Opinions Please

Many of you have told me you really like seeing all the Christmas cards I have made. I have enjoyed making all kinds of Christmas cards and sharing my ideas. Here is the deal. Most of the people I want to send Christmas cards to live out of state and haven't seen me for a while so I decided to send a picture card this year. I don't usually make cards with pictures on them so I am a little stuck. I thought I would show you the picture and ask for your help. I know the picture looks a little lame because I don't have a cute picture with a husband or kids, just me--I had to work with what I had ;) Please leave me comments to tell me 1. What colors you think I should use with this picture 2. What stamps you think would look cool with this picture or 3. What layout you think would look cool. I would be so grateful for your opinions!

We Have a WINNER!!!

Erica T. Congratulations you are the winner! E-mail me your address so I can mail you your prize.

Thanks everyone for all of your nice comments about my blog and cards. I loved reading them all!

Have a GREAT weekend everyone!

Jury Duty

I got my first summons for Jury Duty service ever a couple of months ago for this week. I didn't have to go in Mon-Thu, but when I called tonight I found out I have to go in tomorrow. I don't mind doing my civic duty, but I have to report in at 7:45 a.m....Dude at least let me sleep in!!!
I will have to take my stamping journal with me tomorrow and think up some card sketches--might as well make my time sitting around worthwhile! Here is a card I made for a friend...hopefully she doesn't peek in on my blog because she hasn't gotten it yet. ;)

5000 views! Want to win some ribbon?

This morning my blog passed 5000 views! When I started blogging I never knew it would be this fun. Thank you to all of you who have come to see my creations! A special thanks to those of you who have left comments or have e-mailed me comments and questions! In honor of 5000 views I will be sending someone a sampler of ribbon from the Fabric Barn (my favorite ribbon supplier!) All you have to do to enter is comment on this post. I will choose a winner on
Thursday and post it on Friday. Here is another Christmas card for you to view. I promise I will start posting new and exciting non-holiday cards next week when things are a little less busy!

I haven't been posting as often lately. Life has been really busy and I haven't had as much time for fun stamping. So you get another Christmas card from me today. I haven't made any cards with the snowmen from Festive Favorites yet and the stamp was looking a little too clean. ;) I also had a chance to cut up more of my Holiday Thyme designer paper.

I Treasure your Friendship

I made this card for a good stamping friend of mine. Jami is such a great friend and I have so much fun hanging out with her and stamping with her. She is kind, generous and a great encourager. I met Jami on Splitcoast after I moved out to California. Someone once asked me if I purposely moved here close to her--um she might be a Splitcoast celebrity, but no I am not that much of a stalker!!! ;)
For this card I used the Matey Map jumbo wheel (big thanks to Sencie for sending me the image) I colored it with prismas and gamsol. The ship was cut out from a different section and popped up on the map. The background uses a stamp from Balmy Breezes stamped with Versamark. The sentiment is a stamp from Stampabilities (Thanks Mamakimberly) When I saw the sentiment I knew it belonged the pirate ship map. I truly treasure your friendship Jami!

Warm Winter Wishes

I have been on a roll with the splitcoaststampers challenges lately. This card goes with the color challenge (CC82) and the sketch challenge (SC92). Click the links to check out the challenges for yourself!

Hope you all aren't sick of Christmas cards yet because I have a lot to make before Christmas! I am not a person who can stick with one design and make 50 of the same card so I have to come up with a bunch of different designs. Basically each person gets their own personalized card ;) This is a non-traditional Christmas card with the palm tree, but I wanted something to celebrate the climate where I live. I thought "Warm Winter Wishes" added the perfect touch to the palm tree image ;)
stamps: Paisley (Background), Balmy Breezes, Snowflakes
paper: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Black
ink: Real Red, Old Olive
other: Color Spritzer, Real Red Marker, SU ribbon, Mat Pack

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

I love making Christmas cards in untraditional Christmas colors. The card I made today was inspired by shoebox swap cards by Elyoho (Leann) and Denier at MiniMania.
Here are the steps for making the background--emboss resist
Background
1. StampCrosshatch in Regal Rose on Glossy cardstock (let dry)
2. Stamp small snowflakes in Versamark on glossy
3. Brayer Pretty in Pink on glossy cardstock
4. Wipe glossy cardstock with a tissue over versamark snowflakes. Snowflakes will be white after wiped with tissue.
5. Stamp small snowflakes in Close to Cocoa

Other notes about card:
--Background paper is glossy, the main image paper is shimmery white
--I inked the big snowflake in close to cocoa ink and then used a Chocolate Chip marker to mark the lines of the snowflake I wanted darker.
--I used my color spritzer to spritz regal rose on the main image.
--"Peace" is from All Year Cheer stamp that says "Peace Joy Love"

SoCal MiniMania

Here is a picture of all of the ladies at MiniMania!

Wow what a great group of stampers in Southern California!!! Yesterday was StampMania MiniMania. We started off with a potluck lunch with yummy sandwiches, salads, and snacks. Thanks to Taylor, many ladies learned that "Puppy Chow" is really a snack and a very good one! I never realized that Puppy Chow was a midwestern thing and I was shocked when many ladies said they had never heard of it.
After the potluck we had a shoebox swap with GREAT projects. I have a lot of new ideas and projects to try. The stamping part was very fun, but my favorite part was the socializing. We socialized while stamping and then some of us went to Frantone's and continued to chat over dinner. What a fun day!

Puppy Chow Recipe
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup peanut butter
8 cups Crispix or other rice cereal
2 cups powdered sugar

Melt butter, chocolate chips, and peanut butter in the microwave. Pour mixture over cereal and stir to coat evenly. Pour 2 cups of powdered sugar into a paper bag and add the chocolate covered cereal. Close the bag and toss until the cereal is coated with powdered sugar.