutes to spare before the kids got off the bus and Honey went to get Isaac at the babysitter's, so I checked my email!  Well, it was just full of emails (some forwarded from Facebook) wishing me "Happy Birthday" from friends, design team gals and family!  Even my oldest son, Josh, who's in college told me he loved me!  That made me cry happy tears as he doesn't elaborate too often  how he feels, being of the male-gender and all! 

But wow, let me tell you that this is at the top of the charts as far as birthdays go!  I do not know of a happier day!  I feel loved, I feel appreciated, I feel like I did when I dated Scott, and that was the best time of my life!  I don't know what tonight holds for us, but I can't think of a better way of finishing it off than with some crafting!  I have a few orders that HAVE to be done tomorrow, so I will be working on those, and then after that I get to pack! 

Tomorrow, we are extending the birthday fun with a 12 hour Crop!  YEP, along with another 8 or so girls, I am headed to a Susan G Komen fundraiser CROP!  There are over $3,000 of prizes to be won!  I am taking my Copics and digis that are printed out on cardstock already and COLORING ALL DAY!!!! WOOHOOOO! 

AND as I write this at near half past four o'clock, my honey just told me that my birthday present didn't make it in the mail on time. He KNOWS how much I love Eddie Bauer jeans (they are the only jeans that fit nice on my baby-stretched body!) and he ordered me a gift card using our Visa reward points!  So, now I even have that coming!!!  Seriously!  I am in tears!  I just can't express how blesssed I feel today!

I am the first to admit that my life is NOT like this at all everyday.  Honey and I disagree, of course, and I am by no means a perfect wife, to say the least!  But for him to go and do all of this for me today after some of the stuff I have put him through, not only means so much to me, but amazes me as well!  Thank YOU, HONEY!!!  Well, thanks for letting me share my birthday with you!  I really just had to tell you guys what a wonderful day I have had and hope that this sweetness continues!!  And don't forget that I would love to hear your favorite birthday, too, if you would like to share it!

Hugs!

Precious Baby

Happy Thursday!  WOW, I think I really am ready for Spring!  This card looks 'Springy', too, doesn't it?  I didn't even try to continue this 'Spring-Fling'!  HAHA!  Guess that shows ya how sick I am of the snow, doesn't it!?

Today's card is featuring a digi by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps HERE, called Precious Baby.  Such a sweet image, isn't it?  I thought I would keep this unisex with the yellows and grays and greens!  What is so silly is that I have four people in my family having babies and three of them are boys!  Why didn't I just do blue?!  Actually, this would be perfect for the other one, which isn't going to find out the sex early!  So, I should send this with her baby shower present!  YEAH!!

My papers are by Stampin' Up, ribbon my Hobby Lobby, I believe, Copics for coloring of course!  See the colors I used below! WOW, such a ton of colors for such a small image!

Today's another digi day at the Sweet 'n Sassy SNR forum HERE!  Hope to see you pop in!

Enjoy your day!

Feelin' Springy Still!

What is the weather like where you are?  Here in southern Indiana, we had a heatwave yesterday! YEP, it got up to 61!  That was still quite off the high record of 72 degrees some years ago, but wow, I LOVED IT!  Spring can not come fast enough!  However, the heat wave is already headed east as this morning it was 42 and was expected to plummet from there!  OH WELL, at least I enjoyed it yesterday!

And, in keeping with my last post, here's a springy Easter card!  I don't use pastels often, I think they aren't as showy as I like!  And then when I take pictures, I must not know what I am doing because the colors get even more washed out! UGH!!  Well, I will keep practicing with the picture taking, but while I do that, why don't you go pick up this ADORABLE Easter Basket at the Whimsie Doodles store HERE!?

Melyssa's Easter images are just too cute, OH, and I guess I should mention that this image, as well as others, are available as RUBBER too!  YEP, Whimsie Doodles has expanded into the RUBBAH WORLD!  So, go check out all the new images HERE and enjoy ya some Whimsie Doodles TODAY!

Enjoy your day!

Info on my card: Papers are by Imaginisce, Scallop border and flower punch by Stampin' Up!, Oregon Rain Drops available HERE, scallop oval and labels die from Nestibilities.

SSS44 for THE SWEET STOP!

Happy Saturday!  WOW, can you believe that it is Saturday already!?  OH MY!  That week went fast, but NOT without incident!  We had two snow days, one two hour delay, one daughter with a flu bug and yet another week's delay on KayLee's Valentine's Day program!  At this point it is going to be Mother's Day before we get to see the Valentine's play! HA!

This week at The Sweet Stop, Korin challenged us to make a card with this sketch below:

AND we had to use a SPIN of using flowers!  Well, as you can see, I didn't just place the flowers in the squares!  I decided to make a little scene in each corner of the box!  You can see KATE PLANTING HERE, the butterfly on the flower in FLUTTERING BY HERE, the large daisies in the FLOWER BOUQUET HERE, and also find the SENTIMENT HERE from the Springtime Blessings sentiment set!!

My card is using papers by Stampin UP! and Nestibilities for the circles and scalloped circle diecuts and I used Copics for coloring and STICKLES to bling it up!  I hope you decide to play along with this week's sketch at THE SWEET STOP!

Enjoy your weekend!

Some Eye Candy for ya!

HAPPY FRIDAY TO YOU!  And it should be, at least for you!  As for me, wow, I am tired.  I was up all night with my poor sickly daughter!  She was fine all day, afternoon, evening and even up after she went to bed.  BUT then it all fell apart and she and I ended up sleeping in the bathroom!  Poor girl!  So, needless to say the card I had started last evening didn't get finished this morning.  She's doing fine, but still wants to lay down with me and basically rest.  So, being the mommy I am, I am doing this!  SO, I got her busy a bit ago and thought I would pop in and post a variety of digis from the Sweet 'n Sassy Store!!

From new baby to not feeling well and Easter images, Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has something for everyone's crafting style!  Pop on over to the STORE HERE!  Korin adds new images weekly, if not DAILY!  She and the other illustrators are drawing FANATICS!  So, go get ya some Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps today!

Back tomorrow!

You are ONE of a KIND!

 

Happy GREAAAAAAAAAAT American's Day!  Can you believe it is yet another MONDAY!?  I am always feeling so blessed when I get to post something new on the wonderful Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps DigiBlog because it means that I survived another week of winter with snow!  Sometimes being homebound with my three kids!  HA! 

I thought I would bring some "SPRING" into your step with this Spring-inspired digi called 'One-Of-A-Kind' that you can find HERE in the SNSS store!  I love this digi because not only does it bring warmth and the remembrance of the season to come, but it also reminds me a bit of myself!  I have never been one to want to fit into a 'mold'.  It seems that I have always wanted to make a statement, of sorts, and go against the grain... so I really love this image and the sentiments that go with it!  I have been trying to teach my three younger children that it is no fun being like everyone else!  However, it IS SUPAH FUN being yourself and believing in who you are!  I hope they grasp that some day because it really will help them in this competitive day and age!

I hope you all are staying warm and surviving the snow!  We're half way through February!  Hang in there!

Hugs to all!   ~ Nicole ~

These are the Copics I used in creating my card!

Eli's Valentine's Day Project

Happy Valentine's Day!  I thought it only fair to post Eli's project on Valentine's Day since I posted KayLee's card she made ON Christmas day!  When Eli found out that KayLee got a post on this blog on Christmas day, he was kinda jealous, believe it or not!  SO, when his teacher sent home this heart shaped piece of paper and told him (and the rest of the class, of course!) that they had to decorate their hearts, he told me to put it on my blog on Valentine's Day!  How cute is that!?

The rules were NO crayons and NO pencil colors and that the parent wasn't allowed to do it for them!  Eli and I worked on this one evening and we had so much fun!  I pulled out the ONLY Valentine's papers that I had and cut them into 3x3 squares.  Eli scattered them around and layered them to cover the heart's edges.  I told him to go PAST the edges, and then we turned it over so he could cut against the white heart shape!!  EASY! 

I then let Eli go through my craft room and showed him different embellishments he may want to use.  When he found the faceted flowers, he went crazy!  And then the jar of buttons was raided!  FUN!  I taught him about clusters of three's and then we were able to find small, medium and large sizes in sets, too!  I pulled out some twine and asked him if he wanted those in his buttons and he did, but he said only a bow in the big ones, just knots in the others... it was really interesting to me that he knew what he wanted off the bat.  I think he has been hanging out in my craft room too much!

It was his idea to put the clear button over the "O" in Love (near the left/center of the heart) and it was also his idea to use flowers in a 3, 5, 3, 5 etc pattern around the edge of the heart, too.  I would have never come up with that one.  OH, and the final and PERFECT touch to this was the center of those paper flowers!  I told him to pick out a color of STICKLES for the center of the flowers.  Well, the boy picked green!  I have always hated green centers in flowers, I mean, how many flowers do you know that have GREEN centers?  Am I right?  Well, not this time.  I was wrong, this color was not even in the coordinating papers, but WOW, the green was AWESOME!  It was a great accent to his Valentine Heart!  So, you have to give it to Eli, he really knew his stuff!  By the way, Eli is the one that laid out all of his clusters of flowers, buttons and rhinestones!  I just had to be the one to glue it all up since it got late and he had to go to bed!  HA!

Didn't he do great!?  I think so!

Scott is out of town with the kids putting windows in at his Grandma's house, so I am spending Valentine's alone, but am getting a ton of crafting and cleaning done!  AND Scott did manage to surprise me with some caviar that I have been craving for over 10 years!  I only had it once, but loved it, and he actually remembered that and gave me an entire jar Friday before he headed up north!  SO SWEET!  I hope you are having an awesome Valentine's Day!

See you tomorrow!

Do you PROCRASTINATE?

If you would like some help in this area, go to my personal BLOG HERE and see my both of my TWO POSTS from today!! I would be so happy to have you join me in tackling the 'PROCRASTINATION NO MORE' challenge! 

Enjoy your evening!

Sweet Stop SSS43

HOWDY PEEPS!  WOW, this week's challenge at the SWEET STOP was, to say the least, CHALLENGING!!!!!!!!  I had a punch that would do a circle scallop border, but it wouldn't cut through cardstock weight paper!  AND of course I was too lazy to find what I needed on my Cricut!  I should just use it more often so I would know what images I actually have to use! One of these days, I will have more time!

My image is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, called Feel Better Cocoa.  Isn't he cute?  I love this prescription bottle!  You could make it look like grape flavor, pepto or one of those old brown bottles!  And that is exactly what Korin did on her card for the Sweet Stop Challenge, TOO!  How ironic, huh?  I guess we both just couldn't wait to use this just released digi!

Here below are the Copics I used in creating this card!

I hope you drop in at the Sweet Stop and see how all of the designers used this week's sketch!  They are just fantabulous!

Have a SUPER DAY!

WELCOME to the Whimsie Doodles BUNNY HOP!

Hello Whimsie Doodles Fans AND Happy Blog Hop Day! Welcome to the Easter Edition of our Whimsie Doodles blog Hop! We have some SUPER cute images to share with you, and we can't wait to get started! First let me give you the low-down on the way our BUNNY HOP will work!

We're doing this hop word scramble style, which means while you bounce around from blog to blog, you will be collecting letters. At the end, you will unscramble those letters to get a coupon code to use in the Whimsie Doodles store so that you can download this adorable Jelly Belly image free!

Isn't this the cutest card?  I mean, it is really hard to make a card look 'bad' when you use a Whimsie Doodles image after all!!!!!  You can find this image "Chick Magnet" and inside sentiment at the Whimsie Doodles STORE HERE!

This card is around 5 x 7 inches.

Once you've done your Hoppin' and visited all of our Doodlelicious Divas, you'll go back to the Whimsie Doodles blog HERE and leave a comment to be entered into a drawing for a $10 gift certificate, or two $5 gift certificates to the Whimsie Doodles store HERE!

Alicia

Dawn

Denise

Donna

Joni

Kelli

Kelly

Melyssa

Nicole (that's ME!)

Nikki

Paula

Sheri

Thanh

Whimsie Doodles Blog

Your next stop on our bunny hop is NIKKI!! Just wait until you see what she did for today's Bunny Hop!!  Enjoy all of the Doodlelicious eye candy today and have fun collecting your letters! Be sure to leave comments along at all of the stops on the hop to be entered to win Whimsie Doodles gift certificates. The winner will be announced on the Whimsie Doodles blog tomorrow!

Enjoy your HOP!

{P.S.: did you figure out that my letter is "H"?}

Challenge Day at SNR with SNSS!

TODAY is a DIGI DAY at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps SNR forum!  There will be a challenge and fun chatter with Korin and some of the gals from the Design Team, including myself!  I can't wait to show you my SWEET card that I used for the challenge, it is really going to be cute!!  Head on over to the SNR group HERE now and say "HEY"!!

Enjoy your day!

BLOG CANDY....

can be found     HERE....

if you are interested!

Challenge Day

INSIDE:

It's another Whimsie Doodles Wednesday CHALLENGE DAY at Paper Craft Planet!  Unfortunately, I didn't get to last week's PCP challenge to use red SO, I thought I would at least use RED in this week's challenge! 

CLICK HERE to see the chatter and excitement of this week's challenge of 'Love is in the Air!"  To make this as heart filled lovey dovey as I could for Sheri's challenge today I used the Whimsie Doodles SOCKMONKEY with accompanying sentiment!  The papers are new from Stampin' UP! and the heart punches are by Stampin' UP!, too!  I used Copics for coloring and ran out of my pink while making the inside sentiment!  UGH!! You can tell, it is kind of splotchy... sorry about that!

I hope you pop over to PCP today and see all of the exciting new creations that are shared there! 

Have a SUPAH day!

You Strike My Fancy!!!

Happy MONDAY to you!  Isn't this the sweetest?  I made this card for the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps DIGI BLOG HERE!  I used the Bowling Strike image HERE and one of the three Bowling Sentiments HERE!  I kept my card simple and stream-lined so it would look more masculine.  This way I can give it to my hubby for Valentine's Day!  Good thing he never checks out my blog, otherwise he would know he's getting this adorable card! HA! 

Here are the Copic Markers that I used for my card!

 

There are so many new digi images at the Sweet 'n Sassy STORE now that it has gone ALL digital!  Don't forget to pick up some clear stamps while they last, though!  There are some really awesome deals, perfect for you and those stamping friends of yours!!

Blessings on your day!

Sweet Stop SSS42

HAPPY SATURDAY!  How's the weather where you live?  I am SO happy that I don't live in Virginia where I used to!  They are expecting 1-2 FEET of snow! Don't get me wrong, I love snow!  JUST in small amounts! HAHA!

Today's SSS42 Sweet Stop Sketch really made me step outside of the box!  The SQUARE box, that is!  The new sketch is for a ROUND card and has a really great layout to go with it!

My card is using a WhimsieDoodles.com image called Elephant Shoes... Do you know what that is about?  Supposedly if you 'mouth' the words 'Elephant Shoes' to someone across the room it looks like you are saying "I Love You"!  Now, I haven't tried it yet, but when I do, I will be sure to let you know what happened! HAHA!  Papers are by Fancy Pants, Border punch by Martha Stewart, flower punch by Stampin' Up and ribbon from Michael's.

I hope you play along this week at The Sweet Stop!

Enjoy your weekend!

SNR Day!

HOWDY!  ME AGAIN!  Make sure you scroll down to see my earlier post from this morning!

Today is DIGI DAY for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps at Scrapbook News & Review Forum!!  There's a challenge to use buttons on your card, and if you do so you will earn some awesome free digis!!  Pop on over HERE to see what all the excitement is about!

Above are just a FEW of the new digi's that Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has released today!  Since Korin decided to take the company into a 100% DIGITAL arena, she's uber enthusiastic and has come out with so many new digis that she just didn't see a reason to HOLD BACK! If you want to see ALL of the new digi's CLICK HERE!  There are three digi illustrators with three different styles, so I am sure you will find something that will make you say "AW"!!

Come back tomorrow for another newbie and CLICK HERE to get in on that BLOG CANDY!

Hugs to all!

Whimsie Wednesday Challenge Day

WOW, that title even rhymes and makes me sound like a POET! HA!

Of course, it is WEDNESDAY and that means another challenge day at the Whimsie Doodles Paper Craft Planet group HERE!  This week's challenge is to make a card using RED!  NO, that does NOT mean it has to be a Valentine's card, but it sure does make it easy to play along if you already have a card made that is using a Whimsie Doodles image AND that has red in it! 

I am still recovering from the creative overload from the weekend's activities of getting my other BLOG up and running, so I haven't finished my card for today's challenge, but hope to do that after getting my hair done this morning!  I will have at least ONE card for you tomorrow, as it is finished, but I can't reveal it until tomorrow!

This card is back from September and features the FREE IMAGE you receive when you subscribe to the Whimsie Doodles BLOG HERE!  This image would be perfect for the challenge, so why don't you go grab it HERE?!

Try to pop over to PCP to see all of the RED inspired cards, there are some cute ones by the Doodlelicious Designers that will have you drooling!  HAHA! 

Have a GREAT DAY!!

Sweet 'n Sassy BLOG HOP!

Are you hoppin' already this morning???  I know I am!  Even though I got less than FIVE hours of sleep, there's just something motivating about a good ol' BLOG HOP!!!!!!  DO NOT adjust your monitor!  YES, believe it or not, I used pastel, muted colors in my card today!  You don't see THAT often here!  I made myself cut up some My Mind's Eye paper I had been hoarding for years for this card, so I guess that makes this one extra special!  OH, and if you are wondering about those dewdrops, you can get them at PINK HEDGEHOG PAPERCRAFTS!  This one is SMOKY TOPAZ! 

What else is special about this card is this GORGEOUS digi called MELODY OF LOVE!  Isn't it lovely?? I mean, the detailing is superb!  IF you would like to get your own MELODY OF LOVE digi set, click on over HERE!  You not only get the violin digi, but you also get FIVE sentiments to go with it!  AND just for $5.00!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH!  What a steal!

Thanks for stopping by and continue hopping! 

Micki ♥ Sandy ♥ Deedee♥ Melanie ♥ Nicole ♥ Lynne ♥ Korin ♥ Leah ♥ Ceal ♥ Darsie ♥ Janette ♥ Kim ♥ Lorie ♥ Nancy

Copics that were used in this card are featured above!

Have a SUPER DAY!!

Micki ♥ Sandy ♥ Deedee♥ Melanie ♥ Nicole ♥ Lynne ♥ Korin ♥ Leah ♥ Ceal ♥ Darsie ♥ Janette ♥ Kim ♥ Lorie ♥ Nancy