Flowersoft Topiary

Digi is from Tiffany Doodles


*Close-up to show the dimension and hopefully you can see the black glitter on the bows!*

Challenges:
Tiffany Doodles - Flower Power
Allsorts - Inspiration from a garden or park
Bee Crafty - Anything with a digi
Crafty Sentiments - Summer Inspiration
Cupcake Craft - Digital
Stamping Vacation Pick 3 Challenge - I picked a metal embellishment (brad), glitter (black glitter on bows), patterned paper with yellow in it

Babushka Doll #3

I am MUCH happier with this Babushka card than the last one even without a sentiment! I think because I had more time to look and think about this card. My work is never at its best when I am in a hurry! These colors remind me of Fall ... I just love that season!! :)
Digi is from The Stamping Boutique

Challenges:
Fan N' Funky - 3 papers, 2 embellishments and 1 image
Friday Sketchers - Sketch
Crafty Catz - Orange, blue and brown
Crazy 4 Challenges - Lattice (used a lattice border punch)
Bee Crafty - Anything goes with a digi on it
Cupcake Craft - Digital
Stamping Vacation Clear As Mud - The word is "candy" but you can't have any actual candy on your project so I am using another Babushka Doll as an interpretation of a "candy" holder!
Tiffany Doodles - Flower Power

Get Well Soon

This is a bit different for me as I usually always color an image. I wanted to try and do a clean and simple card. I like how it turned out but my glitter glue decided to make a "splat" when I was drawing the swirl on the butterfly so it kind of globbed up and my ribbon isn't exactly centered ... I guess you win some and you lose some! Perfection is over-rated right?? Overall I love the bright and cheery feel to this card! :)

Challenges:
For Fun Challenges - Anything with ribbon or lace
Flutterby Wednesday - Anything with butterfly, fairy or angel
Delightful Challenges - Girlie with pearls (on butterfly) and lace (made lace border on cardstock)
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturdays - Get Well or Good Luck
OTWC #22 - Use colors from this photo as inspiration!




Stamping Vacation Build-A-Sketch - Sketch
Stamping Vacation No-No Challenge - No brads or eyelets
Stamping Vacation State Your State - Butterfly for Vermont
Stamping Vacation Get The Music In You - Black Magic Song (All I kept thinking was black paper...I think it has to do with the black magic coredinations! LOL!)
Penny's Challenge - Pink and Green
7 Kids College Fund Challenge - Strip it down....NO MORE than 2 layers of design paper (I didn't use any design paper so I would certainly call this stripped down!) :P
Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes

Babushka Doll #2

Digi is from The Stamping Boutique

Well my blog re-design isn't finished yet but I am happy I was able to figure out a 3 column template and I see some of you were shocked I put a pic of myself/hubby as my avatar...figured I would keep you on your toes! HEHE!

Now this is a card I did in a hurry and I'm not really happy with it. I feel like it needs something else....but then again maybe that is just because I don't have a sentiment put on it yet?? Either way, I figured I better show the good, the bad and the ugly! LOL!

Challenges:
Cupcake Craft - Blue and Green

Under a little blogger construction!!

If my blog looks odd it is because I am trying to change it up a bit. Realized I had my first blogaversary in July and haven't changed my blog once! So I thought I was due for something different. Please hang in there with me as I am not a pro at this stuff!

Thanks!
-Stacie

Sunburst Boat

Digi is from TMITA

This is something I have NEVER tried before and I think it turned out pretty neat! I wasn't sure if I should go with just green grass because near the water the grass is usually patchy with sand and grass, so that is the effect I was going for here by using sand and sage flowersoft. Do you like the two tone look or do you think it should be all green??

Challenges:
Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge - Sketch
Stamp, Scrap and Doodle Saturdays - Use the color "Kraft"
Digital Tuesday - water, beach or tropical (I thought of boating!)
Stamping Vacation No-No Challenge - No brads or eyelets!
Stamping Vacation What A Guy Challenge - Anything that represents speed

New Recipes

No card right now but I did want to share a few new recipes I made. I got a good response the last time I posted something like this so thought I would show you some new food yumminess every once in awhile.

This is a Grilled Eggplant Panini
Recipe can be found HERE!
As you can see I did mine a bit differently. I only had whole wheat hamburger buns so used those instead, I used green onion in place of the red onion...I would not recommend this unless you are going to cook the onions! Next time I will use a yellow onion as I do not like the red ones. Also I would recommend taking the skins off the eggplant because they were a little chewy. But overall not a bad recipe.



This is becoming a big hit around here...I have already made it a few times.
Peach and Blackberry Clafouti (Custard)
Recipe can be found HERE!
One of the very few times I don't mess with a recipe! I did however have to cook it MUCH longer than it said because it was just soup at 45 minutes!



If you try either of these recipes I would love to know!
Enjoy!
-Stacie

Birthday Fun! (Photo Heavy Post!)

Thought I would share with you my birthday weekend fun! It all started Saturday after hubby got home playing golf we took off to Michaels where I found some great bargains!!


Then for dinner we went to the Melting Pot...I love this place but you eat so much that you feel miserable afterwards! LOL! I still can't resist because it tastes soooooo good! Also got to use a coupon for a free chocolate fondue for my birthday....I love freebies!
For those of you that don't know what the Melting Pot is click HERE to check it out.

Then Sunday we went to spend the day at Newport on the Levee in Kentucky. HERE is a link. First we went to try some Dewey's Pizza and it was pretty tasty! I liked how you could do a half/half pizza without any troubles. I always like to customize my food so I got the Billy Goat with bacon and hubby got the Dr. Dre special! Some seriously funny names for a pizza! Then they gave me a free glass for my birthday....bonus!



After that we went to Claire's...haven't been there forever and even though I think they cater mainly to the younger generation I did happen to find a few things I liked so hubby got them for me.




Next it was off to Barnes and Noble for a LONG look at papercrafting magazines....my first time looking at these and I must say the choices were overwhelming! Only bought one because they are expensive!! Anywhere between 6-18 dollars EACH! I did jot down the ones I like so maybe I will get a subscription later for much cheaper.



Newport also has one of my FAV ice cream places...Cold Stone Creamery!! YUMMMMMMMMMMM!!! Lo and behold I had a free ice cream coupon for my b-day to use there also! YAY! So we sat on the bench while eating our ice cream and watched this guy make balloon figures for some kids and listened to a band playing in the background.

(Barnes and Noble is on the left and Cold Stone Creamery is on the right in this photo...AMC is where we went for our movie later on in the day)

Next we went on a walk across the bridge to the Cincinnati, Ohio side and on our way back decided we wanted to see a movie.


So we went to see "Salt" and it was a really good movie...I highly recommend it!! After that we went to Gameworks and played some Skee-Ball and one video game where you ride around in this hummer going really fast on a racing course and the machine you sit in moves too so needless to say we were both a little car sick. LMAO! Yep, definately old school games for us from now on!


Finally we tapped off our night at the Hoffbrauhaus...a German brewery/eatery! DELISH!! My ancestors were German so no wonder I love this food so much...unfortunately it is not "health" food so moderation is required! So as you can tell I had a royal blast and I have my sweet hubby to thank for making it happen!








CHEERS!
-Stacie

My Birthday Candy Winner!!!

Hey everyone! Thank you for all the birthday wishes....I had a GREAT time this weekend celebrating with my hubby. I will try and post some pictures tomorrow!

Now for the winner of my birthday candy....I had 24 eligible people so I wrote down all the names and cut up the paper and stuffed in a Cincinnati Reds baseball cap (they have been doing good this year!) and had hubby pull out a name and he picked out...................TERRIAVIDREADER!!!!! YAY!!!

Please e-mail me with your address by this Sunday August 29th or I will have a re-draw.

Thanks again to all my old/new followers, anyone that has ever left me a comment and those that entered my candy! It all makes me smile! :)

Hugs!
-Stacie

My Birthday Candy!!!

**THIS CANDY IS NOW CLOSED**



In less than 2 weeks on August 22nd it will be my birthday!! YAY! I love birthdays and presents too of course so I thought I would share a little birthday candy! My favorite color is blue so I gathered up a few "blue" items and also added a clear stamp, a d'vine swirl embossing folder and a little assortment of stamped images!

So what do you have to do to have a chance at winning??
1. You must be a follower but please only follow if you like what you see and are going to stay!
2. Post about this on your blog (you can use the candy picture) and link it back to me
3. Leave me a comment on this post! EASY!
4. This is OPTIONAL but I would LOVE LOVE LOVE if you would go over to the Stamping Vacation Blog and become a new follower and mention my name in a comment. I am a new DT member and we are having a contest until October...I am in second place at the moment so thought I would try to step it up a notch!!

The candy will run until August 22, 2010 and sometime after that I will choose a random winner. Oh and if I get atleast 29 people to enter the candy and 100 followers I will add a little extra something! I picked 29 because that is how old I will be! HEHE!

Alrighty now go spread the word!! If this goes well I will have another candy soon!!

Thanks!
-Stacie

Only 5 more eligible comments to go!!!!

You guys are awesome!! I can't believe I now have 112 followers!! Thank you!!!
Just a reminder that you have the rest of tonight and all day tomorrow to get 5 more people over here to enter my candy and that will give the winner something extra in the prize pack!! Who knows I just might even pick two winners if I reach my goal!

-Stacie

Fairy Card Kit

Fairy Card Kit courtesy of my pal Annmaree!

Challenges:
Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes
Charisma Cardz - Die cuts
Stamping Vacation No-No Challenge - No brads or eyelets!

Only 13 more eligible comments to go!!!

Alright ladies and gentlemen....time is running out to enter my candy! There are only 4 more days left! One goal was met....I got over 100 followers!!! YAY!! To be honest I really didn't think that would happen and right now I am at 107 so I am over the moon excited!! Now I only need 13 more people to enter my candy to meet my second goal and that means MORE candy added to the pot for the lucky winner!!!

Thanks and good luck in the drawing for those already entered!!
-Stacie

New Goodies

Just thought I would show you some of my new goodies! Now I want to state that I did not buy all of this in one stop...this is stuff I have gotten over the past few months and most everything was on a very reduced sale. Some of it I have bought myself, part of it I got from winnings, several things my hubby let me buy for my birthday and a couple of items my mom has also gotten for me as an early birthday present.
You should of seen my eyes as the packages were coming in the mail....I was as giddy as a school girl! I am still beaming from ear to ear!! :)






Hope you enjoyed the peek into my craft supplies!
By the way...only 7 more eligible comments needed in 3 days for my candy to get a little extra something for the winner!!

-Stacie

Relaxing Turtle

Digi is from Digital Doodling

I am on a card making roll lately! But I start back to work tomorrow so we will see how that goes! Always hard going back to school after having the entire summer off!

Challenges:
EBTKS - Sketch
Aud Sentiments - Use the word "relax"
Crafty Catz - Animal
Totally Gorjuss - Aqua
The Pink Elephant - Ribbon and Sparkles (The ground is actually distress stickles but you can't see the sparkle in the picture very well)
Lollipop Crafts - Pets (Tell me I'm not the only one that has had a pet turtle?!)
Stamping Vacation No-No Challenge - No brads or eyelets!
Stamping Vacation Home Sweet Home Challenge - Rustic (I used natural fibers and an animal found in nature plus lots of blue and green)

Watering Can Card

I have seen these cards around before on different blogs and decided to give it a try. It is a freebie template over at Waltzingmouse Stamps! They also have a competition going on right now and you could win a free stamp set but you gotta act fast because it ends tonight!!

Challenges:
Waltzingmouse - Use one of their templates
Delightful Sketches and Challenges - Insect plus stripes and spots.
** Thanks Annmaree for the butterfly!! **
Cute Card Thursday - Trees or leaves (I put leaves with my flowers!)
Totally Gorjuss - Aqua
The Pink Elephant - Summer Fun (I love having flowers during the summer....they look and smell so pretty!)
Simon Says - Summer and blue
Flutterby Wednesday - Must have an angel, butterfly or fairy
C.R.A.F.T Challenge - Insects

1st Ever Stamping Vacation DT Introductions!

Part 1 is HERE!

Part 2 is HERE!

Please pop over and see all the other amazing women on the DT with me and while your there it would be so great if you would become a new follower and if you do PLEASE leave Denise a comment on the Stamping Vacation blog saying I sent you! We are having a contest going on til October so I might be a broken record til then trying to get you to join and mention my name!! LOL!

Thanks!
-Stacie

Food Related Post!

So I got into a cooking mood yesterday and was in the kitchen ALL afternoon!!
I am including the recipes but I did not follow any of them to a "T" because I like to doctor things up my own way! If you have any questions please ask!

This is one of my fav pasta salads from Taste of Home!
Click HERE for the recipe!




This is a new bread recipe I decided to try and it went over well at home especially dipped in some garlic and herb olive oil! YUM!
Click HERE for the recipe!



And the grand finale...a French Silk Peanut Butter Cake!!! I made two separate cakes...one heart shaped and one round because I do not have two round cake pans. Still turned out wonderful....my hubby was THRILLED as PB is his favorite!
I must say I am not a PB fan at all and I even liked it!!!
Click HERE for the recipe!



And this is the inside...hard to see the filling but that is the good stuff!! LOL!


So what do you think....do you like seeing recipes on here??
Would you like me to share more?? Just trying to see if I have an interest for this or if I should maybe start a separate blog strictly for food related stuff??
Let me know what YOU want!!! This blog is for you to read and I want to keep things interesting!!

Oh and if you try any of these recipes let me know what you think!!
-Stacie

Crowned Heart Mini Card

I was messing around with some new products and this is what I came up with today. A little bit of Tim Holtz inspiration don't ya think?

This happens to fit a few challenges:
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Things with wings
Stamping Vacation Very Vintage - Anything faded
Stamping Vacation No-No Challenge - No brads or eyelets!

I MADE TOP 5!!!!

This card was picked as Top 5 over at the Lil Lolita Boutique ChallengeHERE!

I am on cloud 9!!
THANK YOU and I will display my badge with pride!!!
-Stacie

Artistic Scrap Pages!

My light box isn't big enough for scrap pages so these pictures aren't the best but atleast you can see what I did. I tried to crop a close up picture of where I stamped "Artist" from one of the Tim Holtz stamp sets. I stamped in white then went over in black...the effect looks pretty cool in person...too bad you all can't drop by my house to see it!! LOL!
These are my first completed scrap pages! The individual pictures are of my nephews artwork that he did in highschool and they all got put in the Artsonia website. I even wrote Artsonia on the left page....tried to make it look like the "artwork" wording on both pages and I think it turned out good! Also dry embossed the numbers 2010 but I don't think you can see that in this picture. There is alot to be said for seeing things in person I guess! Well, I hope you enjoyed taking a looksy!
-Stacie

Challenges:
Stamping Vacation Very Vintage - Anything faded
Stamping Vacation Special Month - Artist Appreciation
Stamping Vacation NO-No Challenge - No brads or eyelets!

Question about corner rounders

I am going to my local scrapbook store tomorrow and was wondering what type of corner rounder is best?? One of the little cheapies or something better like the corner chomper?? Or if you have other tips without using one of these that would be even better!!

Thanks!
-Stacie

I see London.....I see France....

Shame on you for thinking about looking at my underpants!!! LMAO!! I know it is bad humor but maybe a few of you will get a chuckle out of it.



I am not 100 percent happy with this card but thought I would show it anyways. Been trying new things lately and this is the first time I have ever tried putting a tag on a card. The one thing I wish I did different was use an eiffel tower stamp or die cut instead of a digi. I am not that good at cutting out pieces in the middle of an image and I wish those two white spaces in the middle were gone!! Grrr! I know most of you would just get your trusty craft knife out and go to town but me and my craft knife don't get along very well! LOL!

Challenges:
Etsy Inspired - Inspired by the pendant HERE
Clearly Delightful CDBC8 - Use a tag
Fab N' Funky - Favorite color(s) ... my fav color is BLUE!!
Crafty Sentiments - Chipboard or cardboard (tag is cardboard)
A Crafty Little Place - Use a tag
Delightful Sketches and Challenges - Distressing
Creative Inspirations - Recycled Element (tag is cardboard from packaging)
Stamping Vacation Very Vintage - Anything faded
Stamping Vacation Special Month - If the eiffel tower isn't art I don't know what is!! So this is one of my interpretations of artist appreciation!

Thanks for stopping by and while your here check out the candy I have up for grabs...it is a post that will stay at the top of my blog!

-Stacie

All is fair in love and war!

Image is from Tickled Pink Stamps
Sentiment is an American Crafts Rub-On

So your probably wondering about my title today aren't ya? Well, I was on a roll creating cards yesterday and decided to do one more and I wanted to do a "love" card. Needless to say I have never had so many problems with a card before!! It was an all out war between me and this card! LOL! I made SEVERAL mistakes that I had to fix or shall I say "hide"! Overall I think I won the battle!! What do you think? Did I hide the mistakes so good that you can't find them?

Challenges:
Lil Lolita Boutique - Use one of the Lil Lolita images and bling it up (used a viva decor glitter pen to make all the glittery dots in the upper left corner!) Also added some stickles to her flower bouquet.
Tickled Pink Stamps - Sketch and also used one of their images!
Kaboodle Doodle - Add a little metal (metal brad in the center of both flowers)
Paper Sundaes - Metal
Delightful Sketches and Challenges - Distressing
Crafty Creations - Wedding or Anniversary (I think this would make a good anniversary card!)
Stamping Vacation Watch This - Three's Company (I used three different main colors....red, green and black)
Stamping Vacation Name That Card - Used the wording "You Knock My Socks Off" as inspiration.
Stamping Vacation Pick 3 - I chose these 3 (metal embellishment, glitter and an image with a "hand" in it)
Stamping Vacation Clear As Mud - The word is "Candy" but you can't actually have a piece of candy on your card so I am using the image as "eye candy"! Pretty clever huh? HEHE!

Bruno Bear

Image is Whiff of Joy
Sentiment - American Crafts Rub-On

Challenges:
Crafty Sentiments - Chipboard or cardboard (stars are cardboard)
Stamptacular Sunday - For a boy
CPS - Sketch
Stamp Something - Birthday
Secret Crafter - Male Theme
Crazy 4 Challenges - Cupcake
Charisma Cardz - Teddy Bear
Simon Says - Song Inspiration (Happy Birthday Song!)
Creative Inspirations - Recycled Element (Cardboard for the stars is from packaging!)
ABC Challenge - A is for August (My birthday is this month so thought this would be appropriate!)

Thanks for stopping by and soon I will have some candy up for my followers! So stay tuned!!

-Stacie

Angel with lots of white!!!

This had to be reposted.....I messed up something! SORRY!!!


Digi is from Karen's Doodles

This is the first time I have ever attempted a mainly white card....talk about hard!!! But I think this came up pretty good...what do you think?

Challenges:
Flutter By Wednesday - Use your fav color and either an angel, butterfly or fairy. My FAV color is blue!
Simon Says - Song Inspiration ... The song I thought of was You're My Angel By Aerosmith
Sir Stampalot - Bling (There is a TON of stickles on her wings!)
Totally Gorjuss - Sketch (I flipped it)
Oh Alice - All white except main image

I have another card to post in just a few minutes!
-Stacie

Strawberry Lolita

Digi image is from Busy Beauties

Challenges:
Allsorts - Primary Colors
Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes
Stamping Vacation Inspiration Station - I was going with the ladies being all dressed up!
Stamping Vacation Special Month - I went with anti-boredom because this is far from boring!! LOL!

1st Birthday Card

Stamp is Whiff of Joy

Challenges:
Polka Doodle - Sketch
Stamp Something - Photo Inspiration (pink, birthday, flowers, candles)
Practical Scrappers - Create a project about a 1st (this is for a 1st birthday)
Practical Scrappers - Use the number "1" or the word "one"
Delightful Sketches and Challenges - Distressing
Fab N' Funky - Spots and Stripes
7 Kids College Fund - Pink and Dots
Stamping Vacation Animal Applause - Animal you can safely hold in your arms
Stamping Vacation Watch This - Three's Company (I used thre flower embellishments in the corner!)
Stamping Vacation State Your State - Flowers are to look like Missouri Flowering Dogwoods

Aloha Mermaid!

I'm back to crafting!! It has been nearly 3 weeks since creating anything and it feels good to finally have something to show you! I did do 20 tags last week for a swap but forgot to take a picture....go figure! In the past 3 weeks I've been doing alot of other stuff with family and friends so I have certainly kept busy! Also been buying some new craft goodies! YAY! I will be posting about that later!
So onto my card...I just love this gorgeous mermaid from Karen's Doodles! Colored her up with Copics and Prismas with OMS. Added some of my new Viva Decor for that glittery bling and use a sentiment from a cheapie dollar set that I think came from Michaels. The squiggles/bubbles at the top is a stamp from CDS which worked out perfect with a little glossy accent on the bubbles. The paper is just scraps and the yellow is embossed with my new tiny bubbles folder. I just love how this card came together and the colors are really soothing!




Challenges:
Stamping Vacation Build-a-Sketch #7 - Use pieces to create a sketch
Stamping Vacation Inspiration Station - Use a photo for inspiration (I thought of water)
Stamping Vacation Color Combo - Dark blue, light blue and yellow
Stamping Vacation No-No Challenge - No white!
Stamping Vacation Fountain of Youth - Water theme
Stamping Vacation Pick 3 - I chose glitter, an image that has a "hand" in it and PP with yellow in it (the bikini backing paper has a few yellow polka dots).
Charisma Cardz - Something with a tail
Crafty Calendar - Summer
Crafty Creations - Summer Lovin'
Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
Etsy Inspired - Inspired by this mermaid card HERE!
Karen's Doodles - Anything Goes
Oh Alice - I used glossy accents on the bubbles in the stamped image above the mermaid!
Simon Says - Going dotty
Practical Scrappers - Fav product is any type of glitter! Gotta have the bling! :)

-Stacie

Fun times last week....

Just a few pictures I wanted to share with you from last week. It was a very busy week indeed after cleaning/reorganizing my craftroom I had two of our nephews over for a few days (ages 2 and 3). We had so much fun going to 3 different parks, playing with water guns, coloring, doing puzzles, making kool-aid ice cubes, having picnics, going to the fair, etc.!! This is what happens when you have too much fun in 90 degree weather....all the boys (2 nephews and my hubby) passed out on the couch! LMAO!! I just had to snap a picture!! Oh and the stories I could tell of the funny stuff they said or did....I bet all of you that have kids know what I'm talking about right??!! Kids are just great!!



And here is one of my other nephews...the one that just graduated highschool this year! His grad party was this past weekend so lots of family and friends were there but I just wanted to share one picture of him and a few of his friends playing Rock Band. He is the one at the microphone. You know it is serious when you have to put a headband on! LOL! It was so stinkin' hot that day and we were all roasting and sweating like pigs....but all in all I think everyone had a good time! And yes, I got crazy on Rock Band also...I played the guitar! It is addicting until yours eyes start to hurt!



Okay, next post will have some crafting or crafty goodies involved...I PROMISE!!!
-Stacie

Another review on my embossing bag!!

Here is another review on my embossing bag! Check it out HERE!
If you would like to make a purchase just e-mail me! They are only $3 each plus shipping compared to other brands that cost $6-$7 so you could get two of mine for the price of one elsewhere!

Thanks!
-Stacie

Exciting DT News!!

I would like to announce that I was accepted as part of Stamping Vacation's New Design Team!! This will only be my second DT position but this time I have blogging friends on the DT so that makes this extra special! Denise (owner of Stamping Vacation) is so super friendly and she has a WIDE variety of challenges! She has a challenge for almost every day of the month so I'm sure you will be able to find one that you like! The challenges I will be doing are the Build-A-Sketch and the No-No challenges! SUPER FUN!! Go check them out HERE along with the other challenges and while your there I would really appreciate it if you would become a follower and leave Denise a comment saying that Stacie sent you! We have a bit of a contest going on right now so I could use all the support I can get from you all! If you would let your friends know that would be great too and don't forget to mention my name or I won't get credit! Thanks so much!!! One last thing, the more challenges you join in right now for the month of July the better chance you have of winning a $25 gift certificate to All That Scraps!! YES, you heard me right $25 gift certificate to buy whatever your heart desires!! Now go have some fun!
-Stacie