About Me

My photo
Carlisle, Pennsylvania
I am a stay at home mom..now that is! February 19th, 2007 I was involved in a car accident while on vacation in Florida. I awoke in ICU to find out that my only two children Annemarie age 3 and Michael age 5 did not make it. Scrapbooking became such a big part of my life. It helped fill a void that I desperately needed to fill. Our therapist suggested that I take up scrapbooking as a way to memorialize my children, little did she know! So I took that and ran with it.I became obsessed with scrapping and took over the second largest room in my house. Because of my injuries I couldn't go out and get a job, I just scrapped!I printed out 2,000 photos and my journey began. I have made albums for family members and layouts to decorate my craft room. We thought we were done having kids but who expected this tragedy??? I just gave birth in June 2009 to two beautiful baby girls Mia Anne and Gianna Marie named after their brother and sister.I swore that I would keep up with their albums so I won't become overwhelmed so we will see how that works out! My profile picture is the last family picture that was taken of all of us.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Scraps to treasures??





When I saw the challenge over at Raise the Bar I just chuckled because I knew it was the challenge for me. I started out on this project thinking that I would have to break my New Years resolution of using my scraps so I can complete the Raise the Bar challenge. I went and got out my first ever paper pack that I bought which was a 6X6 DP pack (don't know the name since the cover is long gone!). When I started matching other challenges with it I was getting all giddy inside because I was back on my Scrap Wagon again!!!

I went to get new cardstock to make a card and laying on top was this cut but not done tote bag that I had cut out last spring but never used. It fit perfectly into the challenge so I decided to use it. I then broke out the circles that I had punched out of my scraps and made flowers with them to fit into the other challenge. Perhaps I over did it on this little tote but I was just happy that I managed to use my scraps and not break my promise!! I colored my Magnolia stamp with Prismacolor pencils and accented it with some Stickles. The Stickles are still wet in the photo so they really pop out. I popped up my Magnolia stamp with some pop dots for dimension.

The challenges I created this tote for are:

The Play Date Cafe color challenge.
Friday Sketchers Sketch Challenge
Humble Pie FLower challenge. I didn't realize that I didn't have 5 flowers on there until the bag was put together so I quickly stamped some flowers on the background which didn't come out to good since the bag was already put together.
Just MagnoliaHearts & Flowers challenge
Raise the Bar"Older is Better" challenge. My DP is from 2002 or maybe 2003 when I started scrapbooking...think that qualifies???? LOL
The Corrosive Challenge LOVE

Saturday, January 30, 2010

My Sweet "Unusual" Valentine box




I still managed to use my scraps on this one!! Of course with the exception of having to use new cardstock to make the box. I think the green DP is a bit dark for a valentine but I am still trying to stick to my New Years resolution and use my scraps.

This is a cute box that I made using some DP scraps and some cardstock pieces along with my Hello Kitty cartridge for the Cricut. I used pop dots to elevate Hello Kitty for a bit more dimension. Inside I will put some homemade truffles. It will hold aprox. 4-6 depending on how big I make them. It was a really quick and simple "unusual colored" box for Valentine's Day.

The challenges included with this post are:

Cricut Cardz Challenge THe challenge was to make a Valentine's Day project and to use only green,black, lavender & white.

Just Buggin' All about Food challenge.

Our Creative Corner sketch challenge

Polka Doodle's"Non-Traditional" Valentine's challenge

The secret crafter Hearts challenge

Cute Card Thursday "Blooming" gorgeous flower challenge

Thursday, January 28, 2010

My SSC cards :)




Here is another two simple scrap cards (SSC) that I pulled out of the wreakage of my scrap paper.

The first is a super simple Thank you card that I made to fit the Color Throwdown challenge to use Eggplant Envy, Baja Breeze and Certain Celery.

For the next card I needed a baby card for the Simon Says New Baby Challenge to give to a friend who doesn't know if she is having a boy or a girl. I found a circle with a scalloped edge in my scrap pile and realized that I could use it for the
Sweet Sketch Wednesday challenge. I added the circles that I had cut out the other day with my Stampin Up circle punch to complete the sketch and embossed them on my Cuttlebug. I followed the color challenge on the Color Createblog. I used my Peachy Keen Baby Monkey Stamp which I stamped twice and cut out the umbrella to make it 3D to fit the Pixie Dust Studio challenge.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Another set of scrap cards





I am happy to have more scraps out of the way. It's kinda neat to see what you can come up with when you challenge yourself. If I were to use whatever I wanted I could make an awesome card but to me I get tickled when I come up with a card out of a scrap. When I was looking thru one of my piles of scraps I came across the smallest, thinnest pieces of paper. I couldn't believe that I saved them..quite frankly I was ashamed!! I have a talk with myself and say OK no more itty bitty pieces. But then the sad thing is, is that I ended up using that teeny tiny piece of paper and there goes my vow! Back to saving everything.

Here are three more cards I did with 100% scraps.

My first card is the larger card that was for the Allsorts Hearts & Flowers Challenge and the Inspirational SKetch challenge.

The next is a very simple card that I made for the The Cuttlebug Spot black & silver challenge. Hard to tell in the pic but the white card stock is embossed. I then used a punch for some silver paper and found the perfect size black cardstock to fit inside. I used silver embossing powder with my new Close to My Heart Child's Portrait stamp set.

For my last card I used the sketch from Papertake Weekly. I found an image that I had stamped using my Peachy Keen PK-317 Ice-skating Penguin couple for some christmas cards that I was gonna do (You know the ones that I never sent out??)! Added some other scraps and a little doodad for the sentiment and it was done.

I'm off again to dive into my heap of scraps to see what I can find. It's kinda like a treasure hunt or shall I say scavenger hunt!!

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

More scrap cards - 3 cards in one post





Okay I am sitting here cracking myself up. I am soooo happy to be using my scraps that I am just besides myself. I made these 3 cards up quick with scraps and images that I had stamped and never used. I have drawfuls of them unfortunately. Figured I would use them up in my effort to get rid of all the stuff I have hoarded.

First was a boy card I did for the Charisma Cardz Fruity Colors challenge. Put together some scraps, an old stamped image of a car from Martha Stewart and added some Stickles.

Second I did a quick card for my niece who is doing really good in school. She loves elephants so I had the perfect DP in my scrap heap and I found an elephant that I had stamped sometime ago but never used. I stamped WAY TO GO on the inside. I know the images don't really match that well but she loves elephants and she is only 6 years old anyway! I followed the sketch over at 2 Sketches 4 You.

The last card I did was a simple card for the Kaboodle Doodles Pink, Lemon, Green & plum color challenge. I found this piece of scrap and just stamped a sentiment in the corner. The card is very simple but can be used for a variety of things.

Well I am off again to seek & destroy! You can tell that I don't get out that much..having to much fun with this!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Big dent in my scrap pile (s)!!






I don't know about you but I have such a blast challenging myself to make something with only my scraps. My scrap boxes are out of control and I am on a mission to get a handle on it. I first made a bunch of paper flowers with some of my scraps. Then I found a bunch of ivory squares and scalloped mats in my pile so I thought hhhmmm I will use these. Then I decided to use new stamp that I just got from Close to My Heart. I guess I should of picked out the paper before I stamped the images but it worked out okay cause I had plenty to pick from!!! I would just find a piece of paper and make it work for my card so that is why each card is different. Everyonce in a while I like to go back to my "roots" and just use simply ol' stampin ink. The hardest part or most time consuming was the flowers because each flower has 6 layers. But after all was said and done I was so proud of myself that I got rid of a bunch of my scraps and came up with some cute cards. Then I got sad again and realized how much more I had to go before I even made a teeny weeny dent in my scrap hoardage! So.....off I go to see whatelse I can pull out of my Magic Scrap box! I am a woman on a mission!

Enjoy!

I submitted these to the Cupcake Craft "matching set" challenge and the
Cute Daisy May vintage challenge.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Love in a box!!







The minute I saw the challenge over at the Peachy Keen Stamp Challenge I was sooooo excited. The challenge was to make a purse/tote in a winter theme (Valentine's Day, Winter, Snow etc.) and it had to have a stamped image on it. This sounded like such a fun challenge and it got my gears in my head going! Plus the prize is by Annie's Attic and my daughters name was/is Annie. I knew I had to do it the problem was deciding what to do. At first I made a clutch purse but it was kinda small and wouldn't work with what I wanted to do with it. SO I started over and this is what I came up with. WHen I made my clutch purse I didn't have a two sided Valentine's day themed paper so I made my own with 2 pieces of 12X12 paper and Craft Bond. When I switched to another project I didn't want to waste the paper so I decided to use that one. I cut 14 2" squares and rolled them into cones. Even if I tried to describe how this worked out you wouldn't truly understand it. The glue I used just kept popping open and I used really good tape to! I won't get into the whole story but let's just say I have some hair clumps on my craft room floor right now....mixed in with the little pieces of paper from the backing of my tape.

I made my cones into an ornament. I cut out two scalloped hearts from Doodlecharms on my Cricut. I got to use my new stamp set from Peachy Keen Stamps PK-531 Simple Sallies Face Assortment. I used the largest one in the package which I believe is the 1 3/8" stamp for the face on the heart. The handle is actually an adhesive border from K&Company. I was trying to find a place to put it on the box when I realized that it would make a perfect handle so I just didn't take the backing off. Used my Nestibilies to punch out the window and cut up a clear envelope to cover the opening.

I went thru my extremely vast scrap pile and picked some purple scraps out as well as some white and put it thru a crimper and then cut it into small pieces for some homemade confetti in the box for a splash of color. I think I will attach a gift card, money or a check to the back of the ornament as a gift.

I entered the tote into the following challenges:

Peachy Keen Stamp Challenge - to make a purse/tote

One Stop Craft Fancy Corners or edges

Bitten By The Bug 2 Valentine's Day with a splash of purple challenge

Papertake Weekly's Pink Challenge

Creative Card Crew's "Punch It" challenge

Monday, January 18, 2010

Football card






Okay I am sooooooooo ignorant when it comes to sports & know nothing about it! But my newphew at the age of 5 can probably tackle most adults!! Whatever you do don't hold a football near him or he WILL tackle you. My poor cousins little boy was over and saw a football and picked it up. Nobody had a chance to warn him! Next thing you know Richie Goo came out of no where charging and knocked the poor unexpecting kid down! Future line backer for sure...LOL if that is what they are called!


He lives far away but I wanted him to know how special he is even though we don't get to see him that much. He is a sport nut so I figured I would make him a birthday card in the shape of a football. I didn't want to make it fancy in away that he wouldn't appreciate it so I kept it on a kid level. I put the number 5 on his jersey for his age. I had to design & weld the football card in DS. I used Everyday Paper Dolls for my little adorable football guy. Using Peachy Keen's PK-490Character face stamp set and Prismacolor pencils to finish him off. I added lots of pop dots for dimension. This card is soooo much cuter in person but it was really windy out and hard to get a good picture. Did you see what was in the picture???? SUN yes SUN! To bad it is noon and I am still in my PJ's!!! I wanted to get this done before I moved on to something else.

I submitted this card to the Cricut Cardz man/boy challenge and the Pixie Dust Studio Shaped card challenge and the
Creatalicious Challenge.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

CHasing the blues away!~




What a crummy day here today. Perfect day to post a card using blues!! It is overcaset, rainy, & very gloomy. I finished the card last night but I wanted to wait until the morning for pictures so I could get a nice one outside in the sun. NOT! I went to bed last night figuring that I was going to pull this card apart because I thought it was to much when I added the snowflakes. One of the challenges I used this card for was to add lots of snowflakes. I thought that it overpowered the card. But when I tried to remove everything I was going to ruin it so I decided to leave it as is.

I got to use my new stamp set from Peachy Keen Stamps PK-19 What's So Funny? stamp set. I just loved this when I got it but I never had a chance to use it. I am trying to branch out and use more techniques. So when I stamped the snowman I stamped him twice. I roughly cut out the first one on scrap paper and placed it over the good one. I then took the tree stamp (set comes with only one tree) and stamped it behind the snowman in various places. I think this snowman symbolizes what all of us feel.....TIRED of this cold weather...on with the sun!

I got some Martha Stewart Tinsel glitter on clearance at ACMoore which I added to the snowman's body. I then sprinkled two different colors of MS glitter on the ground for the snow. I added Stickles & liquid applieque to the hat as well as to the trees.

I used the sketch from Papertake Weekly #32challenge. The challenge over at Whimsical Ink Sorority was not to use any DP. So I randomly stamped some flourishes on solid cardstock for my background design as well as the snowflakes from the stamp set. I just realized that I missed the deadline on this one...OOOPPSSS.

The other challenges I made this card for are:

Charisma Cardz "Anything new" challenge

The Play Date "blues" challenge

Stamp Something's Blue & White challenge

Humble Pies Bling CHallenge

Saturday Spotlight's"Snowflakes gone wild" challenge

Our Creative Corner's blue & green challenge

Friday, January 15, 2010

Christmas scraps turned into a Man Card????


Okay I think I may have pushed myself on this one! I was taking part in the Die Cuts R Us "Leftovers" challenge where we had to use leftover christmas scraps on a new card. I think I misunderstood it and thought that it had to be anything but a christmas card. I tried to combine it with The Color Throwndown's color challenge. That would of not been so bad but for some reason I thought the other challenge was to do a Man card. THAT is what made me just scratch my head...I couldn't use buttons or anything girly so I ended up with this. Imagine the yelp that came I had all of these leftover little pieces of paper so I used my Stampin Up photo corner bunch and just stuck the papers behind the "birthday wishes"...I know I am ridiculous!! I can't stand waisting anything!!
At this point I had to be done with this card since I have lots of baking to do!!

I used the sketch from Sketch Saturday.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Is it considered a card when you sew it together????





Okay!!!!!!! From the start this was one of those projects you should of just walked away from! I followed the sketch from Allsorts CHallenge blog. I decided to try to incorporate the paper pleating challenge from the Just Magnolia blog. That in itself was a challenge for me because I stink at measuring normally but to do this on a day where my girls refused to nap at all was well....I probably would have had an easier time climbing Mount Everest! I ran a nail file down the paper pleating front. Then I put it into a bundle and did the file on both sides. It is about 11pm at night so the pictures are really horrible. Unfortunately you can not see all of the details and texture as well as layering on this card.

I finally got the paper pleating sort of figured out so I decided to sew it on for added adhesive (besides I love sewing on my cards!). I was so relieved that I finally got the paper pleating done I was kinda doing a skip away from the sewing machine when I realized that I sewed the darn card together!!!!!!!!!!! I just wanted to fall to the floor and kick, scream and even throw a pout or two in there! I couldn't believe it! I don't know about you but once I put so much time in a card I REFUSE to ditch it. I ended up cutting it into strips & then adding it to another piece of cardstock.

The other challenges I submitted this card to:

Simon Says "Shabby Chic" challenge

Basic GreyPhoto Inspirational challenge. The pattern on the ivory paper as well as the pink paper (used Basic Grey LILYKATE paper) matches the wallpaper in the inspirational photos as well as the rug BUT it is very hard to make out in the photo...Sorry!

Just Us Girls Stitching challenge
SSD celebrations challenge
Crafty Creations Texture challenge

Saturday, January 9, 2010

A Mother's Love



I found this black and white piece of paper in my scrap pile and made myself do something with it. I made this simple card which of course made me very happy using more of my scraps!I figured it would be perfect for the Crafty Creations Black & White with a splash of color challenge. I also used this for the Saturday Spotlight "Love" without hearts challenge. A mother's loving embrace never needs words!

Posting away today!! Hopefully anyway!


Today is my day to have all to myself with no responsibilities!! So I plan to stay in my craft room and just go crazy. Don't be surprised if I have a gazillion posts today but then again I can be so slow!!

I got this image from Nina May over at There's Magic In the Air With Paper Cupcakes. The challenge was to use the image as well as a color theme. I had a hard time sticking to my New Year's resolution (using my scraps)on this one. It certainly is a colorful number.

The sketch is from Lord Have Mercy. The card also was submitted to
the Color Throwdown , Spoon Full Of Sugar's Heart Challenge and the Stamptacular Sunday's challenge. I had to substitute Rose Romance for Regal Rose and Really Rust for Dusty Durango.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

It's A Boy!



A friend of mine just found out yesterday that she was having a baby boy. After losing her first child early in her pregnancy she was doubtful she would try again. But so far so good and we are sooo happy for her. I decided to make her a card to congratulate them!

I am still trying to stick to my New Years resolution by using scraps or old stamped images that I never used. All of the paper with the exception of the airplane paper is scraps. I thought this occassion warranted a new piece of paper that was just perfect for this card! I used a new Martha Stewart stamp set last week for the airplane that I never used on my card. I think what throws me off is that the image comes out spotty no matter what I do. When I was cutting out the scalloped background for the circle it got all messed up but I refused just to throw away a good piece of paper (I am sooo cheap and save everything) so I made it work.

I made this card following these challenges:

CupcakeCraft's baby challenge

Papertake Weekly's "New Beginning" challenge

Pixie Dust Studio Pixie's FAB challenge

ABC's "L" is for layers challenge

Cute Card's All New challenge

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Man card made easy!


It is so true that you can make a gazillion feminine cards in about a minute but if you have to make a manly card it could take you hours for just one...well for me anyway!! That is until I came across this image! This is another great stamp from
Delicious Doodles. Again all of the hard work is done. I just added some distressing, Magic Mesh, Brads, and a sentiment. I cut the magic mesh for the upper right hand corners and the lower right hand corner and had little scraps left over. Me being such a cheapo and not wanting to just simply throw it away I just stuck it on the card. This is a very simple card but the main image takes center stage and I wanted to keep it that way.

This card is for the following challenges:

Get Sketchy
Cards for Men
Pollycraft CHallenge Blog
Charisma Cardz
Simon Says Stamp Challenge

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Love is in the Air




WOWSERS...was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this piece of digital artwork. I don't even want to call it a digistamp because it goes wayyyy beyond that! You can find the rose for sale at Delicious Doodles. This is what the image looked like before I kinda hide alot of the beauty of the stamp.

What I love about this stamp is you can just simply print it out on colored paper and all of the hard work is done for you!

I tried at first to do paper piecing on the rose but it just looked horrible. I ended up printing out 4 layers each one gradually smaller so I could give the rose dimension instead. I ended up only using two so the good news is that I have two left over to put on another project.

Supplies used:

Rose Digital Stamp from Delicious Doodles.

Prismacolor pencils
Anna Griffin Stamps
Stampin Up ~ Creamy Caramel to distress the sides and to stamp the image on the background randomly
Black Gems from Recollections (actually these are Halloween :D )


The sketch was from the Allsorts Challenge Blog. This card also satisfies Lily-Boo Too's Valentine challenge, Cute Daisy May's Love challenge, Creative Card Crew's distressing challenge and last but not least Everybody-Art-CHallenge.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Snowmany Thanks!




WHOO HOOOO I am still sticking to my New Years resolution! I had this piece of scrap paper that I trimmed a bit to fit on the card, then I took the part I trimmed and matted it with a darker color and added it to them bottom. I followed the sketch over at the Peachy Keen Sketch challenge. What you can't make out in the picture is a line at the top of the card that I added of snowflakes using my sewing machine. This was the first time that I was able to use two great stamp sets from Peachy Keen. I used the sentiment from PK-232 Large Snowflakes & Snow Faces and the sentiment from PK 327 Winter Peekers & Phrases. I added glitter to the snowflakes as well as the sentiment for a little bling and used pop dots to mount each snowflake. BOth of these sets are adorable and I am kinda bummed out that I never got a chance to use them sooner!

What I like about this size/format card is that it fits into a business envelope which you can buy by the boxes at the dollar store.

This card fits the challenge over at The Corrosive Challenge Blog, One Stop Craft Challenge and the Crazy For Fun Challenge.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

MY NEW YEAR RESOLUTION








Hello Everyone! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Mine was...well it was a bit crazy to say the least. The next fun thing I have to look forward to is my girls 1st birthday but that is not until June!

I went thru a period of just buying and hoarding stuff in my craft room. I saved everything you could imagine..even down to shoe string!! I have oodles of projects I haven't started and tons of scrap paper. I haven't even touched 1/4 of items that I have. SOOOOOOOOOOO my New Years Resolution is to not only use my scraps but to complete projects as well as use items that I purchased but never used.

Being a SAHM of twins 6 month old girls things get a bit hair raising to say the least. So my husband and I have decided to give each other one day a week to do whatever we wanted with no responsibilities!! The day before it was my day I was giddy like a school girl....I was so excited planning out what I was going to do. I stayed in my craft room until about noon in my PJ's listening to my hubby struggling to take care of my little ones. I sooo wanted to help him but I was like "NOPE" it's my day and you know what I really needed it. I truly wanted to stay in my craft room all day but I wanted to hit the mall and do some errands since it is a lot easier to do without lugging two babies and everything they need with you.

So my first challenge was to use my scraps and a stamp set that I never used. I never got around to sending out CHristmas cards (sad thing is that I have made them 2 years in a row but I have never sent them out). I started out making my cards and my friend Kim said to me that I was always complaining about all my scraps so why don't I just use those. And you know what she was right. I had a different idea for my cards but I made myself use my scraps.

Some of these cards are just really simple but they made me happy to use some of my scrap paper up. The Celebrate stamp was from Anna Griffin and the New Years Bear was a freebie I picked up from Splending Stamping with The Greeting Farm. I got some new Nestibilies to cut my frames. So I guess I went with the Something Old, Something New theme!

I just took pictures of all the cards that I made. I included the ones that don't qualify for challenges but I just stuck them in there anyway...Enjoy! Can't wait to move onto my next scrap pile or tool...gotta get it started while my little ones are sleeping and the roast is cooking in the oven!

Challenges these cards cover:

Rosie-D's Challenge

The Pink Elephant

Stamp Something

Stampin' For the Weekend