Give Thanks

Look at this awesome card I received Saturday from my friend, Adela Rossol. Thanks, Adela! You are so sweet! I stop by Adela's blog for inspiration all the time. She is one talented lady. You should go to her blog, Creations by AR and see the templates she has available and her Marshfellows. She rocks!

I get to meet Adela finally in January 2010, because I am going to the winter CHA show in Anaheim, CA. I am so excited! I get to meet Adela, Lynn, and Susanna. I am not sure if any of the other Paper Craft Planet Supernovas are going. AND I might get to meet my friend, Barbara, The Buzz. Oh, so much fun!

Happy Stamping!

Christmas Gift

First, let me tell you something about being the only girl in the household. We went out to eat today for lunch. I threw on some mascara and earrings right before we left the house as "the boys" sat in the van waiting for me. We go out to eat, take a ride through the park and come home. I finished working on the project below and finally went by a mirror. Guess what? I had two different earrings in and no one noticed. I had a silver stud in one ear and a blue jeweled earring in the other. I noticed right away. Now, I sat across from my DH and youngest son at the restaurant and neither of them noticed. I think if I had a girl with us, she would have noticed. Am I wrong? Well, either my boys don't look at me or they don't care what I wear. Hee Hee! Okay, now on with my project.

I can't believe it will be December in just a couple of days. Since Thanksgiving, I have been cleaning and getting Christmas decorations out and our tree up. I finally had time to create a gift for the secretary at Tate's school. She loves cards, so I order one of CTMH's card kits and put all the cards together for her. Then I made this card bag out of a 12 x 12 piece of Christmas paper. I got this card bag idea from Angie Juda Kennedy on YouTube here. Thanks, Angie!

I added the image, Christmas Gift, from DZ Doodles to the front. Perfect image, because she is holding a gift. The pattern paper is from my stash, and made by daisyd's. The red flowers were given to me by my friend, Diane. Thanks, Di! I added some bling to the middle of the flowers. I added liquid applique to her Santa's hat, glitter to the bow and liquid glass to her shoe.

Here are the copics I used on Shelby.

Take time to create!

Happy Thanksgiving

Nothing is better than going to my mailbox and finding a handmade card inside from one of my wonderful friends. Barbara Walker from The Buzz sent my family this card to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving. It is beautiful, Barb! Thank you and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.

I should be better at sending out Thanksgiving cards. Maybe next year.

It is a time for counting ones blessings whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not. I know I am truly blessed by God and what he has given me.

I visit a lot of blogs every day/week/year and come across ones that ask for special prayers for friends and family. I always keep those people in my prayers, when I am asked to and now I know why. It is my time to ask you for your prayers for my friend, Heather, and her family. A day does not go by where I do not think of them and pray for her son, Owen. Owen is three and has recently been diagnosed with a rare type of lukemia. They caught it so early they don't even know what type it is yet. Please say an extra prayer for them that they will make it through this difficult time in their life.

God Bless!

What's Up?

Hello! I haven't been creating cards or scrapbook pages lately, but I have been busy. You know how I LOVE my punches. Well, I always see all of these cute animals, etc. made with the punches I own and I finally decided to start a punch book. YAY! I love making these little characters and "things". Most of the ones I have made so far are animals, expect for the ice cream cone you see here. There are so many fun projects to make with punches that I have just touched the tip of the iceberg. I will give you updates to my book when I have more done. Oh, and this is a fun project I can do with my boys. Tanner has been helping me. His attention span lasts for about two animals and then he is done. We work on a couple a day, and then I try to make a couple of them without him.

Here is the card my DH gave me for our 10th wedding anniversary. He usually makes the card fit what he gives me or the number of years. Since I told him I didn't want anything this year, since we are going on a trip in January (partly for our anniversary), he made it for the number of years.

That is why this read "for the next 10 years". Isn't he a keeper? Yes, he is!

Take time to create!

Sketch Challenge - sk112109

I would like to thank you for your Happy Anniversary comments! My DH made me a card again this year and I will show it to you next week. He has been making me handmade cards, since I met him. He was doing this before me. BTW, I gave him this one. I was going to give me my spider card, but I couldn't find it until after I wrote in the other one for our 10th anniversary, so I couldn't use it next year...hee hee.

This week, I am hosting the sketch challenge at Paper Craft Planet. I took this design and turned it into a Christmas card, just by changing the colors. There are many of us (including me) that need some Christmas cards fast. My DH always seems to add people right before Christmas to our card list. This one can be made in no time. To see my sketch for this week, click here.

Materials used

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU!)

Paper: cranberry cs (CTMH), new england ivy cs (CTMH), white daisy cs (CTMH)

Ink: white daisy and new england ivy (CTMH)

Accessories: new england ivy organdy ribbon (CTMH), red button (CTMH), colonial white waxy flax (CTMH), Manhattan Flower embossing folder (SU!)

Punches: word window and modern label (SU!)

I hope you can stop by and play along with me this week.

Happy Stamping!

Happy Anniversary to US!

Today, is our 10th Wedding Anniversary!

YAY!

I am so blessed to have a great husband and children. I am able to stay at home with our two boys to take care of them, my DH and our home. This leaves me time to pursue a hobby I love and share with you. Since I am so fortunate, I thought I would give away some blog candy, but there is a twist. You don't have to leave a comment, because I have chosen the winners already.

I wrote all of the peoples' names, who have commented during the month of November, down on a a piece of paper. I choose November, since it is our anniversary month. I counted the number of times these people have left comments regarding my posts. I appreciate all the comments and wanted to give back to those who have given me feedback the most this month. I am thankful whenever anyone takes the time to leave me a little encouragement and love.

So......

Here are the winners!

1. Jeanne Tomshack

2. Barb Walker

3. Sharli

4. Sparkle

Your choice is a CTMH set from for sale box, or a DVD full of video tutorials (your choice, 18 fit on a DVD) or five (5) handmade cards by me. Just email me at clearlyinspired@gmail.com with your choice and I will respond to you as soon as I can.

Our plans for our anniversary? The boys are staying all night at G & G Burmeisters' house. We are going out for dinner at JAZZ ( our favorite restaurant, cajun food) and maybe a movie or see a band. I would love to see New Moon, but I don't want to sit in the theater with everyone else in the city. I always wait until a movie has been out for a while before I go see it. At least, most of the time! It will be hard to do on this one.

Again, I would like to thank ALL of you for taking the time to visit my blog and leave me remarks about my work.

God Bless!

Making Paper Bow Tutorial

Remember this bow. Here is a video tutorial I made for you to follow along and make your own bows. ENJOY!

Take time to create!

Nugget Holder/Ornament

Here is another cute project I made last week at my stamping class. You could tie this on a package or use it as an ornament. What girl wouldn't love a tree full of these....YUMMY! One of the Hershey nuggets fits snug right in the middle. It took everything I had not to eat this before I took a picture...hee hee!

Materials used

Stamps: SU! Christmas Punch Set

Paper: melon mambo (SU)

Ink: bermuda bay (SU)

Accessories: gold cord and white ribbon (SU), SU markers

Punches: small tag (SU)

Happy Stamping!

Paper Bow

Now, isn't this the coolest bow made from paper? I love this! Of course, when I was making it my friend, who was teaching me, was laughing at me. Why? I was being really picky about how it was turning out. I wanted it to be perfect. That is my mother in me..."Hi, Mom!"...hee hee! She told me not too worry so much about it and when I was done, it turned out perfect. She was right, it just falls into place. I think this one calls for a video, don't you?

I am not sure what paper this is, because she supplied it for the lesson. Oh, I think she said the paper is retired SU!.

Take time to create!

Ornament Card

I went to a stamping class last week and this is a card we made with the stamp set Delightful Decorations and an ornament punch. You know how much I love punches, especially when the have matching stamp sets.

Check out the edge of that white cardstock. We made that with a slit punch. I love that! In addition, we used the Sassy Sparkles wheel.

This card is so simple and so cute! I have two more projects to show you this week that I made at my stamping class. It is so nice to go to a stamp class where I am learning and getting new ideas.

There is another color challenge over at DZ Doodles this week. Check it out here!

Happy Stamping!

Peace On Earth

Oh, how I wish you could see this dove in person. I dusted him with prisma glitter by CTMH. I love that glitter, because it is never heavy on my images. This dove is from Diane's collection at DZ Doodles called Dove In Flight. This dove is perfect for Christmas, Easter and religious occassions, i.e. confirmation.

Today she has more new images for you. Her latest arrivals in her store are available now. There are an assortment of images for the holidays.

Here is a close up of Dove In Flight. You can see the sparkle in this one.

Here is the inside of my card. Check out my double bow I tied with bow easy. It was easy! In fact, I think the double bow is easier than the single one, or maybe I am getting better at using it. Hee Hee!

Materials used: Paper - cranberry and new england ivy cs (CTMH), solar white (Neenah);Stamps - Dove In Flight (DZ Doodles), Leaves & Swirls jumbo wheel (SU!), Say It In Style (CTMH); Ink - Copics, cranberry (CTMH); Accessories - red bling (Paper Studio), white daisy organdy ribbon (CTMH), prisma glitter (CTMH), bow easy (Posi-Bendr Co.), poinsettias (e+e+e ltd)

Have fun creating!

My Craft World 2

Since so many people are having problems viewing my video at Veoh, I edited my craft room video just a little to get it on YouTube. Okay! I learned my lesson....YouTube is the best! Here it is...hope you enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by!

My Craft World

Well, I finally got my room done. I took a bunch of pictures, edited them and then it hit me. Why not do a video to show you my organized craft room? So I did!

Let me know if you have any questions! I hope you enjoy!

Since so many bloggers could not see this video, I have moved an edited version to YouTube. To view my craft room tutorial go to the next post here.

I had to use Veoh, because my video is over 10 minutes long. If you can't see it, please let me know and I can upload a smaller version to YouTube. I had to cut a little out of it to get it under 10 minutes.

Thanks for stopping by!

Coming Soon!

Hello Everyone!

I have not been blogging much this week. I know I am stating the obvious! I do have a reason....I am reorganizing my craft room. I purchased some organizational units for all my goodies and for my Copics. I have to label and rearrange now that I have everything built and in place. I can see my Copics all the time now and they add a lot of color to my room. Check back soon! I will have pictures of what I have done and where I purchased the units and measurements. I am having fun organizing, but I do feel the need to create.

Have fun creating!

Gift Card Tutorial

Remember this gift card I made last week. I created a tutorial to show you how I made it.

Enjoy!

Have fun creating!

Willard on Ice

Isn't Willard cute? He is one of DZ Doodles images I used for the color challenge this week on Diane's site. The colors matched the CTMH colors from the Aspen Level 2 paper pack. The colors I used are creme brulee, juniper and outdoor denim. You can play along this week and enter the chance to win two (2) free images. Awesome!

Materials used: All products CTMH unless noted. Paper - Aspen Level 2 paper pack; Ink - Copics, outdoor denim; Stamp sets - Wilbur (DZ Doodles), Christmas Scripts, Snow Fun (retired); Embellishments - silver vellum (retired), wave flexible ruler (Hobby Lobby), designer ribbon (retired), little pearls (Paper Studio), window punch (SU), modern label punch (SU), snowflakes (Dress It Up)

Take time to create!

Sweet & Sassy

We have a great challenge for you at Paper Craft Planet -- it's a sketch challenge, sponsored by Sweet n' Sassy Stamps. To play along, create a card using this sketch:

To play, upload your card to the Paper Craft Planet photo gallery, and use the tag "SNSS1" -- all caps, please. (Here is a tutorial on adding pictures to the gallery, if you need it.) Sweet n' Sassy Stamps has generously offered a chance to win this adorable stamp for one of our lucky challenge players.

Here is my card:

The Supernovas and I all used the new digital stamps for our cards. I picked Do Not Open Til Christmas. He's printed on Neehah paper, and then colored with Copics. I added some liquid applique for the snow and the polar bear's hat. I wish you could see this in person, because I added stickles around the polar bear. In addition, I punched the snowflakes from white, glitter, cardstock. The patterned papers are a retired set all from CTMH.

If you've ever had a chance to play with digital stamps, they are really a lot of fun. If you wanted to resize your image, you could do that right in your image editing program.

Check out what the other Super Novas came up with:

Adela Rossol

Lynn Mercurio

Kim Burmeister

Wendy Price

Lori Tecler

Jessica Fick

Sankari Wegman

Susanna Boyd

Hope you can play along. Have a great day!

November Scrapbook Club

Hello Everyone!

Haven't blogged in a couple of days, because I have been busy with PTA, schools and yard work. We want to get the thousands of leaves raked before it snows. You never know when that will happen in the midwest.

I wanted to show you and the ladies attending our November Scrapbook Club the layout will be creating this Saturday night. I used the CTMH scrapbook program Reflections to inspire me to create this Thanksgiving layout. For the first page, I used the layout on page 21 called "Title Topper - Photos". For the second page, I used the layout on page 23 called "Title Topper - Cover".

Page 2

Tomorrow, I will have a card made from a stamp site that sponsored the Design Team at Paper Craft Planet.

Take care!

Gift Card Holder

Our card club meets tonight (Tuesday) and this is one of the projects we are going to make. The other is the snowman treat holder here. Gift cards are great gifts to for the holidays.

The front pocket houses a tag to signify to and from, and the back pocket holds the gift card. These are so easy to make and it is on my list of tutorials to make over the next few weeks. I will make sure I get that done in November, so you can make them in December.

Materials used: All products CTMH unless noted. Paper - Evensong Basic Collection, white daisy cs; Stamp set- JOY (retired); Ink - cranberry; Accessories - cranberry ribbon, 2" punch (Fiskars), new england ivy marker.

Happy Stamping!

What's Cookin'?

It's Monday again and that means there is another color challenge at DZ Doodles. Last week, was the first color challenge I hosted for DZ Doodles and I had fun, so we are going to continue this weekly event. I hope you can participate and have fun creating with us. Just visit the DZ Doodles site to get the colors and to link your project. You will have a chance to win a free image of your choice each week.

I used Thelma the Cook from the DZ collection. This lady is a character and is based on Diane's mother. Thelma the Cook is just one of the many Thelma images Diane has for you. I knew the perfect sentiment to use for this image. I typed it on my computer and printed it off on blush cardstock to match the pattern paper.

Here is a close up of Thelma. I didn't keep track of the copics I used. Sorry! This is one of the images I colored while at the crop last month. In the future, I will try to keep track, so I can take a picture of the copics I use. You can't see that I used clear spica on the heart. I love that pen, but it just doesn't photograph well.

I hope you can join us over at DZ Doodles and take the color challenge. Can't wait to see what you make.

Materials used: All products CTMH unless noted. Paper - That's Amore Level 2 paper pack, vanilla cream cs; Ink - copics, computer printer, chocolate marker; Stamp - Thelma the Cook (DZ Doodles); Accessories - round tab punch (SU), chocolate waxy flax, glitter button (American Crafts), cranberry waxy flax, hollyhock organdy ribbon

Take time to create!

Snowman Treat

My boys came home tonight with a lot of candy from trick or treating. We didn't have many trick or treaters, so we have a lot of little Hershey bars left. I decided to make a snowman treat while the boys stuffed themselves with candy. I remember pouring over my candy after trick or treating and eating my favorites first. They even shared with their parents. They are sooo sweet!

I think I will create a video for this one too!

Materials needed: white cardstock (3 1/4 x 3 1/2), black cardstock from brim (3/8 x 1 3/8), 1" square punch for top hat, 1/4" circle punch for eye and buttons, orange cs for nose and red ribbon.

Have fun creating!