Sites of the week

Still seeking a 12-step group for Blog Hop Addicts. Somehow, I {very willingly} have ended up participating in several blog hops over the past few weeks or so, and today is yet another hop. This one is very special…it’s a birthday hop for Stamping Bella. Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday sweet Bella, Happy Birthday To You!!

So, if you are hopping you should have started HERE on the Bella blog, came to my blog from Sheena’s blog HERE and when you are all done on my blog, you can hop on over to Meahni’s blog HERE.

Since it’s Saturday, it’s also time for another SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY {scroll down to be introduced to the new Designer of the Month}. Here’s the sketch…

My take on the sketch, using Birds Decorating Trees from Stamping Bella…

Detail Shot…

More deets about the hop…
Leave a comment and have a chance to win a $100 Stamping Bella gift certificate! There are 3 of these hidden along the hop, so be sure to show some love here, there and everywhere along the hop. Good luck and happy hopping! {PS~winners will be announced on the Stamping Bella blog this Monday}

Since this is a hop in addition to the SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY post, I am doing this a little backwards. It’s the first Saturday of the month, which means I have a new Designer of the Month to introduce to you. I usually do that at the top of my post, but here it is kinda in the middle. Please Welcome KIM MORENO…

Here’s a little about Kim in her own words…
Hi my name is Kim Moreno and I am excited to be the guest designer!
I am a stay at home mom to 5 sweet kids…. ranging in age from 7.5 yr old twins to a 14 yr old. I stay busy just keeping them in order and all that they do but in my spare time I love to craft! I enjoy knowing that I am capturing everyday moments in my kids lives that we can all look back on and remember as they grow older.
I have been scrapbooking for over 8 years now and have been fortunate to have my designs published in most major craft magazines including BHG, Creating Keepsakes, Scrapbook Trends, Cards, SCT, Papercrafts and more! I currently design for Jillibean Soup, Dream Street Papers, Core’dinations, Glitz, Noel Mignon kits, and the CPS sketch site.
Thank you once again Jen for having me this month… I LOVE your sketches!!
Visit my blog: www.livingthecircuslife.blogspot.com, I’d love to see new faces stop by!

Here’s her fantabulous take on the sketch…

Want to see more SFYTT goodness? Check out the SFYTT sisters…
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Kelly Lunceford
Susan Liles
Leigh O’Brien

Don’t forget, if you are hopping along to head on over to Meahni’s blog!

Gonna play along? Just link your fantabulous creation below on Mr. Linky…

Greetings all! It’s been a wonderful week in the del Muro household. Tony’s mom and grandma are visiting from San Diego and we are having lots of fun! Ellie adores them. She keeps asking if they are going home yet, which makes it sound like she wants them to leave. In reality, she wants to make sure that they aren’t going anywhere yet. It’s real sweet that she asks a few times a day! We went to Sam Moon sans Ellie yesterday and I got a GREAT new purse. I will have to share pics later. As I type this, I am being waited on hand a foot and am being brought a brownie a la mode…YUM-O! Of course, it’s not for me…it’s for the baby!

Let’s get rollin’ on the Lulu blog hop with a Sketch For You To Try…
If you hopped here first, you might want to start at the beginning on the Stamping Bella blog. Otherwise, you should have come here via my friend, Debbie. When you are all done here, be sure to hop on over to Tiffaney’s blog!

How about a prize? In addition to the fabulous eye candy, we have decided to hide a prize somewhere along the hop! One pre-selected blogger will draw a random winner from the comments on her post, and the winner will receive a $25 Gift Voucher to Stamping Bella!!! The fun part is…we’re not telling you who it is! So as you hop, make sure you leave comments on every post so you have a chance to win!! We will announce the winner on Monday in the Splitcoast forum. MWAH!

Here’s the Sketch For You To Try this week…

Here’s my card using Henrietta Lulu from Stamping Bella…

Gretchen, this month’s Designer of the Month, created this fabby card. Thank you Gretchen for playing along with us this month!!

Want a few more samples? Check out my Sketch For You To Try Sisters…
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Kelly Lunceford
Susan Liles

Carole is currently taking a leave of absence, but should be back soon!

If you upload to SCS or PCP, please use the keyword SFYTT. I can’t wait to see all the creations!

Greetings from {still rainy} North Texas! Today is going to be another fun and busy one. I am off to teach a couple classes at Scrapper’s Boutique…YAY! I love working and teaching there. If you are a local and haven’t been yet, stop on by!

So, here’s the SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY for this week…

Here’s my happy scrappy take on it {which you can see I accidentally “altered”}…

Gretchen, this month’s Designer of the Month, made this cutie patootie sample…

Want a few more samples? Check out my Sketch For You To Try Sisters…
Amy Rohl
Amy Sheffer
Kelly Lunceford
Susan Liles

Carole is currently taking a leave of absence, but should be back soon!

If you upload to SCS or PCP, please use the keyword SFYTT. I can’t wait to see all the creations!

Happy Friday! Well, I forgot to bring my camera to school yesterday so I didn’t get any pics of my classroom. I got to meet some of my students and they are very, ummm… ambitious 4 year olds. They were all very sweet and I know that I am going to have my hands full {in a good way} this year. I did get some pics of my “new” stamping area, though. Those pics are below my Gertie Lulu card. I am loving the Lulus from Bella! I **just** got mine the other day. I have seen a lot of creations with them and it was driving me crazy that they were “In Transit.” Anyways, here she is…

Gertie Lulu paired with this week’s Bellarific Sketch…

I have to admit that I wasn’t too crazy about this sketch when I saw it at first, but it really is a good one!!…Thanks Meahni! I “adjusted” the sentiment panel a bit, so it’s just an embellishment panel {flower from Jillibean Soup…my last one!}. I’m ok with it just like that!

Now, onto the “new” stamping space. I put new in quotes because it’s not really new to me. I have been in this room for a few months, but Tony has moved his office in. Believe it, or not I was the one to suggest it. It really just made sense because we are turning the old office/playroom into a nursery/playroom and then a dedicated playroom {with a guest bed}. Why a bed in the playroom? I am beginning to think that guest rooms are OV-ER RA-TED, but I feel the need to have somewhere for someone to crash if need be. Blah, Blah, Blah…stamping space pics…

My “half” is on the right hand side of the above pic.

I’ll go ahead and answer this here because every time I post my stamp space pics I get asked…the ribbon containers are from Target. Tony got them for me in the Christmas section a couple years ago {thanks, man!}. I have found them a couple times in the storage container area. You can’t see in the pic, but the ribbon containers are 2 deep on the shelf. I thought that this would annoy me, but it’s actually worked out very well. It’s all sorted my color and a little by brand. I have the PTI ribbon separated…not as a shrine to PTI, but because it’s convenient to keep these colors separated. I also have my SU! colors in a separate container. I don’t access those as much and they don’t fit as nicely in my sweet lil’ containers. In even another container is what didn’t fit in the other containers. I also have loose ribbon in another container. Yes, I have a little obsession with ribbon! The black desk attached to the cubed bookcase is from Ikea and I hope to get more {larger} pieces from this line to eventually replace the bookcases {which will end up in the playroom one day}.

Alright, I’m going to enjoy today and take a minute to relax a bit. See you tomorrow for another SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY!

NOTE: There is one more spot in my Copic 2 class on Saturday. Call Scrapper’s Boutique for more details.

Greetings from the sweltering heat of North Texas. I drove past the high school yesterday afternoon and their message board read 108degrees. So much for the “cooler back to school weather.” I set up my preschool classroom {for the most part, anyways} yesterday, too. I forgot how much fun it was to set up a room and prep for kiddos. I love the curriculum…the color red, circles, various “me/family” activities and apples. It’s gonna be so much fun! I know that some of you are thinking “blech,” but I am really looking forward to the lil’ 4 year olds coming to class!

This has been a very happy mail week for me so far! Yesterday I got some new Bella stamps…YAY! Although, these cards don’t have any of the new rubber on them I will have some of those for you in the very near future. I do have 2 cards using the Ketto line to show today. I truly love this line! From how they are selling at my LSS, you love them to. So without further adieu…

Agnes Ketto…

I wasn’t sure if the pink and red were going to work, but I LOVE the way it came out! I am gonna have to put this into my notes to put these colors together again! The Bella baubles were added almost an afterthought. I was sitting there staring at the card and wondering what it needed. It needed baubles. When in doubt…bauble!

and Lulu Ketto…

I used a trio of buttons along with a die cut from my Slice Basics 3 design card. The 3 white bon bons from Bella, as well.

Well, I have another busy day ahead of me and lots of projects to work on. See you tomorrow