Over the Hill Cake Project

This past week's project was an over the hill cake for a friend ...

French vanilla and German chocolate cakes, chocolate ganache and Bavarian cream as well as Swiss buttercream icing -- does that make it a melting pot cake?   Maybe.

Kitchen Remodel

The past couple of weekends have been busy with remodeling projects.  Nancy aka Artsy Chick helped with some inspiration for a tile back splash I have been wanting for years now.  Thank you, Nancy!!

I thought I would share a few before and after photos here to preserve the memories and date of our hard work.  :)  This first one was the big hole beside my vent from the range hood fan.  Gee, I wonder why I always felt cold air over the stove.  Sigh,  and we thought new construction was the way to go nearly 14 years ago.

My patch and then plastic to keep the cold out until the replacement microwave came , as the first one was dropped by UPS somewhere on its journey.

Whirlpool over-the-range microwave to match our new stove and refrigerator 

 Old, ugly dark green countertops and plain country white walls (before)

New countertops from Lowes (Antique Mascarello)

Natural stone border with bronze medallions and Italian beige tile and matching stone trim.  Now the stone had to be sealed so the sandstone colored grout didn't stain it.

We also used an adhesive product like Nancy did for the back instead of mortar.  Bondera is no longer carried by Lowes, so they suggested Musselbond.  Worked great, and believe me, it is strong!!

After photos ...

Thanks for stopping by and I hope I inspired someone else to give it a try.

MFT - Valentine's Day and my Hubby

Some of my favorite things are definitely crafting, Valentine's Day and my hubby! :)

This pretty kite die cut from MFT Stamps was shared with me by a dear friend, Carolyn Bounds, and I am soooooo ready for Spring that I just had to share it with my hubby too for Valentine's Day.  I created a quick card with the die cuts, clouds and some binder twine.  The inside has a matching piece of patterned paper and a sentiment that reads ... "You have me on Cloud 9 ... be my Valentine!"  I know a little sappy, but hey, it's Valentine's Day, right?!

Hope you had a fabulous day with someone you hold dear! {{Hugs}}

Christine Girl for January Challenge - new Unity Stamps in the house!!

I was challenged again by my good friends, Carmen and Carolyn, to get crafty more often, and this Unity Challenge for this month has been on my mind and started on my craft table since last weekend.  It was a busy week, but I finally got the coloring completed with my Copics and all the layers put together this morning to complete the following card using my new Christine Girl stamp from Unity.  I also used Spellbinders' Large Ovals and Floral Ovals, Crafty Secrets pastel paper pack, Stampin Up Pretty in Pink, my Copics as mentioned above, spica gel glitter pen and liquid applique.  Some sheer navy blue ribbon and a snowflake pendant were also used for adornment.

Here is a closeup of the dimensions and liquid applique.

This challenge is ongoing until February 11th, so be sure to stop on by and check it out.

Warm, Inky Hugs to you all on this chilly weekend :)

Unity Challenge for 2015

Happy new Year, everyone!!  :)  It has been a while since I have posted.  I have created quite a few Christmas cards lately but didn't take time to photograph them for the blog.Sorry about that.  I mailed about 30 this year compared to my typical 60 or 70, which saved some time and stress.  Why do we do this to ourselves, I wonder?  Why do we stress out and try to get so much done around the holidays?!  Well ... I didn't do that this year, just created a few cookies (not many), as we didn't need all that sugar anyway either. :)

Well, hoping I can post more often this year.  I am pretty busy with work and now with a 21 Day Fix Beachbody challenge for myself and a friend, posting some good stuff at Gusto for Good Habits on my public Facebook page.  Stop by to see what's going on there too.

Now for today's post ... I have a dear friend whom I've met through the wonderful hobby of paper crafting and stamping who challenged me to enter the Unity (Be Inspired) Challenge, which is a month long challenge with a wonderful prize package for the monthly winner. I decided to go with the color challenge, and unfortunately I only have one Unity stamp (now retired Faith as Small as a Mustard Seed), which I do not usually use pastel colors with, so this was a real challenge for me.

I hope you get a chance to participate in the challenge too.

Happy Stampin!

Brrrr ... it's been Christmas Craftin Weather!

Since it has felt so cold and breezy this week with the wind whippin' around up on our hill, I haven't felt much like going outside.  So I have been gathering ideas for Christmas cards from Pinterest and my craft table is a mess right now, but ... I got a few cards done before the end of the month to participate in Lisa's 12-months of Christmas Link-Up challenge.  :)  Yeahhh!

The first card is using the image I have had on my desk for a while now from From The Heart stamps called "For The Birds."

The second image is my attempt at a vintage style card with a collage.  Not sure I am crazy about that one, but it will do for now.

The last one is in the group photo and I had used a House Mouse ATC that I have had from a trade quite a few years ago that I have been holding onto as well.

I need to simplify a bit here in the craft room and have decided to start using other's ATCs on my cards to send to friends and family.  I think they will enjoy them as much as I have.

Thanks for stopping by.  I would love to hear from you.  Please leave a comment.

Hugs,

Make A Wish KD kit - Lovin' It!

Hellooooo, Crafters and Friends! :)

I took a little time off this summer to enjoy some family time, but I am hoping to get back to a few cards a week at least now that the fall weather is upon us.

I needed a quick card today for a BRAK (birthday random act of kindness) mailing, and so I grabbed a couple of printed digis and digi papers from Imagine That ... digis by Kris' Make-A-Wish KD Kit.  This kit is superb for a quick celebratory card of any kind.  I am sure you will find you can create a lot of things with it as well.

Life with Porpoise

It's a new month already, and Imagine That's blog has a great new Dolphin image for the Monthly Progressive Challenge. If you played along last month, you should have already received this one in your email.  If not, you can swing on by the shop to purchase it to continue playing along with us all at IT by clicking on the link above.

My card is fairly simple, yet sweet with this adorable, pre-colored image from Kris.  It truly made for a quick card using a Cuttlebug dry embossing folder, Spellbinder's Labels One dies, some scrap paper, a whale charm from America and some ribbon.  Hope you like it and get a chance to play along with us too.

Inky Hugs,

End of my GDT position with FTH

These two images (Hamlet PigWit Pig Out and For the Birds) were the last of my creations for the guest designer position with From The Heart Stamps.  Unfortunately, I didn't get the cards completed in time for this week's challenge, as I was busy packing last weekend for a trip to Atlantic City, NJ and just got back today. I will definitely miss creating with this amazing group of ladies on a regular basis, but I will continue to play along as often as I can ... when I am not too busy with my full-time position at Nuance.  :)

Thank you SO much to Faith, Imke and the rest of the team for giving me a chance to join an amazing group of crafters.  I was definitely honored to do so.

Love and Inky Hugs,

Winter Friends FTH SOTM challenge

It is almost half way through the month already ... it's going so fast, but I finally got a chance to play along with the From The Heart SOTM challenge! :)  Look at this wintery image called Winter Friends.  Aren't they sweet?!  Here is my creation for the challenge.

Image:  Winter Friends from From The Heart stamps
Papers:  Bazzill cs, light green, light blue and pink, BasicGrey Eskimo Kisses pink and green plaid
Tools:  Spellbinders large ovals and lacey ovals, Copics, corner rounder punch and glittered snowflake ornament from Walmart package

If you joined the challenge in June, you would have received Winter Friends via email by now.  This challenge closes on the last day of the month, and a new image will be posted by the 3rd of next month.

If you missed out, you can still play along with the challenge by purchasing the image. Then you can enter the challenge and receive next month’s digi free. OR if you spend $10 in the From The Heart Stamps store this month, you can enter code SNOWINJULY to receive Winter Friends as a free gift.  *Only one offer per person, please. Make sure your purchase doesn’t include this image or you will receive 2. Thank you!

Inky Hugs,

Gloooorrrriiiiiaaa!

This week's "I {Heart} Sketch Challenge" at From The Heart's blog is starting today.  Please join us this week by playing along.  Only restriction is to use a FTH image and this sketch ...

I used the lovely Gloria image from From The Heart Stamps 

and dry embossed with the Joy and Cheer Cuttlebug folder.  

Image: Gloria 
Papers: Stampin Up Pretty in Pink, Bazzill light blue textured cs,
blue cs and dp scraps and marbled vanilla/sand cs 
Color Medium: Copics (B00, E00, E02, E11, E13, C1, C3) and Spica glitter pen 
Tools: Spellbinders large ovals and lacey ovals

I love this folder and I really hate to cover it up, so I used it on the inside as well.

Now just a small area will be covered with a sentiment to finish out this card in time for Christmas.

Hope you have a great week and are able to play along with us this week using this great I {Heart} Sketch #74.  Maybe try a Christmas card earlier this year so that you too are ready for Christmas gift giving. :)

Inky Hugs,