Kreativ Blogger Award

Hey, kids, look what I got! I have to tell you that this is such a super special honor. Not that it's an Oscar or anything, but to have someone single you out just for being you is kinda cool. Especially when you consider that there are about a bamillion blogs out there, and Mindy picked mine. Pretty darn cool and puts a smile on a girl's face. Thanks Mindy! Here's her blog in case you wanna checky-checky her out: With Flying Colors

Ok, now for the rules:

1. The recipient may put the logo on their blog

2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award

3. Nominate 5 blogs

4. Leave links to their blogs

5. Leave messages for your nominees

Okie dokie. Now, the 5 blogs I'm passing this onto are (and this is tricky, trust me. i like A LOT of blogs):

Julee - I'm one of her biggest stalkers fans and she can do no wrong in my book!

Jenn - She's my favorite colorer (?!) on the planet. Her videos make it look waaaay too simple.

Laura - Elegant, elegant, elegant. She has impeccable taste.

Joan B - Smart, funny and talented. I'm in awe. I LOVE Dear Paperlicious.

Amy - If you like bright colors, this is your girl (i'm actually afraid of them!). And aside from my mom, she was my first reader. She can always find the positive side of things and I admire that.

K, here's hoping that the ladies on this list that don't know who I am, don't think I'm some kinda stalker fruit loop chick (uh, i'm pretty sure Julee already knows this). I just love their work and think they are all very kreativ!

Have a
Happy Thanksgiving

everybody!

Mint

1948

This is what we did for my mom for her 60th birthday. My aunt had this whole "1948" thing going on in her mind, asked for my help since I'm waaaay closer, and this is what we got. I kinda had this idea, but never went anywhere with it. Plus, I couldn't get something else out of my mind. Remember, on the Cosby Show, when it was Cliff's birthday & they did "Things That Are Older Than Dad"? And, I think, the last one was, "Dirt...is older than dad". Well, it was hilarious on t.v., but probably not so much in real life. So, I took my aunt's idea & did a bunch of research (learned a lot, by the way) and decided to make a poster. I looked up some people who were born in that year (Baryshnikov is definitely one of her faves) and stuck some events up there. Scrabble was invented, as well as the first computer. Hell's Angels was formed and the first astronaut monkey went to space. So, see, something for everyone. The background paper is this awesome SEI paper that I got in Florida at the Disney outlet store (? i know, right?!). The whole Granny's Kitchen collection for, like $9. Tiara helped by placing everything where she thought it should go & by cutting out the '1948' with my Cricut and there ya go. It was fairly easy (just a day to put it all together) and she really liked it. I hope you really enjoyed your day, mom. Happy Birthday.

Happy Birthday Mom

Hmmm. I thought about not posting this until the day after her birthday, but that thought only just came to me and I already promised to do it today. But I did announce that I was doing it, so if someone peeks on here & sees their card before it's in their hot little hands this afternoon, well, they can't say they weren't warned. Plus, that's what I do. I post ON people's birthdays, cuz it's my blog and those are my rules! I am, however, keeping what goes with it to myself until later, so there! *sigh* All this for someone who tries to keep her birthday under wraps like it's no big deal. Well, I'm here to say that turning 60 is not only a big deal, but quite an accomplishment. And, on top of that, you've got a kick ass daughter (ha!), a brilliant, if not slightly socially stunted, son and the most amazing granddaughters on the planet. You've lived all over the place, married a Platter {<---if you clicky, he's the 2nd from the left. isn't he cute?!} (k, so he wasn't a Platter until later, but still!), were once a tv reporter and a dj (!), fell off of a pregnant horse while you were pregnant, and got landed on by said horse (ow!), went through natural childbirth twice with NO drugs (wow! and why?), saw your daughter in the emergency room as a child more times than anyone should and never needed to be committed to the loony bin (sorry 'bout that, but the dog was NOT my fault!) and can parallel park in a teeny spot, on a hill, in the rain, on the left side of the street in San Francisco like nobody's business! Sure, there's lots more, but I don't wanna embarrass you. So there ya have it. Be proud & say it loud. It's your birthday! Happy Birthday, mom.

Just a quick note about the card. It's Riding Hood Red and it's more brown than the picture shows. And the red I colored the cake stands matches it exactly IRL. For those who need to know these things (like me!), I found that you can make Riding Hood Red with Copics by using the colors R59 + E25. Now, back to your regularly scheduled supply list.

Stamps: You Say It's Your Birthday & Smells Like Cake (The Cat's Pajamas), Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black & Versafine Onyx Black, Creamy Caramel & Riding Hood Red, Paper: Papertrey white, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel & Riding Hood Red (SU!), Accessories: Cuttlebug folder, 1" punch, Nestabilities, Stickles, Doodlebug brads, Copics: E13, E15, E25, R29, R59, YR09

Happy Birthday Ashley

How much do I love this card? It took everything I had to squish it into an envelope, which I knew would totally smother the life out of it, and send it off to my sister for her birthday. First of all, I've been wanting these stamps forever. They are just so fabulously adorable! Second, the whole thing came together just right and I was just so tickled with myself. I really wanted it to be fun and young, but not childish, since my sister turns 18 today. She's so incredibly awesomely fantastically *Ashley* and I hope she loves this card as much as I do. I also hope she can tell how much I love her when she sees it. If not, I'll just have to redirect her to my blog. I think I made myself pretty clear, here. Aaand I'll be back tomorrow with my mom's birthday card. Phew!

Stamps: Smells Like Cake (The Cat's Pajamas), Ink: Pink Pirouette & Close to Cocoa (SU!), Memento Tuxedo Black, Paper: Papertrey white, Berry Bliss DSP, Pink Pirouette & Close to Cocoa (SU!), Accessories: Dark Chocolate ribbon (PTI), scallop punch, dazzling diamonds (SU!), Stickles, Copics: B12, E11, E15, RV000, RV10, RV23, R29, Y02, YR04

Happy Birthday Chance

Ok, this card might look slightly familiar. That would be because I CASEd myself. But I used this card as inspiration for Shawn's card. I liked how this one came out so much, I thought that I could use the same general idea for Shawn's card. You know me, I like the matchy-matchy and all the colors came together nicely for this card. Nice boy colors. Thanks to SU!, all the hard work of coordination was done for me. I love the little, um, creature guy. What the heck is that? Well, I don't know, but I think it's cute, whatever it is. I also love that this is a simple card, and the total opposite of Chance. He's quite the intellectual and hopefully looking at this card will give his poor brain a rest and remind him that he's only 12. Happy Birthday, sir.

K, well that's all you get for today. I've got my sister's birthday on Saturday & another birthday (ooh, it's a big one!) on Sunday, so I'll be posting both of those cards. And if I'm gonna post them, I guess I should get them made! Ha. Wish me luck.

Stamps: Humorous Birthday (Inkadinkado), Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Paper: Papertrey white & kraft, Baja Breeze & Manchester DSP (SU!), Accessories: Copics - E13, E24, B000, BG01, R29

Double Trouble

Alright, it's Shawn & Krista's birthday again. That's right. Time to celebrate those superior birthing skills I was bragging about just a few weeks ago. Ha! Just kidding. It was dumb luck. She wasn't due for a whole 'nother week, which is also my sister's birthday. It's never really been that big of a deal. Poor Shawn loses out tho, cuz for years she would have birthday parties & people would kinda forget that it's his birthday, too. And he always lets her decide on dinner & the cake. Well, not this year. This year they each get their own cake. She's the only one who likes chocolate cake (weird, I know! we're freaks =P). But as the years have gone by (all 11 of them) I can say, "Happy Birthday, dear. She's the gift that keeps on giving!" Really, what could be better than a baby on your birthday? Well, besides some really good cake?

Happy Birthday, Shawn!

Did I mention he's just as hard to

make cards for as he is to shop for?

Happy Birthday, Krista!

Betcha can't tell what her

favorite color is...

This part is just to impress my mom.

Look at all the layers, ma! Pretty

cool, huh? Yeah, I thought

you'd like that.

Stamps: Humorous Birthday (Inkadinkado), cupcake (katie & co), Birthday Surprise (Verve), Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black, Baja Breeze & Wild Wasabi (SU!), Paper: Papertrey white & kraft, Manchester DSP, Baja Breeze, Wild Wasabi (SU!), Accessories: Wild Wasabi ribbon (SU!), Nestabilities, Copics- Top: E00, E31, E55, B000, B02, B12, G24, G99, Y38, Bottom: G24, YR02, Y17, Y02

Ornament Tins

Now I'm really done. This was my last Christmas project I had to finish. This is what our family is getting. While it's not spectacular or sexy, I had a LOT to make. And people love stuff with their name on it. Trust me. I've never in my life walked into a place and found something that said "Mentoria" on it. It can be quite the bummer. Anyway, this project actually didn't take me all that long. No, really. Someone, probably on Splitcoast, had mentioned this and I thought, 'wow, sounds much more impressive than those acetate ornaments I was gonna do!' Plus, I couldn't find acetate/transparencies that weren't ridiculously priced. And, my sample was kinda lame looking. So, since I have *some* experience with tins, I thought this would be perfect.

These are regular little tins I found in the wedding aisle at Walmart. I printed everyone's names using my computer then punched them out with the blue (super jumbo?) scalloped punch. I stamped various snowflakes on them, then sponged the outside with a coordinating color. Added a little rhinestone in the center of the biggest snowflake and Stickles on the smaller ones. The labels on the outside of the tin were cut first, stamped, slapped on the tins and glitterfied with more Stickles. Can you have too much Stickles? I say no. Punched a hole with my handy dandy crop-a-dile and looped the ribbon through. I had to use my Terrifically Tacky Tape to get the scallops to stick to the lids. I just stuck half of a strip on the back of the paper & the other half stuck to the lid. Can't even see it! It's like magic. Ooooh aaaah. The names were initially further back in the tin, but that was such a hassle (I'm sure there's a really easy way, but it never came to me!) and it just wasn't working. And that's it. Easy peasy. Sounds harder & much more complicated than it really was. And the most important part? I'm done. Here's a picture of almost all of them. I didn't want some to be seen (even underneath, people might see something they're not supposed to). And I didn't photograph the ones that will be staying in our house, cuz they're supposed to be a surprise, so they're hidden away. So this is 35 of just over 40. Phew!

Stamps: Holiday Treats & Snowflake Serenade (PTI), Ink: Pure Plum, Pale Plum, Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose (SU!), Pure Poppy (PTI), Prussian Blue (Palette), Paper: PTI white, Avery lables, Accessories: Walmart tins, Michael's blue, white, red, pink & silver ribbon, Lavender Moon ribbon (PTI), rhinestones, Star Dust Stickles & my lovely desk!

The Whole Shebang

Alrighty. I am officially done with all this stuff. Yay me! This is it, this is everything. Well, the cards and the tins for friends and staff at school. I'm still working on the family gifts, but I'm more than halfway done with those. And those are neat. Yeah, you have to wait til I'm done to see what they are (unless you've been to my house & gotten a sneaky-peeky!), cuz I wanna take a picture of all of them together. I'm probably more excited than the recipients will be, since they are not crafters. Oh, well. We've got a big family and this is what they get. Times are tough, people! And on that note, bring on the season of giving!

Stamps: So Many Scallops, So Swirled, Best Yet (SU!), Lily & Tweet (Pink Cat Studio), Holiday Treats (PTI), Ink: Baja Breeze & Elegant Eggplant (SU!), Pure Poppy (PTI), Versafine Onyx Black, Brilliance Moonlight White, Paper: BB & EE (SU!), PP & white (PTI), Accessories: Soft Sky & Baja Breeze ribbon, scallop punch (SU!), paper crimper, brads, tins (Specialty Bottle), Avery labels, Michael's silver ribbon, Lavender Moon & Pure Poppy ribbon (PTI), Cuttlebug embossing folder, Nestabilities & Copics (yay!)

Christmas Tins (Again!)

Phew! I finally got these bad boys done! These are what half of my Christmas tins for friends & staff at school look like. The other tins are just like the ones I did last year {clicky}, but of course they have this year's colors, like these. I'll get those up later. I just got the holiday Kisses and haven't gotten them all done yet. These, of course, are the Nugget tins. I am so grateful that Nichole came up with this idea, because it's fairly easy (when you're doing about 30) and cheap (no offense to you recipients who read my blog, but come on, 30!) These were so popular last year that I had to do them again. They are so much fun! When I get the other tins done, I'll take pictures of the cards that go with the tins so you can see how much time I have on my hands, er, I mean how much I love to coordinate my gifts! Woohoo! I'm ready for my close-ups:

The lovely Baja Breeze Nugget tin

Lovin' that Elegant Eggplant, oh yeah

What's Christmas without a little Pure Poppy?

Stamps: So Many Scallops (SU!), Holiday Treats (PTI), Ink: Baja Breeze & Elegant Eggplant (SU!), Pure Poppy (PTI), Paper: BB & EE (SU!), PP & white (PTI), Accessories: paper crimper, scallop punch (SU!), brads, tins (Specialty Bottle)

Oh, yeah - don't forget to vote!