Bellagio Bella Rose

Getting my mojo going to stamp something sometimes is not as easy as it seems. Some days I can sit down and pump out some cards and other days, I can sit and look at the stamp set and the paper for hours and never come up with a decent idea. That's when I head over to Splitcoast Stampers to case some cards from some very talented people.

This past weekend, Splitcoast Stampers hosted a mini virtual stamp night. It was the first one I participated in. Challenges were posted every hour and you had 45 minutes to complete each challenge.

This particular challenge was to be inspired by the Bellagio hotel and the card had to have acetate and flowers in the design.

The base of the card is Kiwi Kiss card stock.

The next layer is Bella Rose designer paper. Riding Hood Red is the next layer, punched with an edge punch. The Pirouette Pink piece is cuttlebugged with an embossing folder. The flower is stamped on acetate with Stazon and then I coloured on the back of the image with re-inkers and a blender pen. I then put Crystal Effects where the image was coloured and then poured Dazzling Diamonds on top to give it a sparkly effect. I let it dry and then mounted it on top of the pink piece with 2 white brads. I then cut the rose and the leaves from the Bella Rose paper and popped up parts of it to make more dimension. Here are some close up pictures of the rose and the "sparkly" part.

Chow for now,

Jacqui

I carried a watermelon.....

Oh my gosh....yesterday my mom took my son Joel and I to see the theatre production of Dirty Dancing at the Royal Alexandria theater in Toronto. We went on a bus trip, which is THE way to go to Toronto as far as I'm concerned. You don't have to mess with parking or traffic - you just sit your butt in the seat and get out when they tell you and it's a stress free day! (Thanks Mom!)

We got a nice surprise when we went to the restaurant for lunch, my sister Courtney and her boyfriend Jay met us for lunch. It was a great surprise. I have not seen either of them in a while, so it was nice to see them. Especially since Jay's birthday was on the 28th and Courtney's is today!

Now on to the show.......

What an AWESOME performance. I'll be honest...only Patrick Swayze can play Johnny Castle, but Ashley Leggatt played Baby, and she was awesome. She looked like Jennifer Grey and she talked like Jennifer Grey. It was uncanny.

The stage is really quite small at that particular theater and the way they used the whole thing to show different angles and different areas of the resort were very cool.

They had many different back drops which make it look like the real thing, everything from the golf course to the lake where Johnny and Baby practiced their lifts.

I wasn't sure if Joel would like it or not....since he is a 13 year old boy...but then again...what 13 year old boy does not enjoy seeing a girl in her bra - a couple of times!! (haha)

He said he enjoyed it though - he thought it was pretty cool the way they did all the stage stuff and the music was good..

I agree, the music was good and the story itself is just a classic.

I'm gonna watch the movie again so Joel can see what the original was like.

Here are a couple of pics from the original.

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Virtual Stamp Nights - Wowzers!

Over at Splitcoast Stampers they had a Las Vegas inspired Virtual Stamp Night today. They posted challenges; one at 10:00 AM, one at 11:00 AM and then one at noon. Each one was a different challenge inspired by something Vegas-like. They are playing again tonight, starting at 7:00 PM. It's really fun (this was my first one....I think I might be addicted now!!! - can you get addicted after just one???) Click here to go to all the information about it.

I have a gazillion things to get done today, so I am only going to post the card I did for the 10:00 AM challenge today and I will post more tomorrow and the next day.

The 10 AM challenge was inspired by the hotel in Las Vegas called Circus Circus. So the challenge included making a card inspired by the Circus, but also it had to have orange in it.

My hubby wanted me to cheat and upload a card that I had already made!!! Cause I just happened to have one that had a lion on it and it has orange on it too....but I just could not bring myself to cheat for my very first VSN!!!

So I cracked open my Wild Thing stamp set made by Close To My Heart and my In The Wild stamp set, also made by Close To My Heart. Inked up the tigers using Pumpkin Pie ink and then I coloured in the black parts with a tiny little marker. I then sponged Barely Banana, So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie around the tigers. Creamy Caramel was sponged along the bottom. I then punched out circles using my circle punches. I stamped the fire from the Happy Camper stamp set on Pumpkin Pie designer paper. Then I cut out the flames and stuck them to the back of the circles. I used the small tag punch to cut out tiny pieces of Creamy Caramel card stock which I put under the tigers to make them look like the pedestals they stand on.

I then used the scallop edge punch to punch a strip of Pumpkin Pie designer paper to look like an awning over top of the tigers.

We only have 45 minutes to complete the challenges so that was the best I could do in the time allotted.

I'm sure my stampin' girls will think I'm crazy for cutting out all those flames!!!!!

Chow for now,

Maybe I'll see you over in the VSN later.
Jacqui

Commute thinking.....

I commute an hour to work every day. Lots of people ask me why I just don’t move to the city where I work instead of commuting every day. You know what, I kind of like the commute. It gives me 2 hours every day, to myself, where I can do whatever I want (well whatever I want while driving!!) I can think about things, I can listen to whatever music I want, or I can just cruise along and enjoy the scenery. Lots of times I think about all kinds of things.
The last couple of days I have been thinking about my weekend away with my girlfriends. Getting together with good friends is probably the best thing to do....ever!
It is great to just get away, be yourself, hang out, let your hair down and just have a great time. I have the opportunity to do this every spring and fall. Sometimes more throughout the year, but for sure every spring and every fall. My best friend Vicki and I met through Stampin’ Up! (to which I will be forever grateful), and now we make a point of getting together in the spring at her house and in the fall at my house for a weekend of fun, stamping, eating, laughing and whatever else happens to come up!
The past October we celebrated our 10th get-together. The attendees of our get-togethers vary from year to year, but Vicki and I have remained a constant for all of the events. One year Vicki was unable to come, but just one! So, at the get together in the fall, the girls presented me with a little tiara and a wand!!! (I think it might have had something to do with the fact that Vicki said I looked like a gerbil when I was eating my chips and she started calling me Princess Gerbila!!) Anyhow…here is a picture of me with my little tiara and my wand.

I often think about my friends and think about how blessed I am to have ones that are so awesome. I have re-connected with a few of the friends I had in high school through the phenomenon of Facebook (or better know as Facecrack!). It’s interesting to look at their pictures of their children and see the similarities between them. It’s also nice to catch up and see what they have been doing for their lives since high school. Some days high school seems like it was just yesterday, and then I turn around and look at my daughter and realize that she is now in high school and I wonder where oh where did the time go. How is it possible that I was in high school yesterday and today I have a daughter in high school? Some days, when the kids are getting on my last nerve, I think to myself, “if I was even a tiny bit like this when I was their age, it’s a wonder my mom and dad didn’t thump me!” I need to remind myself to say “I’m sorry” to my parents each time I see them. They say what goes around, comes around….and well I think mines comin’ around!
And then other days I think about my Granny and how strong of a woman she is. I look at her face, and think how beautiful she is. If I tell her she is beautiful she just gives me an “oh come on”, and tells me I am crazy. She says look at this wrinkly old face. Well I don’t care if there are wrinkles on it. Those are her life lines and to me they are beautiful. My Poppa passed away in 1997 and I was very worried about her when he died. She never got her licence and she always had him to do things for her, but she totally surprised me. She stayed in the house and lived on her own until a couple of years ago. She is now in the nursing home, but she is doing great. She will be 90 in April of this year! She still has all of her faculties, which I am so happy about. I used to work at the nursing home and I felt so sorry for the family members who came into visit their loved ones who were suffering from some sort of dementia and they did not even know who they were. It was heart breaking. So even though Granny is in a wheel chair right now, I am so very thankful that she is still Granny and she still makes all her little comments and still has all her little quirks that make her unique and my special Granny Grunt! When I see Granny and her sister Mabel together I often wonder if that is what Diana and I will look like when we get to be in our 80’s. Every once in a while I will send an email to my sister and call her Mabel just to make her laugh!

I’m really not even sure how I got on this topic. Just got off on a tangent I guess!
I was reading my email yesterday and someone sent me a joke and this picture was attached. I figure this is what I will look like when I am celebrating another stamping get-together when I am 80!!!

Thanks for stopping in today,

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Another Regional swap!

Well I was kind of bummed today. I didn't get picked for the Inky Impressions Design Team. I had my fingers crossed....which made typing and updating my blog very hard!!! Have you ever tried typing with your fingers crossed? Not as easy as you would think!

Oh well, maybe another time. There were a lot of very talented women who answered the call. I wish Nicole the best of luck with her new company.

If you check out her site, she is offering a cute little image that you can save and print and make some cute cards with.

I'm going to try and whip one up this weekend if I can find some time.

I had a kind of crazy day at work today. I ended up having a meeting this afternoon which wouldn't be so bad, but it ran a half hour later then my usual shift ending time. I hate when that happens. It just throws everything off kilter. I leave later, get home later, get the day to day stuff to be done at home later, and then still have to run the kids and do the chores and clean and cook and gosh I'm getting tired just thinking about it! So needless to say........I didn't get any stamping done.

So lucky for you that I was so scattered tonight, I will share another swap card that I received from the Stampin' Up! Regionals event a couple of weeks ago.

This card was made by Kim Pargeter. Kim is a very dear friend who I love to pieces. We have such fun when we get together! I cannot wait for our next stamping escapade!!!! Unless we can squeeze one in before then...it's only 30 more sleeps till we get to have some stamping fun!!!

Thanks for havin' a boo at the blog,

Chow for now,

Jacqui

The closing of another chapter....which finishes the book.

Well Joel had his follow up appointment with the cardiologist yesterday and everything is perfectly normal. His heart is fine. He was given a clean bill of health and he was encouraged to live life to the fullest and do whatever he wants as long as Mom and Dad say it’s okay!
That was certainly nice to hear. Once we brought him home from the hospital, it was a huge weight lifted off our shoulders, but then you start thinking and wondering what else is going to happen. Will he be able to do this.....will he be able to do that.... should I let him do this......should I let him do that.......Each follow- up appointment we went to was a closing of a chapter, one step closer to having this story come to an end. For me, today was the end of the book. With no hope for a sequel! He got a clean bill of health, he is a happy kid and with the warm weather slowly coming he’s getting out on his bike and spending some time outside. So now we can all rest comfortably knowing this is behind us.

I am ready for my first of my monthly Christmas card classes on Wednesday evening. I want to thank all the people who I borrowed ideas from! (stampkat and waxyo)

This pink card I copied from stampkat. I love the soft look of the pink and the silver together.

Here is a close up of the snowflake. I cut it using my bigshot, and then I sponged pink on it and then covered it with dazzling diamonds.

This three trees card I copied from waxyo. I love the colour combo and nice crisp look of the card. I like the layered trees as well.

Here is a close up of the trees.

Here are the 4 cards which my customers coming to my class will be making on Wednesday evening.

I hope they enjoy making them as much as I enjoyed getting them ready to share!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Swap by Heather

Another full day of cutting paper and getting things ready for my classes this week, so no stamping done by me. It’s a good thing I went to Regionals and got all these great swap cards!!!
Today’s share was made by Heather Arsenault. She is a great stamper.
She surprised us all by being a helper at Regionals! My friend Kim and I were standing in line and when we got up to the table, there was Heather!!

Jade got home from her March Break trip today. It’s great to have her home….just in time to head off to school tomorrow!!! It’s nice for the kids to get away from home for a bit and have some time away, but it is very nice to have the home safe and sound in their beds. Her dad stood by the window all day looking out at the end of the driveway wondering when she was going to get home. You should have seen the smile on his face when he saw her get out of the car. ( big mush ball!)
Of course her brother was not home when she got home…the weather’s warming up so that means he will be venturing out of the basement a little more and spending more time outside. But when he walked in the door you should have seen the look on his face. His eyes lit up and he was genuinely happy to see her. It’s great to have two kids that actually love each other. Sure they fight like cats and dogs sometimes, but in the grand scheme of things, they love each other and spend a lot of time together.
He was so sweet tonight…..Jade bought a dress for her semi-formal when she was away and she tried it on to show us and she asked her brother if she looked okay….and he said “even I would take you to the dance”!
He’s such a little sweetheart when he wants to be!!

Send good vibes for us today, Joel has his follow-up appointment with the cardiologist today.
We’re confident everything will be fine, but it’s always good to get some extra positive vibes sent your way.

Chow for now
Jacqui

Super Swap

I am frantically cutting paper for the two classes I have this coming week. I have my first of my monthly Christmas Card classes, and I have the class to teach the Pathfinders some cool projects. So needless to say, I didn't get any stamping done today, so I will share another of the nice swap cards I got at Regionals last weekend.

This great card was made by Jamilla Ivits. I love the Rock N Roll technique and I always forget to use it until I see it on a card again.

I am like that with techniques....I will learn one....and then forget to use them when I am making a card. I must make a goal for myself to use at least one new technique a week or maybe a month or something like that.

I know this is a short post, but my daughter comes home from her March Break trip tomorrow and I need to get some sleep, cause I know she will be talking non-stop for at least 12 hours when she gets home!!!

Enjoy Jamilla's card!

Chow for now

Jacqui

School of Rock

I was stamping tonight..and like I have said before, I always have the television or the radio on so there is noise. So I started surfing to see what I could put on as my “background mood noise”, and I stopped on the movie School of Rock. I absolutely love this movie. I watch it every time I see it is on TV. Jack Black makes me laugh whenever I see him. I must admit though, the character he played in King Kong was so unlike him, it was kind of weird watching that movie. You almost expected him and King Kong to break into song or something, maybe do a little “river dance” with all the cannibals singing along! Those cannibals were creepy......

When the King Kong movie was released, Jack Black hosted Saturday Night Live. Check out his spot!! I have embedded the video, but just in case it does not work, here is the linkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFZi_JlPzuc

So while I was watching the movie, well lets say while I was “stamp-watching” the movie, I thought I should make a card inspired by Jack and the School of Rock.
So I combined the Teacher Hanna set by Hanna Stamps, and the Rock Star set from Inkadinkado and this is what I came up with.

So I’m certainly not saying that Teach Hanna looks like Jack Black..cause that could not be farther from the truth, but she is a teacher and that was what Jack Black was in the movie. I think the card might need a little “something” but I can’t decide what yet..so I’ll post it anyway!

The base is Chocolate Chip Stampin’ Up! card stock with the next layer designer paper by Creative Imaginations. Teacher Hanna was stamped on Georgia Pacific paper and coloured with the Copic markers. The word Rock star was stamped in Brown Memento ink on So Saffron Stampin’ Up! card stock and then cut out. Some parts of the word were embellished with a gold gel pen as well as Hanna’s necklace and bracelet.
I punched an oval out of So Saffron card stock and sponged it with More Mustard Ink.Both Hanna and the oval and rock star are popped up with dimensionals.

I added a couple of close up shots so you can see the dimension on the card.
Thanks for taking the time to look,
Chow for now,
Jacqui

The Written Word is Very Powerful

How true is that statement? Just think how many times something that you have written has touched the life of another human being. A simple card that just says “Thank-you” can mean more than you know to the person who you give it to. Or what about the two words, “I’m sorry”. They can provide comfort to someone who has just lost a loved one, or can ease someone’s anger for something you may have done wrong. And then there are those three little words, “I love you”. How very powerful those 3 little words are.

We went to see the movie Inkheart today. Our local movie theatre had Twoonie movies all week! They played Twilight, Hotel for Dogs, Marley and Me and Inkheart every day.
Inkheart was playing at 3:20 pm today, and I was home from work by then so we went to see the movie. It was awesome. It definitely showed how powerful the written word can be.
I have liked Brendan Fraser ever since he was in Encino Man with Pauly Shore – “munchin’ on some grindage”! He made me laugh George of the Jungle. His character was quite a bit more mature in the Mummy movies, even though his sense of humour was still part of his character. I enjoyed him as an action hero in Journey to the Center of the Earth as well. I know that they are playing characters in a movie, but actors seem to get into it more when they play a father figure in the movie.
I loved this movie. The special effects were great. The Helen Mirren played Aunt Eleanor and she made me chuckle. Paul Bettany is a great actor. I have liked him ever since he played in “A Knight’s Tale” with Heath Ledger. He was the “announcer” and he had a bad gambling problem and always was losing the shirt of his back – literally! Andy Serkis was a great villain – he is such a chameleon. He looks so dramatically different in each character that he plays….take Gollum from Lord of the Rings for example….. and then King Kong…little bit of a difference there!! And he played Capricorn in this film. I am a Capricorn, but I hope I never get as nasty as him (or have teeth as bad!)
It really was a good film, and it will definitely be one that I will be adding to my DVD Collection.
So today’s card is a tiny little tribute to Brendan Fraser – from his George of the Jungle days!

The base of the card is Basic Black card stock, I layered on a piece of Jillybean Soup designer paper. I stamped the monkey and the foliage and bananas on Georgia Pacific paper and coloured them with the Copics. Some of the leaves are popped up to add dimension. I stamped “Thanks a bunch” on white card stock and sponged it with Green Galore ink. I then punched it out with the new oval punch from Stampin’ Up! You can see from these pictures some of the texture.
I’m pleased with the way the card turned out. Hope you enjoy looking at it, as much as I enjoyed making it…even though it took me long enough!
Chow for now,

Jacqui

Cards anyone?

Believe it or not, I am still working on the card I started last night.
It’s coming along nicely, but I had a bunch of other things to do tonight and didn’t get as much stamping done as I wanted to.
Then one of my customers (she’s a friend too!) came over and we got chit-chatting and time flew by! Her daughter just had a baby so she is very excited about that! Then we started looking at some of my "contraband" (non Stampin' Up! stuff) and well....I could go on and on for hours about that stuff!!! My Hanna's, Bella's, High Hopes, Close To My Heart, Inkadinkado, Molly Stamps, Stampendous.....etc. etc.

I was saddened today to find out that my sister Diana Gibbs', little dog Sammi passed away. She was such a cute little stinker and I know there will be an empty spot in their house and in their hearts for a long time.

I decided to share Laurie Markham’s swap card from Regionals instead of one that I have made. It was a hit and there were a whole bunch of people asking her if they could take pictures of it, so that is pretty flattering.
Laurie is lots of fun and she just happens to be my downline!!
I hope you enjoy her card!
Chow for now

Jacqui

Did ya go green?

So how many of you tried to get the “Luck o’ the Irish” with you yesterday and wore green? I did and was pleased to see many people did as well. It was actually interesting as I drove down the street and you could see all the people in their different shades of green. Too bad it is not warming up faster so the grass gets greener too! It was nice today though, but they are talking cold for the weekend again.

I was surfing through the stations last night trying to find something to have on while I stamped….can ya guess what was on?? Give it a shot…..Irish…..St. Patrick’s Day……Did ya guess Celtic Thunder!!! Wooohoo!!!!!
God I love those guys! Bravo was playing their show. It was actually nicer than watching it on PBS, cause Bravo didn’t have all the “send us money” interruptions. So that was a pleasant surprise to have playing while I was stamping. I didn’t get my card finished, but I got a good start on it and the idea is materializing nicely!
I got another few contraband items yesterday…. I had ordered 3 new sets from Close To My Heart when I was at my fundraiser event at the end of February and I finally got them today. I almost forgot about them. So that was a nice surprise too! I can’t wait to ink them up too!

Today’s project share is the little gift card set we made at Regionals. It’s quite cute and would be a nice little hostess gift.
It uses Baja Breeze card stock, Very Vanilla card stock, Pink Pirouette textured card stock, Baja Breeze Patterns Designer paper, and the Scallop Notes assortment II with envelopes.

I also wanted to share with you a beautiful swap card I received at the London Regionals! I have a yahoo group of local demonstrators and we had a little swap! I received great cards! I will show them all to you over the next few days! Today’s card was created by Donna Stollery!!! She is a very talented stamper, as well as a beautiful woman and I’m proud to call her my friend. She makes me smile, and we always have fun when we get together!

I hope you enjoyed today's shares!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Soft Summer Regional Card

Stampin' Up! Regionals were held this past Saturday in London. I had a great time hanging out with my good friends and making some great Make and Takes supplied by Stampin' Up!

This particular make and take, I kind of tweaked, as I don't really care for the technique they suggested we use to make it. So instead of colouring on the stamp with the markers and huffing on the stamp and then stamping it, I just coloured it with my aqua painter and then I highlighted certain areas with the marker. I like the look of the outline of the image along the one side of the card and the nice wide ribbon looks great. I will definitely case this layout for some cards in the future.

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Inky Impressions 1st Design Team Call

I am very excited to be posting today! I am trying my luck at getting onto a design team!
Nicole, who is the owner of Inky Impressions Rubber Stamps has put out a design team call. All posts must be completed by March 17th. (St. Patrick’s Day!) Maybe the “luck o’ the Irish” will be with me!!!

The two cards I am submitting for the Design Team Call are my Bowling Hanna card and my Lily Fairy card.

First off is the Bowling Hanna card. I created this card when I was the Guest Designer for Hanna Stamps, for the month of February! How excited I was to be asked to do that for them!
The base of the card is Night of Navy card stock made by Stampin’ Up!.
The next layer is designer paper made by K & Company.
Bowling Hanna is stamped on Georgia Pacific white card stock and coloured using the Copic markers. The bowling pins and bowling balls were also stamped on Georgia Pacific paper and coloured with the Copics. The layout for the card was from Mojo Monday! I love creating cards using a sketch! They are so much fun to do.

This is a close up of the card so you can see the colouring of Hanna a little better!

My second card is my Lily card. This stamp set is from the Enchanted Lily stamp set from Pink Cat Studios. This card I made for the Lily Fairy contest in January of this year. The image was a pdf document and you downloaded it and printed it off and designed your card. It was my first time with making a card in this way, but it was fun!
And she is such a cute little fairy too!
The base of this card is Chocolate Chip card stock made by Stampin’ Up! Designer paper if the next layer. Lily was stamped on Georgia Pacific white card stock and coloured with the Copic markers. She was then cut out and popped up on the card. Some of Stampin’ Up!’s felt ribbon was adhered along the bottom of the card and some flower embellishments from the dollar store were placed on the ribbon to the left of the card.
She didn’t win the Lily Fairy contest, but I had great fun making the card and was glad to have the opportunity to make a card with such a cute image.

Here is a close up of Lily. Isn't she sweet!
With any luck, I will see my name in the final 10 list on the Inky Impressions Challenge Blog on the 18th!

Wish me luck!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Okay, lets face it…. when it comes to actually making the Make and Takes at Stampin’ Up! events – I am slow as molasses in January. They give the announcement….You have 40 minutes of stamping time…and I think to myself…oh 40 minutes that’s a nice amount of time to work on stuff…and then it seems like 5 minutes later and they are saying attention you have 5 minutes left to wrap up your stuff…I think those Stampin’ Up! people have their clocks on speed spin!!!!
It was nice though that they let us work on what ever project we wanted to. I liked that change to the process. This way…I looked through and the items that I knew I did not have at home…I made sure I stamped or punched or “big shotted”!
That way when I get home…...I can create at my own pace!!!! The music mix they have for stampin’ was great too…although I wouldn’t be upset if they removed George Michael and replaced him with the Road Hammers!!!

This was the first make and take I did.
It’s a cute layout and I have not done the technique where you colour right on your stamps with the watercolour wonder crayons and then mist and then stamp it down for a while, so it was kind of nice to do that technique again, but I didn’t get it lined up very well….stamp-a-ma-jig you say?? Stamp-a-ma-what??

I think I will try this layout with some of the other sets I have. I must day it was nice to crack out the versa mark again too! I have not used my versa mark in a long time! It was almost to the point where it was sending me postcards…(have you seen those odd commercials where the mop is sending the person flowers and postcards…cause she has switched to a Swiffer wet mop)? Seriously…I think with my twisted brain…. I could totally be a commercial maker!!!!!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Happy Birthday Kim!

Today is my dear friend Kim’s birthday. The best part is I get to spend all day with her because the Stampin’ Up! Regionals are in London today, and we are going together!!
I wanted to make her a fun card, so I inked up the cat and mouse image from the Penny Black “Bubbly” set.

I stamped the image in Memento Black ink on Neenah card stock and coloured the image using the Copics. I then used my spritzer tool to spray some pink onto the background of the image. I applied some bright pink flock to make a bath mat, and crystal effects on the bubbles to make them shine. I layered the image on some Pretty in Pink card stock layered with some retired Stampin’ Up! designer paper. I used a Martha Stewart punch to make the edges of the Pretty in Pink paper and the designer paper fancy. I stamped the sentiment using Jet Black Stazon. 3 pink dew drops were applied to the bottom left hand edge of the card and 3 tiny “bling” flowers were placed in random spot in the top right. The little swirly above the bath tub image is actually what is left over when I punched the edges of the designer paper. I hope she likes it.

This picture was taken 3 springs ago now…wow how time flies. We were up at Vicki Garrett’s for the weekend and her son Jon had this awesome motorbike and he was giving us rides!!!! Here is Kim being a “biker chick”.

This picture was taken last summer. Our good friend Jennifer was home from the west for a bit and we got together at her mom’s house for the weekend. It was lots of fun. We just hung out and stamped and ate and laughed and stamped some more!!!
This picture shows Kim and I being goofy!

Happy Birthday Kim!
Luv ya
Chow for now

Jacqui

Hip-hippo-hooray!

I saw the cutest card the other day made by Leslie Miller.

Here is my version.
I don’t think I have ever used the Hippo image from this set. Not that I can remember anyway.

The base of the card is Bashful Blue. The next layer is the Sale-a-Bration designer paper. I cut strips of designer paper and flipped them over to get the different colour combos from both sides of the paper. I added a few dew drops as embellishments and some prima flowers and a brad.

I saw a little video on the web that I wanted to put on my blog, so I thought this card was fitting!

Chow for now,
Jacqui

Summer By The Sea...

Well right now I would love a summer by the sea. It is getting cold again. They are calling for minus 10 tonight. I am more than ready for spring. So I decided to make a nice springy card. I hadn't used my package of Raspberry Tart designer paper yet so thought I would break it out for this card.

The base card stock is Pretty in Pink. Layered with Raspberry Tart designer paper.

A strip of Pretty in Pink was punched with the scallop edged punch on both sides and layered with a tiny strip of Raspberry Tart designer paper. The sentiment was stamped in Kiwi Kiss on the Pretty in Pink card stock and punched out with the designer label punch. A piece of Raspberry Tart dsp was punched out with a circle punch and layered behind the label punch piece. It is popped up off the page using a dimensional. The girl image was stamped on Georgia Pacific white and coloured with the Copics. The clouds were sponged in using Diana's "scallop circle sponge to make clouds" technique! I cut it out with my scalloped square nestie and then layered it on a piece of Pretty in Pink with the corners rounded. A few dots were added with the white gel pen.

Hope you like it,

Chow for now

Jacqui

Bella Rose on my own!!

I decided I should really try to come up with my own card instead of copying everyone else's all the time! I loosely used the sketch from Mojo Monday for week 75.

Kiwi Kiss card stock is the base, with Bella Rose designer paper and Riding Hood Red card stock as accents. I took Diana's idea and coloured the flowers and then popped up the bird on top. (Thanks sis!)

Chow for now,

Jacqui

This set is so fun.
I have seen so many cute little cards made with all the different stamps in this set.
I cased this one from someone, but I can’t find out from who. If it was you….thanks!
The designer paper is Washington Apple. I stamped the space ship on Pumpkin Pie designer paper and then paper pieced it onto the space ship.
This is one of the make and take cards I showed at the Crop Stop and Shop a few weekends back.
Everyone loved it! They liked that is was a “boy”card.

Chow for now
Jacqui

Well I finally got to stamp this weekend a bit. It was busy with Joel’s soccer, but I had to get some stamping done. Regionals is in London this weekend and I am participating in a swap for it, so I had to get a few swap cards stamped
The swap particulars were a stamp set that was new in the catalogue so that was not a problem because I just got a couple of new sets.
I decided to case this card made by threelemmons
I love the layout and the colour combination. Thanks threelemmons for sharing!
Chow for now,
Jacqui

Be Brave

Bravery comes in all shapes and forms. Sometimes you have to be brave to suffer through a sickness whether you are the sick one or a loved one is the person who is ill. I was watching television last night while I was stamping up some swap cards and this awesome commercial came on. There are some pretty good commercials on TV right now and then there are some real losers too! Every once in a while a commercial comes along that just grabs you. Makes that lump come up in your throat. A lot of times they are the ones from Kids Help Phone or the Church of Latter Day Saints, but this time believe it or not, it’s a commercial from Pfizer. It’s a very powerful commercial so I thought I would share it. I’m bringing it over from YouTube so hopefully it will link properly.




And then there is bravery when you are playing sports. Joel had his play off tournament this weekend. They had a great Saturday, ending up first in their pool. So they had to go back and play today. They didn’t have much luck in the scoring department today though. They set up great and made some awesome passes and had a whole bunch of close calls, but just missed the goal by an inch. They had some incredible shots on net and had a lot of hustle, but they just didn’t come out on top today. But…this is where the bravery piece comes into play. Check out this video of a bit of the game. It’s not a high action shot or anything, but check out the size difference of the kids. Joel plays in the under 13 league….so to put it in perspective….Joel turned 13 in January…so all these other kids who play are just thirteen or they are still 12…..check out the size of the kids on the red team compared to Joel’s team that is in blue! Now that takes some bravery to get out on the field and compete against them! Thanks for the good vibes for yesterday and thanks for stopping in. I’m stamping today so should have a card or two to show you tomorrow…nah probably just one…I couldn’t show you two at once…..gotta keep ya coming back!!!!!!

Chow for now,

Jacqui

Standings at the end of Saturday...

Well it's good news! The kids played great. They played 3 games today. They won the first two and tied the last one. So they ended up in first place in their pool. So we move on to tomorrow!

With any luck we will win tomorrow too!

Chow for now,

thanks for anyone who gave a "virtual cheer" today!

Jacqui

Indoor Soccer Playoff Weekend

Joel's team ended up in 4th place this season in his indoor soccer league. So today and tomorrow is his play off tournament. We have 3 games today and then depending on how he makes out today, determines what he does tomorrow. If this mornings game is any indication.....we should make it to play tomorrow. The kids played awesome. It was the best game I have seen them play all season. Joel missed a few weeks of the season, being ill and in the hospital, so it is wonderful to see him back out on the field ( is it still called a field when it is indoor soccer??) He played great today, as did the rest of his team. They shortened the games for the tournament. So they play 2 15 minute halves, with no break in between. They have 30 minutes to kick the other teams butt! I kind of like the short games. Get in there, go hard for 30 minutes, and then go home!!!!!

I took a couple of pictures of him this morning. They are not great...unfortunately gymnasiums are not conducive to great picture taking.....it's probably just me!!! For all I know gymnasiums have the best lighting for picture taking!! So if there are any photographers out there reading this....I clearly don't know what I am talking about...but it certainly could not be ME why the pictures are crappy!!!

So whatever time zone you are in - shout out a "go Joel" at noon and at two!

Chow for now,

I'll keep ya posted!

Jacqui