Recipes...

Do your recipes look as bad as mine? All piled up in a heap? Crusty and gross from sitting on the counter? They were driving me a little crazy (some may say that I'm OCD. It's not true. I'm just particular. There's a difference. I think.) So I decided to do something about it. I have been working on a recipe book. I am making the pages 8x8 and printing out the recipe. Then in true scrapbooker style -- adding a little patterned paper and embellishment. Now these should be a little more organized and kept a little cleaner. Only problem is that I haven't been able to find an 8x8 scrapbook with rings. So here's one of my favorite recipes. Chicken Parmigiana for 2.

Supplies Used: Comso Cricket (Garden Variety), May Arts ribbon
Recipe from www.tasteofhome.com
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Ribbon and Trims

Today I have a few cards that qualify for the Clear It Out challenge to use ribbon or trims on your projects. First, I needed a birthday card for a boy turning 10. Ten is about the age where a boy turns into almost a full panic mode when anything remotely girly is near them. You know how girls scream at snakes? That's how boys scream at ribbon. Okay, I'm generalizing a little bit -- but for the boy I made this card for, it's true. He does NOT like girly things. So I tried my very best to make a plain, no frills card for him. Instead of ribbon, I used some twine.

I also needed a sympathy card. So I made this card using some of my favorite May Arts ribbon.

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Expect Spring

Well, I don't know about you, but I am ready for spring (okay, to be fair, I was ready for spring before winter even really hit!). I made this card for CPS #208. The verse on the front is hard to read because the font is small. It says, "Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways. The dry seasons do not last. the Spring rain will come again." - Sarah Ban Breathnach. I just love that quote. When I was making this card, I was looking at the peas on the paper and was thinking of going in the direction of the baby card. But then I got to thinking about all the seed packets that I have and can't wait to plant when spring gets here. So I thought that quote was fitting for the pea pods after all!

Supplies Used: Taylored Expressions Faith & Hope, Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety, Making Memories Boho Chic trims
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A Lesson in Simple

This week Card Patterns is celebrating their 2nd anniversary by having a blog hop. What I like about their blog hop compared to others is that you only have to visit one blog a day. Usually on a blog hop by the time I hit the 4th one, I'm scrolling down and looking quickly (like when I am in Google Reader, I just scroll with my finger on the down arrow until something catches my eye). So with their blog hop I am actually taking the time to read the entire post and look at the card. A card that DT member, Tracy, made particularly caught my attention. It was a clean and simple card with bright colors. Here's what caught my attention and really got my wheels turning -- she put three buttons on her card. She only tied twine onto one of them. I seem to think that if I do something to one element on the card, I have to do it to ALL of them. Apparently not. Who knew. Add to this "stunning" realization an article that I read on the Paper Crafts blog by Go-to Gal Jessica Witty and I was ready to tackle a card. My card is still not perfect. It's still actually a little busy. But let me show you a short list of what I would have done originally.

1. The background of the card was originally the words "sweet pea little peanut" across the whole thing. Talk about BUSY
2. I was going to replace the background with patterned paper (instead I opted for a solid piece of cardstock)
3. I was going to stitch around the whole square with words, instead I just did zig zag stitches in the corners
4. I only added two scalloped circles instead of doing all 3 that way
   

So, even though my card is still not quite where I pictured it to be and is still a little bit too busy...I think I can call it a cleanER and simple card...or a not quite so busy and simple card...or a not quite as much card vomit on this and simple card. Take your pick. And thank you to Tracy and Jessica for getting me back on track!

Supplies Used: Little Me by Unity Stamp Co., Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, We R Memory Keepers Ribbon, Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch, Sewing Machine, Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday patterned paper Pin It Now!

Everyone Is a Star

Here is a valentine that I made for one of my nephews. I used the current Get Sketchy sketch.

Supplies Used: Rubber Stamps (Unity a pocket full of...; friendship, love, miracles), Patterned Paper (Cosmo Cricket Material Girl), Accessories (Nestabilities Circles and Scallop Circles; American Crafts lace)
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Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens...

These are a few of my favorite things! Here is another valentine that I made. This time I used the sketch from Limelight with the added challenge of using a red embellishment. I am running out of challenge blogs to do this week, so let me know if you have any suggestions!

Supplies Used: Stamps (MFT Framed Greetings), Patterned Paper (Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather), Ribbon (May Arts), Die Cut (MFT), Chipboard (Basic Grey Sugared)

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Sweet Valentine

Here's a card I made for CPS Sketch #203. I used the Mitten Weather paper from Cosmo Cricket. I really loved that paper for Christmas and it works great for Valentine's too, apparently. :)

Supplies Used: Patterned Paper (Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather), Rubber Stamps (Unity Stamp Co. Perfect in Every Way, Another Sweet Day), Ribbon (May Arts), Sizzix Die (Tim Holtz Scallops), Corner Rounder (Creative Memories), Ink (Memento Rich Cocoa)

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A Late Merry Christmas! and an early Happy New Year!

That kind of evens everything out, right? :) I had a wonderful Christmas, and hope that you did too! We have one more Christmas celebration tonight...then I will be all partied out, I think (no, I KNOW!). So here's the last Christmas card that I have to share with you. I ended up using this card as my template for cards, but it left me some scraps. So after every 3rd card I made like that, I made this card. I pretty much used my entire Mitten Weather paper from Cosmo Cricket making cards like this! I think I have 3 pieces left (I used a 6x6 paper pad). It feels good to actually use up what I have.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!
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Candy Cane Holder (and winner)

Today I have a fun project to share. I cut out these adorable little stockings using my Silhouette. Then I stitched around the sides to close them up. I stuffed them with polyester stuffing to puff them out. Then I added some Liquid Applique to make the tops puffy. I wanted to embellish them a little more, but I have pretty much run out of time (my Christmas cards are still not finished!). I am going to put a candy cane in each of these and give them to my kids at school. I love how they turned out!

I wrote the kids names in Stickles at the top of the stocking. I smudged them in the picture on purpose (not sure if I needed to, but just to be safe!). They are NOT smudged in person...okay, yes they are, but only a little. You all know that I hate Stickles, right? :) Imagine that there is a candy cane in there, I haven't bought them yet.

And the winner of my blog candy was Karen B. also enduring the freezing cold state of Wisconsin with me! Email me your address and I'll mail your stamp. katytipton at yahoo dot com.
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A Little Sketchy

Today I have two cards to share with you. The first one is for the Limelight Papercrafts sketch and product challenge. The product we had to use was shimmer. I used glitter on the snowflakes, which I stamped onto a Jillibean Soup Sprout.

If you haven't heard, Limelight is closing it's doors. Sad for us, but great news for Mandy! Lucky for me, I have a LSS, so I will somehow survive. Thanks Mandy for the great customer service! I always ordered from her because she would include a cute little handmade note just to say thank you.
Okay, on to the second card. This is for the CardPatterns sketch. I am loving the Mitten Weather paper from Cosmo Cricket -- are you sick of it yet? :)

Lastly, this is your last reminder for the blog candy a few posts down!
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Christmas Hope

Happy Blizzard Weather! And I'm not talking about the delicious treat from Dairy Queen either. It's a blizzard here in Wisconsin, so I spent my day working on Christmas cards (and not getting very many done either...whoops). Here is a card I made for the caardvarks challenge to make a monochromatic card. This is the last caardvarks challenge. It was one of my favorite challenge blogs, so I am disappointed to see them go, but I'm sure it's a lot of work.

Supplies Used: Patterned Paper (Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather), Cardstock (SU Riding Hood Red), Ribbon (May Arts), Die Cut (Nestabilities Labels One), Rubber Stamps (Unity Snowflakes Fall from Heaven, Taylored Expressions Christmas Blessings)
So what is one of your favorite blogs to visit for challenges? This weekend is the last chance to enter a comment for my blog candy. Stay warm!
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'Tis the Season

For sporadic blogging and Christmas cards! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Mine was good. I was able to be in Michigan with some of the best nieces and nephews there are. I really love living closer to home! After a few days of Jon being their personal jungle gym, we were ready to come home and rest. :) So here is a Christmas card that I made. It's one of my favorites so far.

Supplies Used: Christmas Tree die (Quickutz), Patterned Paper (Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather), Border Punch (EK Success Snowflakes), Rubber Stamps (Taylored Expressions Christmas Blessings)
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Apparently I'm a Little Too Dramatic

Maybe you noticed this in the last post? I write for effect...I wasn't literally crying about the snow or anything. I will survive the winter. No worries. There is one thing that I love/hate about winter though. That's wearing sweaters and sweatshirts. I love being all cuddled up in a comfy sweater. What I hate though is when I have to put on a coat over the top of them. Let's just say I'm big enough without all the layers...add the coat and I have a serious oomp-a-loomp-a problem. I look like I could do some serious damage to some bowling pins. I better not bend down when standing on top of a hill... You get my drift. Big and round. :) Someday I will figure out how to be warm and stylish. Until then... I have a card! I am really loving the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather paper. I really like the non-traditional colors for Christmas cards.

P.S. The snow didn't stick, the sun is shining and it's pretty nice today! YAY! Pin It Now!

My Blood is too Thin

I grew up in Michigan. Lived there my entire life. I attended college in Illinois. I know what cold is. I know about snow. About 5 years ago, my husband and I packed up and moved to Kansas City so he could go to school. I enjoyed the "not so bad" winters...Some ice and snow now and then. I hated driving there when there was snow or ice on the ground though because Kansas City drivers are well...interesting. One day on the way to work, I saw a man half hanging out of his window scraping his windshield WHILE DRIVING. Point proven.
However, something happened when I moved there. My Michigan blood apparently thinned out a bit. Because now we live in Wisconsin and I am COLD! And tonight, it snowed. I maybe, possibly, almost for sure, cried a little bit. Maybe not on the outside, but on the inside for sure. Last night I told Jon that the clouds looked like "snow clouds." Apparently, I haven't lost my knowledge of snow, just the thick blood that is needed to deal with it. HA! So, to "celebrate" the cold, I have two Christmas cards to share. I used the Hip Hop sketch from Unity Stamps -- even though only one card has a Unity stamp. I am actually lacking in Christmas stamps from Unity.

This card uses Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather paper, Taylored Expressions stamp, May Arts ribbon, and the snowflake/flower is actually made with a Quickutz Christmas Tree die.

This one also uses Mitten Weather and May Arts ribbon, Unity Stamps, Nestabilities Label One Die, and Sizzix Dots embossing folder.
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Somebody's a Little Bit Windy

My last two posts have been a bit long-winded, haven't they?? To make up for it, I'll keep this one short and sweet! I have two more challenge cards to show you. The first is from the Basic Grey challenge blog. They have a sketch for us this week. I have noticed that a lot of sketches lately have been catering to my clean and simple side. But this sketch took me out of my comfort zone and was a real challenge -- lots of layers, that is for sure! I made my card a square 4.5" card. The Basic Grey that I used was the Kraft collection. The stamps are from Studio 490.

The second challenge card was for a Unity Hip Hop Sketch Challenge. I used my favorite patterned paper -- Cosmo Cricket Earth Love. And the stamps are from a store kit (I can't remember which one at this very moment).

I hope you all had a great weekend. I had the last 5 days off work, and now it's time to go back. It was fun while it lasted, anyway! Happy Monday!
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Through Rain or Shine

Yep, you guessed it! It's another card I made for a Unity WCMD challenge. This time the challenge was to paper piece. You all know how much I love paper piecing, right?! I have 4 challenge cards down, which means only 19 to go...and I have 6 days left to do them. Let's take a vote -- do you think I'll make it? LOL! Anyway, on to the card. I used Unity's Rain or Shine Itty Bitty stamp. I paper pieced the image with 3 different patterned papers from Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday.

Just a note: to celebrate 10.10.10, I am having a 10% off sale in my Artfire store today! Click here to see what I have.
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Little Dude!

A friend asked me to make a birthday card for her one year old grandson. I made a few so she could choose the one she liked best. I saw this stamp from A Muse Arts that said "Happy birthday little dude!" and thought that would be cute for any little boy cards. So here are the cards that I made. I also bought some clear stamps (because they were cheap!), and by stamping them in VersaMark first and then in the colored ink, they actually turned out pretty well. I wasn't nearly as frustrated as before. I'm making baby steps, here. :)

This card uses Karen Foster Designs cardstock stickers, Cosmo Crickets Mr. Campy patterned paper, and the A Muse stamp on the inside. The "Spend Your Day" part was just printed and then I used some Tim Holtz distressed ink on the paper.

This card uses stamps from KaiserCraft, Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy and Jillibean Soup patterned paper. I used Liquid Applique to puff out the trail behind the airplane, and Labels 1 Nestabilities.

This last card doesn't look too much like a little boy card, I know. She told me that he likes to play the drums and I couldn't come up with anything for drums. So I went with music notes instead. The stamps are from We R Memory Keepers and A Muse. Paper is Jillibean Soup. I also used some nestabilities for the rectangles.
So, which one would you pick? She actually picked my favorite -- the playin' in the mud card.
I keep thinking it's Friday, which is making this week seem a little long. So, have a happy THURSDAY!
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Busy, Busy Blog

My blog has been awfully busy this week! That's because my husband has been gone and he left me to my own devices...what else is there to do but stamp?? After two weeks, he is coming home today. YAY! He's going to have a very hard time reclaiming his side of the bed, as I have taken to sleeping smack dab in the middle. But that's what he gets for leaving me alone for so long, right? :) So here are two challenge cards that I have made. The first is for the Limelight sketch challenge. I flipped the sketch on it's side.

I used Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday paper and a Unity stamp from Another Sweet Day. 
The second challenge card is for the Basic Grey challenge to use paper piecing. Paper piecing is my favorite method of "coloring" so this was right up my alley.

I used the Basic Grey paper Lime Rickey. The stamps are both from Unity (Love in the Air and Endings & Beginnings)
I'm sure that next week my blog won't be quite as busy since not only will my husband be home, but I start my new job! I hope you all enjoyed my week of blog posts (I think I only missed one day -- how insane!). Enjoy your long Labor Day weekend!
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New Techniques

Here are the other two cards that I made for VSN (plus a practice card). They were new techniques for me. The first technique was to make a tent-fold card. My first attempt took me a lot longer then 45 minutes. I cut and folded a few things incorrectly, my sewing machine jammed, and so on and so forth. So I had to make a second card to submit. The second one went a lot more smoothly.

This is the one that I submitted.

The other technique that I tried was the Wax Paper Cuttlebug Resist. I had a hard time getting a good photo because of the glossy paper, and it was dark when I took the picture.

I learned how to make these cards by using the Resource page on Splitcoast. TONS of information here!
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