Happy Saturday!  I don’t have any cards to share with you today, but I wanted to let you know that All That Scraps is having a contest.  Christine is moving her inventory since the store has grown.  Now that she has more space, she would like some input and is giving away a prize.  You can check out the details here! 

Also, check out page 98 of the August/September Paper Crafts mag.  I was “sort-of” published!  One of the cards I designed for Whipper Snapper was used in the Addicted To Rubber Stamps ad.  My card is the one on the bottom right.  :)  What a neat surprise!

Happy Monday!  As promised, I picked a random winner for the blog candy.  Here’s what Random.org said:

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

19

Jeni, that’s you!  Please contact me with your address! 

Thanks to everyone for your comments!  I think I only had one question e-mailed to me, so I decided to answer it here as well.  Here’s part of the comment:

“I love your cards and the monkeys are so Cute. Do you prefer mounted or unmounted? Are the unmounted the clear acrylic?”

I used to prefer mounted stamps but since I have been working with the Whipper Snapper,  C.C. Designs unmounted stamps and a few others, my opinion has changed a little.  I really can’t say that I now prefer one over the other.  I enjoy both!  I still enjoy the feel of wood mounts and like the fact that they are ready to go.  But I’ve also come to enjoy the versatility of the unmounteds and it only takes a second to stick them on a clear block.  I have also been pleased with the improvement in the quality of clear acrylics over the years.

The C.C. Designs images that I use are unmounted red rubber with a black cling backing.  They are deeply etched and I have been very pleased with the quality.  And Christine has great shipping charges!  The Stampavie images that I just received are clear acrylic and I was very pleased with the quality of those as well!  I would honestly recommend both without hesitation. 

Now…on to today’s project! 

Last night I worked on some unfinished projects that kept getting shoved aside.  This one is a simple 4 1/4″ square card using the SU! Vases in Vogue set and some retired papers.  The vase was masked to stamp the small flowers and then paper pieced.  The large flower was cut out and popped up.  I hand drew the stem for the large flower and added lots of doodling.  After it was assembled I still felt it was lacking something in the lower left corner so I added a few dots of Liquid Pearls. 

Have a great week & stay cool! 

stamps- Vases in Vogue

paper- Spring Flowers dp, Moss, non-SU

ink- Black, Banana, Cameo, Moss

accessories- Small Oval punch, Liquid Pearls

No cards to share today….although I am working on some!  I just thought I’d post some fun news.  I was chosen to be a member of the Stampavie design team!  How cool is that?  I can’t wait to have fun with their images!  You can see them here on their website.  And I get to work with some more very talented ladies.  Check out the rest of the team:

Claudia Rosa (USA)
Christa Knegt (Netherlands)
Elizabeth Neumann (USA)
Isabelle Norris (UK)
Jay Jay (Germany)
Kine Saatvedt (Norway)
Lenaik Duluc (France)
Michelle Oatman (USA)
Sandrine Vachon (France)
Sue Nelson (USA)

Jackie Wright nominated me for the arte y pico award.  Thanks, Jackie!  The award was originally designed by Eseya at arte y pico . You are supposed to pick five blogs that you think earned this award based on their creativity, design, interesting material, and contribution to the blogging community.  Well, I have a hard time choosing….there are so many great blogs!  If you are on my blogroll or if I’ve ever left you a comment, consider yourself nominated.  :)   

Before I get to the cookie crumbs (blog candy), I want to thank Tracy.

Tracy Harp is so sweet….she nominated my blog for the Excellent award. Thanks, Tracy! So now I think I’m supposed to nominate 5….egads! There are so many great blogs! I know that a few of my faves were already mentioned. Well, here are 5 but you can also check my blogroll on the side for quite a few more!

Beate Johns
Anna Wight
Sharon Johnson
Jami Sibley
Leigh O”Brien

OK, so now for the blog candy….
I thought I would celebrate my recent birthday by giving a gift myself. It will be a surprise (mostly because I haven’t picked anything out yet!) LOL. But I will stuff a package with some stamped images and other fun stuff. Just comment on this post and Wednesday night I will draw a winner.

First, I want to thank everyone who leaves a comment! It is nice to hear that you enjoy seeing what I’ve been up to!
Now, to answer a few questions. The 4 x 4 chipboard coasters shown here and here can be purchased through americancoaster.com. Get a few friends together because I believe a minimum order is 1,000. They are very reasonably priced though. I have not personally ordered them but I’ve split an order a few times with friends.
Also, I don’t believe my ACMoore has had the mini keychain clipboards that I made here since I purchased them a year ago. I went and checked the package and it says they are made by Nicole Crafts. I did a search and found a project on their site using these clipboards. If you go to this link, there is a place to search for stores in your area that carry the Nicole Crafts products. I know that my Ben Franklin carries this brand as well, so if you have one of those stores in your area, it might be worth checking into.
Have a great night!

Hi all! The folks at Splitcoaststampers are conducting a survey to help improve their site. Please consider taking a few minutes to fill it out. They appreciate your input! You can find the survey here- it only takes a few minutes. Thanks!

I just thought I’d post a pic of what Santa left for Snickers in his stocking.

I have been enjoying the preparations for Christmas and listening to the wonderful music! Next my cards need to be addressed! I made another set of cards a few days ago and will upload a pic soon. In the meantime, how do you like my new banner? My friend, Michelle Laycock, made it for me! Wasn’t that sweet of her? It looks soooo much better than the one I made a few months ago!

Tomorrow is World Cardmaking Day. Last night I went to help my friend (& upline) with her World Cardmaking Day Project. Her goal is to make 1,000 Christmas cards for the troops. She did a great job preparing the supplies and setting up stations for us to work at. We worked for about 3 hours cutting, stamping, embossing, etc. I left right before they counted them up but she said we made almost 700 completed cards with about 150 more that were half completed! Wow- not bad for a couple ladies working a few hours! Some kids at a local school will be writing to the servicemen in at least half of them. Cool, huh? Great job, Linda!

Click here for information about how Stampin’ Up! is celebrating World Cardmaking Day.