Happy New Year, Everybody!

Well, I did say I would post the rules for Bingo today, so here they are, just for you.

Ways to Win:
Round 1, will be one line, either horizontal, vertical or diagonal.
Round 2 will a T, either top or bottom.
Round 3 will be an X.
Round 4 will be an H, either horizontal or vertical.
Round 5 will be a Blackout or Full card.

Prizes: For all of the rounds in this Bingo game, the prize will be an Electronic Gift Certificate to one of the many stamping companies we all know and love. You will find out on Wednesday what the first company will be.

Be sure to hang onto a clean copy of your card, because the game board resets each round.

You must email me or comment on a post stating that you are the first to have Bingo, T, X, H or Blackout, to claim your prize. All claims will be verified against my master list. Once someone has won in any given category, that category is no longer active and we will clear the Bingo cards (put all the numbers back in the pot) and start the game again until we have a winner in each category.

Bingo Calling:
I will call (post) a new number each day starting Wednesday January 2nd. I will also maintain a master post with all called numbers for the current round in case you get behind or start late. If you want to speed up the bingo calling, just enter a card in the contest. Make a card using a card sketch of your choice. Post a link to your card, and where you found the card sketch, be it SCS or one of the many bloggers who post card sketches on their blogs in the comments section. For every card entered, I will add an extra bingo number.

So, for Round 1, the challenge will be to make a card using stamps by Stampin’ Up. This is such a well known company, I think most people have at least one stamp in their stash. You can use any sketch, any colour combo, any technique you want. Remember to post a comment, with a link to your card, whether it be on your blog or in SCS gallery or one of the many free albums available on the web, it doesn’t matter. For every card that is presented, I will call an extra number, beginning on Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008.

If you submit a card, but it doesn’t show up in the numbers called the next day, I probably received it too late, but it will go into the next day’s numbers called.

This post will remain here until Wednesday, when Round 1 will begin. Have a great New Year, everyone.

I'm on a Design Team - YIPPY SKIPPY

Last night I received an e-mail from Jessica Lynn of Jessica Lynn Original and was asked if I would like to join the Design Team. I was super excited, grabbed my hubby and gave him a big smackeroo! After calming down a little, I was able to explain to him what this meant to me. Needless to say, he was very excited for me as well.

Jessica Lynn Original is a fairly new company and she has the sweetest designs. They are whimsical, playful and look like a joy to work with. I found her site through a comment she left on my blog and immediately went to look. I ordered some Dragon stamps. They are expected to arrive in a day or two because the Christmas mail has slowed everything down. They're not the ones I'll be working with on the Design Team, you'll have to wait to find out what they are, but I know you won't be disappointed. So for now, hop on over to Jessica Lynn Original and take a peek, better yet, order some stamps.

I've also added a link on the right side of the page. I've admired that title, "Design Team Member" on so many other blogs and I am proud to display mine now, too! Thanks Jessica for a wonderful opportunity. I won't let you down!

Bella Challenges are DONE!

The colours for BCC07 make for a great Happy New Year card! And WinoBella is just the babe to say it. These Bella cards have been so fun to make and I've enjoyed myself thoroughly this past week, so thank you to the ladies responsible for these challenges. I think Katie, aka scrapper79, did the colour challenges and Jamie, aka jaymerz, did the sketch challenges. Very talented ladies indeed. You should c'mon over to my blog and join the Bingo game starting on January 2nd and, hopefully, I can give back to you some of the joy you've given to me with these challenges. Let me also mention that the sentiment, Happy New Year, was part of the great deal of 10 extra free stamps from Gina K. Designs when she opened her new store. Thanks, Gina, it was just the thing for this card!

Okay, that's it except for one more wonderful thing that has happened to me, but I'm not telling in this post. It deserves a separate post all by itself, so stay tuned!

I'm getting closer to completing the Bella Challenges!

I must have them done before Dec. 30th, as I want to post rules and challenges of my own for the upcoming Bingo game. See post about Bingo here.



This lovely Bella card is for challenges BSC05 and BCC03. As you can see, there is a plethora of colours involved in this card. At first, I thought how in the world will all these colours work together, but, the creator of this particular challenge obviously knows what she's doing because, look, it's great. Sorry, my modesty left me during four births and has never returned. LOL!
Don't you just love BarBella. She's strong and, when the going gets tough, she'll be there for you. The sentiment is from Punchy Words by Gina K. Designs.
BarBella is stamped on shimmery white cardstock. I don't use the Spiral Punch by SU as often as I should, but I thought it worked well on this card.





Next up is my card for challenges BSC01 and BCC06. For this card I used ChefaBella. I'm going to send it to my daughter, Tiffany, as thank you card for our Christmas gift. She ordered us a Christmas Dinner for four to be delivered Christmas Eve. I was so grateful because standing and cooking meals are very difficult for me right now. I'm having both knees replaced soon, February, I hope, so standing and walking is painful. I thought Christmas Dinner was going to be hot dogs and frozen fries until Tiff told me to expect a special delivery. So, in my opinion, she's the "Chef-of-the-Year".
The other stamps I used came from Crafty Secrets, another Member Company on SCS. It's the Kitchen Classics set which you can see here.

Well, that's me done for today. I'll be busy on my last card later and will post it tomorrow. Have a great day, all!

Bella Baby Card

Awwww! Isn't he/she sweet? Another two challenges covered in one card. I love it. Only three left to go. Do you think I can make it before Jan 2nd. I think I can, I think I can.....

The card base is Kraft cardstock. On top of that I layered some Certainly Celery, Soft Sky and some DP of unknown origin. Then I wrapped some ribbon in the same soft colours and over that I mounted my image of the cute little darlin' baby. The image was double-matted using the same colours. Believe it or not, I used the ticket punch on the corners of the white and blue bits and the corner-rounder on the green. My hard work didn't show up after I added the darling little onsies brads. I stamped the sentiment, also Stamping Bella, onto blue and mounted it onto the green and attached it with a itsy bitsy safety pin with a blue head. It's attached to the card with glue dots to give it some dimension. And no Bella card is complete without a little bling, so I used Stickles on the onsies brads. There you go!

ETA: I can't believe I forgot to say this card is for the Bella Challenges and is based on these two challenges: BSC06 and BCC08 I am so sorry to have forgotten to give credit for these colours and this sketch to the proper people. I'll remember in future, I promise.

Gotta catch up with the Bella Challenges

According to Jamie at SCS, there's something special going on with the Bella Challenges. I'm locked away in my craft room (except for posting here) trying madly to catch up. If there's something to be won, baby I want a crack at it!

This first card covers challenges BSC07 and BCC04. Jamie said it was alright to combine the challenges and I'm so glad, otherwise I may not be able to catch up.
You likey my GlobetrottaBella. She travels everywhere, in fact, she just came back from Cuba where she attended a very important wedding. LOL!





















Next, we have VeggieBella for challenges BSC08 and BCC05. I lovee this card. Maybe it's the raffia that I lovee so muchee, but whatever it is, me likey! Would somebody please make me stop talking like that! It's very catching if you read Emily's blog on a regular basis.

Okay, that's all I have time for right now, but I'll be back with more challenge cards later today, or tomorrow.

Shopping, did somebody say shopping!

Yes, somebody did, indeed, say shopping. In fact, it was the lovely ladies at Papertake Weekly Challenge and they want you to "Shop 'til you drop" cards. Here's my entry for this challenge. Of course, it's none other that Retail Fellabella from our own Stamping Bella. I just can't imagine where he'd rather be.....but, there's just no understanding some men. Am I right, ladies?
I found some cute little hat charms in my stash and thought the Bella should be wearing a hat, so I plunked one on her head. The little metal pressies were part of the same stash and were perfect for this card. The boxes he's holding were coloured with glitter pens and the main image coloured with Copic Markers, Set C. I love them. The design of the card I must admit I copied from A Day in the Life of Gina K. I just fell in love with this layout and you'll be seeing it over and over again, I'm sure.

Don't forget to check the post below this one if you want to play BINGO. The new game starts next Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008. Bye for now!

BINGO anyone?

I had so much fun playing BINGO in the summer, I thought I'd do it again. So, I have 40 cards and that means 40 places. If you played before, I know which card you had so you WILL NOT get the same card again. All you have to do is send me an e-mail with BINGO in the subject line so that I don't miss it. I will send you a card and the game will begin on January 2nd, 2008.

You can click on the e-mail link, or you can send it to me at:

stampingramma@tbaytel.net

Remember, only 40 places, so sign up early. I'll post the rules on January 1st for all to see.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Making little gifts is great!

I spent the morning making a couple of Christmas gifts. This one I made for the postman. He knows that I have trouble walking and carrying things and very often there will be a knock on my door and there he is, personally delivering my mail. This goes way above his job description as we have the little post boxes at the end of our street and that is where we collect our mail. He doesn't have to do this but I am so thankful that he will bring the heavier parcels to my door and I wanted to show my appreciation.




This gift is for Nicole. She is the lady that comes to the house every other week to do some housecleaning for us. She also does more than required and has been known to change a lightbulb or take my recyclables to the end of the driveway for us. Not only does Nicole make my house shiny and clean, she is pleasant company and chats away while working. Makes Tuesday afternoons very pleasant. This is my way of saying thank you to two of my favourite people.

From one furry friend to another.

Okay, you guessed it. I'm nuts for dog stamps at the moment. Where will it end? I don't know. What I do know is that they certainly come in handy when our furry friends want to be friends with other furry friends. It just makes card giving so much easier. This card is going to, well, I won't say here, but I'm sure it will be appreciated.

I used one of the stamps from the Carolyn King Collection offered by Gina K. Designs. And, of course, coloured it with the Copic/Ciao markers. I'm looking forward to a darker shade of brown for my dogs soon. I started with some kraft cardstock and added a layer of Mellow DP by Basic Grey. Then, I used the large Nestabilities scalloped circle and the second-largest regular circle. I purchased my Nestabilities from Scrappin' Great Deals and I'm lovin' them. I think the rectangles will be the next ones to get.
For the sentiment, I used the ticket punch by SU on the left side only and added a couple of square brads by MM. A few paw prints from Pink Cat Studio and a bone brad in the dogs mouth and called it done.

It's going out in the mail on Monday morning, so someone who reads my blog needs to watch for it.

I've joined the band-wagon....

....of Copic Marker users. I just received my first set of 36 Copic/Ciao markers. I chose Set C because I love pastels and I'm very pleased with their colours. Here's a couple of cards I made using my new markers.




The top card uses one of my stamps from Elzybells. I stamped the dog first, then masked it, and stamped the flowers. They are a clear set I received from Michelle for the blog candy I won. Thanks, Michelle. I coloured in the dog and flowers using my new Copic/Ciao markers. Boy, do I know now what everyone is raving about. I immediately called Gina K. Designs and joined the Copic Marker club. I literally said I didn't care which group I joined, except for Set C group, I just wanted to get in a group. I was able to get a spot in the group for Set D. It's a great way of getting the markers at a price that is affordable by agreeing to a six-month duration. Each month, group members will receive six markers from their chosen set and, in the sixth month, you will also receive the case for the markers. Great idea, Gina, I love it. I feel very lucky to have a spot as the original sign-up occurred while I was at my son's wedding in Cuba.

The bottom card was made using my very first My Favorite Things stamp set. It was the November Stamp of the Month set and I loved it. MFT is also where I purchased the Copic/Ciao markers. Don't you just love the softness of the colours. I love Copic markers. Anyway, back to the card. For embellishments, I added some little pearlized shells and flowers I had in my stash. I have no idea where I got them or who makes them, but they are sweet and just perfect for this project. Also in my stash was a little bag of blue, glitter bits, again, from where I know not! I used my glue stick over the waves and threw on the glitter bits. Worked quite well, I think. The cardstock is PTI Select White to which I added a piece of DP from my Glitter Stack.

I think I'm going to go shopping again at MFT. I really like their stamps. My DH was very observant when I showed him my creation. He said, "She doesn't have a head!". I wish more husbands were as observant (spoken tongue-in-cheek fashion). LOL!

It's been a busy day today

I'm pleased to say that my Christmas cards are now all done and waiting for me to take them to the Post Office which I will do when it stops snowing. It most likely will be tomorrow and then they'll be on their way. This morning when I got up I didn't even make a pot of coffee. I just downed some orange juice with my daily meds for hypertension and arthritus and went straight to my craft room where I finished making 22 more cards. Then, as DH is home now, I asked him to help me put the labels on the envies and stuff them and, before we knew it, they were done.

After that I came into the computer room and finished my first week's lesson from Big Picture Scrapbooking. It's a digital class on the use of brushes in Photoshop. It's good for Photoshop CS3 (the program I use) and Photoshop Elements. Here is the finished page. It is 6 x 6 and I may have it professionally printed and then framed for Phil and Kristyn for a wedding gift. What do you think?



Now it's time to kick back and relax a little. I'm going to turn on the fireplace and put on a movie. I'll be back with more stuff tomorrow. See you then and thanks for stopping by.

A Christmas Pin

Just recently I participated in a Christmas Pin swap at The Stamp Shack. There were about 10 or 12 participants and we were paired up and exchanged pins with our partner. I had never made a pin before and had loads of questions. It turns out that lots of people start with dominoes, or that paper that shrinks when it's heated. Well, I went merrily on my way and did what I thought would make a nice pin. Here's the pic of the pin I made.



This is how I created this pin. First, I stamped the ivy leaves, by Stempleglede and coloured them in using my Prismacolor Markers. Then I cut the stamp out and laid it on a bit of waxed paper. I literally poured Glossy Accents all over it and prayed that it would dry in 2 - 3 days as it was so thick, without warping the cardstock. YAY! It dried perfectly and lifted off the paper beautifully. Next, I used a chipboard circle and punched it with my Crop-A-Dile and then inserted the large red brad through the cut out image and the chipboard. It looked okay, but needed something more. That's when I grabbed my ribbon and cut five strips. I looped them over and adhered them to the back of the chipboard circle. Then I attached a second chipboard circle with some really tough glue. To that, I attached a pin backing, packed it very carefully and sent it off to my partner, Mary.

It was a really fun swap to do and these are the pins I received from Mary. She had made two and couldn't decided which to send, so I got both of them. Thank you so much, Mary. The pins are lovely and I will wear them, one on each winter coat I own.

Finally, some play time for me!

My DD brought me my new Elzybells stamps and I wanted to ink them up as soon as possible. The first one is for Poetic Artistry's Mojo Monday #15. It's a cute sketch and I thought it would work well with this little fellow. I did some paper piecing on the balloon for interest. Also, I stamped some little dog items, also from Elzybells, on the cross piece. While you can't really see them well, they are a dog dish, a slipper and a dog collar. The little paw prints are by Pink Cat Studio. I used some Caramel Fun Flock on the dog's body, but not his face as it would have covered up his eyes, nose and mouth which are just to cute to cover. Then, I mixed some white and blue Fun Flock and just dabbed by glue pen in hopes it would look like clouds. I added some Prima flowers and dog bone brads from Archivers. Hope you like it.


This is also a Poetic Artistry sketch, but it was for last Monday. I really liked it so thought I would use it even though it's too late to be entered, but that's okay by me. Sketches are necessary to me so when I see one I like, I take advantage of it. This is going to be sent to the Mom of one of my Shackie friends who is recovering from a nasty little bug. I hope he makes her feel better. For this card I started with Cool Caribbean cardstock, added a little Petals & Paisleys DP by SU. I left the mat a little larger on the right-hand side where I placed my ribbon. The 'just a note' is by Elzybells and the 'get well soon' is from PTI's Little Lady set. And that's all there is to this card. I hope Tami's Mom likes it.

Hi Everybody, I'm Home!

And ready to report on the wedding and my week in Cuba, along with a few pics. First, let me show off my son, Phil and his lovely bride, Kristyn.





Aren't they a gorgeous couple? Kristyn was absolutely beautiful and Phil looked so handsome. I was so proud of them both I was near bursting.

The first pic was just after the ceremony which took place in a lovely gazebo on the resort grounds. The staff decorated it beautifully with sheer, billowing curtain panels gathered and tied in the middle and the chairs were covered in the same material. Here's a picture of Kristyn with her sister, Kelly, her maid of honour. Kelly's dress was a gorgeous blue, just right for a beach wedding.



The young woman on the right side of the picture is my DD, Tiffany. Tiff was a great help all week with looking after the two grandsons, Owen and Jackson. At 16 months and 17 months, those little guys never stop! I had totally forgotten how active they can be at that age. I'm glad there were 22 other people in our party to help out the parents. When there's water around you can't have too many eyes keeping watch!

Here's a pic of the two boys with me, Grandma. My DS, Andrew, is helping me to hold Owen. And, once again, Tiffany (on the right of the picture) is there giving Jackson a cookie and standing guard in case I need help hanging onto the babies. I just loved having them around all week to watch them play together. Owen (on the left) has now returned home to England with his Mom & Dad (my DD Kirsten and DSIL, John) and Jackson (on the right) is at home with Phil and Kristyn (the newlyweds).



Do I look ecstatic or what? I'll end this post here as I think it's long enough for now. I will post more pics later, but I've got to get into my craft room. After 12 days away, I'm anxious to get back to playing. See you soon.