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.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

A quick reminder!

Today is the last day for the SVGATTIC challenge.  It is an easy one so if you want a chance to get some great  prizes make a quick project with a heart on it and link it up before time is up.  For all the details click HERE.
This is the card that I did for the challenge so I thought I would share it all with you again.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Shabby Chic Stamping I go!

I wanted to share with you some cards that I made using new stamps from Shabby Chic Stamp Company.  I gotta tell you one of my favorite favorite favorite things is that each stamp set comes with free STAMP Em's.  You download them with the purchase of a stamp set and it is like getting a free Nestie or die cut with each stamp!  It makes planning your cards even easier when you use them in your program.  And they fit each stamp perfectly.
 This one I cut out the chocolate rabbit from the Easter Elements set from SVG ATTIC.  I cut out the Stamp Em' for the sentiment in two colors and tied it to the ribbon.  I used BUNNY LOVE stamp set from Shabby Chic Stamp Company for both of the sentiments.
 For this card I used some scrap paper from October Afternoon as well as My Mind's Eye.  I got the February Market Fresh Kit from Market Street Stamps that came with these label stickers from October Afternoon.  When I saw the sticker with the chair I thought it would be perfect for this sentiment. The sentiment is from the Shabby Chic set.
 When I was making this one I was thinking of keeping it very simple with a natural look.  I stamped the cross from Easter Blessings in various brown tones of ink from Stampin' Up!  Distressed the edges with some Tim Holtz ink and cut it on my scalloped edge trimmer.  I thought it needed something else so I ran it through my crimper.  The sentiment is from Easter Blessings as well.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

My first album designed by me :)

Okay this has been a work in progress and has finally been finished.  I wanted to challenge myself to make an album completely from files that came from SVG ATTIC.  I can't believe it is finally done!!  Now I took a video of it since it is jammed packed with so many goodies and there would of been a gazillion pictures.  The video isn't the greatest since I am holding my camera with one hand and trying to show you the album with my other hand but hopefully you will get the idea. Please excuse the mousy noise which is my voice.  I am so stuffed with sinus issues.

Below I will list all the files that I used. I mention them in the video but you will be able to refer to either one. I thought I would fill this album with a mish mosh of things that I love in my life. I wanted it to be colorful and I think I accomplished that..LOL The papers I used were from October Afternoon.  I left some areas for journaling which I will do later.  I hope you like it and let me know if you have any questions.  Enjoy!

Okay these are the files I used (all available at SVGATTIC.com):

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Feels good to be crafting again

Yeah I am back.  Well sort of.  I don't have full motion and use of my hand but I have partial and that is all that counts!!  It gets my feet in the door of my craft room.  First I had a reaction to an immunization and couldn't use my arm for a couple of days.  Then on the same arm a couple of days later I had surgery.  It's been alittle over a week after the surgery and cast/bandages removed and I am slowly regaining strength in that arm/hand.

I haven't been on the computer for awhile and noticed that Market Street Stamps was having a Block Party.
Well right before all this happened I got my Stamp of the month kits from Market Street Stamps.  Oh boy that was torture!! I could only drool over them and not play with them.  BOO HOO for me.  So I decided to try to see if I could craft today.  I found out I couldn't use the tape gun because of my wrist but I made it work the best I could.  I didn't want to push it but I had fun with it.



I created this card with the February Market Fresh stamp kit.  OMG I fell in love the minute I got it.  What a beautiful doilie stamp.  The papers and goodies are so scrumptious. I love all this stuff so much I had to force myself to use it.

I inked up the doilie in a dark grey ink then "kissed" the edges with a red ink to give it the toned look.  I stamped it onto a spare tag that I cut out.  I glanced to my right and I had the stickers out that came with the kit and noticed this sticker that would fit perfectly so I decided to use it.  I wanted to add some background images.  I grabbed my Vintage Notepad background stamp and thought it needed something on the edges so I stamped two lines using my Simply Stitched borders set.  I distressed my papers in Tim Holtz's inks.  I decided I didn't like the tag so I cut it down but then I couldn't figure out what to do with it.  There were these awesome flowers of different textures so I played around with them and layered them and eventually came up with this card.  The button and the pearl are even from the kit. Completely different than what I wanted to come up with but hey I am just happy to be crafting again.

Well I am off to see how much more crafting my hand will handle...PFFTT who needs to clean?? LOL

Friday, February 24, 2012

Shabby Chic blog hop

Welcome to the Shabby Chic blog hop! We are celebrating the newly opened stamp company Shabby Chic Stamps and their gorgeous new stamps. If you came here from Jessica's blog then you are right on track. If not, you can start from the beginning HERE.

What's a blog hop without some candy??? Well we have some awesome prizes in store. One lucky winner will get ALL four newly released sets, four random participants will win one stamp set each, and one more lucky winner will win a $20 gift certificate to SVG ATTIC.COM which is Shabby Chic's sister company. All you have to do is become a follower of the Shabby Chic Facebook page and their blog. Then leave comments on all the blogs on the hop which stamp set you like the most. Don't forget to leave your contact information along with your comment on the posts so we have a way to contact you if you win. Once you are done you can leave a comment on the Facebook page that you are done hopping. That's it!!  There are four stamp sets that have been released with more in the works.  One of the things I love the most is that all the stamps come with FREE Stamp Em's. Stamp Em's can be cut out on your machine and fit the stamps perfectly. This is like getting a free Nestie with each stamp!! NOW that makes me smile :)

Here are some projects that I made with the newly released stamps. I do have a few more to share with you but due to hand surgery I did not get them done in time. I will be posting more this week and hopefully some more during the day.
These are a few that I made with the Easter blessings set. I wanted to show that this set does not only have to be used for Easter.

This is a sneak peek of one page I made of an album that I will be sharing with you all shortly.  I stamped and cut out the crosses from the Easter set on various DP.  

For this card I took the sentiments from the Irish Luck set and stamped them in various shades of green. I used Tim Holtz's Distressing ink to share the edges. I wanted to make my own background paper and love how it came out. I cut out this horse shoe from SVG Attic on my Silhouette.  Inked up the edges and added some stickles and ribbon.  Every year I make my friend a St. Patty's Day card but some how I never get them mailed out.  I joke that one day UPS will show up at her house with years worth of cards that I made for her.

 I already posts this one but I wanted to share with you another card I made with the Shabby Chic stamp set. I really like how this one came out. I designed it with my friend in mind and when she received it she loved it!  I used some of my new stash from My Mind's Eye. I spy with my little eye the butterfly from the Easter Blessings set :)

I hope to be completely healed soon so I can share with you some more projects that I made using my new Shabby Chic Stamps.  But for now you can hop on over to CARLEY's blog to finish the hop!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Not to "Shabby"

Hello Everyone! Things are a bit crazy here so I am delayed in getting this post up. I am due to get surgery this week on top of it being the 5th Anniversary of the date our two children went to heaven. I usually try to keep busy crafting so my mind stays off of it but I won't be able to since I just had surgery on my hand..sigh. Well first I wanted to share some exciting news that I got asked to be a designer for a newly released stamp company called Shabby Chic Stamps. You have to stop by to see some of her newly released stamp sets and keep popping on by to see what projects I have done using her stamps. I am working behind the scenes on some projects but I thought I would share one with you today. 


Some of my most loved paper lines come from My Mind's Eye. OMG don't get me started on Stella and Rose!!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEE that line. I saw the challenge over at their blog and designed my card around their sketch. Now what I didn't do is take a picture of the inside that said "THANK YOU" before I sent it off. Stupid me since along with the sketch you had to use the word YOU in it. Well trust me it is there I was just not smart enough to include a picture of it! LOL The paper I used is from My Mind's Eye Lost and Found collection. It is called BLUSH. I loved the shabby, vintage look to it. I thought it would work perfectly with the new stamp set from Shabby Chic Stamps called SHABBY CHIC.  I used the sentiment C'est La Vie as well as the butterfly that I paper pieced on top of the sentiment.  I had a THANK YOU rub on that I used on the inside.

I am entering this card into the following challenges.
My Mind' Eye - Sketch
Poodles Parlour - Anything Goes
Crafts and Me - Use a new stamp
Craft Us Crazy - Anything Goes
Scrapbook Sisters - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes
CES Challenges - Lots of Layers
Allsorts Challenge - Free & Easy
Crafty Sentiments - Let's Get Girly
Ribbon Carousel Challenge - Anything Goes


Saturday, February 4, 2012

Market Street Stamps color challenge

Hello everyone!  It is a dreary day with a mix of snow and rain so this card is just perfect for the weather.  I wanted to participate in the challenge over at Market Street Stamps.  They have a fantastic color combo challenge going on.  I have to admit that at first I thought I would have lots of trouble using those colors but much to my surprise I had none at all and I just adore the color combo.  The stamp set I used is called Ain't No Sunshine.  To make the frilly edge I used a MS edge punch on some scrap papers that I put together.  This is a larger 6x6 card.  I used my Prismacolor pencils to color in the poor sad cloud.


Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Home Sweet Home - SVG ATTIC & PKS Challenge

Good Afternoon everyone!  I can't believe it is winter and we are getting 60 Degree weather.  Not that I am complaining but the darn plants are gonna get confused and start growing.  Just came in from a nice little play day outside with the girls.  This weather was to nice to pass up.  But I wanted to come in and share my latest card that I made with my files from SVG ATTIC and stamps from PEACHY KEEN STAMPS.

There is a new challenge over at both blogs so I decided to make it so it would fit both challenges.  First at SVGATTIC the challenge is to use a heart on your project.  Which I did in the little birdies hand as well as on the bird house.  There was a photo inspiration at PKS.  It was so pretty that I wish that was in my yard.  Looking at it I took the colors as well as the nature/flower theme and made the card around that.

For the card I welded some shapes together on my MTC program from SVG Attic's Yours Truly set. The adorable bird and birdhouse are from the Birds and Bees set.  I added a branch from the Give a Hoot set so the birdie had some place to sit. My sister just bought her first house so I made this with her in mind.  I included a gift card inside with some Congratulations.  The sentiment inside the heart is from PKS's PK-636 Pumpkin House accessories stamp set.  For the adorable "I just want to Pinch you" face stamp I used PKK-144 Winter Faces.  The papers I used are from Basic Grey, October Afternoon as well as some various scraps I had laying around.

I am also entering this into the following challenges:

Simon Says - Animal Antics
Partytime Tuesdays - Anything Goes 
SweetStamps - Shaped card
Marks Finest Papers - have at least 4 layers