STAMPIN' UP! HOLIDAY MINI CATTY CRUISE

Please do me a favor and click on any of the links below to set sail with the latest Catty Cruise with eleven amazing paper craft artists, highlighting the newest products from the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Mini Catalog.

I am normally a part of this incredible group but couldn't participate with this one due to lack of time. I am truly missing out on all the fun! You'll be blown away by all the creative projects these ladies are sharing!

You can start the blog hop by clicking on any one of the sites below. There’s no real start or end, because you’ll eventually link back to wherever you joined the cruise.

* Kriss Huells, Stamp with Kriss
* Wendy Janson, It’s All About Stamping
* Lynn Weiss, LW Designs
* Connie Collins, Constantly Stamping
* Kay Kalthoff, Stamping to Share
* Vicki Burdick, It's a Stamp Thing
* Angie Tieman, Schwooo
* Linda McClain, LMac’s Catered Crop
* LeeAnn Greff, Flowerbug’s Inkspot
* Brooke Stockman, Designs by Brooke
* Becky Roberts, Inking Idaho

RAKS from MAKEESHA and LORRI

Sharing awesome RAKs I've received recently ....

This cool card and Build-a-Roo stamp set came all the way from Australia from Makeesha Byl! from my BFF, Lorri Heiling ...

iPICKS, Week 45

Welcome to iPICKS where I post a selection of my favorite Stampin' Up! cards and projects for the week. There's no formal rules or guidelines ... just inspiring projects that catch my eye, clever ideas, and exceptional designs. These are projects that inspire me and I hope they inspire you too! Here's my iPICKS for Week 45 ...

Britiney's Flower Pot Card (Consider the Lilies).

Vera's It's Starting To Feel Like Fall Card and Whisper Pretty Soft Suede Card (Vera Stamps).

Connie Collins' Circle Punch Halloween Card (Constantly Stamping).

Deb's Good Works Card and Trick or Treat Card (ARTfelt Impressions).

Ann Schach's Patterned Pines in Falling Snow Card (The Stampin' Schach).

Lynn Put's For All You Do Card (The Queen's Scene).

Vicki Burdick's Delightful Decorations Card and Baja Revisited Card (It's A Stamp Thing).

Mary's Fish's KISS Card (Stampin' Pretty).

Dawn's Autumn Meadows Basket and Herringbone Card (DOstamping with Dawn).

Laurie Zoellmer's Berry Christmas Card (Laurie's Stampin' Spot).

Andrea Walford's Candy Punch Card (Andrea Walford).

Melissa K.'s Anniversary Card (Stamping Through the Tulips).

Kristy Brown's Friends 24/7 Card (Kristy's Cards 'n Scrapping).

Sandi MacIver's Delightful Decorations Card (Sandi MacIver).

Christine's The Patterned Piney Woods Card (ChristineCreations).

MISCELLANEOUS ....

Many of you have been asking about my new job, the kids, etc. As you know, I started a new job the beginning of August. It is going incredibly well ... I love it! ... but is also sucks everything out of me! My days are very busy, my evenings at home fly by, and my bedtime is very early so I can wake up early to do it all again!

My daughter Allie started college four weeks ago. We had planned to save money by having her live at home and commute to ASU, and quickly discovered how incredibly difficult that was for many reasons. To make a long story short, we got a dorm room assignment one day and had her moved in within two days. Errands for things she needs to get settled have consumed my evenings. It's been very fun, and I am so happy for her!

Those are the reasons (+ the fact that Drew needs a ride somewhere every time I turn around!) you haven't seen much original artwork from me. Hopefully, things will calm down soon and you'll see more spontaneous designs from me in addition to weekly iPICKS and Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge designs.

I also wanted to apologize to my fellow bloggers for my lack of commenting. In order to provide a quality list for iPICKS each week, I go through an enormous amount of blog posts in my Google Reader. I simply don't have time to leave comments right now ... which kills me because as a blogger I know what a big deal comments are! KNOW that I am looking at your posts, and so much appreciate your inspiration!!!!

I've been using imagechef.com for my iPICKS images, and am nearing the point of running out of unique images to use. Does anyone know of any similar websites?

SWEET SUNDAY STAMPING

If you regularly read my blog, you know that one of my favorite sketches is KAREN GIRON'S SWEET SUNDAY SKETCH CHALLENGE. Imagine how thrilled I was when Karen asked me to be a member of her SWEET SUNDAY STAMPER DESIGN TEAM!!! Take a look at this impressive group of talented stampers I'm joining to bring you samples of Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge each week ...

Jennifer Tapler
Karen Motz
Laura Fredrickson
Lynn Put
Sarah-Jane Kale'
Vicki Burdick

Won't you play along with us this week?! ... just click here. Karen's giving away some blog candy celebrating the introduction of the Sweet Sunday Stamper Design Team too!

My stamping mojo is a little rusty, so I took the easy way out by using self-adhesive die cuts from Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit. I love making super simple cards with Stampin' Up!'s Simply Scrappin' Kits!
RECIPE
Images: Self-Adhesive Die Cuts from Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit
Paper: Designer Paper and Old Olive Textured Cardstock from Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit
Embellishments: 5/8" Sleigh Bells Cotton Ribbon ('09 Holiday Mini), Red Circle Fire Rhinestone Brad
Supplies: Stampin' Dimensionals

iPICKS, Week 44

Welcome to iPICKS where I post a selection of my favorite Stampin' Up! cards and projects for the week. There's no formal rules or guidelines ... just inspiring projects that catch my eye, clever ideas, and exceptional designs. These are projects that inspire me and I hope they inspire you too! Here's my iPICKS for Week 44 ...

Patti Lee's Pop-Up Spider Card (Creations by Patti).

Connie Collins' Bless Your Home Card (Constantly Stamping).

Lynn's Autumn Splendor Card (LW Designs).

Julie's Batty for Halloween Card (Thoughts that Stick).

Margaret Moody's Lots of Apples Card! (Margaret Moody).

Deann Oliver's Sweet Treat Cups Spider Card (The Little Inker!).

Kristen's Paradise! Card (Sunshine, Smiles & Stamps = Lovin' Life).

Wendy Janson's Happy Fall Ya'll Card (It's All About Stamping).

Lori's Thankful for Fall Card (The Diva Stamper).

Cindy Major's Queens of Art Scrapbook Layout (Encre, Papier, Ciseaux).

Andrea's Autumn Days Card, (Andrea's Stamp and Stampel Blog).

Marelle Taylor's Petal Pizzazz Stairstep Card (thINKspot).

Ali Manning's Halloween Collage Card (New England Stamper).

Cindy Beach's Autumn Blessings Card, Christmas Pines Card, and Special Bearthday Wrap (Stamps, Paper, and Ink).

Pam Spiedel's Think Happy Thoughts Card (Stamping with Serendipity).

DELAY in iPICKS, Week 44

This week's iPICKS will be delayed by a day, and I will post them Monday night 9/14. Sorry! It's been a crazy busy week and weekend!

COUNTER PROBLEMS

Are any other bloggers having issues with their counter? My counter showed 400,000+ the other day, and now shows 13,000+. I've never had this problem.

CHRISTMAS JINGLE DASHER

Here's another little card I put together over my three-day weekend. I used Cindy Haffner's Crazy 4 Challenges Sketch #1 and my new Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit.

* The scallop circle Dasher image and the sentiment are self-adhesive die cuts from the Christmas Jingle SSK, and the designer paper and textured cardstock are also from the kit.

* The beautiful Old Olive 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon can be found in the Mistletoe Ribbon Originals in the new '09 Holiday Mini Catalog.

* The overall card measures 4 1/4" x 4 1/4". The "tent" portion of the card measures 4 1/4" x 6", and is scored at 3".

* It's difficult to see in the photograph, but there are dots of metallic glitter glue (made for papercrafting) added to antlers of the Dasher image.
RECIPE
Images: Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit
Paper: Christmas Jingle Designer Paper, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive Textured CS from Christmas Jingle SSK
Embellishments: Old Olive 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon from Mistletoe Ribbon Originals ('09 Holiday Mini)
Tools: Circle Cutter
Supplies: Stampin' Dimensionals, Glitter Glue for papercrafting (non-SU)

NIGHT & DAY AUTUMN HARVEST

Last night, I worked with Karen Giron's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #34 ... and the result is this simple little card using the pumpkins from Autumn Harvest which are paper pieced with Cast-A-Spell Designer Paper. The awesome black & white designer paper is the new Night & Day Specialty DP in the new 2009 Holiday Mini Catalog! I've been waiting forever for Stampin' Up! to come out with black and white paper!

This morning, I was visiting with Vicki Burdick on Facebook, and happened to click over to her blog ... only to find out that my card looks very much like her Sweet Sunday Sketch card! Great minds think alike, I guess! *wink*RECIPE
Stamps: Autumn Harvest, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Night & Day DP ('09 Holiday Mini), Cast-A-Spell DP, Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie CS
Ink: Jet Black Staz-On
Tools: Word Window Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Supplies: Stampin' Dimensionals