Impress Yourself

Merry Christmas

I can't believe it's finally here!  A white Christmas (North Texas style).  That means just a little snow sticking to the ground.  Hopefully I can get some snapshots before it melts.  Merry Christmas to everyone!!!

Love,

Last of the Christmas goodies

Here are the last of my Christmas goodies.  I made these treat bags for teachers and neighbors:

I made these with the Fra-Gee-Lay kit by Libby Weifenbach (Sweet Shoppe Designs) and Tracey Howard (Scrap Orchard).  I also participated in a cookie recipe page swap at Digishoptalk with the same kit:

Have a great day!  I'm off for some last-minute shopping - yikes!  

Hibernating with Winter Mittens

So only in Texas are you at the park 4 days before Christmas wearing shorts, and then expecting to have your winter mittens and other layers on the next day.  Crazy!  I just love this Winter Mittens digi set that Julee is offering on the Verve blog.

Being the big digi fan I am, I only wish she would offer more of the Verve stamps in digi form.  I love their stamps - such high quality - but I really love digi too.  And Julee inspires me to use my digi papers too.  These gorgeous patterned papers are from the Hibernation Day mini kit that Libby Weifenbach released a few weeks ago.

Thanks for stopping by!
 

Quick and Easy teacher gifts

In addition to sets of my quilt cards, I also needed some simple notecards for teachers that I could make in bulk:

  

(a peek at the inside)

I made these using the digital Pie Are Squared kit from Libby Weifenbach.   Then I needed a masculine one - so hard for me!  So I used the digital 1st and 10 kit, also from Libby:

Then I needed quick and easy gifts for all the "extra" teachers that my sons see on a weekly basis.  These coaster clipboards are always a big hit:

I used the digital Apples on a Stick kit from Libby and then I stamped Little Flowers on the front from Stampin' Up!  Can you tell I am absolutely in love with digital papers (not to mention my obsession with Libby's kits).  I am always hoarding matte photo paper when it goes on sale!

Have a great day,

You Make Life Sparkle

I can't believe the year is ending so fast.  Our home is still in such disarray, we have no inside Christmas decorations up yet.  But we're trying not to let that dampen our spirit.  I'm so ready to kick off a new year, so I thought a sparkly card matched my mood.

I love this word art from Paper Makeup Stamps.  And when I saw the new Shimmer Sheets and Shabby Shimmers Alpha from Libby Weifenbach, I knew they'd be a perfect match.

Have a great weekend,

It's That Time of Year

...you know the crunch of the last few days of kids in school when you're working like crazy to come up with Christmas gifts.  Well, my love of digiscrappin' goodies is paying off for me.  I'm whipping up these "quilt" cards to make sets for gifts.

This one I made from the gorgeous digi kit called Berkley McKay by Libby Weifenbach (of course).  It's been on my wishlist for quite a while.  I got lucky last month and won a gift certificate to Libby's store during the Digital Scrapbooking Day contests at Sweet Shoppe Designs and purchased this sweeeeeeet kit. 

So, how do I make these cards, you ask?  Well I wish it had been my original idea, but it wasn't.  I follow Diana Gibbs' tutorial to make these.  But I have modified it to use my gorgeous digital goodies from Libby for steps 1-5.  In Photoshop Elements, I created a template that is 3 3/4 x 5, with 3 rows of 4 squares (measuring 1 1/4 inch) to clip my patterned paper to.  Of course I don't know how to recolor my squares so on the screen it just looks like one solid gray, but I see my layers and it works!  After I clip my paper to my squares, then I add my digital stitching (instead of by pen in Diane's step 10).  I love Libby's Border Basics:  Line Stitches for this.  Here's what I printed out to begin Diane's step 6 with.  I print on matte photo paper from Staples, with my settings set for that paper and for "high" quality.

Then I just follow along with the rest of Diane's tutorial die cutting, cuttlebug embossing, and sponging.  The hearts, Blessed word art, and red paper are all from Libby's kit for my embellishments in the card above.

My next card was made from another digi kit by Libby called Chicken Fried.  I can't tell you how much I love the Zac Brown Band and that song!

And if you're not done drooling yet over how incredible Libby's goodies make these cards look, here's another I made in October.  Now I gotta get back to my mass production.  Have a great day,

1st and 10

I can't believe my baby just celebrated his 10th birthday.  My how time flies!  He is a huge football fanatic so all of his birthday presents were football related:  video games, trading cards, clothing, etc.  So I thought it'd be fun to make up this A2 card set for him to send thank you's:

I used the A2 box instructions from the Resources on Splitcoaststampers.  Then I created these thank you cards:

Everything is digital from Libby Weifenbach's 1st and 10 kit.  Makes it so easy to duplicate many cards.

Have a great day!
 

Peace Love Joy

We're off to a slow start to the holiday season here.  Our home is still a wreck and my stamping room is still being used as storage.  It'll be at least 2 more weeks before things get back to "normal", and we'll rush to put up our tree and lights.  Then I'll be rushing to crank out some stamped gifts for Christmas!  In the meantime, I'm still enjoying my digiscrappin' time:

We yet to attempt our annual Christmas card picture-taking session this year, but I still enjoy looking at these pictures of my boys 5 years ago.  I used one of Libby Weifenbach's Blocked Templates and her Fra-Gee-Lay kit for this one.  And I practiced a new technique of selective coloring on the boys hats.

Hope you're enjoying kicking off the holiday season.  Have a great weekend! 
 

Beach Bum

Happy Monday!  We're still in the dirty midst of our home improvement projects but I'm hoping to get some stamping time later this week.  I'm enjoying catching up on my digiscrappin' though.  Here's a pic of my youngest from our trip last summer.  We stayed a day in Ft. Lauderdale before boarding our cruise ship.  Lots more pics to scrap from that too!

I was inspired to create this layout after seeing crystalbird's layout using Libby's new templates at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Have a great day!

Credits:
Paper Clips:  Blocked Templates by Libby Weifenbach.
Jen & Dean by Libby Weifenbach (inspired by the famous Jen Tapler and her son).
Date Slidersby Libby Weifenbach.

 

 

3 Reasons

A quickie page I put together to journal my Skinny Jeans experiment.  My jeans are getting a little looser - I'm down 7 lbs. with 11 more to go by my Christmas deadline.  It sure hasn't been easy and I know with the holiday season kicking off, it will be even harder.  But I'm determined!  And here are 3 good reasons to keep me going:

I had some more inspiration with this page using a recipe challenge on Sweet Shoppe Designs.  Libby Weifenbach's team hosted this challenge and we had to use 10 Flowers, 9 Staples, 8 Buttons, 7 Papers, 6 ribbons, 5 lines of journaling, 4 Stitches, 3 Photos, 2 Alphas, 1 Frame (all Libby products).  The prize up for grabs was a $10 gift certificate to her store (even more inspiration) and I jumped for joy when I won!  As if it wasn't obvious, I have a major obsession with her digi kits.  Every Saturday she releases something new and it's 20% off.  So now that our home construction projects are impacting my stamping room/time, my budget is going to digi fun!  Sweet!

Have a great day!

 

Last Minute Makeup for the Weekend

TGIF!  Need some inspiration for your weekend stamping?  Paper Makeup Stamps has a fun sketch for this week's challenge.  You can see the sketch and lots of great samples from the design team on the PMS blog.  My card showing off the adorable Henry charity stamp from last week's sneaks used the sketch.  And here's a new card that was lots of fun to make:

I love this Last Minute word art from PMS.  It is so me!  The rest of my card is from the really cute digi kit, All in a Day's Work that Libby Weifenbach released last week at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Hope you can play along with the PMS challenge this week.  Be sure to link your creations to the PMS blog so we can all enjoy!  Have a great weekend.
 

A Daring Adventure

A while back I posted about my anxiety over my 11-year old son's first camping trip.  He went with his 5th grade class (and Dad as chaperone) to a great educational camp for 3 days.  He had never been camping before, and this trip was full of firsts.  He didn't let his autism slow him down at all.  His favorite activity was the zip line:

His dad was so proud and had a hard time keeping his emotions in tact.  His teacher is so sweet and she was a little reluctant to go on it, but they made quite the team together.  I used Libby Weifenbach's Can You See Me Now? kit from Sweet Shoppe Designs.  And the fantastic word art, so appropriate for this page, is from Paper Makeup Stamps.

Have a great day!

PMS Release Day Blog Hop

It's here - Release Day at Paper Makeup Stamps.  As always, we're kicking it off with a Design Team blog hop.  If you didn't start at the beginning, then hop on back to the PMS blog to get started.  You don't want to miss a blog, otherwise you won't have all the letters for your fabulous coupon code!

Meet Go Green Monster:

He's so cute, isn't he?  So, my letter for you is "N".  Now hop on over to my beautiful friend, Lisa M's blog, where I know you'll find some awesome inspiration.  Have a great day!

PMS Sneak Peeks Day 4 for Charity

TGIF!  And today we're showing off the new fairies being released at Paper Makeup Stamps.  Meet sweet little Henry:

This little guy really tugs on my heart.  Katie named him after Henry, a little 3-year old boy who went to live in Heaven this week.  Katie is selling this Henry image as a digital download, and soon a rubber stamp, with the proceeds to benefit Henry's family.  You can read all about this charity on the PMS blog.  This week's SCS color challenge was to use neutrals with a "pop" of color.  I imagine that was alot like Henry's life - adding a "pop" to his family's day with his beautiful smile.  My heart goes out to his family.

In addition to Henry, there are some other incredible fairies being released tomorrow, so be sure and check out the rest of the DT samples on the PMS blog.  I'll see you back here tomorrow for the Release Day blog hop!
 

PMS Sneak Peeks Day 3

It's Day 3 of the sneak peeks, and today we're showcasing the new monsters being released at Paper Makeup Stamps.  Meet Boo Boo Monster:

He could easily be one of my boys lately!  My patterned paper is digi from Libby Weifenbach's 9 out of 10 Doctors kit.  My layout was inspired by....oops can't write that yet or it will spoil the fun waiting for ya at the PMS Release Party on Saturday night!

Have a great day and be sure and check out the other DT samples on the PMS blog.  See ya!
 

PMS Sneak Peeks Day 2

It's Day 2 of the Paper Makeup Stamps sneak peeks.  Here's a peek at a beautiful new set called Everyday Thanks:

Such a simple sentiment, yet the font is stunning!  I decided to alter a little treat box for the PMS Makeup for the Weekend challenge this week.  If you haven't had a chance to play, please join us this week and link your creation up to the PMS blog so we can all enjoy.

Have a great day and I'll see you back here tomorrow for more peeks.
 

PMS Sneak Peeks Day 1

Today's the day!  We're kicking off the November sneak peeks from Paper Makeup Stamps.  Today, Katie is showcasing her newest addition to the Moody Girls line.  Here's mine:

She's Moody for Fun.  And boy did I have fun with all that purple...maybe a little too much?  I saw the Ways to Use It challenge on SCS was to use purple (my favorite color) and couldn't resist.  I just wish I could look all fun and funky in that same outfit.  I also played in this week's SCS Featured Stamper Challenge.  I just adore Jen so I CASE'd one of her layouts.

Now be sure and check out all the other Moody Girl sneak peeks on the PMS blog.  They'll be released Saturday night during the Release Party.  Have a great day and see you back here tomorrow for another sneak peek. 

Word Art Wednesday

It's Wednesday and time for Paper Makeup Stamps freebie wordart.  Today, Katie has designed this beautiful piece that I love so much.  I am just so thankful that my boys are being raised in a world with so much diversity in their lives!

You can grab this freebie wordart on the PMS blog for one week only.  The template I used is from the Cookie Decorating challenge at Sweet Shoppe Designs (SSD).  All of my papers and embellishments are from various kits from Libby Weifenbach at SSD.  And I always love adding Traci Reed's Bad Sewing Machine stitching to my layouts.  I have to thank Leila for quickly teaching me how to take Libby's I Just Wanna Be Ok alpha and using various papers with it.  I love all these fun tricks I'm learning with digiscrappin'.

Have a great day!

Clean & Simple Girly card

I love playing in the challenges on Splitcoaststampers - there's always one that can get you jump started.  Friday's Limited Supplies Challenge was to create a "girly" card with no patterned paper.  I thought Emma from Paper Makeup Stamps would be a cute choice.

The sentiment is from the Raindrops and Rainbows set, also from PMS.  I wanted to keep my simple, but it needed a little something, so I checked out the Clean and Simple challenges and yesterday's was to use brads or eyelets.  So I found a perfect use for these 'girly' flower brads from my stash.  I probably should have added a little something else green to balance out my colors?  Oh well, note to self for next time!

Don't forget to check out the PMS Countdown to Christmas sale this week.  Katie is being so generous once again and offering free shipping - anywhere.  Wow!

The Skinny Jeans Experiment

Well, I can't deny it anymore.  The holidays are approaching quickly and I know I will be overeating and getting less exercise as the weather turns cooler.  So I jumped at the chance to join the Skinny Jeans Experiment. It's a 9-week challenge that an awesome digi girl referred to on the Sweet Shoppe Designs forum.  My personal goal is to lose 18 lbs, work out 5 days a week, eat better, etc.  You know the same ol' same ol'...but this time really do it and journal about my journey.

We officially started yesterday so I thought I'd reward myself with some digiscrappin'.  No, that's not my picture, but I did have to have my hubby take pictures of me in my too-tight jeans yesterday.  I won't be posting those here - yikes they were scary to look at!  This is the beautiful Peace, Love, and Happiness digital kit from Libby Weifenbach.  I need something fun and funky to motivate me on this journey.  I also entered this page into the Paper 2 Digi challenge at Sweet Shoppe where they pick a "traditional" scrappers gallery at Two Peas and we "scraplift" a page into a digital one.  Too fun.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Makeup for the Weekend

It's Friday and time for the Paper Makeup Stamps challenge.  This week's Makeup for the Weekend challenge is to use Halloween colors (purple, orange, black and white) on your creations.  You can see some DT samples on the PMS blog.  Here's mine:

This is Trick or Treat Ted, with one of the Spooky Sentiments released last month.  I can't believe Halloween is next week - YIKES.  I'm so in denial that the holidays are coming.  I still have to get costumes figured out for the boys - my oldest is going to be Michael Phelps, and my youngest will be some huge football star.  Sounds easy, huh?
  
Hope you'll play along in the PMS challenge and be sure to link up your creations to the PMS blog so we can all enjoy them.  Have a great weekend!

Flutter By Friendship

Have you seen the beautiful Purpose of Friendship set from Paper Makeup Stamps?  I just love these gorgeous quotes!

This one is I Count Myself and is available in the new rubber set or as an individual digi download.  I used SCS Sketch Challenge 251 from yesterday, and I'm also playing in Danni's Flutter By #80 challenge.  This pretty patterned paper is from a mini digi kit called Flirting with Thirty by Mandabean at Sweet Shoppe Designs.  (okay I admit, I'm just a little older than thirty but somehow flirting with fifty doesn't sound so cute!).
 
Have a great day!

Working on my homework

I played in the Treat of the Month challenge at Sweet Shoppe Designs with this layout.  I used the Pie are Squared kit from Libby Weifenbach, and the Bad Sewing Machine stitching from Traci Reed.  Both of these kits are sold exclusively at Sweet Shoppe Designs.  The Homework word art is from Elegant Wordart by Bethany found at Scrap Orchard.   

I thought this one would be really cute in a 4x6 version to frame for my son's teacher's birthday tomorrow.  This year he has his first male teacher, and he's really great.  

Have a great day, 

Makeup for the Weekend on Monday

We're all excited that PMS fans piped in to vote on the best day of the week to schedule challenges:  Fridays.  And you have all week to get them done.  This week's Makeup for the Weekend challenge is to create an Artist Trading Card (ATC) card.  These little cards are so fun to make.  You can see some really creative ones on the PMS blog post from Friday.  Here's mine:

I love this Caffeine Trip set from PMS.  These would be so great to add to a card base, set beside someone's morning coffee, etc.  Also, don't forget about the PMS Countdown to Christmas sale.  Katie has all her accessories 30% off this week.  What a deal!

Have a great day,

Featured Stamper Top Note Purse

I was so excited to see that Chris (aka Glowbug) was picked as the SCS Featured Stamper this past week.  I just love all of her creations.  Honestly, every card she creates just blows me away.  I knew it would be quite the challenge to CASE her cards, so instead I let her inspire me to finally create one of these Top Note purses.  I forgot to take my picture before my DH and son took the camera for their 3-day trip so I'm a little late posting it.

This is another beautiful new quote from Paper Makeup Stamps.  I love all of PMS, but Katie's (and Shaela's) quotes are definitely my favorite!  I found this Houndstooth digital paper designed by Libby Weifenbach on sale at Sweet Shoppe Designs and thought it would be pretty for this purse and matching 3x3 monogram cards to go inside.  The alpha is from Libby's 9 out of 10 Doctors kit.   

Don't forget to play along with us in the Makeup for the Weekend challenge at PMS.  I'll be posting my ATC soon.  In the meantime, have a great weekend!