Hanna January Sneak Peeks - Day #1

It's sneak peek time - YAY!!! You guys know how much I love sneak peek week and I have SO much to share with you this week - I thought I'd get off to an early start with a couple of Hanna Stamps sneak peeks. You are gonna LOVE the new releases for this month - there are 3 new full size Hanna sets - one adorable new mini-set - and 2 new Rileys!! The new stamps will be released this Thursday night after the release party. I am gonna start this post with one of the new Rileys - check out Riley on his motorcycle - isn't he awesbomb!? I thought the sentiment was appropriate - after all - we chicks do dig Riley, don't we? Hee hee...I created the scene using the new motorcycle Riley and stamps from the previously released Hanna Route 66 set. The entire scene was colored in with Copics. The orange panels behind Riley were embossed with the Cuttlebug Traffic Jam embossing folder. And yes - those are all brads - LOL - there are 43 brads on this card!! I used some Hobby Lobby brushed nickel brads on this card - and lining them all up wasn't that bad - I used a ruler and the Tim Holtz piercer. So are you digging the new Riley?? I've got a peek for you at one of the new Hanna sets as well...allow me to introduce "Hay Hanna"...

Isn't she adorable!? I created this scene using the stamps from the new Hay Hanna set - Hanna, the bale of hay, the pig and the cow are all from the new set - this set is adorable - it has a lot of other little farm animals in it as well! I drew in the window and the barn - I just used a ruler and a Copic multiliner pen. The scene ended up being so big and detailed - that's about all this card is - LOL!! I did some machine stitching around my scene and added a sentiment from the previously released "Things Hanna Would Say" set. The entire image was colored in with Copics. I hope you enjoyed the sneak peeks I have for you today - stop back by tomorrow morning for a couple of sneak peeks of the new "Ahoy, Hanna" set. I hope to see you all at the release party on Thursday night at the Hanna forum over on SCS - it'll be from 9-11 PM EST - fun chatting, challenges, giveaways, etc.!!! Thanks so much for stopping by!!

HUH? - A Twisted Friday Challenge

Poor Sophie - looks like she indulged in one too many holiday meals - but who doesn't feel this way this time of year, right? ;) This is my card for today's Hanna Stamps challenge - it's my turn to host and I have come up with a Twisted Sketch Challenge for you guys - you can view the challenge here. My challenge is to use the following sketch to create a funny card - funny image, sentiment, etc. -anything to show off that twisted or goofy sense of humor I know we all have! I used Diet Sophie for my card and added a couple of extra thought bubbles with my Copic multiliner pen - I found some Studio G clear $1 stamps in my stash of a turkey and a pumpkin pie that were the perfect size to go with this Sophie - I stamped them over her first and then drew in the thought bubbles around them. The entire image was colored in with Copics. The sentimene is from the "Just What I Meant to Say" sentiments set. The patterned paper is from an old DCWV Fall Stack and I embossed the bottom panel with the CB Number Embossing Folder. I accented the corners with some brushed nickel brads. Here is the sketch...

I hope you'll pop over to the Hanna Stamps forum and play along!! Also - as a way of saying "Thank You" for all of your wonderful support of Hanna Stamps this year - Kristi is offering you all a coupon code for 10% off your ENTIRE order - WOO HOO!!! To take advantage of this coupon code - just enter the code SUPPORT at the time of checkout - the coupon code expires January 31st, 2009 - enjoy!! Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!! Hope you all are having a wonderful start to 2009!! First of all - I wanted to thank everyone for their well wishes for my little guy and his ear - I am happy to report - he says his ear feels all better today! So another year is gone, huh? It seems so cliche to say - but time sure does fly, doesn't it? In stamping terms - I know things sure have changed for my since the start of last year - I feel like I have come a long way and am so grateful for all the wonderful stamping friends I made in 2008 and looking forward to continuing those friendships and making even more in 2009. Ok, ok, enough mush-y stuff - hee hee...I do have a card to share with you today - it's for today's MFT sketch challenge - you can view Frances' awesome sketch here. It's SO cold here in central Indiana again today (my hubby put on a big pot of chili for New Year's) - so I decided to make a spring-y card to try to warm up - LOL!! I just love this MFT "Tote-ally Fantastic" set - she does look like she's looking for the hot new spring lines in bags, doesn't she? I drew in the bricks and the lines on the sidewalk with my multiliner pen and then colored the image in with my Copics - her skirt was paper pieced. The designer paper is from a My Mind's Eye glitter stack I got from Hobby Lobby - I am in love with the colors in this paper! I did the scallops at the bottom of the card with the Fiskars Threading Water punch. The flowers are a mix of Primas and brads - and then I finished them off with some Hero Arts gemstones for the center of the green flower. I've got one more pic I must share with you guys today...

This is my youngest son, Calvin, ringing in the New Year last night - isn't that hilarious!? Even after being up late from the ER visit on Tuesday night - both my boys wanted to try to stay up until midnight to ring in the New Year - and they both made it!! In fact - they had more energy than my hubby and I did as you can tell by this pic. About 11:55 or so - Calvin just started hopping around and hollering - it was so funny - and yes - that is one of those horn blower thingies he's holding in his hand - they made a LOT of noise come midnight - LOL!! I even got kisses from all 3 of my guys at midnight - how lucky am I? It was a lot of fun - a tradition I hope we continue - we played Wii and Monopoly until midnight too - it was definitely a fun way to ring in 2009!

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!!