Chichiboulie Blog Hop

Welcome to the Chichiboulie Blog Hop sponsored by Stamping Bella! If you've just happened upon my blog, you can CLICK HERE to start from the beginning at Bloggabella.

Here is my card for the blog hop. I used this cute little Reading Reverie stamp from the Chichiboulie collection at Stamping Bella. I've had her for a while, but she's never seen ink before. I love to read and think she is just so sweet.

Thanks for stopping by today! Enjoy the hop!

How about a prize? In addition to the fabulous eye candy, we have decided to hide a prize somewhere along the hop! One pre-selected blogger will draw a random winner from the comments on her post, and the winner will receive a $25 Gift Voucher to Stamping Bella!!! The fun part is...we're not telling you who it is! So as you hop, make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! We will announce the winner on Monday in the Splitcoast forum. MWAH!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Now it's time to hop on over to my Bella Sistah Em's fabulous blog, inemscloset.

Bewitching

How cute is Sabrina from Rubber Romance? I think she is such a hip witch, not scary at all. Check out her boots! They are all stickled up for sparkle, I'd love a pair like this, but I probably couldn't walk in them, LOL! I guess this will be my last Halloween card for this year. Always seems to come up so fast, and I don't make as many as I would like.

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you all enjoy Halloween this year, eat lots of candy. I know I will. Can't wait for an excuse to eat some Reese Cups and Snickers, my favorites! Lucky for me the kids prefer the fruity stuff and lollipops, so I get the chocolate!

I'll have to try to post a pic of the costumes, the Star Wars theme won out again this year (third year in row). My oldest likes to coordinate everyone. The costumes look pretty cute, especially the Ewok one for Finn.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Sabrina, Rubber Romance
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, computer generated sentiment
Paper: Only Orange, Wild Wasabi, PTI ssw, MM Halloween paper
Embellishments: Nesties, Mini brads, stickles, crystal effects, AC Moore ribbon

Warm Woolen Mittens (These are a Few of My Favorite Things)

Anyone else love that song from the Sound of Music? It's one of my favorite songs! These little mittens are coated with a hint of white fun flock to give them a woolen look. The sketch here is from SCS, a challenge sketch from Verve's release week challenges.

This image was a free digital image offered for a limited time from Verve. It's the first time I've tried a digital image. It printed out nicely and was easy to color with copics, no smearing, I was surprised. Now I still have no idea how to re-size the images and sentiments, but I may have to fool around with this a bit. Up until now, I've been afraid to try digital images, but this freebie tempted me. I'm glad I gave it a go, not as scary as I thought. Who knows, maybe I'll become techno savvy, yet?!! Haha, doubtful!

Thanks so much for dropping by, I appreciate all you visits and comments! Hopefully I'll be back to some live blogging by the weekend!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Verve digi stamp, Winter Mittens
Ink: computer ink
Paper: White GP110, Real Red, Patterned paper from my scraps
Embellishments: MS loopy punch, SU organdy ribbon, copics, fun flock, MM mini rhinestones, nesties, dimensionals

Tea or Coffee?

Here is another card I did for the Verve Release week challenge sketches on SCS. I love the little stack of cups, so whimsical. Hard to see in the photo, but they are covered in crystal effects, so they look like real ceramic cups. Reminds me of those Topsy Turvy wedding cakes. Have you ever seen them, so cute.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Verve Delightful and Delicious, and Cup of Life
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Only Orange, Basic Black, Pretty in Pink dsp, PTI ssw
Embellishments: MS lace border punch, SU retired organdy ribbon, Bellas dots, dimensionals, crystal effects

Baby Girl Welcome Card

Well I thought I'd post this little card today. I made it for the Verve release week sketches last week. I figured it was good timing, as we will be welcoming our little girl into the family tomorrow. Think of us around 3pm, if you can. That is when my c-section is scheduled for. I'm getting a bit nervous, and really should be doing other things right now, like packing a bag or finishing up laundry. But here I sit updating my blog, LOL. Oh well, I guess I should enjoy my last day at home right?

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I'll have a few posts pre-scheduled for this week, if you feel like stopping back to visit!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Verve Practically Perfect
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Regal Rose
Paper: Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, DCWV patterned paper, PTI ssw
Embellishments: Kaiser pearls, copics, nesties, SU ribbon, cuttlebug embossing folder

Verve Release Week Sketch

It's that time of the month where Verve releases some new stamps. Julee posted 5 fantastic sketches on SCS. If you complete all 5 you are entered to win a prize, and it's a good one, the whole release for the month! They've posted some sneak peeks this week and it looks like the release will be fabulous as usual! Lots of holiday stuff being released. Can't wait to see it in it's entirety. Stop by the Verve forum on SCS tonight for the release party.

I'm off for pre-admission testing at the hospital. My dad came up to watch the boys. Hope they go easy on him, LOL! Also hoping the hospital is running close to schedule. He might be exhausted when I get home. I'll have to fix him a nice dinner to make up for it!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Verve Harvest Blessings
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Old Olive
Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, PTI ssw, DCWV Indian Summer patterned paper
Embellishments: copics, ribbon from AC Moore, dimensionals, nesties, PTI button and twine

Yoga for Relaxation!

Well, I can't say I really know about yoga for relaxation, but I've heard it works wonders. Maybe one of these days I'll give it a try. It's one of those things I've always wanted to try.

This Bella card was made for the Bella sketch challenge, BSC82 on SCS. I really love doing sketch challenges, it gives you an easy place to start. Especially when time is limited (like during nap time, LOL). I think sketches are the easiest challenges to work with. I have a few more sketch challenge cards to post in the next few days.

Thanks for stopping by today. I appreciate each and every one of you taking a minute to visit my blog and all your nice comments.


Card Recipe:
Stamps: Stamping Bella Yogabella, MFT sentiment
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Creamy Carmel, Rose Red, Basic Grey Bittersweet, PTI ssw
Embellishments: Nesties, SU ribbon and corner rounder, Cuttlebug embossing folder, dimensionals, foam dots, primas, rhinestone, copics, sakura silver gel pen

Diva Wine Charms

From the name of my blog, I guess you know I'm a wine lover. I like to make wine charms using shrink plastic as gifts. My girlfriends especially love receiving these.


If you've never tried to make them, they are super simple. I have a tutorial to walk you through the whole process posted today on the Rubber Romance blog. Check it out and give it try. Let me know how yours turn out. This close up shows how it looks on the stem of a wine glass.

I like to tie them together with some ribbon and package them up nicely for a great gift! Sometimes it's all in the packaging!

Here you can see the whole set together. Check out the Diva line of Rubber Romance stamps. They are the ones I used for these charms. They make perfect girly gifts (like these wine charms) and cards.

Thanks for stopping by today! Post me a link with your wine charm creations if you have a chance to try them.

VLV October challenge

Here's my card for the VLVOCT01 challenge. It was a sketch challenge with a shabby chic twist. Not too good at shabby chic, collage or distress style here, but I gave it a go. I love this K and Co. patterned paper and thought it looked a bit shabby chic already, so I went with it! Thanks for looking!

Really weird, by blog title and header photo are missing right now. Don't know what happened. I think I'll just leave it alone for now and see if it comes back, maybe it is something with Blogger?! I'm not too computer savvy, so not really sure what to do. If it doesn't come back, my dad will be her Thursday night for a visit, so I'll see if he can help. He's very good at this stuff!

T minus one week and counting down. Not sure if that is how the phrase goes, but anyway, one week to go. Starting to stress out a little here. I couldn't really sleep last night, was up at around 5:30 making chocolate chip pancakes for the kids, they were thrilled! Off to get some things done while the Finn-man naps. Thanks for stopping by today!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Verve, Beautiful Kindness
Ink: Staz-on black, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Tangerine Tango, Apricot Appeal
Paper: Melon Mambo, Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, K and Co patterned paper
Embellishments: Dew Drops, sewing, nesties dimensionals, distressing tool

Sugar Bowl challenge 21

I made this one for the Sugar Bowl challenge 21. Along with the sketch this time, the twist was to make a Christmas card. I hope this counts, it is sort of an anti-holiday card. I always have a friend or two that are having trouble getting in the holiday spirit. I thought this fun little card would be perfect to send to give them a smile. Who could look at this Little Miss Attitude in her holiday dress and not smile?

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope you had a great weekend. Looking forward to the Phillies game tonight.

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Sugarnellie, Gorjuss Girls, Little Miss Attitude
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, sentiment generated on computer
Paper: PTI ssw and New Leaf, Pretty in Pink, Ballet Blue, DCWV Holiday stack
Embellishments: SU border punch, circle punches and taffeta ribbon, MS snowflake punch, copics, rhinestones, nesties, dimensionals, crystal effects (on her shoes)

TGIF! With a MoJo sketch.

So glad it is Friday and that my husband will be home tomorrow night. It's been a loooong week without him here. The older two have been sick with coughs and colds. I think we are all getting a little stir crazy. We were supposed to have some company tomorrow, but I canceled, don't want to spread out germs around!

Anyway, here is the MoJo Monday sketch #108. I know today is Friday, but I just got to it. It was a fun sketch to work with. The card came together fast, too, since there was no coloring. I love to color images, but sometimes it's good to just stamp and go!

Hope you all have a happy and restful weekend. Hoping to stamp a lot on Sunday while hubby entertains the kids!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Verve, Harvest Blessings
Ink: Choc. Chip, Pumpkin Pie
Paper: Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Choc. Chip, PTI ssw, patterned paper by DCWV
Embellishments: SU mini brads and grosgrain ribbon, nesties, sponges, dimensionals

Think Pink in October

October is breast cancer awareness month. So I figured it was the perfect time to ink up Causeabella. I love this stamp, she can be used for just about any cause by changing the color of the ribbon. She is just so much fun to color, too.

I used two different challenges for this card. The first one was Mercy's Tuesday sketch challenge (MTSC43). Once again, she had another amazing sketch to use! I also just found the JUGS blog. That stands for Just Us Girls. Their challenge this week was to paper piece (JUGS2). I love paper piecing, so I pieced this Bella's dress. They also asked us to use pink this week. I love all these challenge blogs, they really give me great inspiration.

Off to a doctor's appointment this morning. Hopefully things will look good. Only eleven days to go. I probably should be freaking out a bit, but I'm not yet. Thanks for stopping by today!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Causeabella and sentiment by Stamping Bella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Pink Passion
Paper: PTI ssw, Pink Passion, patterned paper from Creating Keepsakes
Embellishments: nesties, copics, spica pens, dimensionals, SU oval punches, Dots and Dashes ribbon, PTI button, embroidery floss, rhinestone

Congrats on a Huge Rock!

Check out the new Rubber Romance sketch challenge. The challenges are posted on the Rubber Romance blog on the 10th and 20th of each month. The best part is that with every challenge you have a chance to win a prize! Now if that's not incentive, I don't know what is?

Here is my take on the challenge. As you can see, I omitted the sentiment on the front. That's because I had a fabulous Rubber Romance sentiment I wanted to use inside (it was too big to go on the front). This stamp is Emily is Engaged, you can find her and her Diva friends here.
So, here is the inside of my card. That sentiment is great isn't it? It just makes me smile. I do love good wine and you can't go wrong with a big diamond! I usually don't decorate the inside of my cards, but I had fun adding a little something pretty to the inside of this one!
Run over to the Rubber Romance blog and check out the sketch. Hope to see some submissions!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope you are having a great week. My hubby is traveling this week. Lucky guy is at a conference in Arizona, and it involves multiple rounds of golf. So I'm sure he's one happy guy! I'm hoping the kids sleep well this week, so I can get more projects done at night. We'll see....

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Emily is Engaged and sentiment from Rubber Romance
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI ssw, PTI Scarlet Jewel, Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, DCWV All Dressed Up Glitter Stack
Embellishments: nesties, copics, MM mini brads, SU ribbon, PTI button, twine, rhinestone, crystal effects, sakura glitter pen

Sweet Dreamers challenge (bugging out)

I combined two challenges for this sweet little card. Our Sweet Dreamer's blog group was challenged to make a card with a bug on it this week. I hope this little moth qualifies! I don't really have many buggy stamps. I also used Aly's 3rd sketch challenge for the layout. I'm sure you remember me mentioning Aly before, she is the talented ten year old girl who started her own sketch blog. She posts a new sketch every other Sunday and makes her own amazing samples. Check her blog out!

The kids are down at a reasonable hour tonight, so I'm making this post quick so I can go stamp a bit more. Thanks for stopping by today!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Stamping Bella Huggabugg and sentiment
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Gable Green (for sponging)
Paper: PTI ssw, Gable Green, Green Galore, DCWV polka dot patterned paper
Embellishments: Copics, Shimmerz, nesties, SU ribbon, SU corner punch, sponges, Robin's Nest Dew Drops

Sweet Dreamers Challenge (A Christmas card with an animal)

Our Sweet Dreamers blog group challenge this week was to make a Christmas card with an animal. I don't do too many animal cards, but had this cute image I received from a friend in Wish Rak. The berries are coated in Crystal Effects and look really pretty in real life.

Thanks for stopping by this weekend! Hope you all had a happy and healthy break this weekend.

Go Yankees, they are up two games. Maybe I shouldn't get excited yet. My friend Ilena is very nervous, every time I say they look good, she thinks I'll jinx them! Hope not!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Penny Black Hedge Hog
Ink: Black
Paper: White, Real Red, Garden Green
Embellishments: Prisma color pencils and gamsol, MS border punch, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Crystal Effects, stickles, offray ribbon

Congrats on Your Bike-A-Thon!

Happy weekend everyone! Kids are excited, it's a long weekend, no school on Monday for Columbus Day. Tonight we have my husband's high school reunion. I still don't know what I'm going to wear. Nothing like waiting til the last minute, right?

This is my take on the Mercy's Tuesday sketch challenge this week (MTSC42). I've been trying to do this challenge each week, since I found out about them about a month ago. They are really fun sketches!

I made this card for my dear friend Megan, who just completed a bike ride to raise money for MS, called Bike to the Bay. She rode 17 miles, holy moly! I'm so proud of her for finishing the bike ride, that's pretty long of a ride, in my opinion. She trained for some time to get ready. Megan, if you are reading this, pretend to be surprised when this arrives in your mailbox, LOL!

I told my husband that I was making a card for her to celebrate this accomplishment. He said, "Do you really have a girl on a bike stamp?" Um, yeah, and I probably have stamps to celebrate almost any occasion anyone could happen upon! A little scary, but it's always better to be prepared!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Stampingbella, I wish I looked so good on a bikeabella, PTI sentiment
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Garden Green
Paper: Garden Green, Pixie Pink, PTI ssw, Basic Grey Sultry
Embellishments: copics, spica glitter pens, sakura silver gel pen, Bella's Baubles, scalloped punch, nesties,

Birthday Bird Cage

I just got some card kits back from a swap I did. The card kit swaps are so much fun. They include stamped images, patterned paper, ribbon and embellishments. This swap was for Magnolia card kits. This particular one came from my stamping friend Linda Palmer. I fell in love with this image and the patterned paper she sent immediately. It just so happened that the image fit nicely with today's SCS sketch challenge 249. And the baby took a long nap, things really went my way this afternoon!

Hope to stamp a little more tonight, my husband has tickets to the Yankee's playoff game (a little jealous here)! He's taking clients for work, but still should be fun for him. So I'm going to stamp a little while I watch the game on TV. The Phillies are on right now. Very excited that my two favorite teams are playing October ball this year! Don't know yet, but I'm feeling like the Yankees might be due for a World Series win this year, we'll see!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope you are all having a terrific week!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Magnolia, PTI sentiment
Ink: Black
Paper: White, Real Red, unknown patterned paper
Embellishments: dew drops, white twill tape, copics, dimensionals, crystal effects, white and silver gel pens

It ain't easy being green...

Anyone else love that Kermit the Frog song? It's a favorite of mine. This time I'm talking about being green as being environmentally conscious. I love to recycle whenever I can. This tin is from Prima flowers. I love Primas and use them all the time, so I figured I needed to find a use for the empty tins. Also if you look to buy tins, they can be pricey, so this is not only environmentally good, but also a real money saver!

The stamp is Babs from Rubber Romance. She is perfect for this type of project. She looks so relaxed in her bubble bath, makes me want to go take one!
I made this little tin to use either as a gift for a friend, or maybe to leave out in my bathroom. I have one of those fabulous soaking tubs, that just doesn't get much use, maybe seeing a nice bath set near by would encourage me to soak.
I filled it with packets of oatmeal milk bath. My blogger buddy Marti shared the recipe with me. I scented mine with Eucalyptus Mint oil. It smells so yummy. I love this little gift set, and can't believe how little it cost me to put it together. I have several more tins I've been saving, so I'll probably make some of these sweet little gifts to give around the holidays.
Thanks so much for stopping by today! Hope you are having a great week, we're enjoying some crisp fall weather here.

Recipe:
Stamps: Babs from Rubber Romance
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: MME patterned paper, Bashful Blue, PTI ssw
Embellishments: MS ribbon, primas, twine, PTI buttons, stickles, copics, modge podge

Sugary Christmas Card

I made this one for the latest Sugar Bowl sketch challenge #20. The challenge along with the sketch was to do some paper piecing. I just got the latest Basic Gray Christmas paper, Eskimo Kisses and could not wait to use it! I used to hoard all my Basic Gray paper, don't know why, it was just too pretty to cut up. But I decided I won't buy anymore unless I start to use it. So the last two packs I bought, I used some right away. I've been doing a few Christmas each month, so hopefully I'll be caught up by December.

This card uses the Sugar Nellie Gorjuss Girl Flower Girl stamp. She is just so sweet, I've been loving all the Gorjuss Girl stamps I have, and think I need to add a few more to my collection!

Thanks for dropping by today. Hope your week is off to a great start!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Sugar Nellie, Gorjuss Girls Flower Girl
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI ssw, Scarlet Jewel, Pretty in Pink, Eskimo Kisses
Embellishments: Prima flowere, MS leaf punch, SU corner punch, gold mini brads, PTI ribbon and button, SU gold cord, copics, gold gel pen, Metalic dew drops

Cutie Pie Bird

Happy Sunday! This is my take on the SCS sketch challenge this week, SC248. I thought it was a fun little sketch. I love this new line from Rubber Romance, called Cutie Pie! You can check out this Cutie Pie Bird and the others here. The little chicks are perfect for girlfriend cards! I thought I might put a sentiment like "Hey Chick" inside. Actually I have an aunt who always calls people chick, maybe this will go to her. The chicks have some dimension from the popped up wings and brad eyes.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Hope you had a fantastic weekend!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Rubber Romance Cutie Pie Bird
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, PTI ssw, SU retired patterned paper
Embellishments: nesties, sakura glitter pen, copics, American Crafts mini black brads, EK success border punch, SU retired organdy ribbon, foam dots. Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder

Long Lean Witch

I hardly ever make long skinny cards, so this was a real challenge for me. This sketch came from Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge MTSC41. I flipped the sketch vertically, the original was horizontal. I knew I needed a skinny witch so I went with this Bella image, Witchybella. I've been on a Halloween card kick, lately. Now I have to make sure I actually mail out these Halloween cards, LOL!

Thanks for stopping by today, hope you are all having a relaxing weekend!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Stamping Bella, Witchybella
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: PTI ssw, Basic Black, Green Galore, Almost Amethyst, SU designer Jersey Shore paper
Embellishments: MS border and bat punches, mini orange brads, copics, sakura glitter pen, stickles, crystal effects, foam dimensionals