I've been featued in the Bitter Sweet Zine Winter issue!!!

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Inspiration Challenge


Do you ever look at something and say...Ohh I know the stamp set I can use to replicate that!!! Well When my sister gave me a dress for Mela last year I KNEW i just had to order this stamp set to make scrapbook pages with...no I haven't made any pages yet (majorly slacking!!!) but I did make a card that was inspired by the dress...now when you look at the card and dress together don't you think it's the PERFECT match???

Todays inspiration challenge over on SCS was to create a card that was inspired by something in your home...let me tell you I knew exactly what I wanted to use... I even went into the girls room in the dark and felt (the lights were off) which dress I wanted to use...it's one of those dresses that just feel so perfect! Thanks sister for creating such awesome memories for me!

This is pretty much a one layer card, the only thing that is not flat is the ribbon and two punched out circles for the green centers. To make this card I used shimmery white Fabulous Flowers and Polkadots and Petals stamp set and I ised shimmery white cardstock. The colors are tempting turquoise and crtainly celery and th embelishments are the 1 inch circle punch, ribbon and 2 markers for the sentiment. Thank you soo much forstopping by! I hope you get inspired by something beautiful in your home today!

Happy Stampin'

Friday, March 28, 2008

Where in the world have I been???


Well we have been having some nice times with family! The kids are loved, the house is clean and I am happy! Thank so much for continuing to visit my blog and I just wanted to share some things that I have gotten to make this week while I have been missing from my blog!

This card was made for the weekly sketch challenge on splitcoaststampers...except that I flipped it to fit my image. Then I did some generation stamping or stamping off as some would like to call it. Layered everything up, added eyelets and a str and called it a day! I really do like how it turned out and I think it will make a wonderful many birthday card! What do you think?

This next project was done for Friday's Limited supplies challenge found here. We were to use supplies we have neglected...needless to say I have been neglecting my coasters and this pretty ribbon (Mellow moss Taffeta) and my beloved tag punches! I so love how this project turned out and have already given it to a very dear and close friend (I hope you like it Danielle) for the stamp sets I used a beautiful thing and I used the Bali Breeze designer paper and cameo coral and river rock for the cardstock and ink. the paper inside is just computer paper cut to 3.75inches and NO I didn't stamp all the pages, SORRY Danielle!
Same Same Friday





In the spirit of my actual challenge on Fridays..same same...same stamps, same layout, differenbt colors...here are a couple more cards for you to enjoy! On these cards I used the same base color and the same accent color, just changed the color stripe. I really do like how both of these turned out and the rhinestone brads totally do it for me!
colors for this card are apricot appeal, chocolate chip, taken with teal and I used the aqua painters to color in both birds...added some gliiter and ice rhinestone brads and called it a day!


For this little guy I used the certainly celery designer series paper and did the exact same thing as my previous card and that was that! What do you think? a lot to see I know, but I hgope ou have enjoyed viewing my stamping from my absence of posting. Thanks again for stopping by.
As always,
Happy Stampin'



Monday, March 24, 2008

Happy after Easter Monday!


Be forwarned...this post will contain a lot of pictures!!!
I stamped today! YEAHHHH I actually did todays challenge on Splitcoaststampers and I really like how it turned out...not only that, but it's already in an envelope to go to a lucky recipient...is it you? Todays challege was to create a flap card and it was a whole lot easier than I thought they would be...I actually really an ready to make another one!



Isn't it cute? YOu can find instruction on how to make this card here.

And I wanted to show you the open card! I didn't have any magnetic snaps, so the good ol velcro came to the rescue!

And I let my sister borrow my orange ink pad because you know who ever uses their orange ink pad anyways right? Well guess what... I needed my stinkin orange! Totally my fault, I should of gotten it from her this weekend and I totally forgot! So what did I do you might ask? I used my only orange marker whats what! I love those things...they always help me out when I'm in a pinch! If you would like to order your own set of markers, please let me know!









Now, onto some family pictues! I love Easter...and this year was almost our sons 4th Birthday on Easter Sunday...lucky for us we got to Celebrate it all together!

Now we celebrated Portuguese style, and boy was it fun! My Dad roasted a pig and I have to say...I think this one is the BEST pig he has roasted EVER! So moist and delicious! Thanks Dad for the yummy food!















This is a picture of my nephew Mario hangin with the piggy eatin some grub...is the apple good MoMo?
















Like I had mentioned, David Turned 4 on Easter Sunday and his little sis justhad to help him blow out his candles...aren't they just the cutest?











Of course we also did the traditional Easter thing...nothing like searching doe 175 eggs to get the party started! Isn't Coco Cute? He's another nephew!














Followed by a 3 legged race and a egg in the spoon race...so pics for now...I have a really good one of my sister that I will have to share later! (Gary you still lost!)




And of course we had to have the Pinata (this was for David's birthday, although you can always start new traditions, I'm sure they have egg shaped pinatas!)

















And last, but certainly NOT least, is the ever popular extremely traditional fireball easting contest! Okay maybe it's not traditional, but I do believe it will be back by popular demand...as you can see here even Mela wanted to participate! Isn't she quite the trooper? We had the best time!
Thank you sooo much Sissy and Mom for doing sooooooo much of the cooking, we truely are blessed by your amazing talents (not to mention needing to go on a diet!) Sissy, you are sooo extremly gracious and I am just sooo amazed and proud to be your sister! Enough mushy stuff...you stink!




Thanks for stopping by!
Enjoy your day, count your blessings and ejoy your stampin'

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Same Same Friday...on a Saturday


Here are two very quick little cards I made for this challenge, with a twist! This time I choose to do the same stamps, same colors and accessories, but different layouts! I hope you enjoy these cards!! I know I have been away for a while, but I have been very busy...I got an order for 30 bridal shower invites and I have been working on an order for 150...YES 150 birth announcements...needless to say I haven't had much time for much else!!! So I will be posting the bridal shower invites soon and I will be posting more hopefully next week!

Thanks for stopping by and I wish everyone a very HAPPY EASTER!!!!

"For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten son, so that whoever belives in HIM shall not parish but have eternal life." John 3:16

As you spend time with your families this Easter weekend please remember the sacrifices that Jesus suffered for us! He loves us and wants us to be with Him in heaven one day. Do you know Him as your personal Lord and Saviour???

Happy Stampin'


Sunday, March 16, 2008

Here comes the Bride...

So this weekend I did a workshop at my BFF from high school's Dad's house...does that make sense? Anywho, her dad and Dawn are finally getting married after 17 years of being together!!! YEAHHHHH Way to go Larry!!! Anywho I lvoe Dawn and she asked me to do a wedding themed workshop for her and some of her friends...I was all for it and very excited! Her wedding colors (I say her because you know do the guys REALLY care???) are black, white and Old Olive...a very nice color combo I might add! They are getting married on May 31st and they are getting married on a golf course (14th greem, not that it has any significance, just the prettiest on that particular course) So you wanna see the samples? Here they are!

Tin Favor top view



I just LOVE how this turned out! This tin is the 8oz tin and I used the tissue paper on the inside and stamped the images with black stazon ink. I used 2 stamp sets: a little birdie told me and Always. Love both of those! I wanted the little birdie to be the same size...not use the large and small from that set. But since stamping the small one twice wouldn't make them face face each other I got a brilliant idea!!! I stamped the first little birdie on the right side of the tin....are you sitting down for my genious plan???.... took the lid off and placed it face down...then stamped the little birdie again on the INSIDE of the lid...pure genious I know!

Tin Favor side view





This is a view of the tins from the side. aren't they cute? For the name and date I used the write me a memory Vol2 font CD from Su! and I think the font is passing notes. I sponged the edges just a little and this time i printed it in black because I wanted it to stand out a bit more. I Punched the name and date with the 1 1/4 inch punch and then the black with the 1 3/8 inch circle punch and finally a scallop circle out of old olive. To finish this up I just added a pretty little ribbon and called it a day! You can use this tin got sooo many things, candy, a little picture book. Wedding favors, bridal showers, baby showers, kids birthday parties! Let me know if you need any tins!


Sample Menu




This is the sample menu I came up with. I used the Vol2 write me a memory SU! font CD for each header and then I went to the website of the company that catered my sisters wedding last year and borrowed some yummy foods! The place is Called A La Carte and I HIGHLY recommend them. Karen is extremely professional and a delight to work with!













Place cards






These turned out super cute! Dawn is going to run the info through the computer and print the persons name and table number on each of the place settings and then place them on these clips so that guests know where to go...Won't these look sooo cute all lined up on a table? I think they will be a great conversation piece!











Wine Bottle Favors




These are the actual favors and I used a piece of laminate counter top sample found at Lowes or Home Depot to create these super cute little tags! What Supplies did I use? For this exact sample I used basic Black cardstock, ginger blossom designer series paper and whisper white cardstock. The font is from the SU! Write me a memory Vol2 CD and I used the RGB chart to print the color in Old Olive from my printer. To finish this project off I used Always artichoke 1/4icnh grosgrain ribbon and tied it around the bottle.







If you have any questions about size, dimentions, technique, anything, please let me know with either a comment or an e-mail!



Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Under 10 minute Thank you!


So this card litterally took me less than 10 minutes to create...and I really do like how it turned out! The colors are spingy and the layout is simple and sweet! Although there is no stamping on this card...it has a purpose and a bunch of bright springy colors! I actually made this card for the Inspiration challege on Splitcoaststampers and todays inspiration was just bursting with color. I toned it down a little and used some designer paper that I won from Diana's Blog last week...and my suprize gift of Rub-ons.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you like my super simple super fast card!

Happy Stampin'



Thursday, March 13, 2008

New Feature

Just wanted to let you all know I added a new feature to my blog! Now if you are visiting from another country, you can translate my blog to your language...if it's one of the 9 on my sidebar! So go ahead and look over there...just above my picture!!!

As always thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stampin'

Silvia

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Bom Dia Portugal!!!

So I just love the new Feedjit (you might of noticed it towards the bottom of my sidebar) I just added to my blog and let me tell you why!!! I can now see where people are coming and going from...this is just soooooo exciting to me! And I really do wanna say a big Como vai to the person to sisited my blog from Leiria Portugal because that is actually where I was born...now I have lived in the states coming up on 20 years this year, so I really have no idea who viewed my blog from there but non the less it's still very very cool! I still do have family in Portugal...in Barracao...about 20 minutes of so from Leiria...so if you stop by my blog from another country let me know! I'd love to hear from you!
Another great big hello goes to my cousin Filip...he lives in France and works for an airline out of Paris...I miss him dearly but we have been keeping in touch through e-mail...check out the picture he sent me of us when we were kids...too cute huh?


Filip and I weren't always such great friends growing up... he's a bit younger that I am and so he was annoying to me or trying to drown me in the pool, because he was bigger than me!

But after not seeing each other for so many years we let by gones be by gones and we get along soo much better now! It's amazing what growing up will do to a person!





And last but not least...I promised some pictures of what we were up to these past few days...so here they are!

In this picture we had gone for a walk and Mela wanted to walk Banjo all by herself, so we looped his leash through the handle of the wagon and he actually pulled her along...hehehe too cute!

She had a blast and so did we! I love going for family walks and just enjoying being together! David was a big boy and rode his bike...man how did that kid get soo big?


Papa (Andrew's Dad) joined us on our walk...so nice to catch up with those we love in this day in age where it's all go go go!
The kids just love hanging out with papa...he's great with them too! Here he is helping Mela try to put a tennis ball into the basketball hoop! LOL I think she needs a bigger target or ball! The kids just lvoe their papa and you can see why!


And this is David with papa stealing the basket ball...it was a close game, but I think david won...wink wink!
He will be 4th on Easter Sunday and really I just can't figure out how this all happened, and so soon too!
This last picture I'm sharing with you is of Bella...she is currently stroller boound because she puts anything and everything in her mouth! She is cutting 4 top teeth right now, so I will let you know when those come through...she is going to be 10 months on Sunday and it just seems unreal to me! Thanks for letting me ramble...sorry for the super longpost, but I felt like i hadn't shared any of our recent happenings...so there you have it!
Let me know what you are all up to with this gorgeous weather breaking through... I love love to learn more about you all too!
Happy Stampin'
Silvia

Cloisonne Sketch


So I finally got to do some stamping this week, although I'm really NOT complaning!!! Andrew (my sweet Dear Husband) has had the past 3 days off from work (part of his normal rotation) and we have just been enjoying each others company and a whole lot of AWESOME family time! So since I got a chance to stamp today I decided to play catch up on some of the sketches on Split Coast Stampers! Since I do not have all the colors for the color challenge, I decided to go with Monday's Technique challenge and Wednesday's Sketch Challenge instead! I like how it turned out, but I hope I didn't stray too far from the sketch! The stamps I used were from the Garden (an Su! hostess appreciation set and Starlight starbright from Verve visual for the sentiment!)


How do you do the cloisonne technique you might ask? It's simple, just grab a line drawn image and a favorite magazine and look for a picture you think will look good inside the line images. Once you have found the image, simply stamp with versamark, add gold embossing powder and heat set. Cut out your image and you are good to go! I do like how this turned out, for my flower I choose a beadspread picture and for my leaves...you guessed it, an outdoorsy picture! Give it a try...it's super easy!
So what were we doing that has keept me soo busy that I couldn't even stamp? Check back later and I will show you some pics...I now have babies waking up and I have to run! Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Stampin!
Silvia

Monday, March 10, 2008

I'm in Stiches!


Well at least my card is! I have been wanting to use my sewing machine to make a card lately and have not gotten around to it, but the moment has arrived! At first I had a hard time getting my machine to stitch but once I adjusted the tention we were so in buisness! This was a very very simple card to make, I used a sheet of natural white cadstock to created the base (this card measures 4x9) and then just got a bunch of different scraps from my cutting table and arranged them on the card with adhesive. Once that was done I grabbed my machine...which already had this red thread on it...now call it lazines of a blessing but I thought it went great with the colors of the papers I had used, so I just went with it!


Lastly I used my small oval punch and punched through my card base and then used a stamp from the Starlight Starbright stamp set from Verve Visual in real red and the sentiment on the inside reads"Wishing you a day filled with possibilities" I love that stamp set! And that's it! Super easy and super cute! I hope you ejoyed it, I love the colors because they are soo cheerful and springy and with the thought of a possible snow shower tonight I can always use some spring colors in my life!


Thanks for stopping by!


Happy Stampin'

Silvia

Sunday, March 9, 2008

The B-I-B-L-E...


Yes that's the book for me! I stand alone on the word of God the B-I-B-L-E..so now that the song is stuck in your head I just have to show you what I just did! My sweet and awesome hubby got me a new bible on Friday (I wanted a pink one but they didn't have one in the NIV version) So he got me this one which is very nice and smooth and I just love the leatherette. Anywho I wantd to make it more me, so what makes things more me than stamping on them!!! So I did. I really like how thw baroque motif turned out, I stamped that using the timeber brown Stazon ink, and for the little flowers (which I'm still not too sure about!) I used lumier in the pearl shade...the stuff is a little messy to work with and it's a bit too splotchy, but what's a girl to do?


I also felt that the sentimen in this set was just absolutely perfect to stamp on the cover of my Bible, because there is nothing that you should treasure more than the word of God!


I do love my new bible! Thank you sooo much honey for thinking of me and loving me and being the best husband EVER!!!


Thanks forstopping by!


Happy Stampin'

Silvia

Saturday, March 8, 2008

SU! March/April Wheely good special

It's WHEELY GOOD! When you purchase a specific stamp set you will get the coordinating wheel for FREE!!!

So what are the sets you have to purchase? Here they are listed with price and the coordinating wheel!

112848Wonderful You bundle$33.95
112851Life's a Breeze bundle$29.95
112850Pun Fun bundle$30.95
112847Year after Year bundle$30.95
112849Stitched Exotics bundle$33.95
112853Enjoy Every Moment bundle$29.95

Let me know if you would like to host a workshop or place an order to take advantage of this awesome special!

Happy Stampin'

Silvia

P.S. Don't forget about the extra $25 inn free merchandise when you host a workshop totalling $350 from March 18th- April 30th

I WON I WON!!!


I was sooo very excited to find that I won some blog candy! YEAHHHHH Thank you soooo much Diane from Diane's Designs for the awesome chance at some yummy candy! I love pink and green and can not wait to use up all the goodies she is sending me! She's also sending me a suprize...can't wait to see what it is!! Go check out her blog, she is an amazing stamper! I hope you all have a great day!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Same Same Friday!

So here is todays same same card! It actually started as todays limited supplies challenge on Splitcoaststampers found here. The challenge was to make mini cards and so I incorporated it into my same same challenge and into a door prize I have been working on for my workshop tonight!
The stamps are from a Sale-a-bration set called So Many Scallops and the Sentiment is from a set called Taggers dozen...it's very simple and a little build a brad finishes this card off nicely!
On both of the cards I used some retired designer paper that I just loved so much I didn't use it while it was still available...bad Silvia for hoarding!!!
In this color the layout is the same and it's the same stamp set I just changed the color and used a different section of the same piece of paper!
These cards are small, about 2 3/4 x3 7/8, but they are perfect if you just want to hand someone a little thank you...and they are convinient because they fir in the little notebook! What notebook you ask?
Well yesterday I was browsing the net and was reading Debbies blog over at Thinking Inking and found a super cute notebook cover...this little note pad measure 3.25x5 inches and it's perfect for the purse...depending on how big your purse it! LOL Anywho Debbie had a pattern over there for you and I just thought it would make the best door prize...the coolest pasrt is it has 2 pockets...perfect for notes and a couple note cards!
The pen just happened to match and it belongs to BB&T...doing a little advertising for my Sis who is a Branch manager there! LOL








And here is the notebook open... I hope you like it! I got the notebooks at staples I think and they were like 12 for 5bucks...not bad!!! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the little notebook!
Happy Stampin'
Silvia

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Guest Designer contest


For My Favorite Things stamp company is today...until 10pm! So the challenge is to create a monochromatic card or object! I created a card...for now! I might make another project after the kids go to bed tonight...we'll see!

I used the stamp set doodle this and I really like how it turned out! It was a whole lot of work, but definately worth it! I wonder who the lucky recipient will be? To make this card I stamped the main image flowers onto water color paper with the stazon black ink pad, I then used my pretty in pink marker and "loaded" it up with purely pomegranate ink and colored in all 4 flowers. Next I cut them all out andinked them once again with versamark ink this time. Then coated them with clear embossing powder and heat set...boy did those colors POP!!! Once I had all the flowers assembled like I wanted them I used my piercing tool from the crafters tool kit and made a whole to be able to apply my build-a-brad. I stamped the swirl, used my 1/2 inch circle punch and got that cute little thing, inked it and placed it in the center and added the clear bauble.

Then I layers my card up! I used my Crop-a-dial to emboss the pretty in pink paper and sponged the edges, added ribbon and called it a day! What do you think?

Here is a close up of the card so you can see all the dimention, I know this card wont go in the mail...or maybe I'll just have to suck it up and pay the extra postage!
Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'
Silvia

Recipe Swaps


So my good *friend* Keri is hosting a 6x6 recipe card swap and I have really enjoyed putting them together...at least the first one anyways...LOL I used a stamp set called Tart and Tangy found in the Occasions mini collection and is available until the 31st of May... I lvoe this sey...so versatile and very very cute I might add!

What do you think of the Rose Red? Too much? Anyways here is what I did! I used my computer to print up the recipe and cut it out then I matted it on a piece of close to cocoa that measures 5 1/8 x 4 1/4, and that is finished!

For the 6x6 card itself I just used a piece of pumpkin pie cardstock and stamped the orange on 2/3rd's of it with the orange using pumpkin pie ink. I then used a piece of 12x12 cardstock to cut 1/2inch x 6 inch pieces of close to cocoa (so for 25 recipe cards I used less than one sheet of cardstock!) and I also used the new designer series paper called Summer Picnic. I used just a little over 2 sheets for this as the orange is 1inch x 6 inches...getting 24 pieces from one sheet of designer paper!

I then layered the cocoa and the desinger paper and attached the ribbon loops to the back of the recipe card. to add a finishing touch, I addedstamped one of the salloped flowers from So Many Scallops (a free Sale-a-bration set, contact me for more info!) in rose red on shimmery white cardstock and punched it out using the scalloped punch! I also used my 1 3.8th circle punch to make a mat for the orange which is stamped on shimmery white using pumpkin pie classic ink. And last but not least I used the 1/1th hole punch to add a little more detail. What do you think? I hope the swap participents like it as much as I do, but I hope they enjoy the yummo recipe too!

Supplies:

Stamps: tart and tangy, so many scallops

Cardstock: pumpkin pie, shimmery white, close to cocoa, very vanilla, summer picnic DS paper

Ink: rose red, pumpkin pie

Accessories; 1/16th hole punch, 1 1/4 circle punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, scallop punch, close to cocoa ribbon, SU! font

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Stampin'

Silvia

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Tuesday's Teacher...ON A TUESDAY

So I actually got my tutorial done on a Tuesday!!! Shocker I know!!! Here is today's AWESOME verse! It can really get you thinking so be ready for it!

Let us go up at once and take possession of the land, for we are well able to overcome it. -Numbers 13:30

What does this mean? What land am I talking about? For me it's not a real land but more of a metaphor. A goal that is just shy out of my reach with mountains to overcome! There will always be obstacles. Some of them are of our own failings, some are from the interferance of the enemy, yet others are a result of the hardness in men's hearts. Pray today that God's Spirit will overcome the hindrences that keep people from the openness to the love of God. Pray that we may use the power of prayer to help us overcome our fears, our pbstacles, our mountains to reach the goals we have before us, take possession of those goals and ask God to help you realize them!

Envelope Bag Tutorial

For today's tutorial, I did not take a picture of all the supplies used...big slacker here! So here is a list for you!

Supplies:

-envelope, wheel, wheel handle, card stock of various coordinating color, ribbon, liquid glue, some accessories and of course stamps and ink.




the first step in creating a beautiful envelope bag is to start off by sealing the envelope shut!

Once you have sealed your envelope, you will want to decorate it. I choose to use the Petals jumbo wheel with Purely Pomegranate ink











Once you have decorated the envelope to your liking, use your paper trimmer with a scoring blade to score on 3 sides of the envelope along once inch and all 3 sides









Next you will want to remove the scoring blade and use the cutting blade to trim off about 1/4 inch from the side that was not scored











YOu will then want to use the score marks as your guide to make the envelope into a pouch, leaving the bottom triangles out and ready to be adhered



Nest you will want to use a strong adhesive to secure the bottom triangle flaps (I used mono multi because it is strong enough for the job and it is also fast drying)
This is what the bag will look like once you have secured the bottom.
YOu will now want to pinch the side in and place your goodies iside...I used coorditating nuggets inside.
the last step is to decorate either a little tag or a nice medalion and your done!
For my bag closure I used my rectangle punch and punched 2 wholes, threaded the ribbon through both of the front holes, criss crossed it in the back and then threaded it back to the front...super easy and looks great too!
I really liek how this turned out and the touch of Saffron really adds to the medalion!
Here are the supplies I used
Stamps: Petal jumbo wheel, Heartfelt Thanks, Polka Dots and Petals, Everytday Flexible Phrases
Ink: Purely pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, chocolate chip craft ink
Paper: Whisper white envelopes, wild wasabi, purely pomegranate, whisper white
Accessories: rich regals brads, rectangle punch, purely pomegranate double stitched ribbon
Thanks for stopping by! Please let me know if you have any questions!
Happy Stampin'
Silvia