I'm still alive

Wow, I didn't realize how long it has been since I've posted anything. Things have been a bit hectic here at the Schwarz household. We have received some exciting news...Noah is going to be a big brother! Yes, I am 9 weeks pregnant. We went for an ultrasound yesterday and everything looks good so far. The past few weeks I have been going through all of the fun pregnancy stuff...exhaustion, nausea, irritability, etc. so I haven't been doing much stamping. I have a few things that I've made but I need to take pictures and download them. Right now my stamping room is a total disaster. It looks like a bomb went off in here. I just don't have much energy for anything. After chasing Noah around all day, who by the way, is getting ready to turn 2, I don't feel like doing anything but putting my feet up and relaxing. That kid knows how to wear you out. I've been working on his birthday invitations and they are super cute if I do say so myself. Once I get those finalized I will take pictures and post them. Even Chris couldn't get over how creative they were. Well, I guess that's all the rambling for now. I just wanted to let you know that I am still among the living but have had good reason for being such a slacker on the blog! Take care.

Fabulous Friday

Just a quick post tonight because I have a little munchkin to get to. I have to say that I really love the way this card turned out. This is the Big Celebrations stamp set from the new catty. The cardstock colors are Buckaroo Blue, Certainly Celery, Basic Grey, and very vanilla. What a great color combo this is. I colored the main image with a blender pen and my ink pads. The main image and sentiment is stamped in Basic Grey. The cuttlebug was used on the certainly celery strip. And just take a look at this new ribbon. The grey ribbon is some of our new taffeta ribbon. Isn't it beautiful. I also used some celery grosgrain. Silver eyelets that I set with my handy dandy crop-a-dile are in the corners of the main image. Well I hope you like it.

Noah got his first haircut today. Yep, I cut off the curls. It was getting really ratty and unmanageable. I was sad to see it go but he sure does look like a handsome little fella with his short hair! I will post pictures as soon as I get them downloaded. Thanks for stopping by!

What a week!

Well, it's been quite a week here at the Schwarz household. Noah started running a fever last weekend and I ended up taking him to the dr. earlier this week. Turns out they said he had a virus and we just had to wait it out. They said he would probably break out in a rash after he breaks the fever and sure enough...he did. He was also having night terros when he was running the fevers which was a scary thing. He's feeling much better now but he still has the rash. However, Chris started getting sick Tuesday night and he's been home sick for the past 2 days. Poor guy, he never gets sick.

So, since I've been neglecting you all this week I decided I'd post 2 cards for you. I was finally able to stamp today. Noah has been sleeping for over 3 hours so I took advantage of my time. About the card...this is what they call a tent topper card. You cut the card base to 8 1/2" x 4 1/4", then score it at 4 1/4". You will have a 4 1/4" sqaure for the base. Then you make your main image whatever size you want but when you adhere it to the base try to make the total height of the card 5 1/2", which is the normal size of your cards. So here is the recipe for this card:

Stamps: Garden Whimsy, Whimsy wheel, Everyday Flexible Phrases

Ink: Brocade Blue, Buckaroo Blue, Summer Sun, Old Olive

Cardstock: Marigold Morning, Buckaroo Blue, Whisper White

Accessories: Mustard/Gold ribbon from Michael's, stickles, stampin dimensionals

I'm still not sure if I like this card or not. It is not quite what I pictured in my head but I think it is growing on me. I used chipboard and designer paper to make the petals. The chipboard is the On Board Blossoms & Basics and the paper is the Almost Amethyst Prints paper. I used decopauge to glue the paper to the chipboard. The center of the flower is stamped with the Pick a Petal set. The stem is stamped with Stem Sayings and I used double stiched wild wasabi ribbon for the "leaves".

Stamps: Pick A Petal, Stem Sayings

Ink: Wild Wasabi, Almost Amethyst, Rose Red

Accessories: Chipboard, wild wasabi double stiched ribbon

Well, it sounds like Noah is waking up so I better go get him. Thanks for stopping by. I'll post more tomorrow.

Happy Stamping!

Mom's birthday

Last week was my mom's birthday and here is the card that I made for her. She collects bees so I thought this little bee image from Stampendous was perfect for her. Isn't it the cutest? The sentiment, "happy bee-day" is also from Stampendous. I ordered them both from Eclectic Paperie. It's a great online store to order from. Shipping is really quick. The designer paper is retired from SU. Cardstock colors are cameo coral, chocolate chip, and very vanilla. The bee and sentiment are stamped in basic brown. I colored the bee with ink pads and a blender pen. I used the scallop oval punches for the main image and used the happy birthday cuttlebug embossing folder on the cameo coral cardstock. The flower embellishment is a prima flower from the "sprites" collection.

Mom and Dad left today for their 10 day cruise to Europe. Poor them, huh? We are keeping one of their dogs, Deuce. They just got him a few weeks ago so he's a little nervous right now and doesn't understand what is going on. Romeo is having issues with him too. I hope they start getting along or it is going to be a long 10 days.

That's it for now. Thanks for stopping in!

More workshop cards

So I have some more cards to share from my workshop. The first card is one that I demonstrated. I used the glossy cardstock for the main image and did the crayon resist technique. You can do this by stamping your image in Basic Black and let it sit for a few minutes to dry. Then take a regular white crayon (not a watercolor crayon) and trace around the image where you want the white to show. Then take a stamping sponge in the colors you choose and rub it around the card. On this card I used purely pomegranate and wild wasabi. After you are done appyling the color you take a paper towel or soft terry cloth and rub over the top. This will wipe the waxy part of the crayon off and resist the ink that you rubbed on. Hopefully, this all makes sense. If it doesn't then let me know and I can explain it more in depth.

This next card was one the make and takes. Cardstock colors are Certainly celery, always artichoke, and pumkin pie. The stamp set is Double Line Doodles and Stem Sayings. I stamped the heart/flower image twice on whisper white. I punched one of them out with the scallop punch and the other one out with the 1 3/8" cirlce punch and popped it up with dimensionals. We sponged the edge of the scallop with always artichoke ink to soften the edges. We used dazzling diamonds to highlight the heart. We also used the paper piercer on the always artichoke strip, which is hard to see in the picture.

I hope to get more stamping in this week. I've been really tired lately and haven't felt like stamping much. Tomorrow my new goodies arrive so I hope to play a little.

As always, thanks for checking in! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the summer! Florida's heat is ridiculous but Noah and I try to get out in the morning before it gets too hot.

I'm back

Did you miss me? I've been MIA lately so I'm sorry I haven't posted much. Last week was hectic and I went out of town on Thursday and just got back last night. It is so good to be home.

So I have two treats for you today. This first card was one that we did at my workshop last weekend. This is using the Garden Whimsy stamp set and the Jumbo Whimsy wheel. These look so cute together and I LOVE the Garden Whimsy because you don't have to color it. I used Almost Amethyst for the card base and Bashful Blue for the bottom of the card where I used the wheel. I really like these Jumbo wheels. I didn't think I'd like them at first. I purchased my first one a few months ago and now I'm hooked. They are so quick and easy to use. If you get stuck on a card it always seems that the wheels give that extra added touch. I also used real red and whisper white cardstock. Ink colors are real red and bashful blue. I used silver brads in all four corners of the main image and some grosgrain ribbon for the final touch. Quick and easy!!

This second card was also one we made at my workshop. I totally CASE'd it (Copy and Share Everything) from pg. 21 from the catalog. A perfect example of how you can get ideas from the catalog. I basically copied the layout and changed the colors and stamp set. The stamp set is Summer by the Sea. Colors are blue bayou, soft sky, and wild wasabi. I love that color combo! I used my basic brown stamp pad to stamp the main image. I used a blender pen to outline the dress and to color in the grass and flowers. The circle was cut using my coluzzle. And don't you just love the new double stiched ribbon. It is so pretty in person! I ordered some of the other colors so I will be excited to try them out.

Most of my workshop order is supposed to be here on Wednesday so I will get to play with some new stuff! Yippee!! Whenever Mr. Brown delivers an order it feels like Christmas....so exciting! Well, hopefully I will have a chance to post more this week than I did last week. I have to get back into the stamping groove! I haven't stamped in a week. I'm going through withdrawals! Thanks for stopping by!

Yummy...chocolate!

So I used some of my retired stuff. This is the Like it A Latte set from the last Winter Mini catalog. I was really hoping this set would make it into the new catalog, but no luck. It is just the cutest coffee set. The designer paper is also retired...Au Chocolate. I don't know why I waited so long to order it...I love it. There isn't much to this card. I stamped the cup in Basic brown. I used Liquid Applique for the whip cream. If your not familiar with this stuff, you have to try it. When you put it on it is like puffy paint. Then you heat set it and it puffs up. Very cool! I used my circle scallop punches and used my white gel pen to make "faux eyelets". I also used chocolate grosgrain ribbon, white organdy ribbon, and some brown polka dotted ribbon from Michael's. I think it turned out pretty cute, myself.

Sorry I've been missing in action lately. I had a workshop on Saturday so I was busy preparing for that. My mother in law stayed here this past weekend too and we took Noah to downtown Disney on Sunday. He had a blast playing in lego land and we ate lunch at Rainforest Cafe. He thought that was super cool. He is really into animals right now so he loved looking at the monkeys, gorillas, elephants, etc.

I am leaving Thursday to go out of town for the weekend so you won't hear anything from me for a few days. I will try to post my workshop projects tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!