It's blog hop time again!

Good morning everyone! It's time again for another {Ippity} blog hop. These blog hops really make me aware of how fast each week seems to be flying by lately. It's crazy, but I do enjoy having Kendra home during the holidays, no matter how fast time seems to fly.

This week, I decided to do a layout instead of cards. {Ippity} stamps are so versatile...cards, layouts, projects...they work for everything. That's what I love about them. I just didn't have the "mojo" this week. I tried using the stamps in fancy ways, but maybe I was tired, because I just wasn't feelin' it. But, again, that's what I love about these stamps; I was simply able to use the images stamped in black and they work. I fully intend/intended to write something on the Life/Date stamp, but oops, I see now that I forgot. That's one of the things I like about that stamp is that you can circle the date and write a little something in the top portion. I used stamps from two {Ippity} sets on this layout..."Because of You" and "Life's Little Moments".

I hope you're enjoying the hop and I hope you have a great day!

Merry Christmas, Ya'll!

Merry Christmas, ya'll! I wanted to get a couple pics on my blog and wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Hope you have a wonderful holiday, and God Bless.

The best part of Christmas is having my daughter home from college! We were on our way to church, but I always like to get a photo of us together whenever possible.



Random shots from our annual Bunco party! It's a fun game that doesn't take any brain power (well, unless you're Grandpa, that is), and it allows 12 people to play.



Later, that evening, after Kendra, Dan, and I returned home, we decided to open our presents. We don't always do this on Christmas Eve, but Kendra had to go to 2 sets of grandparents', her fiance's parents', and her dad's house, so we weren't going to have time for Santa on Christmas morning.

Kendra and I in our matching "Nick and Nora" owl pj's. Aren't those owls festive in their Christmas hats?! I love 'em...thanks, Kendra for the great present! Can you see my unity t-shirt sticking out underneath the pj's? heehee. And, that cheesy grin of mine sure does bring out some extra chins...haha.

Kendra bought Janie the most adorable cupcake sweater. I just love my Janie Bug!!!

I wish everyone a blessed holiday no matter how you're spending it!

Happy Monday morning {Ippity} hoppers!

My cards for the hop this week feature two sets by {Ippity}..."Devoted" and "Because of You". I used a combination of white cardstock, kraft cardstock, and the great MME patterned paper. Pop dots, velvet ribbon, sewn edges, and a corner chomper give the cards those finishing touches. I hope everyone is having a great Monday. I'm off with my mom to go shopping...ugh. I don't really need a thing, but she wants me to go with her and I'm a sucker for punishment.

A quick altered book for scrapbook club tomorrow

I found myself wondering, at the last minute, today, what I was going to do for scrapbook club tomorrow morning. I knew I wanted it to be Christmas related, and I also wanted it to be a project or mini album instead of just a layout. I remembered the cart of old surplus library books sitting by the back door just waiting to be discarded. I went and picked out the red ones and immediately "got to work". I cut the innards of the book out and then decorated it with various papers and a POD Christmas words stamp. I cut 8.5X11 page protectors to the size of my paper and sewed them up to be functional again. My crop-a-dile was perfect for punching holes in the protectors as well as through the book. I added a couple of screw posts, and ba da bing, I was ready to go. So, this is what we will be putting together tomorrow morning...I'm excited how cute it turned out, and I think the girls will be too.

I love surprises and here's one for my Secret Sister!

I am a member of an online group of artists that met on the 2peas in a bucket stamping board several years ago. Every year at Christmas, we have a secret sister exchange for those that want to sign up. The requirements this year included a 20 dollar amount for the gift part and a handmade item. I had two things in mind that I wanted to make for my secret sister, and I couldn't make up my mind about them, so I made them both. The snowman arrangement was inspired by mom2christoper on 2peasin a bucket, and the tree was inspired by a similar tree in a recent art magazine I bought. For the snowman, I covered a tin bucket in patterned paper. I used the same patterned paper to make the snowman's hat and collar. I had fun picking out all the garland supplies at Michael's and even more fun making the decoration. The tree was sewn out of a remnant of upholstery fabric. I used an antique wooden spool that my mom gave me as the base, and an antique wooden star button for the top of the tree. I fell in love with both of these projects, and although I would have loved to keep them, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be to give them away, because I made them especially for my secret sister. So, in a way, they never really belonged to me. My secret sister said she loved them, and for that, it was all worth it. I've started another tree for myself, but I have no idea when I'm going to finish it. Maybe I will have time during the next two weeks. Actually, wouldn't it make a great gift for my principal? Maybe I should say goodbye right now and fix it up for Debbie. I think that's great idea!

Have a great evening!

Coraline's dog,"Buttons", and some cards

Maggie had to have surgery on her eye yesterday. She and Sugar had a fight that left her worse for the wear. When I went and picked her up this morning, and I saw those buttons sewn onto her eyelids, I thought she looked like some kind of dog you would find on a vintage postcard. I took some pictures with my Blackberry and sent them to my daughter. My daughter and I love the movie Coraline and she said, "Maggie's still beautiful. She could be Coraline's dog,". How true is that? Poor Maggie.







I know I've mentioned before that I like to stamp my new stamps when I get them so that I can have something to color when I'm watching TV in the evenings. I made several cards with some of the images I colored and then "blinged" out, so I'm sharing them here with you today.


Stamping Bella stamps, copics, bazzill cardstock, sentiment sticker from my stash, BG swirl rub on, rhinestones from my stash


Sugar Nellie stamps, copics, glitter glue, DCWV background paper from the Green Stack


Sugar Nellie stamps, copics, AMuse "bling" stars, Happy Birthday sticker from my stash, Cuttlebug numbers embossing folder

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. It's been a quiet day sitting at home with my poor "Buttons". Have a great day!

It's time for another {ippity} blog hop!

It's time for another Monday blog hop! Thanks for stopping by. Here's a little {ippity} to start your week off on a sweet note. Both of the cards that I made for you this week use the, "Straight From the Heart" set. I think this set is absolutely precious, and great for making cards for those special people in your life. So, without further ado...here they are.


I used my copics to color the image on this card. This image is a favorite of mine...aren't those birdies just adorable?


I decided to cut out the bird for this card. I wanted to keep it simple. I "texturized" the kraft paper by crinkling it up after I sewed around the edges. I curled the edges a bit, too, just for fun. I love this card so much!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Have a great week and I'll see you here next Monday...or sooner if you feel like stopping by.

Merry Sugar Nellie!

It pays off to color images ahead of time. I quickly made this tag today for a bottle of wine that I was giving to the hostess of a Christmas party that I was going to. I colored the Sugar Nellie image a few weeks ago, and was able to grab it, add some pop dots, and throw it on a tag. It was so quick and easy to make and it turned out so adorable. Please ignore my busted lip and my TGIF slicked back ponytail. I don't drink, but my photographer does, and she was having much difficulty just getting a shot (didn't understand that you had to look through the view finder on my rebel) that I didn't care if it was a good shot or not...I just wanted it to be over...LOL


Have a wonderful, fantabulous weekend!

It's time for the first ever H{Ippity} Hop Blog Hop!!!

It's so exciting to be involved in my first ever blog hop, and I hope you're excited too! Hopefully, you are having fun, and getting tons of great ideas to use with your {Ippity} stamps. I was so excited to get my {Ippity} stamp sets in the mail a couple of weeks ago, and I finally got a chance this weekend to play with them. This whole adventure, and all the possibilities and ideas I have for workshops and classes, has been exciting for me, too. I'm so happy to be able to share with you my first creations using these awesome {Ippity} stamps.

I made three cards using two different stamp sets, and My Mind's Eye papers.



I used the "Devoted" set for the first two cards. The verses in this set are so wonderful. I think I'm going to use this set for my first workshop, and I know it's going to be a big hit with my friends and coworkers. I used my nestabilities labels 8 set for both of these cards (for the house on the first card, and the bible verse on the second card). I colored the house with my copics. Fun, fun, fun!



I used the "Kissmas & Mistletoe" set for the third card. I used white embossing powder for my snowman, added some fun acrylic dot accents, and finished it off with some yummy American Crafts ribbon and a scalloped border. I love how the snowman is popped off the page.



I hope you're having tons of fun playing along in our first ever H{Ippity} Hop Blog Hop. We're going to be doing this every Monday, so I look forward to seeing you back here next Monday. Have a wonderful week. See you soon!