The Lucky Little Leprechaun

I must share with you my littlest's rendition of a leprechaun, oops, I mean lepercone. Bushy eyebrows and all, this was made by Max for me. He asked me if it was going to go on my blog. Of course I wasn't going to let such fine work go unseen by his future fans. So enjoy & heres wishing you a Happy Belated Lepercone Day!

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Hope you are enjoying your day even if you aren't Irish. Besides - everyone is a little bit Irish on St. Paddy's Day! Today is my mom's day and will forever be in my mind & my family's. She was a sweet Irish & English girl who married my 100% Italian dad. Every year for as long as I could remember she would wear her green that day, her "Kiss Me I'm Irish" button and some shamrock earrings. We'd all enjoy corned beef, potatoes & carrots and her delish soda bread. Dad would always bring her green carnations home with him. I married a 100% Italian boy too but that doesn't stop us from carrying on the Irish tradition today. I just hope my dinner comes out half as tasty as my mom's. My kids are excited that I used their Mimi Mary's recipes. Hopefully she will be guiding me when I try my hand at the soda bread in a bit!

Today's card is simple but I like how it turned out. Again - easy peasy using the basics: punches, Big Shot & some ink. Here's a couple of looks at it:

This one's for you Mom xo xo xo

Stamps: Lucky Shamrock
Ink: Certainly Celery
Paper: Certainly Celery, Old Olive & Whisper White
Accessories: Big Shot & Perfect Polka Dots textured impressions embossing folder, Circle punches, Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon

Papa Phil

Yesterday was my father in law's 76th birthday. I needed to make his card in 5 minutes since Michael & the kids were ready to pile in the car to go to the family birthday party. The man loves brown - its his favorite color. Who's favorite color is BROWN?! LOL! I mean seriously, is it even really a color? Its the 'color' you get when you mix too many colors together. I've seen it many times when my kids were younger and made their masterpieces for us. Anyway, I needed to quickly throw together a masculine card. Thank goodness for the Big Shot and the textured impression embossing folders. Those little guys make everything look so good. I grabbed my three favorite shades of brown - Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip & Crumb Cake and did some stamping, gluing and voila! A manly, brown birthday card for my most cherished father in law.

He means everything to our family, especially his five grandchildren who adore him to pieces. Papa Phil is currently going through cancer treatments and with our love and prayers and his amazing strength, we will hopefully be celebrating many, many more birthdays with this beloved man. Happy 76th to my 'favorite' father in law! xo Jacki

Stamps: Apple Blossoms (level 2 hostess) & Wonderful Favorites

Paper: Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake & Very Vanilla

Ink: Chocolate Chip & Crumb Cake

Accessories: Big Shot, Square Lattice textured impressions embossing folder & medium oval punch

Loads of Love

So Valentine's Day is over but we can always make cards for our loved ones! Who needs a specific holiday to inspire us, right?! I love the colors in this card and was pleased with the way it came out. This stamp set is one of the oldest ones in the Stampin' Up! catalog. I am not sure if its one of the original ones or not but I would bet on it. Its great for coloring with either markers or aqua painters, etc. I used markers this time because I wanted the color to be vibrant. I don't use this set enough but will have to remember to - it has a lot of cute stamps for the bed of the truck. Maybe you'll be seeing some more creations soon from me using it! Thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Loads of Love
Paper: Baja Breeze, Real Red, Regal Rose & Whisper White
Ink: Black, Baja Breeze (sponged around punched sentiment) & markers
Other: Circle punches, Dotted Scallop Border Punch & Small Heart Punch

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love this card and wish the photo captured it better. For some reason its kind of dark in the picture. I was never into vintage anything but it is so huge now and its beginning to grow on me. I bought the crochet ribbon to try it out and ended up loving it and used it all up! I have to reorder more! Enjoy your day & thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Tiny Tags

Paper: Pretty In Pink, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip & Sending Love DSP

Ink: Pretty In Pink & Chocolate Chip

Other: Scallop Border & Jewelry Tag punches, "Victoria" Crochet Trim & Silver Cord, Big Shot Dies - Circle & Scallop Circle

Sweet Valentine

With Valentine's Day fast approaching I thought I'd show some cards that I've made recently before its too late. Today's card is one that I cased but don't remember where from. (sorry!) I love punches and use them in almost all of my cards & pages. The owl punch is definitely a fun one. I am thinking I will give this card to my husband, as he is certainly my sweet valentine.

Stamps: Level 2 Hostess set from Occasions Mini Catalog & Season Of Friendship (branch)

Paper: Real Red, Marina Mist, So Saffron, Early Espresso & Whisper White, Play Date DSP

Ink: Early Espresso

Other: Modern Label & Small Heart punches

Filled With Love Promotion

Stampin' Up!'s latest promotion goes until January 24, 2011. Purchase the Filled With Love Bundle (wood mount $32.90 or clear mount $26.90) and receive a free package of Bitty Buttons. Here is what is included in the bundle:

12x12 paper pack containes 12 sheets total. Three 12x12 sheets of two double-sided designs in Real Red & Pretty In Pink Click HERE to go to my website to purchase this bundle and get the preferred pricing!

Three Little Words

The Occasions Mini Catalog is out and it is chock full of beautiful Stampin' Up! goodness. I got my order on Friday but haven't had time to make anything with all the new fun toys yet. So until then, here's a little thank you card I made for a friend. Its simple and sweet, just what I needed in a hurry.

If you haven't seen the new mini catalog, click HERE to go directly to it. Enjoy :-)

Thanks for stopping by ~ Jacki

You Know Prancer and Dancer and Donner and Blitzen......

So this little guy is surely one of Santa's famous reindeer! Hubby took the kids a couple of weeks ago to check him and his other buddies out while I did some Christmas shopping. The kids were thrilled but a little taken aback by the smell lol. The reindeer were feasting to try to fatten up for the big trip, or at least thats what I was told by the littles. And I believe them!

Enough about the reindeer....you probably want to see another amazing card that I've created, right?! ; ) Another blue theme....I love how soft it looks. Another very easy card to make and reproduce over and over.

Thanks for stopping by! ~ Jacki

Only Six More Days

I am soooo not ready for Christmas! It has truly snuck up on me this year. Thankfully my shopping is 95% finished. I still need to wrap, bake, make & mail our Christmas cards and so on. I guess I am a last minute kind of girl! This is one of the cards I made that is easy to reproduce. It may or may not make it to the final cut. Tune in to find out which one does . Hopefully you are way more organized and prepared than I am and are enjoying this time of year!

Thanks for stopping by! ~ Jacki