Shutterfly Holiday Cards

I would like to wish everyone a very happy and healthy start to an amazing holiday season. So much has been going on and there has been many great changes - all of them positive - which gives me much reason to celebrate and be thankful. This year, I wanted to send out the perfect holiday cards. In the past, I have used Shutterfly to do birth announcements and birthday party invitations.


This year, I decided to use Shutterfly for my holiday cards. There are so many beautiful designs to choose from. You can even split your order! Make half of your cards Christmas and the other half Holiday Cards. I plan on sending out some New Year cards this year.

This year's cards are going to be very special since it will be the first Christmas for our family's newest addition - a baby girl! I am so excited to send out holiday cards of my two baby girls together =) I definitely suggest checking out the great prices, quality cards, and fast delivery that Shutterfly has to offer when you are ordering your cards this season.

Best,
Loreen

Blog Candy Alert

My dear friend and design team member, Kim, is having some awesome blog candy. Her blog candy includes:

3 DCWV design cards
6 white doilies
Valentine Studio G clear stamp set
Friend to Friend heart stamp
Pink mini rose flowers
Magenta baubles
Card Scents in Snickerdoodle
Valentine ribbon
Red, White, and Pink Flowers
A mixture of foam hearts
Misc. WOJ and Magnolia stamped images


So what are you waiting for? Head on over and enter to win some great candy =) Her work is amazing so be sure to check out her projects too! Happy MLK Day =)

Hugs,
Loreen

P.S. Head over to Wish On A Scrap for the New Whiff of Joy Stamps. The Willow stamps also make adorable stamps for Valentine Day cards too.

Spotlight Technique

I was introduced to the spotlight technique by my friend. Click here to see Ann's page. She saw it on one of the Bella challenges. I decided to give it a try and I absolutely love how this card came out.



I am not really sure who makes this stamp because I stamped the image out when I was visiting Ann. I colored the image using Copic Ciao set C and my Copic Blender pen. The paper and punches are SU. I used the treading water punch and cuttlebug swiss dots folder on the background for my image. The ribbon is from my stash and the rain drops are from Cloud 9. The cardstock is SU and Bazzill. I highlighted the cupcake using my Sakura Stardust Clear pen. To make the images pop up, I used my Stampendous pop up 3-D sticky squares.

Do not forget that today is the last day to enter the challenge on my store blog. Click here to go to the challenge. It is such an easy challenge and you will enter for a chance to win Whiff of Joy's Lizzie with Box of Chocolates stamp. How adorable is this stamp? It's perfect for Valentines Day too =) I really love this stamp line!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Thank you so much for visiting and leaving comments. I have so much fun visiting my visitor's pages for inspiration.

Hugs,

Paper Pieced New Baby Card

One of my good friends at work is expecting her first baby girl this week. I was so excited that the little one will be here soon that I already made the card. It is possible that the baby will make her debut a little early right? My daughter was exactly one week early. Of course my own mother called my baby's birth date months ahead of time! The only problem with my own daughter arriving a week early was that it interfered with me taking my last exam to finish my law degree. Just as my own mother predicted, my little girl came the exact day of my Family Law final (fitting right?). I ended up taking the exam when I came out of the hospital and graduated from law school without any trouble =) It is so much easier to take a law school final after you have given child birth. Anything is easy compared to that!



Back to the card...I paper pieced Baby Bella Pea with designer paper from a DCVW pack. I also used nesties, bazzill cardstock, tuxedo black memento ink, Tim Holtz Distress ink in Worn Lipstick and Peeled Paint, Stampin Up Punches & Sentiments, and EK Success corner punch. Of course I had to decorate the inside of the card too! I hope you enjoyed my card.



Do not forget to participate in the Whiff of Joy Challenge at my store blog. It is such a fun challenge and you get a chance to win an awesome stamp that is perfect for Valentine's Day. Be sure to check it out =)

Hugs,

Wish Challenge #1

As promised, the Wish On a Scrap Design Clique is hosting a challenge on the store blog. Come and participate in the fun challenge and get a chance to win 2 Whiff of Joy Stamps =)

One of the deadlines is tonight, January 4, 2008 at midnight so make sure you visit the blog now =)

I am so excited to see what you create. Good luck and I hope you have a great time participating in the challenge =)

Hugs,

Whiff of Joy New Releases & Yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am so excited to share that my store Wish On A Scrap will be carrying the new releases from Whiff of Joy Stamps. Be sure to stop on over to the store to see these adorable new stamps. If you are up for a challenge, visit the store blog as we will have some yummy blog candy posted very soon.

Winter has gotten me in the baking mood. I made my regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and then dipped the cookies into melted semi-sweetened chocolate chips. This simple treat was absolutely delicious.


Here is the recipe for chocolate chip cookies from Crisco:

3/4 cup butter flavored shortening
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons milk
1 Tablespoon real vanilla
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups of flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375. Combine shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into creamed mixture just until blended. Stir in choc. chips. Drop by teaspoon full of dough 3-inches apart onto greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375for 8-10 minutes for chewy cookies or 11 -13 mins for crisp cookies. DO NOT OVERBAKE! Remove cookies to foil to cool. Makes about 3 dozen.

Here is the part that I added to the recipe for my treats:
In separate small saucepan, melt bags of semi-sweet chocolate morsels. Dip each cookie halfway in dark chocolate and return to wax paper to cool. Place in refrigerator to set the chocolate. Enjoy =)

Thank you again for visiting my blog and for all of the positive comments. Have a great day.

Hugs,

Black and White Winter Card

Happy New Year! I still have not decided what this year's resolution will be. I would love to hear what you have decided to resolve for 2009.



The card for today was something that I had envisioned in my mind and then just had to put onto paper. I bought the stamp over the summer because I knew it would make a beautiful winter card. Black and white are my favorite shades; I wear them almost every day so I figured I would make a card that reflects my clothing style. I also decorated the inside of the card just as my muse Kim does on her beautiful cards.

Here are the details of the card:

• Stamp by Inkadinkado 96847


• Cardstock Stampin Up in Whisper White & Basic Black


• Black Memento Ink


• EK Success Medium Snowflake Punch


• EK Success Snowflake Long Punch


• Silver baubles & Silver Sliders


• Black ribbon

I hope you enjoyed my card. Here are some pictures of snow that we had in New York on New Years Eve. I thought I would share these because when I sent the pics over to Deb, she told me that my snow looks tropical compared to hers. I thought that was hilarious. How is the snow by you?

Wishing you all a wonderful year ahead. Thank you so much for your comments =)

Hugs,