Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! I am very thankful this season for my family, great friends, health and jobs (even if they seem stressful at times). I am thankful for being part of a wonderful church, which took us a while to find one we liked.

I am super thankful to be able to be creative when the mood strikes...and get motivated in that direction. This is one of the many Thanksgiving cards I sent out this year. I used three different sets (sorry). I used the Thankfulness Wheel, inked up in More mustard, then colored by marker to add different colors. The accorn came from the hostess set The More the Merrier, and the leaves making the background are from the set Autum Splendor. I used Dusty Durango, and Choc. Chip, and Close to Cocoa, and Crushed Curry cardstock, along with my scallop punches. It is hard to see, but I used Crystal Effects on the top of the accorn to give it more dimension. Hope you like it! I am grateful too, for my wonderful friends who come and get creative with me!

Birthday Cupcakes

These birthday cards were made for a sweet girl we know. My DD and I had fun making them, using the big background size set from SU called Simple Birthday Thanks. We simply outlined the main image using a Stampin' Up marker, and left out the inside words. Then we cut it out and re-stamped the top on Pretty in Pink and cut that out, and Real Red for the Cherry on top. We used markers to color the sprinkles in, and Crystal Effects with Dazzling Diamonds to add dimension and sparkle.

The cupcake body is Creamy Caramel, and stamped with Background Basics to make the body not just solid. I made a faux button using my sm. flower punch and crystal effects with several layers of real red flowers stuck together, and the modern label punch for the birthday wishes on front. Hope you like it!

Falling Leaves

I hope this Thanksgiving season finds you well and full of thanks. I know I am grateful for my family, and my wonderful job~I love teaching children, and I am blessed to be able to do something I love every day!

One thing I miss living up in the Arctic is, fall leaves. As a kid, my Grandma had a big tree in her front yard, and I was always fasinated by the way the leaves would change colors and float to the ground. I really liked this set that SU came up with and was experimenting with Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, and a hint of Old Olive. I used Crystal Effects to add depth to the acorns, it not only leaves it shiny, but a shade darker as well.

I have often said that Old Olive is my favorite green. That holds true, except for Christmas time. There is another green that SU carries that I think is more "Christmas" and "winter green". Can you guess which one it is?

I have been creating more than posting, and I need to catch up on that for you. Thanks for visiting my site, and I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Halloween

Hope you are having a Happy Halloween! We got to go trick-or-treat with some friends, which always makes it nicer-if you are out on a cold night! (We had a warmer Halloween this year 14degrees, however if the wind chill is also 14 degrees- does that make it zero?) Last year, the snow was blowing, and it was snowing, and seemed colder. So this was a nice change.

This card is made with the hostess set on Pumpkin Pie with the Polka Dot embossed to make a background. I also used, basic black, Old Olive, and embossed the pumpkins before watercoloring them, to help the color stay. Then I used the Modern Lable Punch for the saying. I have been trying to be good about not jumping straight to Christmas cards this year. However, I can't wait to start them, Thanksgiving first. I do love fall, but I also love Christmas, and it will be upon us so quick! Each day we loose 11min. and 40 sec. of daylight. After Thanksgiving we won't see the sun rise above the horrizon until around Jan. 21rst. again. From our Patch to yours, wherever you are- Happy Halloween. And if you have Fall leaves, and beautiful trees...enjoy them for me too!

Brower's in the Fall

This is another card I made using the House of Haunts stamp set. I used Tangerine Tango, and basic black, mostly. I also embossed the house and masked the moon when I sponged the black to make the sky. I got to play with the Modern Lable Punch too. I really like this one, it's good for layering.

I don't post many pictures of my kiddos on line. However, this one is very funny. We took a walk as a family, on the beach and ended up at the whale bones behind Brower's Cafe. (They have amazing breakfast if you are ever up here) I didn't realize how funny it was until I looked aftewards at our tiny puppy and the giant bones!

Yes, these are whale jaw bones, and also the frame for a skin boat next to it, and yes, that's my DD with her parka barely on even though there are patches of frost on the ground. From the resturant, we have a beautiful view of the ocean. I am glad we took that time, because it snowed soon after, and seems to be here to stay for a while. Possibly until May... our daylight is getting shorter.

Halloween Fun

I really like my blog...but the first two times I tried to post this, it took so long, I gave up.

I have two photos for you this time, we'll see how that works. I used the SU set Pumpkin Patch for this card, and it was really fun to make. One of my friends came over to make Fall cards and it was a much needed break from all of the stress we have both been under. I used my favorite fall colors, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, and even some Basic Black and Whisper White, although they are more universal colors and not limited to fall.

I really love Fall, it is one of my favorite times of the year. We made applesauce in my kindergarten class at school when we were learning about the letter Aa and doing some themed readings. It smelled like fall in my classroom! When I was growing up, my Grandma had an apple tree. She made the best applesauce and apple butter! Whenever I cook apples, I think of my dear Grandma, and miss her. It is wonderful to share the joy of cooking apples with small children though. They are always amazed at the process, and how it turns out.

This other picture is of my first Full Circle Farm order. We live up in Barrow, Alaska and for those of you that don't know where that is, it is above the Arctic Circle...so this was like Christmas for us having really fresh produce! Full Circle Farm is an organic farm growing amazing tasting fruits and vegetables! The best part is they have an agreement to ship up here, and it's less expensive than buying it from out local store. My DS who is a very picky eater was taste testing everything, even corn, mangos, and kiwi's.

Kind Thoughts

This was made for a dear friend of mine who had surgery. I got to use the new Razzleberry paper! It is very yummy! I wish SU would just add a few colors, not take any away. This would be one of them. We don't have a color like this that stays in the catalog long term. I also used old olive, and some crystal effects with some dazzling diamonds for the berries. I love paper piercing, along with the scalloped edge on Old Olive paper. Next I used the large oval punch, and sponged the edges, so it's not so stark white. I hope my friend likes it!

I am so behind on posting, but I have had some crud that won't leave me. It's in my voice for lack of a better term, and it drains me. I used to spend a bit of time once the kids got in bed stamping, but now it's a race to see who can get in the bed first!

Two for one today!

Okay, so since I have been so excited about this stamp set from SU, I will show you another card today. Two for one! I used a simple color scheme, Real Red, Whisper White, and Basic Black. I forget sometimes what a nice almost elegant look these colors can be together. In fact, if it wasn't for my friend liking red, I may not have tried this combo for a while longer! Thanks!

SU Medallion

Love this stamp! It may just be one stamp...but there's so many possibilities! I made several so you may see some of those as time goes on. The first one was a emboss resisit. This was done with white ep and then sponged color over the top of the whisper white paper, and then wiped off the white ep- because it comes off when you rub it. The colors don't show up as good as I'd like, I used Night of Navy and Old Olive, but my camera is doing something funny with the lighting! I used a rhinestone in the center to set it off, and just about any sentiment could be added. Next, I'll show you one I made for my friend's birthday.

Nephew Presents

When went out this summer, I had made these two cards for my youngest nephews. I just happened to have gift bags that matched pretty well too. I am

going to miss the Wild About You set, I really liked using it with the Inspired By Nature set like this. However, I can't take credit. It was a "cased card" I don't remember honestly where I saw it, but it was not an original idea to me. Of course I used one of my favorite colors, Old Olive, for the base, and Sarah Sand for the torn background.

The other card was my idea though. I used the Pun Fun stamp set along with the Star punch, and Staring You, on the Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango card stock. Can't wait to get in my room and make some new projects. Love the new cattalog, stay tuned for more coming soon-and Happy Stampin' .

Back at Last

Wow! I am back at last. I didn't mean to take so much time off from blogging...but time seemed to be a blur. We went on our migratory trip down south for summer. (Yes, we are opposite), we are back in Barrow now, and we even have gotten the begining of school underway already.

Summer was full family, and full of on the go fun, water parks, camping at the lake, hiking, cannoeing, and campfires. We even got to visit some friends in Dillon and go on a raft/float trip down the Madison and Jefferson Rivers.

If you have followed my blog, you would know that we "dog set" last Christmas vacation for a teacher family who went off slope for vacation. That being said, the idea of having our own special little dog was born. We met a wonderful couple who breed dogs in Belgrade, MT. They were such helpful and warm people, we went back several times. The last time we went to visit, our DD picked out a puppy. He is about 8wks old now, and we are waiting to go get him. The kids can talk of nothing else, except the puppy even as sick as they were this week, they asked so many questions. Mostly they are just excited and can't wait. So here is our little bundle of love at about 4ks. old when his eyes just had opened. I would love to hear your idea on names!

walkin' on sunshine

I haven't been able to keep up with my blog lately. For those of you who know me, the kids are out of school, the sun is shining and even though I am stamping some, I will be taking a break from my blog until August.

Have fun in the sun, see you in August!

Fifth Ave. Floral

This is such a fun embossing folder, and it coordinates with the Fifth Ave. Floral stamp set. I water colored the inside of the roses using Rose Red, and my aqua painter, after I embossed with the embossing folder and my Big Shot. I cut the roses out, and mounted them on Riding Hood Red paper and I used the new ribbon from SU to finish it off. This is so versatile, depending on the sentiment. I will wait to add that later. Hope you like it!

A bit distracted lately

So, it has been a really long time since my last post. I am sorry for that, but life happens. I have had a bug that won't go away...and some major deadlines to meet at work, which has to come first of course. When those were done however, I confess I got majorly distracted from posting card and scrapbook creations. I saw Twilight on dvd. Let me first say, this is not my usual genre, vampires/ teen romance, but Wow! At first I thought oh, okay- a teen love story it could go 50/50, but as soon as the Cullens walked on to the screen I was hooked, knowing this was going to be fun. I was not dissapointed either. I appreciated the characters, and loved the scenery (I am up above the arctic circle- so no green or trees for me). I have been to Port Angeles and to these places it talked about, so it was fun that this would be the setting for a very good love story. So, that was just the begining. You know usually books are better than the movies because characters are more developed in a book than in a two hour movie. I was not able to get my hands on the book right away since we have no bookstores, and our library has only one copy of the series...so in my impatience I went to the author's site to find out more. I discovered a draft of Midnight Sun, which it Twilight from Edward's point of view. Which I promptly devoured. I enjoyed reading Twilight more after that, having understood it from a different viewpoint. Now that I have read all four books pluss this draft, I am really hoping she finishes Midnight Sun. I have read many reviews about this series and the movie, and I know I don't care what anyone says- it's an awesome fantasy. All four and a half books are page turners and for myself I am on my way to purchase the soundtrack. I liked all the characters, but I really enjoyed Jasper and Alice right next to Bella and Edward!

Surely I am not the only one!

Manly Birthday wishes

Don't you just love these colors together? I used Old Olive, Not Quite Navy, and Sahara Sand to make the body of this card. Notice the card is crimped half way up? I needed a birthday card for my DS friend in less than an hour...so I got busy and this is what I came up with. Not bad for a quickie! I used small print backgrounds, and a Hero Arts happy birthday stamp. This is one of the first ever stamps I bought before I was a SU demonstrator- just for birthdays, so I tend to keep coming back to it. I used SU markers to get the two colors on the same image.

In other news I have been wanting to stamp a lot lately, but by the time I get home from work, I feel like the life has been sucked out of me lately. I am trying to rest and get my momentum back!

great friend

I couldn't wait to ink this set up, but then had a hard time putting anything down...you know gluing it down to stay. Sometimes I get so picky and nothing seems good enough! So, for some reason this card took me a long time to make. Hopefully "stamper's block" is over! Now, I can think of a lot of different things I could do to the "next one". I used Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss, and of course basic black with whisper white. In the end, I liked it~ hope you do too!

Butterfly wishes

TGIF! This week has been more trying than most. This card was made for our friend at work. It reminded me of the bright sweater she wears sometimes. I used Tangerine Tango, which I got this August. For some reason, it is a hard color for me to use because it is so bright. I hope she liked it. The sentiment was from the new SU set Simple Friendship. The butterfly was a loose stamp from the SU insentive sets for hosting a party that I give away as door prizes.

Until next time, Happy Stampin'.

My sunny color

Doesn't this remind you of sunshine? So, I don't use yellow very much, but my DD was talking today about Lemon Challet Cream cookies and how "sunny" they made her feel, so this must be my sunny color right now. This is a catalog case- I just changed a few things, like the colors for one, and instead of a ribbon, I used a sentiment. This is one of the cards I made for my co-worker who is going through treatment for cancer. She is in our prayers.

Stamps: Pretty Amazing, Colors: So Saffron, Choc. Chip, Appricot Appeal, Cameo Coral, and River Rock for the leaves.

Flowers everywhere

I love spring. It makes me think of flowers and growing things everywhere! However, here the sun is back, and it will be a while before we can see the tundra grass growing again. First we have to thaw out! However in an effort to teach Kindergarteners about life cycles and science, you have to have living things around, so I ordered lady bug larve and a butterfly kit, and some root view plant kits to help explain. My kids are so excited to go look at everything growing and changing! As a teacher, it is fun to watch them get excited too!

This was a card we made at one of my workshops, and the customers added their own sentiments, so mine is blank for demonstration purposes. The sparkles don't show up well, but we then versamarked the bloom and embossed with irridescent ice powder giving it a shimmery effect. Mine ended up being a "thinking about you" card.

Stamps: Bella Blossoms, which is on the dormant-but you can still order it, list with SU.

Colors: Old Olive, Ballet Blue, Night of Navy, and of course whisper white cardstock, the top note die, and the scallop edge punch.

Echoes of Kindness

I really love this set. This was my first project with it, and I still think it may need something. Any suggestions? I used Old Olive, and Pink Piroutte, Riding Hood Red, and water colored with the wonderful water color crayons. The sentiment came from the retired hostess set, All the Best. I am trying to get some cards made ahead for those unexpected times when you just need a card now, but don't have time to make one.

Altered Clipboard, and Notebook with pen

TGIF! This has been a wild week! Just before Christmas we had a secret buddy exchange, and this is what I made for mine. I used the Designer paper to cover a clipboard and a notebook with a matching pen. I used white craft ink and white EP with the image from Inspired by Nature. I love these colors! (Excuse the fingers, I had a hard time taking this picture before the exchange!) This was my first try at both of these items, and I think they turned out okay. I learned a lot doing them.

Fifth Ave. Floral 2

I am really loving Fifth Ave. Floral! I can't wait for the embossing folder for this one! This was made using Rose Red paper and water color crayon, blended with the aqua painter, and Regal Rose SU paper, and the Top Note Die. This was a pretty simple card, not too tricked out with embellishments.

We can't seem to shake the bug at our house. Every time I think my DH and DS are better for a week or so, they seem to come down with it again. I go longer inbetween rounds than they do with this stuff. I am hoping to be over it this time! Wish me luck!

Until next time...

Arctic Fall

It has been a very, very long time since I have done a scrapbook page, this takes place on the beaches of the Arctic in Sept. a few years ago, it was a warm day for here, very good memories. I will go back and figure out the best way to journal on these without cluttering them up. Sometimes simple is good. Up in the corner, is a shaker box with micro beads I made at a friend's house. I really like to scrapbook, it just seems like I got stopped and didn't know where to start again. I got more focused in the card making direction, now I am looking to balance both. However, this week is not a good example of that. I made 12 cards this week because someone at work was told they have cancer. I wanted to do something to cheer her up, so a friend and I made cards for everyone to sign over the weekend. I will post them over the next several posts. Each one is different, and had it's own style. Does anyone have any other good ideas to do to help someone fighting cancer? I would love to hear from you.

Celebration!

It is time for Stampin' Up's once a year special rewards program called Celebration, or Saleabration... for every $50.00 you spend this month and through the end of March, you get to choose a free-bee from the Celebration mini catalog. There are 4 stamp sets, one ribbon bundle, and a patterned paper pack to choose from. These are some pictures of the sets and accessories available in the Celebration Catalog. Who doesn't want to earn free stamps? These are very versatile sets and are only available for these two months, then they're gone for good.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day! I used the Love You Much SU set, and the retired background Soft Swirls. These colors are the Riding Hood Red and Pretty in Pink, and then Old Olive for the stem. I really love the Scallop Edge punch. It beats using the corner rounder over and over! It 's so much quicker! Hope your day is full of Love.

Happy Heart Day

This is a card we made at my last get together. It uses the Happy Heart Day set, along with a retired background stamp. I used Riding Hood Red and Pink Pirouette for most of it, and I love the incolor ribbon! I embellished the flower of the heart using stickles this time. The mouse and heart are water colored using the water color wonder crayons.

This has been a cold week, we have been -40 to -60 below zero all week. Today is a warm day it's about -30, not counting wind chill which would put it way too cold again. The kids were home only one day though due to extreem temperatures.

It's been pretty with the sun coming back and reflecting off the snow, but it's the top of the world Alaska, the farthest north city in the U.S. so it is to be expected from time to time.

I'll post my other Valentines' card tomorrow for Valentine's of course! Hope you are staying warmer!

Fifth Ave. Floral Thank You

I had several thank you cards to make this week, and this new set jumped out at me and begged to be inked up! What do you think? I used Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze, Sahara Sand, and Old Olive ink, mounted on Baja Breeze in color paper.

I used the big oval punch and the SU set Best Yet, and Fifth Avenue Floral to make this.

Birthday card from a friend

As promised this is the beautiful Birthday card that Michelle Force made for me! I love the way she used this set, and the colors. I haven't played with this set in a while, and I am going to have to ink it up and show it some attention! Of course it looks better in real life. She used the SU set, Think Happy Thoughts, Orchid Opulence, Green Galore, and So Saffron, embellished with a lavender brad. This was awesome Michelle! Thank you. You can check out her blog, look on the rt. side and click on michelleforceblogspot.

In other news, we've been trying to recover here. My DH seems to have been hit by the bug the hardest he, and DS both had fevers and aches for days...DD and I are just really drained, so this weekend has been full of sleep and stamping to get all of her Valentine's ready for this week. Not a bad weekend really, to be home bodies and rest. I can't remember when that has happened in a long time. I need to go finish my mannicotti for dinner.

Hope you've had a great week!

More mini Valentine's

Don't you just love Valentine's Day coming up? We started off our morning with a fire drill, and it being colder than -20 degrees outside. Brrr! Doesn't even begin to describe it! Since our sun's come back...believe it or not, it is colder. The sun's been beautiful though, it's all worth it. Today, I got a wonderful surprise from a fellow blogger Michelle Force. I will get my camera working and share that with you tomorrow afternoon. We have our Battle of the Books competition tomorrow, of which I am one of the coaches for Kindergarten, First and Second grades. It's very exciting and competitive. Some teams winning by a question or a half of a question. Children read between 5-15 books and memorize the titles and authors, becoming "experts" on those books. Then, teams of three readers compete with one another to answer the most questions correctly about those books. It is just awesome to have so many children read all of the books this year! They are really all winners!

These are mini Valentine's (3x3) my DD and I made for fun, and for upcoming giving. We used Riding Hood Red, Real Red, Choc. Chip, and Regal Rose, Pixie Pink. We had fun with last year's Valentine bundle and this year's Love You Much SU sets.

For Fun 3x3 valentines

These were two of the many designs my DD and I started to make for her class and mine for Valentine's Day. I can't bring myself to buy Valentine's anymore, except for my DS, that's a whole different story right now. It's more fun to make them for DD class anyhow, pluss is gives us some creative time together. I used the Love you much, and Always sets to do these two.

Valentine's box

Okay, life gets in the way of posting once agian. But, it should be more regular after this. I really liked making this. This box was made using two die cut envelopes and a strip of regular paper, then decorated with the new Candy Cane Designer paper. I used the new 3 heart punch with the Love You Much stamp set from SU, and Pirouette Pink and Ridding Hood Red paper and inks. The new catalog is just like eye candy. I love all the colors and designs. This holds a fair amount of 3x3 cards and envelopes or a nice bag of candy with a pretty ribbon for a treat. If you have the envelope die from SU to use with the Big shot, this is pretty self explanitory. The solid strip that goes from the bottom and up the sides that you glue your tabs from the envelopes to, is 1-3/4"x 7-3/4" scored at 2-1/4" on each end. Once your box is made, then come around the front with a decorative strip measuring 2"x 10-1/2" and tape your scalloped edge down to embellish. Check back later this week to see some of the 3x3 Valentines my DD and I made to go in this.

Happy Stampin'!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Monday everyone! I used the reliable, and beautiful Baroque Motifs SU set to make this birthday card. I used Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, Pale Plum, and of course Whisper white to make this card. I also enhanced this with a bit of icecycle stickles. It is much more striking, and sparkles in real life. I made a book mark to go with this, but can't post it yet. I am still playing with the colors on my photo program, since it will be pink if I post it now!

Thank you card

Well, we are starting to get our light back little by little. However, our temperature is another issue all together! Are you ready for this? It was -32 degrees today. Ouch!

The thank you card is made from the same set that I used for my blog candy give away. (I had two of them) So, since I I have a few thank you cards to make, I am getting on it. I used Pink Pirouette, and RidingHood Red, along with the SU scallop edge punch, and a felt flower from SU Accents and Elements. Hope most of you are warmer than we are in Barrow! Soak up the sun for us wherever you are.

I have a winner!

Beth is the winner of the blog candy give away. Congratulations Beth! Thank you all for your sweet comments. I will be in touch to get your prize to you Beth.

Today's post is a card I made last night playing around with Valentine's ideas. I have made a few cards with this tree set that is getting ready to retire on the 18th! I love this set, I hope it makes it into the big catalog. It's called Season of Friendship, and I used the smallest heart from the new SU heart punch from the Love You Much bundle.

Colors: Choc. Chip, Regal Rose, Riding Hood Red, Certianly Celery, and the striped in-color ribbon with the top-note die.

Thanks for playing blog candy give away with me!

: ) Darleia

Children's Church project

I know Christmas is over, but some projects were just made to be shared. We made this with 14 children in our Kids Nite Our ministry, before Christmas, when we read the story about the birth of Jesus. As a kid growing up, my favorite ornament to put on the tree every year was a nativity ornament, and I still have it to this day. This set reminded me of that ornament.

I need to add a back of some kind to help it stand up on a shelf. Here on this one, I used my SU markers to color the image, and after that dried good, I used some crystal effects to add some depth. This is a set that is retiring on the 18th to make room for new stamps. There are always so many wonderful Christmas sets, that has to be my weakness! I love Christmas time, the whole idea of getting to spend so much time home with the kids and doing so many things we don't seem to have time enough to do. (and to stamp too!) It's nice to re-focus and decide to make time on a regular basis for those things in the New Year. We are not looking forward to our vacation coming to a close, getting back into the routine, from the sound of it, we've had more time off than most people we know.

Don't forget to go to my Jan. 3rd post to enter for blog candy I'll draw on Saturday the 10th of Jan.

Blog Candy

Finally! I got my blog candy together! To enter to win, you need to comment on this post. You win the pictured Stampin' Up hostess set "For a Friend", new and unmounted in the clear plastic case, and the paper pieces and the cut ribbon pictured. I will draw the winner next Saturday, Jan. 10th. Thank you for all your support in the blogging world this year!

I used the Bella Blossoms stamp set for this card, Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, and the top note die as the foundation for this card. I stamped the big blossom in Pink Pirouette, and rocked it in the Riding Hood Red, then used the Old Olive marker to color the stem before stamping the main image. After the main image was stamped, I used versa mark and irridesent ice embossing powder to add "sparkle" to the blossom. Hope you like it! I can see this done in many colors ; )

Happy Stamping.

Birthday

This is a card I made for Michelle's birthday, but since it was my birthday just before New Years, I thought I'd post it for mine too. It uses the True Friend set. I used the Rock and Roll technique on the flowers, and some paper piercing, and sponging around edges. You may recognize the stem and leaves from the In the Spotlight set. I am bummed about some of the retiring sets. I will be having a 'retirement party' in January to celebrate the old retiring and the new valentine bundle!

I promised blog candy for my Birthday, and I am getting it together, to photograph later today. Thanks for being patient!

Sets: SU True Friends, In the Spotlight, Happy Birthday.

Colors: Only Orange, Rose Red, Old Olive.

Celebration rub on, and retired Happy Birthday set in Choc. Chip.