Diane Started it!

Diane and I were making Christmas cookies when suddenly.........

I hope you are having as much fun as we are!!

(((HUGS))) Patti

What's the Buzz?

We are getting our first "big" snowfall and I am thrilled!! I hung some lights today that look a lot like my blog header! : ) I love colored lights!

I finally decided on a design for my Christmas cards tonight. I normally create about 2 or 3 different designs so that I don't get "bored" when making my holiday cards. This year, however, I'm on a strict time AND money budget : ) so I have decided to stick with one simple design. I did not add any "chunky" embellishments so that I will not have extra expense at the Post Office. I really like how they turned out. Tomorrow when I am snowed in!! (yahooee!!) I will begin to put them together. I will post them later this month. : )

Here is a card I made using my Crafty Secrets Clear Stamps called "Bug's Life". I just love this set - check it out there are some really funny bugs doing really funny things like perhaps getting ready for the "Ugly Bug Ball" right, Dad??!! (*wink)

I apologize for not including a complete supply list but I don't have access my supply list tonight. If you are curious about any of the supplies let me know and I will update the post.

Calendar Pages

Finally December is upon us! Thank you for stopping by to see my "old" calendar pages. I loved my Calendar so much this year that I have re-ordered another set for next year! The calendar pages are approximately 4.5" square and fit on a regular CD case that you fold out to create an easel. It is a sensational idea! I got the CD case and pre-printed calendar pages from a company called Touche' Rubber Stamps.

It finally feels like winter in the north woods of Wisconsin. The temperature is only 22* with a "wind chill factor" of only 16* brrrr! There is a little snow in the forecast but not enough for me! I say bring it on!! : )

Have a super day!! and thank you for stopping by my ant hill.

Patti

November Calendar Page

Hello November!

I just love the papers I used for this page. They are retired Stampin' Up papers and like so many of the retired SU papers I'm really sad to see them go! The image is a retired TAC image (is there a pattern here! LOL).

I enjoyed November! I hope you did too. Happy belated Thanksgiving friends : )

Patti

October Calendar Page

You have heard the expression "it's a dog's life" : ) maybe we should be saying it's a House Mouse' life!! bye bye October.

September Calendar Page

August Calendar page

My favorite House Mouse was cooling off in August : ) doesn't he look relaxed!? maybe that was why I never got this posted in august LOL too busy relaxing? heeheehee Actually in Wisconsin, this past summer, there were VERY! few hot days

Diane's first ever handcrafted card!

I've had the honor of introducing my friend Diane to papercrafts!! We have been having a great time having some little "classes" while I get her acclimated to this fun new worldof paper and ink!! : ) . She is doing awesome and it is apparent that she has definitely being bitten by the bug! heeheehee

Here are a couple of pictures of cards we made the other day. This is Diane's first ever handcrafted card! : ) I'd say she is a natural! what about you? : )

Diane selected the colors for this card from my Stampin Up papers. The image is called "Huggy Bellas" by Stamping bella. The background on the Certainly Celery green was stamped with Versamark using a stamp set from MSE. The ribbon is an Offray ribbon. We both used sentiments from The Angel Company. We gave the girls a little bling using my all time favorite glitter pen "Stardust" by Sakura.

Thank you for looking!! Have a super day!!

Patti

ant news

I know I have been seriously! MIA. How have you been?? I have missed my blogger friends : ) I hope to hear from each of you again very soon.

We've had a few challenges at "my ant hill" in the past few months but for the most part life is good! Sadly, our Africa trip has been post poned but we are praying the Lord will make a way for us to go in January 2011. We are thrilled that we have a new long-term house guest, a dear friend, Diane, who has shown an interest in papercrafts!! (Yahoo it does it get any better than this?!) I'm looking forward to Blogging & BLURFING! once again. I've missed my card making and have especially missed seeing all your fantastic creations!!

I know I promised a few of you that I would post my calendar pages for August through November - and I will! but please bear with me a little longer while I get the pictures of my pages taken. For now I wanted to share a card I made using Stampin' Up papers and a Crafty Secrets clear stamp image. You will notice a couple of Cuttlebug embossing folders too. I created this card for you! : ) and for all my sweet cyber friends who send me notes of encouragement and friendship! I'm back!! : )

But enough about me! I'm off to go blurfing to see what you ladies have been up to! : )

Thank you for stopping by my ant hill!

(((Hugs))) Patti

Bye bye June

Hello July! Here is my July calendar page. This one is kind of boring heehee I must have been tired when I made this one. I like August better so stay tuned for next month!!

We have been having odd weather here in northwestern Wisconsin. First it was dry then came a heat wave next was rain and now it has been cold!! and cloudy for days. I hear we are supposed to warm up and finally see that sunshine. I am ready! : )

I hope you have "sparkling" plans for the 4th of July celebrations in your hometown!!

(((Hugs))) Patti

Saving the best for last!!

My friend Janice sent me TWO Stampin' Up stamp sets for my birthday for no other reason than that she is amazing!! One of the sets she sent, Fresh Cuts, has a great 3.5 x 3.25" collage image. I used that image on this card on the far left. Knowing Janice loves House Mouse I added Mudpie, one of the delightful creatures in the House Mouse Family. This image is called "Sweet Dreams". I combined the two images using one of my favorite products, Masking Magic. Masking Magic is a Therm O Web product. It is simple to use!! I stamped my sleeping Mudpie on the card stock and then stamped the same image on a sheet of Masking Magic. I cut out the image from my Masking Magic sheet and carefully peeled off the paper backing. This left a super thin sheet of clear "cling" that I positioned exactly over the image I had stamped on my card stock.

Are you following me?? : ) Don't let me confuse you - this is a very easy product to use.

After my image was carefully covered with the Masking Magic I inked up my Fresh Cuts collage image and stamped it on my card stock. Some of the image went right over the face of my House Mouse image but after I removed the piece of Masking Magic the overlap was removed leaving a new image on my cardstock created by both images! My sheet of Masking Magic removed very easily because it has a "cling like" tackiness to it and yet it does not actually stick to the cardstock. Because of this it is not going to move or shift on you when you are stamping and it is re-usable. Doesn't this product open up a wealth of options for combining different stamped images? Try it yourself and if you need any help let me know!! : )

The rest of my card came together with a little help from a friend (*wink*) I struggled with how to finish off the upper right hand corner. The end result is three strips of black card stock and a self adhesive pearl by KAISERscrapbook. Love this card! Love you Janice!! thank you for your generous! gift and for the gift of your friendship!!

Have a great day friends and stay cool! : )

(((Hugs))) Patti

MORE thanks!! : )

Here are two more Thank you cards I created using some of my birthday gifts!! : ) This WONDERFUL! paper is from Stampin' Up. My sweet friend Cheryl gave it to me. I am Very Very sad to learn I can no longer get this paper!! boo hoo!! but while I had it in my hands I was a happy stamper! I also used one of my new Nestibilities for the circle and scallop (love those things!) and two different Cuttlebug folders - both are my favs "Swiss Dots" and "Floral Fantasy".

I have missed blogging and blurfing but the summer keeps me so busy. I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and are happy in your heart.

(((Hugs))) Patti

Espresso My Thanks!

Here is another Thank you card I created last week. I love this paper from Close to My Heart : ) and the stamp set, "Coffee Tea" from Crafty Secrets has been getting a good work out as well. One of the things I received for my birthday was a couple of these little instant coffee packets from Starbucks. I don't like coffee but I put them to good use by including them inside my thank you cards! I love that little waving coffee bean! heehee who knew coffee beans had personality!?!

have a great day

Patti

My friend Cheryl.....

from Wisconsin (about 5 hours from where I live in Wisconsin) blessed my socks off! when she sent me a 12x12 packet of "Sweet Always" paper!! and a few other goodies!! I guess you will agree she is the one who is sweet always! : ). Cheryl and I have never met but we are fast friends nevertheless. I know we will meet one day - maybe this summer! woo hoo!! She is always kind to me and I am blessed to call her friend! Cheryl doesn't have a blog but she should - she is a talented papercrafter!! Thank you, again, Cheryl.

I created this card using an old Mojo Monday sketch and was inspired to re-use this sketch because another one of my good friends, Judy, sent me a birthday card using this sketch!! Check out Judy's blog she always has fantastic card creations on her blog. Thank you, again, Judy I loved my card!! : ) and Thank you Cheryl and thank you friends for stopping by to take a peek at the Thank you cards I made this week : ) I still have more to come so stay tuned!

The papers I used are all Stampin' Up. I used the Script Cuttlebug embossing folder and a wonderful image by Hero Arts.

One more acknowledgement. Many Mondays ago when this Mojo Monday sketch was introduced my friend Susan created her card using this image (or at least one of the dolls from this set). I want to credit Susan for her spectacular card (way better than mine) and for the idea to use this image on the card and if I am not mistaken it was actually Susan who "forced" me to buy this set (*wink*) when I saw her card. Check out her blog too - and get ready to be impressed!!

So many thank yous!! so little time : )

BIG (((((((HUGS))))))) ladies!!

Patti

And the Winner is....

JEss!! toot Toot!! Congratulations Jess. Please e-mail me with your address.

And Thankyou ALL!! for celebrating my birthday with me!!! BIG (((Hugs))) Patti

List Randomizer

There were 28 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Anonymous (JEss)
2. Jen
3. Rubberstampingzone
4. Lynne in NI
5. Gi Gi
6. Doris
7. Creativika
8. Annelis
9. Lindsay
10. Anonymous (Lucy from Holland)
11. Jessie F
12. JaniceW
13. Chrisi
14. Gina
15. Marit Meijer
16. Theresa K
17. *G*
18. Karen
19. Teri
20. Judy
21. Princess Danell
22. Amanda
23. RDH
24. frogers
25. Kathy
26. Susan
27. GiftsbyHeidi
28. Cindy K

Timestamp: 2009-06-11 16:04:30 UTC

CPS119 and Thank you!!

Here is a fun Thank you card I made for my friend, Theresa. Theresa is a Close To My Heart demonstrator and an "honorary sister" : ). She was so sweet to give me the "Be Yourself" stamp set for my birthday!! I love it. There are 8 wild girls and 6 fantastic sentiments in this set. Love it!! Love Theresa!! : )

I thought this chick needed some Retro paper and so I used an oldie but a goodie from SEI called "Beatnik Boy". My tab was cut using QuicKutz and the teeny little Thank you stamp is also from CTMH. I topped it all off with a piece of denim trim I bought at Walmart.

My design for the card was a response to the CPS challenge this week. I almost didn't take this challenge because I was not sure I wanted to do a long thin card for Theresa but I really think this image goes great on a long thin card!! I hope you think so too.

Have a great day and don't forget to check out Theresa's web site and the CPS challenge blog.

Patti

Mojo Monday #90 and Thanks!

I had such a wonderful day yesterday making cards to thank my friends and family for the sweet cards and gifts I received for my birthday. Here is a card I created for my friend Lisa who actually gave me this set for a gift!! I love roosters, as a matter of a fact, I plan to decorate my kitchen in roosters in a couple of months!!

I used the wonderful challenge at Mojo Monday's blog for the design of my card. I really love the challenges at Mojo Monday. They are always fun to do and definitely get my mojo moving : )

For this card I used solid cardstock by Stampin' Up. Sadly I have long since cut off the label on my delicious patterned paper. This is a scrap I used and after this card I'm afraid this paper is just about gone! : ( some papers are so great I wish I had 10 sheets!

I stamped my rooster on the patterned paper for the fine detail and then I stamped him on a solid cream colored paper, colored it and cut it out. I then placed it on the card using a pop dot to give dimension and so that I can have a clear image even though it looks like he is stamped right on the patterned paper. I like the result when using this technique.

I also used my Oval and Square Nestabilities by Spellbinders and a little snippet of some unknown gingham ribbon.

Thank you Lisa for your friendship and for your kindness to me and for all the giggles! And thank you friends for stopping by to see my cards : )

If you have not already done so - there is still time to sign my June 1st post to qualify for my blog candy. I will be drawing a winner tomorrow June 10th. : )

Love, Patti

Tea-Riffic

I enjoy swapping with my friends at Inspire, Swap, Chat, a fun and active site created by Mariah Oliveria. I made this card for a swap that Karen Walsh hosted. We were to use a tea related image and include a tea bag in our card somewhere. The cards I received back from this swap were awesome! Great job Karen!! : )

I used cardstock from Stampin' Up. "Spots and Dots" and "Swirl" embossing folders by Cutlebug. I was able to use my new Nestabilities!! for this card. I believe this may be the very first time I got to use these - wonderful!! creation by Spellbinders. The image is from my "Coffee & Tea" set by Crafty Secrets. The inside sentiment was computer generated.

Today, I am ThRiLlEd to have the whole day "off" to make "Thank You" cards for the gifts I received last week!! I had a wonderful birthday and will enjoy making some cards to present to the family and friends who blessed me - a double blessing because I have not really had much time to play with paper for the past several weeks. I hope to post some of the cards I make today - later this week... we'll see how that goes! heeheehee.

If you have not yet done so, please scroll down to the June 1st entry and post a comment to get a chance to win my Blog Candy : )

Thank you for stopping by. Have a great day! Patti

Birthday calendar page and Blog Candy

I wish I could somehow keep my Blog Candy post up at the top but I cannot figure out how to accomplish that! (old dog new trick this blogging heeheehee) so I will mention the blog candy again. Just scroll down to the next post and you will see the details there.

This month I decorated my calendar page with a Bella image : ) I love Bella and you KNOW I love my birthday so this was a great combo! : ) These calendar pages are great additions to scrapbook pages after the month has past.

Have a wonderful day! and thank you for stopping by to visit me on my birthday!! (((Hugs))) Patti

It's my BiRtHdAy! BlOg cAnDy TiMe!!

I love my birthday! I mean I really really love my birthday!! No matter how old I get I never stop loving my birthday. On June 4th we celebrate around here!! : ) Actually my wonderful husband usually spoils me and we celebrate a Birthday Week!!

I want to give away this 21 piece clear stamp set by Heidi Grace, and the Prima flower assortment(sorry party hat not included). All you need to do to qualify for my blog candy is to comment on this post and if you like you can link my blog to yours but that is only if you want to : ) In your post please tell me your birthdate (year is not necessary) and maybe a fun memory of a birthday - either yours or someone elses. That's all you have to do!! : )

I will select the winner on June 10th using a random generator (if I can get someone to help me figure out how to do that LOL) After all I am not getting any younger heeheehee. My international friends are welcome!!

Thank you to all my "regular" visitors and welcome new friends!! Thank you for stopping by to help me celebrate my birthday!! : )

Patti