More is More

No, really…does running late count as exercise?  LOL!  Today is my birthday and my wonderful cherished friend Darla took me out for dinner last night while Curt was away on a buisness trip.  When I opened her package and saw this mug I was seriously just about ROTFLMBO!!!!  It couldn’t be more perfect for me.  I read it out loud and then Darla said….”you should be in really good shape then!”  Bwahahahahahahhahaha!!!!

Just for the record, I’m mostly late in the mornings.  I do tend to run 5-10 minutes late at other times, but I’m not a 30 minutes late person…well, almost never.  *eye roll*

Since it’s my birthday I thought it would be fun to share the love and give away a birthday gift to one of my readers.  I have a shiny new $10 Gift Certificate to Taylored Expressions up for grabs.  *grin*  To be entered into the drawing simply leave a comment on this post telling me whether you are chronically late or always early…or if you’d rather not reveal that about yourself you can tell me what your favorite form of excercise is.  One comment per person please.  You have until Friday night 2/6 at 11pm Pacific to enter.  I’ll announce the winner sometime over the weekend.  (Please note: this particular gift certificate is for PRODUCT ONLY at TE and cannot be applied to shipping.)

As I had planned, I did some stamping in my PJs today.  The first thing I wanted to do was the SCS Sketch Challenge.

Stamps are TE Stamp a Sweet Impression – Love is Sweet and all paper/cardstock/ribbon is from the TE Valentine Key Ingredients pack (it’s sold out, but most of the pieces are available for individual purchase.) I used some punches and added some Kaiser Craft pearls.  The love Muffin’s liner is paper-pieced with coordinating dp.  Starting with a sketch is one of my favorite ways to stamp.

It’s been a really nice birthday so far.  Although Curt was out of town, he recorded himself singing Happy Birthday and playing guitar and it was in my e-mail in-box when I woke up this morning.  What a sweetheart!  I’ve had lots of fun birthday wishes from friends all day, our housekeepers came so I have a nice clean house, and I got some stamping done.  Curt is home now and I’ve got to run and get dressed now for a yummy seafood dinner out with my family.  I’m starving!  Thanks for stopping by!

Are you having a good weekend?  Curt is gone on a camping trip with the guys.  I miss him, but I took a friend to lunch today for her birthday and enjoyed just lingering and chatting for a few hours.  Yesterday when I was out running errands I remembered that I had been wanting to stop by Michael’s to try and find the *generic dew drops* that Lauren mentioned on her blog awhile back.  I was glad she specified to look on an end cap in the silk floral department or I never would have found them.  I got two packages – one blue (caribbean and sky) and one pink (pretty in pink and pomegranate).  I just had to make a card with them last night and chose a color combo of Soft Sky (textured cardstock base) with Gable Green and Cool Caribbean.

I’ve had this retired hostess SU set (Sidekick Sayings) since the end of the last catty and hadn’t inked it yet.  I love all three of the sentiments in the set and this one just seemed suited to the color combo I had already chosen.  I decided to go with a 3″ x 6″ card size and stamped the base with an image from Embrace Life in Cool Caribbean.  The main image was stamped in black on whsiper white and then watercolored with *highlights*.  Some polka dot grosgrain ribbon and stickles finished off the main image which was mounted on foam tape.  The dew drops and some piercing were the final touches to this simple card.  I like it so much that I’m thinking I might use the Christmas sentiment from this set to make a set of 10 or 20 Christmas cards similar to this.

Today caps off my week long One Year Blogiversary Celebration and I have one last Give-Away for you as a thank you for visiting my blog and sharing my journey.

This prize package includes:

• Pink Glitter Alphabet Stickers (like the ones I used on the baby package in the post below)
• Me & My Big Ideas embellishment kit including some awesome bling flowers
• EK Success Vellum Stickers – Pretty Floral
• Mini Flower Punch (one of my personal favorites)
• Two sample packs of *generic dew drops* in blues and pinks
• Stampin’ Up! Build-a-Brad set in pewter (if you don’t have this you NEED it!)
• Card – as described above

To be entered into this drawing please follow these directions carefully:

**Tell me your post # – if the person before you did not indicate a post number then simply look back to the last person to give a post number and take the next number after that.  Anyone not indicating a post number will not be in the drawing

**Tell me your name in your post

**Post a comment and tell me honestly – do you spend more time stamping or blog hopping and SCS lurking?  How much time do you think your generally spend stamping each week?

One post per person for this drawing – you are welcome to enter this drawing even if you entered the ones earlier this week.  Posts for this drawing will close Tuesday 2/26 at 6:00am Pacific time and the winner will be announced sometime Wednesday.  Good luck!

Thanks for celebrating with me!

 And now for the winner of my First Blogiversary Give-Away….Drumroll……

The random number generator at Random.org chose #30!

 Becky K. said

I might be #30 – congrats on your blogiversary! I come to your blog because while I was so incredibly shy & nervous at SCSM4, {{totally quaking in my boots}}, you were kind enough to intentionally take the time to introduce yourself to me. I’ll never forget that! Thanks! Becky K

Awww – thanks Becky – it was a pleasure to meet you last year and I’m looking forward to seeing you again.  I’ve e-mailed you to get your snail mail so I can get your goodies off to you.  🙂

Stay tuned for another give away soon and I’ll be announcing the winner of the second give away soon too!  Thanks for playing everyone.

Wow!  I am overwhelmed and humbled by all of the wonderful comments left on my first Blogiversary Give-Away post.  You guys are so sweet!  Stay tuned for the winner of that give away to be announced sometime in the next couple of days.

I wanted to share a few more things I really loved at CHA.  First my very favorite new paper line was Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie.  I was delighted at how many people I talked to said the very same thing – everyone seems to love this paper with the look of cross-stitch.

The first time I stopped by the booth I was approached by a gal who noticed my badge and asked is your name Jami with no “e”?  I said “yep” and she said “me too”!!!  We had a little bonding moment before talking about Cosmo Cricket when she mentioned that her brother Eric is the designer.  (Hi Jami if you’re reading!).  The next time I stopped by the booth (to take pictures I failed to take the first time – duh) I got to meet Eric himself and tell him that his paper was my show favorite!

My second favorite paper line was Crate Katlin.

I love the texture of Crate Paper and these colors are so yummy!  They just need to come out with a 6×6 pad!

Another product that really impressed me was the soon to be released ribbon trough from Clip It Up.  I got to speak with the designer of this product too.  I don’t have her name written down (sorry), but she was such a gracious lady.  It was a pleasure to talk to her.

You may have seen in the SCS gallery how some people have purchased rain gutters and turned them into holders for ribbon and punches.  Well this ribbon trough takes that idea and makes it awesome with lots of wonderful details. There is a bar to hold your spools in if you want to leave them in and just cut off what you need, but the spools still lift out freely when you need them too.  There is a place for ribbon scissors at each end of the trough.  The trough is exactly 36″ long so you can easily measure out 1 yard of ribbon and it will come with inch markings as well.  How cool is that?  Plus there is a clip it up bar and hooks at the bottom to hook pieces of ribbon too small for a spool – or for other accesories.  The only thing I didn’t care for was that it only comes in black.  I asked if they might have a white version and the gal said that it is a durability issue at this point and the white materials they have looked at are not as durable as what they are using in black.  The other piece of teriffic news is that will also be coming out with a Clip It Up Mini for those of us who just don’t have room for the current large version.

For more of my write ups on CHA as well as posts from several other fabulous ladies be sure to check out the SCS CHA blog.  We are still posting trying to get all caught up over there.

I was very excited to stop by the A Muse booth for two reasons.  First my oh-so-fabulous friend Her Royal Rubberness Julie Ebersole was working the booth and second there were samples of the Elzybells Spring release (going on sale tomorrow).  Unfortunately they didn’t allow photos of the new line, but they are adorable.  And as a huge bonus I got to meet both Linda Carnell and Emily Montenero in the booth. Sweet!

While there talking with Julie a gaggle of my DD/DDA buddies showed up and it was the perfect photo op of us with our Queen!

The back row is Jeanne S, me, Stamps4FuninCA (Tosha), Kittie and the front row is Linda D (seriously – she reallyis that short!  Love ya Linda!) JulieHRR, BadSherry (eyes closed – sorry!)

Good times!

Oh my goodness I just went to get the link for Elzybells and I see that the Spring line is now available for purchase.  Curt got a new phone – a Tilt – for Valentine’s Day and he told me to pick out some stamps.  Those Elzy’s are calling my name!!!  I need some from the Friendship release and some from the Spring release!

And now it’s time for Blogiversary Give-Away #2  🙂

This prize package includes:

Cute plastic pencil case from Marvy Uchida

Package of 60 Fabric Flowers from daisyds

Heart charm

Wood Mounted rubber stamp from G-Rated Rubber Stamps

Clear stamp – Squiggle Arrow- from Pink Paislee

Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll pen (everyone needs one of these!)

To be entered into this drawing please follow these directions carefully:

**Tell me your post # – if the person before you did not indicate a post number then simply look back to the last person to give a post number and take the next number after that.  Anyone not indicating a post number will not be in the drawing

**Tell me your name in your post

**Post a comment telling me your favorite type of stamp projects (cards, scrapbooking, 3d altered art, etc)

One post person for this drawing – you can enter each drawing I post this week – with one post per drawing.  Posts for this drawing will close Wednesday 2/20 at 6:00am Pacific time and the winner will be announced sometime later this week.  Good luck!

Lots more fun to come this week – be sure to check back and send your friends. *wink*  Thanks for stopping by.

WooHoo!!! It’s been one year since my very first blog post.  I can hardly believe it.  What a fun addiction and wonderful motivation to make time for stamping!  We’ll be celebrating this week with some Blogiversary Give-aways.  I won’t say how many or exactly what days because I love surprises.  So you’ll just have to check in daily this week if you want to register for the prizes.  Thank you to everyone who has subscribed to my blog (you can do that by clicking the FeedBlitz button to the left) and to everyone who stops by periodically.  I can hardly believe there are people interested in seeing my stuff and reading what I have to say, but anyone who has seen me at the mic at StampMania knows how much I love to be *on stage*.  *GRIN*  I think I’m still recovering from CHA (and still have more pics from it to share too), so this party was the perfect reason to take the time to sit down and stamp a card.  In the hurry and hustle-bustle it’s so easy to forget just how much I love to stamp.  I grabbed a SU hostess set that hadn’t seen ink yet because the images just made me happy.   I guess with a name like “A Little Bit of Happiness” that just makes sense.  My goal was to just play and enjoy.  Hope you like it.

I started by stamping my image on Paper Trey Ink white cardstock with Brilliance Graphite Black ink and heat setting it.  I then colored the image with my limited range of Copics (still trying to decide just how much of an investment I really want to make in Copics).  I colored around the edge of the image in yellow and trimmed it down.  I then mounted the image on another piece of the white cardstock which I trimmed with scallop scissors and pierced.  That was then layered onto a piece of Rose Red cardstock.  The cardstock base is also PTI white and I don’t know if you can see it, but I stamped it with the background stamp Stitched in Pretty in Pink for just a little something at the top of the card.  The designer paper is from the 6×6 hostess pad in Pretty in Pink.  I turned back the corner and held it down with a square yellow brad from SU.  A tiny flower from Little Flowers was stamped in Pomegranate ink and some piercing was added in the corner.  A strand A Muse ribbon in green finishes off this card.

So….are you ready for a Blogiversary Candy Give Away???  Here is my first offering.

That cupcake is a gift box!  I got it at CHA from Plaid and it’s adorable!  It will come to you along with a sheet of cupcake stickers and 5 spools of ribbon as shown  – each spool has 2-5 yards of ribbon (grosgrain – artichoke, turquoise, bright pink, pomegranate/rose red, pink gingham and summer sun organdy).  All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post telling me why you come back to my blog…also please list your post # (check the one just before you and if everyone stays on track you’ll know your number).  ETA: Also please put your name in your post  – thanks!  Entries for this offering will close Monday February 18th at 11pm Pacific and will be announced sometime later this week.  Plus don’t forget to check in for more offerings throughout the week. 

ETA: This contest is now closed.  Winner to be announced soon.

Thanks for sharing my journey with me and feel free to invite more friends to join us here.  More is More and the More the Merrier!!!

Would you like to be entered into a drawing to win this cute little gift set from me?  You still have time to play my Dashing Challenge (click here for details) to qualify.  Entries will be taken until midnight Pacific on Tuesday October 30th.  One name will be drawn on Wednesday to win the Holiday Cheer stamp along with the little gift box, matching notebook with pen and card.  🙂

To help ease the tension of what seems like an endless wait for some for the new SU catty I have a little Blog Candy to offer.

This fun little package includes:  2 studio g clear stamp sets from Michael’s plus one acrylic block, a set of 26 fun floral epoxy stickers, a roll of pink patterned Sweet & Sassy ribbon, my very favorite tiny flower punch, and assortment of white chipboard flowers and a super fun assortment of all sorts of primas.

To enter to win this package please leave a comment with your name on this post telling me the one thing you most hope to see or look forward to seeing in the new SU catty – you’re *ONE-absolute-TOP-can’t-wait-to-see* thing!  One entry per person please. This post will be open for comments until Wednesday 6/27 at 8:00pm PST.  The winner will be posted Wednesday night or Thursday morning – so be sure to check back.

  I have been asked by several people to explain more about the Build a Brad set in the new catty.  I have to say that sometimes our catalog is just a little short in the explanation/description department, but I’ll tell you what I can.  For 9.95 you get a set of either Antique Brass or Pewter brad bases and acrylic bubbles (24 each) packaged in a nice little tin.  Using Designer Paper or a stamped image, punch out a 1/2″ circle to build your own brad.  The picture of the set is quite small.  I am guessing that it is something like those 7Gypsies bracelets so many of us have made, but I’m not certain.  I am a brad-aholic though – so whatever it is I know I need it!

I had hoped to stamp today, but it just didn’t happen.  I did however sort some more of my retired stuff deciding what to keep and what to sell.  Oh and I thought about stamping – does that count?  Hopefully I’ll have a creation to share in the next day or so.

Thanks for stopping by and good luck in the drawing.  🙂