Farewell to 2012 and Ringing in 2013!!!!

2012 Year End Favorites 

Well, another year has gone by again!!  Wow!!  I can't believe how the days have passed!!!  It's also has been a while since I have posted, hasn't it? Things have been crazy around here with the holidays and college searches for my daughter!!! Many of you know how hectic and trying looking for colleges can be!!   Anyway, as today marks the last day of 2012, I wanted to take a moment to share a couple of my favorite cards.  With that also comes my New Years resolution to us both!!  Definitely more posting of fun creations!!  Blogging, Face Book and Pinterest are all things I strive to commit too this New Year.  It's out of my comfort zone, but it's getting easier!!  Without further delay here are a couple of my favorites!!

This card I did for a friend to give to Mrs. Geni Calgaard.  She is the wife of our Former President;

 Dr. Ron Calgaard of Trinity University.  Dr. Calgaard was Trinity's longest serving president (1979-1999).  Anyhow, long after the card had been given to Mrs. Calgaard,  I saw her at our Trinity University's  Womens Club.  She instantly approached me with a hug and told me how much she loved the card.  Mrs. Calgaard said she has it in her bedroom on the mantel to admire.  You can't imagine what that means to me!!  We sometimes forget how a little of our time can mean so much to someone else.

This card with the buttons is special because of the very special friend I gave this too.  She had just lost her kitty unexpectedly to a car earlier in the week and was devastated by the loss of her friend.  The card gave her a smile and the knowledge I was thinking of her.  Words can not express how much she appreciated the card. Today, she too still displays the card in her workroom.

In closing, sometimes your favorite card or that special person are not what they represent but what it represented to that person.  Let us all strive to give to others and make everyday a special day for someone in this upcoming year.

May all of you have a Safe and Happy New Year!!!

Amy

Paper Players Theme Challenge #124

This week at The Paper Players Ann is hosting a theme challenge.....

Snowmen!!!!

Here in South Texas this in one piece of weather we don't get, snow!!!  This card was so much fun to make with these little snowmen!!  I can only imagine what it would be like to play in the snow!!  

Here is my card:

The finished card is 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches long.

What snow flake wouldn't be more fun unless they had some Basic Pearls!!  The Cherry Cobbler ink,  the Stampin' Up Clear Embossing Powder with the Festival of Prints Paper from our Holiday Catalog just added the perfect Christmas touch! 

The Christmas countdown is here!!  I hope everyone is further along on their Christmas list than I am this year!!!  Please stop by The Paper Players and join in on the fun with Ann's challenge!!  

The challenge closes Friday, December 7th at 12:00pm PST.  

  As always, I love to see your comments!!  Each one is important to me!! 

Let the Holiday fun begin!!!

Amy

Paper Players Sketch Challenge #123

This week Jaydee is hosting a sketch challenge for The Paper Players!!  

How versatile is this sketch?   

 

As soon as I saw this challenge I thought immediately of the Ornament Keepsakes Bundle!!  I pulled out the Basic Pearls, the Stampin' Up Clear Embossing Powder, Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler and Gumball Green ink and went to town!!

The finished card is 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches long.  

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are now ready for the Christmas countdown!!!  Stay tuned for more fun this next month!!!  Your comments are important to me and I read each one with careful thought!!  Please let me know if you have any questions!!

Amy

Farewell to Summer!!!!

It's now the middle of September and it still feels like summer here in Texas.  
However, this will definitely be the last card that remotely represents summer fun!!  
This card I made for a wonderful friend who brought back a gift to me from Russia.  
She brought back chocolate covered nuts individually wrapped in pretty cellophane.  
They "were" so pretty!!! 

Anyway, tomorrow I am off to the Country Living Craft Fair in Columbus, Ohio!!  
Nothing makes you feel like Fall then cool nights back East!!  
I am meeting my best friend for our annual trek through all the wonderful booths!!  
Stay tuned for photos and inspiration from crafter's paradise!!! 

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps:  Moving Forward

Ink: Real Red

Paper: Polka Dot DSP Real Red

Accessories:  Non SU Flower Punch, Non SU White Ribbon

Happy Birthday!!!!

Well, I don't know about you, but my three day weekend just flew!! 
Do you here that swish! I don't ever have that issue at work and I love my job!
Anyway,  I made this card for a dear friend for her birthday. 
She turned fifty this past weekend!!
Happy Birthday!!!

Thank you for stopping by my blog!!
I love to read your comments!! 

  Have a wonderful week!!

Stampin' Up Supply List:

Stamps: N/A

Paper: Love Letter DSP

Ink: Basic Black

Accessories: Designer Frames

PPA141 A Sketch Challenge

Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge #141!  This is another one of Margaret Moody's awesome creations!!!!  This week I felt inspired to use a retired stamp set "Homegrown".  I just love the Fall harvest theme with the Artichokes, Tomatoes and Radishes!!  The vertical lines on the sketch inspired me in choosing this stamp set.  

Here's my creation below:

Please stop by Pals Paper Arts at this link,

 http://www.palspaperarts.com/2012/08/ppa141-a-sketch-challenge.html

to play along.  Inlinkz will close at Noon (CST) Thursday, August 30th.

I had so much fun with this stamp set!!

 I decided to just do a second card just for the fun of it!!

 Love, Love, Love this set!! 

Thanks for stopping by my blog!! 

 I love to read your comments!!  Let me know what you think!!

Stampin' Up Supply List:

Stamps:  SU Retired set Homegrown, SU Retired set Charming

Paper:    Very Vanilla and Basic Black

Ink:         Basic Black

Accessories:  Non SU Black Organza Ribbon

Mojo Monday - 254

The sketch this week looked like so much fun, I couldn't resist.  I am anxiously waiting for Fall, so I decided to break out one of my favorites, Spice Cake.  So sad this is retired!!! 
Please stop by Mojo Monday's blog and join in on the fun!! 
Their blog is at http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/2012/08/mojo-monday-254.html. 
The deadline is August 19th at 8:00pm  (Mountain). 
Here is my card below:

Thanks for stopping by my blog!! 
I love to see your comments and hear your feedback!! 
Let me know if you have any questions!!
Amy  

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Paper:  SU Spice Cake DSP, Early espresso, Pool Party

Accessories:   SU Pool Party Seam Binding, SU pearls

Summer Thoughts

This week I made a card thinking about the close of summer.   I don't think I had a summer go by faster than this one!!  In Texas truthfully, the heat can't leave fast enough.  It certainly seemed to be that way across most of the country too.  However, with the end of summer, means school is just around the corner.  I am definitely not ready!! Eeeeek!!!!  Anyway, I decided to make a card for a dear friend just to say hello.  She loves dogs and the great out doors!!  So I thought I would pull out one of my favorite stamp sets,  Nature Walk.  Robins are one of my favorite birds. They remind me of when my daughter was little and there seemed to be a simpler way of life.  Those were the days.

Thank you for stopping by my blog!!  As always, I love to see your comments.  Please let me know if you have any questions about my card for today!! 

Until next time!!

Amy

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: SU Nature Walk

Ink: Soft Suede 

Paper:  Very Vanilla, Pool Party, Soft Suede

Accessories:  Wood grain Embossing Folder, Retired Early Express Stripped Ribbon/ Non SU Markers

Mojo Monday - It's Hip to be Square!!

 

 It's hard to believe, but August is already here!!!  As you can see I went on a brief sabbatical!!  My last post was April!!!  Shame on me!!  Truthfully, this was not planned.  My sabbatical started with my little Schnauzer Oliver getting trampled by a deer.  A couple of months later and definitely some empty pockets, my boy is back up on his feet like nothing ever happened.  Now that's out of the way; let's talk CARDS!!!

This week I was asked to do a birthday card for the wife of a former President of Trinity University.  What an honor!!!  I saw the sketch for Mojo Monday and decided this would be a perfect fit!!  Here is my card below:

So please join them this week at http://mojomonday.blogspot.com.
Deadline is August 5th at 8:00 pm (Mountain)

 Now, I really have not been gone completely.  In July I went to our Stampin' Up Convention 2012!  What a blast I had with my roomies and all the wonderful people I met in Salt Lake City.  I saw some absolutely beautiful cards, learned a lot of great techniques and made some wonderful new friends!!  What an experience!!  I can't wait until next year!!!  Below is a picture of Ann Schach, Max from Customer Support, Ginger Toivonen and the absolutely adorable Mike Funke.  Ann, Anne Marie Hile, Ginger and myself all roomed together and WOW did we have fun!!!  We laughed until our cheeks hurt!!  I wished we lived closer!!  Until next year girls!!  

Ann, Max, Mike, Ginger and myself

Last, but not least is a picture of Anne Marie and myself with Sandy Connor at the Stampin' Up headquarters in Riverton, UT.  Sandy was just such a wonderful and sweet little lady!!!  Thank you Sandy for helping make this trip just that much more fun!!!

Anne Marie, Sandy Connor and myself

Thank you for stopping by my blog!!  As always, I love to see your comments.  Please let me know if you have any questions about my card for today!!  Until next time!!

Amy

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes

Ink: Early Espresso

Paper:  Retired SU DSP, Very Vanilla, Blushing Bride

Accessories:  Boho Punch, Non SU Brown Organza Ribbon, Lattice Embossing Folder, Non SU Fern Punch

Pretty in Pink Hydrangea

Spring is in the air here in Texas!!!  The wildflowers are blooming and the air is warm with the promise of summer on the horizon.   One of my favorite flowers of all time are the Hydrangeas.  Unfortunately, we are unable to grow the traditional Hydrangeas here that come in the deep blue or pink with the huge mop heads.   We have a pretty variety here that are more lacy, but they still struggle.  So I made this card, thinking of a friend coming down this weekend who was talking about all the Hydrangeas in her area back East.  Of course, it's too early for them, but they are on the way!!!  Below I thought I would include some photographs of some Texas wildflowers coming up in our area.

I hope you found today's card inspiring and enjoyed the pretty Texas wildflowers.  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.  Also, if you have a question about any project, please free free to email me.  I would love to hear from you!!

   Thank you for stopping by my blog!!

Amy

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps:  SU Hydrangea

Ink: SU Pretty in Pink, SU Certainly Celery

Paper: SU  Very Vanilla, SU Pretty in Pink

Accessories: Versa Mark, SU Square Lattice Embossing Folder, SU Scallop Oval Punch, SU Oval Punch
Non SU Ribbon, SU Pearls and SU Dimensional's 

Bunny Hiddey Hole

I saw this card this card on Pintrest from my friend Ann Marie.  The idea originally came from 

RusticDaisy.blogspot.com 

Seriously!!!  How cute is this for Easter?  This year I am bound and determined to get a head start on Easter cards.  So stay tuned for several more to come this week!!!

I hope you found today's card inspiring.  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.  You give me inspiration too!! Also, if you have a question about any project, please free free to email me.  I would love to hear from you!!

   Thank you for stopping by my blog!!

Amy

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps:  N/A

Ink: N/A

Paper: SU Lucky Limeade, SU Whisper White, SU Basic Black, Su Blushing Bride

Accessories: SU Square Lattice Embossing Folder, SU Oval, SU 1 3/4 Round Punch,  SU Boho Punch
Su Edgelits, SU Old Olive Stripped Ribbon, SU Pearls and SU Dimensional's 

PPA Clean and Simple - Buttons!!!

 

This week at The Paper Players it's their

"Clean and Simple Challenge featuring Buttons!!!!"

I LOVE BUTTONS!!  

Small buttons, big buttons, bright buttons or funny buttons!!  

They all are so pretty!!!  LOL!!!  I had such a hard time deciding which buttons, what color of buttons and what am I going to do WITH the buttons!!  Oh my!!!

Here is what I came up with below:

I hope everyone can join the fun with the 

"Clean and Simple Challenge featuring BUTTONS!!!!"  

Here is their link: The Paper Players

All projects must be posted by Friday, March 23rd at noon (PST).

I hope you found today's card inspiring.  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.  You give me inspiration too!! Also, if you have a question about any project, please free free to email me.  I would love to hear from you!!

   Thank you for stopping by my blog!!

Amy

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Stamps:  Short and Sweet

Ink: SU Basic Black

Paper: SU Love Letter DSP, SU Very Vanilla, SU Basic Black

Accessories: Versa Mark, SU Square Lattice Embossing Folder, SU Scallop Edge SU Scallop Square Punch,  SU Riding Hood Red Buttons
Non SU Ribbon, SU Pearls and SU Dimensional's