Sweet Baby Sheep

Hi-ya, blog friends!
Before I get to today’s card, I wanted to say a huge thank you to all who left a comment on my Simply Scallops blog hop card. I was so blown away by all the SWEET comments! I had SO much fun on the hop- I hope you did too! Speaking of which, the latest DeNami blog hop theme was revealed today…can’t wait for that one!
I was recently going through my huge stash of stamps and came across the Sm. Side-view Sheep. I forgot how adorable (and fun) this little guy is. Pretty easy card, created a frame using the sheep, then added a few Spellbinder layers. For the sentiment I used the Sm. Baby Script. Even though this stamp has been out for years and years, it’s still a classic. :)
 
Note: I have NO idea who I’m going to give this card to…don’t know anyone who is expecting a boy. However, I love to have cards on hand; you just never know when you’ll need one!
When I finished the card, I just had to add some Baby Blue rhinestones. You know me and my bling! :) 
 I’ve gotten a few emails regarding my other blog: Fabulously Skinny. Hoping to get a cute graphic on my sidebar so you can easily get there. If you’re trying to get healthy/ fit in 2011, or just want to hear me ramble on some more, check out my other blog. :) 
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! Have a fabulous rest of your Tuesday!
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Simply Scallops Blog Hop

Hello friends!
It’s the day I’ve been waiting for….it’s time for the Simply Scallops Blog Hop. Each month, DeNami Design hosts a hop, and each time, I have more fun! If you started from the beginning, you should be coming from the talented Ashley Cannon Newell’s blog. (If you get lost along the way, or start in the middle, head over to the DeNami blog for the list of participants.)
When I was coming up with a theme for this hop, I wanted to do something that all DeNami fans could do. My decision: SCALLOPS! Who doesn’t love pretty scallops on cards? :)
My card today features some of the super fun new DeNami Design stamps. Can you spot them? I paired up the Rainbow with the Medium Round Bowl. I LOVE adding rhinestones to this image- it makes it look so bright and happy! I honestly had to force myself to stop using these stamps…I made five cards with this image. (You’ll see more in the future)
I hope that you found some inspiration on my blog! Your next stop is Vera Yates blog! She always has super cute creations; can’t wait to see what she made for the hop!
Have a great rest of your Sunday! See you soon…..
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Colour Q Challenge #66

Hi there, blog friends!
Wow, you all blew me away with your comments for my January giveaway…77 in one day?! Wish I could get that many on my card posts. :) A girl can dream….
Today I have a card to share for the super awesome Colour Q Challenge #66. I had such a great time playing in last week’s challenge, and with these fun colors, I couldn’t help but join in again!
Isn’t that bed set awesome? Those colors would put me in a good mood all the time!
 
My card features some of the YUMMY new DeNami Design stamps. I simply adore this little Giraffe, isn’t he just the cutest? I paired him up with some other yummies…here’s the list:
 
I thought this color combo worked really well for a  baby card; so happy and fresh- just like a cute little baby!
Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! If you haven’t entered my giveaway yet, be sure to do so- there’s a $40 gift certificate up for grabs!
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Lawnscaping Challenge #1

Hi there!
It’s been a while since I did any challenges- with the holidays and then having no mojo, it just hasn’t been high on my priority list. Yesterday I got a teeny bit of creativity, so I thought I’d take on the first Lawnscaping Challenge.The theme: All About Snow.
My blog friend, and fellow Twitter addict, Laurel, has started this new blog. It’s such a neat idea, and there are so many great peeps on the DT. It’s going to be so fun to keep up with this blog!
Here’s my card (using Critters in the Snow)…
 
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I love this color combo. Makes me swoon….
I pulled out more sorely neglected Spellbinder Labels 5 die for the focal point. Have I mentioned that I’m obsessed with faux stitches lately? Yup, got it bad. :) 
Thanks for checking out my card. If you missed the news earlier, I have a super fun giveaway going on- hope you’ll check it out and pass along the news! 
Until next time….

Carved Love

Hello there!
With Christmas behind us, it’s time to look to the next holiday: Valentine’s Day! This month, Karen designed BOTH of the new sets releasing at Practicing Creativity. I showed Another Year yesterday, now it’s time to take a peek at Carved Love!
This card features  four of the new images from the set. To start off, I stamped the awesome background image- isn’t it neat? I then stamped the heart outline and added the tip of the arrow, then the back. That’s only the beginning of this set! (Be sure to visit the other PCD girls blogs to see more of the designs)
Here you can see the wood image a little better. It’s so different than all the other woodgrains other like, which is awesome!
It’s hard to believe it’s been nine months since I first started on this design team. Courtney has been such a gracious hostess and allowed me to stay on longer than my first term. I have had a blast getting to know you all and also playing with the great Practicing Creativity sets! As with everything, all things must come to an end. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving blog/ card land anytime soon…just taking a break from design teams for a bit….
Okay, enough of the sad news, let’s move onto the good news! There are more cards with Carved Love on the PCD girls blogs, be sure to check them all out!
Weren’t these some fun sets? BOTH of the new sets will release tonight at 12:01, so you don’t have too long to wait before they’re available! 
Thank you SO much for stopping by my blog today. Have a lovely Wednesday! 

You Hold the Key

Hello, sweet friends!
It’s that time again….time for the sneak peek posts over on Courtney’s blog.  This month is extra special because it’s the FIRST BIRTHDAY of Practicing Creativity! Can you believe it?! I remember when Courtney released her first stamp set….now she is releasing sets 18 & 19! My, oh my, time goes by fast when you’re having fun! 
Today each of the PCD girls have cards featuring the very first set, Key to my Heart. This set is so unique and versatile. I don’t know how many times I’ve pulled it out for the argyle background and sentiments. Oh yes, and let’s not forget about those awesome key images! 
Here’s my latest card featuring this set….. 
I decided to change it up and use purple as the main color. Slowly this color is starting to take precedence in lots of my cards. Now if only I could find a really good light purple ink…. any suggestions?
 
No birthday celebration is complete without presents! Courtney is giving away BOTH of the new sets away on her blog. How do you enter? Well, each of the girls has a word on their blog (most likely highlighted) and you have to go to Courtney’s blog and leave a comment with all the words. Fun, right? Here is the order you’ll have to go….
CourtneyKarenDana– Paulina (Me)
I hope your 2011 is off to a great start! I’ll see you tomorrow with TWO CARDS featuring one of the new sets releasing on January 6th!

A New Journey

Okay, girls, I have some news…

You all know that I have struggled to have losing weight. I’ve start and stopped diets, had a personal trainer, done a sugar free diet, the list goes on and on. Each with the hopes of losing these unwanted 20+ pounds. With the new year, I am determined to have this year be THE year.

With that in mind, I thought I’d start a separate blog. One devoted to my fitness journey. It’s gonna be a look at my struggles and accomplishments. If something works for me, I’ll share it. If something is a complete flop, I’ll let you know that too. :)

 

  Click image to go to blog.

Don’t worry, I’ll still keep up my craft blog! I’m also hoping that in this year, I’ll be better at blogging than I was towards the end of 2010. I started off strong, but lost motivation. (Lack of comments does amazing things to one who blogs.) I hope you’ll all keep on commenting- it REALLY is the fuel to my posts!

Thanks for joining me in my craft journey, and possibly my fitness one!

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Highlights of 2010

Hi ya, blog friends!
With the new year here, I thought it’d be fun to recap some of my favorite memories of this year. (Warning: this post will be fairly long!)  It’s so easy to forget what happens during the year, so it’s great to keep a blog highlighting your memories. It’s awesome to click back and reminisce about what has happened.
January
This was the month of the Winter CHA show. I had the great privilege of meeting quite a few of my sweet blog, crafty friends. I had to work during this show, but at least I got pictures with most of them! :) Here is the picture I took with Lisa.
If you have the opportunity to visit a CHA SuperShow, it’s a great experience. There are so many vendors, with many Make ‘N Takes, plus there are classes galore. Oh yes, and you can’t forget the shopping! I’m hoping they have a show in the Summer- I would love to meet more of my blog friends.  

February
One day in February I had the great surprise of being featured by the lovely Dawn. This woman has done an outstanding job with her new company- her stamp sets are fabulous. 
In addition to this lovely feature, I officially joined the DeNami DT. Each month we had challenges and Product Spotlights, in addition to lots of yummy cards. I had the best time getting to know the other DT girls and also making cards! :) 
This was my card for the first DeNami challenge. It’s amazing how much my style has evolved this year! That’s another great thing about blogging; you can see your card making style change and become more refined. :) 
March
Do you ever have days where you don’t feel like posting a card? I was having one of those days in March and decided it would be fun to do a ramblings post. This was a fun way to give you all a peek into my “real life”. I was SO happy when a few of my blog friends joined in on this idea. I’ve been continuing this feature and will continue to in the future.
 
April
In addition to meeting blog friends this year, I have met some of my Twitter friends! I got to meet my sweet friend, Eva. We met at her local scrapbook store, which was a lot of fun. This was the first time of a few that we meet together this year.

It was also this month that I decorated eggs for the FIRST time in my life. My friend, Ginny, had a small egg decorating party with a few friends. I have to say, I got a little frustrated that I had a hard time putting my ideas onto an egg. One of these days I’ll become a pro….maybe….
May
After many, many requests, I finally got around to posting tutorial videos. I started off with my “Fancy Bow” tutorial. It made me SO happy to see a few of the ladies in blog world start to create these bows.Since then I’ve done more videos….click here to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
This was the first time I created a scrapbook page for National Scrapbooking Day. I had so much fun creating this page (along with another one), and also used stamps on the pages. I need to create more of these pages- they were such a nice change from my normal cards! 
June
I have participated in the 2 Sketches 4 You challenges for a few years. Laura and Kazan have always done a fabulous job with their challenges. I was beyond thrilled when one of my cards was chosen for “Card of the Week”. Definitely a highlight of the year!


July
This past year, my youngest sister graduated. (Yikes!) Our friend, Kara, started her business and was in need of some models. Since my sister needed her senior pictures, it was a win-win. Since I tagged along, Kara was nice enough to take a few pictures of me. :)

In July, we (DeNami Design) had our Fall/ Winter 2010 release. This was a great one, I must say. In this release, I was actively posting to the blog and DeNami FB page- it was SO great to see everyone’s excitement about the new collection. Seeing people excited (and reading it) is such a thrill. 
 
August
This was the month where I became published for the first time! Funny thing is, it was the very first time I submitted! Sadly, haven’t had any luck since then….maybe in 2011….

This was the very first blog post that DeNami Design hosted. We had three special guests, along with all of the DT girls. This one was definitely a favorite for me- who doesn’t love polka dots?! :) 
I *finally* got to meet my SWEET blog friend, Michele. I went to Colorado Springs in the Summer and got to spend the afternoon chatting and shopping with this sweet gal. It felt like we had met before, which was awesome. Nothing worse than meeting someone in person and not connecting like you do online! :) In addition to meeting Michele, I got to meet Lisa Petrella and Tenia Nelson. All of these girls were so fun!
September
In September, I went to my very first conference. My friend, Sarah, was speaking at a local church and I had the great opportunity to hear her. I was able to go with my BFF, Kalyn, and we had such a great time together. Not only did we get to feast on a large array of yummy foods, but we were able to hear an amazing speaker.
I made my first cupcake toppers, along with some coordinating items. The theme: Halloween. Now I’ve never been into Halloween, but with the newest DeNami stamps, I couldn’t stop using these images! Sad that I had to put them away….
October
After trying months to resist the colored twine craze, I finally gave in. (It was hard not to with all of the creations in blog world using it!) I started out with just a few colors…now I have over 15… *sigh*
Another thing I had hoped to avoid purchasing: a scoring tool. I gave in and now I don’t know if I could go back. I was able to get a great deal on a Martha Stewart one and truly love it. Here was my first card using it….
November
Living in Washington state, we don’t get TOO much snow. This year, we were in for a great surprise when it snowed in November. It wasn’t a teeny bit either- we got a large (for us) amount. It definitely set things back for lots of businesses, but thankfully we were able to get back to work a few days later. 
It’s very rare that I do one-layer cards. I always think mine look boring, so I tend to shy away from them. I didn’t create one I truly loved until November. (How sad is that?!) Thanks to some great sets by Practicing Creativity, I was able to pull off the (almost) impossible. 
December
Sadly, this was by far the worst blogging month for me. I was so burnt out and didn’t feel creative at all. Thankfully by the end, I regained some of my crafting mojo! Here is one of my most favorite baby cards ever… (With the help of WPlus9 stamps!)
I want to give a BIG HUGE thank you to all who have followed my blog this past year. It was such a delight to read all of your comments and emails. It’s because of you all that I have continued to blog. I’m hoping that in 2011 I’ll be able to continue to do so
Wishing you and yours a very HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Happy Rainbow

Happy New Years Eve to you!
It’s so hard to believe that we are at the last day of 2010. This year flew by so quickly! In the next few days, I’ll be posting a blog post with some of the highlights from this year. :) 
I’m so excited- tomorrow is the BIG day: the DeNami Design release! The whole week, we have had sneak peeks featuring lots of the new designs, plus there have been video peeks too! You all have been SO very sweet about leaving comments- those really encourage me to continue to film more videos. I have a few more videos already filmed, so those will be posted in the next few weeks….
Today I am posting one of my favorite cards that I’ve made recently. I simply ADORE the new M74 Rainbow (releasing tomorrow) from this new release. I’ve used rhinestones with it on this card, but you can also use glitter! You may also notice some other new images- I used the E137 Small Cloud along with the E138 Chickie in Balloon. How happy and fun is this card?
You can probably tell that I pulled out my Copics (again) for this card. They work with these new designs SO well! I have colored well over 6 rainbows already; I honestly had to stop using it! I’ll have more cards with this image in the future. ;) 
I hope you all are as excited about this new release as we are! We will be back in the office starting on Monday, so we’ll start shipping the new designs then! I cannot wait to get back to work and start shipping these cuties out! 
Be sure to head over to the DeNami blog today. We have a free pdf with all of the new images, plus we have our new checklist out featuring the new designs. ALSO, we are having giveaways, so YOU have a chance to play with some new goodies. Lots of fun happening, you won’t want to miss it! 
Thanks for visiting my blog- I hope you were inspired!
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Colour Q Challenge #65

Hi there!
Thank you to everyone who commented on my blog post yesterday. It was so great to see your excitement about the new DeNami Design release. I have LOTS and LOTS more cards to share with you in the future, so be sure to keep checking back. :)
Yesterday my friend, Laurie, participated in her First Colour Q challenge. I was so taken by these colors that I had to join in on the challenge. This color palette is so sophisticated and chic- I instantly thought of the Solid Decorative Crest. How stunning is it stamped in black on the Charcoal cardstock? LOVE it!
I recently purchased a Spellbinder tag set that I absolutely love. Granted, it’s not the one I was looking for, but I love it all the same! I stamped the Best Wishes then added these yummy charcoal colored rhinestones.
Here’s a closer peek at the details. Yup, I brought out my Prima flowers again- I’ve missed them so! Lately, while I was looking through my enormous stash of crafting supplies, I realized that I needed start using some of my current supplies. I have so much fun stuff- I just may have to do a giveaway (on the unused items) so you can enjoy some of the yumminess! 
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog! I will have a card tomorrow with more NEW DeNami stamps. It’s a happy, fun card; perfect for these dreary Winter days. :)