ATG gun!!! GOTTA HAVE IT!!!

Ok... First things first.... Where have you been? Seems to be what I am getting in my in box! I have been super busy, got sick, and now I am trying to play catch up after the holidays!! I promised more to come and then didn't deliver since I was sick! SORRY!!

However, I am working today on getting some goodies made to share with you! I actually have been working really hard on Christmas presents... but can you believe I gave them away without taking pictures? Talk about crazy!!

I am going to nicely ask for my mother in law to let me borrow the gift to take pictures... I think she will tell me to come over and take pictures of it... she has always wanted me to make her somehting so I am certain she won't let me have it back in fear I might not return it in a timely manner!

AGT NEWS!!!!
I recently decided to buy an ATG 714! For those of you who don't know its an adhesive tool that is used in framing but works great for cardmaking, scrapbooking, crafting, and anthing else that needs tape! LIMITED TIME ONLY!!! you can go to Crop and Stick and order a gun for $50.86 including shipping and 3 free rolls of 3M gold adhesive (acid free) this is an amazing deal! Most scrapbook stores sell if for $75 to $85 and adhesive runs $6.50 to $12 per roll. However if you order online you can get adhesive for under $4.00 a roll for 36 yards! yes thats yards not feet! Its a heck of a savings and this deal right now is awesome! So head over to the sight and Gina or Julie will be happy to help you! I personally spoke with Gina and she was amazing! Friendly, helpful, very accomodating, and very nice to do business with! Also check out there other deals of brads and embelishiments for only $1.00!!! ITS A GREAT SITE!!! They are a family store not a big box store. They do their best to have the lowest prices... For example they got free tape from 3M and are giving it away for FREE to their customers! How nice is that? The accountant side of me says charge for it and make a profit! The scrapbooker in me says "THANKS CROP AND STICK YOU ROCK!!!"

OK I am off to make some goodies!

More coming soon! Promise!!

Hi Everyone! I just wanted to let you know I have been super busy and taking care of family. My hubby was really sick and then the holidays hit and I got hit with the flu! Our son also had a reaction to his formula so its been hectic!

I will hopefully make something today if I can stop coughing long enough!

Hope you are all well!
Nicole

Super Cute!!

Ok, I got a chance to play with my new stamps again! YEA!! I absolutely LOVE my new stamps from All that Scraps. They have the cutest little characters! I have lots I want to play with but like most of you haven't had the time! This little bear was so cute and it comes with bumble bees, another bear and three sentiments in a set. GREAT VALUE & EXCELLENT QUALITY!! I decided to add crystal effects (SU) to his eyes to make it look like he was crying. I also made a puddle on the bottom. My 4 year old thought the bear had an accident! How funny!

Hope you enjoy!
Nicole


Cardstock: River Rock, Groovy Guava. Pattern paper: My Minds Eye.
Supplies: double stich groovy guava, metal clip older hodgepodge kit, robins nest dew drops, and nestabilities were used to cut and emobss the scappoled circles. Bear is watercolored with close to cocoa.

BUSY DAY!!!

Things are a little crazy around here today! My hubby went to the doctor in horrific pain to thankfully find out he wasn't having a heart attach but has plurasy. I am told the membrane around the lungs dries and makes it incredibly painful to breath and feels like you are having a heart attack. I feel terrible he is in so much pain! I have not been working on anything... as you can understand! But here is one of the first scrapbook pages I did of my daughters. I caught them dancing a in front of the TV. It was so funny. So I ran for the camera and got these pictures. (they are not the greatest quality but they captured the moment!)

Have a great day!

Nicole

Monkey love....

This is a stamp set I have been wanting since the first time I saw it! It came in the mail last night and boy oh boy was I excited to finally make a card with it. I think the monkey is absolutely adorable! Don't you? Its available at All That Scraps and is called Monkey love. I have a couple of other cards as well that Iwill share later.

I used my minds eye pattern paper, SU cardstock (really rust, chocolate chip, and tempting turquoise, very vanilla) I water colored the monkey using close to cocoa and creamy cramel) I tried choc. chip and close to cocoa first but the monkey was too dark for this card. Cute but I liked this color combo better. I love the addd touch of the robins egg dew drops. I have used them several times now and love it everytime. I used my nestabilities to cut the squares and emboss them. The teal was cut by hand. Again gotta have ribbon!!! Is a card complete without it?

Well diaper duty calls!

Nicole

Scrapbooking....

Well I finally got a chance to get away with one of my sisters and scrapbook! I can't say I was too productive that day but it was nice to get away and spend time with her. Unfortunately our oldest sister Kim was sick and couldn't attend. I think I get more acomplished when she is around because she can put together pages faster than anyone I know. She keeps me moving... My sister Dawn and I take our time and think about each picture, cut, embelishment, and placement of each item. However, I have to admit I have the least done out of the 3 of us. I bought a CM album from my siter back in 2002 and didn't take it out of the box until last year! I still can't figure out how to work the straps!

Anyway here is the first page for my son's album... Thats still is strange for me to say... SON! I have a SON! WOW!! Anyway.... I also made my first page of my hubby and him. I love looking at these pictures of them together. I love seeing so much emotion in his face. My husband is a great man, awesome father, and we are very lucky to have him. I did leave off my journaling box which will be off center in the upper right corner of his page. To me this is personal and I prefer not to display it. However I will take a moment to explain the pics. The pic of my son on a single page is the first picture that was take of him in NICU. I was not away to see him at that time:( The picture of my husband holding him is my favorite. It is difficlt to get a good pic of my hubby smiling and with how tramatic our birth was this picture means the world to me. On the other page he is leaning over and talking to him softly. Lastly the picture of my hubby looking up... he is looking at the heart monitor on our son. Our daughter had a lot of heart problems and this is him chekcing to make sure it looks regular.

I used the book imagine by Jeanette R. Lynton for inspiration. Along with papers from Prima Marketing (baby boy, little one, moon & stars) and Basic Grey Granola collection. Gotta have chipboard on my pages, along with a little ribbon and metal.

Enojy! More cards to come this week... maybe a scrapbook page or two as well!

Nicole

Getting ready for the holidays!

I am trying to get ready for the holidays…. But Christmas just seems too far away! I did however get out a stamp set and make this card! I wanted to see if Shimmerz blingz looked good on reindeer too! I know I am trying to make everything sparkle! My daughter wanted to know if she could pain her hair with it and make a "sparkling mini pony tail like Barbie". I quickly said no it will make your hair fall out! She loves her long hair so I knew that would make her not want to try it…. I know a little harsh but it worked! =)

I really like the color combo of real red and bashful blue. This was a simple card that I put together on the fly! Put a little ribbon and some snowflakes with the white craft ink and it was done!

Hope you like!
Nicole

Challenges....

Ok, So I seem to be color challenged for lack of a better term! I will look at colors and think they can't possibly work together then I see a scrapbook paper and think well it works for them! HUMMMM.... So I found a great blog to help with the problem. Kwernerdesign.com offers color inspirations each week and you can post your creations on her blog. Its awesome to see how everyone uses the colors! This week she uses SU colors old olive, certainly celery, saraha sand, and whisper white! They are beautiful together. Go to a direct link of all her color inspirations here.
I was also told of a few problems... I seem to only be creating horizontal cards.... didn't notice really but now that it was brought to my attention that I am "vertically challenged" I will work on that! (laughing)! However todays card is also vertically challenged. The other issue is that my web page backround is not loading correctly. I am working on designing my own through Adobe... however I am still learning the program so this will need to stay for a while longer.



This card is using the Shimmerz Blingz I won!! I thought her bubbles could use a little jazz! This card seems to be missing something to me but I kinda wanted it simple too. This stamp set reminds me of a friend Lisa who sells the Body Shop at Home! Great products by the way! She doesn't have time to relax in a bath like bubble queen here nor does she like pink and blue.... however this card is sweet and relaxing which is what she does for other people! She is very sweet and dear friend and she provides people with the opportunity to pamper themselves. She is like the old calgon commercial! Anyway I made this card for her! So take some time out Lisa and relax a little and pamper yourself for a change!

Supplies: Stamp set: bubble queen.
Cardstock: pretty in pink, bashful blue, whisper white.
Accessories: Silver cord, pink grossgrain, glitter gellyroll pen used to trace around the white on the blue to give it a little sparkle, Blingz (pink poinsetta and december sky)
Below you can see the shimmer. Sorry the lighting is so bad but its been gloomy around here and not much sun! Bad for taking pictures.



Enjoy! If you are interested in The Body Shop at Home products check out Lisa's web site at Lisa's body shop site Even if you don't live locally you can order directly from her website and she is awesome at helping you find gifts for those hard to buy for people!
Have a great day!
Nicole

Sheetload's blog candy blowout!! CHECK IT OUT!!

There is a great opportunity to win a LOT of blog candy! Check this out!! You can win it!!!

go to this site to check out all the wonderful ideas. http://sheetload.blogspot.com and check it out! There are only 3 easy steps to win goodies!! Gotta love that!

Here is the direct link to the awesome blog candy blowout!!!

Blow some my way!!!

Prima Flowers!

Here is the first of some of my projects! I took the prima flowers and painted them with the Shimmerz Blingz! I used the December Sky and Gold Glimmer. The folwers were not the same shade of blue as my paper but after using the Shimmerz they all match really well! For cardstock I used Bashful Blue, blush blossom, and very vanilla cardstock. Inside the flowers I used the Dew Drops by Robins Nest. Additional accessories include crystal effects to glue the dew drops, scalloped border punch, vanilla ribbon.

I really love these goodies!!

Enjoy!! Nicole

THANK YOU!!! AREN'T THEY CUTE!!!

LOOK what came in the mail today!! The Shimmerz I won!!! I think they are adorable!! The colors are beautiful! In order from left to right they are Spiced Cider, Gold Glimmer, Pink Poincetta, Wintergreen, and December Sky! I will work on some projects.... and post them soon! Can't wait to play with them!!

Speical BIG THANKS!!! to Stacey at http://shimmerzpaints.blogspot.com/

for choosing me as her winner! I love them!!! I want to put them on a shelf for color inspiration in my craft area!

Nicole

Get ready for turkeys!!!

Sorry for the delay on getting a card made... But I did make a turkey! Seems like the cold bug got a few of my family members so I have been running around like crazy! I first saw this turkey on Splitcoast stampers and then found this tutorial...

http://chicnscratch.typepad.com/chic_n_scratch/2008/10/blessing-mix-tu.html

Its from a Stampin Up magazine for demonstrator called Stampin Success. However, Angie Kennedy Juda was nice enough to put together this tutorial video on making the turkey. Hope you enjoy!

The turkey I made above I did a little differently. I don't have the 3/4 square punch so I just hand cut a square. I also don't have the boho blossoms so I used the triple flower punch from SU and used my snips to cut into the petals to make them look like feet. I hand cut a triangle for his nose as well. So you can improvise as needed! Also I added a little ink to the edges of the scallop because it makes the layers pop out more!

I am working on something else and once I get it right I will post!

I have great news!!! I won Shimmerz!!! As soon as I get them I will make cards and post them here! They are these amazing paints that add a lot of shimmer and beautiful colo to anything! They look awesome when you pain flowers with them, put them on snowmen or snowflakes...etc! A couple days ago a entered a blog giveaway and won! Check two posing prior to this and check out the link!

I also made a card to share... I found this cute little stamp at Meijer for$1.19! Can't beat that!! Its by Autumn Leaves. I used Basic Grey pattern paper, chocolate chip and regal rose cardstock and ribbon. I made polka dots using a versa marker and added the white dots with a white gel pen. I love these colors together.

Hope you are having a nice weekend!

Nicole

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time with our three kids trick or treating! Our oldest Taylor was a witch, Anna was a twinkling princess(her costume actually had fiber optic lights in it), and Zachary was a Tootsie Roll (r). This is the first year I didn't handmake their costumes. I got to admit it made me sad to see the poor quality but they loved them none the less. They like the costumes but really don't care much about the candy! Which makes me happy!

I included a pic of them all ready to go trick or treating! They all looked so cute! Of course I am totally bias!

Off to Thanksgiving now!
Nicole

Calore free candy??

What type of candy is calorie free and never goes bad? BLOG CANDY!!

check out Cuppy Cake! http://ohmycuppycake.blogspot.com/2008/10/how-about-some-blog-candy.html
you can win an awesome $25 gift certificate!! WOW!! Leave a post and let them know you saw it here on StampinNicole!

Thanks,
Nicole

Shimmerz Paints!

Ok.... no card today. I found a really cool product called Shimmerz Paints!
go here http://shimmerzpaints.blogspot.com/2008/10/colors-and-candy.html to check it out and a chance to win the cool stuff! I can't wait to see if I won! I LOVE THINGS THAT SPARKLE!!

If you have used this product leave me a note and tell me what you think. I would love to see more projects made with it!

Have a great day!
Nicole

This card was inspired by colors from the current stampin up catalog. I love certainly celery and any color blue. So This color combination is pretty but not pink... I like that! I also like pink... but now that I have a boy I am getting into blues and greens!

Cardstock: very vanilla, bashfull blue, certainly celery, not quite navy designer paper prints

Inks: not quite navy

Stamp set: A beautiful thing

Punches: 1 1/2 circle, round scalloped, medium oval (vanilla), trio flower, double circle punch (flower centers), scalloped edge border

Other: Paper piercing tool and mat/guide. I also used a white gel pen to fill in the holes I made in the scalloed edge. Not sure it did a whole lot put it added a little with the polka dot paper on top.

I am quite proud of this card. Not only did I complete it quickly but I did it on my own without CASEing another card! I am challenging myself to pick a color combo, stamp set, and create!!

Enjoy!

I got a chance to get our last night and go to our stamp club event! It was nice to go and stamp! Crystal gave us a neat tip on how to use scrap pieces of ribbon... slip it into the middle of a knot and its so cute! Here is a card that I have been putting together for 3 days. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with it and then finally I came up with this! I used mini clear beads on the center of the flower. The stamp set is called eastern blooms. Its a very versital set (in my opinion) I also used in colors from stampin up that were from last year (river rock, purely pomegranet, groovy guava)... but I love!

I will getting the new in colors soon!

Enjoy!

Sweetest Day!

Hope everyone had a nice sweetest day! My husband forgot.... however its not a big deal since he don't acknowledge "Halmark Holidays" anyway. So this is the card I made for him.... we had a wedding to go to and it matched their wedding colors. Which seems to be a common color scheme right now. Anyway back to the card... I wanted to do a two color theme.... I think it came out pretty good! I also like the double fold with the hears on opposite sides when its open. This is unexpected which makes it kinda different! Chocolate chip and vanilla cardstock were used from SU. Along with the stamp set Always.

Have a great day...

Nicole

OMG!!! This is too funny!

I discovered last night my son doesn't like bananas! We are working on introducing foods... (seemed early to me but doc suggested it) He LOVES to eat!

This face is priceless! (My husband makes the same face.... (not when he is eating) Typically when he doesn't agree with something... Its strange how much he looks and acts like my husband at such an early age..... I think I am in TROUBLE!!!

Just had to share this... more cards coming soon!

Card for a friend...

Card for the grandparents to be.... Yes... this is a pregnancy test! I have it on the inside of the card. Its from QuicKutz! However now a days they are quite technical and have a digital display that actally says "Pregnant" or I am assuming not pregnant if its negative. The only time I took one of the digital ones it came back pregnant and I dropped it so it didn't work again! So in this case the old test would have been better even if you dropped them they still had two lines (laughing) It was quite a shocking result for us.... and now we have Zachary!

Here are two cards I have made for a friend and her family! I like the stamp sets used here.... you grow girl and the beautiful prego lady is from All That Scraps. The little birdie card is stampin up. The paper set used was part of a scrapbook kit fromSU in an older catalog. I am working on getting some ideas together and figuring out how to create card sketches in Adobe and post them. I too often get caught up on dulpicating a card and lose sight of making it my own. So for me lately... picking a sketch and a color combination has been a lot of fun. I will share them with you once I get them all complete!

Happy Stamping!

Nicole

Another scrapbook page!

This was the second two page layout that I completed when I was away for my mommy time! This is my favorite new saying "Mommy's New Little Man"! My son is really a momma's boy right now. He is with me 24-7 so he really has no other choice!

I dress him in all sorts of little man outfits! I hate how stores have so much more clothing for girls than they do for boys! Also having two girls and four generations of all girls in our family it is difficult to find cute boy stuff! So I make sure he has cute little outfits and plaid shits, matching hats and socks, matching blankets etc. Its not like I get to put bows in his hair..... which is a shame since he actally has hair and has more than my oldest daughter had!

I am working on some cards today and over the weekend so I will have some new cards to post! I got a really cool stamp set from Stampin Up called Always! LOVE IT!! Check back soon!

Just a note on how I did this page.... I used aquarius 4x8 alphabet dies from Quickutz and the rest was a really cool paper line that happened to match his shirt! Of course from Capture a Memory! I will need to look up the company name for the paper line and acryclic accessories!

Thanks,
Nicole

QuicKutz!!! I LOVE THEM!!!

Ok... So I haven't had a lot of time to post but I finally was daring enough to leave our son with my husband for a few "mommy time" hours at my favorite local scrapbooking store Capture a Memory. I went to a Friday night crop and complete two layouts( I will post the second 2 page latout tomorrow!) .... I know it may seem like not much to get done in five hours.... but hey.... I completed them, got out of the house and these little animals take time to cut out. Also I kept losing their noses and spots! But it was so worth it in the end. Its adorable!!

The grass, vines, and all the animals are QuicKutz!

Thanks to the wonderful people at CAM!! I am in love with QuicKutz once again! You must check them out if you don't know what I am talking about. http://www.quickutz.com/

I am also working on cards and can't wait to share them!!

Hey also check out Crystal's Blog! http://www.stampwithcrystal.blogspot.com/

She is a great inspiration and has adorable cards! She also has links to other great designers like herself! I have to say that for her because she don't! She is awesome!

Winston has a new home!

Winston has a new home! This was a difficult decision but I am truly confident that we made a great choice and he will be happy. His new family has about 20 acres, a lake, and a 4 year old son. Winston took to their little boy immediately and it made our decision much easier. Winston now has two other dogs to play with and can be out of his crate most of the time. After a lot of tears and sadness I just have to remember that he is in a happier home where he can live without confinement to a crate and has a new loving family to care for him.

It was amazing how we found the family. The father works for a durable medical supply company and was at our home delivering equipment. We began talking about Winston and several days later he called us back! It was simply ment to be!

So saddly we miss Winston but we get phone calls from his new family and are able to keep in touch and can even take our kids out to visit him! They are a wonderful family for Winston!

Nicole

Winston still needs a home...

I am still looking for a home for winston! I have had a few interested people but nothing has resulted in an adoption! I am sad that we have to give him up and nervous that I won't find a good home. His pictures are shown below... he is awesome! I wish there was some way to show him playful and cute things he does in pictures.

Winston!

Here are some pictures of my Lab Winston! I am looking for a home and many people want to see what he looks like. So here he is... I never realized how hard it is to take pictures of black dogs without sun!

Time Flies!!

Hi Everyone!

Boy its been a hectic time around our house! Since my last post in February our baby boy has arrived! He is 2 months old now and about 10 lbs! We are getting adjusted still and trying to find formula that works for him. He has a severe milk protein and soy protein allergy problem. But he is beautiful and his sisters love him to pieces! They constantly want to hold him!

I won't be stamping for a while since we are so busy and he requires so much time (which I absolutely enjoy every minute of!) So sorry for the lack of ideas! All I can offer right now is burping techiniques for a baby! LOL

Sincerely,

Nicole

Amazing Week!

WOW!!! What a week our family has had! We just found out that we are expecting..... a baby boy! He will arrive in June. This has come as a total shock to all of us but as you can imagine we are overly excited right now! We have a lot to do in a short amount of time.

I do have some new cards to show you.... They were done last week before all the excitement broke my creative mindset!

Still Stampin!!

I am still stamping! I can't pull myself away from my new goodies! Today my daughters and I will be making valentines... so I will post them later today or tomorrow! She (Taylor) is so excited to see her stuff on the internet.... funny how excited stamping can make us! Event at 8 yrs old!

Hope you enjoy today's card!

Nciole

Look at the birdie!!

Ok I gotta admit... that was a little wierd! But I have been playing with the Stampin Up set called "a birdie told me"!! Here are the results of my stampin time!!

I have seen these color combos used elsewhere like splitcoast and other stamper's bloggs so I though I would give it a shot! Its Rose Red, Bashful Blue, and So Saffron! The images are watercolored.

Nicole

NEW info added!

I just wanted to add a few new links to the blog for you to check out! I added Claudia's blogg. She has some cool ideas and got me hooked on the Elzybells stamps! That link is also listed now. You have got to check it out so you can get hooked too! No stamp collection is complete without these cuties!!

My new shipment of stamps was sent today! I am hoping I will get them Thurs or Friday. When I do I of course will have to play and have new projects to add. My daughter Taylor is going to make her class valentines too so be on the look out for Taylor's special additon to the blogg!

Have a great week!

Little Jar of flowers!

This is a cute little jar I picked up from Wal Mart! I have been buying them for about a year! They are filled with fruit like mandarin oranges, fuji apples, strawberries, and pears. They sell for 97cents! No lables come on them so I don't have to fuss with Goo Gone! Now don't go rush out and buy them.... I am still collecting! (just kidding)

I simply put the jars in my dishwasher and let them sit out for about a week to make sure they are good and dry! Then you can decorate and fill with whatever you choose! I put buttons, ribbon pieces, flowers and clips in them! I just decided to add this to the top because I got tired of looking at the fruit lable!

I plan to decorate some and fill them with M&M's for my daughter's teacher as a valentines day gift. Of course her's will look better than this! I made this one really simple so I could see what was in it and not worry about throwing it in my scrapbooking/cardmaking tote!

Have a great weekend! I gotta get back to statistics homework! UGH!!

Nicole

Just because you requested Tammy!

Here are two cards I created today! But now I gotta get to my homework....
My friend Tammy couldn't wait to see them so I posted them early!

With so much snow on the way I wanted to think of spring! I usded the Ronald McDonald set for this year... I used matching ink and paper to add texture. So saffron and cercently celery. Then used markers to color on the flowered stamp and get the multi colored look. I then heat embossed the image with glitter emobssing powerder from SU.

The second card was similar to one created by my friend Teresa! This is not a stamp set I would typically purchase but I really like how it turned out. Sometimes you gotta play around with it to see how great it can be! It is one of the two step stamping sets! Again I heat embossed the glitter embossing powder..

Hope you like!

Here's a start...

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to share with you a couple of cards I made at a recent event.

The first card was a make and take I created for a special group of people who do events for their relay for life group called "Hands for Hope"! I used a slit punch to create the scalloped edge on both of the cards! Thanks to Crystal for that awesome idea! Another technique is the faux stitching also around the image! This is so easy to make. For this card I used night of navy, whisper white, and rose red cardstock. I used whisper white craft ink, rose red, and night of navy classic inks.

The second card is a copy of a 6 x 6 card in the new Stampin Up! Spring Summer 08 catalog. I reducted the size to make it fit on a standard (4 1/2 x 5 1/4) card. I used the ruby red, groovy guava, river rock, very vanilla cardstock. For ink I used old olive and ruby red! I like how you don't always need to stamp on white paper!

Enjoy!

welcome!

Hello Everyone & Welcome to my new blog!

This is the first time I have ever created a blog so I am looking forward to getting started! I will be adding material to the site over the next couple of weeks and hope to have it up and running within that time!

Hope you enjoy!
Nicole