A Cake of a Different Sorts!

TGIF........I am so happy it's Friday! It has been a really busy week here in the Catalano household. This past Thursday was SCHOOL orientation. Oh boy, it's really coming....I am really starting nursing school! For the last 3 years, I have taken all my prerequisites to get to this point, and you know, you never think it's ever going to happen......but it does.....I will be considered a Full Time Nursing Student in September!!! So,,,,I have a couple more weeks before the madness starts. My kids start school on the 31st, so I need to finish some school shopping, and then we will be ready to hit school running, although one can't wait to go, and the other doesn't want to go back.........

How about my Greeting Farm cupcake goth girl! I will admit that when I started coloring her I was thinking she looked weird, and I wasn't sure I was going to make a card with the image, but all said and done, I think she looks pretty good! I went with some Halloween paper and top the card off with my screw brads :) WHAT DO YOU THINK????

I am REALLY excited about tomorrow, as I am having a stamping day with some friends. We do this every so often, and it is always a blast. I can't wait to get my stamp on. Hopefully my mojo shows up. Well, I better get packing for the day. Thanks you SO MUCH for taking the time to stop by. Have a great weekend, and happy creating!!!

Psss....I have some thing to tell you....something really BIG !!!

WOW.....I think I have vacationed myself out! In the past 3 weeks my family and I have been home a total of 4 days I believe. First Washington DC, then Ocean City Maryland, and the Lake Winnipesaukee NH. We had a FABULOUS vacation, but I am completely exhausted. It is now time to settle in back home and get back to the routine of things, but first, I have to catch up on my LAUNDRY!!! Ahhhh....the house is a mess and the laundry is piling up....You know how that is when you get back from vacation, everything is a mess, and the laundry is piled high!

I have had this image from the Greeting Farm colored forever and just got around to making it into a card, and I figured today was the perfect time to post it, seeing this is exactly how I feel today LOL!

Oh, did I mention that I had something I wanted to share with you....Something big I recall....well, big for me ....REALLY BIG for me.....I am THRILLED, ecstatic, jumping with joy to tell you that I have made the first ever design team for THE STAMPING BAZAAR, owned and runned by Marina Neira! I couldn't believe it when I got the e-mail saying I was chosen on the team....Seriously....I was freaking out. I am a HUGE fan of her work, and I can't wait to get started.....WAHOOOOO......seriously, I am so happy :)

So, now that i have had a chance to share my big news, I better get back to my laundry, so I can spend tomorrow STAMPING!!! I can't wait to get INKY! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend, and thank you so much for stopping by.......HAPPY CREATING!

A Karate Thank You!

Happy Saturday!!! I hope are enjoying your weekend thus far! Just a quick post today. I am heading on vacation next week and I am trying to get some cards made for challenges while I am away.
I made this card last week for my son's Karate teacher Ms. Simoneou. She is a amazing teacher. SHe is twenty years old, working full time, going to school full time and yet she always puts in 100% when teaching the classes, so I wanted to make sure that she knew how much we appreciated all she did, and along with the card, I included a Farmville GC...(hahaha)....

Well, like I said, a quick post. I am off to get inky..Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a FABULOUS weekend. Happy Creating!

Happy Fathers Day: Cupcake inspiration challenge

HAPPY FATHERS DAY........ I hope all your Dad's , hubby's, and men in your life have a great day.

My post has to be quick today, as my family and I will be making the rounds today to our dads.

Well, it's Sunday and Sundays = Cupcake Inspiration Challenge. I have to admit, when I first saw the cupcakes for this weeks challenge, I thought, Yikes, those are some pretty "dark" colors for me. I am definitely a Bright kind of girl. When I sat down, I knew I wanted to do a fathers Day card, I knew I wanted to use this stamp by The Greeting Farm and I knew I was following this weeks Sketch Saturday Sketch. For me, the hard part is always picking out my DP. I am VERY picky with my paper, as I feel it is the major impact on my card. Well, after searching for the right paper, I came up with this DP, which is actually X-mas paper, but I bet you can't tell...hehehehe

We would love to have you play along this week! Make sure to add a direct link to your NEW creation on Mr Linky below by Saturday, June 26th at 9 pm MT. This is an Inspiration challenge, but please make sure your creation is truly inspired by this cupcake and this challenge is linked in your post. If you upload to a public gallery like SCS or PCP make sure to use keyword CIC64 so we can easily find you. Remember, no cupcake stamps are required! Rachel will post the Top 5 next Sunday. Have a great day and thank you for stopping by. Happy Creating!

My Card Qualifies for the following Challenges:

Crafty Cardmakers Challenge #23This challenge is cards for men
Creative Inspirations Challenge 65One for the boys is the challenge this week.
Double Dutch Challenge DDC #45-This challenge is Dads Treat, make something for dad.
Fab 'N' Funky Challenge #28-Just for Dad" is the fun challenge this week!
Incy Wincy Designs Challenge 46-One For The Guys is the challenge for this week, how fun!
Tandastamps -Tanda Teaser Challenge 148-For the Big Man is the great challenge they are having this week!
Magical Crafts Challenge #17-Something for a male/Father's Day is the great challenge they are playing this week!
Moving Along With The Times Challenge 51-This challenge is a fantastic sketch challenge this week that I loved working with!
One Stop Craft Challenge Week 85-One For The Boys is their great challenge this week!
Polka Doodles Challenge week 24-This week the challenge is a Father's Day/Male theme challenge
Raise The Bar Challenge #23-What A Special Guy is this great challenge this week!
Stampin' Royalty Challenge #24-This challenge is to create a masculine themed project so I created a Father's Day card.

HSE Cupcake inspiration Challenge #60

Happy Sunday, I hope you have enjoyed your weekend. I am happy to say that we have had gorgeous weather here in New Hampshire. It has been around 80 degrees and dry. PERFECT!

How cute is this stamp???? Oh my word, I just love this stamp set from The Greeting Farm. This little grandma is just adorable. For my card today, I used Hope Stamps Eternal cupcake inspiration photo as my inspiration piece. I decided I would use the colors in the cupcakes as my inspiration, and of course I had the perfect DP for this card. I used my Kaisercrafts Devonshire paper (which I love). I think it matches the photo, what do you think?

We would love to have you play along this week! Make sure to add a direct link to
your NEW creation on Mr Linky at HSE by Saturday, May 29th at 9 pm MT.
If you upload to a public gallery like SCS or PCP make sure to use keyword CIC60 so we can easily find you. Remember, no cupcake stamps are required! Rachel will post the Top 5 next Sunday.

My card qualifies for the following challenges:

Friday Sketchers

Charisma - 3D: I used the flowers, I believe that makes it 3D.

Crafty Creation - Happy Birthday!

C.R.A.F.T. - Happy Birthday!

Spoonful of Sugar - Cute and Girly

Pixie-Pearls

Practical Scrappers- Pattern Paper

Hope Stamps Eternal Challenge #58

Happy Mothers Day!!!! What a great day I had with my family. The kids and my hubby let me sleep in this morning (till 9am), and when I was coming down the stairs, I could hear the kids whispering, "here she comes, here she comes", and when I got down stairs, they handed me homemade cards, gave me BIG hugs and a new Vera bag. Oh, the sweet things they write in their cards. They are just the most amazing kids (I guess we all think that, but to me, mine are the best LOL), and my hubby is also fantastic, he is my BF and my ROCK, and I am so blessed to have him by my side everyday. After, spending the morning in our pjs hanging around, we went and visited my and my husbands parents. I love when there is a day when I have NO commitments (which rarely happens). I hope you all got a chance to enjoy some family time today also....

Did you a chance to stamp today??? I DID!!! Today was actually the first day I have stamped in almost a week. With finals last week, I didn't have a chance to get my fingers inky, but today, I sat down with my new digi image from The Greeting Farm, and made a card for this weeks cupcake challenge at Hope Stamps Eternal. This weeks cupcake challenge is right up my ally, bright colors and stripes...yipeeee... I had visited my LSS last week and picked up this new DP from My Favorite Things, and I found it perfect for this weeks challenge. I am also taking a leap and entering this card in The Greeting Farm's cas'ing the Critter Crew contest. The contest rules are to case a one of the Critter crews cards. I chose to case this card created by Sandra. This pony card was such a fun card to make. It's always nice to play with images that you love, and to go a little crazy with color....... Do you love these colors??? Wanna play with us over at HSE???

We would love to have you play along this week! Make sure to add a direct link to your NEW creation on Mr Linky below by Saturday, May 15th at 9 pm MT. If you upload to a public gallery like SCS
or PCP make sure to use keyword CIC58 so we can easily find you. Remember, no cupcake stamps are required!Rachel will post the Top 5 next Sunday.

Want even more inspiration? Check out what the amazing DT came up with this week!

Karen ~ Kelli (up late) ~ Michelle ~ Piali ~ Teresa ~

Hope you come back and join me on Tuesday for Going Grey with Scrap-Creations challenge!

Happy Creating!

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #57

Happy Sunday! Wow, this past week flew by. The kids were on April vacation and it seemed as the days got away from me. The kids a great week, on Monday we hung around the house, Tuesday we went to Chuck E Cheese, on Wed my husbands job had bring your kids to work day, so they went there and had a great time, on Thursday and Friday we took the to Coco Keys resort yesterday they went to a movie night at my sons karate, and today, I am off to work, but my daughter is headed to the Good Loafe Bakery to bake for a fundraiser for her Gymnastics team, and my son is headed to a B-day party. So, as you see, they have had a great week.

They are headed back to school tomorrow, and that works for me, as I have to study for my microbiology final for Wednesday. After Wed, I am FREEEEE for the summer Wahoooo....

Ok, onto my card for todays HSE Cupcake challenge.
My card was inspired by the picture to the left. Once again here is my interpretation of todays card: When I first look at the card, I see Pink, Green, Flowers, Leaves, and swirls. I also see "pretty". Well, i turned that into Bright pink, green, flowers silver gems, and some texture. Works for me..... hehehe.....
Last Sunday some friends and I (mary, peggy, Kerry, Pia, Tricia, Katie), got together and stamped for the day. Well, Peggy had this Greeting Farm stamp, and I was dying to play with it, so I worked this stamp into my challenge for today. Thanks Peggy

We would love to have you play along this week! Make sure to add a direct link to
your NEW creation on Mr Linky below by Saturday, May 8th at 9 pm MT.
If you upload to a public gallery like SCS or PCP make sure to use keyword CIC57 so we can easily find you. Remember, no cupcake stamps are required! Rachel will post the Top 5next Sunday.

If you want to be truly inspired, check out the cards by the amazing DT:
Karen ~ Kelli ~ Kristen (me) ~ Piali ~ Teresa ~

Well, I need to cut this rather short, as I have to be to work in 45 minutes and I am not even dressed yet. I am good one for waiting to the last minute for everything. I think i function best under pressure (well, that is what I like to tell myself heheh). So, Have a wonderful day and happy creating.

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #56 & some info!!!

Happy Sunday!!! What a great weekend it has been. Friday Night I went out to dinner with my family and Saturday we did some yard work and the kids played outside ALL DAY, and then Hubby & I watched a movie and today I am headed to a all day stamping event with friends. Hopefully, I will do more stamping than talking :). The weather here in New England has been FABULOUS...I love the first signs of spring, The lilacs are blooming, the grass is getting greener, the kids are riding their bikes, and there is nothing better than sitting on my deck just taking it all in .....ahhhh.....

So, onto my card (hehehe)... todays
card was inspired by the cupcake pic to the right. You may be thinking "really Kristen, your card looks nothing like that", and you're right, it doesn't, but as I have said in past post, it is a "inpiration photo", not a copy picture (hehehe). So, what did I draw from this pic? The pink (I went bright), the brown drizzle (I made her hair brown), and the polka dots on the candle (I used polka dotted paper). As you see, sometimes I will use the whole photo, and sometimes I will draw inspiration from parts of the photo. That is what makes inspiration challenges FUN!
For my card, I used The Greeting Farm, WS Ruby, and some left over scrap paper. I am trying REAL hard to use what I have and that means scraps! I also used my new butterfly punch from Martha Stewart!!!

Ok, I said I had a cupcake challenge and SOME INFO. Well, It is with a heavy heart that I announce that the Hope Stamps Eternal store is closing. Unfortunately, another victim of the economy's downturn. But before the doors close, there will be a storewide sale of 35% while supplies last. The store is full of amazing items, so head over there fast!

Do you love this cupcake? Wanna play in the challenge with us? We would love to have you.If you do, be sure to link your creation to Mr. Linky on the HSE Blog and use CIC56 when uploading to online galleries. Every week, Rachel highlights the top 5!!

Want some inspiration? Check out the amazing cards the DT created.

Rachel - Hope Stamps Eternal
Colleen - Glitter Ink
Teresa - Enjoy the VA Sunshine
Karen - The Sweetest Thing
Piali - Touch of Creation
Kelli - Yard Sale Kind of Luck

Well, I am off to stamp. I hope you have a great weekend and happy creating!

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #55

Happy Sunday!!!! Are you enjoying your weekend? I am happy to say, I have finally had a weekend with very little commitments.

So, Sunday's=Hope Stamps Eternal cupcake challenge
. Check out these gorgeous cupcakes. Of course when i first saw them, I immediately thought "Orange and brown and gorgeous flowers". Well, as I have said before, I don't really do "pretty" or "gorgeous", I do "cute". So, needless to say, I did "cute".. You see, I had no choice, I just purchased some new Greeting Farm stamps and they where begging to be inked, so that's what I did. I am actually very happy that we used these colors today, because I don't often reach for my Basic Grey Arachic 6x6 pad, but the combination of colors and stamp screamed for this paper. I kinda like how it turned out. What do you think? As you may know, I am abig fan of the Greeting Farm stamps. They are just so fun to color. I also followed this weeks sKetch for you to try.

Are you in need of some supplies???? Hope Stamps Eternal is having a SALE!!!! 25% off you entire purchase. Get it while you can......

Do these cupcakes inspire you??? Come play along with the DT and me. We would love to see what you create. If you do, be sure to link your creation to Mr. Linky on the HSE Blog and use CIC55 when uploading to online galleries . Every week, Rachel highlights the top 5!!

Need some inspiration? Check out what the DT came up with.
Rachel - Hope Stamps Eternal

Colleen - Glitter Ink
Teresa - Enjoy the VA Sunshine
Karen - The Sweetest Thing
Piali - Touch of Creation
Kelli - Yard Sale Kind of Luck

Have a FABULOUS day and happy creating!

It's A Royal Battle & We Need Your Help!!!

Holy Smokes, We (Mary, Peggy & I) made it to the second round of The Royal Battle over at the Greeting Farm. This weeks challenge was to make a easel card. Mary made this weeks card and didn't she do the most amazing job. I think it is STUNNING. Way to go Mary!!!

BUT the competition is fierce and we need your vote.....PLEASE......every vote we get means so much. We are having a great time playing in this game and would love to continue....so, if you get a chance and would be so kind and vote, you can do so here.

You should check out the cards over in the gallery, they are all so wonderful. There are some seriously talented ladies out there. Hope you had a wonderful Easter. Happy Creating!

TGF: Battle challenge 1: Need your help!!!! Bloggers Challenge

Did you have a nice weekend? I apologize for not posting so much this week, but it had been some kinda week. on top of working and taking care of my family, I had to write two papers for my microbiology class, and homework for that class as well, so I have been swamped. BUT.....are you ready for some GREAT news???? On Tuesday I received a letter, and in that letter said ::: We are happy to inform you that you have been accepted to the NCC nursing program starting in the fall of 2010.....WAHOOOOO!!!! I have worked so hard for this and I couldn't have been any happier. I was dancing around my kitchen with the letter in my hand singing wahoo, wahoo, wahoo, I got in.......STOKED.

So, Mary, Peggy & I Have joined The Greeting Farms battle challenge Our Team name is The New Englanders. I think there are around 60 teams that joined and only 30 will make it to the next round. So We need your help. This weeks challenge is a Retro Theme challenge with a combo of a color challenge. You see, the teams with the most votes (comments) on their card will move on. I have to say, there are some seriously amazing card over there, but I would love it if you could supprt us and head on over to the greeting farm and leave us a vote/comment on our card. We would very much appreciate it. You can find the link here:
http://www.thegreetingfarm.com/galleria/showphoto.php?photo=13102

If you have never been on the greeting Farm, you can follow these directions to sign in.

How to Vote


Go to http://thegreetingfarm.com/galleria/
Click on Register and fill out the form.
You will be sent confirmation info to your email and you must click the link to officially be activated. If for some reason you do not recieve it, just email me and I will manually activate your registry.
Once you are activated, go back to http://thegreetingfarm.com/galleria/ and login.
Once you are logged in, go to Contest/Challenges > TGF ROYAL BATTLE > Week 1
Vote for your top 3 choices. When you comment, that counts as your vote. So Comment on your top 3 choices.
ANYONE and EVERYONE can vote.

I also playe in this weeks Bloggers challenge, which is a sketch challenge, and I was able to use one of my new Greeting Farm stamps "Ruby". I just tink she is so cute. You can also check out what the rest of the ladies came up with for this weeks challenge by clicking on bloggers challenge button on the left side of my blog.

Thank you for stopping by.

Supplies
Stamps: Greeting Farm
Paper:365degrees from paper Paislee
Ink: copics

Going Grey Challenge #3 Spring

Wahoooo it's Tuesday, and you know what Tuesdays mean....Going Grey with Scrap Creations. The theme this week.....can you guess???? Yep, thats right, SPRING!!!!

For my card today, I went with bright DP from We R Memories, and I used another one of me new Greeting Farm images. Oh my word, as I am sitting here typing this blog post, I realized that I didn't use Basic Grey paper. Darn it. I only slept 4 hours the night before and I obviously wasn't thinking. Darn. It is to late for me to remake my card (midnight), so please excuse my mix up.

Here are the great samples from the DT :

Peggy

Crystal

Kim

Mary

Weren't those fabulous? Don't be afraid to head to their blogs and leave them a little love. You will have until Monday 29th @ 6pm to get your card in for the challenge. When posting to a gallery's, please use the key words GGSC3. Have a great day and happy creating!

It's a Cupcake Inspiration Sunday!!!!

Happy Sunday. Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you enjoyed your weekend. The weather here in New Hampshire has been wonderful, 70's which for us is FABULOUS! You know you're in New England when the weather hits 60 degrees and people break out their shorts and flip flops (seriously). Hehehe....

So, it's Sunday and Sundays mean cupcakes.....Hope Stamps Eternal cupcake inspiration challenge that is. You're probably looking at the cupcake wondering what in the world did she inspire from these gorgeous cupcakes. Well, I used to go into a inspiration challenge and panic. I would look at the picture and think I don't have anything that looks like "that". Well, it wasn't until recently that I have finally decided that it is a "inspiration" picture. I need to draw inspiration and not "copy" the pic. Since then , I know longer panic about these kind of challenges.

You see, when I first looked at these cupcakes, I thought "these are gorgeous, and very elegant". Well, I don't do elegant, I do "cute". Do you know what I mean? We all have our different styles and I would definitely consider myself a "cutesy" card maker. So when I made my card, I picked out the turquoise in the butterflies and decided I would go with some kind of springy themed card. I also just bought a few new stamps, and wanted to use my new Laurie the skunk stamp. I also wanted to combine my card with this weeks Greeting Farm Sketch Challenge, so I worked my card around that as well.

We would love to have you play along this week! Make sure to add a direct link to your NEW creation on Mr Linky at Hope Stamps Eternal by Saturday, March 27th at 9 pm MT. If you upload to a public gallery like SCS or PCP make sure to use keyword CIC51 so we can easily find you. Remember, no cupcake stamps are required!
Don't forget to check out all of the Sweeties creations!

~ Colleen (out this week) ~ Karen ~ Kelli ~ Michelle ~ Piali ~ Teresa ~

Supplies

Stamps: Laurie from the Greeting Farm

Paper: We R Memories (1 piece)

Ink: Copics, memento black

Access: Bling, prima flowers, Random butterfly, computer generated font

It's a Irish Cupcake Kinda Day!

Happy Sunday. Thanks for stopping by today on this glorious day....well, not so glorious here, as it has been pouring the whole weekend, but it does make good crafting weather though :)



Today is Sunday and Sundays here at Scrap-creations = Hope Stamps Eternal cupcake inspiration challenge. Today's cupcake comes courtesy of Martha Stewart living.

When I first saw the Cupcake, I immediately thought of Saint Paddy's day, but I also wanted my card to work for this challenge, as well as this weeks Greeting farm challenge, and another card for this weeks challenge at "Going Grey" with Scrap-Creations. which are all Birthday/celebration themes. So, I broke out my Origins Basic Grey paper pack, and paper pieced Ian to look a little "Irish". I am not sure I got what I was looking for, but I think he looks darling in his "get up". If you read my blog regularly, you know that I wasn't much of a fan for this Basic Grey Origins paper pack, but I have to say, I think it may be one of my favorite. The more I use it the more I love it.

SO: my question for you................which basic Grey paper pack is your LEAST favorite and WHY?

We have some big news over at Hope Stamps Eternal. We have a new sweetie....I am delighted to introduce you to Karen Giron. She is extremely talented, and we are thrilled to have her as part of our team. Welcome Karen.

We would love to have you play along this week! Make sure to add a direct link to
your NEW creation on Mr Linky at Hope Stamps Eternal by Saturday, March 20th at 9 pm MT. If you upload to a public gallery like SCS or PCP make sure to use keyword CIC50 so we can easily find you. Remember, no cupcake stamps are required! Rachel will post the Top 5 next Sunday.
Need some inspiration???? Check out the cards the Hope Stamps Eternal Sweeties came up with this week. They are truly amazing!

Colleen * Karen * Kelli * Michelle * Piali * Teresa

Well, that brings today's blog to an end. I hope you are having a fabulous weekend, and Happy creating.

"Oh Alice" & Greeting Farm too!!!

Happy Friday!!!! Wahooo...I love Fridays :) Do you love movies??? My husband and I do....We usually wait till they come on DVD, but there are some select movies that jump out at me which make me have to run to the theater to see....Always my favorites "Twilight and saga", "All the Harry Potter series", and today's release of Alice in Wonderland. It has me intrigued. I have to admit, that as as child I was not a big fan of the movie because it scared me. So, with that in mind, I am hesitant to take my own kids (who are 8&6), but I definitely want to see it. Do you have any interest?

So, to celebrate the Alice in Wonderland movie release today, I made a Alice card.....and guess what, it works for two different challenges this week. First, not sure you have seen the new challenge blog called "Oh Alice", but this blog is completely Alice in Wonderland themed and this week they had a sketch challenge (see below) .

My card also fits into this weeks Farm Fresh Friday challenge at The Greeting Farm. Their challenge is to make a card that is "Alice" themed. Well, seeing I had just purchased most of their new Digi stamps, I had the new Wonderland set ready to go......I also used on of the quotes from the movie on my card...Hehehe...... I have to admit that I am really enjoying everything Alice in Wonderland right now.

Well, tomorrow I will be heading to my sons Karate tournament and then spending the afternoon stamping with Kerry, Mary, Peggy, and Pia...I am hoping I can actually get something done. You know what happens when you get together with the ladies.....Chit, chat :) I can't wait to see them......

If you follow my blog you may have noticed that I mentioned I have some exciting news coming up..................And I do.............but you will have to wait till tomorrow.....:) Thank you for stopping bye, and don't forget to check back tomorrow for some REALLY BIG news......Happy creating!!!!

Cupcake Challenge with Hope Stamps Eternal

Happy Sunday!!! Thanks for stopping by today. How has your weekend been? I have to admit, this is one of our more quite weekends in our house. No competitions, no Karate and A Sunday without work. PERFECT.

My card today is for this weeks Hope Stamps Eternal
cupcake inspiration challenge.
This week, I drew inspiration from the Buttons on top of the cupcakes. I also wanted to use my new DP from Cosmo Cricket. Isn't this paper gorgeous? You know what is even better? It comes in a 6x6 pad, I also used the new matching buttons, which go wonderfully with the paper.Both are now available at Hope Stamps Eternal.

Want to see what the girls on the Hope Stamps Eternal came up with for the challenge? You can find them here. Well, that is all for me today, we would love for you to join us in the challenge. Happy creating!

Supplies

Stamps: The Greeting Farm

Paper: Cosmo Cricket, PTI cardstock

Ink: Copics, TH distress ink

Accessories: CC buttons, Prima flowers, Nestis, SU scalloped punch