Quick!

Go HERE to win some fabulous giveaways, and maybe you'll see this girl...

Yep, that's me! I'm so excited to be on the GCD Studios Design Team. I can't wait to get started!!!

And the 100 Google Readers Celebration candy goes to....

1. Teri
2. Ash
3. Deborah
4. Smita
5. Sharla
6. Valentina
7. Kate
8. Manis
9. Joanne
10. Bonnie
11. Jen
12. Khristen
13. Jennifer
14. Get Scrappy
15. Redlinda
16. Dee
17. Mrs. Bann
18. Danielle
19. Silvana
20. Lisa
21. Antoinette
22. Katf
23. Ujjwal
24. Tejal
25. Aimee

You know, when I made the guidelines for the blog candy last week asking you to tell me why you follow my blog I really didn't expect what I ended up recieving. Some of you really sent me through a gammot of emotions.  Here are some of my favorite exerpts:

Khristen made me laugh: "Well, let's see...I came here because you are a fellow DT over at XOXO, and I follow because I just love your work :) Congrats on getting hubby to follow you! I asked my hubs to check my blog out and he was like "um, but why? You show me all you make. I don't need to see it again." Pssssh. Whatev."

I reflected with Joanne: "Laura, I found you on an old friend's blog quite some time ago. You were in A...I followed you through the street markets with your friends, watched the four of you eat...was it ice cream?, and saw your 'room' all the while praying for you and your return safely to the US. Have cried for you, laughed with you, and watched Ethan grow into the wonderful little man that he can be at 6 months. the entire time have admired you and your cards...I even remember Vince making one in Afghanistan. And they say my memory is fading!!! I love to check my emails every morning to see if you have something posted. Seeing your fabulous cards is uplifting first thing in the am. So bright and full of wonder. Yes, girl you hooked me some time ago!!! "

And Get Scrappy brought back some emotions along with a few tears too: "I found your blog after reading a comment you left on a Becky Higgins blog post. I was caught by the pictures of your tour over seas. Hit close to home with my brother-in-law being there at the same time. It was interesting to think that he was seeing the same type of things. Then when I read the post on New Years on why you joined in the first place you brought tears to my eyes. It was the most selfless thing you could have done. You are an inspiration both in life and in creative express." (She's talking about THIS POST.)

So, as you can see EVERYONE who left a comment for the blog candy is a winner. Please send me your mailing addresses so I can get your yummies to you as soon as possible. Thank you so much for sharing your time with me. It means way more to me than you know!

And the scraplifter of the month is...

...Smita!

Smita's card is on the left. She did a great job representing the original card on the right. Isn't her card just perfect?  I love her layering, the mixing of patterned papers, and the faux stitching too. It's all just right.

 

And since I really loved the colors and patterns mixed on this next card... I decided to award an honorable mention to Julie! Her card is on the left. I love just how girly and happy it is. She really took the original, on the right, and transformed it into her own creation. Great job!

Please send me your addresses so I can send you some yummy goodies!

Okay, so another month starts now. If you'd like to play along for some fun treats just send me a link to a card you've scraplifted of mine. I'll post your creation here on my blog, and enter you in the running for next month. I can't wait to see what you make!

A Couple of Reminders & One Card

Reminders:

• You only have one day left to turn in any scraplifted projects for the Scraplifter of the Month blog candy.
• You have two days left for the 100 Blog Followers Celebration blog candy.

(Click on the links to be taken straight to the details for each.)

Card:

I'm trying really hard to make some more masculine cards lately. To me that nixes a couple of my signature things: flowers & bows. It's not proving to be very easy for me. It just looks so plain. I'm a froo-froo cardmaker, and that just doesn't translate well to "masculine" to me.

Edited to add: (Yes... Ironically, I do have a card published this month in the "Cards for Men" section of CARDS magazine. Go figure!)

100 Blog Followers

Hee! Hee! Did you see who my 100th Blog Follower is? My sweet hubs! :-) LOVE HIM!!!

I think this calls for another blog candy....

Here are the details:

Just leave a comment here on this post for a chance to win. Let's try to make it interesting for me to read rather than the typical "pick me!" comments. So... tell me how you originally came to my blog and why you've decided to stick around. Also, since this celebration is especially for Blog Followers you must be a follower to receive the candy this time around. Oh, and there will be several winners. Like I said a couple days ago, I have a HUGE stash to dish out. I'll pick the random winners on Monday.

P.S. I'm still having the blog candy for the scraplifter of the month this weekend as well. It's candy-palooza!

Just Because Card & Blog Candy

I'm still playing with my February kit from Studio Calico. I know the March kit is about to ship, so I feel compelled to whip something up before I bury it in my files. I keep my kits in 12x12 hanging files in a filer in my Arts & Craps Room. I only do this with SC Kits for some reason. Everything else I buy gets sorted by color in the same drawer. All of my embellishments get sorted by color too. The new stuff stays in a special basket at my desk though. I want to keep that stuff close by. Whenever it's time to purge (often) I just go through and move the "keepers" into the color bins, and the items I don't plan on using go into my donate/sell/blog candy bin.  It's getting pretty full too, so it might be time for something to share soon... :-) If any of you have pictures of your organization I would love to see pictures of it. Maybe even post them here on my blog to share too. I'll take some pictures of my room this weekend for you all.

This weekend I'll also be posting up all the cards that readers have scraplifted too. It's a monthly occurrence, so don't worry if you're not ready this month. I'll do this the first weekend of every month. If you've scraplifted one of my cards just send me a link asap, because I'll be sharing them right here with everyone! You may even get some BLOG CANDY! :-) Yummmmmy!

Anyway, on to the card...

Sorry, the picture isn't too great. I normally take my pictures upstairs by the big window next to my computer desk, but this one was taken downstairs at the back of the house on a bed in Ethan's room. The sun sets back there, so it was the best I could do. I suppose I could have waited until another day, but I come and go in the dark it seems being in the military and all. It would have been next weekend by the time I was actually home to photograph in some decent light.

Winner Day!!!

Well, going to back to work was no fun at all! I left Ethan with Amber again. (Thank you! Thank you!) I'm getting used to him being right next door with someone I know and trust.  It's such a stress-reliever.  My biggest issue with the child care places has been the smoking policy.  Everyone seems to think that going outside to smoke and just washing your hands afterwards is okay.  It's NOT!  Can't you still smell the smoke in your clothes after you've put out your cigarette?  Yes? Then it's still there!  I don't want anyone holding my baby who's skin, hair and clothes are smoldering with toxins. Can you blame me? Ethan can be cured from a cold and immunized against a plethora of respiratory illnesses, but second and third hand smoke effects are not something you can cure or take back. Grrr!  Okay. On to what I really meant to blog about...

And the WINNERS are.....

Wednesday:

 april said...

wow, this card is amazing!

Thursday:

Marie said...

A fun and happy card! Love it, Laura!

Friday:

Cindi said...

love this card! those clouds are so cute!! is it a stamp or paper? :)

Saturday:

Keva said...

Pretty colors! Lovely.

Sunday:

Jennifer E. said...

Beautiful Thank you card! I love that ribbon and the yummy flower treatment you added!

Monday:

Sheri said...

Sugar and Spice - cute! You've got snips and snails and puppy dog tails, though, right? {grin}

Tuesday:

Joanne Gilch said...

Laura, the wee notes are so cute and wonderful. You really need to update us on the "who's watching Ethan?" saga. Seems we all want to know.

Wednesday:

Mamma has spoken said...

Well....I came to your blog because you were in Afganistan around the same time my son was. I enjoyed the pictures you took of the base because even though he wasn't at your base, it still made me feel like I knew where he was. Sounds goofy I know but that year of my life was hard. He couldn't share pictures of where he was due to security (he was at one of those way out there out posts) I stay and follow you because it now seems like I know you but not in a 'stalker' type way ;o)

I feel your pain on childcare. When I had the sons, I had family members who were willing to watch them up. But then they started new jobs, went back to school and I was left not knowing who to call. I ended up with a parent of a student and was totally happy with them. I hope you can find someone soon who makes it to where you're not worried while you are at work.

And the Google Reader winner is...

Barbara DeBose

Congrats, Ladies!!! Just send me an email with your mailing address, and just wait for the goodies to come!

Back to Work & GIVEAWAY!

 Okay, so I went back to work today. It was STRESSFUL to leave my little Ethan. We still haven't gotten into daycare, so Vince and I will have to be on the hunt this weekend most likely. My sweet neighbor, Amber, is going to watch him for us in the mean time. She doesn't know what a lifesaver she is!  I really do have trust issues I must say. I guess most new moms are. I just wanna wrap him up in bubble wrap and stick him back under my shirt. Then I might be able to relax a little bit. Anyway, about the GIVEAWAY... just to remind you one last time, I will randomly pick a winner who commented from each blog post from Sept 22nd through today. I will also pick one of my Google Readers for an extra bonus prize. If your name gets picked more than once for a prize that's okay too! I have lots of goodies to go around. Let me know what your favorite part about my blog is, what brought you here in the first place, and what would keep you coming back. I love to hear from you. It makes blogging so much more fun! Oh, and here's a card...

(Look for this card in the March 2011 issue of CARDS magazine!)

Mini Cards

Reminder: Tomorrow is the last day to enter for chances to win the GIVEAWAYS! Leave your comments on blog entries between the 22nd and 29th. I will pick a winner from each post. If you're not already a follower of my blog sign up over on the left for another chance to win! I'll select one reader for an additional bonus prize. The winners will be announced Thursday.

Smiles Across the Miles

(Look for this card in an upcoming issue of Scrap & Stamp Arts magazine!)

Thanks

Sugar & Spice

(Look for this card in the April 2011 issue of CARDS magazine!)

Reminder: There are still a couple days left to enter for chances to win the GIVEAWAYS! Leave your comments on blog entries between the 22nd and 29th. I will pick a winner from each post. If you're not already a follower of my blog sign up over on the left for another chance to win! I'll select one reader for an additional bonus prize. The eight winners will be announced Thursday.

You are my Sunshine

My biggest stress right now for going back to work is DAY CARE!  My husband and I are both Soldiers, so he was given ten days of paternity leave and I was given six weeks. After that Ethan has to go into day care. Luckily, we're told the military has a great system. We've looked at other day cares, but no one opens early enough for me to drop him off and get to work at the appointed 0600 hours.  We also never really know what time we're getting off work, so that's another issue with regular places. We put Ethan on the waiting list waaaaaay back in May when I was in my second trimester. I figured that would be more than enough time, but NO! As it turns out, you're not technically on the waiting list until your baby is six weeks old. Keep in mind, you have to go back to work at six weeks postpartum. How is that supposed to work? Oh, and Ethan was born on a Wednesday. They don't take in new babies on Wednesdays. They only admit newbies on Mondays! So that means he can't go to day care until the Monday following six weeks.  Who comes up with this? Does this seem logical to anyone?  Haven't you heard those horror stories about mom's who get arrested for going AWOL because they don't have child care?! Eeek! I really never anticipated that this would be my biggest issue following the birth of a child. Everything else is cake... sorta! :-)

(Look for this card in the March 2011 issue of CARDS magazine!)

PTI Dahlia

I can't even remember when I made this card, but I'm just realizing that it's the first STAMPED card that I've posted in over a year! I stamped another card earlier this week, but it was picked up for publication, so I can't share it with you just yet. I don't know why I don't pull my stamps out more often. I think I've just become a lazy scrapper although I'm really into the sewing machine right now as you might have seen in my other cards lately. I even change the thread color almost every time. I haven't used white thread yet. (Unless you count the bobbin thingy in the trap door under the sewing foot thingy.)  See? I really don't know what I'm doing! :-)

Don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win a giveaway!

Home Sweet Home Card & BLOG CANDY!

Well, I've decided it's way past time to unload a bunch of my cards. I have three baskets and two drawers full of them. There are also all of the random ones tucked here and there around my scrap room. Before I unload all of these I figured I should at least post them on my blog. Some of them date a few years back, so don't critique my style too much. They're just "retro" now.  And.... since I have to go back to work in one week I figured I'd do another purge by unloading a bunch more of my unused supplies that I've been clearing out.  So, to win some BLOG CANDY leave your comments some time this week here on my blog.  You can post as many comments as you'd like. I will pick a winner for each day over the next week. Tell me what your favorite posts are, your favorite projects, or what you'd like to see more of.  You can even just tell me how your day went. I just wanna hear what you have to say, before returning to Uncle Sam and having to wear those combat boots again!

Making Memories

Oh, what a great Friday! Work is over, and the weekend is HERE! Yes! AND... Check out who the Making Memories Guest Designer is over on their awesome blog. Yep, it's ME! I can't tell you how much I adore every single collection that's out right now. It's all just so yummy! I'll be featuring some more of their products this week, and I'm also giving away some delicious Making Memories blog candy filled with paper, ribbons, embellishments and MORE!!! You have up to TWO chances to win. Okay, so here's what you have to do: Leave a comment on THIS blog post for one entry, then head over to the MM Blog HERE and leave a comment for a second chance to win.

Blog Candy!

I'm back from West Point again. I've been completely antsy about getting back into my studio, but when I walked into it I didn't feel as inspired. It's a total mess! I think some "spring" cleaning will help me work better. I always find stuff to get rid of and even more stuff that I'd forgotten I even had. That's always fun. I really would love to hear about your storage and organization solutions. Send me a picture or two of your craft space that I can post on my blog in exchange for some yummy blog candy.

Lots of Cards

I haven't been up in my studio in over two weeks now since I went to Texas for a week immediately followed by a trip to Fort Knox, Kentucky. Lilly and I are finally back in our little apartment, I'm completely worn out. I think Lilly is too. I've never seen her sleep with all four legs up in the air before. I finally checked my mailbox as well only to find one little orange key sitting in there. Turns out it led me to another bigger locker stuffed full of birthday cards and Rolodex swaps. You guys are THE best! I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to post each one of the yummy goodies right here in the next coming days. I think it's time for some celebratory blog candy as well. What are your thoughts?

Ribbon Slider

You asked for it! This is my first attempt at a tutorial of one of my cards. I'm sure that I'm not the original creator of this interactive card, so I'm not taking credit by any means. I hope you like it...

Step 1: The first thing you want to do is create your card housing base. The card from the last post was a sealed envelope that I trimmed one edge from, but today I'm using a library pocket. Since not everyone has an oval shaped Word Window Punch (Stampin' Up!) like I used on my original card I decided to show you how to make an oval slot with a circle punch. You can do this with any size. I first drew a line matching the width of my desired slot as you can see by the pencil line in the picture.

Step 2: Now you'll want to punch your circles on the end of each line. I made sure to let my pencil line dissect the circle exactly in half before squeezing. I then drew straight lines with my ruler and pencil connecting the tops of each circle and the bottoms of each circle. Using your craft knife or scissors you should then cut along these lines to create your oval opening. (I would glue my decorative paper on before I did all these steps, so that I would only have to punch and trim all in one step, but it turned out to be easier for the tutorial to show you a simplified version.)

Step 3: Now that you have your oval slot for your ribbon to slide through your card's housing base is complete. For my project though I wanted a matted piece of patterned paper. Normally you would just trim your patterned paper 1/4" or so smaller, but since I had a curved edge at the top of my library pocket that wouldn't do for me. I trimmed the width of my PP to 1/4" smaller than the base then slid it into the pocket. I then traced with a pencil the curve of the pocket and cut it by hand. Now you can measure your PP to a quarter inch smaller in length and have it matted nicely. You'll also want to create your card to fit in your pocket and a piece of matching ribbon at this point. Step 4: You'll want to slide your card into the base with the ribbon loosely sandwiched around it so that both ends of the ribbon are hanging out of the open end of the base. You'll then pull the top end of your ribbon through the slot you've already created and tie a knot or bow.

Step 5: I recommend adhering your ribbon to the back of your card insert so that it's not wobbly when you slide it in and out of the base. Your card should work like this now:

Step 6: Embellish! I've been into making little paper bears out of mulberry paper for a while now, so I thought I'd put one of my fuzzy little guys on this card along with a few pieces of bling! (Do I need to do a tutorial on mulberry bears too?)

I also turned the card insert into a gift card holder. Once I get a real gift card I'm sure anyone will love this card. And...that's it!

I'd love to see your creations with this technique. I've got some blog candy waiting for all of my creative participants. Happy scrappin'!

And the Winner Is...

Marceline who guessed, "The paper is the love collection by Reminisce." As those of you know who read my blog regularly you know my favorite number is seven, so now for the SEVEN runners up chosen by a random integer generator....

1. Shannon at Live, Love, Laugh and STAMP
2. Susan at susiestampalot
3. Alex at California Stampin
4. Elizabeth at Scrapbook Mama
5. JenMarie at Taylor-Made by JenMarie
6. Melanie at Stamp-a-Doodle-Doo
7. Deb at Paper, Ink, Scissors, & Stamps

Congrats to all the ladies!!! Just send an email with your snail mail address included to claim your blog candy. Happy Scrappin'!