{Maria's Recovery} Breast Cancer Thank You Cards

On January 20, 2011, my mother Maria was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  Two weeks after, a mastectomy was performed and she healed quite well (besides an infection, which she was treated for).  We have since found out that she is triple negative, meaning that her cancer is not hormonal, and further treatment is not available (besides chemo).  Since her cancer was detected early and because she opted for a mastectomy as opposed to a lumpectomy, she does not require chemotherapy.  Besides close monitoring through MRI's and Mammograms, all we can do is keep our faith and continue praying to God, who has been so good to our family!

From a crafting perspective, I was determined to try and find ways to craft my way through my mom's cancer.  I needed to find the much sought after Cricut "Pink Journey" cartridge.  After no such luck, and much research, I found many alternatives!

Below is the Thank You card that I created for my mom back in the winter. If you are desperately searching for a ribbon cut, you do not need to have Pink Journey!!! I redeemed 800 Cricut reward points and got Cricut "Stand and Salute" which has a beautiful ribbon cut!

Supplies:
Cricut "Stand and Salute" cartridge, Ribbon @ Page 30
Cricut "Christmas Cards" cartridge (for the card base and layers)
Rose, Baby Pink and White cardstock
Scrappy Mom Stamps
Pink By Design Stamps "Faithful Sayings"
Martha Stewart Border Punch
Martha Stewart Glitter in Kunzite

My mom chose the stamps sentiments!

Halloween Birthday Invite {Witchy Wednesday}

My niece's 11th birthday is coming up! And my favourite kind of paper crafting is making invitations. I love choosing fonts, colours, themes, etc. For these Halloween themed invites, I got to use my darling halloween stamps from A Jillian Vance design. The broom is from the Witchy Poo set and the adorable spider is from the Spooky set.

Supplies:
A Jillian Vance Stamps - Witchy Poo and Spooky
Cricut Happy Hauntings cartridge
Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors (for the grass)
K & Co. chipboard
Martha Stewart Embossing Powder
Chalk Ink

If you want more Halloween inspiration, check out what my teammates created over at A Jillian Vance Design Blog!

Stampin Daisies Design Team Day

Hello Everyone! Today's challenge for Stampin Daisies was to use our Ocean Buddies stamp set and we were also given a sketch to follow.  Here's what I came up with:

Like the way my Dolphin image looks even though I didn't colour it in?  I am not a colourer, nor do I have any copics, but I have a couple of tips for you to turn an image stamp into the best it can be without having to colour it:

1) Stamp your dolphin on blue cardstock
2) Trim the image to the shape of the dolphin
3) Stamp the dolphin again on white cardstock
4) Taking the white cardstock stamped image, trim around the belly of the dolphin only
5) Attach the white belly piece onto the blue based dolphin image
6) To give my dolphin more dimension and flare, I glitter glued the belly!


Supplies:
Stampin Daisies Ocean Buddies stamps
Martha Stewart Glitter Glue
Momento Cocoa Ink
Imaginisce Brown gems and I-Rock
Chalk Ink
Pattern paper and strips of paper all from scraps stash

Be sure to visit the rest of the team to check out their creations and enter the challenge!
Monica http://stampindaisies.blogspot.com/
Sherry http://patternsbysher.blogspot.com/
Linda http://www.fancyframework.com/
Jessica http://thecreativestamperspot.blogspot.com/
Jenny http://www.papercutcreations.blogspot.com/

A Giveaway, Update on my mom, and A Jillian Vance Special Offer!

Update on my mom:
Hi Everyone! As you know, back in January, my mom was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. She is doing much better now and you would never know that she was sick! We just have to keep on praying that she stays healthy and stress-free! Ever since my mom was diagnosed, this matter has been very important to me. I was ecstatic when I found out that Jillian Vance would be coming out with an “Ink Pink Collection”! Perfect timing for October and Breast Cancer awareness month!


Giveaway:
But first, in honour of Jillian’s new gorgeous stamp sets and my mom’s great health, I am giving away a copy of Cricut Magazine (August 2011) and Cricut Cards Magazine to one lucky winner! I will do this if 50 of my followers head on over to the Jillian Vance Design Team Blog and become a follower! Here’s what you need to do: 1) Follow the Jillian Vance Design Team Blog and leave a comment on the most recent post saying “Nadia sent me” and 2) Come back to my blog, comment on this post and let me know that you did #1! That’s it! It’s that easy!

A Jillian Vance Design...Special Edition stamp collection:
If you are too anxious and want to check out these stamps, click to see all the rave! http://www.ajillianvancedesign.com/InkPink.html


Jillian’s Exclusive Ink Pink Collection featuring her ALL NEW Stamp set “Pray for a Cure” which comes in either a Round Set or a Rectangle Set.


The Ink Pink Collection will include:
•Pray for the Cure Stamp Set in your choice of Round or Rectangle
•Pink Acrylic Stamp block in either 3x3 for the Round set or 3 x4 for the Rectangle set
•5 Charming Jilly Charms, Breast Cancer themed, made of fine pewter right here in the USA!
•5 A Jillian Vance Design Pear Pins to attach the Charms onto your projects.
•A sample of Rinkle Ribbon, vintage ribbon to wrinkle and crinkle, ½” wide and Made in the USA.
•Bonus for ordering online at http://www.ajillianvancedesign.com/InkPink.html, a FREE Vera Bradley Zip ID Case in Loves Me. While supplies last.


All this for only $38.95 plus shipping. over $55.00 value!!!


IN ADDITION TO ALL THE WONDERFUL PRODUCTS IN THIS COLLECTION, THEY
COORDINATE WITH SPELLBINDERS NESTABILITIES!!!


The Round Set coordinates with:


Spellbinders Nestabilities
Beaded Circle S4-292
Classic Scalloped Circles S4-124
Standard Circles Small S4-116
Spellbinders Nestabilities:


The Rectangle Set coordinates with:
Large Labels S4-168


Collections start shipping out in Mid-September or sooner as items become available.


So...what are you waiting for? Go follow the blog, come back here and comment to be entered! Don't forget to check out the beautiful new breast cancer stamp sets that she has.

Teresa Collins Stampmaker Halloween Stamps

Some of you may or may not know this, but Teresa Collins tops my list of favourite crafty designers. I just love her style.  It's classy, timeless, chic and elegant. If it's Teresa Collins, I gotta have it! A while back, I discovered the Teresa Collins stampmaker and I fell in love with the machine. You can literally turn anything into a stamp, including photos!

Every month, Photocentric comes out with free downloadable images for your stampmaker and so many of them remind me of Teresa Collins' style.

This month's free stamps were back to school and halloween based images and I couldn't resist and finally printed out negatives for the first time on my laser printer. With the new Cricut Teresa Collins Chic & Scary cartridge about to arrive in the mail any day and with the release of her new "Haunted Hallows" paper line, these stamps were a must for me to make to use with all my planned projects!

The negatives are good for a lifetime so once you are done, you store them away and in the event you ever need to make the stamp again, you can re-use your negative. Below is a picture of what the negatives look like.

It's a super quick process and here are the results! I'm not sure why one stamp is clear and the other is coloured, but regardless, they work so I'm not all that concerned.  Below is a picture of what they look like once the stampmaking process is complete.

Below is a picture of what the stamps look like inked up with black ink and stamped onto white cardstock. The stamps are very distressed looking and rugged around the edges, I just love the look!

Some close up shots of the stamps.

You're Engaged!

Hi Everyone! This is Nadia from Nadia's Beautiful Mess and I am one of Monica's designers! While I am waiting for the remainder of my Stampin Daisies samples to arrive in the mail, I thought I would utilize Monica's very first stamp set, Just the Basics.  It is specially priced right now so click on the link below if you are interested. 

One of my co-workers just got engaged and Monica's stamps came in handy for my card.

I wanted a home sewn look. My sewing is off, but I think that is what gives my card character. The lighting is dark however the ribbon is actually brown.  
I also couldn't resist using another adorable stamp on this set on the back of my card. I love the font Monica used:

Supplies:Stampin Daisies Just the BasicsCricut Sweethearts cartridgeK&Co. paperMomento Ink in Rich CocoaRecollections pearl bradFoam squares
Thanks for looking!

Monogrammed Note Cards {Stampin Daisies DT Post!}

Today is our very first design team post for Stampin Daisies!  I used this gorgeous zebra stamp set to create monogrammed note cards.

Supplies:

Cricut Mini Monograms (for the scallop and circle)

Black and Brown Momento Ink

Brown Satin Ribbon

Me and My Big Ideas stamps (for the flourish detail on the note card)

Stampin Daisies Zebra Designs

Monica is giving away two stamp sets to one lucky winner! Birthday Bash and Ocean buddies. All you have to do is leave a comment on Monica's blog to win and can have more chance to win by leaving a comment on all our blogs.
Now go see what the rest of the design team created!
Monica http://stampindaisies.blogspot.com/
Jenny http://www.papercutcreations.blogspot.com/
Jessica http://thecreativestamperspot.blogspot.com/
Linda http://www.fancyframework.com/
Sherry http://patternsbysher.blogspot.com/