Hand Stamped By Lacey

ABC Christmas: D is for Distressing (mid-way)

Hello stamping friends!!

I hope you are having a great week so far. I've been extremely busy this week but I finally got caught up with orders. Now I have to fight with the tax preparations (YUCK)!! I can't wait for it to be over! We have an appointment with a CPA next week so it has to be done by then.

This week our church is moving to a new location. We had been renting space from another church for the past year so we had to switch to a 5pm Sunday night service, but that really was inconvenient for the families with kids who need to get to bed at a decent time on Sundays. Our services usually run almost 2 hours start to finish so it was hard to get home after 7pm only to still have to eat and get the kids ready for bed. Therefore I am THRILLED that we are moving locations so that we go back to a Sunday morning service. Our bible study group used to meet on Sunday morning so we will switch that time to Sunday night. We will meet for bible study a little earlier on Sundays and we will eat diner at group so it will be much easier to come home by 7pm to let the kids unwind before bedtime.

Anyway, tonight our church is having a special prayer service at the new location! I can't wait to see it! I haven't been able to help with the move since I've been so busy with the store.

I have a card to share today as well!

I haven't had much time to do the ABC Christmas half-way posts, but this week while the kids went off to T-Ball practice with Scott, I was able to get a card done quickly.

Therefore, this is for the ABC Christmas Challenge: D is for Distressing... 

I'll be honest that I am not happy with the stamped image. I stamped it in Basic Brown from Stampin' Up before watercoloring with Twinkling H2Os. I love the look when colored with soft sepia/neutral tones like I do with many of my Magnolia images. But it was just too light when colored in bright red! Oh well...live and learn, right?!

This is Secret Tilda (by the way, this is the weekly candy image - you can see it here). I also used: Bo Bunny Blitzen paper, Cream Trim, Ticket Die from Whimsy, teardrop lace die, pearls, staples, and sentiment from Friendship Tickets (Whimsy).

The sketch is from Papertake Weekly.

Sorry for the yellowed picture here - it was getting dark when I took this.

Here's a close up of the image (see, it would be better with a darker black stamped image)...

The challenge runs through March 6th - come join the fun!

This card is also for the following challenges:

Just Magnolia: Romantic Doily 

Totally Tilda: Tilda with Die Cuts and Punches

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge: Ribbon or charm

Christmas Inspirations: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey 

High Hopes Challenge: It's not easy being Green

Hello stamping friends!

Hi, it's me...from under a huge pile of work! I had record amounts of orders over the weekend and tried desperately to get all of the orders out. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get them all out so the rest will ship out today. Then I have to get some more tax preparations done! Boo! I was so busy yesterday that I didn't get any tax work done. Thank goodness I already had this card mostly done!

So I'm back again today with the High Hopes Challenge. 

This week we are being hosted by the fabulous Tina (former High Hopes owner) and her challenge is:

It's not easy being Green!

Create a St. Patrick's Day Card - or just add some green.

Just remember you MUST use a High Hopes Image to enter the challenge. 

The prize is 1 Free High Hopes Stamp. 

Here is my card...

Is it too early for an Easter card? I hope not! Actually, I have a few people I want to send them to so I still need to make some more. I don't really give cards for St. Patrick's Day so I thought I would go with the "green" portion of this challenge instead. 

The image is the cute Bunny Blooms and Sm Happy Easter Sentiment along with My Mind's Eye Fly a Kite paper, pearls, and Lovely Fence DooHickey.

The layout is from Seems a Little Sketchy this week. 

The image was embossed in black onto watercolor paper and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os, cut out, and attached with dimensionals...

Now it's your turn! The challenge is open through March 12th.

This card is also for the following challenges:

Love to Create Challenge: Stitches

Make it Monday with Kraft: Farm Fresh

Corrosive Challenge: Another Dimension

Thanks for stopping by!! Happy stamping!

~Lacey

Stampavie Product Spotlight Sale at Stamp and Create

Hello stamping friends!

I hope you had a lovely weekend. Ours was a busy one with a very wet Sunday. Friday night was had some neighbor girls over to watch a movie with the kids. On Saturday we just hung out in the morning then Ansley had a birthday party for her friend. Afterward, we had a nice mother-daughter date (at the mall and sushi dinner). Then Sunday was a wet one filled with baseball fun with friends (for a short time when the rain stopped) and church. 

This week I get to work on tax preparations again!! Yeah...NOT!!!

Ok, so today we have a new Weekly Candy and Product Spotlight at Stamp and Create.

Go check it out here. 

This week's Product Spotlight Sale is:

Stampavie Stamps on sale 25% off - excluding the 2012 CHA Release. 

Most older designs will not be restocked so grab them while you can.

I made this card for Ansley's for Valentine's Day the other week... 

The image is the adorable Bernadette Admiring Spring Flowers along with Lovely Fence DooHickey from Magnolia, My Mind's Eye Life of the Party Papers, and Fairy Floss Flowers.  

 

The image was embossed in black onto watercolor paper and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os...

This card is also for Paper Sundaes: Circles (being sponsored by Stamp and Create)

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey

Football Luke

Hello stamping friends!

If you've been following my blog for some time, then you probably have heard of my little friend Luke. Luke suffered a 30 minute seizure on Dec 31, 2010 caused from a rare form of Encephalitis. The doctors basically said that Luke would never walk again. But Luke is a strong boy and their family is filled with Faith so through prayer and dedication, Luke IS walking...in fact he is RUNNING!! 

On Luke's 6th birthday, he was in the hospital; it was one of his sickest days during this ordeal. So when planning his 7th birthday, his mom asked him what he wanted for his birthday and he said "snow"! So, so in Florida it did!!

My son Ryan is the one on the right leaning over.

I have a ton of pictures from the party at the end of this post. But first, I want to show the card I made for Luke. He's a huge Jacksonville Jaguars Football fan because "Jaguars don't walk, they run" so here is his card...

I tried to get the colors as close to the Jags colors as I could (their teal is a little darker IRL). The image is the adorable Football Bart from Whimsy Stamps. I found some fun football paper from AC Moore that's perfect for this image. I also used Pennant Banner Dies from Whimsy and You are my hero sentiments from WOJ and Starlight Lace die from Magnolia.

Bart was embossed in black onto watercolor paper and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os...

I embossed a 2nd football, cut it out, and attached it with dimensionals.

The Happy Birthday sentiment is from High Hopes and the quote is also from the You are my hero sentiments from WOJ.

Now here are some pictures from the party...

From left to right: Luke's brother Abram, Ansley, Luke, and Ryan (Ansley and Ryan are wearing their "Team Luke" shirts)!

Abram, Luke, Ansley (aka AnTsley as said by Luke),and a friend posing for another picture. 

For some winter fun, they rented a snow slide!! How cool is that? Did you notice that Ryan and Ansley are in shorts? Its was in the low 70's the day of the party.

Here's Ryan going down the sled...

How fun!!

Here's Ansley (this picture was taken from someone else with a zoom lens)...

That's Luke's father Magnus on the right. He stayed at the top of the slide the whole party helping the kids!!

Look at that face! Do you think she liked it?!

Here they are signing "Happy Birthday" to Luke...

Luke was too far away and at an odd angle to blow out the candles so Ryan helped him (at his mom's request).

Here is Luke going down the slide...

Who said he wouldn't be able to walk again?! I think not! Not only can he walk and run, but he can snow sled as well!! "Lefty" held on tight! Luke's left side was severely affected by the encephalitis but is doing great and getting stronger each day! 

Happy Birthday, Luke!

The card is for the following challenges:

Aud Sentiments: Happy (on the inside of the card)

Craft us Crazy: Favorite embellishment (dies and punches)

Cute Card Thursday: Winged Things

Crafty Creations: Fancy Folds (Center Step Card)

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey

High Hopes & ABC Christmas Challenges

Hello stamping friends!!

Have you seen Journey 2 The Mysterious Island movie yet? It is really cute. We went to see it on Monday with a friend. The kids loved it. It was a little scarier than the movies they are used to, but they did great. So far no nightmares about dinosaur sized lizards or bees!! LOL

Ok...onto crafty goodness...

In an attempt to find more time in my week to get my tax preparations done, I had to combine two of my challenges this week. Of course it's going to take more than combining two challenges to get my taxes done, but at least it's a start. 

I have combined the High Hopes Sketch Challenge with the ABC Christmas "Distressing" challenge.

Edited:

This card made the Top 3 at Tuesday Throwdown! :-)

To participate in the High Hopes Challenges, you must create a card using this sketch...

And you MUST use a High Hopes stamp.

The prize is 1 free High Hopes Stamp. Enter the challenge here. 

The ABC Christmas Challenge is: D is for Distressing

We are sponsored by: Sweet Stamps and Karen's Doodles. See the challenge post for details.  

Here is my combo card...

The stamp is the adorable Christmas Kitty Fun. The papers are Bo Bunny Snowfall (all papers on sale this week at Stamp and Create). I also used Starlight Lace DooHickey from Magnolia, pearls, Cream Trim and Liquid Applique.

The image was stamped in SU Basic Brown onto watercolor paper and roughly watercolored with Twinkling H2Os (along with some paper-piecing)...

Now it's your turn!

You can enter the High Hopes Challenge here and ABC Christmas Challenge here. 

This card is also for the following challenges:

Die Cuttin' Divas: Favorite Pet 

Papertake Weekly: Get Krafty (use Kraft)

Tuesday Throwdown: Winter Blues (use Blue) 

Lollipop Crafts: Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!

~Lacey 

Paper Product Spotlight Sale at Stamp and Create

Hello stamping friends!! 

I hope you had a lovely weekend! It's a 3 day weekend for us so the kids and I are enjoying some time together. We went to Luke's birthday party on Saturday - it was so great to see him and his family...and we got to see SNOW in Florida!! I'll try to post pictures soon. 

Saturday night we met up with friends for a surprise dinner party for her 40th birthday! It was a lot of fun and we didn't stay out too late. The kids stayed at a friend's house over night - they love sleepovers!

Sunday we hung out most of the day, watched a movie, then went to church.

Today I have a little work to do then we are supposed to going to the movies to see Journey 2. We saw Journey to the center of the earth on Sunday.

Just a quick note to say that today is a postal holiday so orders placed over the weekend will ship out on Tuesday.

We have a new weekly candy...

You can enter the candy here.

There is also a new Product Spotlight Sale at Stamp and Create today...

This week, all Paper is on sale 25% off - for US customers only.

I'm sorry, but the weight of paper shipping outside of the US will require additional shipping.

To showcase some of the paper on sale this week, I have create this card...

This was Ryan's (my son) Valentine card. The stamp is Puff Dragon from Whiff of Joy paired with Happy Day papers from Simple Stories. I also used an Adage Ticket and Basic Grey Button.  

The image was embossed in black and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os..

Ryan loves this dragon so he was so happy to receive it for Valentine's Day.

This card is also for the following challenges:

Crazy4 Challenges: Stripes and dots

DYSU: Layers

Paper Play: Critters

 

 

ABC Christmas Challenge: C for Charming (mid way)

Hello stamping friends!! 

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day. Mine was extremely busy and nothing ended up going my way. But I did create a "scavenger hunt" for the kids to search for their little gift. They thought it was fun and had a great time following the clues I left around the house. I would have taken pictures except the house was too much of a mess and it would have been embarrassing!! LOL

Last week I was behind and didn't get my ABC Christmas Card done in time for the challenge. But I have one for the mid-way post! There is still one more week to participate in this challenge.

C is for Charming (add a charm to your card).

Here is my card... 

This is the adorable Heidi from Wee Stamps! I fell in love with her the first moment I saw her. Isn't she just the sweetest?!

The papers are Bo Bunny Snowfall along with some pearls, Sweet Snowflakes from Magnolia, Stickles, and Lace trim. 

The sketch is from Sketch Saturday.

The inside... 

The image was embossed in black onto watercolor paper and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os...

This card is also for the following challenges:

Sparkles Christmas Challenge: Anything Christmas blog hop

Christmas Inspirations: Anything Christmas Goes

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey

The Love Monkey

Hello stamping friends!!

Happy Valentine's Day!! 

Well I ended up being quite busy yesterday and forgot to post about the Stamp and Create Product Spotlight Sale. 

This week, all stamps in the Baby Category are on sale 25% or more.

The sale runs through midnight EST on Sunday. 

There is also a new Weekly Candy...

This is Cupido mini stamp from Magnolia.
You can enter the candy here. 

It's Tutorial Tuesday Time over at the High Hopes Challenge blog. Kristine has created a tutorial for Shadow Box Cards. Go check it out.

Ok, so today is Valentine's Day. Yep, it's not a huge favorite of mine. Why? I don't know. I guess I don't need a holiday to tell my husband that I love him and vice versa! Although it's nice when my husband does something nice for me, I would rather he want to do it because he loves me, not because it's Valentine's Day. 

Anyway, he went to Peterbrooke Chocolate store and brought home a HUGE basket of chocolate dipped stuff (like chocolate popcorn, chocolate dipped pretzels, chocolate dipped graham crackers, chocolate dipped strawberries)! I was actually going to tell him not to spend the money on flowers this year since we are going out this weekend and I would rather spend the money then. But he DONE GOOD with the basket of Peterbrooke stuff! YUMMY!!

But, darn, it ruined what I was going to do for him and the kids...set up a chocolate fondue after dinner tonight! I can still do it, but we now have a MESS LOAD of chocolate in the house!! I'm not sure I can stomach even MORE chocolate!! I guess I shouldn't be selfish...although "I" may not be able to stomach that much chocolate, I think my husband and kids can!! :-)

Of course, I did make him a card...

This is the adorable Heartstrings Monkey from High Hopes Rubber Stamps. You know...because my husband is my "Love Monkey"!! LOL

While searching for a sketch to use, I found a great sketch at Sketch n Stash and was inspired by this card from their DT Michelle. I loved the simplicity of the white card. So I thought I would case her card. Of course, her's is better than mine! :-)

I ran out of heavy white cardstock so I actually used Watercolor paper for the card base. It's kind of an off-white but it has a fun texture.

The paper is MME Fly a Kite along with some black rhinestones and twine.

The image was embossed in black onto watercolor paper and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os...

The current "Seeing Stars" challenge is still going on over at the High Hopes challenge blog. Come join in on the fun!

This card is also for the following challenges:

Cards for Men: Valentine's Day/Love

Cupcake Craft Challenge: Entwined (use twine)

Stamp and Create: Valentine's Day/Love

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping!!

~Lacey

High Hopes Blog Hop and Release!!

Hello stamping friends!!

I am back today for the High Hopes Blog Hop and Release!! 

You should have arrived from Alex. If not, you might want to start at the top at the High Hopes Challenge Blog. 

Today High Hopes is releasing a fun Space Alien Set illustrated by Dustin Pike. They work well with the previously released Aliens. These are being sold as a SET and will not be sold individually, and only through the High Hopes Store.

There are also some fun and whimsical Sentiment stamps being released today that were illustrated by High Hopes new owner Karen!! There are 6 sentiment designs and they WILL be sold individually.

Ok, so as you hop along the blog hop, there is some hidden candy. In order to enter the candy, you must leave a comment on the correct blog - so you might want to leave a comment at each stop just to make sure!!

Here is my card using some of the stamps in the Space Alien Set... 

Aren't they the cutest?! Now, I'll be honest, these may look familiar to you. When the other aliens were released last year, these stamps were distributed to the Design Divas. However, it was later decided that they would not be released at the same time. However, they did peak their green heads in some of the samples used for that release. So you might have seen them before - but you wouldn't have been able to purchase them until today.

The papers are Bo Bunny from my stash. The star border is from Magnolia. The large star was diecut with my Silhouette.

For directions on how to create a Zig Zag Card, see this great tutorial by Kristine.

The images were embossed in black onto watercolor paper, watercolored with Twinkling H2Os, cut out, and attached with dimensionals...

You are also done with the hop...your next (and last) stop is Sirpa.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!!

~Lacey

Valentine's Day Product Spotlight Sale & High Hopes Challenge

Hello stamping friends!! 

Oh my gosh!! This week has already gotten away from me! Since I hosted a Super Bowl party on Sunday night, I didn't get my normal Sunday night work done. Then on Monday I volunteered at my kids' school so it took up all of my Monday work time! I was up late last night trying to get everything done, but never got to finish this post!!

I will have projects today: The Stamp and Create Product Spotlight Sale and Monthly Challenge & the High Hopes Challenge. 

We also have a new weekly candy:

You can enter the candy here.

First up is the Stamp and Create Product Spotlight Sale & Monthly Challenge

This week all stamps in the Valentines/Love Category are on sale up to 25% off!!

The Monthly challenge is: Valentine's Day/Love

Here is my card showcasing one of the stamps on sale...

I used Tilda with Many Hearts from Magnolia. The papers are Yours Truly by Echo Park along with "With all my Heart" resin heart, pearls, and Red Ruffle Ribbon.

The sketch is from Raise the Bar. 

The image was embossed in black and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os...

Next up we have the new High Hopes Challenge!!

The challenge is: Seeing Stars

This challenge is special because it's also a sneak peek at new stamps being released tomorrow.

There will be a Blog Hop tomorrow beginning at 12:01amEST followed by the release. The stamps being released will ONLY be available through the High Hopes Website and will NOT be available through my store or other retail stores.

Here is my project using some of the stamps...

I thought these stamps were perfect for a scrapbook page of Ryan's first time on Space Mountain.

Sorry for the yellowed pictures. It was cloudy and late when I took these pictures. I will try to get better ones later.

Here is a close up of the stamps...

Aren't they adorable?! 

Make sure to check back tomorrow for the Blog Hop and Release.

The challenge runs for 2 weeks this time (through Feb 20th).

Thanks for stopping by! Happy stamping and shopping!

~Lacey

Wags 'n Whiskers Challenge: For the Home

Hello stamping friends!!

Well, I had a heck of a week! Tuesday night I went to the Jimmy Buffet Concert with a few friends. The concert wasn't until 8pm, but we got there at 2pm. Let's just say that drinking 8 hours straight, beer, jello shots, and some evil creation called "Drunkin' Gummy Bears" is a deadly combination - when consumed on a Tuesday, it will "kill" your Wednesday! Yep, that's right, I had a NASTY hangover on Wednesday! 

But by Thursday morning I was fine and dandy and worked hard to get caught up on orders. 

Luckily I already had this project done so I didn't miss out on the fun!

It's time for a new Wags 'n Whiskers Challenge!

Our challenge is being hosted by the fabulous Tanya and her challenge is:

Home Decorations (non card item)!

This is a fun challenge and I had a few ideas. However, I was in need of a non-holiday banner to hang in the house so this was the perfect time...

This is Bear Hug which was designed after my daughter Ansley.

And this one is Super Ryan which was designed after my son Ryan. 

The images were stamped in Stampin' Up Basic Brown ink onto watercolor paper and watercolored with Twinkling H2Os.

The papers are from my stash (not who they are from, but I got them at AC Moore). I also added a few flowers and used some Brown Check Ribbon to hang the banner.

The letters were die cut from a sizzix alphabet set.

Now it's your turn. The challenge runs through Feb 16th.

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

~Lacey