A Little Love Monkey and a Trip to the ER...

Happy New Year's Eve everyone!! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! It feels really good to be stamping again - I am excited to actually have something to share with you today - I've been working on some other stuff too - but well....those are some things I can't share with you until next week - you know - RELEASE week - hee hee...I'm such a tease - LOL!! I did get up though and make a card for today's SCS sketch challenge - here's today's sketch. The card I have for you today was made with a couple of Valentine Changito clear sets I found at Archiver's on Monday - they are just the CUTEST sets!! I started my stamping the heart frame and embossing it with red embossing tinsel by Ranger. I stamped and colored my Changito in the middle and then cut the whole image out. I finally got to use my Labels1 Nesties (LOVE these) and dug thru my stash for some Valentine papers - I believe these are from Hobby Lobby. I added some ribbon and heart brads too.

Oh - and did you see in my post title about a trip to the ER??? Yes - I spent 3 hours last night in an ER with my boys - keep in mind they are 6 years and 3 years old. It all started late yesterday afternoon when Calvin (my 3 year old) fessed up that Andrew (my 6 year old) had a sticker stuck in his ear!! Yikes!! How did the sticker get in his ear, you ask? Well - that story may actually never be known - their story about how they got the sticker stuck in his ear has changed about 10 times since last night - boys, huh? So anywho - I had to call the nurse help line at our pediatrician's office since it was after hours and she proceeded to tell me that we were gonna have to go to the ER because the sticker had to come out. Keep in mind this is a small sticker - about 1/4 inch big or so - I couldn't even see it with a flashlight which meant it was way down in his ear canal at this point. So about 6:00 last night - and since my husband was on a flight home from Boston - I had to pack 2 small kids into the van and head down to the local ER. Thank goodness there wasn't hardly a wait at all - we got right back and checked in with no problem - but once they started working on his ear - it took 2 doctors over an hour to get the darn sticker out!!! They tried everything - irrigation, tweezers, suction - it was quite the stubborn little sticker. Andrew was SUCH a trooper though - he was very brave and let them work on his without a single complaint. At some point - the word got out about the little boy in the ER with a sticker in his ear - we had firemen bringing my boys firehats, nurses with goodies bags - I kept telling them they weren't helping my case about NOT putting things in their ears - LOL! But they did get the sticker out - and needless to say - his ear is pretty sore from all the things they stuck in his little ear trying to get the sticker out. We were home by 9:00 last night and everyone went straight to bed - we were pooped!! Andrew is doing MUCH better this morning - the Dr. gave us some drops for his ear to use over the next couple of days. And the moral of the story?? Well - apparently - little boys will stick ANYTHING in their ears or noses - that should seriously be in a little boy instruction manual somewhere, right?? LOL!! Thanks so much for stopping by - hope everyone has a wonderful New Year's Eve and if you are heading out tonight - please be safe!!

Merry Christmas...

...from our house to yours! Hope you all have a wonderful and blessed holiday!! Here's to a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! Hope all your wildest Christmas wishes come true!!!!!!!

Faux Wood Floors and Some Exciting News...

Happy Christmas Eve!! So are you all ready for Santa to come? I think we are - we have our Christmas Eve traditions to do - baking cookies for Santa, spreading reindeer food, etc. - those sorts of things. All my presents are wrapped though - I just gotta figure out how to get my 6 year old and 3 year old to bed tonight - they are CRAZY today - LOL!!! Anywho - I got some FUN stuff to share with you today - I did my first tutorial over on the SCS MFT forum for today's What's Up Wednesday? activities - see that wood floor on my card here?? Well - I've got a tutorial up over on the MFT forum showing how to do them - you can view it here. It was a lot of fun to do - I hope you all enjoy it!! Oh - and see that cool Houndstooth paper I used on my card? I had been searching for Houndstooth paper EVERYWHERE - I love the classy look of Houndstooth and thought it would be cool to do some paper piecing with - well - it turns out that Kim has some beautiful Houndstooth Digital Papers for sale on her site - www.mftstamps.com!! And let me tell you - it's awesome! Very easy to download and print off - and it doesn't take that much printer ink at all! You don't have to worry about using up your pretty papers with it either - if you want more - all you gotta do is print more off - how cool is that!?

While I am on my MFT kick today - I've got some REALLY REALLY REALLY exciting news to share with you - as most of you know - I have been a guest designer for MFT for this past month - well - right before the December release - I had e-mailed Kim with a couple of questions about the release and she e-mails me back asking for my phone number - hee hee...I seriously thought I was in trouble - LMBO!! Later that day - I got a call from the fabulous Jody Morrow (who really got the ball rolling on my whole MFT journey) who invited me to be a permanent part of the MFT Design Team!! OMG - I was SPEECHLESS (which very rarely happens - LOL) - and once I got my voice back - I immediately said "yes"!!!! Kim called me later on to fill me in on all the deets and it was SO awesome to get to talk to too stamping rock stars in one day!! I am just beyond honored and thrilled to be joining a team of such extraordinarily talented stampers and hope to bring you guys lots more MFT eye candy to view here on my blog. Thanks to Kim for this wonderful opportunity and to Jody for the very special invite ;)!! Whew - can you tell I've been excited? Hee hee...so anywho - thanks for letting me share my news with you all - I hope everyone has a WONDERFUL holiday tomorrow and if you are travelling - please be safe - I know there are some dice-y weather situations around the country right now. Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Santa's Little Helper

Happy Friday!! I hope everyone has been having a wonderful week! I have been such a bad blogger this week - I am so sorry - would you believe that my butt has been officially kicked by the holidays? LOL!! Hee hee...totally kidding - but it has been one of those weeks - on top of fighting off a cold - we've had school parties, last minute shopping and projects, and not to mention a couple of near ice storms this week!! Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the holidays and actually do enjoy the hustle and bustle - I'm just bummed I haven't had much to share with you all this week. ;) Anywho - I did get a chance to sit down yesterday and make a card for today's Hanna Stamps challenge - today's challenge is to make a non-traditional Christmas card using either non-traditional colors or a non-Christmas set. I pulled out the recently release "Slumber Party" set and stamped by favorite little gal from the set. I turned her into Santa's Little Helper by coloring her in red and green and piecing a Santa Hat onto her. The Santa Hat is from an old Santa stamp that I have in my stash - I stamped the Santa image - cut out the hat and colored it and pieced it to my Hanna. My image was colored with Copics. The background paper is from the DCWV Christmas Glitter stack. The little hearts are brads from Hobby Lobby (Spare Parts brand). The sentiment is from a Studio G clear $1 stamp set. Thanks so much for stopping by - I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and if you are getting this icy weather that we are - PLEASE be safe out and about!!

Daydreamin' with an MFT Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the BC Dzyns Blog Hop!! If you didn't hop over to my blog from Julie's blog - then hop back over to her blog and start from there - I'll still be here waiting for you!! If you are here from the very talented Julie's blog - then here's a little peek at the new BC Dzyns "Day Dreamer" set that is being released today by My Favorite Things. Isn't she B-E-A-Utiful??!! I colored my chica in with Copics and added some Cotton Candy stickles to her tank top to make it sparkly. I drew on her necklace with a Copic mulitiliner pen and then added a pink Hero Arts gemstone for the "pendant". The flower behind her was hand-stitched using a flower In Stich'z template by Bazzill - I just use regular embrodiery floss with mine. I added some more gemstones to the center of the flower as well. The strip of designer paper is by My Mind's Eye and I added just a hint of pink ribbon to it. The sentiment is from the new BC Dzyns set as well and very fitting for our pretty daydreamer. Thanks so much for stopping by - I hope you'll pop over to the MFT forum on SCS for all the What's Up Wednesday? fun today - chatting, challenges and another fabulous tutorial! The next stop on the blog hop is the amazing Maren - enjoy the rest of the hop - there may be a chance to win an MFTreat waiting for you at the end!! ;)

Make the Season Bright

Hee hee...told ya I'd be back with more Christmas cards ;) - LOL!! Check out Riley - he's got his trailer all decked out for the holidays!! I LOVE this new Trailer Riley image - it is SO much fun!! To get the lights on Riley's trailer - I masked off the windows, doors and Riley and then stamped the lights on with a clear Studio G Christmas lights stamp. I colored the image in with Copics and then cut it out so I could add it to my forest scene. I toor a strip of white paper for the snow under the trailer and the trees in the background are from the Martha Stewart Christmas Tree punch. I embossed my white panel behind my image with the Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder and then added a strip I punched with the Martha Stewart Zig Zag edge punch to the bottom of my card. I accented my card with three buttons threaded with hemp twine. The sentiment is from an old Hero Arts clear Christmas set. Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Peppermint Cats

Happy Thursday!! I've been up and working on some Christmas cards this morning - my kiddos last week of school before winter break is next week - so I wanted to get my teacher cards finished up. I used today's MFT sketch to make this Christmas card - you can view Frances' beautiful sketch here. I used Stephanie Fizer's "Peppermint Cats" image for this card - I cut the image down with a circle nestie and then pieced the tails back on to look like they were hanging out of the circle. I drew in the lines for the fence at the bottom of the image using a mulitliner pen and then colored my entire image in with Copics. I added just a dab of Cotton Candy stickles to the stars to give them a little twinkle. The scallops at the bottom of the card were done with the Martha Stewart Lace Doily edge punch. The stars are brads by Making Memories - I accented them with some red Hero Arts gemstones. Thanks so much for stopping by - I hope to have some more Christmas cards to share with you later today!!

You Warm My Heart

I just LOVE MFT's "Baby It's Cold Outside" set!! I used it today to create this little house card for today's Paper Craft Planet 12 Days of Christmas challenge - it's Day 12 - so today's challenge is to create a card/project using 12 embellishments. I really wanted to see if I could do it and all the little details to my house really helped the challenge along for me. So my 12 embellishmentsa are - 3 Heart Buttons, 3 Pink Gemstones, 3 Pearls, 2 Pink Brads, and ribbon - hee hee...sounds like a cardmaker's "12 Days of Christmas" song, huh? LOL!! The base of my card is 4.25 in. by 3.75 in. - I added a triangle for the roof and a rectangle for the chimney. I added some liquid applique to the white of the roof and the chimney as well. I colored my image in with Copics and added some liquid applique snow to it as well. The sentiment is from the Baby It's Cold Outside set as well. Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Paper Doll Fun!!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to your week! I wanted to share a project that I did yesterday afternoon with you - I LOVE when my Colts blow out a team (sorry Bengals fans) - I can relax and do something like color a bunch of paper doll images while I watch the game instead of nervously biting my fingernails the entire game like we Colts fans have so often done this year. ;) So - while the Colts were playing the awesome football like they used to - I decided to use this opportunity to do my MFT Paper Dolls project I've been itching to do. It started with this $1 Gift Card Tin I found at Michael's - isn't it cute? I didn't do much to the front except add little Isabelle to it - the tin was already decorated with the polka dots to match and measures about 3.25 in. X 5 in. - so a nice little mini-tin for our dear little paper doll Isabelle here.

Here is a pic of the inside of the tin - I colored all my pieces with my Copics, cut them out and then covered them with a coat of UTEE - this was my first experience with UTEE and I am proud to report that this klutz has no burnt fingers - LMBO!! Once they were all coated - I attached self-adhesive magnets to the back.

Here's a pic of all the pieces in the set - because they are all backed with magnets - you can play with them alone like this - or....

You can dress little Isabelle on the front of the tin!! How cute is she!? I LOVE this new Paper Dolls set from My Favorite Things - Kim has an awesome Paper Doll bundle available over on the MFT website right now - it includes everything you need to make your own Paper Doll set - including the UTEE, magnets and tins!! Also - check out JoAnne's wonderful tutorial over on SCS - she shows you step by step how to do the Paper Doll project as well! Thanks so much for stopping by!!

On the 9th Day of Christmas...

Have you all checked out the 12 Days of Christmas challenges over on Paper Craft Planet?? Today's challenge is being sponsored by Hanna Stamps and in honor of the 9th Day of Christmas and the 9 Ladies Dancing - today's challenge is to use a girl on your card/project! The winner of today's challenge will receive a prize from Hanna Stamps!! YAY!! My sexy little gift tag is pulling a double-challenge duty - it's both for today's Paper Craft Planet challenge and yesterday's Hanna Stamps challenge which was to create a gift tag using your Hanna Stamps. Well - I loved the way both Amanda and Frances had made their Pin-Up Hannas into Santa Babies - so I had to try it too! I colored my Hanna in with Copics and then added some liquid applique for the "furry" parts of her little Santa outfit. I added a small flower brad in her hair and then accented it with a red Hero Arts gemstone. I created the tag itself with heart and oval nesties and added a ribbon loop so you can attach to a package. The sentiment is from a Studio G clear $1 stamp set. Oh - and check out my new watermark - YAY!!! Beth designs them for the team - she ROCKS - check out her blog for all your blogging needs - banners, watermarks, etc. - she's the best!!! Thanks so much for stopping by - hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

Let's Stay Warm Together

Happy Friday!! So did you guys have fun with all the new releases this week? I sure did!! I want to thank everyone for stopping by this week and leaving such wonderful comments on my blog - you guys are the best and make blogging fun - so ((HUGS)) to all my blogger friends! I wanted to share a project that I did yesterday with the new Snow Bunny Flopsey set from MFT - I combined Cindy's sketch challenge with yesterday's Ways to Use envelopes challenge to make my little Flopsey set here. I started with the card - I colored in my Fopsey with my Copics and added some liquid applique to his mittens, hat and scarf as well - then I cut him out. I cut some patterned paper with my rectangle nesties for a little snow-y background for him. I punched the edge of my white panel with the Martha Stewart lace doily edge punch and then embossed it with the Cuttlebug Snow Dots folder. I layered my snowflakes - the one at the top was first done with some embrodiery floss and Bazzill In Stitch'z template and then I added a punch from the Marth Stewart Alpine snowflake punch and a snowflake brad. The pink rick rack is from Hobby Lobby. Once I had the card done - I decorated my envelope to match. I stamped the top half of Flopsey on my envelope - and then before I colored him in - since the paper of the envelope is so thin - I put a scrap piece of cardstock inside my envelope so that my Copics wouldn't bleed thru the envelope. I then cut a strip of the same patterned paper I used on my card to accent the edge of my envelope. Thanks so much for stopping by and hanging out with me this week - you all really do make blogging a blast!!

You're Invited...

...to a Release Party!! Hanna Stamps is having a release party over on SCS tonight from 9-11 PM EST - I hope you'll all pop over - it's always fun - chatting, challenges, giveaways - SO much fun!! Plus - you gotta go and have some fun for me - I won't be able to attend as my hubby's company holiday party is tonight - I am so bummed I'll have to miss the Hanna party...hmmm...I wonder if I could get one of those cool hi-tech phones so I could chat with you guys under the table at the party - LOL!! Wouldn't that be hilarious!!?? Hee hee...anywho - even though I do have to wear panty hose this evening - I was promised a steak - so I think that works out to be a pretty good deal - LMBO!! Hee hee...anywho again - I do want to leave you with a couple of sneak peeks of the new Slumber Party Hanna set - this set is SO adorable AND you get THREE gals in this set - how cool is that!? I love the jammies on the Hanna in this first set - I used her to make a criss-cross slumber party invitation - this first pic is of the card all together...

And here it is with the insert pulled out - wouldn't that be fun for a little girl's party invite?? The little popcorn and watter bottle are images from this set as well.

This next card is for yesterday's sketch challenge over on SCS - LOVE this sketch!! I had a fun time making this card - I LOVE this pose of Hanna and her slippers and shorts are to die for! I bought this beautiful My Mind's Eye stack at Hobby Lobby recently - it's called the "Just Dreamy" stack - and when I saw the beautiful and bright oranges, pinks and greens - I thought it would be awesome to use with this adorable Hanna set. I pulled out some bright polka dotted ribbons from my stash to accent the card - I just love these colors!! So don't forget - the party is tonight at 9 PM EST - Kristi is releasing 3 new Hanna sets and 2 new Rileys - and she'll have that very convenient "Buy It All" button up as well ;) - hope you all have a wonderful day and wish me luck wrestling myself into a pair of panty hose tonight - LOL!!!

December MFT BLOG HOPPIN' Fun!!

Hoppity Hop Hop!! So are you having fun so far? If you haven't hopped over here from the fabulous Julie Dinn's blog and want to go back and join in on the MFT Blog Hop fun - then hop over to Kim's blog - the blog hop starts there!! I've saved my samples that I did with the new Isabelle Paper Doll set for the blog hop - I absolutely adore this set - it's just fabulous and the possibilities are endless with it! For this first card - I dressed little Isabelle up in her Teddy Bear get-up - doesn't she look sweet? And that ADORABLE puppy sitting next to her - that's in the set too!!! I just thought he was soooooooooo cute!! I colored my images in with my Copics and then accented the image with some Heart Rain Dots. The little white heart in the corner was hand-stitched - I used Bazzill In Stich'z Flourish templates and white embrodiery floss - I had to flip the flourish over to make the heart shape. The background panel was embossed with the CB Hearts Embossing folder and the heart brads are from Hobby Lobby. The sentiment is from the MFT "Friends Furever" set.

This next card uses the Paper Doll set as well - I just changed her outfit to the mermaid - isn't she pretty? I wanted this card to have more of a "fairy tale" feel to it - so once I got her colored and cut out - I added just a hint of Stickles to her tail to give her some sparkle and I dug into my DCWV Once Upon a Time Stack for some whimsical paper. The circles behind her were cut using my Nesties and embossed with the CB Swirls folder. I threaded some gold ribbon thru the top of the card and tied it off at the top and then added some little pearls in the corner for accents. The sentiment on this card is from the "Meet Me at the Cafe" set.

Thanks so much for stopping by - to continue on the Blog Hop - hop on over to the very talented Christina's blog - she'll have more fabulous creations for you!! I hope to see you all at the MFT Release Party tonight over on SCS from 9-11 PM EST and have fun hopping - there may even be a sweet treat waiting for you at the end!! ;)

Your Wish is My Desire!

I literally squealed when I saw the "I Dream of Hanna" set - LOL!!! Isn't she just beautiful?? There's a special place in my heart for the "I Dream of Jeannie" TV show - those re-runs on Nick at Nite got me thru some late nights in college! This is another one of the new Hanna sets that will be released this Thursday night - December 4th - after the Release Party over on SCS. I colored my Hanna in with Copics - you know I am a Copic nut - so her pants were fun to color - I did some work with the colorless blender on them - trying to give them a transparent look with just a hint of color. The sentiment is from this set as well. The pink flourish on the card was stitched using a Bazzill In Stich'z template and bright pink embrodiery floss. The flowers were punched and then I put a Hero Arts gemstone in the center of each one. The patterned paper is from the My Mind's Eye Just Dreamy stack. And if you look really close - you'll notice there's a little bit of sparkle on Hanna - I added just a hint of Stickles as well. Thanks so much for stopping by and don't forget about the Hanna Stamps release party over on SCS Thursday night from 9 - 11 PM EST!!

A Bag-Lady and A Snow Bunny...

Sounds like the start of a bad joke, doesn't it? LOL!! I've got a couple more fun MFTeasers to share with you this morning - this first one is using the new "Tote-Ally Fantastic" set - I LOVE this sentiment - it just cracks me up! Now I love the main image in this set - but I wanted to try to create a storefront scene using the adorable purse images that come in this set as well. This card was A LOT of fun to make!! I used the main Who's That Girl? image that comes in the set as inspiration for the scene I created here. Just using my Copic Mulitiliner Pen and a ruler - I started with the bricks at the bottom of the store - I then added the boxes that the purses are sitting on with my pen and ruler. I finally stamped the purses on top of the boxes and added a couple of lines to the "window" to create some reflection. Once I had my scene drawn and stamped - I colored the image in with Copics. I stamped the awning from the "Meet me at the Cafe" set onto paper from the My Mind's Eye Out and About stack and popped it up with pop dots. I accented the awning with a couple of Prima flowers and tied the sentiment on with some ribbon from Hobby Lobby.

This next card used the new Snow Bunny Flopsey set - isn't he sweet?? Who wouldn't want to cuddle up with this snow bunny on a cold winter's day? We just got our first accumulated snowfall here in Indiana - so I know how little Flopsey feels - LOL!! I stamped him onto my rectangle and then drew a little snow patch underneath him - colored him in with Copics (the sky as well) and then added some snow using my white gel pen. The background paper is from the DCWV Christmas Glitter stack. I accented my card with some ribbon and snowflake brads from Hobby Lobby. The punched snowflakes are from the Martha Stewart alpine snowflake punch. Thanks so much for stopping by - I hope to see you all at the MFT Release Party tomorrow night from 9-11 PM EST over on SCS!!

Oh Baby! Isn't she hot!?

" Oh Baby!" is right - check out Pin-Up Hanna - she is the absolute BOMB!! I tell ya - everytime I think that Kristi can't top her last releases - she goes and out does herself again - her and Hanna come up with the best ideas!! I used the main image in the Pin-Up Hanna and masked her onto the pillow that comes in the set. I colored the image in with Copics. The hearts were cut with my nesties and embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder. The patterned paper at the bottom of the card is from the My Mind's Eye Out and About stack. I accented the bottom panel with some heart brads. The sentiment is from the MFT "Twisted Sentiments" set - and just perfect for our sexy little Hanna here! This Pin-Up Hanna set will be released this Thursday night after the Release Party over on SCS along with 2 other adorable full size Hanna sets and 2 new Rileys. The party is from 9-11 PM EST - I hope you'll pop over - there's gonna be challenge, prizes and lots of fun chatting!!

You're Tote-ally Fantastic!

Ack!! Check her out!! Isn't she awesome!? Here is my first sneak peek of the new Who's That Girl? set being released by My Favorite Things this Wednesday night, December 3rd - it's also my first MFTeaser as a Guest Designer for the month of December! I went a little nuts with this image and my Copic multiliner pen - I had way too much fun - LOL!! I used my pen to draw the bricks on the bottom of the store building and then the lines on the sidewalk too. I colored in the entire image with my Copics. The skirt was paper pieced with paper from a new My Mind's Eye stack I bought at Hobby Lobby the other day. I used the same paper for the panel at the bottom of the card. The ribbon is Stampin' Up and the buckle is a die cut. The flowers are Petaloo and I accented them with punched branches from the Martha Stewart punch. The sentiment is from this new set as well. This is just the first of some really fun MFTeasers I have for you this week - just wait until you see the new Stephanie Fizer set!! The release kicks off midnight on December 3rd with a Blog Hop and then the release party is that night from 9-11 PM EST over on the MFT forum on SCS - hope to see you there!!

Let the Sneak Peeks Begin!!

Happy December everyone!! So did you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend? I hope so!! It was so crazy around here - between the actual Turkey Day and then 3 AM Black Friday shopping - it feels so good to be back into the swing of things again!! I've got LOTS and LOTS of fun things to share with you this week - both Hanna Stamps and My Favorite Things have SO many fun new sets that are releasing this week and I am as giddy as can be that I get to share all these fun new sets with you!! First up is a peek of the 2 new Rileys that will be released by Hanna Stamps this Thursday night, December 4th - after the release party over on SCS. I started my scene by stamping the 2 new Rileys - Van Riley and Trailer Riley - they fit perfectly together - a definite must have set!! I hand drew the road in after I stamped my Rileys and then used the cloud image from the Hanna Stamps Route 66 stamp set for the clouds in the sky. I then colored the entire scene in with my Copics. The patterned paper is from a DCWV Summer Stack that I bought at JoAnn's - I added some eyelets to the panels and then threaded some hemp twine thru them. The sentiment is from the Hanna Stamps "Things Riley Would Say" set. Be sure to check out the other Hanna Stamps Design Team's blogs - LOTS and LOTS of eye candy for you to look at!! ;) And don't forget about the release party on Thursday night from 9-11 PM EST over on the SCS Hanna Stamps forum - it's ALWAYS a blast - challenges, giveaways, and just lots of fun chatting!! Thanks so much for stopping by!!