I know, I know...candy is a'comin'!!!!!

I know I promised you candy and candy you shall have...its just been a bit crazy (when not?)- I thought I had until May to defend my doctoral dissertation - in person - in Florida - and guess what? NOPE! I have to do it BEFORE April 23rd, when the semester ends...AHHHHH!! Anyway...I am coping...two meetings a week with my chairperson until its done...but I have been collecting...its just that some of the good stuff I want to add to the candy is "in a safe place"...kwim? Gonna take me a bit to find it...but I promise, pinky-swear - the candy will be up by this weekend!!! And you will LOVE IT! LOL

A New Year's Card

Just wanted to share with you a New Year's card I got from one of my SBS9 sisters...of course I don't have it with me to write down which sis, but it is so lovely and just as any handmade card, it made my day...what a good start to the year, eh?

Kris' Christmas Card

Remember this cutie? Well Kris got the same stamp...and from that stamp she and her DH created a fab card of their precious pooches....Check it out below!!

Too bad I am not as good a photographer as Kris' husband!!! LOL I have GOT to get this blurring thing under control...ughhh!! But really....blurry and all....how dang cute is this?

My watermark is on the picture of Kris' card for copyright protection...

Baby Nurseabella Thank You!

I know the main image is Bella, however every other piece of this card is Stampin' Up! From the paper to the eyelets and ribbon - all wonderful SU! product... But you can't get any more perfect an image for someone who is a maternity or NICU nurse...AND, just a little aside....the reason I chose this color blue is because the critical care nurses all wear this color in St. Luke's, where my daughter is LOVING her new job as an RN in the NICU....good bless her, she has turned out a stronger woman than I, because I would be a blathering mess over ill babies!!!! I am so glad she is compassionate, caring and kind...besides nerves of steel! Its what those families there need, I am sure...Anyway - enjoy the card! I loved making it! (therapy you know!!)

Safari Boys Birthday Card

Here is the last of the boys' birthday cards in our celebration weeks...I used the Wild About You set and the Sanded BG stamp...The feature page is done on Very Vanilla paper, with an elephant that is "rocked and rolled" in Going Gray and Basic Gray, the Lion is More Mustard, with a Really Rust mane that I cut out separate, and I colored his facial features with the Close to Cocoa marker...then the little birdie who spilled the beans is done in Riding Hood Red...The sky is done with sponging - and I used a scallop circle to sponge around...its hard to see the cloud delineations, but they are there!! More Mustard ink on More Mustard card stock with the BG stamp, saying from A Little Birdie Told Me stamp set on Very Vanilla, punched with 1 1/4, and Really Rust punched with 1 3/8 circle punches...with a 3/4 inch circle punch stuck with a Chocolate corduroy button...and since you can't have your elephant float in the air, I used my aqua painter and did a quick grassy scene with Garden Green ink. And if you want to know how I got them to sit so nicely on top of each other...I just used my trusty Stamp-a-ma-jig...Wallah!! Easy Peasy!! Enjoy!

Happy Birdy To You....Happy Birdy to You....

The children birthdays are upon us once again....so here is Brent's card...I needed to use bright colors because I so desperately want Spring to come...and I love this paper from Stampin' Up!...and since the BG paper had circles, I thought the circles on the front would be a good addition....

If you liked my Lucky Leprechaun...CHECK MY CHICKY!!!

Now this guy is "bangin' "! I have seen this little guy everywhere too, so I don't even know who to give credit to for the original! This little die cut chicky is going to be the focal part of the Easter card we are doing during the March 27th Girls' Night Out.....Makes you wanna come over, huh? LOL I just love making my peeps happy....WITH PEEPS!!!! LOL You know, I have an Easton mailing address even though I live NEAR Easton...and Easton is the Home of the Peeps! (the lil marshmallow dudes)....It always cracks me up to see the Peep-mobile driving around - its a VW beetle with a very large PEEP on top....I should try and snap a pic...unfortunately, by the time I remember that my phone has a camera its too late! OTD...'nuff said!! LOL OK - having too much fun...gotta go....enjoy!!!

Gift Wrapping...

I was lucky enough that one of my customers loved the wrapping on the gifts her husband got her from Stampin' Up! (through me) so much that she saved them! Why am I lucky? Because I should have taken a picture of them and posted it AFTER I knew Kris got the gifts....one of my OTD moments (older than dirt- right Wendy?) These are just two of the packages she got...Remember, part of my service in gift giving from "your honey" is that I will gladly wrap the items...so give your wish list to someone and send them on over to me!

WOO HOO!!

Ok - so I have gone over 1oK hits...stay tuned as I will be digging up a big stash for Blog candy!!!! I have been collecting a pile of things and will get it all sorted and show you this weekend....and I think I want to do two....share the love, sister, share the love!!! woo hoo!!! LOL ...stay tuned for more exciting news!!!

Check out February's Girls' Night Out!!!

We had a marvelous time! My peeps were working away at their 15 cards...AHHHHHH....what could be better than a bunch of women crafting, stamping, laughing, eating and sharing!!!


Doesn't every event have a guard dog? LOL Scruffy to the rescue!

Sorry the pic is fuzzy - but ruba dub dub - look at the grub!!!
Can you say Ghiardelli chocolate brownies and rice krispie treats!
(Thank you Tammy!!)

The rest of the pics are of "genius burning"
....(danged if I can remember what piece of literature that came from....)
Anyway - make sure you let me know ASAP if you want to come to March's event...and don't miss the fun!

The Lucky Leprechaun

So I have seen these cutey pie, die cut peeps everywhere....and I had to get on the bandwagon....and since my name is MAUREEN and I am 1/2 Irish (the other half Scot...don't ask me...ask me grand-parents how THAT happened...both grandmothers Irish - one from Ireland and one second generation - and both my grand-dads were Scottish - one from Scotland, the other second generation...veeerrrrrryyyyyy interesting!!! LOL)..anyway...back to being Irish...and....OH YEAH! my brother's birthday is on St. Patty's day....I GOTTA have a Lucky Leprechaun...not to mention I need good luck these days....so we celebrate the 17th pretty well I must say!! And its the only time you can get any decent soda bread...Panera only makes it for like 4 days!! Harrumph!!! 4 DAYS!! Oh well....can't have everything....wouldn't be too bad if I could cook, maybe I could make it myself (or "meself" if I am really getting into it!!)...Isn't this a dang cute leprechaun?? I like him...maybe its Finian??? LOL

Yes, I am an enabler....LOL

So - the following is a card I had on display that I kept forgetting to take a picture of and post...its from "my student" Tammy...and yes....I have enabled her to partake in our lovely paper crafts...She was a scrapbooker already so we just turned her to the dark side...I mean...we encouraged her to make cards too!! And altered items....and....and....LOL YOU know what I mean!! So anyway - this was a card she made me for my birthday - and I was very proud of her!!! Pink and brown is a fav of mine so I totally loved the card...isn't it cute!?!?!?!

Alex...I hope you got this already!

One of my SBS9 sistahs is recuperating and I wanted to send out a card...I told her since I couldn't send out my OWN Nurse Nancy (my daughter Stephanie) I dug out my retired Button Bear, and sent her on her way cross country...I used my new SU punch not only on the pink border, but on the corners of the Riding Hood Red as well...Hope you liked it Alex!! Now - GET WELL LICKITY SPLIT!

The last part of the November Stamp-a-stack

In addition to the four gift bags we made and the set of 11 little gift cards we made, we also made this beautiful Christmas card...the colors did not come out so well...its really lovely IRL. This card was CASE'd from one of my INKredible Impressions sisters, Debbie Modrowsky...We used the Big Shot to make the large white snow flakes...And I just LOVE that Baja Blue!

My Faculty Friends Christmas gifts...

I always like to give a lil somethin' for a gift at holiday time...and these are the ones I made this year...I filled small tins from Target with candy and a Christmas dish towel...I tied on some coordinating ribbon from Stampin' Up!, and punched out some tags using my new scallop square punch...they were pretty cute...I gave out about 12 of them...

A bear boys card....

So our Spring birthday craze in full swing...and here is a card I made for one of our grandsons...I was inspired by a card I saw my up line Tracy's BFF Diana Gibbs do...and for some reason, the second I saw this set, I felt like the bear was holding something - so I gave him the sleeping bags to hold!!! Love this set....way too cute!

Looky at what my Secret Sister sent me...

My DDSS secret sister sent me this cutest card...and somehow I missed the tutorial on SCS being announced...I am definitely going to have to try this one out!

I just love it!! And I don't have this set....yet....so its a great sample for my customers!!!

My gift from Judy

My girlfriend Judy is a former history teacher, and took a trip to Israel recently. Kindly, she brought back souvenirs for her friends, and I was lucky enough to be a recipient. She brought us necklaces made from shells from the Sea of Galilea. So, since the necklace was strung on a rough string, I (after a suggestion from Judy herself!) made the shell into a bookmark. I used my Big Shot to cut out two larger scallop circles from chipboard (and it cut "like butta") and sandwiched the ribbon in between the scallops. I then tied the Baja Breeze ribbon onto the shell charm Judy gave me. Its hard to see unless you double click on the pic, but the inside part of the shell has a dove charm that says "peace", and then is filled in with a clear substance. I used the new Designer Series Paper called Parisian Breeze to decorate the scallop circles. Then I had a flower with a clear gemstone brad in it from something else I had been working on, and I added that as well. So now I have a beautiful religious bookmark with the soft muted color of the sea as an accent. It is truly a very special gift.

Judy is so kind to me....she's like my spiritual cheerleader. She just sent me a note (using one of the note cards I had made her for her birthday) about having faith through a rough time we are having right now ...She reminded me of the story of Esther and sent me a copy of the reading to encourage me. She and the gang of my other friends (the doll club) are all a gift from God as it is...and they have been a wealth of support to me these last several weeks...and I am sure in the upcoming ones as well....I even get a pep call every morning from Kathy....so while times are tough.....things are good.....and friends are golden....

The February 2009 Stamp-a-stack at GNO

The following three cards were done at the last stamp-a-stack...Two of the cards were CASE's and one was my design, influenced by a card I had seen on one of my list serves. So again...remember, you don't always have to be the creative one...you learn so much from CASE-ing (Copy And Share Everything) a beautiful card, and there are so many dang talented paper crafters out there, you don't have to think of it all...then throw in all the coordinating colors and embellishments of Stampin' Up! and you are sure to have a winning card to share with loved ones...

The three tree card was inspired by a card done by Lynn Put, the tool card was CASE'd from SplitcoastStamper member "mwben", and the flower card was a CASE from one of my INKredible Impressions sisters...I took a picture of this card at my up-up-up-line's house, Tina Rosenkrans, and I neglected to look at the back of the card for credentials...so if you are the INKy sister who created this gem, please write and let me know....

We had eleven people come for the stamp-a-stack and a good time was had by all!! LOL I look forward to March...when we will be doing 5 Easter cards as part of the mix...Check back later for individual postings on these cards with their recipes....

The last of my Christmas Cards from Friends...

Here are the rest of my Christmas Cards - the one's I received anyway...I have some more holiday things to post since I just got them off my camera...I was having a hard time with that...you really have to KNOW where you put the camera cord!!!! (Hey Wendy - OTD!!! lol)

This card is all Stampin' Up! from one of my SBS9 sisters...

This very cool spinner card was from my SBS9 sister Deb...

And this card was from my gal-pal Chatty Kathy!! LOL This card, too, is all Stampin' Up!