On being an Auntie.....

Well, the BIG DAY is almost halfway here. Yay!! It seems like everyone is having babies these days. One of my customers had a baby boy a few weeks ago -- Jason. Another customer had a baby girl about a week and a half ago -- Riley Ann. And my sister is expecting in September - Baby Noah, as we call him/her, until we know if it's a boy or a girl.

So -- I'm thrilled to be an auntie!! Aunt Melinda has a nice ring to it, don't you think? 159 more days (and counting!!) until the baby is born.

HUGE congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law. I know they will be wonderful parents. The rest of us are looking forward to spoiling the baby -- soon-to-be grandparents and uncles and aunt.

For this card, I used Almost Amythest, Apricot Apeal, Night of Navy, and Whisper White. The sets I used are : Curvy Verses, Riveting, and Bundle of Joy. I cased the layout from a card I recieved from one of my SCS friends....but I don't remember who.

Thanks for looking!!

Watermark Factory -- Free!!

Free for today only. I wanted to pass this along.

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/watermark-factory/

Happy Resurrection Day!

I know it's a little late, but I hope you all have/had/are having a wonderful Resurrection Day!! We had a wonderful celebration today at our home.

We all got up this morning, and read some Scripture and sang a few songs. Then, we had big breakfast together. We - Mom, Dad, Mark (brother), Shannon and Joshua (sis and bro-in-law) and the four college students from Northland Baptist Bible College who come to help in our church each weekend - LIz, Christi, Judi, and Justin (Dave comes too, but he wasn't here this weekend).

Church was packed this morning, and the choir sang some lovely specials. Then, it was down to

the nursery for me....but I'm sure Dad had a great sermon.

I had fun making Easter cards for some of my church friends. I hope you enjoy the examples.

Have a wonderful week!!

Do the Twist, Little Buggy!

Wow -- I've really been stamping up a storm lately. Since Friday, I've made 10 cards!! I've been participating in the daily SplitCoast Stampers challenges and making Easter and Anniversary cards. Wanna see them all? Click HERE to visit my SCS gallery.

The card I have pictured is one of my favorites. I love experimenting with colors, and this one was no exception. I haven't seen this color combo done anywhere else (that I know of...I'm sure someone else has picked it). For this card, I used the Faux Shaving Cream technique, Big Blossom and Very Punny stamp sets. To accent the red color block, I ran it through my paper crimper. On the Bashful Blue piece, I stamped my little buggy stamp (the same one I used in the technique) all over in Real Red, and then brushed the cardstock against the ink pad, to give it some extra color. I finished off with a couple of circle pieces, some ribbon...and VOILA!!

Faux Shaving Cream

To get started, ink up a solid stamp. Take a small stamp (1/2" to 1") and touch it to the inked surface of the solid stamp and then twist. Repeat the touch and twist motion all over the solid stamp. "Huff" (breathe) on the solid stamp to remoisten the ink if necessary and then stamp it on your cardstock. The result is a beautiful mottled look.

Variation: ink up the smaller stamp with a contrasting color before touching/twisting. This will introduce another color into the swirls.

And the Winner is.....

.....Drumroll please!!!!

Anne Marie (SCS - ambouth) with her BEAUTIFUL Polka Dots and Paisley Card.

This lovely creation "Feeling Green" features the Polka Dots and Paisley and Polka Dots and Petals stamp sets from Stampin' Up! Included in the design is a lovely embossed "Cuttlebug" background. A.M. chose Certianly Celery, Always Artichoke, and Old Olive as the color scheme. (click on the card title for a link to A.M.'s gallery).

A.M. - Congratulations on an incredible piece of artwork....very VERY nicely done!!

Thanks to my other contestants, also. Your cards are equally beautiful. It's a good thing I didn't have to pick...because you are all WEINERS!!!

Blog Candy Entries -- Wanna vote??

Well...here they are...my blog candy contestants. I have three WONDERFUL entries. It is so impossible for me to choose a winner. So, you get to choose. Post a comment on my blog with your favorite card. Or you can email to me if you don't have a blogger account. My e-mail is: wonkaismycat@gmail.com.

Thanks, gals, for making my life a little easier!!! I hope that I will get enough votes to choose a winner early this week. YAY!!