BellaWillow

Spellbinders Design Team 2009-2010

2009-02-28T19:25:00.000-08:00

I really wanted to share this card with you today, tell you the story behind it, and share with you the inspiration I had when creating it. This is the card I made especially for my final submission project for the 2009-2010 Spellbinders Design Team. Sadly, I did not make the final design team, but I was selected to do something fun for Spellbinders over this next year instead. I can't really say much . . . I don't really know much. All I know is that it has something to do with their blog, and being a part of the guest blogger feature they are formulating. I will receive some dies from Spellbinders that I can create something with that they will share on their blog along with a little bit about me. Although I am still disappointed I didn't make the Design Team, I'm very honored to have been one of the 24 finalists, and to have an opportunity to have my work featured on their website!

I'm just loving these Spellbinder dies. I really like how they are so easy to use and how you can emboss with them to get a real finished look. I also love how easy they are to store and transport to all my stamping retreats and events . . . no more punches to lug around.

Now I would like to share the inspiration I had when creating this card. The day I made it was a very sad day . . . it was the birthday of my sweet little God Puppy Sophie. Sophie was a little black tea cup toy poodle who would have been celebrating her fourth birthday that very day. Tragically, Sophie passed away this past fall of a congenital heart defect. Sweet little Sophie changed my life the day I met her. We never had pets as I was growing up and I was never a dog person before . . . but that sweet little black puppy with all her love and kisses and her gentle soul made me fall in love with her instantly and I knew at that very moment that I needed a Sophie in my life. Had it not been for Sophie . . . I would have never known the love of a puppy and would have never been blessed with my sweet little Willow . . . whom you all know I love and adore! So this card was made in Sophie's honor because every time I think of her . . . I think of a sweet little butterfly flying off to the heavens and I will love her always. Rest in peace sweet little Sophie Girl . . . you will forever be loved and missed by me and your God Sister Willow.

Thank you so much for stopping by. If you have a story about a special puppy in your life, please feel free to share it.

I will be back soon with more projects, a Spellbinders prize, and a lot more fun stuff.

Big stamping hugs!

~ Pegi

SUPPLIES:

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper
Patterned paper: (Porcelain collection) Basic Grey
Rubber stamp: (Daisy) Sugar Nellie Stamps
Acrylic stamp: (Love Always from All Occasion collection) Hero Arts
Dye Ink: (Rich Cocoa and Tuxedo black) Memento
Color medium: Copic Markers
Accents: (Porcelain collection glazed brads) Basic Grey; (Crystals) Swarovski and Making Memories
Fibers: (Deep Straw satin ribbon) Yours Truly from Archivers; (Green vintage ribbon) Making Memories
Adhesive: (Stampin’ Dimensionals) Stampin’ Up!; (2 way glue) Zig Memory System; (Dot 'n' Roller Adhesive) Kokuyo
Dies: (Butterfly Reflections, Classic Scalloped Heart, and Labels One) Spellbinders
Punches: (Large Oval punch and Ticket punch) Stampin’ Up!
Tools: (die cut machine) Cuttlebug, (embossing mat) Spllbinders
Other: (Gelly Roll pen) Sakura

Puppies, Kittens, Spellbinders, and Blog Candy Winner!

2009-02-23T11:41:00.001-08:00

Hello to all my very dear stamping, scrapping, cardmaking, and papercrafting friends. It is so good to be back at my blog again . . . reconnecting with lost friends . . . checking out all the fabulous new projects my dear friends are posting on their blogs . . . and shopping online for some of the wonderful new products that are available out there.

I just have to say this . . . I am so overwhelmed with the beautiful comments left on my "Basket of Basic Grey Bling Blog Candy" post. These beautiful women never cease to amaze me. One of our fellow crafters is a little down on her luck right now . . . and all these women have decided that it is more important to give than to receive. Cheryl, I am so terribly sorry about the loss of your sweet little Abby. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your husband during these hard economic times. I pray that he will find work soon and you will be able to get yourselves settled in again very very soon. I think it was unanimous that you should receive the basket of goodies. Please send me an e-mail with an address where I might send your basket to you. I know it's not much . . . and it doesn't even begin to take away the pain of the loss of your sweet little puppy, but please know that it was given out of love and friendship from your stamping sisters.

I thought today would be a good day to post this scrapbook page I made especially for the Spellbinders 2009 Design Team Contest. This is one of the four projects I made that landed me in the finals. You have already seen the "stamped" project I made . . . the journal, and now I would like to show you my "page layout". Everyone that knows me knows that I am not a scrapbooker. You can only scrap your dog and your cat so many times. I do scrapbook for other people at times, and I have done a heritage book or two for the relatives, but I typically tend to make cards and "stuff" I can sell at the boutiques and craft shows. So when I saw that I needed to submit a page layout . . . I got a little nervous at first . . . and then ended up having the time of my life on this page. Everyone that knows me knows how much I love animals . . . so I found it only fitting that I use this picture of the beautiful little "Tabby" as my inspiration. Tabby loves to sit in the garden and watch the butterflies and the birds . . . so this special little page is in honor of sweet Tabby with the beautiful green eyes and the beautiful white wiskers and ear tufts.

I made my special page using Crate Paper's Mia collection. I cut the curvy pieces free hand and laid it all together to fit just right. The scalloped strips were cut with my good ol' fashioned Fiskars scalloped scissors and laid underneath the curvy pieces. The beautiful butterfly is Technique Tuesday's Boho Butterfly stamped on Mia dp and cut out and mounted with a dimensional to give it the look of flight. The Tabby letters are from Wilma by Basic Grey. I used Versa Magic ink to cover them. The brown butterfly and brown scallopy image behind Tabby's picture were made using rub ons from the Mia collection. The pewter brads are from Making Memories. I have a special tip for using brads on your projects. I hate to punch holes in my projects, and how do you mount a brad on a wooden frame since you can't punch a hole in wood? I use a small pair of needle nose pliers and bend the stem of the brad back and forth a bunch of times until it breaks off. Repeat with the second brad stem. And then I use a large clear glue dot, cut it in half, mold it into the brad, and adhere it to my project. It sits down tight on your project, doesn't move around in a punched hole, and you don't have any unsightly punch marks on your project. Give it a try sometime and let me know how you like it. I sure do use a lot more embellishments with this method. I should have invented nailheads (brads without stems) . . . I could have made a fortune. They are just now coming out, and basically I have been making my own nailheads with brads for years.

Thank you again for stopping by and for your continued support in my work as I continue to learn and grow in this wonderful world of papercrafting.

Big stamping hugs to everyone!!!

~Pegi

Basket of Basic Grey Bling Blog Candy!

2009-02-16T20:36:00.000-08:00

I dare ya to say that five times!!! I have been craving candy all day, chocolate candy, so I decided to make up a little basket of "blog candy" to get my mind off the other kind. No occasion really . . . I just decided that it was time to have a little fun here at Bella Willow and see what all of my dear stamping, cardmaking, scrapbooking, altering, and papercrafting friends are up to these days. I took a long break from blogging due to a very hectic work schedule, but I am back now and I hope you will still come and visit once in a while, and say hello.

You all know what I have been up to . . . working, taking care of my sweet Willow and Isabella, stamping with my friends, and just enjoying life. So come on over to Bella Willow and tell me what you have been up to. Tell me about your latest paper crafting project, achievement, favorite stamp set, or just say hi and tell me what you would like to see more of here at Bella Willow. If you have a favorite place to shop that you would like to tell everyone about, or you own a company, let me know and I will add it to my recommended shopping list. If you have a blog that you would like us to know about, let me know and I will add it to the Blogs list.

So don't be shy . . . leave a message for a chance to win this most fabulous basket of Basic Grey bling blog candy. This cute little wire basket is full of all kinds of goodies for your stamping and papercrafting enjoyment. You will receive a stamp set from Rhonna Farrar, a spool of ribbon, a little book to embellish, a book from Kaisercraft, some bling, some brads from Making Memories, and . . . . drum roll please . . . a brand new 6 x 6 pad of paper from Basic Grey in the much anticipated Porcelain line. It is absolutely gorgeous. Archiver's just got it in a few days ago and I bought two so I could share one.

I will be randomly picking a name on Wednesday evening and announcing the winner. Good luck everyone!!!

Thank you for stopping by and thanks for your posts.

Big stamping hugs.

~ Pegi

Sugared Shadow Box

2009-02-12T21:10:00.000-08:00

Hello my dear friends! Just a very quick post here this evening to say hello and show you this little shadow box I made for a dear friend who is having a baby girl in a few months. How many of you know that Basic Grey is my favorite paper line? I fell in love with Basic Grey a few years ago and have been hooked ever since. I just love how it has that vintage shabby look and how all the patterns coordinate so well. Any quilters out there? Basic Grey's paper reminds me of fabric you could make a quilt with . . . which reminds me . . . they do make fabric now and the Sultry line is due out very very soon. Right now I am just counting the days until my Porcelain 6 x 6 paper pads arrive from Embellish It! and waiting anxiously for the release of the beautiful line Wisteria.

Speaking of Embellish It! . . . I ordered my paper pads very late last night . . . and they were already shipped today. Such great service, and I will definitely order from them again.

Now let me tell you about my little Sugared Shadow Box. If you click on the photograph, you can see the detail and read the verse a little easier. Anyway, I was snooping around at my local Goodwill store where you can find the best picture frames, little boxes, and containers to alter. I found this little shadow box that had some circa 1980 sea shore stuff inside and I knew right away that with a little tearing apart and cleaning up and I could make it totally new. So . . . I cleaned it up really good and started with a naked empty shadow box. I then used the pink paper from the Sugared line and my ATG gun and adhered it to the front, top, sides, and bottom of the frame, sanded it down with one of those big black emery boards, and then chalk inked the sides. I set that aside and made a square card that would fit perfectly inside the shadow box . . . and there you have it . . . a handmade altered baby gift that my friend can either hang on the wall or set on a shelf in her sweet little baby girl's nursery.

Thanks again for stopping by, and I hope you are all having a good week.

Big stamping hugs.

~ Pegi

Supplies:
Shadow Box from the Goodwill
Designer paper from the Basic Grey Sugared line (6 x 6 pad)
Rub-ons from the Basic Grey Sugared line
Brads are Basic Grey Sugared Glazed Brads
Pink Swarovski Crystals

Spellbinders and Fancy Pants

2009-02-09T18:32:00.000-08:00

Many of my friends and family have encouraged me to take my paper crafting to the next level this year, and have suggested that I try out for a design team, sell my items on Etsy, try to get my papercrafting projects in some of the magazines, and of course to blog more so they know what's going on with me.

My Etsy site is up and running (I just need to finish adding all my new creations that I have been working on), my blog has been redesigned thanks to the fabulous work of Stewart Goodwin of Goodwin Media, and I was blessed to have one of my cards published in Ready, Set, Create magazine.

It doesn't get any better than this I thought . . . and then came the call for the Spellbinders 2009 Design Team. Oh my gosh . . . you know how it is when you go blog visiting and you fall in love with the stamp one of your fellow papercrafters used on her card and you just gotta have it . . . well that is how I felt when I saw the notice for the Design Team. I love Spellbinders and especially love all the new fabulous products they are putting out.

So . . . to make a long story short . . . I made four items especially for the competition, and I just found out today that 24 very talened paper crafter extrordinaires were chosen to move on to the finals . . . and I'm one of them! Stacey Caron who is the owner of Spellbinders called us all "Paper Crafter Extrordinaires". Wow . . . I love it!!!!

I want to thank Spellbinders for this most awesome opportunity, and I want to wish the 23 other amazing women who were chosen good luck! The names of the finalists are published on the Spellbinders website and the competition is stiff. There are some fabulous women on that list and I am so honored to be among them.

I have one more design challenge to submit for the final round and then the winners will be announced on February 25th. I want to thank my dear friends Tami and Judy for encouraging me to try out for this most prestigious design team. My final project will be in your honor.

Okay . . . so on to today's featured project . . . my Spellbinders Fancy Pants journal. I've been making journals for the craft shows and boutiques for the past few years, and realized that I've never made one for me. I never make anything for myself . . . so this journal was made especially for me and the goals that I have set for myself for the year.

I used Fancy Pants paper for the entire journal. The fun colorful wording on the front of the journal was part of the paper collection. I love using tabs on things and have always wanted to make tabs on one of my journals. Did you know that those tabs are really the Spellbinders Labels One dies cut in half? I love it. I have seen the Labels One die stamped on a lot, but I loved the versatility of the die by being able to cut it in half and make a label out of it. I then thought of five categories I would like for my journal and hand stamped the words with an alphabet set by Hero Arts. Instead of chalk inking the edges of the journal like I usually do . . . I opted for a more raggedy look and distressed everything with one of those big fat black emery boards for your fingernails. I finished it off with fat red ribbon and used the very best buttons from my button stash to put the finishing touches on. This was one of the projects I submitted to Spellbinders for the design competition.

Thank you again to all my dear friends and family for all your encouragement and support as I continue to grow as a "Paper Crafter Extrordinaire" and big hugs to all my other dear Paper Crafter Extrordinaires who continue to inspire and amaze me.

Big stamping hugs

~ Pegi

Supplies:
Composition Journal from Staples (Grid paper)
Fancy Pants paper from The Daily Grind line ("Chalkboard" for the journal, "Notebook Doodles" for the 2" band, "Cards" for the saying, and an 8 x 8 paper pack for the tabs)
Spellbinders Labels One Dies
Hero Arts Alphabet Stamp Set
Ribbon from Archivers
Buttons by Foo Fa La
Black Ink from Momento

Bittersweet Valentine's Day

2009-01-22T21:09:00.000-08:00

Leave it to Basic Grey to come up with yet another beautiful line of paper just in time for my favorite card making holiday. Bittersweet is the name of this latest creation from Basic Grey. The rich fabulous shades of reds, pinks, browns, and hints of lavender are used in beautiful patterns of stripes, big florals, mini florals, dots, and swirls that give it that famous funky vintage shabby Basic Grey look. I prefer the 6 x 6 pads of paper because the patterns are shrunk down and perfect for cardmaking and altering items.

At the suggestion of many of my dear friends and family, I decided that I would like to try and get one of my cards published this year. I am very excited to let you know that I submitted one of my Valentine's for publication in Ready Set Create magazine, and it was chosen for the February/March issue. Ready Set Create is a beautiful online magazine and the February/March issue will be out soon and has more than 60 cards in it. I am so honored that they chose my card and I can't wait to see the magazine.

Thank you everyone for coming back to BellaWillow after my long absence. It was so nice to read all your comments and doggie stories. Judy was the winner with her cute little poodle story and has won the card. Please send me your snail mail Judy and I will get that out to you.

Thanks for stopping by and I will see you again soon with some new creations.

~ Pegi

Bella Willow Got A Makeover!!!

2009-01-10T22:06:00.000-08:00

Hello to all my dear friends and family. It was quite the busy year for me in 2008, which left no time for some of the fun things in life . . . like stamping and blogging . . . but after so many requests from all my dear wonderful stamping friends, co-workers, customers, and family . . . I'm back! And . . . with a brand new look! BellaWillow got a new blog banner and some other fun stuff and we are loving it! I hope you like the new look.

This whole great adventure started after my cards were featured in a special Valentine's Day issue in my local newspaper. I then had a very successful 2008 craft show and boutique season. I sold a lot of cards, journals, picture frames, and altered items at three craft shows in my area and I sold over 200 items at the Holly House Boutique which went for three weekends during the months of November and December. That was a lot of fun. A lot of my friends and family kept asking me to send them pictures of what I had made. I have to tell you though . . . it was such a busy year for me . . . there was no time for picture taking. At one point during the year I was working 60-70 hours a week at the bank . . . and trying to find time to keep up with my crafting, taking care of sweet Willow and Izzy, and cleaning my house. I'll let you in on a little secret . . . my house is still kind of messy . . . but we're getting there! Oh yeh . . . . I had a horrible bronchitis/pneumonia during the months of October, November, and December, all while I was trying to make things for the boutique. After three rounds of antibiotics . . . I am just now getting over this horrible cough.

And then when I didn't think crafting could get any better, and after many special orders throughout the holiday season, I decided to create my own Etsy site so I could sell my crafts year round. So . . . after much research as to what all I was missing . . . an Etsy banner, business cards, a new matching look for my blog, a ditigal signature, and some other fun graphics . . . Stewart Goodwin of Goodwin Media designed all these beautiful new things for me. I still can't figure out how to get the digital signature, watermark, and cute "Supplies" graphic to work, but hopefully someone out there in blog land will come to my rescue . . . hint . . . hint!

Stewart Goodwin was awesome to work with. I had a vision of what I wanted, and he totally gave us all that and more when he designed Bella Willow's new look and all the accessories that go with it. He has designed websites for many famous clients including Donna Downey and Rhonna Farrar. Thank you Stewart!!

So here is my featured card for today. I made this card for all my dog loving friends using a stamp from Stamping Bella and coloring it in with my Copic markers. The paper is from DCWV and the ribbon is from American Crafts.

I would love to give this card away to one of my dear blog readers. So leave me a comment about your favorite dog, or a cute little dog story, or just a comment on how to use my digital signature and blog supplies graphic, and I will randomly draw a name on Monday, January 12, 2009 and send someone out there the little doggie card.

It's great to be back, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Big stamping hugs!

Pegi

"Hey Sugar" Picture Frame and Matching Card

2008-02-12T22:34:00.000-08:00

Hello to all my dear stamping and blogging friends. Thank you everyone for all the beautiful e mails congratulating me on being featured in the "This Week" newspapers. Kara Hildreth did an absolutely outstanding job of putting together such a great piece. Thank you Kara for the fun experience and the beautiful story featuring me and my cards. I can't wait to send a copy to my Grandma who just had her 101st birthday this past Saturday.

I am starting to branch out from my normal cards and journls into a little "home decor". Lori from My Eyes . . . My Heart has asked me to alter a few home decor items to sell in her beautiful store.

When Lori first asked me to design some "altered items" for her store, I had no idea what I was going to make, but I knew I wanted something really special that she would be proud to show off to her customers.

I actually went to my local Goodwill store and found many many fun wooden frames and little boxes that I thought would look great with a little paper, ribbons, rub-ons, buttons, etc. to try and create a work of art that someone may enjoy displaying in their home.

My first project was designed using a flat wooden frame that I put paper on and then added rub-ons and finished off with a chipboard ornament. The paper is from the Hey Sugar line designed by Cosmo Cricket, and the ornament is from their Buck Naked chipboard collection. I finished the frame with some brown rub-ons and then inked the edges with Sahara Sand Versa Magic chalk ink. I also made a matching card using all the same Cosmo Cricket products.

I hope you are all having a great week, and I will be back again this week to share some more fun projects I have been working on.

Big stamping hugs.

~ Pegi

For You!!!

2008-02-07T22:35:00.001-08:00

Hello to all my dear friends, family, co-workers, and especially my stamping sisters. I want to thank you all for your e mails wondering where the heck I am, and for your continued support as I continue to settle into my job at the bank. I am absolutely loving my job and business is really starting to pick up for me. It cuts into my stamping time though . . . and my time with Willow and Isabella . . . but I'm learning to deal with that. Even Willow is really learning to entertain herself and of course Isabella is content to just be snoozing somewhere out of the puppy's way.

I have so many wonderful things to share with you all. The little store that I used to teach at in Farmington sadly went out of business, but a new and even better store opened up in it's place. The name of the store is My Eyes . . . My Heart . . . The owner's name is Lori Brausen and she is absolutely awesome!!! She contacted me right before she opened up her store and asked if I would like to sell some of my cards and altered items, as well as teach again. I felt so honored and was very excited to accept. Lori is not only getting a lot of new merchandise for the scrapbookers, but she is going out of her way to make us cardmarkers happy too. She got a whole new shipment of Technique Tuesday stamp sets in and a lot of new paper and embellishments. She carries different iventory than Archivers, so it is fun to be able to shop at both stores. If you live anywhere near Farmington, please go and check out Lori's beautiful store.

Okay . . . now some even more wonderful news. I was contacted by a reporter for the This Week newspaper who wanted to do a feature story on me and my cardmaking. They are putting together a special Valentine's edition and wanted to feature me as an artist of the week. I don't consider myself an artist by any means, and I was so honored that they even thought my work was worthy of putting in a newspaper. So they came and took a lot of pictures of my cards . . . Valentines especially . . . and sat down and interviewed me. I had never done anything like that ever and although I was a little nervous at first, I had such a nice time. The reporter was awesome and my story will be in the newspaper this weekend. I will have to let you all know how it turns out.

The card I am featuring today was made for my fabulous boss for her birthday. Since her birthday is so close to Valentine's Day, I decided to use that wonderful new Basic Grey Two Scoops paper that I recently picked up at Archivers. I also inked up my new Stampin' Up! One of a Kind stamp set for this card. The ribbon is from American Crafts and the brads are from Basic Grey.

Thank you for stopping by today and I promise I won't be a stranger. I have been working on some wonderful projects, and I am very excited to share them with you.

Also, I want to share a picture of my sweet little Willow with you. She recently discovered a new spot to hang out . . . the wicker chair in the loft. She thinks she is a big girl now and very proud of the fact that she can jump up into the chair just like "Kitty".

Thank you everyone for stopping by!

Big stamping hugs!

~ Pegi and Willow

Thank You To My Secret Santa!

2007-12-19T23:03:00.000-08:00

Hello to all my dear stamping and blogging friends. Life has been hectic, as usual, and it seems my stamping and blogging has had to be put aside for awhile as I continue to settle into my new position at the bank. I am still loving my job, although I do missing stamping and blogging and working from home. I miss spending time with my sweet little Willow but she is always waiting at the top of the steps for me . . . tail just a wigglin' . . . when I get home from a long day of work.

Now I have to tell you all about this awesome Ten Days of Christmas we have going on at work right now. For the past nine days I have been receiving special surprise "treats" everyday in my office from my Secret Santa. On the tenth day I will receive my gift and Santa's true identity shall finally be revealed. Whoever has my name is certainly spoiling me. I have received a lot of chocolates, cookies, chocolate covered peanuts, Frescas, Caribou gift cards, chap stick, and this Chatterbox designer paper. Hey . . . how did they know I can't resist some great designer paper??? LOL . . . I guess they all know I'm a card maker.

So for this card I decided to make it a thank you card for my awesome Secret Santa. I used the beautiful Chatterbox designer paper and I dug out my SU Delight In Life stamp set because I thought the flowers would match the paper perfectly. I loved the rich chocolate chip and blues and greens in this beautiful paper and tried to coordinate my ribbons to bring out that beautiful brown in the paper.

I also wanted to show you some pictures I took last weekend when my sweet little Willow had a sleepover with her best friend Izzy. Look how cute these two are together. Don't let that cuteness fool you though . . . those little girls were wild!!! They love to play together. I can't believe I could get them to sit still long enough for these pictures. Look at those little cuties!!!

I hope everyone is having a great week and getting excited for Christmas. Thanks for stopping by and I will see you again soon!

Big hugs!!!

~ Pegi

Life Is So Sweet

2007-11-20T20:35:00.001-08:00

Hello to all my dear stamping and blogging friends! I hope everyone had a great weekend and that all is well with you and your families as you prepare for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend.

I am so excited to report that Kristina, Paris, and I had a great Saturday at the Christina Huddleston Elementary School Craft Show. I want to thank everyone who came and bought my cards, journals, picture frames, and altered items. Big thanks go out to Amy, Tami, RuthAnn, Lisa, Sonya, and Kim for coming to visit us. We sure did have a fun day and I can't wait until we can do it again. Craft shows are so much fun.

This is one of the cards I made at my stamping retreat two weeks ago. The image is stamped using my Words We Love set from Technique Tuesday. I love these stamps. The images stamp so nice and clean. The designer paper is new from Cosmo Cricket, and the ribbon and crystals are from Archivers.

And now a couple of pictures of my booth at the craft show. I especially want to thank Paris' husband Brian for making that awesome chicken wire tri-fold frame that held 100 of my handmade cards. I also want to thank my dear sweet friend Paris for tying those cute little ribbons on all 100 of those clothespins . . . and for dragging in all the tables and the table cloths for me to use for my booth. I also want to thank my dear sweet friend Kristina for the beautiful little Department 56 Good Luck Charm she gave me at the craft show . . . it brought me good luck . . . and for hanging all 100 of my cards on that frame. Life is so sweet, and good friends make it all that much sweeter!

Big stamping hugs to everyone!

~ Pegi

I Love These Little Guys!!!

2007-11-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

Who can't resist a cute little penguin? These two cute little guys are all ready for winter in their hats and scarves. I made these cards last weekend at my stamping retreat. The funny thing about these two cards . . . no stamping . . . they're rub ons. Who says you can't drive 2 1/2 hours to a stamping retreat and not stamp? Just kidding . . . I got plenty of stamping done too.

The paper, rub on penguins, and rub on sentiments are all from SEI. The ribbon is from Stampin' Up! and Creative Impressions. Those cute little red dots . . . Cloud 9 rain dots. They come in a lot of colors and they even have little snowflakes out right now. They are such a nice alternative to brads because they just stick right on your card.

So the big Christina Huddleston Elementary School Craft Fair in Lakeville, MN is tomorrow. If you live in the area, please stop by and say hello. I will be there with my dearest stamping friends Paris and Kristina and we would love to see you. Paris' husband was so awesome to make me a chicken wire tri fold wooden frame to set on the floor and Paris (bless her heart) made clothespins with ribbons on them to display my cards and frames. I will take lots of pictures of the craft show to show everyone. I can't wait!!! We are going to have so much fun . . . if I get some sleep tonight. I keep looking at my pile of to do things and keep wanting to make more things for the show. I better call it a day on that and try to get to bed so I am refresed for tomorrow. There will always be another craft show.

I hope everyone has fantastic plans for the weekend and I can't wait to share my craft show experience with you.

Big stamping hugs!!!

~ Pegi

To All My True Friends

2007-11-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

Hello to all my dear stamping and blogging friends. I hope all is well with you and your families as you begin to prepare for the busy holiday season. Life has been good for me . . . hectic as usual . . . but good. I just went on my first ever stamping retreat last weekend and had such a wonderful, peaceful, productive weekend. My dear friend Paris Otremba from Inky Art organized it and she was the perfect hostess for our fun-filled weekend.

I had so much fun stamping and getting to know all the wonderful ladies that were there. We had so much fun talking, laughing, eating, and sharing funny stories with each other as we stamped well into the early morning hours.

I was on a mission to finish my things for the big craft show this weekend, and am very happy to report that I am just about where I wanted to be with having enough items to take to the show. I will have a lot of cards, small journals, large journals, altered picture frames, and a few altered items at the show. I hope they sell. You just never know with things like this. I will take lots of pictures of our booth and will give you all the report next week.

The card I made in this picture is my first time of using my Stampin' Up! True Friend set. The card base is SU's Old Olive, the designer paper is from Fancy Pants, the ribbon is from Creative Impressions, and I used various punches from SU to create the layered look for the sentement.

Tomorrow night I am going to a high school production of High School Musical and then Saturday we are off to the craft show. On Sunday I will be making 12 invitations for the company holiday party and finishing my ATC's for Taylor's swap. Big weekend with lot's of fun stuff planned.

Thanks again for stopping by and I will post more pictures soon.

~ Pegi

Infuse Gift Set

2007-11-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

Hello to all my dear stamping and blogging friends. It has been a very busy week as I continue to settle into my new job, get ready for my stamping retreat this weekend, and prepare for the big craft fair on Saturday, November 17th. If you live near Lakeville, Minnesota . . . please stop by Christina Huddleston Elementary School that day where my dear friends Paris from Inky Art and Kristina from Balance, as well as myself, will be selling our handmade items. We would love to meet you.

I made this gift set for the craft fair using my favorite line of paper . . . Basic Grey. This particular pattern is from the "Infuse" line. The first picture shows the 5 x 7 tin covered in the designer paper and decorated with a band around it using my new Nestabilities from Spellbinder. I was so excited to find out that Nestabilities works in the Quickutz Revolution machine. It doesn't emboss, but it does cut. I finished off the band using the flower from SU's Doodle This stamp set and the stems are from SU's Doodle That stamp set. I used my watercolor crayons to color the stems.

The second picture shows all five cards as well as the tin. I used SU's Close to Cocoa for my card bases, Basic Grey's "Infuse" paper, ribbon from May Arts, swarovski crystals, scallop rectangles from Nestabilities, and a combination of SU's Sassy Stems, Doodle This, Doodle That, and Oh So Lovely stamp sets. The third picture shows the cards a little closer up so you can see the detailing.

I want to thank you all so very much for continuing to read my blog and for all your beautiful compliments, comments, and e mails as I continue to grow and learn and improve my papercrafting and stamping skills.

Thanks again to everyone for stopping by . . . and big stamping hugs to everyone!!!

~ Pegi

Christmas Journals

2007-11-03T10:29:00.001-07:00

Over the past few months I have had a lot of fun making little journals for my upcoming craft show on November 17th at Christina Huddleston Elementary School in Lakeville, MN. I have made well over 100 of these little journals, in a variety of different styles, and I only have 40 left. My friends, family, and co-workers have wanted to see what I have been working on and they have all been buying them. I just take the proceeds and go buy more little naked journals at Office Max and make some more. They are really fun to make and I think they make a nice little gift for friends, family, teachers, etc. Last night the ladies at my stamp club were getting a chuckle out of the fact that the naked journals cost $1.29 to start with at Office Max and by the time I put the paper and all the embellishments on them I have well exceeded the $5.00 price I am asking for them. LOL . . . No wonder people are jumping on these for five bucks. Do you think I should up my asking price at the craft show?

Here is one of the journals I designed for my Stamp Club to make at last night's monthly meeting. I used Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding designer paper for the journal and the little decoration on the front is a piece of round Bazill chipboard covered in Figgy Pudding paper and decorated with a die cut from last year's Quickutz "Holiday" set. I recently purchased the set at Archivers on sale for 75% off . . . I paid a whopping $12.48. It came with two Christmas trees, the words Happy Holidays, and an embossing folder of Season's Greetings. What a steal of a deal!!! The photo corners on the journal are also a die cut from Quickutz. I use my Revolution machine and I am happy to report that I have just found out that Nestabilities are compatable with Quickutz machines. I am going out today to buy the square scallops at Anchor Paper Express in Burnsville, MN.

Thank you everyone for stopping by today and I hope you are all having a fantastic weekend. I do have a couple of questions for all of you today. So if you get a chance . . . please leave a comment. My questions are . . . "Do any of you sell your handmade items at craft shows?" "What kind of items do you sell?" "What kind of prices should I be putting on my items?"

Thank you for any advice you can give me on the craft show thing and I will talk to you all tomorrow when I will have a very special announcement to make . . . so stay tuned.

Big stamping hugs to all of you!!!!

~ Pegi

Bella Willow's Going To A Craft Show

2007-10-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

As if my life isn't busy enough . . . I sign up for a craft show? Originally I signed up just so I could hang out for a nice leisurely day with my dear stamping friend Paris. She is always so busy with her SU business, her children, and all her other activities that I thought it would be a great way for us to have a nice fun day hanging out together. I have been to a couple of craft shows with her over the past year and it was so much fun. Paris let me bring a few of my stamped items and we put them at her table. So this time I decided to get my own table and really do it up. We also invited our dear friend Kristina so she could hang out with us and bring some of her stamped items too.

So . . . for the past month . . . I have been working on small and large journals, cards . . . lots of cards, and lots of altered items. Here are two cards I made this morning for the craft show.

The card base is from Archivers, but I'm sorry I don't know the color off hand. The designer paper and embellishments are from Paper Adventures. The ribbon is from May Arts. The stamped images are Ollie and Olivia from Stampendous and that cute little bear is from SU's Bundle of Joy. I fun flocked Ollie, Olivia, and that sweet little bear. I never seem to have any baby cards or wedding cards in my stash and I thought these might work. What do you think? Can Ollie and Olivia pass for a wedding card?

I hope everyone had a great weekend . . . and you didn't forget to set your clocks back. I will be back again this week with a lot of stuff I made for the craft show.

Big stamping hugs!

~ Pegi

I've Been Tagged . . .

2007-10-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

. . . by my dear friend Kristina Lewis. In this game of tag, I am supposed to list what I was doing ten, twenty, and thirty years ago.

Ten Years Ago 1997: It has been exactly ten years ago that I bought my very own car for the first time and got my very first Minnesota driver's license. I always had access to cars, but preferred to walk, ride my bike, or take the bus. I had just moved out of the City though, and was working a lot of crazy retail hours at the Men's Wearhouse, and really needed to start driving. How many people remember when they were younger and they walked, and biked, and took the bus everywhere? Now when I go somewhere I am so short on time, or so dang tired from my hect life that I drive around the parking lot until I find the closest parking spot. How sad is that?

Twenty Years Ago 1987: I remember this year perfectly. I moved from my hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska to Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 2, 1987. The Minnesota Twins had just won the World Series a couple of weeks before and the Twin Cities were still celebrating when I got here. My best friend from college and her family lived here and there were so many more job opportunities than back home, so I came. I remember when I first got here they took me out to Figlio's in Uptown and I had Calamari for the first time in my life. If they had told me it was squid when we ordered it . . . I know I would have never tried it. Thank goodness they didn't tell me and that was just the beginning of so many new and wonderful things in my life.

Thirty Years Ago 1977: OMG . . . what an awesome year!!! I graduated from Lincoln East High School in Lincoln, Nebraska that year. I went to Adventureland in Iowa with three of my high school girlfriends right after graduation and then I moved away from my parents' home and was off to go live and go to school at the University of Nebraska where my major was interior design and fashion merchandising. I met my very best friend in the whole world, Terry, and we are still friends to this day. We listened to a lot of the Bee Gee's that year and I was so in love with their little brother Andy Gibb. I even got to see him in concert that year.

It seems like everyone has already been tagged, so if you haven't been tagged already, you're it!!

Big stamping hugs!

~ Pegi

It's Figgy Pudding Time!!!

2007-10-23T19:38:00.001-07:00

It's finally here . . . the long awaited newest Christmas paper from Basic Grey . . . Figgy Pudding!!! My dear friends at the Apple Valley Archivers know how much I just adore Basic Grey . . . and they always manage to call me right away when the latest line comes in so I can get my 6 x 6 pads. I just love those little pads for making cards.

So in honor of Figgy Pudding's release . . . I broke out some Christmas stamps and made this little card. The card base is SU's Chocolate Chip, the designer paper is from a 6 x 6 pad of Figgy pudding, the main stamped image is from SU's Flaky Friends, and the sentement is from Hero Arts. I used SU small brads on the corners, Bo Bunny decorative brads on the cards, SU's 5/8" chocolate chip ribbon layered with Creative Impressions organdy dotted ribbon. I paper pieced my snowmen and colored in the buttons and carrot noses with SU markers. I used glitter on the edges of my snowmen for a little "bling" as my dear friend Taylor would call it.

On another note . . . a lot of my stamping and blogging friends have asked about my new stamping room that I converted from my unused guest room into a fabulous space where I can make all the messes I want . . . and then just close the door on it. I recently added a second table so I can have stamping friends over. I try to keep the room clean in case I have friends over to stamp, but sometimes . . . like tonight . . . it gets a little out of control and takes on a life of it's own.

So without further ado . . . here is my new space . . . before my Figgy Pudding card . . . and after.

I sure did make a mess tonight . . . but had a lot of fun stamping and just hanging out. Anyone wanna come over and help me clean up?

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day tomorrow!

~ Pegi

P.S. I got tagged . . . twice . . . by my dear friend Kristina Lewis . . . so I will be back tomorrow and post more about that for you.

Also . . . it appears that this little 'ol blog is fast approaching the 10,000 mark . . . and we all know what that means . . . Blog Candy!!!

Big stamping hugs!!

Life Is Good . . . And Hectic Too!!!

2007-10-21T16:35:00.000-07:00

I am feeling like the worst blogger ever right now! Life continues to be good . . . but very hectic!! My new mortgage job is going great and all my marketing attempts are finally starting to pay off. I absolutely love my job . . . don't get me wrong . . . but I sure do miss stamping and blogging and visiting my friends' blogs and just basically working and living and enjoying life at my own pace.

Being self employed for the past three years has definitely had it's advantages. It has allowed me to have a work life and a fun life for the first time in 10 years. You can work from home in your pajamas . . . which is awesome!! You hardly spend any money on gas. Waiting for an important call from a client or an underwriter . . . no problem . . . just go clean out the cat box or do a few dishes or empty the garbages while you're waiting. Sitting there waiting for that 50 page fax to go through . . . hey . . . go into your stamp room and play a little bit. I was the "Queen of Multi-Tasking" . . . and now I'm just the "Day Late And A Dollar Short Girl"!

So . . . as time goes by . . . and I settle into my new life going outside the home to work . . . I continue to learn how to live life the way most people do ~ crazy, busy, hectic, schedules with never enough time to do the things you want. My house isn't so clean anymore, Willow misses me terribly . . . or maybe it's me that misses her . . . or maybe a little of both, and I can never find the time to stamp and blog and just relax like I used to . . . but I have to say . . . Life is good!!!

Now about my card . . . I spent last weekend at my dear friend and SU upline Paris Otremba's house for a stamping slumber party and I got to bring Willow with me. Our dear friend Kristina Lewis was there and we had so much fun. Paris challenged me to an SCS Sketch Challenge and this was the one she chose. It is Sketch Challenge 38. I made this card using Regal Rose as my card base and Fancy Pants designer paper for the card. Life Is Good is a rub on and the brads are SU's Regal Rose. It was a very simple and fun card to make. Sometimes you just have to make a simple card.

Thanks for stopping by!

~ Pegi

Basic Grey Christmas Card Class

2007-10-08T16:30:00.000-07:00

It's never too early to start making Christmas cards. I think I need to start making Christmas cards year round though so I will have enough of them when Christmas actually gets here. Here's what usually happens . . . I start making my cards in July or August with leftover paper and embellishments from the year before . . . I put them in my stash for safekeeping and wait anxiously for the new paper and embellishments to start coming out in October . . . when the paper finally gets here, I make more cards with the new paper and put those in my stash . . . I've got most of my Christmas cards already made by November 1st and I can focus on my gift shopping . . . then my non-making card friends come over to my house and start going through my cards to see what last-minute birthday, anniversary, new baby, and thank you cards they might buy from me . . . they know I love to sell my cards to them because they gush all over them and tell all their friends that "Pegi made it" . . . and then . . . they spot the stash of Christmas cards and decide that they hate the store-bought Christmas cards they had to get and want to buy a few of mine for a couple of special friends . . . oh and a cousin or two . . . and they forgot about that client . . . and the boss . . . and the neighbor down the street . . . and before you know it . . . my Christmas card stash is gone and I have to scramble at the last minute to make my Christmas cards because I didn't have the heart to say no to my dear friends . . . and . . . well . . . everybody already knows me as the day late and a dollar short girl . . . so why break tradition. And this year is going to be no different. I am still a day late and a dollar short and will probably be scrambling at the last minute to make my Christmas cards . . . it's a tradition.

One very different thing about this year is all the beautiful friends I have met from all over the world through stamping and blogging. I feel so blessed to have you all in my life. So as I continue to scramble to get all of my Christmas cards made, and beat myself up for always being a day late and a dollar short, I will manage to say a little prayer and count my blessings for all the wonderful friends that are always right on time with their friendship, love, and support. Thank you ladies!!!

Oh yeh . . . about the cards . . . I made these three cards for my October card-making classes at Memory Creek. I love teaching classes, but have found it a bit difficult to come up with something that people will be able to make. My biggest challenge is that number one . . . I can't use anything Stampin' Up! . . . and number two . . . Ann doesn't carry any stamps in her store. Okay . . . so how do you teach advanced cardmaking/stamping without any stamps? Easy . . . you either go through your stash of what you may have at home . . . you go to Archivers and purchase what you may want to use . . . or in this particular case . . . you score a really cute Stampendous Christmas Tree stamp at a garage sale for $3.00. The other two stamps I already had at home in my stash.

Have a great night everybody . . . I'm off to get started on my Christmas cards . . . and I will be back again tomorrow with a frame I made for my craft show.

Big stamping hugs!

~ Pegi

All Spruced Up . . . In Basic Grey!

2007-10-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I can't believe it has been a week since I had the time to sit down and blog . . . ugh!! It has been a crazy busy week. Work has been very hectic as always. I am preparing for a big speech next Friday in front of 200 CRS (Certified Residental Specialist) Real Estate Agents. I have never done any public speaking in my life . . . so if anyone has any pointers . . . it would be much appreciated. We had a very successful Clean Sweep sale at Memory Creek last weekend. It was a lot of fun and my dear sweet friend Kristina Lewis was there to help me and join in on some of the fun. You will have to ask Kristina about her great bargains she found at the sale! I guess I have been having too much fun lately and not taking very good care of myself, because I have been a little under the weather most of the week. Hopefully, I will start feeling better soon because I have a very busy week ahead of me. I am counting down the days until Friday when Paris, Kristina, Chris, and myself leave for our big stamping retreat. I can't wait!!!

I just joined my very first stamp club and I am so excited. That Kristina Lewis is so amazing and I have been having so much fun hanging out with her and her beautiful family and meeting all of her stamping friends. We had our very first meeting on Friday evening at Artsy Tartsy and had a shoebox swap. I had never done that before and it was a blast. Our dear friends Tami Wood and Kathleen Hopperstad were there and I met some new ladies too. Ruth Ann, Wendy, and Darlene. We had so much fun and I can't wait until our next club meeting.

So here is the card that I designed for my next stamp club meeting. I am getting a head start on all my Christmas cards this year . . . especially with the upcoming craft show at Christina Huddelston Elementary School in Lakeville, MN coming up on November 17th. If you live anywhere near the Lakeville area, Paris, Kristina, Niki, and myself will all be there. We got three tables right next to each other and plan on making all kinds of fun stuff to sell.

This card was used with Basic Grey's Fruitcake paper and SU's Fun and Fast Notes stamp set. I used the new 5/8" ribbon from SU and layered it with organdy dotted ribbon from Creative Impressions. I paper pieced my tree and finished it off with Cloud 9 red rain dots. I am in the process of designing some more Christmas cards and will feature them all week.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend, and thank you so much for all your beautiful comments and for the emails I got asking if everything was okay since I had not been here all week. I can't believe it was a whole week with no stamping and no blogging. I have a lot of catching up to do around here.

Big stamping hugs to everyone and I will talk to you all again soon.

~ Pegi

Introducing Lily!!!

2007-09-30T10:07:00.001-07:00

I would like you all to meet sweet little Lily. Lily is actually Willow's baby niece (Willow's father is Lily's grandfather). Lily is 16 weeks old and . . . well I don't have to tell you . . . absolutely adorable!!! Lily is staying with us until she can go to her new permanent home. A few people have wanted to take Lily home with them . . . I mean who wouldn't . . . but Lily's breeder has to find the perfect home for this little cutie. For now we are giving her lots of hugs, kisses, and love as I try not to become too attached to her and not want to give her up. My sweet little Willow has taken Lily under her wing and is being the perfect auntie to this sweet little baby. They play together, eat together, and I even just caught them napping together on Willow's bed. It doesn't get any cuter than this!!

Also, I wanted to thank everyone for leaving a comment about your big weekend plans. Sounds like you are all keeping busy and having some fun this weekend too. The cleaning didn't sound like much though. The winners of the card giveaway are Tami Wood, Rita, and Michelle. Ladies, please send me your snail mail addresses and I will get those to you right away.

Thanks again for stopping by and for all your fun comments. I am just finishing up a fun project and I will try to get it posted in the morning.

Big stamping hugs from Pegi, Willow, and baby Lily!

Friday Card Giveaways!!!

2007-09-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!! Did you think I forgot about our little tradition here at BellaWillow? I know . . . a day late and a dollar short as always . . . so today I have three cards for our Friday Card Giveaway.

I designed these cards for my first month of card making classes at Memory Creek where I am a card instructor. The classes were fun and I met some wonderful women. We had a lot of fun trying out some new stamps, punches, and techniques. I hope they will join me again next month.

My cards were made using Bazill paper for the bases and the designer paper is from Bo Bunny's Shabby Princess line. The stamp set is Just Picked from Technique Tuesday. I am loving these Technique Tuesday stamps. Oops . . . the first card is made using the Hippie Flower stamp from Limited Edition and the sentement is from Amuse. The other two cards are Technique Tuesday and the sentement is from my computer. Hey . . . if you can't find the right stamp . . . wing it!!

If you would like a chance to win one of these cards, please leave a comment on my blog and tell me about your exciting plans for the weekend. I will put all the names in a hat and draw three lucky winners out tomorrow night and announce the winners Sunday morning.

I hope you all have great plans for the weekend and thanks again so much for all your kind words.

Big stamping hugs,

~ Pegi

Bridal Party Bellas Dressed In Stella Ruby

2007-09-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

When my very dear sweet title closer Cassie first approached me about making six cards for her bridal attendants, I was flattered . . . but a little apprehensive. All I could think of was wedding . . . white . . . lace . . . fru fru . . . yuck. How could I come up with something for that? She then explained that they were going to be part of the girls' thank you gifts, that her colors were red and pink, that she really liked my style, and to do whatever I wanted. We did agree that it would be nice to somehow incorporate each girls' name or first initial on the card to really make it their own. Okay . . . I could do that.

Bridalpartybella . . . that was my very first thought and so I took her to the Stampingbella website and she loved the stamp and immediately ordered it for me to use. My next big challenge was finding a designer paper that worked well with The Bellas, had red and pink in it, and was true to my funky vintage style. OMG . . . Basic Grey Stella Ruby was perfect and she loved it too!

So now that you know how the planning went, here is the card I came up with. Thirty paper pieced Bellas, each with their own unique dress on, 84 corner punches, 60 Swarovski Crystals, and 12 ribbons just to name a few.

Big hugs go out to my very dear sweet friend Kristina Lewis of Balance for helping me with the initials. She picked out the Quickutz letters from her magic bag of tricks and punched each one out for me. Thank you Kristina!!! I think these letters put the finishing touch on these cards. The funky style lettering goes very nice with the Stella Ruby paper and the Bellas.

And of course my dear sweet little puppy had to get in on the action too. "Look Momma . . . you dropped something!!" Do you remember the story of how Willow sits under my stamping desk and waits for any piece of paper . . . no matter how small . . . to drop from the sky? Well it looks as though she has caught herself a little paper treat. In case you can't see it . . . Willow has a small piece of paper stuck on her mouth. Can any Stampin' Up! fans tell what that is stuck to her sweet little face?

I hope everyone is having a great week . . . I know I am!!! Lot's of fun stuff going on here and I will have to sit down later and tell you all about it. Have a great day everyone . . . and thank you all so much for continuing to read my blog and for all your wonderful comments as I continue to grow in this craft. A very special thank you goes out to Kristina Lewis for all your beautiful compliments. You make me want to try new things as I continue to spread my wings and come out of my shell in this whole crazy stamping/papercrafting world. Big hugs to you and your beautiful family!!

Big stamping hugs to everyone from me and Willow!!

~ Pegi

I've Been Tagged . . . And Then Tagged Again!!!

2007-09-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of blog tag going on right now and I'm happy to join right in on this fun game!!!

First of all I was tagged by Taylor and here is how her little game of tag works.

1. YOUR ROCKSTAR NAME (first pet, current car): Mia Jetta . . . okay this game might be kinda fun . . . that sounds like a famous rock star or a rock star's daughter.

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (favorite ice cream, favorite cookie): Chocolate Chocolate Chip . . . okay that's really gonna impress all my gangsta friends. "Word up . . . Chocolate Chocolate Chip here . . . holla back if you wanna go to Archivers and stamp with me tonight".

3. YOUR FLY "GUY/GIRL" NAME (first initial first name, first 3 letters last name): P-Tay . . . P-Diddy . . . okay that might work.

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Pink Cat . . . okay I guess that works . . . wasn't the Pink Panther a detective?

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): Sue Lincoln

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (first 3 letters last name, first 2 letters first name): Taype . . . not a big Star Wars Fan . . . would that be pronounced TAY-PEE or just TAPE? Either way . . . it sounds stupid!

7. YOUR SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink, & add "the"): The Blue Fresca . . . what kind of a crazy superhero is that?

8. YOUR NASCAR NAME (first names of your Grandfathers): Harold Heye . . . okay . . . I think Harry drives a mean race car.

9. YOUR STRIPPER NAME (favorite perfume, favorite candy): Chanel M&M's . . . I better do like Cher, Prince, and Madonna . . . use my first name only!

10. YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION NAME (Mother's & Father's middle names): Louise Lee

I was then tagged by my dear friend Kristina and here is how her game of tag works.

Four Tidbits

Four Places I have worked:
1) IMS Mortgage Services, Inc.
2) Midwest Lending
3) Men's Wearhouse
4) Sears

Four Places I have lived:
1) Minneaolis, MN
2) Des Moines, IA
3) Columbia, SC
4) Lincoln, NE

Four Places I have been on Vacation:
1) St. Thomas US Virgin Islands
2) St. Maarten
3) Sanibel Island, FL
4) Seattle, WA

Four Favorite Foods
1) CHOCOLATE!!!
2) Pizza
3) Mexican
4) Chineese Buffet

Four Friends I'm tagging that are most likely to respond:
1) Paris Otremba
2) Sheila Oliver
3) Michelle White
4) Tammy McBeain

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and now I am off to go stamp and will hopefully have some fun cards to post.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Pegi

The Blogger Babes Are At It Again!!!

2007-09-19T21:50:00.000-07:00

I had another fun evening with one of my very dear friends . . . Kristina Lewis. She came over to my house tonight for dinner and an evening of stamping. Why is it . . . whenever us Blogger Babes get together for stamping . . . we do everything but stamp? Kristina and I had so much fun talking and laughing and playing with Willow and Izzy. They absolutely adored her. I can't wait till we can do it again Kristina!

This card started out to be a sketch challenge over at SCS . . . and it just got a little outta control with all the layers . . . 14 to be exact. It has so many layers it won't even stand up on it's own . . . it keeps tipping over. It sure was fun to make though. I was in the mood for something Fall looking and I don't have any leaves, so I made a Fall looking flower instead.

The card base is SU's Close To Cocoa and the dp is Basic Grey's Aged&Confused Vagabond line. I used SU's 5/8" Chocolate Chip ribbon and added brown organdy ribbon over it. I used some Hodgepodge Hardware from SU and the flower is from the SU Doodle This set. The sentement is from SU's Short & Sweet.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Pegi

The Blogger Babes Enjoy An Evening Of Stamping ! !

2007-09-16T20:21:00.001-07:00

The Blogger Babes . . . what kind of a silly name is that you ask? Well that is what we call ourselves . . . Kristina, Kathleen, Michelle, Paris, and myself. Ever since our dear friend Taylor came to town last weekend for Scrapfest at the Mall of America, and got us all together for dinner, we have been e-mailing each other, calling each other on the phone, checking out each other's blogs, and last night we had a stamping evening at Archivers in Apple Valley. Paris couldn't come because she was out of town ((((((((we missed you Paris and we hope you can come to the next Blogger Babes' outing))))))). So Kristina, Kathleen, Michelle, and myself each rolled, carried, carted, and toted half the contents of our stamping rooms over to Archivers and piled our table up high with all kinds of stamp sets, inks, paper, ribbons, embellishments, tools, etc. and settled in for a six hour stamp fest.

Okay . . . so I bet you are all thinking that we sure got a lot of stamping done . . . well I am sorry to disappoint you but there was more laughing, talking, and shopping at Archivers going on than there was stamping. We had most of the inventory from Archivers and Stampin' Up! already on our table . . . but we are all out in the store checking out what we might be missing for our big evening.

Okay . . . so it wasn't all laughing, talking, and shopping for the entire evening. We did manage to get some things done . . . we made a card. Yup . . . thats right . . . we made "a" card . . . "one" card . . . in six hours! LOL. It was probably the most fun card I have ever made though because all four of us designed it together, and shared in the making of it. We had so much fun making that little card and each one of us are going to share it on our blog.

Our Halloween card is made using Bazill "Parakeet" paper for the card base, Daisy D's "Taylor" designer paper ((((((((((((((Taylor did you hear that . . . you were with us in spirit)))))))))). The cute little cat on the broom is from SU's Haunting Halloween stamp set. Michelle reached into one of her many bags and pulled out that cute little sentement. I am not sure where it is from, but it worked perfectly ((((((((((thank you Michelle))))))))). We used two kinds of ribbon from Anchor Paper and layered it. Kathleen showed us how to use the watercolor crayons on our cute little cat. We used a black watercolor crayon and you have to dab it on a piece of paper or a napkin before you bring it to your paper, otherwise it goes on way too dark (((((((((((thank you Kathleen))))))))))).

So that was pretty much our fun filled evening. We did take a little break half way through the night and the Blogger Babes came over to my house (two miles away from Archivers) so they could see my townhouse, my stamping room, and of course my sweet little Willow. Willow was a little shy at first (she hid under the couch and kept peeking out) but the more they come over to visit the more she will warm up to them. She did manage to give Kristina lots of kisses though ((((((Kristina . . . I can't wait for our next stamping fest on Wednesday))))))).

And here is a picture of Willow standing on my stamping bag all ready to go on the next outing of the Blogger Babes.

Have a great week everyone and I will be back to share more creations, stories, and pictures with you.

~ Pegi

Technique Tuesday vs. Stampin' Up!

2007-09-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have been using mostly Stampin' Up! stamps because I really like the quality, and that's what my friends use, and I'm a demonstrator and I get a great discount. However, recently I was asked to be a card instructor at Memory Creek in Farmington, Minnesota and I can't very well be teaching card classes using my Stampin' Up! stamps. The owner of the store, Ann Manthey, has also asked me to sell some of my cards in her store, and I can't sell any Stampin' Up! images either. So because of these things, I had to search out some alternatives. I came across Technique Tuesday and instantly loved the way they stamped. They are not rubber like SU, and I have just found out that they are not acrylic either. They look like acrylic stamps, but Technique Tuesday claims they are not acrylic, and according to the nice young lady that I spoke with, they aren't giving away their secret sauce recipe. So I have no idea what these wonderful little stamps are made of, but I love them all the same. There are so many stamps out there on the market, and some of them stamp like crap, so it is always nice to find a stamp that works good.

Now don't get me wrong . . . I do not plan on giving up my Stampin' Up! stamps anytime soon, but it is nice to know that we do have choices. And it's nice to know that there are other stamps out there just as nice as our beloved Stampin' Up! So if you find yourself in a situation where you can't use SU products or you just want to try something new, I recommend you give Technique Tuesday a try. I think you will like them.

So for this little card I used my Just Picked set from Technique Tuesday. The card base is Bazill paper and the dp is from Bo Bunny's Shabby Princess line. The ribbon is from SU and the brads are from Karen Foster.

I hope everyone is having a great week, and thank you for stopping by.

Big stamping hugs.

~ Pegi

Funky Shabby Chic Sassy Stems

2007-09-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

Everytime I look at this Infuse Paper I think of Funky Shabby Chic. I love the paper . . . I love all the Basic Grey papers. I can't wait for Basic Grey's new Christmas line to arrive next month . . . Figgy Pudding.

I made this card using SU's Chocolate Chip cardstock for my base, I layered Basic Grey's Infuse paper for the rest of the card, and I used SU's Sassy Stems and Warm Words sets for my image and sentement. I stamped them on the Basic Grey dp and instead of coloring in the flower, I paper pieced it. I used SU's Hodgepodge Hardware for the sentement. The brown ribbon is from SU and the pink ribbon is from Archivers.

I hope everyone enjoyed the recap of Scrapfest. We had so much fun and I am so excited to stamp with Kristina, Kathleen, and Michelle at Archivers on Saturday night. We are going to have so much fun. I will post pictures of our stamping night and hopefully a project or two for you all to see.

Have a great week everyone and thank you so much for continuing to read my blog and for all all the wonderful comments you leave.

I thought you might enjoy seeing this picture of my little stamping helper. She sits right here next to my stamp table chewing on her flossie anxiously awaiting any small scrap of paper that might fall off my desk. That's her cue to grab it up real quick, run out of the room, and then run around with it in her mouth for the next 10 minutes taunting me and just daring me to try and get it from her. When she has had enough of the game, she takes her new prize under the couch where Mama can't get to it and stashes it away and then she comes out and waits for the next piece of paper to fall down from the sky and we play that silly game all over again. It's a wonder I get any stamping done at all.

Have a great day everyone!!!

~ Pegi

Welcome To Scrapfest '07!!

2007-09-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

For those of you who didn't get to attend this year's Scrapfest . . . the nation's premier scrapbooking and paper-crafting event! . . . let me be your guide for this fantastic three day event that was sponsored by Archivers and held at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota . . . 15 minutes away from my house.

Our first stop on the Scrapfest tour takes us to the Stampendous booth where our dear friend Taylor VanBruggen is hard at work making sure everyone is having fun doing the make and take. The first picture is of Taylor (in the middle) with the two Stampendous girls she came to Minneapolis with. The second picture is of Taylor working at her table and Michelle, Kathleen, and Kristina taking part in the make and take.

Our next stop on the tour is the Daisy D's booth where Paris and I were so lucky to meet designer Kelly Taylor. Kelly came all the way from Utah to host this fabulous card making class using paper that he had designed. We had a wonderful conversation with Kelly and he told us that he had just gotten back from a trip to Boston where he was scouting out fabric for the upcoming 2008 line of paper. He works about a year ahead of time. I can't imagine working a year ahead of time . . . well of course not you say . . . you're the day late and a dollar short girl. We asked him to tell us about what me might see in the future at Archivers and he told us to be watching for the 2008 line of Valentine paper from Daisy D's called Maybe Baby. I love Daisy D's paper and I can't wait to see what wonderful paper Kelly has designed for us. Here is a picture of the card I made at the Daisy D's booth and Kelly was so gracious and autographed it for me.

Our next stop on the Scrapfest tour is the Cosmo Cricket booth. Does Cosmo Cricket remind you of anything? Don't you feel like you have seen it somewhere before? Well if you said yes then you probably know that Cosmo Cricket is the creation of married designers Eric and Julie Comstock. You might have heard of Comstock before. Eric and Julie are the original creators of the Comstock Collection. The Comstock Collection is still being featured by We R Memory Keepers at scrapbook stores all over the country. They have recently decided to go on their own and Cosmo Cricket was born. Same look . . . but a different name . . . and their very own company. Cosmo Cricket you ask . . . how did they come up with that name? Cosmo Cricket is an anagram of Eric Comstock. He typed his name in wordsmith.org and that's what came out.

Look at these beautiful items featured at the Cosmo Cricket booth. I especially love the ornaments and that cute little birdhouse.

Our next stop on the Scrapfest '07 tour is the Westrim/Autumn Leaves booth where we met the sweetest woman, Illiana. It was nearing the end of the day and the lines were still very long at each booth. Paris and I started talking to Illiana about the cute little Rhonna Farrer butterfly stamp they were featuring and that I was going to go up to Archivers after the event was over and try to find it. Illiana informed me that Archivers had already sold out of it but if I came back to her booth in a few minutes she would give me that cute little butterfly stamp to take home with me. How sweet is that!!! So I went back and Illiana gave me the butterfly stamp and the word flourish stamp that she had used all weekend at her booth. She took great care in cleaning them up for me and was concerned that they were a little dirty still. I told her that they had received much love over the last few days and I was honored to be receiving them. Illiana was fabulous and I hope we see her again.

I hope everyone is enjoying their guided tour through Scrapfest '07. Our final stop on the tour today will be some of the display boards featuring some of the wonderful projects that were offered in the workshops. Enjoy!!!

This concludes our Scrapfest '07 guided tour. I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did. Thanks for stopping by today and I hope everyone is having a fantastic week.

~ Pegi

Priceless!!!!

2007-09-08T21:10:00.000-07:00

That's what good friends are . . . Priceless!!! I had such a fun evening last night with my stamping/blogging friends at CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) that I wanted to make this card in their honor to let them know how special they are to me, and how much fun I had last night.

Hello everyone . . . I know it's been a couple of weeks since I have been able to share anything with you. I hate not having time to stamp and blog and talk to all my friends . . . but my new job at the bank has been very busy. Once I get settled in a little more, and learn my job a little better . . . I will have more time to stamp and chat!

It's Scrapfest weekend here in Minnesota, which is an event sponsored by Archivers, and a lot of women from all over the country are here for the workshops and make and takes. We are very lucky this year to have our very dear friend Taylor VanBruggen from tayloredexpressions in town with us and we had dinner last night in her honor. There were about 15 women at dinner and we had such a fun time. It was so nice to finally be able to meet so many of my stamping/blogging friends and be able to sit down with them and talk and share and get to know everyone a little better. I am excited to say that we are planning on doing it again in the near future.

This set is the new SU Priceless set and I have to say I was a little stumped at first on how to put something together with it . . . but once I started inking up the stamps . . . the card just flowed. I really like the fact that it has 11 stamps with it and you can not only make your main images, but you can make fun backgrounds too. Can you see how I took some of the stamps and used the SU White Craft Ink to add to the dp?

I also broke out my new 2007-2008 SU In Colors and used Wild Wasabi for the card base. I also used Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate inks, and Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon. The dp is from the Basic Grey Perhaps line. I used one of my 6 x 6 pads. I really like those pads.

So whether you are at Scrapfest this weekend, just enjoying time with your family, or sitting in your stamp room creating something special, I hope everyone is having a great weekend!! I am looking forward to tomorrow when Paris and I are going to Scrapfest and meeting up with Katheleen and Kristina. I will try to post some pictures this week of all our activities.

Good Night!!

Pegi

A Day Late And A Dollar Short . . .

2007-08-29T20:27:00.000-07:00

. . . did your parents ever used to say that when you were a kid? I remember my mom always sayin' it and for some reason it has just always stuck in my head. A day late and a dollar short has always been so appropriate for my life. I am always a day or two or three late for things I want to do or get done and it seems like I am always digging in my purse for that extra bit of change for something I want to buy. I have good intentions of getting things done . . . like paying bills, balancing the checkbook, sending out packages, doing the grocery shopping, announcing the 5,000 hit winner on my blog . . . but there are just never enough hours in the day.

Many of you who know me well know that I am totally a home body who loves to stay at home and play with Willow and Izzy and make my cards. I get invited to things but most of my friends know that I would rather stay at home and do stuff around my house. I didn't used to be like that, but ever since I bought my townhouse four years ago and have had fun decorating it and have my own stamp room and then added little Willow to my family . . . I just love staying at home in my own house that I pay a mortgage on every month. After a long day of working in the hectic stressful mortgage industry it is so calming to be home in my little ol' stamp room with my persian cat sitting up on the table watching me stamp waiting ever so patiently for me to get out that ribbon so she can really play, and for little Willow to be laying on one of her beds chewing a flossie or barking at Izzy to jump down off the table and play with her instead of Mama's ribbons. Who needs to leave home when you got all this?

Well . . . after four years of being self employed and having the luxury of working from home and setting my own hours . . . I did something really crazy and accepted a job at a bank. Crazy for me because now I get up every morning and head off to an office and leave my babies at home to fend for themselves for 8 hours (yes I have banker's hours) and then I come home and I bring work home with me and don't have time to stamp or blog or do anything but finish up work, learn new things about work, and crawl into bed . . . dead tired I might add . . . and get ready to do it all over again the next day. And what's even crazier . . . I LOVE IT!!! This has got to be one of the best things I have done in a very long time. I'm still doing mortgages, but it is so nice to be Pegi Taylor from a bank rather than Pegi Taylor who is just a lonely little mortgage broker on the street corner just like everybody else out there trying to get a deal. I think you get much more respect in this industry being from a bank.

Okay . . . enough rambling about being a day late and a dollar short . . . you get the point . . . and now after a very hectic week settling into my new job and learning everything the bank has to teach me and having just the time of my life . . . it is time for me to announce the winner of the 5,000 hit giveaway for that $20 Archiver's gift card. I have to tell you all that you had me laughing so hard at some of the funny things you had to tell us about yourself. I randomly chose a winner and it just so happend to be Cindy Jacobson. Congratulations Cindy and please send me your snail mail address so I can send you your gift card.

And I want to thank everyone for continuing to read my blog even though I haven't posted in a week. Your loyalty means everything to me. Once I finish all this bank training and get totally settled into my new position, I have some really fun things planned here at BellaWillow. I am also teaching my card classes at Memory Creek starting in September so if you live in the area, please come in and introduce yourself.

I missed last Friday's card giveaway, so there will be two cards this Friday to be given away, so please come back and check it out. And is it to early to start making Christmas cards? And speaking of a day late and a dollar short. I made 25 Halloween cards last year and never sent a one of them out. I made them in September and by the time I remembered I had made them, Halloween had just passed and I was too embarassed to send them out. Isn't that stupid!!! So maybe we will have some Halloween giveaways this year at BellaWillow.

Take care everyone and I will be posting my three cards I made for my card class as well as some Friday card giveaways.

Big Stamping Hugs

~ Pegi

Celebrating 5,000 Hits ! ! !

2007-08-23T18:49:00.001-07:00

I was at my favorite store tonight wondering what kind of blog candy I should buy in celebration of BellaWillow's 5,000 hits. There was so much to choose from and I just couldn't decide . . . so I bought a $20.00 gift card instead and one lucky winner can decide. This gift card is good at any Archivers store or at Archiversonline.com.

First of all I want to say thank you to everyone who reads my blog and takes the time to leave such wonderful comments. Your kind words have really touched me and I have enjoyed meeting people from all over the world. It is my goal to not only make cards and put them on my blog, but to take time and visit everyone's blogs and see what kinds of wonderful things you are making as well.

If you would like to have a chance to win the $20.00 Archiver's gift card, just leave a comment and tell us something funny about yourself that people might not know. I will randomly draw a name Saturday afternoon and announce a winner at that time. Also, I plan on having the Friday card giveaway tomorrow as well, so come back for that too.

Have a great night everyone, and don't forget . . . something funny about yourself that people might not know. Thank for stopping by.

Big stamping hugs . . . Pegi

Thanks . . . I Needed That ! ! !

2007-08-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

This card is me tonight. I finally took some much needed time for myself so I could stamp. I got to break out my new Stampin' Up! stamp sets . . . that were still sitting in their UPS box from two weeks ago just calling out my name . . . and finally put some ink on 'em!!!

I made this card using the brand new Fun & Fast Notes set. When the new catalog first came out, I didn't put it on my wish list because it was kind of expensive, but you get eight darling stamps, each with their own little words. It has Christmas, birthday, get well, congratulations, new baby, wedding, and two thank you stamps. I can see myself using all eight of the stamps which is nice. I hate to buy a whole set just for one or two stamps. I'm really glad I decided to get it.

The base of the care is made with Bazill paper and the designer paper is Cosmo Cricket's "Dutch Girl" line. I paper pieced my bird and flower with the paper and sponged Soft Sky ink around the circle. I used my Marvy Giga Scalloped Circle punch and put Cloud 9 Rain Dots on all the scallops and the corners of the card. I don't remember where I got the red ribbon, but I do like the wider 5/8" width.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everybody is having a good week. Don't forget blog candy will be posted sometime tomorrow for reaching 5,000 hits, and another Friday Card Giveaway.

~ Pegi

Happier Because Of You !

2007-08-21T18:57:00.001-07:00

This was a fun card to make because I absolutely love this Crate Paper "Baby Bee" paper. Crate Paper is such high quality paper and very easy to work with. The card base is SU's Certainly Celery . . . isn't it funny how all the great designer paper out there totally matches Stampin' Up! colors? These people must know how crazy us cardmakers are for our SU cardstock. I used my SU Because of You stamp set and I paper pieced the flowers. The tiny button brads are from Making Memories.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day tomorrow! Don't forget . . . blog candy on Thursday celebrating 5,000 hits and another Friday Card Giveaway.

Okay . . . after a week of mortgage training . . . I am off to stamp. Be watching for something new tomorrow (I got some new Bo Bunny paper that I am going to create three cards for my first card class at Memory Creek).

~ Pegi

Winona, Minnesota . . . Beautiful ! ! !

2007-08-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

I had such a wonderful time last week at my mortgage training, and I wanted to share this picture with you. Winona, Minnesota is located in the southeastern part of the state and is one of the most beautiful places I have visited in a very long time. It is nestled between the covered limestone river bluffs that rise 500 feet on one side and the Mississippi River on the other side.

This picture was taken from Garven Heights Park and you can see the Mississippi River in the background. Beautiful!!!!

I am sad to say that a few days after I left that beautiful town there was a horrible rainstorm and flash floods. The area in the picture suffered no flood damage, but farther to the east and to the west did. Six people lost their lives in the flash floods and many people lost everything. It is so beautiful to live around water, but horrible when Mother Nature turns ugly.

We Have Some Winners ! ! !

2007-08-21T18:13:00.000-07:00

I apologize that I am so behind on announcing the blog banner winner and last Friday's card giveaway winner. I was out of town all last week and this week I am trying to get caught up on everything.

First of all . . . I want to thank everyone who gave their ideas on what I should use for words on my new blog banner. They were all very good . . . and some of them were hilarious!!! Linda SS had a great one of "Where it's raining cats and dogs and cards" and Bethany had a great one of "Where stamping has gone to the dogs". I have to say that although I changed my mind at the last minute and used my favorite Helen Keller quote, I really loved Kristina Lewis' suggestion of "Where beauty and creativity grow". I really liked how she incorporated my sweet Isabella and Willow into the title. So . . . I am naming Kristina as the blog banner winner of the Basic Grey paper and Archiver's Tote. Congratulations Kristina!!

I want to thank everyone for coming here last Friday for the Friday card giveaway and leaving such wonderful messages for me. I had a very hectic week last week as I was out of town learning a lot of new mortgage stuff and missing stamping and Willow and Izzy very much. It was so nice to be able to have my laptop with me and read all your beautiful comments. The winner of the card is Rebecca. Congratulations Rebecca!!

Thank you all so much for your continued support of my little 'ol blog and I can't believe we are fast approaching 5,000 hits already. I plan on having some really fun blog candy to be announced on Thursday and another card giveaway on Friday. So keep coming back!!!

Have a great night!!

~ Pegi

P.S. Rebecca and Kristina please send me your snail mail address via my e mail and I will send out your blog winnings.

Friday Card Giveaway!

2007-08-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

It has been a very hectic week for me and I am just now getting back into the swing of things after being gone all week receiving some extra special mortgage training from some very wonderful ladies that took time out of their busy schedules to train me, show me some sights of their darling little city, and take me out to a couple of really fun little spots for lunch. So Martha, Sue, and Dawn . . . . if you are reading this . . . . thank you so much for everything this week. I had a lot of fun and I think I learned a lot too.

So here is the card I have selected for our Friday card giveaway. I made this card with my brand new SU Illuminations stamp set. The minute I saw this set in the new catalog last month . . . I just knew I had to have it. The base of the card is SU's Blue Bayou and the designer paper is Basic Grey's "Periphery". The green ribbon goes perfectly with the paper, but it doesn't photograph like that. The Cherish part is stamped and cut out and then stamped again and only the C is cut out and put on a stamping dimensional. The antique brass filigree brad is from the En Fuego Collection of Chiquita Charms from Imaginisce.

It feels great to be home again with Willow and Izzy and I can't wait to have a weekend of stamping. I hope everyone had a great week and I thank you so much for stopping by.

~ Pegi

Check Out BellaWillow's New Blog Banner

2007-08-16T20:43:00.001-07:00

We have a new look here at BellaWillow and a very big thanks goes out to Nicole Seitler for designing BellaWillow's beautiful new blog banner. Nicole has been so awesome and I had so much fun working with her. She just asked me a few questions about colors I like, designer papers, styles, and she came up with this absolutely beautiful design. I just love it . . . and I hope you do as well.

Thanks for stopping by to see our new look.

~ Pegi

Penny Black Stickeroos?

2007-08-12T21:13:00.000-07:00

Stickers . . . can you believe these are stickers? Yup . . . Penny Black Stickeroos. I have no idea what a hedgehog even is . . . and I don't know that I would like to meet one in person . . . but I think these little Penny Black hedgehogs are darling. I needed to make some more cards that can be sold at Memory Creek and I can't have any Stampin' Up! images which pretty much counts out my whole stamp collection. And I don't really want to invest in a lot of stamps that I won't use very much, so when I saw these cute little stickers I thought they just might work.

The card base is SU's Real Red and the designer paper is from Crate Paper's Samantha line. Those little red dots are Cloud Nine Rain Dots. I love them because you just peel and stick and you don't have to punch holes to stick the brads through. The little hedgehog is cut with a Marvy Mega circle punch and layered on top of a Marvy Giga scalloped circle punch from the reversible Samantha paper. The sentiment is from my computer printed in red ink and printed out on SU's Whisper White cardstock.

So . . . although this card may look difficult to make . . . it was pretty easy. No stamping!!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

~ Pegi

We Have A Winner!!!

2007-08-12T21:08:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for your wonderful support and kind comments on what you would like to see on my blog as I continue to grow and learn this beautiful art of papercrafting. The winner of this week's Friday Card Giveaway is Pat S. Pat could you please send me an e mail with your snail mail address and I will get that card in the mail for you.

Again, thank you everyone and we will be doing this every Friday here at BellaWillow.

~ Pegi

Friday Card Giveaway ! ! !

2007-08-10T09:18:00.001-07:00

Did you think I forgot about our new tradition here at BellaWillow? I can't believe it's Friday already . . . and another Friday Card Giveaway is here!! So here is the card I made for today's giveaway.

This card was made using SU's new Fabulous Flowers stamp set and Basic Grey's new "Periphery" line of paper. I hope you like it. The card base and double stitched ribbon is from SU and it is the new 2008 In Color "Blue Bayou".

If you would like to receive this card, please leave a comment on my blog telling me what you would like to see more of here at BellaWillow. For example . . . more cards, more projects, tutorials, shopping, more pictures of Willow and Izzy, etc. There are so many blogs out there, so tell us what you look for when reading your favorite blogs.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

~Pegi

P.S. Sorry for the delay in sending out blog candy packages to previous winners. All blog candy is being mailed out today. Patty, Tami, Christine, Rebecca, and Peggy be watching your mail for our special packages.

Lot's Of Fun Stuff!!!

2007-08-09T22:18:00.000-07:00

Lot's of fun stuff going on here at BellaWillow these days. My dear sweet friend and SU upline, Paris Otremba, got a sweet little nine week old baby yorkie and I got to go help her and her daughter pick up the sweet little puppy. I am such a yorkie lover and was excited when Paris told me the kind of dog her and her family had decided on. She is a sweet little girl . . . and I can't wait for her and Willow to become good friends. They named her Izzy after Izzy Stevens of Grey's Anatomy. Look at this little cutie!!

More great news!!! I got picked to be a card instructor at Memory Creek in Farmington, Minnesota. I will be teaching card classes three times per month starting in September. So if you live anywhere near Farmington, Minnesota, please stop by sometime for one of my classes.

And . . . when I went in to meet with Anne, the wonderful owner of Memory Creek, she asked me to make 50 cards right away that she could sell in her store. I was so excited and honored . . . and now very overwhelmed on how I am going to get 50 cards made so quickly for her. I have gotten 20 done in the last two days . . . so I am hoping I can get the rest done by Saturday afternoon. The only hard thing about making these cards is that I cannot use any Stampin' Up! images . . . so that is going to be kind of hard. Here are a few of the cards I have made so far. I hope people like them.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions for my blog banner. Nicole is out of town for a long weekend and will have something for me next week, so keep your suggestions coming. I hope everyone has a good weekend and thanks for stopping by.

~Pegi

BellaWillow's Blog Banner Contest!!!

2007-08-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

OMG . . . I'm just too excited to announce that I won a blog banner from Nicole Seitler. Nicole contacted me this morning and told me that I won her blog candy from last Friday, which was for her to design a new blog banner for one lucky winner . . . and I was that winner!!! This is so very exciting because I need a blog banner rather than the generic one that comes with Blogspot.

I already know what I want for the design of my blog banner . . . pink, chocolate chip, flourishes, swirls, whimsical, vintage, funky . . . and I want it to say BellaWillow of course. But now I need your help and we are going to make a contest out of it, with a prize of course.

So here is where BellaWillow's contest comes in. I can't just have BellaWillow in my blog banner . . . I need some cute little phrase mixed in too. So . . . I would like you to please give me an idea of what those words should be. Please leave a comment and I will vote on the one I like best and award you a very special prize. I have a brand new pad of 6 x 6 Basic Grey "Phoebe" paper, an Archiver's bag, and a few other surprise goodies.

Good luck and may the best words win!!!!

~ Pegi

Friday Card Giveaway Winner!!!!

2007-08-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

Thank you all so very much for your beautiful comments about our new BellaWillow tradition of giving away a card every Friday. The very first winner was Peggy Maier. Peggy, please send me an e mail with your snail mail address and I will mail your card out to you.

Thank you again everyone for participating, and we will have another card to give away this Friday so be watching.

~ Pegi

Count Your Blessings

2007-08-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

How many times have we heard this throughout our lifetime? Count your blessings. After the tragic Minneapolis Interstate 35 bridge collapse this past week . . . I have really been counting my blessings. I used to travel over that bridge twice a day for work and I still find it baffling to think something like this could happen right here in my very own city. I am sorry for the delay in posting, but I have just been glued to the television since this happened and trying to connect with old friends that I know are still living in the City and traveling over that bridge on a regular basis. I have so many friends that I have lost touch with throughout the years and find it sad that it took a tragedy like this to happen to pick up the phone and let them know I was thinking of them. Luckily all my friends were okay, but I do know people who knew some of the people that lost their lives traveling home from work last Wednesday and some who are still amongst the missing. I continue to pray for all of them that they might be found and returned to their loved ones. So today I am really counting my blessings. I have a good life, beautiful friends, loving family, successful career, and time to do what I love . . . make cards. I am truly blessed.

So this card was made for all my friends. Childhood friends, work friends, neighborhood friends, cardmaking friends, and blogging friends . . . this card is for you . . . and like the sentement reads . . . "Friends are like flowers, each with it's own beauty".

Have a beautiful day!!!!!

~ Pegi

Funky Vintage Style

2007-08-03T16:44:00.001-07:00

I recently found this stamp set in an old Stampin' Up! catalog and just knew I had to have it. All of my dear friends are such "Fashionistas" that I thought it would really make some cute cards. I used to be quite the fashion queen myself . . . but now I spend all my extra money on stamping stuff. Who needs that new Coach purse or those cute little shoes when Basic Grey just came out with a new line of paper and Stampin' Up! just released their newest catalog ! ? ! ? !

I was very lucky to find this set for sale on SCS at a reasonable price. If you are ever looking for a retired SU stamp set, just go put a request in over at SCS and you will probably get a few e mails from people who would like to sell you theirs. My cute little set had just been sitting around in Arkansas not getting used and made the trip up to Minnesota where it will get inked up on a very regular basis. I love this set!!!!

So for this card I used SU's Chocolate Chip for the card base and used the Weathered stamp with Whisper White craft ink as a background. The designer paper is Basic Grey's "Infuse" paper. The brads are from Archivers as well as the brown polka dot ribbon. I paper pieced the dress forms. Paper piecing and layering are my two most favorite techniques.

Thank you everyone for stopping by, and have a blessed weekend.

~ Pegi

We Have Some Winners ! ! !

2007-08-03T16:39:00.000-07:00

I want to thank you all so much for stopping by and participating in my latest giveaway. Congratulations . . . and a little bag of Basic Grey "Infuse" paper and coordinating ribbons are going out to Tami, Rebecca, and Christine. Congratulations ladies!!! Please e mail me at pegitaylor59@yahoo.com with your snail mail addresses so I can get your prize out to you.

Thank you everyone who stopped by and particiated. Keep coming back because we will be doing this a lot here at BellaWillow. It is so nice to learn more about everyone and to be able to see your blogs as well.

~ Pegi

Friday Card Giveaway ! ! !

2007-08-02T16:50:00.001-07:00

I have been having a lot of fun with this blogging thing . . . and the Blog Candy and Giveaways have been very successful. I love it when you come and visit and leave comments . . . and now I have linked all of your blogs over to the right under "My Blog Friends" and people can come and visit you as well.

I have decided to start another tradition over here at BellaWillow . . . a Friday Card Giveaway. I make so many cards and then they just sit here. So this will be a reason for me to start sending cards out.

So here is the very first card for our very first Friday Card Giveaway. I hope you like it. All you have to do to be eligible for the card giveaway is to leave a message . . . any message at all . . . tell everyone a little bit about yourself. The randomly chosen winner will be announced on Saturday.

I made this card using my SU stamp sets Happy Harmony and Petal Prints. I used SU Close To Cocoa for the card base and a stack of Fairy Tale paper for the card itself. I stamped my flowers on SU Confetti Natural paper and cut them all out and layered them. The pink dots are Rain Dots from Cloud 9 Designs.

Thanks again for stopping by . . . and thanks again for all your continued support.

~ Pegi

We Have A Winner ! ! ! And Another Giveaway!

2007-08-01T14:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for helping me celebrate 2,500 hits here at BellaWillow. I have had an amazing time as your blog hostess and reading all the wonderful comments you have all left about my blog and about your favorite stamp sets and stamp companies. Thank you everyone who left a comment. And now for the winner of that cute little All My Memories bag stuffed full of goodies . . . . drum roll please . . . . the winner is . . . . Patti Jo. (Patti Jo, please send me an e mail with your snail mail address and I will send out your package right away.)

Now . . . on to another giveaway. Like I said before . . . I have had so much fun being your blog hostess that I thought I would give you all another opportunity to win another prize. We are going to do this a lot here at BellaWillow, so don't be disappointed if you don't win this time. There will be many other chances in the near future.

I have three prizes today . . . so there will be three lucky winners of this fabulous little package of Basic Grey "Infuse" paper and some beautiful coordinating ribbons. All you have to do to be eligible for this giveaway are two things. 1. Let me know how you found my blog. 2. If you have a blog that you would like readers to visit, please leave a link on your post and I will add it to the Blog Roll. This contest will be open until Friday evening at 5:00 p.m. CST and the three lucky winners will be announced sometime later that evening. Who knows . . . maybe we'll have another prize to give away.

Congratulations again to Patty Jo, good luck to everyone else on the new giveaway, and thank you again everyone for stopping by.

~Pegi

Salty Sweets

2007-07-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

I purchased these chocolate covered pretzels at Target yesterday, mostly because I thought I could eat the pretzels and the empty container would be nice for embellishments. Maybe I could put some ribbons or buttons in it I thought. OMG . . . I have too many containers for embellishments as it is . . . I certainly don't need another one. And I sure as heck don't need to eat 12 gigantic chocolate covered pretzels just so I can have an embellishment container that I don't need. Scrap that whole idea and on to Plan B. I didn't eat the pretzels and I turned it into a housewarming gift for a client.

I used no stamps on this project. The words are made using an Autumn Leaves Font CD and I printed them out on my computer on SU Naturals Ivory paper using brown ink. I put my sentiment upside down on an SU Soft Sky stamp pad and lightly pressed on it to give it that cloudy look. The designer paper is from Crate Paper's Cowgirl Collection. The Scalloped edges at the top and bottom of the container are a bunch of giga scalloped ovals with the last five scallops on each end cut off and adhered to the back of the paper. It was very time consuming, but I like the look better than trying to cut with those darn scalloped scissors. The top of the lid was fun to make. I used a new Limited Edition Quickutz die cut called Circles to make the flower and the brad is from Making Memories. The polka dot ribbon is from Archivers and the Close To Cocoa ribbon is from Stampin' Up!

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments on my blog, and I am looking forward to the blog candy drawing early next week. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you are all having a great weekend.

~Pegi

Celebrating 2,500 Hits With Some Blog Candy!!!

2007-07-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

Wow . . . I can't believe it . . . 2,500 hits already on this little ol' blog of mine. It seems like just yesterday that it was up to 500 hits and I was feeling so blessed about that . . . and now we are at 2,500 hits. I want to thank you all for continuing to come back and for all the wonderful comments you leave. I would like to celebrate by giving away a little blog candy. All you have to do for a chance to win this cute little All My Memories tote stuffed to the brim with all kinds of goodies . . . which includes ribbons, embellishments, scalloped scissors, SU stamp pad, Studio G stamp set, Studio G acrylic block, and a few other secret treats . . . is to (1) subscribe to my blog and (2) leave a message on my blog as to what your favorite rubber stamp or stamp set is right now. It can be any brand, i.e., SU, TAC, CTMH, Stampendous, Amuse, etc., you get what I mean. Just tell us what your favorite stamp set or stamp is and subscribe to my blog and you could win this cute little tote and all those goodies inside. For those of you who have already subscribed to my blog . . . just leave a comment about the stamp set and add that you are already a subscriber. The drawing will be open until Tuesday evening at 10:00 p.m. CST. I will draw the name at that time and announce the winner Wednesday morning. Good luck everyone!!!!

And again, I want to thank you all so much for continuing to stop by. I am going to be stamping this weekend and I will have some cards to show you next week . . . and some more surprises . . . so please come back. Have a great weekend!

~ Pegi

Rockin' Girls

2007-07-24T14:28:00.001-07:00

I was so excited yesterday to find out that Sheila Oliver of Manic Stamper awarded me a Rockin' Girl Blogger badge . . . thank you Sheila!!!! I have a few Rockin' girls of my own I would like to award some badges to.

Paris Otremba of Inky Art deserves one of these badges. She totally rocks!!! I have known Paris for about one year now and she is not only my SU upline, but a very dear friend. Paris' friendship and generosity of spirit . . . and stamping supplies . . . has been such a blessing to me. Paris has taken me under her wing and has taught me so much about the stamping world. Like I said . . . she totally rocks!!!!
Taylor VanBruggen of Tayloredexpressions is another rocker in the stamping world. I have known Taylor for about a year as well and have really seen her grow in her craft. She is so diverse in her talent and always willing to share with everyone else. She has been so good to us over this past year sending us cards and gifts that she made for my sweet Willow and Izzy and always there to help me get better at my card making. Thank you Taylor for your friendship and you totally deserve this rockin' badge.
What can I say about Faith Hofrichter aka Stampin' With Markie's Mom . . . except that she totally rocks!!!! What she does with designer paper is truly outstanding. Every single card she makes is a total work of art. I had the pleasure of participating in a Featured Stamper Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers a few weeks ago where Faith was the featured stamper. Her gallery over at Splitcoast is absolutely beautiful.

So go check out these three blogs and you will see why these truly amazing and creative ladies are my choices for Rockin' Girl Blogger awards.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Pegi

Baroque Motifs . . . Again?

2007-07-23T23:26:00.000-07:00

Yes . . . it's Baroque Motifs again. I am definitely getting my money's worth out of this set. I just love it . . . and it's so easy to use. This time I did something a little different with it. I only used the big swirly stamp and the rest is cut out from the designer paper I used. For the card base I used SU's Chocolate Chip . . . I go through that stuff like crazy . . . and then I added a layer of the new 2007-2008 In Color, Blue Bayou. The designer paper is from the Chatterbox Scrapbook Walls line. When I first saw the paper I totally knew those little flowers look exactly like the stamp that goes with Baroque Motifs. I cut out the flowers and put them on stamping dimensionals and then I added Swarovski crystals and ribbon from We R Memory Keepers. I have to tell you about those Swarovski crystals. They are in the jewelry making department at Michaels and they are on clearance for $2.00 a package. I like them better than brads and eyelets because you can just glue them on and you don't have that bump that a brad or an eyelet leaves. You are able to glue the corners of your card down a little nicer.

I want to thank Sheila Oliver of Manic Stamper for awarding me that cute little pink Rockin' Girl Blogger badge. Please go check out Sheila's fabulous blog and see all the beautiful things she has created. I especially love her vintage style cards. Thank you Sheila!!!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you again.

~ Pegi

I Love Baroque Motifs

2007-07-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

I hope you didn't think I forgot about you. Life has been so hectic and there just hasn't been any time to make cards or blog. I have been working very hard this week with work and with helping my dear friend and upline, Paris Otremba, with a gigantic garage sale . . . and I do mean GIGANTIC!!!! We had a lot of good stuff for sale and we had a lot of people standing in line to buy it. I had a fantastic time and can't wait to see how much I made selling my old stuff so I can get some new stuff.

Baroque Motifs is the only set that I have purchased out of the new catalog . . . and I love it. My wish list is long . . . but I am trying not to go so crazy this time.

I made this card using SU Chocolate Chip for the base and I used My Mind's Eye designer paper. I added a little ribbon from Archivers, Hodgepodge Hardware, Swarovski Crystals, and Stickles.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

~Pegi

Vintage Funky Doodle

2007-07-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

I had been waiting for what seemed like forever to get my hands on some of this beautiful new "Infuse" paper from Basic Grey, and when my local Archiver's store finally got it in . . . I was the very first person to buy it. I was very lucky that I managed to get two 6 x 6 pads of it as well . . . great for us cardmakers.

I made this card using my SU Doodle This stamp set. The card is made with SU Chocolate Chip, SU Whisper White, and Basic Grey "Infuse" papers. The ribbon slide is from Maya Road and the ribbon is some vintage ribbon that I got at Archivers. I stamped my flower three times on different Infuse papers and layered the flower. I put it on stamping dimensionals to make it pop up from the card.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great weekend.

~Pegi

It's A-Muse-A-Palooza Time . . . YAY!!!

2007-07-08T15:47:00.000-07:00

Okay . . . it's almost here . . . the second annual A-Muse-A-Palooza Stamp Extravaganza!! We can all thank our very dear friend, Taylor VanBruggen of tayloredexpressions, for being such a great Amuse "Ambassador" and making us fall in love with these darling little Amuse rubber stamps (hint hint wink wink . . . people at Amuse . . . wouldn't she make the best ever Ambassador?!?! . . . heck . . . if it wasn't for Taylor half the rubber stamping community wouldn't even know about your stamps cuz they sure are hard to find in local scrapbooking/stamping stores). Taylor has been pre-celebrating A-Muse-A-Palooza for the past couple of months now and getting us all excited about the A-Muse website, the celebration, the cute little cards we can make, and getting some of us to drive all over town in hail storms and road construction just to find those darn little rubber stamps.

So in honor of my dear friend Taylor, and all the excitement she has stirred up for our favorite little Amuse rubber stamps, here are my three anything but a card entries for this week's challenge over at A-Muse-A-Palooza.

I hope you enjoy my little ATC's because they sure were fun to make.

Have a great A-Muse-A-Palooza week!!!

~Pegi

Delight Cherish

2007-07-08T08:06:00.000-07:00

When I first got this SU Delight In Life stamp set . . . I wasn't quite sure I even liked it . . . and I was kind of kicking myself for spending the money. It has actually turned out to be one of my favorite sets because the flowers are so easy to work with.

So for this card I used designer paper from Heidi Swapp, ribbon from Maya Road, and Hodge Podge Hardware from SU. The cardstock is SU's Close to Cocoa and Pale Plum. My flowers are stamped on various matching sheets of the same line of paper and layered. I think my new digital camera is capturing the color far better than that old scanner could do for me.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend . . . and thanks for stopping by.

~Pegi

Eggciting Little Chickie

2007-07-02T20:16:00.000-07:00

I had so much fun last night participating in my first Featured Stamper Challenge over at SCS . . . that I decided to try another card. I used the same layout as yesterday's Doodle Cherish card . . . but this time I used designer paper from Crate Paper's Cowgirl collection and my dear friend and upline Paris' SU Best of Cluck stamp set. Can you see my little chickie popping out of the egg?

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope everyone has a nice holiday week.

Cherish Doodle

2007-07-01T18:44:00.001-07:00

Here is a card I made for a featured stamper challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. I used my SU Doodle This, Delight In Life, and Warm Words stamp sets. The paper was SU Cranberry Crisp, SU Creamy Caramel, and Basic Grey's Stella Ruby designer paper. The featured stamper for today was Faith Hofrichter. Her work is absolutely beautiful!!!

I hope you all had a good weekend and thanks for stopping by.

~ Pegi

Have A Magical Day

2007-06-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a magical day today. I went over to my dear friend and SU upline Paris Otremba's house last Friday evening and we had so much fun making cards and talking and eating chocolate chip cookies. We traded some SU stamp sets and this is one of the ones I borrowed from her. I just love this little girl.

The decorative paper is from Basic Grey's Oh Baby Girl line. I stamped my little princess on SU Whisper White cardstock and used some of the decorative paper to paper piece her dress, crown, and wand together. It was just like playing paper dolls. The sentement is from Bella and the ribbon is from Michaels.

And now I must tell you all about the most awesome event that was held at one of my local scrapbooking stores today. The owner of the store decided to have a "garage" sale and she invited 45 of her regular customers to participate. Each customer paid $10.00 and was given 55 price stickers with their own numbered code on them. So of course I gathered up 55 gently used scrapbooking, cardmaking, and stamping items and brought it all over to her to put in the garage sale. Each participant would receive a gift card from her store for the amount that you sold. She advertised the sale in the local newspaper, sent e mails to all her customers, and put it on Craig's list.

Now here is the fun part . . . all I could think of was 45 participants times 55 items equals 2,475 bargains. I had to figure out how to be the first person in line at that sale without having to get there at 7:30 in the morning. So . . . I volunteered to help out with the sale . . . which she gladly accepted and told me to get there 1/2 hour before the sale started so I could shop a little. Great minds think alike I always say. She also told me she would put extra money on my gift card for helping out at the sale. How awesome is that!!!

The sale started at 10:00 this morning . . . and the ladies were in line at 8:30 I am told. I arrived at 9:30 and got to go right through the line and into the store. YAY!!! I have never seen such a huge garage sale filled with every SU stamp set, Sizzix machine and accessories, Quickutz, paper, scrapbooks, embellishments, stamp pads . . . you name it . . . it was there. There were 12 six foot tables piled high of stuff. I got a Quickutz Marisa alphabet that would normally sell for about $120.00 for $20.00 . . . score!!! I also got a box of 13 current style unopened SU stamp pads in the Earth Elements family for $20.00 . . . score again!!! And I got Bow Bear for $10.00. I already have Button Bear and I just had to have Bow Bear too. I also bought a brand new unmounted Happy Harmony set that I already have but couldn't pass it up for that price. It will make a nice gift for someone . . . or blog candy. I also bought that old SU stamp set with all the shoes . . . Steppin' Style. I have a dear friend that loves shoes and it will be perfect for her. I had so much fun helping out at the sale and seing what treasures everyone brought to the cash register . . . I got to tally up their items and bag them. Everyone sure had a lot of fun at the sale and felt like they got a lot of bargains. The sale did $4,500 in the first two hours alone. It was such a success, she is going to do it again in the fall. I will be there for that one too.

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

Pegi

For A Sweet Friend

2007-06-22T22:23:00.000-07:00

Wow . . . this picture sure is a lot nicer than those scanned images I've been doing. This picture is thanks to my dear friend Paris Otremba. I had so much fun over at her house tonight making cards and she took this picture for me so I could put it on my blog. I told her what I wanted and she did it perfectly. I need to go out and get a new digital camera.

Paris and I sure had a lot of fun tonight. She has the most awesome stamping space and every stamp set, tool, and color of ribbon a girl could possibly want. I feel so special that she has taken me under her wing so to speak and has helped me with my card making and now picture taking for my blog. Paris is the one that taught me how to watercolor crayon a year ago. She used Petal Prints as the example and when Petal Prints was about to retire this year, she told me I could have the stamp set because she wouldn't be using it anymore. How awesome is that!!!

I made this square card with my SU Doodle This set on SU Close To Cocoa paper. The designer paper is from the Scrapworks Canvas collection. The sentement is from Amuse. I also put puffy stickers on the flower centers to add some dimension . . . not sure who they were from though . . . sorry.

Thanks again for stopping by and I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Pegi

Recycled Cards

2007-06-22T00:50:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet grandma just turned 100 years old this past February. She has suffered from crippling arthritis in her legs for many years, which has forced her to be in a wheelchair and live in an assisted living facility . . . not a nursing home . . . just assisted living. Not bad for 100 years old. My sweet little grandma has worked so hard all her life and her body just doesn't want to work no more . . . but her mind is sharp as a tack. I am proud to say that my grandma crochets baby blankets, hats, and booties for the little babies being born in the hospitals and her senior's group also makes recycled cards.

They take old donated cards and cut out the pictures or the verse with pinking shears and paste it on a new card front. The back of the card is stamped showing that it was made by volunteers in her senior's group. The cards are then given to various seniors throughout her community so they can send out greeting cards to their loved ones. She has done this for a number of years and is still able to make 15-20 cards per night. I thought it might be fun to make a couple of recycled cards myself. I found some old cards that I have received from friends and family in the past and did my own version of the recycled card.

I made these cards using the Crate Paper "Samantha" line of paper. The images were from recycled cards that I punched out with my mega punch and adhered them on a giga scalloped circle that I used white marker to make the dots. The sentements are from amuse. I am going to send them to my grandma so that she can pass them on to her group of card recipients.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I am going to my friend Paris' house tonight for a wonderful stamping, eating, and talking evening.

Pegi

And The Winners Are . . . .

2007-06-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

. . . . well before I announce the winners . . . I want to thank all of you for your kind words and compliments and especially for sharing your favorite products with me. I think I am going to have to go out and buy a Cuttlebug, some embossing folders, and some of that new Basic Grey paper.

And now for the winners . . .

Cindy Keery ,~*`*~, Kim ,~*`*~, Kayellwy ,~*`*~, LindaB

Congratulations Ladies!!!!

Please e mail me your snail address and I will get your gift bag in the mail for you.

Again, I want to thank you all so much for coming to visit my blog. I hope you will come back often and feel free to send me an e mail so that I can add your blog to my list of must see blogs. Have a great day!!!

Pegi

Celebrating With Some Blog Candy!!!!

2007-06-18T21:16:00.000-07:00

Yay!!!! My little ol' blog counter says that there have been 500 views and that means we need to celebrate with a little blog candy . . . a little swag you might say. I have four gift bags full of goodies all ready to give out to four lucky readers of my blog. Your gift bag consists of 36 6 x 6 sheets of designer paper, 28 giga and 12 mega scalloped circles in fun coordinating colors, matching ribbons, and prima flowers.

So here is how it works . . . I am always interested in the newest innovative products out there in the stamping/paper crafting world and all you need to do is leave a comment on this post about what your favorite thing is right now. Stamps, paper lines, ribbons, tools, embellishments, etc. . . . just post a comment on what is your favorite thing you are using right now and why you love it so much.

Please leave a comment and I will put your name in a hat, draw them on Thursday evening, and announce the four lucky winners on Friday.

Good luck and don't forget to tell us about your favorite things.

Thanks for stopping by.

I Love This Basic Grey Paper!!

2007-06-18T07:38:00.001-07:00

This Basic Grey "Phoebe" paper is absolutely awesome. I bought a bunch of the 6 x 6 pads from Eclectic Paperie and have had so much fun using them. I am going to be sad when this paper is all used up. But by then, Basic Grey will have another line out that will be just as exciting as "Phoebe" and "Blush" have been.

This card looks so detailed but was really very easy to make. I uploaded this card in my gallery over at SCS and was shocked that I got 17 comments and it was favorited 17 times. That is a record for me. So I decided that I would share this card with everyone here at my blog as well. So here is how I made this simple card. I took my four squares of paper and adhered them to the SU Close To Cocoa card base and then used K&Company zig zag rub ons to give it a quilted look. I then stamped my flowers, leaves, and stems using my SU Bodacious Bouquet stamp set on various pieces of paper from the "Phoebe" line and layered them on the page. The sentement is from SU's Noteworthy.

Thanks for looking.

P.S. With my blog approaching 500 hits . . . I am giving away blog candy this week. Please feel free to tell all your fellow bloggers to come and visit me and hopefully they can receive some blog candy.

Have a great day!!

Shopping Anyone?

2007-06-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

When I first saw this stamp set in the SU catalog . . . I knew I had to have it. All my friends are shoppers and now I feel like shopping today too. I wonder if she has some new stamp sets and embellishments in those bags? *big smiles* I sure had a lot of fun making this girl . . . and I just kept adding a little "bling" to her. Making this card totally reminded me of the days when we used to play with paper dolls. Does anyone else remember playing with Betsy McCall paper dolls that came out of the McCalls magazine? I don't know if you can see it in the picture . . . but I stamped her purse and shirt on patterned paper and paper pieced it on. All those swirly little flowers are Heidi Grace rub ons . . . including the little flowers on her clogs and purse. And of course every shopping girl needs big bling bling diamonds in her ears to complete her outfit.

So for the stamp set I used SU's Totally Cool . . . which is so totally cool. I used SU's Close To Cocoa for the card base. The designer paper is all from Tres Jolie. The ribbon is from American Crafts, and the bling is Swarovski crystals.

Thank you again for coming to my little 'ol blog. I keep saying that I want to have some blog candy . . . and I see that I am approaching 500 hits . . . so I think blog candy is in order this week. That means I get to go shopping today . . . yay!!!!

For A Friend

2007-06-16T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!!! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend . . . I know I am. I stayed up really late last night making cards and oh my gosh I had so much fun. Of course I had the usual distractions of Izzy jumping up on my craft table and playing with all the ribbons and Willow barking at her to get down off the table so she can chase her. Those two caused quite the commotion . . . but I still had a lot of fun.

The card I am going to share with you today is a card I made out of some flocked Heidi Grace paper from the Cherrywood Lane line. I found this paper and loved the pinks, purples, and browns that it had in it. I used my Ruffled Butterfly stamp from Stampendous and stamped it in SU Chocolate Chip ink on the back side of one of the patterned sheets of this beautiful paper and used SU Close to Cocoa as my card base. The "friend" sentement is from my SU Noteworthy set, the ribbon is from Archivers, and I added some Heidi Grace rubons and pink "rain" dots. I used Ranger stickles on the edges of the butterflies for a sparkly look. I adhered the butterflies and the friend sentement on stamping dimensionals so they kind of look like they are floating on the page. If you click on the picture . . . you can see the detail so much better. I hate using a scanner, but my digital camera doesn't pick up the detailing nearly as well . . . so for now this will just have to do.

Thank you so much for coming to my blog.

Lions and Tigers and Bears . . .

2007-06-13T20:46:00.001-07:00

. . . Oh my!

Taylor Van Bruggen from Tayloredexpressions always has a lot of fun stuff going on over at her blog, and right now she has an Amuse ATC swap going on. Well of course I wanted to join in on the festivities . . . but I had no idea what an ATC even was. ATC stands for Artist's Trading Card and they measure 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches. The requirements of her swap was to use Amuse stamps with any kind of paper and embellishments. So here is my very first ATC. I made 10 of them. The paper is from Crate Paper. The stamps are from Amuse.

Thanks for looking.

Bo Bunny Anna Sophia Card

2007-06-13T20:26:00.000-07:00

I just love this Anna Sophia paper by Bo Bunny. I bought a lot of it and have had so much fun making cards and gift sets with it. This particular card has a lot going on but that's what I liked about it. I made this for my SCS secret sister . . . and her first name starts with "J". I used the SU flower from the Happy Harmony set and stamped that in red and used Ranger Stickles to make it sparkle. I put her initial on the card and used rub ons and swarovski crystals. The ribbon is from Bo Bunny as well.

Thanks for looking!

Hanging Wooden Plaque

2007-06-03T21:06:00.000-07:00

This is something a little new for me because I usually make cards, but after seeing something similar at a craft show back in March . . . I just knew I had to come home and make one for my new stamping room.

I bought the little wooden plaque at Michaels for under $1.00 and painted it with my acrylic paint, used a piece of Basic Grey paper, and added the rub on sentiment. I then Mod podged it, added a couple of nails, tied the ribbon . . . and viola . . . a little plaque to hang on the door to my armoire.

Thanks for looking.

Bodacious Bouquet Card and Gift Basket

2007-05-28T16:21:00.000-07:00

I have a few gifts to send to friends and so I came up with the idea of this card and gift basket using my Bodacious Bouquet set from Stampin' Up! and this beautiful "Samantha" Crate Paper. I love this paper because it is two sided. The sentiment is Noteworthy from Stampin' Up!

I found the die cut of the basket at my local Archiver's store and I couldn't resist making a few of these gift baskets. I assembled the little basket and filled it with that fun crinkly paper and some goodies from Bath and Body Works.

Thanks for looking.

Basic Grey "Blush" Gift Set & Journal

2007-05-25T21:58:00.001-07:00

It took a couple of weeks to finish . . . but here it is . . . my Basic Grey "Blush" gift set and composition journal. I made this for our dear friend Taylor from Tayloredexpressions. Taylor has been so sweet to us and she made some very special things for Willow and Izzy. We wanted to let her know how much she is appreciated . . . and this is what we made for her. It is a 5 x 7 metal album tin made by Pine Cone Press covered in my favorite Basic Grey "Blush" paper. I used some of that great ribbon I got from Michaels, a flower die cut by Quickutz, and a metal eyelet from We R Memory Keepers. I made Taylor a "Delight In Life" card, four cards for the inside of the tin, and a composition journal that matched.

Thanks for looking!

Scrapbook Page For Willow

2007-05-20T21:56:00.001-07:00

Hello Everyone . . . I am so sorry that I haven't been able to blog lately. I have been very busy with work and a very special project I have been working on that I will be sharing with you later this week. All those great items I bought a couple of weeks ago . . . well I have been very busy making some really fun stuff. I can't wait to show you what I have been working on.

I want to share this scrapbook page I made of Willow though. I hope you like it.

Thanks for looking.

Happy National Scrapbook Day!!

2007-05-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

Today was National Scrapbook Day at my favorite store . . . Archiver's. Lot's of make and takes (I love make and takes) and lot's of free give aways (I love those too). I hit the jackpot cuz they just got a new shipment of Crate Paper, and I got the last Twirl. I have been wanting Twirl forever and I was happy to finally find it. So now I have a lot of stuff to work on and will hopefully post my projects here on my blog for you to see.

I am sorry that I haven't posted for over a week (shame on me). I have been very busy with work . . . or lack thereof . . . the mortgage business is very slow right now . . . and I have been busy taking care of Willow. She gets her cast off on Monday (Wooooopee!!!!!) and we can't wait. It has been a very long five months since her broken leg accident and the two surgeries that followed and we are finally expecting a full recovery. I am posting a picture of all my goodies I got today and a picture of Willow in her little tent. Willow and I want to thank everyone for their well wishes and for the cards, e-mails, phone calls, and gifts. She loves her blanket and toy that she got from Tink, her collar and treats from Taylor, and her scrapbook and treats from Big Sis and Bandit. We also want to thank CJ and Muffin for all their wonderful phone calls, e mails and for the beautiful cupcake stamps they sent to me. And of course we must thank Paris for the beautiful flowers she gave me on the day of Willow's first surgery and all the support she has given to me since. We could not have made it through these long five months without all of our wonderful friends. We love you all!!!

Thanks for looking.

Sassy Stems Card

2007-04-26T07:37:00.000-07:00

I love this Sassy Stems stamp set from Stampin' Up! In this card I colored in my image with my SU watercolor crayons. The patterned paper is from DCWV. I added some Prima flowers with little swarovski crystals, some ribbons, and hodgepodge hardware. The sentiment is from my SU Warm Words set.

Thanks for looking!

Bundle Of Joy Card

2007-04-24T04:57:00.000-07:00

First of all I have to say . . . I'm not having a baby . . . and I don't know anyone having a baby . . . but I just couldn't resist buying this darling little Bundle Of Joy stamp set from Stamping Up! Maybe it's my love for sweet little bears . . . but this stamp set was just way too cute not to buy. The little giraffe that comes in the set is pretty darn cute too.

So here is my card. I stepped out of my box on this one and made a 9 1/4 x 4 inch card . . . just the right size to fit in a legal sized envelope. The patterned paper is from the Tres Jolie collection by My Mind's Eye. I colored in my sweet little bear using the watercolor crayons from SU and I added Tres Jolie buttons, brown zig zag rub ons, brown ribbon from American Crafts, and little pewter brads. Click on the picture and you can see the detail of the card much better.

Thanks for looking.

Bella, Bella, Bella

2007-04-23T05:57:00.000-07:00

Bella Bella Bella . . . the most talked about stamps around right now. And to think . . . a few months ago I had no idea what a Bella stamp was . . . and now I can't seem to get enough of these cute little stamps.

This is my first Bella card and I want to thank my wonderful Divine Secret Sister from Splitcoast Stampers for sending the stamp to me so I could make this card. I have a wonderful "big sis" that has been spoiling me rotten with her e mails, cards, and beautiful gifts. She sent me four "Bella" stamps that I am so excited to use. I would love to be able to thank her personally, but then that would take the fun out of the whole "secret sister" thing. So I will patiently wait another three months until she decides to reveal herself. I only know that she lives in Alabama, she is a teacher, she is married, she has a cute little dog named Bandit, she makes beautiful cards, and she spoils me rotten.

So here she is . . . my very first Bella card . . . made especially for my secret sis as a thank you for all the wonderful things she has done for me. I can't wait to find out who you are because I want to be able to send cards and goodies to you too.

I made this card using my Flowahbella stamp from Stamping Bella. I colored her in using my SU watercolor crayons. The background paper is from Heidi Grace and Basic Grey. I added red SU ribbon, a tiny Prima Flower in her hair with a Swarovski Crystal, a big red button, some zig zag rub ons, and some red rain dots from Cloud9 Design.

Thanks for looking!

Doodle This Card

2007-04-22T07:15:00.000-07:00

First of all I want to say how nervous I was to finally take that blog plunge. I have been reading and enjoying many other fantastic blogs over the past few months and decided I would like to give it a try too. Blog candy is so much fun and who can resist a game of blog tag *wink*!!

I want to thank you all for coming back to my blog and for the positive responses to my first blog entry ever. I especially want to thank Jami Sibley for teaching me this great card layout. I loved her square card and the three bows across the top that I saw last month in the Dirty Dozen Gallery over at Splitcoaststampers. I have been making the traditional 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 cards for all these years and it was definitely time for a change . . . so thank you Jami for helping me change my style. Jami is very talented and I am really excited to have been able to create a card based on one of her beautiful creations. You should really go check out Jami's blog . . . you will love it!!!

So here is my card using the Doodle This stamp set from Stampin Up! I used my watercolor crayons on the flower. The patterned paper is from one of those cute little 6 x 6 pads of Basic Grey paper that I purchased from Joy and Daisy at Eclectic Paperie. Eclectic Paperie is my new favorite place to shop besides my local Archivers store. I also used some of that "drool worthy" ribbon that I found at Michaels. Drool worthy is a Taylor VanBruggen term to describe something absolutely awesome . . . and Taylor's blog is absolutely awesome!!! Taylor is so talented and one of the sweetest people I know. She has been so good to me and Willow and Izzy . . . and we just love her!! I also used some brown SU ribbon, SU hodgepodge hardware and Prima flowers with little Swarovski crystals in the center. The leaves are made with my new Quickcutz Revolution machine and the Sentiment is from Fancy Flexible Phrases by Stampin Up!

Thanks for looking!

Button Bear Journal

2007-04-21T19:29:00.000-07:00

Since Button Bear was my very first stamp set ever . . . I found it only fitting that he appear in my very first blog entry ever. I dug out my sweet little Button Bear and gave him an updated look by using Basic Grey papers and some really cool ribbon that I found at Michaels. I borrowed the SU ticket punch from Paris of Inky Art (you should check out her blog . . . it's awesome!!) and now I gotta have one of those cute little ticket punches too.

I made a bunch of journals for a craft show and couldn't believe how well they sold . . . but I just didn't have the heart to sell this one. I think I'll just tuck him away for safe keeping.

Thanks for looking!!