Winobella Ringing In the New Year

Tonight I'm meeting up with my Sorority Sisters and we're all going out. I haven't seen everyone together since my wedding so it'll be great to spend time with them. I can't believe that 2010 is here already!


I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Years! I have another card for tomorrow and also my new resolutions for 2010.

LOVE Beetle

I hope you all had a great Christmas. Even though I'm not back in blog land full time yet, I realize I've missed out on quite a bit. I was excited to see the new Farmers for TGF, but I can't lie...I am sad that I didn't get asked.

This is the last of my Bittersweet paper. I am really tempted to buy another stack, lol. But I won't...I have a new stack of Sugar Rush to use up. I think I like making Valentine day cards the most...I was going through my images and I have a ton of "love" stamps. :) I also used Jen del Muro's Sketch For You to Try.

Paper: Basic Grey Bittersweet
Stamps: Stamping Bella, sentiment is CTMH
Prima Flowers, PTI Buttons, Crystal Stickles, and Copics

I hope you all have a great Tuesday! My next card will be up on Thursday.

2010 Christmas Card Challege Week #4

Just a little reminder: If you want to link your cards, they have to be Holiday, Hanukkah, Christmas, or Winter related. If they're not, I do delete them from my Mr. Linky. Sorry to be a stickler...but the main thing is, we're making Christmas cards year round. The last 2 weeks I've had to take some links off, so just thought I'd bring it up. You can read my challenge rules here.

This weeks challenge: Inspiration Challenge! Use this fun cupcake picture to inspire your Christmas card. You can use any element from the photo. Maybe you like the color combo, the snowflakes, or maybe you just love cupcakes, lol.


Paper: Basic Grey Offbeat
Stamps: Stamping Bella, sentiment is PTI
Snowflake Punch, PTI Buttons, Copics, Liquid Applique, Rhinestones, Crystal Stickles, and MS Border Punch

Mr. Linky Note: Please link directly to the blog post or gallery page where we can view/comment on your creation and not just the generic link to your blog. To get the full url, click the title of your blog post (which will load a page that has just that post on it), then copy and paste the URL into the Mr. Linky form. Thanks and please still post a comment so I know you added a card!

Santa Babe Anya

I made this for my step mom, Anna. Her favorite place to shop is Nordstroms, so they're a gift card in there for her. I got inspired by all the altering to put Ian's Santa Hat on Anya. I think it turned out pretty good for my first attempt. I really need to invest in some Copic multi-liners.

Paper: Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses
Stamps: The Greeting Farm, sentiment is Amuse
Snowflake Punches, PTI Buttons, Crystal Stickles, and Copics

I'm super excited to celebrate Christmas this year, because Emily and Michael are more at the age of knowing who Santa is. :) We will opening gifts wee early in the morning with the Bliatouts. Everyone have a fabulous Christmas.

I'm Getting Nothing For Christmas...

Mommy and Daddy are mad. I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas. 'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad. Isn't Lilith perfect for this? She reminds me of the "bully" girl, but she's only wearing a dress because her mom made her, lol. You know she's up to no good. My sentiment is actually a Halloween one, but thought it was appropriate.

Paper: My Minds Eye Abbey's Road
Stamps: Kraftin Kimmie, sentiment is Amuse
Prima Flowers, Nestabilities, PTI Buttons, Pearls, Rhinestones, Copics, and Crystal Stickles

Brent's family celebrates every year on Christmas Eve, so we'll be opening presents with the Smith's tonight. Everyone have a fabulous day!

Chibi Drink

Here is my card for TGF's 12 Days of Sketches #2. I only have a little bit left of my Lemonade paper, so I'm happy to be using it up. It's my 2nd favorite Basic Grey paper pack ever.

After today, I have posts scheduled for about every other day through January 3rd. I had hoped to create enough stuff for the whole next 2 weeks, but it didn't quite get done. Between my family, Brent's family, and our friends, I will be in and out of blog land. It may take me a little bit to get back on questions, emails, and comments.

Paper: Basic Grey Lemonade
Stamps: The Greeting Farm, sentiment is PTI
Prima Flowers, PTI Buttons, Copics, Pearls, Nestabilities, and Crystal Stickles

My parents live out in the "country," and Comcast doesn't provide service out there, so there's no cable. It's nice not to get distracted while I'm out there, but annoying sometimes since the only thing I can watch are Sesame Street and Barney DVDs, lol. It entertains me that Emily can recite every episode by heart.

But my In-laws and my brother have cable and internet, so I'll still be able to peek in every once in awhile. :) I hope you all have a wonderful and safe holiday.

My Little Lottie

Here is my card for Farm Fresh Friday and 12 Days of Sketches #1. Lottie didn't really fit into an oval that well, so I went with a circle instead. Even though I'm happy to be going home for the holidays...I'm really sad I'm gonna miss out on the last half of these challenges. I'm tempted to pack up my room, but I doubt my parents and In-laws would appreciate it, lol.

Paper: Basic Grey Nook and Pantry
Stamps: The Greeting Farm, sentiment is Amuse
Rhinestones, Copics, Nestabilities, CTMH Ribbon, PTI Buttons, Twine, and Crystal Stickles

December 17th, 2009

I'm so behind on my photos, lol...but all of my presents are wrapped. :) Here's Jenn, LaTraya, and I from last Thursday. We ate dinner at Mali Thai and then did some Christmas shopping. Jenn got stocking stuffers and a gift for her oldest daughter. I was good, I only came home with a bag of truffles for Brent. Was really tempted to buy a new set of eyeshadow from Sephora.


December 18th, 2009

On Friday, my department went out to lunch at Bahama Breeze. When we won Department of the Year, we also won a free lunch. :) I don't have a picture of us at lunch, but I saved some stuff from the restuarant to put in the album and here is the pic of us when we actually won our award.


I hope you all have a wonderful Monday...it's back to work for me. The finale for the Sing Off is tonight. I want Nota to win so badly!

2010 Christmas Card Challege Week #3

I'm still on my blue and red kick. Isn't Cocoa Emma just adorable?!? I finally decided to pull out my heat gun, so I added some liquid applique to her coat and boots. I've had this Cosmo Cricket paper for over a year now and just finally getting around to using it. I think I have enough paper to make all my cards for next year, lol.

Paper: Cosmo Cricket
Stamps: CC Designs, sentiment is PTI
Copics, MS Border Punch, Snowflake Punch, Crystal Stickles, Rhinestones, and PTI Buttons

This week's challenge: Sketch challenge! The heart shape can be any embellishment or piece you like. On my card, I used a snowflake.


Mr. Linky Note: Please link directly to the blog post or gallery page where we can view/comment on your creation and not just the generic link to your blog. To get the full url, click the title of your blog post (which will load a page that has just that post on it), then copy and paste the URL into the Mr. Linky form. Thanks and please still post a comment so I know you added a card!


Everyone have a great Sunday! I'm going to finish wrapping presents!

Chibi Shibuya

Breana, Brent's niece turns 13 on Christmas Eve. For her birthday, we got her a gift card to one of her favorite clothing stores. I will say, I never went through a punk - goth - rockstar phase. I was way too GIRLY for that, lol. I probably should of colored this Chibi to look like her, but I think Breana will still like it.

I used Lauren Meader's gift card holder template, one of her last few PTI templates that she made. Since I know the gift card will come out and my holder will get trashed (which I'm totally fine with), I didn't pile on the embellishments.

Paper: Basic Grey Eerie
Stamps: The Greeting Farm, sentiment is PTI
CTMH Ribbons, Copics, Nestabilities, Twine, and Crystal Stickles

Everyone have a great Saturday! We're going to a holiday potluck today, so that sound be fun. Otherwise, it's the usual laundry and cleaning, lol!

Phoebe Ketto

Remember when I told you the other day I was ready for Valentine's Day?!? Well, the madness has already started, lol. I started out trying to do Kazan's sketch on 2 Sketches 4 You...didn't quite get there...and it's more simple than I usually do. But still cute and glittery. I wish I would of stitched around it...but oh, well. :)

Paper: My Minds Eye Abbey's Road
Stamps: Stamping Bella, sentiment is Amuse
Prima Flowers, PTI Buttons, Pearls, Copics, Rhinestones, and Crystal Stickles

I hope you have a wonderful Friday! It's almost the weekend!

Springtime Izzy

Today is Jenn's birthday and here is the card I made for her. I had true intentions of using this for the Farm Fresh Friday challenge, but realized that I used a die cut, lol. Oh, well...maybe I'll be a little more with it next week. This is what I get for crafting while talking on the phone to Catherine. Jenn loves the color green as much as I do, so I decided on a green and blue combo.

Paper: My Minds Eye Abbey's Road
Stamps: The Greeting Farm, sentiment is Amuse
Prima Flowers, PTI Buttons, Pearls, Crystal Stickles, Copics, and Nestabilities

I have been wanting to post larger images, but I hate messing with Blogger. I also don't want to change my blog layout, so I have decided to go back to uploading my pictures on Photobucket. Let me know if you like it better then me just uploading my pictures to Blogger.

And before anyone asks...sorry, my Photobucket account is locked to the public. In the past, too many people have come through and I would run out of bandwidth. I did do a major overhaul in there though, so if you had any old links and pictures are gone, let me know. (I'm scared to look at my Live Journal, lol.)

Everyone have a great Thursday! I will be meeting up with Jenn and LaTraya later for a yummy Thai dinner and some shopping at Southcenter.

Daily December Catch Up

December 15th, 2009

I came home from work and Brent tells me Charlie Brown Christmas is on. We watch this every year together. :) He asks me, "What is your all time favorite Christmas movie?" Well, Love Actually is my favorite movie of all time, and it's actually a Christmas movie, lol. Yeah, it starts before and ends after Christmas, but I still consider it a Christmas movie. So he says, "Well, do you consider Die Hard a Christmas movie then?" (If you aren't a Bruce Willis fan like I am, the movie takes place during a work Christmas party.) Something to ponder, lol. What are your thoughts on that? :) Brent's favorite is National Lapoon's Christmas Vacation.


December 16th, 2009

Look what came in the mail! I know you're probably all sick and tired of me talking about it...but I just can't hold my excitement in. Though I don't post on 2 Peas in a Bucket, I do lurk on there quite a bit. The Non-Scrapbooking Board is my all source of knowledge. But don't say I didn't warn you, the gals on there are ruthless and will tear you apart.

One day I was lurking as usual and someone had posted about bidding for Olympic tickets. I asked Brent and threw in our names. I really wanted to bid for Figure Skating tickets, but it was just too expensive. We compromised on Men's Hockey, and Canada and USA are predicted to be top contenders! Though we are going to the arena, I am sad we can't see a Canucks game while we are there.


If I knew what life was going to throw at us, looking back, I wouldn't of gotten these tickets. Getting my car stolen and buying a new house obviously were things that hadn't happened or even thought about yet. But since it's money we already spent...might as well enjoy our once in a lifetime experience.

Summer 2012 Olympics are in London. I keep teasing Brent we should go back. We went to London as part of our honeymoon last year. Maybe one day when I'm retired and rich enough, I'm become an Olympic roadie, lol. This is totally unrealistic, but it's a fun dream to have.

Life Happens...

I had a totally different post scheduled for today...but you can't always predict life, right?!? Well, Josh, my co-woker, went down to California this last weekend for his grandma's Hanukkah party. Unfortunately, she passed away Saturday night. The family extended their stay down there and had a memorial service on Monday.

Okay...had to pull out the Kiwi Kiss stash again, lol. But I couldn't make Josh a girly card. I so badly wanted to put glitter, rhinestones, pearls, etc on the card...had to really *restrain* myself. :) I did sneek a bit of ribbon on there.

ETA: Does my photo look like it has weird colors? My desktop and laptop vary ALOT with the monitor, so sometimes things look off on one computer and okay on the other.

Paper: SU
Stamps: Gina K (I think...I got this from Wish RAK), sentiment is PTI
SU Ribbon, PTI Buttons, Twine, and Copics

Another co-worker at our Payment Center (where Brent works) had her house burned down this past weekend too. They lost everything except for the clothes that they were wearing. I hope to get the children some new clothes this week.

With everything going on...I am blessed today to just be doing well. Everyone have a good hump day.

Je t'aime Francesca

This card is really out on left field for me. If you know me, I'm a happy, sun-shiney person. I laugh ALL the time and though I'm analytical, I naturally tend to be more optimistic. To me, Francesca looks like a dark Parisian street poet who has a lost soul, lol. So...I went with it. Brent actually liked it...so can't be that horrible. :)

Paper: My Minds Eye Bloom and Grow
Stamps: Kraftin Kimmie, sentiment is Amuse
Rhinestones, Copics, Prima Flowers, PTI Buttons, and Nestabilities

I hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday! I'm super behind on posting pictures, but hopefully will have time soon to get things updating for my Daily December.

Club Anya Holiday Blog Hop

Welcome to the Club Anya Holiday Blog Hop! If you didn't start from the beginning, please go to the Club Anya blog for the whole list of everyone participating.

I missed out on this Anya last year and was so excited that Marie re-released her on Black Friday. I was already up shopping, so I was able to snag one of these before she sold out. While cleaning my craft room, I found some old jingle bells from last year. I was so excited to put it on her hat! It's a noisy, annoying card now, though. :)

Paper: Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses, My Minds Eye Abbey Road
Stamps: The Greeting Farm, sentiment is PTI
Snowflake Punch, Nestabilities, Crystal Stickles, Copics, Jingle Bell, American Crafts Brads, Rhinestones, PTI Buttons, Ricrac, and EK Success Border Punch

I hope you all have had a fabulous Monday! By the time this hop starts, I'll still be at work (only 5pm on the West Coast). I'm super excited for this release and you know I'll be shopping at 10pm my time! :)

2010 Christmas Card Challege Week #2 and Meeting Amy

Sorry my post is so late today! I'm trying to be extra crafty to get automated posts done over the holidays.

I said I would sent out a goodie to one random winner for the 1st challenge of each month. Random.org gave me #6, and that's Shanna! So email me your address at sparklingapple17@hotmail.com and I'll send out something fun for you! I really appreciate all of you that participate and play along with me.

Today's challenge: Traditional Christmas colors, red and green. I know it's a pretty simple challenge, but I tend to use more non-traditional colors, so I thought it would be fun.

Paper: Making Memories Mistletoe
Stamps: CC Designs, sentiment is Amuse
Snowflake Punch, Nestabilities, Copics, Crystal Stickles, CTMH Brads

December 12th, 2009

So I went up to Seattle and got to meet Amy and her friends. They're a very talented group of ladies! Such lovely displays of jewelry, hats, cards, altered items, baked goods, and ribbon. I was a good girl and only left with a handful of ribbon, lol. But I was excited to meet everyone and finally get the opportunity to meet Amy!


Mr. Linky Note: Please link directly to the blog post or gallery page where we can view/comment on your creation and not just the generic link to your blog. To get the full url, click the title of your blog post (which will load a page that has just that post on it), then copy and paste the URL into the Mr. Linky form. Thanks and please still post a comment so I know you added a card!


Everyone have a fabulous Sunday! It's grocery shopping and crafting for me today!

Happy Hanukkah

My co-worker Josh celebrates Hanukkah, so I made him this card. I keep telling myself that I will buy the Papertrey Ink set that they made last year...but I've been a slacker, lol. I do own Menorah Bella, but since Josh is a guy, I thought he might enjoy Riley a bit more. :)

Paper: Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses
Stamps: Riley and Company, sentiment is PTI
Snowflake Punch, PTI Buttons, Crystal Stickles, CTMH Brads, Copics, Nestabilities, and Rhinestones

I plan to go to Seattle today to see Amy's Trunk Show. The snow keeps getting pushed out, but it's been freezing here all week! Everyone have a fabulous Saturday!

Chibi Cupcakes

It's my friend Marjorie's birthday next weekend and here is the card I made for her. I know it's super early...but I sent her card late last year and I am determined to be "on time" this year. I still have 2 more December birthdays...so more birthday cards still to come. I do appreciate the Christmas break, lol, but sadly, I'm ready for Valentine's Day to be here.

Paper: Basic Grey Nook and Pantry
Stamps: The Greeting Farm, sentiment is Amuse
Prima Flowers, PTI Buttons, Nestabilities, Copics, Rhinestones, Crystal Stickles, and MS Border Punch

December 10th, 2009

Speaking of mail...I finally got all of my Christmas cards out! Walgreens took forever to get my pictures done, so I was not a happy camper. Here they are all addressed and ready to go. Since I didn't have to rush any of these, as we were signing them Brent kept saying, "Wow, this card is awesome." I let him pick out the ones he wanted to sent to his friends and co-workers.


I haven't thought of Vic in a long time, but sending out my cards this year reminded me of him. Vic was my mail carrier in Denver, when I worked at the Training Center. He was the sweetest guy and the winter I left to move to Seattle, was the winter he retired. Now that I work in the Corporate Office, I never see the mail carriers. I just give my mail to the Admin Assistants.


Some have asked me lately how I take pictures of my cards. I'm almost scared to share this with you, lol. But here is a pic of my very messy desk. That lamp, I bought at Target for $9.99. I have a 75 watt light bulb in there. The lamp is sitting on my Amuse tin that is full of Copic markers, lol. And I just use 2 sheets of white cardstock for my background.


I only have a Sony Cybershot that Brent bought me for my birthday a few years ago. It's a great Point and Shoot camera. I use no flash and turn on the macro setting to get details. I think pictures not shot in macro are blurry now, lol. I have Adobe Creative Suite 3, so I have a full version of Photoshop. That is what I use to edit my pictures. I would totally recommend Photoshop Elements if you want something a little easier.

I either adjust the auto color or the white level in the picture so that the white background doesn't look grayish. Then I bump up the brightness. Since I try to capture my glitter, I also "sharpen" my image in Photoshop. Sometimes this can make your photo look grainy though. I don't have time to do a real tutorial, but I do have simulation software. Maybe after the holidays I can do a Photoshop one if you really want to see how I edit my photos.

Scary how I went from this last picture to my first one on top, huh? :) Everyone have a fabulous Friday! It's almost the weekend.

Miss Gratty 'tude

Another stamp finally seeing some ink! I've had this Addy for like 6 months now, lol...and I'm finally using her. Pat made me a darling card with her and I just had to have her. :) Better late then never, right?

Paper: Basic Grey Marrakech
Stamps: Stamping Bella, sentiment is Amuse
Prima Flowers, PTI Buttons, Crystals Stickles, Copics, Rhinestones, American Crafts Ricrac, and EK Success Border Punch

Sorry I don't have a daily pic for today...I left my USB cable at work. I'm working on a project (for my day job) with a deadline on the 15th, so I'm sorry that I'm getting behind on stuff. If it takes a little bit longer for me to get back to you, please don't take it personal.

I hope you all have a fabulous Thursday! What are you all watching now that all of our shows aren't back on til January?!?

Farm Fresh Friday Color Challenge

The color challenge this week was Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, and Whisper White. Some of you can relate...I had to bust out my very secret stash of old In Colors to do this challenge. This was my last sheet of Baja Breeze designer paper...so whoever gets this card better LOVE it, lol. Thanks Arlene for the awesome ribbon too! Okay, back to hoarding...I only have 1/2 a pack left of Kiwi Kiss cardstock.

Paper: SU
Stamps: The Greeting Farm, sentiment is Amuse
Nestabilities, Copics, Pearls, SU Ribbon, Crystal Stickles, PTI Buttons, Prima Flowers, and Twine

December 7th, 2009

Since we're going home for Christmas...that also means no Christmas tree for Brent and I. Here is the lovely tree that in my office lobby. I have decided that when I'm older and retired...I want to be a professional Christmas tree decorator. The elderly lady that comes and puts up our tree every year is just fabulous!


Everyone have a great hump day!