Royal Blog Tour

Welcome to my humble castle. I'm so excited to to show you my projects and hope you enjoy them 'royally' . Please don't leave without entering your name and email address for my Royal Blog Candy. Enjoy the Tour!! :)

All my projects on this tour will feature the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set.

This first project uses the Thoughts and Prayers images from Stampin' Up! My Digital Studio. I never thought in a million years that I would enjoy making digital cards, but they are so quick to make and so easy to share.

One of the great things about using a digital program, I can sew much straighter with MDS than I can in real life! Plus by the time I remember to send the Get Well Card using snail mail, the recipient is already well. With My Digital Studio technology is grand! LOL




My second project is a little deskset. I love to have a pretty little set on my desk so I can drop a quick note to someone that needs a some encouragement and support. Don't these colors scream spring?

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers

Cardstock: Rose Red, Whisper White, Soft Suede

DSP: Thoroughly Modern

Ink: Soft Suede

Accessories: Large and Scallop Oval Punches, Bone Folder, Eyelet Border Punch, Pretties Kit, Soft Suede Polka Dot Ribbon


This third card is the favorite at my house. I found a wonderful tutorial by Dawn Griffith for the plastic bag double slider and knew it was just the thing for a masculine card. I know that my husband loves the interactive cards.



Stamps: Thoughts and Prayers, Sanded

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip

Stampin' Write Markers: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke

Accessories: Chocolate Chip 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Choclate Chip Corduroy Button, jumbo eyelet, linen thread


My last project features the BRAND NEW SU! Square Lattice Textured Impressions Embossing Folder available in the Summer Mini Catalog May 1st. I couldn't resist giving you a royal preview of this beautiful background. Isn't it amazing how a plain piece of cardstock can be turned into something this gorgeous with a Big Shot and a embossing folder?!

Card & Box Recipe:

Stamps: Great Friend (For You sentiment), Thoughts and Prayers

Cardstock: Coral Cameo (retiring color), Old Olive, Whisper White, Kraft

Ink: Old Olive

Stampin' Write Markers: Old Olive, Coral Cameo, Barely Banana (mixed w/ Coral Cameo to make the lighter flowers)

Accessories: Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Old Olive Satin Ribbon, Scallop Edge Punch, Button, Twine, Big Shot, Square Lattice Textured Embossing Folder (available 5/1), Bitty Box die



ROYAL BLOG CANDY-
Does receiving a gift make you feel a little like royalty? Well, I know it does me. :) When the Royal Blog Tour ends on May 3rd and I surrender my tiara--a little feeling of royalty can be passed on to you.....

Simply leave me a comment on this post including your NAME and EMAIL ADDRESS so I can contact you on May 4th if your name is drawn. This royal treat is open to all in the kingdom (U.S. residents).

Welcome Neighbor DSP and Scallop Trim Border Punch--these products were available during Sale-A-Bration,

but are currently not available for purchase.

Well you have reached the end of my royal post, but I hope that doesn't mean that I won't be seeing you again. Stop back again and thank you for coming along on Royal Blog Tour. :)

Dirt Digger

This afternoon, Terry, Evan and I worked on a flowerbed behind the garage. Last fall, we transplanted a few hostas along the backside of my garage when we built Evan's room on the side of the house where my hostas had been. Well...it was a good thing probably to move them. We separated 5 hostas and now have 14!!

Today was the first time Evan had played in the dirt. Last summer, he would eat the dirt, grass, weeds and everything else outside. Needless to say, outside time was limited when you had to dig all kinds of 'goodies' out of his mouth. He sat and he played in the dirt for about an hour and a half this afternoon. Evan was such a good boy. Yeah, he buried himself in dirt, but he didn't uproot any hostas and stayed right with me.

He was FILTHY!! He had dirt EVERYWHERE and I do mean everywhere....including a whole diaper full. He went straight from the flowerbed to the bathtub! He was MAD--he loves 'dirt diggin'!


Made using: Stampin' Up! My Digital Studio (love it!)

CinderEvan

The Royal Blog Tour is almost here! Are you ready? Cinderella--I mean CinderEvan has been dutifully working to finish all his chores so he can ride the Royal Coach to all the Castles along the paths. We hope to bump into you along the way!

Ooooo La La Cupcakes

Happy Tuesday Morning!

I have had the Crazy for Cupcakes set for awhile, but hadn't played with it yet and this challenge from Krista was just the thing to get me started. Can't you just see tasty little cupcakes made using these colors?


Okay, maybe it's just my love of cupcakes that makes these colors perfect for that. LOL


What do you see using these colors? Maybe it's something entirely different...why not play along this week over at Cards & Things using these gorgeous colors and show us what you came up with for this challenge. C'mon...it's a great way to get those juices flowing... :)

Here's my Ooooo La La Tasty Cupcake card:




I decided that this was a little plain...lol and needed a scallop edge border along the cupcakes. :) Which do you prefer?

Cupcake Card Recipe:

Stamps: Crazy for Cupcakes

Cardstock: Sage Shadow, Rose Red, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Chocolate Chip (images and sponging)

Reinkers: (for watercoloring image) Sage Shadow, Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose

DSP: To the Nines Specialty

Accessories: Aqua Painter, Dimensionals, 3/4" circle punch, scallop square die, Big Shot, 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, scallop edge border

Diaper Bags

I was asked by my friend, Belinda to sew custom diaper bags for her sister in law who is expecting a baby girl. I'm not a sewer/quilter so I was REALLY nervous about taking on this project. Let's see how I did....

The first bag I made was a pink camo bag. I thought this turned out pretty cute! I even added little pockets on each end of the bag for a binky or cellphone, but they are camouflaged! LOL

While the camo bag was cute, this pink and brown diaper bag is ADORABLE. I'm having a really hard time coming to terms with giving it to Belinda on Tuesday. I love this bag! It is just the perfect size for all the little necessities for baby...

Here's the inside or it could be the outside--quilted rag bags are reversible! If you would prefer the 'clean look' to the ragged look just turn the bag inside out! :) Inside each of my rag bags is a faux bottom. It is a sleeve that I have slipped chipboard inside to sturdy up the bottom. The nice thing about it being removable is that if there is a spill in your bag, slip out the bottom, pull out the chipboard and throw the material in the washing machine and dry. Then just slip new chipboard in the sleeve and wah-lah good as new!

Getting Into His Play

Evan was having fun conquering his basket of toys last night. He would climb in and play for awhile and then carefully tried to figure how to get out without falling. He is so funny to watch. He is cautious and takes his time. He couldn't have been more proud of his accomplishment! :)

ETA: It's the strangest thing though...MDS shows that there is a dark blue border that I added between the 2 designer papers and under the stitching, but it will not show up in the saved JPEG. LOL ---use your imagination.... do you see it now? Pretty, huh?! :)

Mother's Day Card

This is another card that we are doing tonight for the hostess club.
I couldn't resist using my For All You Do set w/ this group. I think it's such a pretty set!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: For All You Do, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Whisper White
Ink: Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive
DSP: Cottage Wall
Accessories: Circle Scissors Plus, Circles #2 die, Big Shot, Rhinestone brads, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Polka Dot Grosgrain, clips

Hostess Gift

Tonight is my hostess club and I wanted to give the hostess this month a little something.

I just bought the Fancy Favor Box and couldn't wait any longer to use it. :) Ahhhh--so glad for an excuse! I made the little box, 6 matching 3 X 3 cards and a handful of matching wrapped nuggets. Nothing says, "Thank You!" like chocolate and handstamped projects!

Stamps: Vintage Vogue

Cardstock: Regal Rose, Whisper White, Bashful Blue

Ink: Certainly Celery, Regal Rose

DSP: Bashful Blue

Accessories: Mat pack, paper piercer, dimensionals, grosgrain ribbon

Cards & Things Challenge/Riley-Kate's Birthday Card

Life has gotten a little hectic around here the last couple weeks --I'm becoming an expert at combining projects to get things done. LOL What woman doesn't do this on a daily basis? Ahhhh... remember the good ol' days when there was nothing to do but stamp? No? ME EITHER!! :)

Here's Riley Kate's Birthday card, (She'll be 12 on Wednesday!) and my Cards & Things Challenge entry for this week. Take a stroll on over to Cards & Things and see if you can combine a couple projects this week using Krista's sketch.

Every little girl's card needs a little sparkle!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: On Your Birthday, Crazy for Cupcakes

Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Whisper White

DSP: Sweet Pea and Bashful Blue

Accessories: circle punch, circle scissors plus, dazzling diamonds, scallop edge punch, signo white gel pen, linen thread, so saffron striped ribbon

Pumpkin Bread Gable Box

Tuesday night is Hostess Club and I wanted to do something fun with my group of ladies this month. Since last time our group was supposed to meet we had a Wisconsin blizzard and I had to cancel. :( I'm so glad that the weather is beautiful here now! I'm doing the happy dance mentally just thinking about the fact there will be many months between me and snow. YEA!

Erika Martin recently offered this really neat Bake It, Make It and Take It Class. I couldn't resist--I knew immediately this was the something different I wanted to do this month.

Riley-Kate and I made a dozen mini loaves of banana bread and pumpkin bread (with lots of raisins)yesterday and wrapped them up to put in these cute little gable boxes.

Every little box needs a matching tag, right?! :)

Stamps: Upsy Daisy, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Pretty In Pink, So Saffron

Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, slot punch, Beautiful Wings Embosslet, Dimensionals, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain

The Cottage Thank You

I wanted to make another card using Krista's weekly sketch over on the Cards & Things Challenge Blog this week. This card, I broke out my rarely used Pretties and added a couple pearls too. They are such a nice touch--why don't I use them more often? LOL




Card Recipe: Stamps: Thank you Kindly and Vintage Vogue (sentiment inside)
Cardstock: Orchid Opulence (butterflies), Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Whisper White
DSP: Cottage Wall
Ink: Rich Razzleberry and Pale Plum (sponging)
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, Pretties Kit, Lots of Tags Die, Wide Oval Punch, Leaves Die, Beautiful Wings Embosslet, Big Shot

Butterflies

Good morning and can you believe that it is Tuesday again? It is a little cooler in Wisconsin today and we are getting some much needed rain. It is GREEN everywhere! No more bare sad early spring scene. It's so nice to see all the spring colors pop back into the landscape. The farmers are busy preparing fields and it is wonderful to watch the evolution from winter to spring. Soon there will be fresh rhubarb for pies. YUM!

Today is Tuesday, so that means that it is now time for another challenge from Krista over at Cards & Things Challenge Blog. I have been asked to stay on as a blog designer over there so every Tuesday I will be posting my challenge card here. I hope that you will hop over to the challenge blog and play along with us. Don't forget to hook up with Mr. Linky and share your creation! :)


Here's Krista's Sketch #27:





Here's my card for this week's challenge:

Stamps: Season of Friendship

Cardstock: Pumpkin, Pie, Sahara Sand (inside), Chocolate Chip

Ink: Chocolate Chip

DSP: Sweet Pea Stack--Occasions Mini (hurry and get this stack--it's wonderful and will no longer be available May 1st)

Accessories: DMC floss (838), Butterfly Die, Beautiful Wings Embosslet (Occasions Mini), Scallop Edge Punch

Froggy Easter Basket

Good Easter Morning. I told myself I was not going to make an Easter basket for Evan. Evidently, I didn't listen to myself very well. ***Quiet Self!***
I woke up about 5:45 am and decided that Evan must have a little froggy Easter basket. I stuck in a couple candies, but after the whipped cream he really doesn't need much more in the way of sweets for a few days. :)

The Whipped Cream Addiction

Dinnertime at my house is always something of an event if my husband, Terry is home. Evan absolutely adores him...

Can you guess why?

Dani and Evan

Today, I was creating with my Stampin' Up! My Digital Studio. I know that I have talked about two of my children on my blog occasionally, but feel that I have neglected to tell you about oldest daughter, Dani. She and Evan are 16 years and 17 days apart in age, but I have to tell you that I was amazed that from the very start she has taken to the little guy. And as you can see from the photos, he is quite fond of her as well.
I have a lot of pictures of Dani as a little girl, but as she got older she wasn't quite as into posing for photos as I would've liked so it is a rare occasion I get pictures of her to share.
Well the nice thing about Evan is he is a great distraction and I took advantage of that and got some really priceless photos to keep and share.
MDS is going to be a lifesaver. Dani graduates high school in 13 months. Yikes! Where did that time go? Anyway, I have a lot of scrapbooking I would like to finish before then. I know that this page was made in about 5 minutes so if I sit down and sneak a couple in here and there it won't take long to make an album just for her. :)

Blog Candy Winner

Good morning! It's time to announce the blog candy winner and this is NO APRIL FOOL JOKE! LOL

The winner is Patrice Herrera! Congratulations, Patrice. :)