Let's get festive...

May you have a safe and entertaining New Year's Eve. 

Dreading goodbyes...

p.j.m. leaves in a few days... flying back to nyc, pursuing his dreams, and becoming a fancy film maker. It's a little difficult to not think of saying goodbye. Oh how I'm dreading it. But until that moment when I'll actually have to say that horrendous word, I'm celebrating the little moments I have with that adorable man. Such as this one... enjoying some coffee and his crazy hat hair. 

Happiness Is Homemade

I came across a piece of decorative paper that was adorned with this special sentiment and had the instant urge to use it with an old house stamp from We R Memory Keepers. The sentiment was created with JustRite Font Sets. The rest of the card was thrown together using various scraps from my craft room. I love when trash transforms into beauty. 

And I just had to make a few more in different colors...

Home

Yesterday was p.j.m.'s birthday. I was practical and got him a set of Moleskine journals... but couldn't help but add a little sentimental gift too. He's currently attending the New York Film Academy and working hard following his dreams. After NYC he'll be off to California for awhile. Needless to say, it may be a bit before p.j.m. will indefinitely plant his feet in the dairy state. The project started out with just a 5 x7 frame and a map of Wisconsin, and turned into this: 

I drew the state of Wisconsin, colored it in with Copics, and stamped it with a Market Street background stamp and distress ink. I couldn't help but add the heart and star brad... what girl doesn't have an urge to add bling. The lyrics are from a John Legend song and seem rather fitting... 

"It may be long to get me there

It feels like I've been everywhere

But someday I'll be coming home

Round and round the world will spin

Oh, the circle never ends

So you know that I'll be coming home"

I hope it will be a perfect little reminder of what's back "home" - all us crazy cheeseheads rooting him on.

I may have also made him some cookies... I hear the way to the heart of any man is through food. I know they sure turned my heart light on... cookies were darn good!

Just a little doodle...

to get me through the day. Happy Monday!

Sneak Peek Sunday

A little look at the cards I created as Make N Takes for Creations Galore... 

Stamps: Penny Black

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Paper: Basic Grey, Paper Cut

Stamps: Penny Black, A Muse

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Paper: Paper Cut, Bazzill

Stamps: Penny Black, Northwoods

Ink: VersaColor, Memento

Paper: Paper Cut

Merry Christmas

I hope you had a wonderful holiday. Mine was filled with family and close friends... much love, laughter and a whole lot of food!

A Sheltering Tree

When it comes to stamps, I have a habit of buying extra large images. Most of my cards are composed of just one image and one sentiment. Therefore, I've been challenging myself lately to use smaller images and create scenes. This one is nothing too complicated or fancy, but it's definitely different from my usual style. The ribbon, papers and stamps are all from A Muse Studio. 

Santa, I promise I've been good this year...

You can find me over at Creations Galore today, compiling a fun wish list of products I love and use. Perfect as last minute stocking stuffers or for treating yourself. Who doesn't like to say, "Merry Christmas to me!" Stop on over to their blog and take a look... it's sure to excite the crafter in you. What products have you been gushing over lately?

A Nice Thought

A fun little card in hopes of brightening your day! 

All stamps and supplies are A Muse Studio... and a little shading with Copic markers.

Thanks for stopping by!

A little rant about weather...

PJM

 aka this guy: 

The cutie, not the mountain lion of a cat, who, by the way, likes absolutely NO ONE on this entire planet but PJM. grrrrr.

Let's start over, shall we? 

PJM and I had quite an interesting convo about Florida the other day, which lead to this drawing:

It's a rather strange winter here in Wisconsin. Less than a week until Christmas and there's no snow! It's crazy. It's a little bit depressing. I find myself complaining quite often about it and having random fits where I decide to boycott Christmas if there's not glorious, heaping piles of that fluffy white stuff. But let's face it... If all that wet, sloppy, cold snow were really here, I would be telling you how much I want to be sipping a fruity drink near that palm tree I just drew. Ah... life. Someone slap me. Hope you're enjoying the weather wherever you are! 

While I think...

I usually doodle. The things that result are quite interesting. Here's a sampling...

I believe that to be a caramel apple... and I don't know anyone who has a name that starts with a k. Apparently I just reallllly love the letter in lowercase form.

The jar is a Stamps By Judith stamp. I had been experimenting with different Copic colors. Everything else is just my random doodling on scratch paper. 

Happy Friday, folks!

The Best

A card I made for my dad... because he is. 

I really like the idea of adding foam pop ups behind the layering swatch rather than to an element on the card. This card was the perfect size and layout to try the technique on. I love how simple and cute it is. Cute... ?! uh oh. I usually don't use that word in conjunction with my dad. And now that I think about it, you'll only find him in a tie on Sundays. Oh well, it's the thought that counts right?! And once I put that Fleet Farm gift card inside, he won't question a thing :)

All supplies are A Muse Studio.

Sunday Sneak Peek

Here's a little sneak peek at the three cards I designed as Make N Takes for Creations Galore this week.

Stamps: Unity Stamp Company

Inks: Versacraft, Adirondack

Paper: We R Memory Keepers, Paper Cut

Stamps: We R Memory Keepers

Inks: Adirondack, Memento

Paper: Bazzill Bling, Paper Cut

Inside: "have a holly, jolly Christmas."

Stamps: Hero Arts, Peachy Keen Stamps

Inks: Versamark Watermark, Memento

Embossing Powder: Ranger Antiquities

Paper & Vellum: Paper Cut

Star Brads: Gary Berlin 

Paper piecin' the night away...

My roomie always makes fun of me for the hours I spend coloring and cutting as stress relief. It may be a tad strange, but it's healthier than boozing it up, right?! Hmm.... Well here's an example of tedious paper piecing and embellishing. It got my mind off the cares of the day and created a pretty end result. Hope you enjoy!

Make one too:

Paper: Amy Butler for K&Company

Cake Stamp: Market Street Stamps

Sentiment: A Muse Studio

Ink: Memento, A Muse Studio

Ribbon & Pearls: A Muse Studio

The Good Life

Sundays just aren't Sundays without:

The encouragement and conviction found at my church.

Lunch with my family.

Green Bay Packers football.

A nap and/or snuggling on the couch.

A visit with my closest friends.

It's true. And this past Sunday, I seriously both laughed and cried at church, ate way too much at the lunch buffet with the fam, almost had a heart attack watching the Pack (can we say 12-0?!), had a Hot Rod viewing party, and dominated at Pictionary. I'm a pretty lucky gal. 

Team One: Chels & Josh

We made up our own rules to make it a little more interesting.

Team Two: Mike & Beckah

My lovely partner, Ryan -- We won!
And of course photo bomber, Chels

There's no room for mad drawing skills in this game :)

I may need to find the scraps of paper we all drew on to show off our funny drawings... They won't win any awards but they'll be sure to make you laugh!

It's starting to look a lot like Christmas...

Hello friends. I'm sorry I've been MIA the last week. This holiday hustle and bustle may be catching up with me. I managed to fill my cozy apartment with a few holiday decorations and put the tree up all by myself! Only thing left to do is find a strong, good looking male to hang the mistletoe...

With Love

This card began as an experiment with a simple sentiment to create a background. I stamped the gumball machine first, created a mask, and stamped 'with love' multiple times. I wasn't really sure what I was creating and started stamping the sentiment in random spots. As you can see, the lines aren't perfectly aligned. But once completed, I kind of liked the look it created. I then colored in the image and turned it into the card you see here. I love when experiments evolve into a cute, completed project. 

Want to try it too?

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black

Copics: RV14, R29, Y19

All other products are from A Muse Studio

Stamps: Essential Sentiments, Sweet Love

Paper: Sugar Solid, Onyx Polka Dot

Ribbon: Cherry Satin