Merry Christmas!

I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas day with your friends and/or family.
We had a nice Christmas, it was very quiet here, but even that can be magical on Christmas day!

I've got some Christmas cards I made within the past week or two and I wanted to share them with you. There's quite a few, so I'll just share the pics and if you have any questions, just leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

I hope you have a fantastic weekend and hopefully you'll get some time to stamp!
Once again, Merry Christmas! Take care!

stampin hugs,

I've been sooooooooooo busy!

You probably have wondered where I've been the past few weeks. I've been right here, honest I have!!! I've been stampin my little heart out, in-between my relentness nap breaks. arghhhhhhhhhh! I'll be sharing with you some of the Christmas cards I've been making. I hope I don't bore you to death!!! LOL

Here's a fun card I made using Snow Buddies. Very easy! Used Old DSP for the background. This card just makes me smile. :)

Thanks so much for looking! I hope you're all having a fun holiday season! Christmas will be here in exactly 1 week!!!! woohooooooooooo!!!

Take care and happy stamping & wrapping!!!

stampin hugs,

OK!! I admit it! I'm a Michelle Zindorf wanna be!!

Hi Stampers!! I know that you know all about Michelle Zindorf at Freedom In Creating! She's such a wonderful artist! If you haven't seen her work yet, then you MUST go to her blog...her work is fabulous!

I thought I'd try my hand at following her tutorials. I chose to work with Stampin Up's "Wandering Words" stamp set. I worked with the brayer and inks and this is what I came up with. It's not even close to her masterpieces, but I'm happy with it.
Let me know what you think. I used Whisper White cardstock, with Night of Navy, Not Quite Navy and Black inks. As you can see I also did some paper piercing to add to the border. I hope you like this! I sure had some fun making it!!! Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you're all enjoying the Holiday season!!!

Take care!!!

Happy stampin,

Away Dasher!!

Hi Everyone! I just love this new Dasher stamp that Stampin Up now has. It's so easy to work with and goes with everything Christmas! This particular card is done in Stampin Up's Bravo Burgandy, Gold and Very Vanilla Cardstock.

I'm a little pressed for time at the moment, I'm in the middle of tons of Christmas card orders right at the moment, so I'm gonna run. They are not going very quickly when I have to break frquently due to my health (sigh)but I'm pluggin along the best that I can, and loving it!

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you like my version of "Dasher"!
Please feel free to leave a comment, I love reading them! Take care!

Stampin hugs,

A note to family & friends

Happy Thanksgiving to my dear family and friends back home. Please know that you mean so very much to me and I'm so thankful for each and every one of you. I know we can't be together but please know that you're in my heart and in my thoughts.

To my online buddies, Happpppppppy Turkey Day!!! I'm very thankful for friends, family and online friends. You all mean the world to me. Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving.

big hugs,

Season of Joy

Hi All!! I've been busy with some card orders, but I wanted to post a card I did 2 weeks ago and forgot to post. I hope you're all having a good weekend. I LOVE weekends! DH doesn't work & I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn with him! YAY!! LOL I digress...back to stampin...

This time I dug out the Stampin Up! stamp set, Season of Joy. This was a very, very simple card. I think you'll like it, it can be done relatively quickly. All products are by Stampin Up! I started with a card base of Old Olive cardstock, followed with a layer of Chocolate Chip c/s. My next layer is a left over green printed paper from the Cast a Spell Designer Series Paper. (I love that they are double sided and so versatile!) I cut a strip of chocolate chip c/s and place it horizontily across the middle of the card. I used my White Gel Pen to add white lines on it. Next, I added a piece of last year's beautiful chocolate chip satin ribbon. I just loved that ribbon and was delighted that I had a little left!!
I added a square of whisper white c/s that I pierced along the outside edge of it.
Next I added a square of chocolate chip c/s. Lastly I stamped the focal point of the card on whisper white. The inks and markers I used were red, chocolate chip and old olive. On the close up I think you can see that I cut out and pop-dotted the three poinsettia's, the snowflake and the "and" sign. You can't see it, but I added glitter, Irridescent Ice, to the tree, snowflake and the centers of the flowers.

Thank you so much for coming to my BLOG and I do hope I've inspired you. Please take a few minutes and leave a comment if you like, I love hearing from you all.

And just to make you smile, I've added a couple pictures of my sweet Abbi girl taking a snooze. It was quite cool in the afternoon and she was shivering, so I put her sweater on her. Half an hour later here she is....just a snoozin and toasty warm!!! Enjoy!

I hope the rest of your weekend is good and I hope you have some time to yourself and that you get to stamp. Take care!!

Happy stampin,

It's Snowing Medallions!!

Hi my friends! I hope you're all doing really well and getting good n' inky!! hehe
I got my seasonal flu shot today and I'm so happy that I did! I really can't afford to get sick!! I'm not able to get the H1N1 shot yet as they don't have enough right now. If I didn't have the COPD I don't think I'd even get it, but I sure don't want
to get pneumonia or worse, so I want that shot!!! LOL Ok OK, I'll stop talking and get back to the card!!! :)

Needless to say I used Stampin Up's Medallion stamp and the small snowflake from Season of Joy. I think it's so versatile,you can really do many things with it. All products I used on this are Stampin Up. The cardstock I used was whisper white, bordering blue, and night of navy with bordering blue and night of navy inks. I used white craft ink for the medallion and embossed with clear embossing powder. On the white card stock I sponged with light & heavy ink application. I did stamp tiny, tiny snowflakes, but I honestly can't remember what set it is from. I used a small night of navy brad.

I hope you are inspired to make some snowflake medallions of your own! Have a great stampin' weekend. Thanks for coming by and visiting a while! Take care!

Happy stampin,

Serene Snowflakes

Hello Folks,
I AM BACK!! Wow, life took me away for a while, but I am back and glad to be. I'm struggling with Chronic Fatigue so please hang in there with me if I skip a day here and there. I have good and bad days, so that's the important part, I love good days!! Get those stamps inked up!!! I dove into Serene Snowflakes and this is what I came up with! I absolutely love this set! I think each snowflake is so pretty! I embossed the snowflake with white embossing powder. I used all Stampin Up products for this card as follows...

Stamp Set: SU Serene Snowflakes
Cardstock: Whisper White, Brocade Blue

Inks: Bordering Blue,Brocade Blue, Versa Mark Pad
White Embossing Powder
Ribbon: White Taffeta
Designer Brads:
Brad & Filigree
Tools: SU Heat Gun

so bad for not posting!

hi all, I've been so bad, it's been a really busy summer and busier fall. My Mom has been with us for 3 weeks and it was wonderful. Things go back to normal tomorrow so I'll be back to stampin and posting this week!!! YAY!!!!

Will see you all here soon.

Thanks for being loyal and for dropping in!!! I really appreciate it!!!

Take care and have a wonderful nite.

Stampin hugs,
Ret

Some cards I've made lately...

Hello my friends! My goodness, where the heck does the time go?? I know it flies, but I would like to know where it flies to, cuz I sure can't keep up with it!! It seems like I'm busy all the time, but I don't seem to be getting alot accomplished. Does anyone else have this problem? I sure hope I'm not alone!!! LOL

I have been so bad about posting, and I want to make it up to you today! YAYYYYY!
Today I'm going to treat you to a couple cards I've made lately. The first one is a pink and white Wedding card. It's made with Stampin Up's Kind and Caring Thoughts & Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets. I used Shimmery White and Piroette Pink cardstock and inks, along with cardstock vellum. I hope you like it.



My second card is also a wedding card. For this one I used Stampin Up's Heartfelt Thanks and Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp sets. I used Whisper White and Basic Gray card stock. I embossed the flower with SU Silver embossing powder. I also used SU's white satin & sheer ribbon as well. I hope you enjoyed this one too. I love how it came out and hope you do too!



And lastly, this bright n' cheery card! I think these colors are to die for, you can't help but smile when you see them. The birds are from the Stampin Up stamp set called "The More, the Merrier". So cute!!! The paper is SU's Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Paper Series. Cute ribbon, huh? It's SU's Melon Mambo!! Such pretty colors. Let me know what you think of these three (3, count 'em!!) cards!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful stampin weekend!

Stampin hugs,

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Sharing some vacation pics with you

Hi folks! I just wanted to share a couple pics from vacation. The top pic is taken from my Moms camp, right from the living room. The lake is lovely and one of those that you can walk out halfway before you're up to your waist! Love it!!

The second pic is of little Abbi in her life vest. We took her out for a boat ride and she absolutely loved it and really enjoyed it. She was good as gold!! Can you tell she's my buddy?? hehe

We're home now and we're trying to get back into the swing of our normal routine. I miss my Mom! I miss the lake!!! With a little bit of luck, my Mom is planning on driving up in Sept to visit us. So, that is something to look forward to!!!

Thanks to all of you for being so patient about my blog while I was away. I'll start posting cards again really soon.

I hope you are all having a wonderful day!!! Happy stampin!!

Take care,

See what we've been up to?

Hi all, first things first...no we weren't hurt. My Mom and I had gone shopping for the day and we had such a wonderful time together. We were a little late heading home, but it didn't matter. We were heading up the mountain and we both saw the deer jumping the guard rails, and there was nothing we could do...she landed right on the hood and slid up to my side of the windshield and then off. It's a good thing that Mom was going only 40, or it would of been alot worse. She was more worried about the deer than anything else. Unfortunately, the deer didn't make it.

We're fine, quite black and blue from the air bags when they deployed, but other than that, we did ok. Poor car didn't do that well, as you can see. Just thought I'd share what is going on with you all. Only 2 more weeks left of vacation, time does fly!!!

Hope everyone is doing well and getting lots of stamping done. Have a great weekend!

Happy stampin,

Hi from the Adirondack Mountains & Daisy Card

Hi Stampers & Friends,
Hi from Lake Clear, NY!!! We have been here for a week now & we're really enjoying ourselves. I've had a good week visiting with my Mom & just enjoying feasting my eyes upon the lake & the mountains. It's beautiful here. I've been able to do a little hiking thru the woods with Abbi everyday. Even when my fibro tells me I shouldn't, I just can't pass up the opportunity. I just go slow and have been ok.
Abs loves running along the path. Deer, bunnies, squirrels, chipmunks, foxes and even an occasional bear pass along this path several timee a day, so there's lots of different smells for her to take note of. lol She's having a ball!!

I haven't had the opportunity to stamp, but I did bring some cards I made the week before we left, so I'll be sharing one of them with you today.

For this card, I've used all Stampin Up products. I started out with Chocolate Chip for my card base, adding a layer of Whisper White C/S and then a layer of Kiwi Kiss. I stamped the swirl from the Baroque Motif stamp set in Kiwi Kiss Ink. Then
I used my leftover Kiwi Kiss grosgrain ribbon for embellishment. I played with the Daisy die cut for the Big Shot and loved how it came out in Whisper White. I added Chocolate Chip ink, direct to paper on the Daisy and finished it off with a red button. I hope you like how this came out. It was very simple with FAB results!

Thanks so much for looking and if you like my card, please leave me a message, I'd love to know what you think!! I hope you're having a good Monday and able to get some stamping in!! I'll be touch, and don't forget, you can reach me by email at
retcudmore@hotmail.com

Happy Stampin,

It's Vacation Time!!!

Hi Everyone! Happy 4th of July to you!! I hope you have a safe & fun holiday. We will be leaving in the morning for my hometown in Upstate New York, we'll be back in about 4 weeks! I know it seems like a long time, but I also know that it'll go fast!! I'll be in touch & will do some posting. I just wanted to let you know what was going on, cuz I won't be able to post as often as usual. I can be reached at my hotmail email addy which is: retcudmore@hotmail.com Would love to hear from you!

You all have a wonderful July!!! Take care & happy stamping!!

Stampin hugs,

Butterfly card for Kathy

Hi Stampers! I hope you all had a great week and are getting ready to have a nice relaxful weekend. Tonight I'm sharing with you a card I made on Wednesday for a customer. She just loved it! I hope you do, too!!

Tis card was pretty simple and a fun card to do! I used the Big Shot butterfly & top note die. I used the verse from SU's "flight of the butterfly" stamp set.

The butterfly & background is made from the Parisian DSP. I just love that paper!! Beautiful!!! The topnote used Whisper White cardstock. The ribbon is also from SU.

Thank you all for stopping in and please be sure to jot down a comment & let me know what you think of this card. I appreciate you taking the time to stop in!!
Take Care & Happy Stamping!!

Stampin hugs,

Seasons of Friendship

**UPDATED**

Hi All, here I am again and I am just baffled about where the time is going to!!!
I know I'm slower than most people, but geesch!!! I can't believe how busy life has been, it seems like the days just go by so fast and I don't get even near what I wanted to get done!!!

My apologies for not getting back to this post as quickly as I had hoped to. Here's the recipe for this A2 size card:

All products, Stamping Up

card stock: cool carribean, more mustard, whisper white

dsp:I no longer have the wrapper & the name of this dsp escapes me. arghhhh!!!

Inks: more mustard, pumpkin pie, really red, cool carribean, chocolate chip

Thank you all for your kind comments, I truly appreciate them!! I hope you're all having a wonderful week.

Take care & happy stamping!!

hugs,



*************************************************************************************

Hi Everyone, It's so good to be blogging again! Thank you for your emails, and thanks for missing me!! You sure know how to make me feel lots better. Ohhh all of a sudden I am tired, tired tired. I'll finish this post tomorrow!
Ret

A Pinch to Grow an Inch

Hi Everyone!!! Wow, I'm on a roll...2 posts in a row!!! wooohoooo
This card highlights the stamp set "Crab and Company" by Stampin Up. This
is the cutest set! I watercolored this with SU Watercolor Crayons. I absolutely love them, and I always use them when I want to watercolor. If you don't have them already, I would highly recommend them, they're great!!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. I really appreciate it!

I hope you get a chance to stamp this weekend!! Take Care!

Stampin hugs,

Helloooooooo! and Onesie Card

Hi Guys, guess what!!! I'm backkkkkkkk!! The past couple weeks have been weeks from you know where...but I've muttled thru them and have decided to put "life" up on the shelf for a while and get back to stamping and posting! Thank you all ever so much for hanging in here with me. It's just been one thing after the other. For starters, Hubby was realllllly sick for eleven, yup ELEVEN days!! arghhhhhhhhh!!!
But he's back to work now and feeling mucho better. Thank goodness!! and ofcourse it's been a couple weeks of "if it can go wrong, it will", but hopefully things are back to being normal and peaceful. I think I have some new gray hairs!!! YIKES!!!

Ok, on to my card...although it doesn't really look like it in the picture, the Onesie is made from Baja Breeze cardstock. I've tried everything, but I couldn't to get it to come out to the right color. So I guess we're stuck with this photo, I know you can picture it in Baja!! I used a Not Quite Navy SU marker and did some faux stitching. The cute little lion is from "Wild About You" stamp set from Stampin Up. Incidently, all products were by SU.

Thank you for sticking by me, you guys are truly wonderful! I'm glad to be back and
will be posting some more tomorrow. Take care & big hugs to you all.

Happy Stampin,

I'm still around!

Today I don't have a card to share, so I'm sharing a pic of our Abbi with you.
I'm sorry I haven't been posting the past couple days. Life is getting in my way of stamping!!! arghhhhhhhhh! So much to do and as you know I've got Fibro, so it tends to slow me down. I promise I'll be back in the swing of things very very soon. Thanks for being faithful and stopping in, I really, really appreciate it.

Hello from Ab's!!! hehe Isn't she just the cutest lil Shih Tzu you've ever seen!!!?
hehe

Take care & happy stamping!

stampin hugs,