Life is Good...*picture heavy!*

I spent my Memorial Day out on the beach with my sweet puppies! The weather was GORGEOUS after our intense typhoon the other night! We had lots of damage on base, and I lost half of my fence (which I'm hoping will be fixed soon!). So after that nasty storm, I was so happy to wake up to the most beautiful day today! I decided it was so nice, I'd take my pups and head to the beach...here are a couple of my favorite pictures:)

This is my view driving down the main street on base...see the ocean on the horizon? Gorgeoumouse!

Billy and I found this secluded little beach a couple years ago and I go back all the time when the weather is nice! It's the most amazing beach-white sand, TURQOUISE water, noone around, it's a perfect spot:) Today, I took the pups with me to go swimming!

My boys...they're quite adorable, right? Luke looks a little psychotic, but he just really loves the water, lol! Need another look?

Jesse

Luke

Here are a couple pictures of the beach...calgon take me away!

Yes...life is good! Even if I can't spend the day with my honey, who's still sweating away in the pits of Iraq, lol! Poor guy, he said it was 107 degrees today! EEK! That's hot (and this is not me channeling Paris Hilton).

Okay, so I was so inspired by the ocean today that I wanted to create a summery card! I think there isn't a better beach set than "Relax" by Verve!

My card base is Hawaiian Shores, can you see where the ocean inspiration came in? LOL! That's about the color the ocean was today...just amazing!

I stamped the medallion image several times on the card base and then was going to use a circle on this card, but changed my mind last minute and wanted to use the negative of the circle I cut out! I added the sentiement on a piece of white cardstock, added some buttons, ribbon, and a strip of Berry Sorbet scallops to finish it off. It's a simple card, but I was in a simple kind of mood, lol!

Thanks for hanging in there with me through all those pictures! I don't always post alot of personal information here, but I didn't think you'd mind once in awhile;) Thanks for humoring me! LOL!

Viva la Verve! May Week 5

Hey there! I'm still alive, the Typhoon hasn't blown me away yet, although it's really picking up in intensity! I kind of like a good storm, I just dont' want it to be damaging, and I don't want to lose my A/C, lol! And if I can keep my cable and internet, so much the better, bwahaha! So it's been a stormy day here and it gave me a good opportunity to get crafty! I decided to play along with Tosh's sketch for this week's Viva la Verve! challenge on Splitcoast! Here's her sketch...

Sorry to all of you out there who don't love the tilted panels (lol!) but I DO love 'em and think this sketch was super fun! Here's my card...

I started by stamping a pattern using my Medallion Plain Jane in Cherry Cobbler, Delighful Dafodil, and Kiwi Kiss ink. The card base is Cherry Cobbler. I stamped the 1 Chronicles 16:34 Plain Jane in Rich Cocoa ink on Rustic Cream cardstock. Some other fun details I added are a big ole' rosette (MFT die) and then the Floral Circle and Elegant Leaves dies (stamped and embossed with matching stamps from the Bloom and Grow set). I tied some bows and added a button and that's about it! 

It's the last week to get your cards in to be entered in for the grand prize, the ENTIRE NEXT STAMP RELEASE! 

Also...check this out!

I know you want to *treat* yourselves to some new Verve, so Julee is having a sale today (5/27) through Tuesday (5/31)! Can you believe that all stamps are 20% off? What a way to celebrate a holiday!
Hope you all have a marvelous Memorial Day weekend, filled with barbecues, picnics, good times and stamping enjoyment!

DS3-Wicked!!!

Hey there! Sorry I'm posting this so late, and for being so quiet all week! I've been having one of those weeks where I'm uninspired and have no urge to be in my stamp room, sad huh? Well I'm hoping to crawl out of my funk soon!

Today is Thursday which means we have a new Deconstructed Sketch from Jen!! I had a blast with this sketch...

And here's my card using "Syren" from The Greeting Farm...

As per usual, I colored her up with my Copics, and then had to find papers to match, lol! I found some turqouise and red patterns in the MME line, except I forgot which one, and I'm too lazy to upstairs to look, lol! The "Wicked" sentiment is from TGF's Roll Call kit.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the girls' cards! You can find their links on my side bar, or you can go to Jen's blog and see them all there:) 

In other news...a nice little Typhoon is coming dead on to Okinawa and should hit us tomorrow afternoon...

Okinawa is the little puny island between the red dot and the yellow dot! We're going to get creamed, lol! The island is very prepared for these storms though, our homes are solid concrete so aside from trees and flying debris, there shouldn't be any structural damage! I'm expecting it to get quite messy! Right now, it's classified as a "Super Typhoon" with winds over 160 mph, but the winds are going to slow down to close to 130 mph when it hits Okinawa, I hope, whew! Wish my husband was here, lol!

So if you don't hear from me for a few days, this is why:)

DS2--Make a Wish!

I can't believe we're already on our 2nd Deconstructed Sketch!! Did you get a chance to play last week? It was a really fun sketch! If not, we have another great sketch for you this week...Jen really knows how to make 'em;)

Here's my card using a new stamp set I got from The Craft's Meow!

The name of this set is "Butterfly Kisses" and I absolutely love this sillouhette image! She's so cute, blowing on her little dandelion:) 

I used some MME papers (of which I have an abundance! I'm always so happy when I start using older papers:)

Check out Jen's blog to see the rest of the DT samples, they are A-MAZING! You'll also find the challenge details and a spot to link up your beautiful cards! Thanks for stopping by today:)

Taylored Expressions May Blast from the Past Hop!

Hello! I'm playing along in the Taylored Expressions Blast from the Past hop today!

The theme for this month is "Make it Masculine" and we were supposed to leave the glitter and bling behind! Ummm..oops.

I really started out on the right track...I knew I wanted to use blues/turqouises and brown, but then the rest of the card just happened, lol! I'm still completely comfortable sending this card to a man though (even though he may be under 10 years old, haha!)

Make a Wish is one of my favorite TE stamps, I love the whimsical images in this stamp and this particular sentiment is fun to personalize with whatever colors used simply by coloring the letters in with Copics! I cut the balloons out with the Balloon dies and then embossed them with a Cuttlebug Folder and added some stickles to the polka dots. I stamped the banner and then added some twine bows. I hope you can hop along with us today, because Taylor will be drawing one random hopper to receive a FREE Taylored Expressions stamp set of your choice and we'll also be choosing another creation to be featured in an upcoming TE newsletter. 

Here is a list of blogs with projects up! Your next stop is the sweet Crafty Math Chick! Thanks so much for stopping by:)

Viva la Verve! May Week 3 -- My Heart Belongs to You!

Probably not, bahah! I've been around, and stamping, just too lazy to blog, lol! Well I have a couple Verve cards to share today! The first one is for the Week 3 VLV sketch Challenge hosted by Amy Scheffer! Amy came up with a really fun sketch...

Here's my card using stamps from Love Notes!

I wanted to use the Classy Label and Jotted Heart dies on this card and also wanted to make a semi-"masculine" card to send to Billy in the desert! He knows how much I love my buttons and bows on my cards (he remarks all the time how they look the same because they all have the same stuff on them, lol! And then he he opens the card and always says "why don't you have anything on the inside?" DOH!) so he won't mind or be surprised at my feminized masculine card:) Hey, it's blue! Gimme a break. ;)

Come play along in this week's sketch HERE!

My next card is for this month's SFYTT sketch! I used Verve's Stamp of the Month, "Dare to Be" and "Many Blessings"

I just LOOOVE these MME papers! I can't stop playing with them, lol! I haven't inked up my Dare to Be or Many Blessings stamps in quite awhile so I thought this sketch would be a perfect time:)  If you haven't played in the SFYTT sketch yet this month (or ever) make sure to stop by Jen's blog to see the details! 

Dare to be is only 4.50 this month!!! Seriously, that's a GREAT DEAL on this set, there are great sentiments you can use for every day!! 

Thanks so much for visiting, I'll be back in a day or so with more:)

Deconstructed Sketch Challenge #1

Hello! Today is an exciting day, because it's the first day of the Deconstructed Sketch Challenge! Jen Shults is the owner and sketch designer and I'm so happy she asked me to join her team. I always loved her sketches when we were on the Club Anya & Friends DT together and am really happy she's keepin' the sketches going! Here's a look at our first sketch!

Our sponsor this week is the Wax Fruit Company. The Wax Fruit Company digis are illustrated by our very own Arielle Gordon. She has created an amazing array of versatile and fun digis that range for every single occasion. They are great if you love to color and also wonderful if you don’t…they looks stunning it just black and white. Arielle has very generously donated a $15.00 gift certificate to her store for the random winner of this week’s sketch challenge!

Here's my card using the Kindness Seed Packet digi...

I printed the digi out on Copic Xpress it Cardstock and colored it in with Copics. I did the thing I always swear not to do. I colored it before I had papers in mind, lol! I HATE it when I do that, because then I'm very limited on what I can do. Fortunately, this image works very well with natural colors like Kraft and brown, so that's what I went with...

I stamped a grungy stamp from Tim Holtz behind the seed packet and then added some lace and twine (and buttons!) A pretty simple card that really lets that image steal the show:)

Deconstructed Guidelines 

If you’d like to join us this week all you need to do is create a project using the above sketch as inspiration. There are no specific image requirements for this challenge. Upload your project to your blog or to an online gallery and link it back here to Inlinkz by Wednesday, May 18, 2011 at 8 pm CST. Our sketch this week is sponsored by the Wax Fruit Company and one lucky randomly drawn winner will win a $15.00 gift certificate to the store.

Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you love our new sketch challenge and play along with us every Thursday!

TGF Play Day

Yesterday, I was really in the mood to do some coloring so my brain went immediately to my TGF stamps. The Anya's and all the other lines in the TGF family are so perfect to scratch that coloring itch:) I was in the mood for a challenge as well so I went to the Farm Fresh Challenge Blog to see what the latest was. The challenge from last Friday is a Throwback challenge, meaning to go back and use some older Anyas. Well that's easy because I have a bazillion that haven't seen ink in way too long! I decided to ink up my Mermaid Anya...

Isn't she the PURDIEST lil thing you've ever seen? And how about that purple hair? I think that's what's fun about TGF stamps, you can color them however you want, they're a very dynamic bunch and they're anything but ordinary;) I'm living out my dream here, to have purple hair, bahaha! I don't know if you can tell, but I had alot of fun coloring her:)

I added Stickles to her tail and the little beads in her hair. It's hard to see, but I also experimented with eye shadow on her! It's a light purple, and looking back now, I wish I'd added another shade, to give her a smokey look:) The sentiment is from Stamping Bella, and it comes with the Bella Mermaid:) All the papers are from Prima.

Since I was having so much fun coloring, I made this little number as well...

This is Surfer Anya and I think she is pretty sweet:) You know that movie "Soul Surfer" that's out? She kinda reminds me of the main character:) I haven't seen that movie yet but I really want to!

The papers here are from MME's Lime Twist collection, the sentiment is from Verve,a nd the splotches are from PTI's Grunge Me set.  The layout for this card is from last week's sketch challenge on the FFC blog.

Well that's it from me today:) I'm off to dinner with some friends! Enjoy your day...

May SFYTT!!!

It's the first Saturday of the month...know what that means???

NEW SFYTT!!!!!!!!!!!!

This month, our sketch is being sponsored by a fun company called "Your Next Stamp"!

Here's our May Sketch--

How fun is that sketch? I thought my new PTI stamp set "Boy Basics: Frog Hop" would look super cute on this card!

I didn't get my order in in time or I would have used YNS, but I must confess, I love this cute frog and how this card turned out! Perfect for one of my little nephews' birthdays! The paper is all from MME's Lime Twist "Out of the Blue"

1. The SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {SFYTT} will be posted on the first Saturday of each month on www.iheart2stamp.com at 8am EST and will stay open to participants until the last day of the month, unless otherwise noted.
2. This is for fun! Interpret the sketch as you wish and embellish as desired. There are no vendor restrictions, but we would love to see you use the sponsor’s stamps!
3. Each month we will have a Designer of the Month that will be chosen from past month’s participants.
4. Come and play with us on each and every sketch! On Christmas Day 2011 a prize package worth over $200 will be given away to one very lucky and loyal SFYTT stamper that participates in EVERY sketch for the year.
5. To be eligible for the prize package, you must complete ALL of the sketches by each of the deadlines AND link your creation to the link system on that month’s sketch post (the first Saturday of the month). Everyone except for SFYTT Sisters are eligible for the prize package, including Designer of the Month and international players.
6. When posting your sketch creation on your blog, please post the sketch and link back to the sketch post on www.iheart2stamp.com. When posting to online galleries, please use the keyword “SFYTT.”

Check out the rest of my SFYTT Sisters and see what they came up with! Welcome to our new sister, Jen Tapler and our May Guest Designer, Kerry Michaud!

May Guest Designer--Kerry Michaud

Amber Hight

Amy Sheffer
Carole Burrage

Jen Del Muro

Jen Tapler--our newest baby sister!!
Jodi Collins
Kelly Lunceford
Kerry Johnson
Megan Lock
Sony Christoph
Susan Liles

Terri Moore 

Viva la Verve! May Week 2--Happy Mother's Day

Hellllloooo! How is everybody today? I think I saw the sun today for like 3 hours, which is more than I can say for the past two weeks! We are getting a TON of rain lately, but it IS rainy season on Okinawa, so I guess I should be surprised;)

I had today off so I spend awhile in the stamping room to create a card for this weeks Viva la Verve! challenge! Schmoopy (we're both huge Seinfeld fans!), I mean Maureen, is the hostess this week, and she came up with a super fun sketch!

I always love Moe's sketches, she likes to bunch elements up and I absolutely love that as well! Here's my card, which is also the card I'm sending to my Mom for Mother's Day (yes, I'm quite aware of how late I am, lol! What can I say, I'm a cardmaker and we're always the worst, right? LOL!)

I used more of my beloved "Portrait" papers from Crate Paper! I am loving this pattern in particular! All the colors and beautiful flowers just make me happy! Okay, so I used a couple new stamp sets for this card. The Elegant Leaves die and the matching leaves from "Bloom and Grow" and the sentiments from "Love Deepens".  I clear embossed the leaves on the Elegant Leaves die cut, I just love how that looks!

I really wanted to use one of my real doilies on this card, but they were white and my card is cream, so it wouldn't work. No worries, I have this fun doily die from PTI that does just the trick;) I stamped the sentiment on a tag cut with Verve's "Sweet Scallop Tag" die and attached it with some ribbon and twine.

Here's the inside...

Click HERE to go to the challenge thread for details and to play along! Free VERVE in it for you if you win!;)

Well thanks for coming by today! I'll be back tomorrow with the new SFYTT!!! Can't wait:) 

Have a wonderful  Friday, friends!

--------------

Edited to Add...

I've been asked by the wonderfully delightful sweetheart Jen Shults to be a part of her new Deconstructed Sketch Challenge team! Our first sketch challenge will be NEXT THURSDAY so make sure you bookmark the Deconstructed blog and come back and play with us! 

Release Day at Taylored Expressions!

Hello there! I'm so excited that I finally get to share my first card as the May/June guest designer at TE! You've probably been following along in the Sneak Peeks the DT has been preparing, some amazing designers! All the stamps are now available, and you know how Taylor loves to add fun embellishments and paper pads to the store too, you just never know what you're going to find in there! Go HERE to see what's new!

Here's my card using the new "Welcome Little One"

I pulled out my April 2011 Key Ingredients kit again and used some papers, the red ribbon, pearls, and flowers from the kit on this card. I love how perfectly everything coordinates, you don't even have to try, lol! I cut a piece of cream cardstock with my Reverse Wonky Rectangles nesties and stamped the "Sweet Baby" and "Girl" in Rich Cocoa ink. I colored the "baby" in with my B000 Copic marker and inked most of the edges with Tea Stain distress ink. I wanted to add a little extra something to this card, so I added Gold Ice Stickles on the designs of the patterned paper. I tell you that really adds alot and doesn't take much time at all! It looks much better IRL, trust me, lol! You also may recognize the layout of this card, it's the current TESC #137 on Splitcoast! You still have time to play along, you have until May 12th. Click HERE to see the challenge thread and details.

Hop on over to Taylor's blog and see the full set reveals and links to the rest of the design team! Happy shopping:)

MFT Wednesday Sketch Challenge #18

Hey there! I'm back again with my last card as the May Guest Designer for MFT! It's Wednesday which means it's time for a new sketch! What do you think of this sketch?

Pretty fun, right? Here's my sample using "Being Cute is What I Do!"

I paper-pieced her shirt on this paper from MME and colored the rest of her with my Copics. I also did some airbrushing on the background with my YR21 Copic.

I used a couple fun Die-namics on this card, the Decorative Doily (have you seen the new Decorative Doily Duo just released today? They coordinate with this die and nest just *perfectly* inside this one!) and the smallest butterfly from the Butterfly Die-namics. Oh, and also the Simply Scallops Die-namics, peeking out from under the pink paper:)

Thanks for visiting me today *twice, lol!* Hop on over to Kim's blog to see a list of blogs with samples using this fun sketch! 

See you sweet girls around:)

MFT Shop and Hop!

Hello! Well it's time! Time to SHOP TILL YOU DROP! This has been an amazing release from MFT and I'm so excited and honored that I got to be a part of it! I'm a bit sad that it's release night, cause that means it's my last day as Guest Designer! I've really enjoyed being a part of everything this month and had a blast designing with the MFT DT! They are such a talented group! Just want to take this opportunity to thank Kim, Jody, and the rest of the crew for this opportunity and the chance to play with these outrageously awesome stamps:) You should be coming to me from Sherrie's Blog, but if not, start at Kim's Blog and hop through the whole list! 

Today, I decided to use one of my favorite sets from this release, Well Worn Greetings! I was going to go a bit elegant with this card, but I think the "worn" sentiment from Well Worn Greetings makes it more a "rustic" elegance than "Elegant", lol! Even so, I really love how this turned out! 

I did some reverse die-cutting with the Well Worn Greetings die-namics and then stamped the sentiment on the die cut oval piece and popped it up in the middle of the frame I created. You'll also see I used the new Scalloped Ribbon and Rolled Roses Die-namics! The papers are from K&Co, don't you love these colors together?

Okay, well since I'm the last person on this Blog Hop, there is nowhere to point you to but THE STORE! Make sure you get your hands on these awesome stamps, I promise you will not be disappointed! The quality and customer service is top-notch! And again, if you've just stumbled upon my blog and haven't seen the rest of the DT's cards, start at Kim's Blog and enjoy! Thanks so much for visiting me all week and for you all your lovely comments and support:)