FYI....

One of the gals I love to follow, Sammye Jo from 62 cards, has started a new blog called My Insanely Sweet Life. This is where she can share some random thoughts and stuff...and she is giving away some candy to lure us on over so go ahead and check it out!

-Stacie

Butterfly Tag!

Cut the tag out with my Cricut and embossed with Forest Branches folder and sanded. Then added that wonderful gold butterfly sticker I got from my blogging pal "Merry" (Not sure if you want me to mention your real name!!). Then added a few iridescent plastic butterflies to the corners and some twine to the top as a hanger. Next I cut out 10 balloons using a punch set from my other blogging pal Annmaree...this is such a cool set!!! Yes those balloon shapes made those two flowers!!! How neat is that?? I can't take the credit for the idea because it was all Annmaree!! I stamped some script on them after cutting out and adhered a gold dew drop to the tops! Voila! A pretty tag! :)

Wanted to mention that I noticed a few new followers...welcome and thanks for joining my blog! You are all so wonderful and I appreciate the nice comments everyone always leaves me! Sure puts a big smile on my face everday! :)
Thanks!!
-Stacie

Challenges:
Crafty Calendar - Bugs and Beasties
Crazy 4 Challenges - Paper flowers
Creative Inspirations - Colors of turquoise, gold and cream
Delightful Sketches and Challenges - All about summer
Stamptacular Sunday - Cute as a bug
Practical Scrappers - Flowers
Stamp Something - Summer
ABC Challenge Blog - X for xtra dimension
Stamping Vacation Embellish It - Twine
Stamping Vacation No-No Challenge - No ribbon
Stamping Vacation Home Sweet Home - Shabby Chic (I always struggle with this style...hopefully I am close!)
Stamping Vacation Fountain of Youth - Bug

Fishing You....

This is a card I made for my FIL and the sentiment on the front Fishing You...continues on the inside and says... A Happy Father's Day. And I stamped some coral and seaweed but didn't take a picture of the inside as I still don't think the inside of my cards are very good. But I am happy with the front of this card! Used my new tiny bubbles embossing folder which is so cool to make blue paper look like water!!!

Challenges:
Creative Craft - Use a stamp (fish, shells and sentiment)
Etsyinspired - Inspired by this piece here because of the sea-shell shape (went with the beachy type theme).
Stamp Something - Summer
Stamping Vacation No-No Challenge - No ribbon

Monkeying Around!

The last of my zoo pictures to share...I promise!! Thanks for hanging in there...I atleast know a few of you are enjoying these! :)
They came out a little small this time so if you want to see them bigger just click on the picture to enlarge!


Momma with baby wrapped around her waist...could you imagine trying to hang on while she is swinging around?!


This reminds me of some "elder" watching the fort!


Love the colors around the face/neck!


Reminds me of King Kong!! LOL!

Love Tag and Embossing Bag!

Thought I would have a go at playing with my new Tattered Florals die, fired brick distress ink and cracked embossing folder. I think I like the red ink BEFORE I spritzed it with water to make it bleed. I didn't take a picture of that but I will probably try again later. What do you think...do you like this bleeding/washed out look of the red ink?? Also wish I had a bolder "Love" stamp because this one is really fine and the other items on the card are really big and stand out. But what I love most of all is my new handmade embossing bag!!! I used it before applying my versamark and gold powder and it works like a charm!!!

Here is what it looks like!


Edited to add: I have tested with many different colors of paper and powder and the only thing I found is that if you use ultra fine powder...especially black....you will still get a few specks but I have gotten a few tips from others on how to handle this. Either use a USED dryer sheet prior to the embossing bag or you can use a fine tip paint brush to take away the extra stubborn flecks of embossing powder. I have heard this is a common issue no matter what type of bag you use.

This is just like the embossing buddy from Stampin' Up and I was wondering if anyone would be interested in purchasing?? (Fabric may vary) Stampin' Up sells them for around $6-$7. I am going to sell mine for $3 each plus shipping (which should not cost much because these are very small and lightweight!!). I would also discount if you bought more than one! Would anyone be interested?? Send me an e-mail if your interested. My information is in my profile!
Thanks!
-Stacie

Now for a few challenges!
Crazy 4 Challenges - Paper Flowers
Cupcake Craft - Strawberries and Cream (colors)
EBTKS - Sketch
KLSNS #35 - Let's Get Shabby
Oh Alice! - Crazy for Daisy Chains (cracks are supposed to signify the wave)
ABC Challenge - X is for xtra dimension
Corrosive - Black and white with another color (I picked red) Hope the brown is okay...saw a few DT cards with brown and another color so thought it was a safe bet?
Creative Craft - Use a stamp (love sentiment)
Stamping Vacation No-No Challenge - No Ribbon
Aud Sentiments - Love

The Mighty Powerful!

Thought I would show you some more of my zoo pictures. Yes, I am a photography nut...and what I have been showing you are only a few of my top picks...I literally take hundreds or thousands of pictures on a single trip! It is a tad ridiculous I know BUT I have fun!! And my thought is out of 100 pictures I might be happy with a handful of them so the more I take the better chancees I have of finding a few I absolutely love!

The size and power that these animals have just amazes me...look at the body on this elephant!!


This lion is still a baby and look at those paws!! HUGE!!


I thought this photo captured the power of the rhinos horn...never would I want to come head on with one of these in the wild!


Look at the massive head on this snake!! Mom...this is for you because I know how much you just LOOOOOOOOOOOVE snakes!! ... did anyone else pick up on the sarcasm?? LOL! I just couldn't help myself...I had to post this awesome picture!


I only have one more post of animal pictures and I hope to do that in the next few days. For those of you not interested in animals thanks for hanging in there with me on all these posts...I have been trying to balance it out with some crafty stuff in between so you don't get bored!

-Stacie

Happy Father's Day!!

I love how the front of this card turned out!! I used perfect pearls for the first time and even though I love the effect I sure did make one heck of a mess using it!! LOL! I'm not the best at decorating the inside of cards so I figured I better practice and on this one I just used this pocket watch to play off the clockworks embossing on the front and also the sentiment..."Worlds Greatest Dad Of All Time!". And that is so true....I love my daddy...he is the best!! :) I am cooking dinner at my house tomorrow night to celebrate and hopefully I can challenge him to a game of bowling on the Wii! Your going down pops! LMAO!

Challenges:
A Crafty Little Place - One for the boys
Creative Craft - For a man
Creative Inspirations - One for the boys
Cupcake Craft - One for the boys
Etsyinspired - Inspired by this piece here because of the vintage look and colors
EBTKS - Sketch (I flipped it)
Fab N' Funky - Just for dad
Polka Doodle - Father's Day/ Male Theme
Corrosive - Black and white with another color
Stamping Vacation - Color Word Search (Red and White)