Long Absence

Hello! I am sorry for my long absence. I have been struggling with many many overwhelming issues over the past few months...but am glad to say, I am doing better and beginning to feel like myself again. I lost a dear friend about 3 weeks ago...we were very close and although she was very ill, her passing was a little unexpected. I am thankful she is home with our Lord and no longer suffering but do miss her horribly. And to go to the other side of the spectrum, I am so happy to have become a grandmother again on March 31! We have a new baby to love on...Mom and baby are doing well. I now have a new staff person at work that is working out very well...he is taking a lot of the stress off my shoulders that has burdened me for almost a year. So....life is looking up, and I will be posting again...maybe not real often at first but surely at least a few times a week. I hope you all have not given up on me...

I do have a card to share with you! On Sunday we celebrated our grandson Collin's birthday. He was 2! My gosh how time flies. What a fun day we had. So here is the card I created for my special boy!

The card is a 5x7 in size...I created the 2 in Make the Cut...and used my glitter pens to write the "a sweet grandson" rather than cut it out. Make the Cut is an awesome software as it lets us work with layers...I am not an expert at it...but am working hard at learning it! The corners on the background papers were created with a Martha Stewart punch. The Happy Birthday sentiment was cut out with a Nestie. I hope you like my creation...and if anyone is interested in the Make the Cut file, drop me an email...I would be glad to share it in mtc or svg format! My next post, I will be showing off some vinyl wall art I created for our new grandbaby's wall! Please come back to see me! Thanks again for your patience while I healed....I will be out to see all of you who leave me love! I missed visiting and promise to get out to see what all of you have been up to! Bless you all!

HUGS!
Vicki

JustRite Love is Thread that Binds

Hello again...I did get to play a little yesterday! LOL not real sure if I am liking this actual card but I do love the heart mat that I used. I created it in Make the Cut and cut it and the mat with my cricut. I also created the arrow from shapes in Make the Cut. My image is from the JustRite set Stitched with Love. I cut the image and the border out seperately with circle nestabilities and pop dotted the border so there was a little more dimension. I took a Krylon Silver Leafing Pen around the border of the image as well as to bring out the word Love.  I thought it would be nice to tie in some stitching to the card since the border talks about the "thread that binds" so used a Sew Easy tool to puncture my stitching holes and use some 1 MM silver thread from Pizzazz Aplenty to outline my card...the bow and rose are also from Pizzazz Aplenty. I hope you are enjoying my creations as much as I am enjoying creating them! Once I am sure my mtc files are perfected, I will be sharing them here on my blog so if you are interested, please come back from time to time. Well I am off to work today...we have a winter storm coming tomorrow...our area could get up to 15 inches of snow between noon on Tuesday through 6 PM on Wednesday...I am a true snowbunny...love love love the white stuff and am NOT tired of it yet! And MAYBE I might get a snow day! Well, thanks so much for stopping in to see me...please leave some love, I enjoy hearing from you. Have a great day today!

HUGS!

Vicki

JustRite meets Make the Cut

Good morning again! I really was not sure I would get back this weekend but I had some great play time yesterday! I am one happy camper...got to play with my JustRite stamps AND my cricut using the Make the Cut software! I am just having a blast. Today's cards image is from the JustRite Stitched with Love set...colored with copics and cut out and embossed with the circle nestability. And for the base of my card and my mat, I created that in Make the Cut! I learned a new technique from Beanie...go here for the tutorial...be sure to look around while you are there...she has lots of cute ideas using Make the Cut software. Thank you Beanie for the tutorial! If you are interested in my mtc file I will be more than glad to share it with you...just drop me an email...I don't have it saved as an svg file yet but will do so if you would like it in that format. Now...for my bling...that's right a girl has to add the bling....I used an 8MM pink brad from Pizzazz Aplenty...the flatback pearls are also from Pizzazz Aplenty however, they were white...I colored them with one of the copic marker colors that I used in my image. And last but not least, I embossed the card base with an A7 Cuttlebug folder. Those A7 folders sure come in handy for the larger cards. This card measures about 4.75 x 5 so I am going to have to make my own envie for it...but that isn't hard to do! Well I hope you are having as awesome of a day as I hope to...off to do some more playing so hopefully I will have some cards to show you through the week. Thanks so much for stopping by to see me...I will be by to see all of you who leave me love a little later in the day today!
HUGS!
Vicki

JustRite Always and Forever

Good morning to all! Hope your weekend has started out well! I am looking forward to hopefully having some creating time...that has not been happening much around here! Today I am sharing another black and white card created for the JustRite challenge this week...Love is in the Air. Be sure to check it out and join in the fun...they always have some wonderful prizes and the inspiration is phenomenal! For my card, I used Always and Forever from the Wedding Ensemble and the fancy scroll work around that sentiment is from the You Inspire Me stamp set. I used the Nestabilities Labels Six to cut out around my image and then matted it with the next size nestie in black. I used an SU folder to create my embossed corner...for a little bling on my card I added some of the 5MM Glitter Rhinestones from Pizzazz Aplenty...the camera does not do the bling justice...these are awesome. I also added a little bow of silver cording (from Pizzazz Aplenty) and a small white rose on top of the bow. I really had fun creating this card...hope you like it and are inspired to join in the fun at the JustRite challenge! Well I am off to have a little play time, thanks for stopping in and have a great weekend if I don't get back before it is over!

HUGS!
Vicki

Love the JustRite Way!

Good morning! Well I have another JustRite creation for you...well part of it is JustRite! I also used my Cricut on this card. The marquee shape is cut from the Storybook cartridge...at 4 inches and then the shadow is at 41/4 inches. I used a stamp set that I had purchased from Clear Dollar Stamps called Marquee labels to stamp the inside of the marquee shape. Then, I used my JustRite horizontal stamper and created my LOVE with the 95pt Special Occasions font. The white paper I used for this card was actually watercolor paper..maybe not a good choice as far as the ink absorption was concerned but I liked the thickness of the paper for the shape. The background was embossed with an SU folder and the corners were punched with an MS corner punch. Added a black ribbon and accented that ribbon with a button and some black and white Bakers Twine that I had purchased from Pizzazz Aplenty. I was excited to be able to use my Bakers Twine! Added a few black flatback pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty and voila...my creation! Work has been a little better for me this week...finally...I am feeling a little less stressed the past few days. Now I need to get back in the groove and get back to Curves...have not gone yet this week and I miss it...I have been going 3-4 times a week since October of last year...sure don't want to break my cycle now! Thanks tons for stopping in...I plan on visiting each of you who are so kind to leave me some love early on tomorrow! Have a great day and happy creating!

HUGS!
Vicki

Playing with Cricut

Hello again. I know I have been gone for a long while and I do hope to be comming back more regularly. The last week or so has been overwheliming for me at work. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel...I have hired a new staff person to help with the load and know he will be an awesome addition to our team. Today, when I sat down to create, I reached out to my Cricut...and that darn bug said to me..."Uh, do I know you??? Do I have a new owner?" LOL I have been ignoring my Cricut for some time now...and have really been ignoring my own creativity. So, you are going to see more of "me" in my creations as the weeks go by and as I re-aquaint myself to my Cricut. For today's card, I used the Tie the Knot cartridge that was a Christmas present. Both the cherry blossom cut and the heart cut are from that cartridge. My background paper was created by myself in Photoshop. I love being able to create again. I added a little glitter to the flowers and the heart using my Gellyroll stardust pens and added some white flatback pearls to the flowers...of course they are from Pizzazz Aplenty. I hope you enjoyed my creativity today as much as I enjoyed expressing it today. Not sure what the rest of my day will entail, hopefully some more creations, but if not, I feel great knowing I am back on track again! Hugs to you all, have a blessed Sunday, and thank you tons for stopping in to see me.
HUGS!
Vicki

Glitterbabe's Challenge #27

Well, I am back today with my first Glitterbabe's Challenge of the new year! I am so excited to be back on track! The Challenge for this week is to use ANY Glitterbabe image...just be certain to add that BLING! AND this week we have one awesome Guest Designer...Vicki from Stamped Smiles...Please be sure to check out her creation...I am excited to see it as well...she is quite a designer! For my creation this week I chose to use Glitterbabe's Envelope Bear. I added the hearts to the image using brushes in photoshop...and the sentiment was computer generated as well. The white layer has been embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder and then edged on the bottom with the Martha Stewart Heart Punch. For my BLING, I added Crystal Effects to the hearts and dusted them with glitter, added some awesome red lace and those sweet flowers....both from Piazzaz Aplenty...the leaves for the flowers were created using a Martha Stewart punch as well. Please be sure to check out the other lovely creations that my fellow Glitterbugs have designed on the Challenge blog...we would love for you to play along this week...get your bling on girls! Thanks so much for stopping in to see me today and I hope you enjoyed my creation! I will be by to see you soon!

Hugs!

Vicki