Willow with Turkey

I finally have a new card to show y'all. I finished my design work last night. Thank you for being patient with me while I worked on it. It was fun reading your comments on who you thought I was designing for. BTW, Tammi was the only person to contact me with the correct answer. She knows me so well :) Are you still curious? I have been busy working on designs for the new Whipper Snapper release which is right around the corner!!!!! Wait until you see the uber cute images that are about to come out. I had a blast playing with them. I mailed in 26 cards yesterday and I hope to work on more in the coming weeks because there are many more images that I still want to use. So, I will have plenty to share with you once they are released.

Are y'all ready for Thanksgiving?? It's my favorite holiday. I love getting everyone together and cooking a big meal. We have family starting to arrive tomorrow so it will be great spending time with them. I need to make a massive list and get to the grocery store soon. Already got our turkeys though - .40 @ HEB with a $10 purchase - SCORE! We got 3 :) My guys wake up crazy early and smoke them outside. We always have plenty of extras, but I LOVE having leftover turkey stocked up in the freezer to use during the winter season. Ross even makes turkey jerky too. YUM!!! Sorry, I'm getting excited over the food - imagine that. There was a point to my whole turkey thought - this card! Tammi sent me this super cute Whiff of Joy image and it just doesn't get more perfect than that for Thanksgiving. Don't you just love Willow's whispy hair? My hair blows in the wind, but never looks that cute. I hope she protects that little baby turkey too. When I was little, I thought we got a pet turkey until Thanksgiving rolled around and I found out the wrong way when the guys strung it up and butchered it in the backyard. YES, simply terrifying and traumatic for a young girl!!!! Gosh, I'm chatty today. See, I missed y'all! Anyways .... I colored Willow with Copics. So lovin' those Autumn colors. I followed Mojo 113 for the layout and yes I will be saving it in my favorite sketch folder. Happy Thanksgiving and thank you so very much for visiting my blog and especially for leaving comments!!!! Have a wonderful weekend.

Stamps: Willow with baby turkey, Verve sentiment
Paper: Heidi Grace Designs pattern paper, Chocolate Chip, TAC whtie, More Mustard, Creamy Caramel , Scarlet Jewel (PTI)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa
Copics: E31, 33, 29, 00, 11, 21, 25, 51, 53, 19, Y11, 21, 26, YR12, 14, YG91, 93, 95, R20, 39
Other: paper piercer, Chocolate polytwill, label punch, brads from my stash

Open Scrapbook

Howdy. I'm still here and stamping away for my design work. I have 18 cards completed so far and 3 more days left before I need to ship them in. I can't WAIT to show you what all I've come up with. I'll let you know once I find out the official date of the release.

I thought I would take a quick break to post some pictures. Have you checked out Open Scrapbook yet? If not, take a moment to do so - you won't be sorry. I have learned so much about Photoshop from their tutorials. On this picture, I followed the Pretty Sharp tutorial. It taught me some new tricks on how to sharpen my edges which was perfect on this flower! I snapped this photo a few weeks ago on my Branson trip. One afternoon, we visited the College of the Ozarks - so neat!!! It's a college that does not charge their students for tuition. Instead they have to work around campus. One of the things we visited while we were there was their greenhouses. I went into about 7 of them and went picture happy. They were filled to the brim of beautiful plants. One thing they specialize in is orchids. I zoomed in on this one because I loved the detail and bright colors.


This next photo was just one I snapped in our backyard as soon as we got home from vacation. While we were away, Autumn decided to arrive in Texas. We don't typically get the beautiful reds and flaming oranges. Instead our trees turn yellow extremely quickly and drop their leaves a few days later. I love this photo because it captured the lovely shades of yellow and brown, but at the same time you can still see that our grass is very green. On this photo, I followed the Autumn Leaves tutorial. It taught me how to boost those warm Autumn colors by using a few techniques. Open Scrapbook's step-by-step tutorials are super easy to follow and I'm really enjoying finally learning how to use Photoshop to my advantage. You can click on both pics for a larger view!

Be sure to check out Michelle's website: My Two Seasons. Her birthday is on Friday and she is not only celebrating by seeing New Moon, but she is giving away a one year free membership to Open Scrapbook!!!!!!! You have until Friday morning to get your entries in.

G.I. Joe and Lillie

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy Veterans' Day. Last week Ross and I were in Branson and let me tell you, they definitely celebrate their Veterans there! Every show we went to would acknowledge each branch of the service. It was so great to see them get that recognition plus witness the audience celebrate their patriotism. One of the shows we saw was The Oak Ridge Boys. They put on a fabulous concert. One of our favorite parts was a collection of songs from their CD entitled Colors. Joseph Bonsall wrote a touching tribute song about his parents. I thought today would be a perfect day to share it with you. I get goosebumps every time I hear it. F.Y.I. there is also a book that goes along with the song called G.I. Joe & Lillie: Remembering a Life of Love and Loyalty. I can't wait to read it!!!

Updates

Hey folks. Sorry I've been M.I.A. lately. Let me catch y'all up on a few things:

1. I was sick the last week in October. Nasty, nasty cold that lasted a little over a week. I'm so happy to have my voice back (trust me, it sounded horrible) and I'm also relieved to sleep flat again. You know when you are sick and you have to make a mountain of pillows to keep you propped up and somewhat breathing at night. UGH - I hate colds!

2. Last week, we drove down to my parent's house. Spent a few days with them and then loaded a motor coach, with one of their travel groups, and hit the road to Branson, Missouri. The motor coach was super comfy. We had an excellent operator, guide and just a fun, wonderful group. We enjoyed taking in the scenery of the Ozarks along the way. I went picture happy snapping shots of the changing leaves - we don't see red and flaming orange down our way. We enjoyed several shows: The 12 Irish Tenors, World Famous Platters, Oak Ridge Boys, Yakov Smirnoff (you MUST look him up!! He is hilarious and has a wonderful message/outlook on life), and the Shoji Tabuchi show as well as taking in a few of the sights. It truly was a wonderful and relaxing get away. We got home yesterday afternoon and have slowly been working our way through a mound of laundry.

3. We came home to some FABULOUS news. Remember Ross' cousin Jordan who I mentioned last month - he received a bone marrow transplant. Well Jordan is doing fantastic. His doctors have classified him as cured. He still has a long road of recovery ahead of him, but many prayers have definitely been answered. He has been so brave and positive through this whole process. A true inspiration to our entire family! If you want to catch up on his progress check out his webpage.

4. Okay, so I know you are wondering - where the heck is the creative stuff. Well it's here trust me, I just can't show it to you quite yet. I am in the process of working on a HUGE HUGE HUGE design project. A certain fabulous company contacted me and asked if I would make samples for their new release that is just around the corner. Any guesses on who that might be?? I currently have 100, yes 100 new images in my hot little hands and I am working on making samples for as many of them as I can. I can't WAIT to share them with you. Please be patient with me as I work through them and please don't forget about me and my little blog. I love sharing my creations with you and hearing your feedback, but I need to focus on this project for the next week. I hope to have a huge collection of samples to share with you once the release happens. Until then I will post some miscellaneous things along the way.

I think that pretty much catches y'all up :) Thanks to those of you who have started following me on Twitter. I enjoy hearing your little thoughts and happenings throughout the day. Now, I gotta go do some more coloring. I seriously can't wait to show y'all what I've been working on. Enjoy your week and happy stamping!!!

Willow with Grapes

I recently got this sweet image from my friend Tammi. I'm just using all of her stuff lately :) I love this Willow - the folds in her clothes, all the grapes and the wreath around her head. She reminds me of people I've seen dressed up at the Renaissance Festival. I colored her in with Copics and added Startdust Stickles to the grapes. I sponged the background with Creamy Caramel before piercing the edges. The sentiment says: Sweet, wonderful you ... I just ordered Anna's Sweet Expression set from Whipper Snapper and I LOVE it! It includes so many cute sentiments like this and the font is sweet and tiny. I followed this hydrangea embellishment tutorial. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

Stamps: Fall Willow with Grapes (Whiff of Joy), Sweet Expressions (Whipper Snapper)
Paper: My Mind's Eye (29th Street Market), Chocolate Chip
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Memento Rich Cocoa
Other: Copics, Stardust Stickles, paper piercer, sponge, chocolate polytwill, Martha Stewart Hydrangea punches, EK Success Rock Fern punch, Recollections' pearls
Copics: E00, 11, 21, 31, 33, 35, 37, 51, 53, R20, G21, 24, 94, V01, 12, 15, BV00, 02, 04

Milly

Tammi sent me this super sweet stamp for my birthday (thanks again!!!). It's uber cute and perfect for Fall! The image is colored in with Copics. I paper pieced the coat and parts of the boots on. The candied apple is cut out and raised with a dimensional. I went over the caramel drippings with a Sakura gelly roll pen to give it that sticky look. Doesn't she look like she is enjoying a Fall festival? I followed Jen's SFYTT for the layout! Thanks for stopping by.

Stamps: Guy Fawkes Milly (Pin Gem Designs), Sweet Expressions (Whipper Snapper)
Paper: Bo Bunny, TAC white, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black & Rich Cocoa
Other: Copics, square & circle Nesties, white Sharpie Poster-Paint pen, dimensional, clear Sakura Gelly Roll pen, paper piercer, PTI button, chocolate grosgrain
Copics: E00, 11, 21, 31, 33, 35, 37, 51, 53, R20, 08, E08

Spooky Penny Black

Happy Halloween!!!!! This is the last kit from our swap and it was provided by Tammi. She always sends the cutest images! This one is by Penny Black and it's called Spooky. I colored it in with Copics. I added a little Candle Light Shimmerz to the moon to give just a hint of sparkles. Using a paper piercer and a Micron pen, I added some faux stitching along the edges. Okay, now check out the flowers! Aren't they gorgeous!!! Tammi posted a link to this fabulous tutorial by Lisa Cook on how to make these beautiful hydrangea embellishments. I'm so happy she did because now I'm hooked. They are super easy to make and I love all the layers! They looked great punched out of the Eerie paper. It gave it that extra textured look. I added a tiny Prima crystal to the center of each bloom. I hope that you have enjoyed all of our kits. I know I sure had a blast putting them all together! Stop by and check out what the other girls came up: Anna, Debbie, Rachel and Tammi Hope you and your family enjoy a wonderful Halloween night. I can't wait to see pictures of all of your little goblins dressed up!!!

Stamps: Spooky (Penny Black), Spooktacular (TAC)
Paper: Bazzill, Neenah, Basic Grey Eerie, Kiwi Kiss
Ink: Memento Black
Other: Copics, Sharpie Poster-Paint pen, Candle Light Shimmerz, paper piercer, Micron pen, black organdy, Martha Stewart Hydrangea punches, EK Success Rock Fern punch, stylus, Prima crystals
Copics: E31, 33, 35, 08, YR04, 14, Y21, 26, R20, C1, 3, 5, 7, BV00