Paper Addict

A long time coming....

2009-08-20T17:17:00.004-05:00

So it's been 2 weeks since I crafted at all.....I just didn't have the time, or the inspiration. Then I got an order from SU! that had the stamp sets 'Peace Within' and 'Twick or Tweet' (new Mini Catalog) in it, and I've been stamping ever since! I just love the new Cottage Wall DSP too, and it looks so good with the new In Color Rich Razzleberry. This is one of 6 cards that I made in the last few days, and it will be one of the cards in my upcoming Stamp Camp. This was a very easy card (except for the watercoloring, and even that is easy, but it just takes time) and I just love the colors! Here's the recipe info: Stamp Sets: Oval All and Peace Within; Paper: Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Oppulence, Whisper white; Ink: StazOn Black, and refills in Bermuda Bay, Creamy Caramel, Rich Razzleberry, Close to Cocoa, Apricot Appeal, Orchid Oppulence, Certainly Celery; Accessories: Cottage Wall DSP, Rich Razzleberry Double sided Grosgrain, Scallop Oval and Large Scallop punch, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Nesties Petite Oval, Blender Pens, Aqua Painter.

Good news, and bad news......

2009-08-07T13:51:00.004-05:00

Although this is not the summer that I had invisioned, it's definitely had its high and low points. We just recently had a very low point....My Grandmother, Clara Michels, passed away at the end of July. She was a wonderful woman, and I have so many great memories of her! Some of my favorites are when we visited she would RAKE her shag carpet to keep it looking fluffy; she always had a FULL cookie jar and she made THE BEST oatmeal raisin and gingerbread cookies; she taught me how to fish; and she also taught me how to fold fitted sheets. One of my favorite things about her was that she was always doing something, cooking, crafting, sewing, and while she was doing it she would always TALK to me. I remember her making beautiful Hardanger embroidery and thinking how could she possibly keep up a conversation while carefully snipping individual tiny threads out of the cloth. She was amazing! I think that watching her was where my love of crafting truly began. Thanks Grandma!

As a result of the craziness of this summer, I have barely crafted at all. So much for my vow to post daily!! I'm trying to get back into the swing of things and hopefully I will have something to post for you soon. I miss spending time with my stamps and I definitely could use a break from everything else that is going on, so I will try and get back to my craft room soon. In the meantime, check out my SU! website for some fun project ideas from the wonderful artists at SU!

new products card.......

2009-07-07T18:43:00.002-05:00

I had so much fun making this card! The colors are WAY outside of my comfort zone, but I was determined to make something bright and fun using the new Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. The new In-Colors are amazing! They not only look good together, but there are so many combinations that work with Stampin' Up!'s existing colors....which I'll show you some examples of soon! Hope you're all having fun looking through the new catty and making up your Wish Lists!! My list was so long that I had to break it down into 3 smaller ones.....1. things I LOVE and have to have,

2. things that I NEED, and 3. things that are cute, but not absolutely necessary. My first order went in over the weekend and I can't wait to get it!!!

Recipe: Stamp Set: Wings of Friendship (level 2 hostess), Teeny Tiny Wishes; Cardstock: Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, Whisper White; Ink: Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry; Accessories: 5/16 white jumbo brad, Crushed Curry Polka Dot Grosgrain, Scallop Edge punch, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP

Stampin' Up! Deal of the Week

2009-07-06T12:45:00.004-05:00

It's week two of Stampin' Up!'s 'Deal of the Week' promotion, and it's a doozy! Get the Sizzix Big Shot Doctor's Bag for only $49.99 (regular price is $69.95!!). This bag is great for storing and carrying your Big Shot maching and dies, but also great for ANY of your stampin supplies. For more information, check out my website for details and to place your order!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Stampin' Up! on YouTube!!

2009-07-03T17:05:00.002-05:00

I don't know how I ever came up with a project idea before the internet. We can now access thousands of blogs that give us ideas for cards, scrapbook pages, and so many other projects. One of my favorite things on the internet is YouTube, and Stampin' Up! has a YouTube Channel! Click HERE to access some awesome videos and project ideas....I just love it and I know that you will too! One of my favorites is what they did with the Forget-Me-Not keeper. I just love organization (maybe because I always feel so completely unorganized!), and it's such an easy project to do. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Okay, Okay, so I blew it......

2009-07-01T19:17:00.002-05:00

I tried so hard to do it.....I really did.....but then life got in the way. I really wanted to post a blog every day, but it's just been too crazy around here lately! For the first time in over a week, I actually got in my stamp room (my oldest son had set up camp in there and was sleeping on the floor...my stamp room has a really great ceiling fan). I spent about 2 hours CLEANING it and then actually pulled out 2 new stamp sets and spent about 20 minutes playing. Then the phone rang and it was back to business. Not only have I not stamped, but my camera DIED....it's no longer doing anything, won't even turn on (sigh). SO, I'm back to borrowing my 9 yr olds camera and the pictures just aren't that great. Hopefully I'll find $600 somewhere and splurge on a new digital SLR.

In the meantime, check out my SU! website and the NEW 09/10 Idea Book/Catalog!!

Funky Circle Circus

2009-06-18T13:54:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that I haven't had time to post anything about SU!'s new catalog!!!! I preordered just about EVERYTHING that they would allow us demo's to order in advance. I LOVE the new In Colors, LOVE the new stamp sets, LOVE the new catalog!! It will be available for all to see on July 1st....it's a beauty! I'm happy that SU! decided to go back to only 1 major catalog a year because it was SO HARD for me to memorize everything that was in it and then have it all change so quickly. PLUS, I just love the mini-catalogs and there will be more of those!

This card was made with the new stamp sets 'Circle Circus' and 'Teeny Tiny Wishes' which are both so fun! I love that the Teeny Tiny wishes fits in both the Word Window Punch, and the Modern Label Punch (new) AND the word window layers inside of the Modern Label. How fun is that? All of the colors used are new IN Colors, and the ribbon is the fabulous NEW Polka Dot Grosgrain....Lovin' that too!!!

I added a picture with a few samples of the words that are in the Teeny Tiny Wishes set. There are all different fonts, and the words cover almost any occassion that you can think of. There are 24 stamps in the set!!!

Recipe: Stamp sets: Circle Circus, Teeny Tiny Wishes: Ink: Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay; CS: Whisper White, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry; Accessories: Bermuda Bay Polka Dot Grosgrain, Razzleberry Lemonade DSP, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Texturz Plates, black mini brads, scallop edge punch.

Zoofari Birds

2009-06-15T13:47:00.003-05:00

I've been designing cards for my Stamp Camp that features ALL retiring stamp sets, and this card made with the Zoofari stamp set is one that we'll be making! This card is made entirely of retiring products (except for the Family Phrases 'happy birthday' stamp). It's such an easy card and I just love that it can be given to just about anyone.....adult or child, it would be appreciated by anyone!

Recipe: Stamp Sets: Zoofari, Family Phrases; Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Whisper white; Ink: Staz-on Black; Accessories: Kiwi/Vanilla Satin Ribbon, Watercolor pencils, Blender Pen, DSP Good Morning Sunshine.

Oval All.....

2009-06-13T13:34:00.004-05:00

One of my Stamp Clubs is putting together what I call a 'Quick Card Box' tonight at our meeting. What we're doing is pre-cutting paper to specific dimensions and filling a Forget-Me-Not Keeper with all of the paper we cut. We'll pre-cut cards, but also Designer Series Paper, netural CS and colored CS that will allow them to put cards together in a snap! This card is one that I made with my Quick Cards Box paper to show them the types of cards they can make, and how quickly they go together. The Oval All Stamp set and Scallop Oval punch really help to complete the box because you can pre-stamp and pre-punch a bunch of ovals and keep them in the box for quick use. Can't wait to meet with all of the girls tonight and make our boxes!! Sorry about the shadows in the picture....with all of the rain we've had lately I am having a hard time getting pictures taken in natural light!

Recipe: Stamp Set: Oval All; Cardstock: Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery, Basic Gray; Ink: Basic Gray, Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery; Accessories: Tea Party DSP, Oval Scallop Punch, Satin Ribbon, Taffeta Ribbon, Pretties Crystal, Oval Punch, Large Oval Punch, Blender Pen.

Pick a Petal

2009-06-10T14:23:00.005-05:00

I saw this color combination in my demonstrator copy of Stampin' Success magazine (one of the perks of being a Demo!) and I just had to try it! I rarely use the Elegant Eggplant, just because I never know what colors to combine it with. When I saw it used with the Almost Amethyst and Certainly Celery, it really caught my eye! I used the Pick-A-Petal stamp set, but not in the normal way.....I made my own dotted paper by using a new eraser at the end of a pencil and Certainly Celery ink. Once I had my patterened paper, I flipped it over and used the stamp that is just the outline of a petal and stamped it on the back of my paper. I used this outline to trim out the petal shape. Then I used the retired 'A Perfect Day' rub-on's and made the little flower for the center. This was a very easy card to make and I just love the color combo!

Recipe: Stamp Set: Pick-A-Petal, Absolutely Fabulous; Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Lovely Lilac, Elegant Eggplant, Almost Amethyst, Whisper White; Ink: Certainly Celery, Elegant Eggplant; Accessories: A Perfect Day Rub-on's, Heart Trio Punch, Fresh Favorites Buttons, Tea Party DSP

Textured Impressions

2009-06-08T14:34:00.003-05:00

This is the first chance that I've had to use the Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Die and it rocks! I just love how it makes a deep impression on the paper and really stands out. I decided to try and use vellum paper in the die, and it worked pretty well, although it almost tore through on some of the raised areas. I think that the vellum cardstock would have worked better, but I'm out! After I ran the die through the Big Shot, I used Baja Breeze and So Saffron ink and sponged it on the back of the vellum before cutting it out. That was it! A sentiment stamp, and a little ribbon, and you're done! Easy Peasy!

Simple and sweet

2009-06-05T09:47:00.004-05:00

Yesterday's card was quite time consuming because of the techniques that I used, so today I decided to keep it super simple for all of you who have little or no time to spare. This card took all of 5 minutes to make, thanks to SU!'s fabulous DSP. I stamped the flourish from Baroque Motif's using Versamark to make it really subtle. It shows up better is real life....it was hard to photograph! That and the 'birthday wishes' were the only stamping I had to do!

Recipe: Stamp Sets: Baroque Motifs, Garden Greetings; Cardstock: Whisper White, Cameo Coral; Accessories: Button Bouquet, Kiwi Kiss Satin ribbon, Raspberry Tart DSP.

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Rainbow Sherbert

2009-06-04T19:50:00.005-05:00

My kids have just recently discovered rainbow sherbert. I used to always eat it as a kid.....and as an adult have discovered that it's not half as bad as you would think....natural ingredients, fruit juices and skim milk. So I've been dishing it up for the kids every other day and have seen the color combo so often that I guess it just stuck in my head. Lo and behold, a card made out of rainbow sherbert colors! This card is totally out of my comfort zone....not my normal 'style' at all. But I've been trying to think out of the box and shake things up a bit. It's kind of fun!

The technique was emboss resist, but I used the baby wipe technique for the wash over the embossed flowers. Then I used White Craft ink on SU! chipboard letters and embossed them too. Then I made the little button do-dad with some inspiration from Michelle Wooderson. Like I said, not my normal style, but sometimes it's fun to do something a little different! Hope you like!

Recipe: Stamp Set: Garden Greetings; Paper: Apricot Appeal, Kiwi Kiss; Ink: Apricot Appeal, Pink Pirouette, Barely Banana, Whisper White Craft; Accessories: Birds and Blooms Die, Organza ribbon, Linen Thread, Clear embossing powder, chipboard letters, Always Artichoke Journaler, Bella Rose and Tea Party DSP, misc. button from flea market.

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

And many mower........

2009-06-03T11:50:00.003-05:00

With Father's Day coming up I had to fill up my stash with a few more cards, so I pulled out my "And Many Mower..." set and threw this card together quickly. Since my FIL and DH are both golfers, I figured that this would work for either one of them. I just love the 'golfball' that I made for the inside with the Happy Father's Day sentiment on it. To make it, first I stamped the sentiment on Whisper White CS and then punched it out with the 1 3/4" circle punch. Next, I used the Big Shot and the Texture Plate with the little dots on it to give it the dimples. I popped it up on dimensionals to give it a more 3D look. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

Recipe: Stamp Set: And Many Mower; Ink: Brown Staz-On, Kiwi Kiss, Tangerine Tango, Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom: Paper: Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White: Accessories: Paper Crimper, Tangerine Tango Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/16 jumbo brads in Chocolate Chip, Patterns Tangerine Tango DSP, Paper Piercing Tool, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Texture Plates, Big Shot

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Sympathy

2009-06-02T10:32:00.002-05:00

My SIL called last week to let me know about the passing of her Grandma. I knew her Grandmother very well, as most holidays are spent at my SIL's house, and both sides of the family usually attend. Although not unexpected, the loss is still very hard for both my SIL and her mother. I made a card for each of them with the lovely 'Thoughts and Prayers' stamp set. I tried to keep the cards very simple, with the sentiment as the most important part. My thoughts and prayers go out to my SIL and all of her family in this difficult time. I know that Grandma Canda is with our heavenly Father and with time He will ease the family's pain....

Going, going.....not gone yet!

2009-06-01T15:17:00.003-05:00

Two posts in one day.....it must be a record of some kind! After posting my scrapbook picture, I contacted my customers with the SU! Last Chance lists, and figured that I would add them to my blog to make life easier for all! Click on the links below for the info that you want to see. Remember, that many of the ACCESSORIES that are retiring are discounted and available WHILE SUPPLIES LAST only!

Click here for the Last Chance Stamp Sets list

Click here for my webpage to see the Last Chance Accessories list

Some of the accessories have SOLD OUT already and the list was just released today! To get in on these deals, order ASAP!

Happy Stampin' and Shoppin'!

Judy

A post a day......

2009-06-01T13:56:00.004-05:00

I'm a stay-at-home mom. You'd think I'd have plenty of time to post every day, right? Well, I'm gonna try! I can't believe how busy I am each and every day....I rarely ever sit down until about 9pm (all you mom's out there hear me, right?). So in order to do this 'post a day' thing, I've actually scheduled the time in on my calendar! That's right, you heard me.....I scheduled 30 minutes in every day so that I can get the blog posted....I scheduled an hour a day to actually make a project of some kind to post....I scheduled 4 hours a week to try and come up with the ideas for the projects. Let's keep your fingers crossed that I actually keep to the schedule!! I can't wait because I rarely give myself that much time per week to dedicate to my favorite hobby, so I should get a lot done this summer!

My 'Scrap Happy' stamp camp was this past Friday night and we had a ball! Lots of talking and solving the worlds problems, but most of all, plenty of papercrafting!! I was excited to get a phone call from one of my campers asking for another class like it soon! Here's a peek at one of the pages that we made with the beautiful 'Walk in the Park' DSP. The other colors in the page are WHISPER WHITE, BAJA BREEZE, CAMEO CORAL, AND BASIC GRAY. The stamp set that we used for the embellishments was FLIGHT OF THE BUTTERFLY, and the accessories were BUTTON BOUQUET, WHISPER WHITE TAFETTA RIBBON, SCALLOP CIRCLE PUNCH, 1 1/4 CIRCLE PUNCH, 1 3/8 CIRCLE PUNCH, 1/8 CIRCLE PUNCH, LACE EDGE PUNCH, SCALLOP EDGE PUNCH, BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIE DIE, BIG SHOT.

Now, when I make the scrapbook pages for my camps, I always make them without having any pictures in mind so that they are as generic as possible and can be used in different ways. This way each of my campers can see the page without pictures. Wait until tomorrow's post to see what pictures I found to go on this layout.........

Only a few days left.....

2009-05-28T21:03:00.005-05:00

I can't believe that the month of May is almost gone! It has been one of the fastest months on record for me and I wish I could have a re-do because it was a great month! My brother's wedding was fantastic, and the scrapbook was a hit. I'm excited to get all of the pictures back so that I can start putting them in the album. I haven't even seen half of the pictures because my 16 year old niece (who's a great photographer) had my sisters digital SLR the whole night and was taking pictures of everything. Can't wait to see pics of my kids cutting it up on the dance floor....they were fantastic!

On to business! Since May is almost over, I don't want any of you to miss out on the great specials this month! Hop over to my website and check out the promotions. There are two going on right now for National Scrapbooking month. One is a paper special where if you buy 3 of the specified 12x12 DSP or Textured Cardstock, you get 1 FREE! Also, there's 20% off a cuter than cute alphabet stamp set called the 'Jumble Alphabet'. This is a brand new set that will come out in the new 2009-2010 catalog. Here's a picture of the set:

For all of my current customers, contact me by 5/30 to place any orders for these promotions and I will add your order to a group order! All new customers can click on my website and place your orders on-line by clicking the 'shop now' key!

Happy Stampin'!

Am I crazy or what?

2009-05-20T13:08:00.003-05:00

What was I thinking? Making a wedding scrapbook takes WAY longer than I thought it would! Well....let me rephrase that......making a wedding scrapbook takes time, but if one is wise and actually organizes their life and budgets time accordingly, one wouldn't be scrambling at the last second to finish. I finished 30 pages, and I wanted to do 40, but I'm going to wait until I actually get the pictures to finish up in case I need to make some special pages. Needless to say, I haven't done any other stamping, and have nothing to post! I'll definitely be posting pictures of the wedding when we return.

I'll be starting my summer, 'a post a day', on June 1st, so make sure you start checking my blog more frequently! I'll also be giving away some 'blog candy', so keep an eye out for that on June 1st too!!

Happy Stampin' and Scrappin'!

Easy Elegance

2009-05-16T10:00:00.002-05:00

I had to make a card for my SIL and new BIL who were married recently, and I wanted something that was simple, but elegant. I checked out some of the past templates on the Splitcoast website and found one that I really liked and set to creating! Everything is SU! except I used the Nesties to cut the ovals out. I'm pretty happy with my end result!!!

Recipe: Stamp Sets: Heartfelt Thanks, and All Holidays; Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White; Ink: Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Basic Gray; Accessories: Raspberry Tart DSP, Pretties Kit, White Satin Ribbon.

Wedding Gift

2009-05-15T09:59:00.011-05:00

One of my younger brothers is getting married and I just had to make a scrapbook for them as a wedding gift. The hardest part about a gift like this is making scrapbook pages that have no pictures on them! I've almost got all of the pages finished (the wedding is next week!), and I'm going to bring my camera to the wedding and take tons of pictures and fill it for them after the fact. I'm planning on wrapping the album up and giving it to them so they have a gift to open and then take it back in order to put the pictures in it. This way, if the pages don't look finished once I put the pictures on them, I can embellish them a bit more. My SIL-to-be isn't a scrapbooker (yet!) so I'm trying to make this as easy as possible. It's been a lot of fun, and the SU! Simply Scrappin' kits make it SO easy!! The kit I used was Love Stories, and I think the pages turned out really well. Here's the kit:

For some reason I can't enlarge the picture of this kit, but if you want to see it, click here to head over to my website and click on SHOP NOW and then check out the Simply Scrappin' kits!

I picked this kit because the colors in the wedding are blue, white and silver, and I thought that pictures of the wedding party would look really well on the Cardstock that was included in this kit. I almost always use sketches to create my scrapbook pages because it goes so much quicker! Two of my favorite places to find the sketches are in Scrapbooks Etc. magazine, and also on the PAGEMAPS website. I don't know what I would do without those two resources!

I used supplies from the kit, and that was all! A paper trimmer, adhesive, and scissors were the only other tools I needed. The great thing about the kits is that you can finish tons of pages in 1day. My friend Michelle and I went to a local scrapbooking store to do Wednesday crop, and I finished 14 pages in 4 1/2 hours! Gotta love that!

Now that I've got my scrapbooking mojo back, I'm off to do a few more pages for myself!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

I've been MIA....sorry!

2009-05-11T12:08:00.003-05:00

The end of the school year is always crazy around here. With teacher's appreciation gifts to make, Mother's Day, birthday's, soccer, dance, etc., I've barely had time to think, much less post. I'm hoping that once things cool down when school ends, I will get on a schedule of posting every morning....wouldn't that be grand??

This card was a part of my Clearly Amazing Stamp Camp. I just love these new printed window sheets that SU! came up with!! It only takes a few minutes and you have a beautiful card that's ready to give. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the die cuts that are behind the window sheet look like they're going to pop out of the card. My 7 yeard old son told me "I feel like I'm wearing 3-D glasses when I'm looking at it Mom!". I was pretty happy with this one...it's totally my own design!

Recipe: Stamp Set: Oval All; Ink: Basic Gray; Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, and Basic Gray; Accessories: Organza Ribbon, Scallop Oval punch, large oval punch, Clearly Thanks Window Sheets, watercolor pencils; DIES: Little Leaves and Big Bold Cupcakes.

Stamp Club Card

2009-04-22T13:08:00.005-05:00

All Supplies from Stampin' Up!: Stamp Set: And Many Mower, Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango; Ink: Basic Black; Accessories: Top Note Die, Old Olive wide grosgrain, black brads, watercolor pencils, Tangerine Tango Prints DSP.

I've been doing so much of my crafting lately using my Big Shot Dies....I just LOVE the images that are Stampin' Up! Exclusives and one of my all time favs is the Top Note Die. You can do so much with this little sweetie! I set out to show my clubbers how much fun you can have with this shape, and my first item was a Father's Day card using the new And Many Mower stamp set from the new Occasions Mini Catalog. This set cracked me up because of the 3 R's stamp (see bottom of post for a picture of the whole set). It is literally a description of my Dad!! Ever since he retired he has seen more documentaries on the History Channel than any person alive...and I'm not kidding! Don't get me wrong, he's not a total couch potato, it's just that it's his FAVORITE thing to do, watch TV in his recliner, eating a snack. After many years in a pretty high stress job he sure deserves it!

Needless to say, my Dad's Father's Day card will be made with the 3 R's stamp, but I'm not posting it until after I give it to him because besides being a History Channel buff, he spends some time on the computer too checking up on all of us. So for now, here's a card made with some other stamps in the set. Note: Doesn't the Tangerine Tango DSP remind you of some really bad '70's polyester pants?? LOVE IT!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Another basket for your Easter table....

2009-04-07T14:00:00.003-05:00

This basket would be so cute used at each place setting at Easter. You could even exchange the sentiment on the front for a name or monogram. All products used are SU! The Egg box is made with 2 ovals cut with the Coluzzle, and a small box sandwiched between....I just made up my own pattern, but you could use any size box, whatever suits your needs. The paper is from the SAB DSP Delicate Dots, and the stamp set is Egg-Cellent Easter. The handle is made from Vanilla 5/8 grosgrain, and the brads are from the Soft Subtles mix. I also used the scallop circle punch and the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches. The band around the middle was made with the Lace Edge punch. The small flower was punched with the Boho Blossoms punch. Cardstock colors used were Certainly Celery and Bashful Blue. Happy Stampin'! Judy

A tisket, a tasket, a sweet little Easter basket!

2009-04-06T23:06:00.002-05:00

Hi Everyone! I am so bogged down with things to do this week that I'm posting this one without any directions or product description...I just don't have the time!!! Everything was SU! except I used Nesties to cut my scalloped circles. I'll post more information at a later date. Happy Stampin'! Judy

A sweet little bunny

2009-04-01T19:28:00.003-05:00

This little girl bunny is just so cute (and easy to color!) and is another stamp from the Egg-Cellent Easter set. I used the fabulous Jan Tink's idea for making a ruffled scalloped border to frame my bunny. She shows this technique on an oval, but it works great for the square, just make sure to do a fold at the corner! The wonderful DSP Tea Party is just such a great paper for spring, and it was used for the ruffle and the background papers. Pirouette Pink is the color I used for the card and the large oval and I used Certainly Celery for the grass under the bunny's feet. The mat color is So Saffron. I used a designer ribbon in So Saffron and a little brad from the Hodgepodge Hardware in Styled Silver. I also used Certainly Celery brads from the soft subtles mini-brads. The bunny was colored with Pastels.

Hoppy Easter!

Judy

Here comes Peter Cottontail.....

2009-03-26T17:15:00.005-05:00

I had so much fun making this card! I used a design that I've used many times in the past (see my previous post HERE) and it works so well for cards for all occasions! The wonderful Egg-cellent Easter was the stamp set, and the Tea party DSP really made the card pop. I paper-pieced the bunny's little vest and pierced the corners of the paper. The scallop circle punch layered with the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" punches showcase the greeting, and I topped it off with the lovely White Satin ribbon. I used the Lace Edge punch on the so saffron. Colors are, Almost Amethyst, So Saffron, Certainly Celery and Pretty in Pink. I colored the eggs with our Stampin' Write markers.

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Hippity-Hoppity Easter's on it's way......

2009-03-25T19:11:00.004-05:00

I had such a great day today! I spent most of the day at a friend's house (who's also a Stamp Club member), stamping, and talking and just having a good time. A few of the ladies had bought two of my class kits and were assembling them, while my friend Michelle and I were doing a little scrapbooking. Gotta loves days like this!

My card for today is from my Easter stamp camp using the Eggcellent Easter stamp set from the upcoming Mini Catalog. I just love the set!! I'm posting my favorite card first which is my own design (can't you see me patting myself on the back :) and it uses another favorite of mine, the Texturz plates for the Big Shot - LOVE THEM! The colors I used are Pink Pirouette and Lavender Lace (strange combo, right?), with a little bit of Bashful Blue dotted paper from the SAB DSP Delicate Dots. I used the Scallop edge for the DSP, and then I added the WIDE Pink Pirouette Grosgrain. I stamped the eggs using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, and then colored them in using Stampin' Write markers. THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP is using Crystal Effects over the top of the eggs....it makes them look like epoxy stickers. Hope you like it!

Happy Stampin'

Judy

More Cheap Talk

2009-03-19T08:59:00.003-05:00

Another card made with the 'Cheap Talk' stamp set. It works so well with the 'Birds and Blooms' Die for the Big Shot!! I die cut the bird and flowers, and then stamped the legs from one of the birds onto the Whisper White Card stock. Then I added the tree branch which I colored using my Chocolate Chip marker, and blender pen and Kiwi Kiss ink refill. As far as the cardstock, I haven't had much use for the Pacific Blue In Color, but this stamp set works so well with it. I also used the DSP 'Good Morning Sunshine', Kiwi Kiss CS and a small strip from the 'Candy Lane'. I used the 'Scallop Edge' punch for the trim, and then layered the flowers and put a sticky rhinestone in the center (from the dollar bin at Joann's). Can't forget the new White silk and organza ribbon!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

On-Line Club Projects

2009-03-16T11:53:00.005-05:00

Happy Monday! I don't usually say that, but with the beautiful weather that we're having here, how can I help but be in a good mood? I went on a walk with the dog this morning and couldn't believe the warm temps. Gotta love spring!

Speaking of spring, my post is a 'springy' kind of thing. The colors from SU!'s Good Morning Sunshine paper, and the cute little birds from the 'Cheap Talk' stamp set make for some really cute projects! I can't remember where I got the pattern for this fun little purse, but I changed it up a bit and made it work for this project. I just love the little envelope on the front that holds postage stamps!

The idea for one of the cards, the one with the little heart, was found here and the other was my own brainchild. I just love this DSP and stamp set! The colors used were, Kiwi Kiss. Pacific Blue, Chocolate Chip, and Summer Sun. Just straight stamping on this card with a little paper piecing. The heart was punched with the Heart Trio Punch. The Happy Together is from the Family Phrases stamp set and I thought the cutesy font worked with the sweet birds. On the 'Hello There' card I added a little of the Kiwi Kiss Satin ribbon, and one of the new Large Brads (one of my favs from the new catty!).

3rd Club Card

2009-03-09T15:29:00.004-05:00

This card is my favorite of the 3 Stamp Club cards that I made. I love the 'Just Buzzin' By' Stamp set and it looks SO CUTE with the Sale-a-Bration DSP 'Delicate Dots'. It's really simple too, the hardest part was cutting the paper. Because my Club was all about learning watercoloring techniques, we used the Stampin' Write Markers to watercolor this one. I used Crystal Effects on the dripping honey and on the bees wings to add some dimension to the card. The ribbon is also from the Sale-a-Bration brochure. I used SU! watercolor paper, Sahara Sand, So Saffron and Certainly Celery cardstocks....just love how it turned out!

2nd Club Card

2009-03-07T14:11:00.003-06:00

I can't take credit for this card.....I think I saw it on someone's blog, but I don't remember who's! If this was your card, please comment so that I can give you credit for it!

I just loved the simplicity, and the fact that it used the Texturz Plates from SU! These plates are so fun and add so much pop to my projects. It's hard to see how textured they really are in this picture, but I used another piece of cardstock to 'shim' my 'sandwich' in the Big Shot and it really deepened the embossing on the card.

Again, this uses the 'Crazy for Cupcakes' stamp set. I used the Certainly Celery ribbon from the Sale-A-Bration brochure, and a ribbon slide from the Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware. I watercolored using the Watercolor Wonder Crayons, and added sparkle to the frosting on the cupcakes with Dazzling Diamonds. Cardstock colors are Pretty in Pink and Whisper White. Super easy card!

FINALLY!

2009-03-05T13:39:00.003-06:00

I finally figured out a way to take pictures that don't have an 'apricot appeal' glow to them!! I think that my flash isn't working properly, which has caused all of my pictures to take on a peach hue. I solved the problem by taking my pics in direct sunlight in the morning, which fixes my blog pictures issue, but I'm still needing a new camera (hint, hint to the hubby!).

The first card is one that I made for my stamp club. We did a class on different water coloring techniques and I came up with three different cards using the same layout. I'm always looking for masculine cards, so this one uses color and patterns that fit the bill.

The stamp set is the popular CRAZY FOR CUPCAKES, and the color palette is, pacific blue, kiwi kiss, tangerine tango. I used the reinkers in those colors to watercolor the image, and then when it was dry I stamped on the 'happy birthday' from the FAMILY PHRASES set. The patterned paper was from the Tangerine Tango Pattern Pack, and I used the SU! watercolor paper (the best!) to stamp my image on. The stars were punched with the large and small star punches, and I added one of the new Jumbo brads.

I will post the other two cards tomorrow!

Happy Stampin' !

Judy

long lost blogger......

2009-02-26T22:45:00.003-06:00

I had such good intentions to post at least twice a week, and then my camera died on me. It's officially gone, my poor little Cannon Powershot. I'm thinking the fact that I may have gotten salt water in it in Florida was the kicker. SO....I'm off to search for my son's little Kodak Easyshare and see what I can do with that. Hopefully I'll have some pictures for you soon because I've been making LOTS of stuff! Hope you have been too!

BTW, did you know that sales on craft items are WAY UP?? That includes stampin' and scrappin' supplies. It turns out, in a bad economy, those of us who love craftin' actually spend more time doing what we love! It has a lot to do with people staying home more, and making homemade cards and gifts to save money. I'm not happy that the economy is in the crapper (excuse the expression), but I am excited because there are so many talented ladies that are blogging A LOT and sharing all of their wonderful ideas.

Pull out your supplies and create something today....it will take your mind off of the state of the union.

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

National Send A Card to a Friend Day

2009-02-06T20:33:00.002-06:00

I didn't even know that there was such a day! It's tomorrow (Feb 7th)!! In these days of e-mail and Facebook, we don't send snail mail cards very often anymore. I don't know about you but I still go to my mailbox and hope that there's something besides bills, so personal piece of mail that will brighten my day. And a handwritten note in a handmade card? It doesn't get much better than that! So.....I'm digging through my card stash and going to write a quick note to as many people as I can manage to in 1 day. Hope this inspires you to do the same!!

OH MY!!!!!!

2009-01-30T13:12:00.002-06:00

Lookie was just arrived at my house!!! Whoo Hooooo!!! I can't wait to start using my new things!! I'm most excited about the Texturz Plates and the new dies I got for the Big Shot. I also can't wait to stamp the Trendy Trees and Cheap Talk sets...two of my favorites! I just loved so many things in this new catalog that I almost couldn't even choose, and as I see all of the wonderfully creative things that other stampers are doing with some of the new products, I'm sure that my wish list will grow! Do you want to order some wonderful Stampin' Up! products for yourself? Click here and do some shopping on my website! You can also see a copy of the catalog for youself if you click on the Spring/Summer Catalog icon on the side of my blog. It's so beautiful!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Petal Pizzaz

2009-01-28T18:39:00.003-06:00

My shipment of new Stampin' Up! things arrived and I'm busy putting stamp sets together! I can't wait to play with some of the great new accessories that I ordered too! One of the sets that I pre-ordered was the Petal Pizzaz, and I was busy putting together this card while waiting for the UPS man to drop off my package. I just love this set! It reminds me of a retired level 3 set from a few years ago that I loved but sold because I never keep any of my retired sets. I was happy SU! came up with a similar set because it is such an easy set to stamp with and use with some really great techniques.

For this card I used Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal and Tangerine Tango for my color combo. I stamped off 1 time on the background paper to make a lighter backdrop for my bold flowers. I also stamped the background of the Taken with Teal card using a smaller flower from the set using Taken with Teal ink. The words are from the Absolutely Fabulous set (one of my favs....can't you tell? I'm always using it!). Accessories used were the Kiwi Kiss Satin ribbon, scallop edge punch, Fire and Ice Circle Rhinestone brads and dimensionals. Hope you like it!!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Sick kids and crummy weather......

2009-01-24T17:04:00.003-06:00

I had lots of things on my 'to do' list for today, and none of them got done! All three of the kids are sick, one just getting it, one in the middle of it, and one just getting over it. I have been cooped up for a full week and am about ready to start pulling my hair out. The only thing that has kept me sane are the brief moments that I have had to stamp. I was supposed to be working on projects for my Spring Cards Stamp Camp, but I got sidetracked when I happened across a great desktop stationery box on Debbie Olsen's blog. I guessed at the dimensions and made one of my own. I already had the Sweet Stems set out to make my spring cards with, so I just used it because it was handy. The Raspberry Tart paper is just too delicious!! I'm thinking that I'll try and turn this one into a class. The stationary box holds 6 cards and looks so cute sitting on your desk, counter or workspace!

Recipe: Stamp set: Sweet Stems, Absolutely Fabulous; CS: Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Cameo Coral, Real Red; Ink: Basic Black, Cameo Coral, Kiwi Kiss; Accessories: Kiwi Kiss Satin Ribbon, Kiwi Striped Ribbon, Raspberry Tart DSP, scallop circle punch, 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 circle punches, scallop edge punch, 1 3/4 circle punch, blender pens.

Valentines Class

2009-01-22T15:32:00.004-06:00

As promised, here's a little sneak peek of a card from my Valentines Class. I can't take credit for the design....another SU! demo named Mary Beth Brown was the papercrafter who came up with the idea. I just LOVE her work. I changed the card a bit to make it my own, but the basic idea was hers. And don't you just LOVE the matching envelope?

This card uses the Love You Much Stamp Set, Heart Trio Punch, and Candy Lane DSP, ALL in the NEW SU! Spring/Summer 2009 catalog. Other SU! products: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Close to Cocoa and Whisper White CS; Basic Brown Ink, 1/2, 1 1/4" circle punches, scallop circle punch, white gel pen.

DEEP FREEZE!

2009-01-13T15:20:00.005-06:00

It is so cold outside that I can't stand it! I had to clean off the driveway and sidewalks and by the time that I came inside my face was frozen. I love winter and the snow, but these below 0 temperatures are crazy. The only good thing about the situation is that I'm cooped up inside and all of my housework is done, laundry included, so that leaves me with time to.....you guessed it.....STAMP! I'm working on cards and some small projects for my first Stamp Camp of the New Year, and I'll be ready to show you some sneak peeks soon. I'm trying to ONLY use items that are NEW in Spring/Summer catalog and I'm still waiting for the catalog so I can order the rest of my supplies. I'm so jealous of some of the other SU! demos in the area because they've already received their new catalog shipments and the Man In Brown DROVE RIGHT PAST MY HOUSE WITHOUT STOPPING! I was not happy. Hopefully they'll be here tomorrow so that I can start my list of what I need (of course they're needs not wants) and I'll be one of the first people to enter my order when SU! opens for business on the 19th. In the meantime, here are two cards from my fabulous downline ROBIN, who truly amazes me. There are a few SU! colors that are hard for me to use....they just don't appeal to me, but when I see a card that Robin uses them on it just inspires me to grab that color and try using it myself. I love it! Thanks Robin!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

scrap happy!

2009-01-07T18:27:00.004-06:00

My husband and I are fortunate that both of our parents have lake houses because WE LOVE all types of lake sports and recreation, including ice fishing. This past week (over New Year's), my FIL lent us his house for 4 days for a little family mini-vacation. We loaded up the van with suitcases, ice fishing equipment, kids, dog, and last but not least SCRAPBOOKING SUPPLIES! While my DH had 2 of the kids out on the lake fishing (the kids took turns because we only have a 2 man ice fishing tent, so one of them was always with me), I would scrapbook to my little hearts content while my other child played or watched TV close by. I FINISHED 8 pages and started 2 more! I was in scrap-heaven. My MIL has a wonderful crafting table that bigger than the one I have at home, and nearby she has another cutting table, and a large long bar, so I could REALLY spread out. I did feel a bit guilty that I was enjoying their space so much, but they're really cool people and I know that they would love it that we were having such a great time.

Here are some of the fruits of my labor. MOST of the supplies are Stampin' Up! I only use supplies from other companies if Stampin' Up! doesn't offer a similar item. So the papers, inks, punches, and chipboard are from Stampin' Up! Some current, and some retired. One of my Favorite things is the punched hearts on the TOO SWEET page. They were made with the new Stampin' Up! Punch that's a part of the Love You Much Bundle that Stampin' Up! has a great promotion on right now.

I'm having a really hard time with my camera right now, so my pictures aren't are good as I would like them to be. I hate to say this, but I think it's time to upgrade! I have a Canon A540, and it used to take great pictures, but I've really been having a problem with the autofocus feature. As a result it seems like some of my pictures aren't as clear as they should be. One more thing to add to my list of wants :) It's a bummer that I figured it out AFTER Christmas because my hubby was looking for things to buy me and having a hard time finding something that I really wanted. Oh well.....there's always Mother's Day!

Take some time and make some cards or scrapbook today, it's good for the soul!

Happy Stampin' and Scrappin'!

Judy

SU! Spring/Summer Catalog Peek

2009-01-05T11:11:00.003-06:00

Stampin' Up! really knew what they were doing when they decided to publish 2 catalogs each year instead of one. We stamp-a-holics get our fix both with the anticipation and unveiling of the wonderful stamps and accessories that Stampin' Up! always brings us. January 19th is the release date for the new catty and I've already been working on my camps and crops using the new products. I pre-ordered a few stamp sets and papers, and I have to say that I love everything that I bought! These products will be made available to Stampin' Up! customers on January 19th, so get ready to have some fun!

Here are 3 cards that I made for a swap with my downline. The first two cards use NEW SETS that will be available on 1/19, and the other card was made with a set that is from the Holiday MINI-Catalog (WHICH EXPIRES ON 1/18!!!)

The first card was made with the about to become available stamp set "Just Buzzin' By", and if you love to watercolor (and y'all know that I do!), this is a set for you! It has the most adorable images and is so easy to color. I also used the Dazzling Diamonds on the bees wings to give the card a little pop (it's so hard to see it in the pictures!) The other products that I used were: Inks: Basic Black and Versamark, Cardstock: Perfect Plum and Pale Plum, So Saffron, and Basic Black, Accessories: White Taffeta ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and the two way glue pen.

The next card is a Gatefold (I use Beate's tutorial for the card pattern) that uses the soon to be available set "Sweet Stems". What I love about this set is that it has a Sizzix Embosslit that matches it (see the die cut flower at the bottom right on the card). For all of you owners of the Big Shot (or any other Sizzix product), you are gonna love this little baby! It not only DIE CUTS the shape, it also DRY EMBOSSES a design onto it at the same time that you cut it! I doesn't get much better than that! Here are a few other products that I used: Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss
, Bravo Burgundy, Pink Pirouhette, Ink: Basic Black, Pink Pirouhette, Bravo Burgundy, Accessories: Sizzix Embosslit Sweetest Stems, NEW DSP Raspberry Tart.

The last card is my favorite! It uses the "Love Owl-Ways" set from the Mini, and it it so easy to make! The toughest thing was gluing the 1/2" circle around the larger circle to make the scallop. The heart shapes that are stamped on the pink cardstock were colored in using the Watercolor Wonder crayon Cameo Coral, and the little heart that the owl is holding is glittered using the Dazzling Diamonds. Recipe: Paper: Cameo Coral, Pink Pirouhette, Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White; Ink: Basic black; Accessories: 1/2" circle punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, scallop edge punch, Pink Pirouette 1 1/4" grosgrain, Raspberry Tart DSP, Watercolor Wonder Crayons.

Stay tuned in the next week to see the scrapbook pages that I worked on over New Year's.....I finished 10 pages!

Happy Stampin',

Judy

Blogging Vacation

2008-12-22T14:48:00.002-06:00

You've probably noticed that I've taken a bit of a break from my blog. With all of the preparations for Christmas, I have decided that it's more important to focus on my family (and my sanity!) and get back to the blog after Jan. 1st. So check back after the 1st of the year for even MORE fun projects than ever before! If you're in desperate need for some inspiration before then, check out some of my favorite bloggers sites and hopefully they will keep you going until I get back in the groove again. Thanks for checking in!

Andrea Walford

Jill Hilliard

Jenn D.

Laurie

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Punches need sharpening????

2008-11-18T20:04:00.002-06:00

You have got to see this video if your punches need sharpening! Linda does a "Myth Busters" for the stamping world, and she did an episode on how to sharpen your punches. I haven't actually tried this yet, but I'm going to do it over the Thanksgiving weekend. See for yourself, and if you're brave you might want to give it a try!

Ornamental Snowflakes

2008-11-18T14:23:00.004-06:00

I got the idea for this card from Jill who has so many amazing cards and projects on her blog! I just loved her card and made just a few changes to it. I used different colors, and I also made a little awning for the top of the card (it looks sort of like a window cornice or valance). It's really easy, and the only think that took any time at all was embossing the snowflakes, and tying the little bows on the ornaments. This one would be really easy to mass produce and would be a great card to WOW your Christmas card recipients with!

To make the awning, I cut the cardstock 2 1/2 x 4 1/4 and then used the scallop edge punch. After the scallop edge has been punched, score with the FLAT side of the paper at 7/8 and again at 1 1/16. To secure the awning closed I used Pop Up Glue dots.

Recipe: Stamp Set: Snow Burst; Cardstock: Old Olive, Eggplant Envy, Baja Breeze, Whisper White; Ink: White craft, Baja Breeze; Accessories: Circle Punches - 1 3/4, 1 3/8, 1 1/4, White Embossing powder, Gold Cord, Pop Up Glue Dots, Scallop Edge Punch.

Another Christmas Card

2008-11-15T10:39:00.003-06:00

Here's another card that was quick and easy to make! I saw so many blogs with people who used these party hats from the Party Hearty stamp set as Christmas trees. I don't know who the first person who did it was, but it was brilliant! Again, the Designer Series Paper does most of the work on this card, which I love! And the little Felt Flurry with the Rhinestone brad is like icing on the cake. Recipe:

Stamp Set: Party Hearty; Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Confetti White; Ink: Old Olive Craft; Accessories: 5/8" Chocolate Grosgrain, Little Felt Flurries, Pretties kit (rhinestone brad), Iridescent Ice Embossing powder, DSP Ski Slope.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas......

2008-11-06T08:25:00.004-06:00

I usually hate the fact that the stores start pulling out their Christmas Decorations the day after Halloween. Whatever happened to the Harvest Season, Thanksgiving and just fall decorations? This year I wasn't as upset seeing all of the Christmas Decor on Nov. 1st. I think that with everything that's been going on in this world, we can all use a little Christmas Spirit in our hearts. Making the cards for my stamp camp really got me in the mood, plus I even made a few Christmas cookies for my Campers to snack on while they were working. Baking Christmas cookies DEFINITELY put me in the Christmas spirit!!

The first card we made is one of my own designs, and I just love the Christmas Cardinal stamp set with it's amazing detail. The color is a bit off in my phot, but here's the recipe so you can tell what the paper colors are: Stamp Set: Christmas Cardinal; Ink: Red Riding Hood, Old Olive, Summer Sun, Staz On Black; Cardstock: Certainley Celery, Red Riding Hood, watercolor paper; Accessories: Paper Piercing Tool and Template, Aqua Painter, White Gel Pen, Scallop Edge Punch, Holiday Treasures DSP, Red Riding Hood Taffeta Ribbon, Olive Olive Wide Grosgrain.

The second card is a gift card holder. The card base was taken from Cami's blog, and I just love the Holiday Treasures paper on this card! Recipe: Stamp Set: Punches Three (Level 1 Hostess Set); Ink: Old Olive; Cardstock: Old Olive, Red Riding Hood, Confetti White; Accessories: Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, Scallop Square Punch, Holiday Treasures DSP.

This 3rd card was a CASE from my friend Robin. Isn't this scene through the window just amazing? What a brilliant idea! The snow and ice on the windows really make the card pop, and the curtains with their draped look add so much dimension. I just love it!

Recipe: Stamp Set: Sleigh Bells Ring: Ink: Brocard Blue, Garden Green, Ruby Red, Basic Gray, Close to Cocoa; Cardstock: Kraft, Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip; Accessories: Paper Crimper, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, 1 1/4 square punch, watercolor paper, Natural Hemp, Key Tag Punch, DSP Ski Slope.

Sorry about the less than stellar pictures.....my camera is acting hooey and I used my son's, which is quite different than mine!

If you have any questions about how the cards were made, or would like more information on ordering products, leave a comment and I'll be sure to help out.

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Cutie Patootie Christmas Card....

2008-10-28T22:57:00.004-05:00

My downline Robin made this card for a swap a few weeks ago and I just thought it was so cute. And because I have spent the last week making Christmas cards for my Christmas Card Camp, I've been too busy to post a card of my own! This card is made with the Level 2 Stampin' Up! Hostess Set "Deer Friends" and I just love the cute cut out at the top of the card. Thanks for the blog material Robin~

Scrapbooking!

2008-10-18T11:03:00.006-05:00

Last night was my Scrapbooking class and it was great! We made 7 12x12 scrapbook pages using sketches, and the attendees got all of the elements to make an 8th page at home using a sketch (like homework, but more fun!). To give them incentive to do the homework I asked them to send me a picture of their finished pages and I will give them a 20% off coupon for any 1 item in the Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini-Catalog, PLUS I am going to publish their pages on my blog! I can't wait to see how their pages look.....all of them have the same materials, so it's going to be interesting to see how different the pages look. Here are the 7 that we made in class.....All of the pages are using current Stampin' Up! supplies!!

FALL pages recipe: Stamp Set: Autumn Harvest; Ink: Sage Shadow; Cardstock: Chocolate Chip Textured, Sage Shadow, More Mustard, Really Rust; Accessories: Autumn Vine DSP, Coluzzle, Sizzix Naturally Serif, Sizzix Leaves #2, 1/4 circle punch, scallop edge punch, Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Marker

SNOW page: Stamp Set: Scandanavian Season; Ink: Craft White; Cardstock: Real Red Textured, Old Olive, Real Red; Accessories: Ski Slope DSP, 1/4 circle punch, Felt Snowflakes, Lots of Letters Chipboard, heat and stick powder and Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

HALLOWEEN PAGE: Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Whisper White; Ink: Black Craft, Pumpkin Pie Craft; Accessories: Ghostly Greeting DSP, Black Brad, Chipboard Frame, Heat and Stick, Dazzling Diamonds.

FAMILY PAGE: Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray, Confetti White; ink: Black Craft; Accessories: Urban Garden DSP, Loads of Letters Chipboard, Filigree Designer Brads, Tag corner punch.

WISH PAGE: Stamp Set: Wish Upon a Star; Ink: Tango Tangerine, Bashful Blue; Accessories: Large Star Punch, Star Punch, Frosty Day DSP, Scallop Edge Punch, Designer Star Brad, Loads of Letters Chipboard.

We finished the pages in just over 2 hours, which is great considering that we enjoyed great conversation while we were working.

My very favorite product that we used is Stampin' Up!'s double sided DSP. This really enabled each scrapbooker to make the page their own and it was fun to see how different people utilized this product. My second favorite is inking the chipboad letters and then covering it with Heat and Stick and Dazzling Diamonds. This really makes the page pop! The Sizzix die cuts were a hit too! The leaves were die cut in DSP, and then we also die cut chipboard with the Leaves #2 die and then glued the DSP leaf to the chipboard to add some dimension to the page. Gotta love that Big Shot and the Stampin' Up! Exclusive dies.

The hardest part for me was cutting all of the paper and keeping track of all of the little pieces that each person got. I didn't do too bad. The scrappers were only missing two pieces of paper

which I quickly cut. I love that in planning this class I also got a lot of my own scrapbooking done.

Whoo Hoo! Happy Stampin' and Scrappin'!

Judy

Merry and Bright!

2008-10-07T13:54:00.002-05:00

I just love this cutie little stamp set! The images are so sweet and easy to use. To get the embossed snowflakes on the Chocolate Chip CS I used the Cuttlebug Snowflake folder. This is just about the easiest Christmas card that you can make, as the embossed snowflakes and the Ski Slope Designer Series paper do all of the work!

Recipe: Stamp Set: Merry and Bright; Ink: Baja Breeze, Red Riding Hood, Basic Black; CS: Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Red Riding Hood, Whisper White; Accessories: 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 1/4 circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Real Red 5/8 Grosgrain, Cuttlebug Snowflake Embossing Folder, Ski Slope Designer Series Paper, White Gel Pen, Word Window Punch

I get to play!

2008-09-25T11:21:00.005-05:00

My friend Joelle is coming over to scrapbook for a few hours this afternoon, and I'm very excited! It's not very often that I have a someone over in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday to play with paper, so I'm psyched! I have to say that I should be getting a few other things done (like laundry and cleaning - bleh!), but when the opportunity comes along to play with paper you have to grab it by the horns.

That being said, I have lots of stuff to get ready before she arrives, but I wanted to do a quick post. Here are a few cards that we made at my 8 cards for $10 camp. We had such a fun time! I'm so fortunate that all of the ladies I stamp with are such fabulous people. We swap stories, talk about kids, local news, and of course the men in our lives! I look forward to hanging out with these women every month.

The first card is made with the Fresh cuts stamp set and Haiku DSP. The card base is So Saffron, and the ink Basic Brown. We colored the 'spotlight' in with Tangerine Tango and Garden Green, and used the circle punches to punch it out. Very Vanilla wide grosgrain finished it off.

The second card was made with the Party Hearty set, and I used the Birthday embossing folder with my Big Shot to emboss the Brocade Blue Paper. The ovals were cut out using the Coluzzle, and the Frosty Day DSP is from the NEW Holiday Mini-Catalog (Available on Oct. 1st!!!). The candles on the bottom were stamped in Versamark on the Kraft Cardstock. Finished off with Brocade Blue wide grosgrain and some Natural Hemp. I always struggle to make cards that will work for a male or female birthday, and I think that this one is pretty generic and can go either way.

Hope you're all having a FABULOUS FALL and enjoying the beautiful weather (at least here in the Chicago suburbs it's beautiful!).

Check out my website for more project ideas and as always.....Happy Stampin'!

A Cardinal Christmas

2008-09-18T14:44:00.004-05:00

I've spent 5 hours today stamping cards to get ready for my 8 Cards for $10 stamp camp tomorrow night.......I'm amazed how the time flies when I'm working (smile) and how long I can stamp without EVER getting tired of it. This is the first time since my kids started school this fall that I actually spent the whole day in my craft room, and I hope that there are many more! After doing many multi-occassion cards for my Camp I thought that I would pull out one of the stamp sets that I pre-ordered (one of the many perks of being a Stampin' Up! Demo!) and get busy. "A Cardinal Christmas" is another set that fufills my current need to watercolor. I can't believe how beautiful it is and how easily card ideas just started to pop into my head. I'm normally a person who works from a sketch, but this layout was inspired by the stamp set. The colors were pulled from the new "Ski Slope" DSP (another mini-catalog pre-order....don't worry, you'll all be able to order from the mini catty too starting on Oct. 1st!), and they remind me of the 1950's. Love them!

Recipe: Stamp Set: A Cardinal Christmas; Ink: Black Craft, Riding Hood Red - Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Blue, Summer Sun Re-Inkers; Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Baja Blue, Whisper White; Accessories: Black Embossing Powder, Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon, Blender Pen

Boo!

2008-09-16T14:57:00.002-05:00

I never used to make Halloween cards....not until I saw how much my kids enjoyed getting them from other people! I know it's only September, but I just got this Autumn Harvest Stamp Set and I had to give it a try. I have been on a real watercoloring kick and it seems like every stamp set that I get now-a-days is one that is dying to be watercolored. It's the very first thing I learned to do as a SU! customer, and now it's one of my favorite things to show my customers. I'm not the greatest watercolor artist, but really, who can mess up watercolors? It's so relaxing and it makes me feel like a kid, just playing with paints and a paintbrush.....gotta love that, right? The little pumpkin on the right is cut out and popped up, and so is the oval greeting. Easy Peasy!

Recipe: Stamp sets: Autumn Harvest, Everyday Flexible Phrases; Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel, Bashful Blue; Cardstock: Confetti White, Basic Gray; Accessories: Oval Punches - Large and Small, Aquapainter, Ghostly Greetings DSP, Black Brads, dimensionals, scallop punch - edge.

Finally.....time to stamp!

2008-09-08T19:47:00.004-05:00

I have barely had time to think lately, much less stamp! My family (all 19 of them) left yesterday after a 4 day family reunion at my house. We had two occassions to celebrate, my brother's return from Germany (where he was stationed in the Army), and my 40th birthday! It was a rockin' good time, but I'm exhausted! After a solid week of cleaning, list making, grocery shopping, and house child proofing (my brother with 3 year old triplets and an 18 month old stayed with us), I am ready to drop. It couldn't have gone better, other than a small trip to the emergency room for my 3 year old nephew Mason to get stitches! We had a family kick ball game, where we had a few pulled muscles and a little cheating went on, but it was all good. Since all of my immediate family (I have 4 brothers and 1 sister and then my parents, nieces and nephews) all live out of state, I don't get to see them as often as I would like. I will miss them all!

I did spend 2 hours in my stamp room today and made 8 cards! They are for an upcoming class, so I'll share them after my class gets to make theirs. I do have a really fun mini-scrapbook that my stamp club made last week. It's made with 2 cardboard coasters held together with Natural Hemp. The paper was Bella Rose DSP, Kiwi Kiss, Red Riding Hood, and Whisper White, Stamp Set - Dream Du Jour, and Kiwi Kiss Ink. The holes were punched with the Crop-a-dile, and then I used the 1 1/4, 1 3/8 circle punches, and the scallop circle. It was such a quick and fun project and the ladies loved them!

When in doubt CASE

2008-08-21T20:52:00.003-05:00

I had swap cards to make, and as usual had little or no time to come up with something. I love the fact that the ladies in the stampin' world share their work and give me something to CASE! This cutie card was copied from Dawn, another Stampin' Up! Demonstrator with an AMAZING blog. She not only shares her work, but makes HOW TO videos to show you exactly what to do!! I don't know how she finds the time, but I'm sure glad that she does. In this case I took the card and just switched stamp sets and added some ribbon instead of paper piercing to make the card even easier. I just love the new SU! Pirouette Pink! Paired with Basic Black or Basic Gray it's just FABULOUS! I used the Dreams Du Jour which is a new favorite set of mine. I just love the butterfly in this set! The accessories I used were the Scallop Edge Punch and Pretty in Pink Taffeta ribbon.

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Sock Monkey

2008-08-14T14:27:00.003-05:00

Sock Monkey is addictive! I just love this little guy. The fact that he looks best watercolored is very appealing to me......I'm loving getting back to some of the basics like using watercolors and chalks. And that new Baja Breeze paper...Love It! It looks so good with Not Quite Navy (which is a very under used paper color in my stash)

Stamp Set: Sock Monkey; Not Quite Navy, Baja Breeze CS; Watercolor Wonder Crayons; DSP Bella Rose; Pewter Brads; Chocolate Taffeta; Basic Brown Ink; Scallop Edge Punch

Stampin' Up! Fall/Winter Catalog Ordering!

2008-08-11T18:46:00.002-05:00

I just love this time of the year! The Stampin' Up! Catalog is officially open for business! I'm taking orders as we speak so start your wish list now by going to my website and clicking on Products to pull up a copy of this gem of a catalog!

A new Stampin' Up! Catalog is at the top of my list of favorite things......even above icecream and chocolate! When the new one comes out I look at all of the new stamp sets and accessories on my first run through. My second run through is all about the artwork and projects. I just can't get enough of it! It comes with me everywhere, from dance classes to the park, I can hardly put it down for almost a month. Then comes the list, or many lists depending upon what I have handy to write on at the time. I make lists of stamps sets that I love, and then I break that down into the practical ones that will be used the most and bought first, and the 2nd part of the list has the ones that I don't know what I'm going to do with but I want them "just because". The accessories come next and I break them down the same way, but I usually fudge a little with this list because you can ALWAYS find a project to use the accessories on. The Designer Series Paper makes my mouth water (told you, better than chocolate), and I'll get all of it at some point or another. Like I said, this is one of the best times of the year. I'm busy working on projects to post, so hopefully in the next few days I can show you some really fun projects! Check back soon!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

I'm back and ready to STAMP!!

2008-08-02T14:06:00.005-05:00

I can hardly believe that our vacation is over! We had such a fabulous time and AMAZING weather. We fished, swam, ate, went tubing, read, paddleboated, eagle watched, visited with family, fed baby cows, turtle raced, and so much more! I think that the lakes in West Central Minnesota are one of the most beautiful places I've visited. Lush and green, with water around every turn. I highly recommend it for a vacation spot. We're so fortunate that my parents have a cabin there because it's truly the most relaxing spot on the planet to be. Not to mention the fact that I get to spend a lot of time with my Mom and Dad which makes it that much more special.

Onto some exciting SU! stuff.............NEW SPIRAL BOUND CATALOGS, NEW BIG SHOT SIZZIX MACHINE WITH EXCLUSIVE SU! ARTWORK DIES (and I've seen the dies and they are unbelievable.....WAY better than anything I've ever seen for sale in stores), NEW DECOR ELEMENTS (you HAVE to get some of these.....I can't believe how cool they look!), and on top of that all of the NEW STAMP SETS AND PAPERS! This has to be the greatest catalog EVER!

To give you a peek at some of the products I made a few cards while on vacation......I had VERY limited supplies.....only items from the new catalog (and a little ribbon) and I just love the way these cards turned out. I used ONLY the new IN COLORS and they are exquisite! My favorites are the Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, and Riding Hood Red. The other three colors are amazing too, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze (they are two different blue colors) and Tangerine Tango. LOVE THEM! The stamps that were used are 2 new sets.....the first is Dream Du Jour and the 2nd is Sock Monkey. Both are amazing with our new Bella Rose Designer Series Paper. I just can't wait for you all to see this stuff in the catalog!! So here are the 3 cards that I made!

Happy Stampin!

Judy

Another Fabulous Fold

2008-07-16T19:12:00.003-05:00

Hi Everyone! I had a quick minute (and only a minute!) to post and I thought I'd show you another one of the folds that we made in my Fabulous Folds Class. This one is the Gatefold Card that is made from Beate's tutorial on SCS. This is such an easy fold, but it makes the card look completely different that a card that's folded normally. The oval piece on the card keeps the card shut and it's so easy to open. It's made with one of my favorite sets Baroque Motifs, and Old Olive cardstock. The center medallion piece is covered in Versamark and then Iridescent Ice Embossing powder to give it some shine. I also used Sahara Sand as the Mat color and the Medallion is stamped in Sahara Sand too.

The 2nd picture show a little different angle of the card with the front open.

I'm off on vacation for 2 weeks, so if I get the chance I will post while I'm gone. I got all of the new In Colors to play with and I can't wait!!

So I may have lied......

2008-07-06T16:42:00.000-05:00

I just wrote that I may not be able to post as often, and here I am posting an hour later! I just had to show you another one of the sketches that I finished from the Got Sketch 101 class that I took. The class is now over, but I'm still working on projects using the sketches that we were given. I haven't scrapbooked this much in years! Gotta love having something that motivates you to do even more papercrafting! So here's my layout of my nephew Max's baptism...It was over a year ago and I'm so happy to finally get these pictures in an album. Hope this inspires you to get out your scrapbooking stuff and get your memories down on paper! The only things that I used for this layout were a retired Simply Scrappin' Kit Friends and Flowers, and the Rub on's from Sale-A-Bration. The title was stamped with foam letters that I got on super sale at Hobby Lobby for $3! Gotta love a good deal......

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Another Fabulous Fold

2008-07-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

I've been crazy busy again and haven't had time to even think about posting the past few days. I have a Stamp Camp coming up and a Stamp Club meeting, so I've been busy creating, but haven't got anything that I can post because I want my campers and clubbers to see the items first! ALSO, and this is the most exciting news........my MIL and FIL gave me a BEAUTIFUL antique dresser that used to belong to my husbands great grandmother AND they are giving me 3 beautiful wood cabinets that are big enough to store ALL of my stamping/scrappin' supplies in!!! And you guessed it, I'm decorating my crafting room!! I'm painting the cabinets white and leaving the antique piece as is, and I got some beautiful Moss Green paint at the Home Depot for only $5!!!!! It was a mixing mess up, but their loss is my gain! So until things get finished up there, you may not see as many posts.

AnyWho.....here's the Fab Fold that we made with the Always Stamp Set (Another of my FAVS). The first image is with the card open, and the 2nd is with it closed. It's hard to tell, but there is a crystal from the Pretties kit tied on the ribbon and it looks very elegant. Also, the pink center on the Chocolate heart were punched out with the 1/4 inch punch and then adhered with a mini glue dot.

Recipe: Stamp Set: Always; Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Close To Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White; Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink; Accessories: 1/4 circle punch, Pink Taffeta ribbon, mini glue dots

Hope y'all had a fabulous 4th!

Judy

Wild Roses

2008-06-29T16:55:00.001-05:00

I've always liked the SU! Wild Roses stamp set. It's so beautiful and can be used for so many different occasions and I'm sad that it's retiring. Two Step Stampin' Sets always looks great, you just can't mess them up and this card is one of those cards. The layers aren't placed perfectly but somehow they actually look better that way. The colors are just stamped off 1 time for the lighter shade and then full strength for the darker outline, and 1 stamped the Rose 3 times and cut it out twice making each subsequent layer smaller. I love how clean and elegant it looks! The funny thing about this card is that I imagined it in my mind as soon as I saw the DSP in the Ginger Blossoms pack and just KNEW at some point I would make it with the Wild Roses set. Here we are 4 months after I imagined it, it's finally down on paper. Better late than never!

Here's a closeup of how the Rose looks from a side view. You can see a little better how the 3 layers actually look. I used Dimensionals to really make the flower stand out.

Recipe: Stamp Sets: Wild Roses, Hugs and Wishes; CS: River Rock, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla; Ink: Groovy Guava, River Rock, Basic Gray; Accessories; Photo Corner Punch, Silver Mini Brads, Gray Taffeta Ribbon, Paper Piercing tool and Template.

Is Today Wednesday??

2008-06-26T14:08:00.000-05:00

Today is Wednesday, right? O.K., O.K., I know I'm a day behind, but I have a really good excuse. I was gone from 8am until 8:30pm, only coming home long enough to make dinner and then head out the door again. Then I was busy placing orders until about 10pm because my Stamp Club ordering deadline was yesterday. By the time I got done I was beat and couldn't wait to sit down and relax for a few minutes and I completely forgot about my post.

I've got both my 2 page Got Sketch scrapbook layout AND the card from my folds class to post, so at least I'm sharing lots (even if it is a day late!). This card was a favorite, so I decided to post this one. We made a total of 6 cards and I'll share them one at a time. This was made with the Flowers for You paper, and the Priceless Stamp Set. It uses Beate's Tutorial . Loved using the Build a Brad's....they really made a difference in how the card looked.

I added the scalloped circle to the back of the brad to hide the prongs and really love how it looks. Everyone's card ended up looking different because they all used a different piece of the paper from the DSP package. We had such a great time, and I just love it when people come over to stamp.

The only thing that I wish I did different is to use the WIDE grosgrain instead of the thin. I think it would have fit the card a bit better.

This scrapbook page is from my Got Sketch 101 Class. I just LOVE IT. My son made his First Communion over Memorial Day weekend and I had so many pictures that I thought I would need to do a mini album to fit them all in a scrapbook. Valerie Salmon to the rescue! She designed a page that has an awesome element that allows you to put up to 9 photos on this layout (I only used 8 because I wanted a 5x7 photo of Hunter on the main page). Want to know how to make this page? Sign up for the Got Sketch 101 class and you can do it too! I would share the recipe, but it's copyrighted so you have to take the class to see it!!!! I used a retired Stampin' Up! Simply Scrappin' kit and retired holiday paper from the SU! Holiday Mini from last fall. The letters were cut with my Cuttlebug.

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Watch for new posts on Wednesday!!

2008-06-23T22:45:00.000-05:00

Things have been CRAZY around here lately! The boys are winding down their baseball season with tournaments this week. Not to mention the fact that all of the kids started swimming lessons and Avery has 2 dance classes. AND on top of the kids activities I've been getting things ready for my Fabulous Folds class that is tomorrow!! I've been a stampin' fool for the last 3 days and have some great projects for all the ladies that are headed over here tomorrow. I'll post one of the cards after the class so you can see all of the fun that we have at Stamp Camp....maybe even some pictures of the stampers if they'll let me :)

All of this to say that I have no new project to post today! BTW, my Got Sketch 101 class is still going on and I've got to play catch up on sketches 5 and 6. I did finish a 2 page layout that I'll post on Wednesday with my Stamp Camp card. Still loving the class! If you haven't done so, you can still sign up and get all of the 'assignments'. It's only $21 and it's well worth the cost!! Click on the Got Sketch blinkie on the 2 previous posts and start Scrappin'!

Check back on Wednesday, and in the meantime.......

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Be Inspired Challenge #18

2008-06-18T10:36:00.000-05:00

Beate's blog has amazing challenges, but this is the first one that I loved so much that I just had to do it. Having a Martha Stewart item was sure to peak my interest....I just love Martha! Everything that her company produces is so simple and beautiful that I wish that I could have my home decorated by her 'people'.

This cake absolutely took my breath away! Can you imagine a summer outdoor wedding with this for your cake? It has so many of my favorite things... cherries, ric rac, vines and flowers, who wouldn't be inspired by this?

I think it took me all of 5 minutes to decide what I was going to do and gather my supplies. Using the 'wedding' theme I decided to make a card for my brother and his fiancee for their wedding (which isn't until next May, but it never hurts to be prepared!).

I just love the colors together! This was such a simple card to make and it makes me happy just to look at it.

Recipe: Stamp Set: Warm Words; Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Real Red, Whisper White; Ink: Certainly Celery, Real Red; Accessories: Boho Blossoms Punch, Watercolor Vine Wheel, Real Red Grosgrain, Hodgepodge Hardware pewter, Oval Punches - Small and Large, corner rounder, paper piercing tool.

Check out Beate's Blog for more inspiration pieces and get busy creating!

Happy Stampin'!

Judy

Got Sketch Class Page

2008-06-15T14:52:00.000-05:00

I just love having a reason to scrapbook. One thing that taking this class has provided me with is an excuse to get more scrapbooking done..... I think that's the hardest thing about this hobby is actually finding the time to do it. With the sketches that Got Sketch provides us with as a part of the class, you almost feel like it's homework and you make yourself do it. It's the best homework EVER! I can hardly wait to get in my crafting room every day after checking out the sketches, tips and make & takes we're giving. It's hard to judge your own work, but I do think the class is really helping me with balance and proportion on my pages. I know for sure that the inspiration that it provided by all of my on-line classmates has made me so excited to get to work! This page is my take on the 2nd sketch that we were given. Recipe: Creative License Simply Scrappin' Kit (retired), On Board Chipboard Letters, 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 1/4 circle punch, spiral punch.

I'm going to school!!

2008-06-10T07:51:00.000-05:00

Well, scrapbooking school anyway! I signed up for a class at Got Sketch? and I just LOVE IT! Thanks to my friend Michelle J. who passed along the class info and got me to sign up. It's only $21 and Oh! the ideas that I've already gotten and it just started yesterday! The thing that really hooked me with this class is that all of the projects are made with Stampin' Up! products. I hope that this really enhances what I already know about scrapbooking. I see so many amazing scrapbook pages out there and I want my work to be like that too! I know that some people just scrapbook to get the memories down on paper, but for me it's also an artistic outlet and an area of crafting that really gets me excited.

I can't share the sketches with you because they're copyrighted, but they are allowing us to share our personal work with our blog friends. If you want more information on the class click on the Got Sketch Blinkie Below, or if you'd like to see some of Valeries work before signing up, check out her blog. She's an amazing paper artist.

Here' is the first project that I made with one of their 'pre-class' teaser projects. It's a little book that will hold all of the sketches that we get in class. They even gave us a PDF with adorable index cards to print out and paste our sketches to them....these girls have thought of everything! I used a $1 photo album that I had sitting around from the Dollar Store and I removed the plastic cover and to adhere the DSP I used sticky strip. I love how it turned out! The tabs at the top are to oraganize the sketches into the number of photos that they're designed for. Our first sketch had 3 photos on it, so that's filed under 3, etc. I also have a clip that I'm attaching to the front cover to hold the sketches while I'm working on them. So I just pick the sketch, pull it out of it's little protector, and clip it on the front of my standing book so that I don't lose it in the mess that I call my desk! Too Cute! Thanks Valerie!

Sketches are a great way to get ideas for scrapbooking and cardmaking and I encourage you to make a little book of your own to file yours away in. It's nice to have a little inspiration at your fingertips!

This little book was made with ALL Stampin' Up! products (except the tiny numbers...I don't have any little number stamps!). The DSP is retired and I don't remember it's name. Other ingredients are: Olive 5/8 grosgrain, Apricot Appeal CS, Old Olive CS, Passion Pink CS, Very Vanilla CS, Photo Corner Punch, Tab Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch.

Guess what the man in brown brought??

2008-06-08T14:28:00.000-05:00

FRESH CUTS!! That's right, I finally got my delivery of this spectacular stamp set and laser cut note cards and am LOVING IT!! I sat down today to do a little stampin' while the kids were playing and I can't believe how many ideas I got from this set! Usually it takes me a while, with a few detours and cards that just aren't balanced and don't work, but not this time. I sat down and right away stamped out this first card within 10 minutes! It helped that I knew that I was going to use the Chocolate Chip and Soft Sky, but other than that I just jumped right in. I happened to have a CardMap printout sitting on my desk (see the PDF archives for March 2008), and VOILA! Two of the cards were made using the CardMaps, but the other two came from my little 'ole head. Oh what fun it is to stamp when the creative juices are flowing and there are no children interupting!

My favorite of the four is this one that used a CardMap, but I'm pretty proud of the way that I interpreted the design. I masked off part of the large square background design to make if fit the card, and the ribbon is threaded through a hole that I punched using the 1/4" hole punch. Very simple, very elegant.

The card size is 4 1/4 x 4 1/4, which I picked because that was the size of scrap Soft Sky paper that I found in my stash. All Supplies from Stampin' Up! Recipe: Stamp Set: Fresh Cuts; Cardstock: Soft Sky, Whisper White; Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky; Accessories: Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Paper Piercing Tool, Paper Piercing Template

This card couldn't have been any easier, and I love the way the the little sprig stamped in Choclate Chip looks like a DSP frame! This is card crafting at it's easiest and really made me think about how sometimes the simplist card makes a big statement. Recipe: Stamp Set: Fresh Cuts; Cardstock: Whisper White; Ink: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky; Acessories: DSP Soft Sky Print Patterns, Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon....and that's it!

I've seen so many of these types of cards on Splitcoast, and I thought that they looked like they really took a lot of time to stamp and put together.......I was wrong! Totally easy peasey......I just stamped the large background stamp in the Soft Sky ink after removing the die cut petals, added a Chocolate Chip Flower BEHIND the notecard, put some Soft Sky cardstock behind that, then added the Boho Blossoms mini flower with the brad. The Thank You was stamped last and then the ribbon tied on, and Badda Bing! Recipe: Stamp Set: Fresh Cuts; Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky; Ink: Soft Sky, Choclate Chip; Accessories: Fresh Cuts Notecards, Taffeta Ribbon, 5 Petal Flower Punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, Mini Brad From Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardward.

This last card was made with my buttons, my hoarded, barely used because I don't think most projects are worthy of them, buttons. I treat buttons the same way that I do paper....I collect it and deem whether or not a project is worthy of it. I have pieces of paper that I got 8 years ago and I'm still waiting for that perfect project to come along that I feel that I can 'let go' of the piece of paper for. Buttons hold the same sick appeal for me....I've collected them since I was a little kid and I have thousands of them. I am starting to realize though that the more that I use them, the more it gives me an excuse to buy more of them. So, my Stampin' Up! Neutrals buttons were the first victims, and some lucky person will get them on this card! All ingredients are the same as the other cards, with the exception of the buttons, and the scallop edge....for that I used the small corner rounder with the guard removed. Remember that FRESH CUTS are available as a Sneak Peek....$21.95 for the Stamp set, and the die cuts cards are only $5.00 if purchase with the stamps (or $8.95 if purchased by themselves). A super great deal! Remember that if you want to get the Note cards for $5 ($3.95 savings!) you must purchase before June 30th! E-mail me at judes3@sbcglobal.net for more information and to get yours today! Happy Stampin'!

Teacher's Gifts

2008-06-03T16:16:00.001-05:00

I always struggle with what gifts to get teachers at the end of the school year. I see so many cute 'survival kits' and clipboards, etc., but I always think that if a teacher has been teaching long enough, they must have a million of those. I always apply the 'what would I like to get' rule to gifts that I buy, and I try to pick things that anyone would like to get. I finally came up with three of my favorite things; icecream (in the form of a Dairy Queen gift card), Grahams chocolates (I've tried a lot of chocolate in my 40 years and Grahams absolutely beats all others), and a candle (warm apple pie scent to go with my apple theme).

The only non-perishable item that I added to this was a pen that each of my children helped make using the micro-bead technique by Sarah Moore on SCS. It fit right in with my theme, and I figure that all women can use a cute pen for their purse! I made a small charm using Shrink Plastic, the apple stamp from Tart and Tangy, Real Red Craft Ink, Black Gingham ribbon, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, 1/8" circle Punch, and a jump ring. Instead of using the Avery label with images stamped on it like the instructions show, I used a piece of Summer Picnic DSP. To get the DSP to stick to the pen I just covered it in SNAIL and it worked really well. The apples on the paper didn't show up very well once they were covered in beads, but the overall look was still pretty cute. My kids loved rolling the pens in the beads! I couldn't find the RSVP Pens at my local store (and with gas prices the way that they are I certainly wasn't going to drive around looking for them!), so I found these Pilot pens that worked just as well. My daughter liked the one that she made so much that she wanted to keep hers, but because she loved her teacher, she was willing to give it up.

The basket and candle were a great purchase from Wal-Mart, and the Polka Dot Satin Ribbon was a 40% off deal from JoAnn's. I used sticky strip in three different places to adhere the ribbon because I wanted the teachers to be able to remove the ribbon in order to reuse the basket. The band on the candle was made with the Summer Picnic DSP, and of course the cutie apple was from the Tart and Tangy SU! stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog. Can I just say how much I LOVE this stamp set? I can't remember the last time I used a stamp set as much as I've used this one. I did Mother's Day gifts with it, thank you notes, planned a stamp camp with it......and the list goes on!

The card was a version of one I made for a Retirement stamp camp last year, and I just replaced the stamp set (a few of you may remember it, it was Black and Olive, and there were flowers stamped from the 'In Full Bloom' set). Easy Peasey!

I'm pretty excited about the way everything turned out....especially since I procrastinated until the point where I seriously considered a handmade card with a gift card. My kids had such great teachers this year that they deserved the extra effort.

Eclectic or too Hectic?

2008-05-28T08:41:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite blogs is Heartfeltgreetings because I just love the way that she mixes all different really bold patterns of cardstock together. I'm usually the really conservative sort (big surprise!) when it comes to my designs, so I thought that I would step out of the box and try something a little more eclectic. It's pretty busy, but I like the way it turned out! I think that I'm going to try a few more today using some of my bolder printed DSP and if I like them I'll try and post them later on today. I'm also going to try and get a ton of scrapbooking done this week so hopefully I'll have a few layouts to share with you too!

Recipe: Stamp Sets: Priceless and Lovely Labels; Ink: White Craft, Pretty in Pink; Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White; Accessories: 5/8 Olive Grosgrain, White Gel Pen, DSP Rose Red Print Patterns, Scallop Circle Punch, Small Corner Rounder, Paper Piercing Tool and Template, Coluzzle Cutter.

Happy Bird-Day!

2008-05-27T20:10:00.000-05:00

I recently saw a card in Papertrends that was so simple, but it just struck me as being very clean and classic looking. This is a twist on that card (sorry, I don't know which issue it was in!), using the SU! set Pun Fun. The only part that took any time at all was the paper piercing around the edge (which I 'stitched' with a Real Red marker). It's really difficult for me to come up with gender neutral cards, and I think that this one really works for either girls or boys.

Recipe: Stamp Set: Pun Fun; Ink: Classic Black; Cardstock: Gable Green, Real Red, Whisper White, Bashful Blue; Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aqua Painter, Real Red Brads, Slit Punch, Paper Piercing Tool and Template.

Fourth of July Spinner

2008-05-27T12:51:00.000-05:00

I've always loved making Spinner cards. They were one of the first really different technique cards that I ever made, and they're so simple to construct and fun to receive. This Fourth of July Invite card was made by my Club members and they loved them! One of the great things about this particular card is that the Star is really heavy and it spins really fast. To make the star:

1. Take a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 piece of O'So Sticky tape and peel off the red backing.

2. Stick the piece of Sticky Tape to a piece of Whisper White Cardstock (it HAS to be Whisper White because the other cardstocks are too thick) that's slightly larger than the tape.

3. DO NOT REMOVE THE OTHER PIECE OF BACKING YET!

4. Use the Large Star punch and punch out a star.

5. Remove the other piece of backing from the sticky tape and push the sticky side of the star face down into the beads (I put it in the larger bead assortment first, and then pushed it into the micro beads).

That's it! For more information on how to assemble the Spinner Card, go to

Cambia's tutorial and it gives step by step instructions!

Card Recipe: Stamp Set: In the Stars (Occasions Mini Catalog); Cardstock: Real Red, Brilliant Blue, Whisper White; Ink: Brilliant Blue Craft Ink, Real Red; Accessories: Bead Duos in Blue, Word Window Punch, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat gun, Dimensionals, 2 pennies, O'So Sticky tape.

Thanks for looking!

My swaps with the new Party Hearty Set!!

2008-05-23T13:30:00.000-05:00

I got a FREE stamp set for having a $400 workshop within 2 weeks after the Milwaukee Regionals. This new 'PARTY HEARTY' set will come out in the Fall/Winter Catalog on Aug 11th. I just LOVE IT! It's such a versatile set for both male and female birthday's and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites (although I don't think anything will take the place of Baroque Motiffs!). Here are the two cards that I made for the swap with this fun new set.

Using my favorite color combo of Celery and Pretty in Pink, I CASE'd a card that was on one of the display boards at Regionals. I really dig the fact that the 'celebrate you' stamp can be punched out with the Circle Scallop punch! This is a 3x6 card (a great size because you can make 4 of them out of one sheet of 12x12 cardstock!) and was a quick and easy one to make. Here's the recipe: Stamp Set: Party Heart; Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White; Ink: Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink; Accessories: Olive wide Grosgrain, silver mini-brad, paper piercing template, 1/8" circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Natural Hemp, dimensionals.

My 2nd card made with the same set is also CASE'd from the display board, but I changed up the colors and the ribbon placement a bit. I rarely ever use the Kraft Cardstock and have a big pile of it that I need to use. I think that this card could be really masculine with the absence of the red flower. Recipe: Stamp Set: Party Hearty; Cardstock: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White and Bashful Blue; Ink: Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue; Accessories: Striped Real Red Ribbon, 3/4" circle punch, Boho Blossoms Punch, silver mini-brad.

Thanks so much for looking!!

Downline Meeting

2008-05-23T12:33:00.000-05:00

Every other month I get together with my Stampin' Up! downline to swap cards, talk about our goals, and to brainstorm about business ideas. I'm really lucky that I have some really great, creative people in my downline and I love to get together with them and exchange ideas. One of my favorite parts is our swap. Here are the cards that I got from them, and the two that I made.

These first two were made by Robin whom I love for her big bold designs. I'm always complaining to her that I don't know what to do with any of the Bold Bright colors except for the Real Red, so she made this fun "B is for Birthday card with that in mine. Can you believe that she took the time to mask all of the beautiful flowers? She's my stampin' hero!

Her 2nd card is great because she did this fun fold. I always forget to use anything other than a standardly folded card. Good thing I'm doing a Fabulous Folds Stamp Camp next month. I really need to step outside of the box!

Vanessa made this beautiful 'Cherish' card. Her designs are always crisp, clean and elegant. I also love this card because of the chunky glitter....it really makes the design 'pop'. And she's famous for using the Basic Gray instead of black, which she's got me doing too. Especially on cards like this one, it's definitely softer than the Basic Black.

The Birthday Wishes card she made is such an easy one that can be made quickly (my favorite because goodness knows I'm using stampin' a card about 2 minutes before we have to leave for a party!). I love how she took a blender pen and swiped it over the word 'wishes' with the Bashful Blue ink. My eye went right to that word on the card. Great idea!

Stampin' Up! Regionals Swaps

2008-05-14T12:45:00.000-05:00

I received some of the greatest swap cards this year at Regionals! I am CASEing many of them to use at Stamp Camps, Clubs and Workshops, but I wanted to share some of them with all of you too! This first one was made by Pam Peterson using the Level 1 Hostess set 'For a Friend'. I loved the use of the DSP Cutie Pie with this stamp set, and the brads just tied it all together.

The second card was made by Kelli Metzler and uses the stamp sets Sweet Serendipity and Priceless. I love the color combination and the use of the DSP Prints that match the detail in the swirl on the Priceless stamp. Such a simple card, but with the use of the punches it really steps it up a notch. Love it!

Thanks to these two ladies for the great swap cards!!

Desktop Challenge

2008-05-07T10:30:00.000-05:00

I'm always reading about how different stampers challenge themselves to do different things like, only use certain colored CS on a card, or use an inspiration piece. I decided to challange myself to making 2 cards using ONLY items that were actually on my stamping desk. I should have given myself this challenge about 2 weeks ago before I had cleaned my desk (LOL - when is a stamper's desk ever clean?), but I still had PLENTY of things to work with. The only exception to this rule was ink color - because I store my ink pads on a seperate table, I didn't limit myself on those. I can't believe how much fun I had doing this!! I really dug through the little scraps that were sitting in piles, and used some fun color combos. I (luckily) had the stamp set SO MUCH (pg 97 in the catty) that I got for FREE at SU! Regionals (don't you just LOVE FREE stuff?????) on my desk and because I hadn't had time to really use it much, this was a great opportunity. Here are the two cards that I made. It took me less than 10 minutes!

Recipe for Turquoise Card: Stamp Set: So Much; CS: Tempting Turquoise, Rose Red, Whisper White; Ink: Tempting Turquoise, Rose Red; Accessories: Tempt Turq 1/4 grosgrain, rose red stitched-retired, DSP Bali Breeze (I think!), DSP Prints Rose Red

Apricot Card - Stamp Set: So Much; CS: Apricot Appeal, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery; Ink: Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie; Access: DSP Bali Breeze, Paper Piercing Tool, Mat and Template

Notice on this card how the center of the flower is cut into a circle shape.....it was killing me not to pull out one of my punches, but they weren't on my desk!!! I actually cut this circle with my snips the old fashioned way. Boy am I spoiled with all of my wonderful tools. To think that I used to have to hand cut all of my shapes before punches and paper trimmers! ;)

My Swaps......

2008-04-22T10:05:00.000-05:00

I made two swaps for Regionals...the first card was one of my previous posts made with 'A Beautiful Life' stamp set, in the Pink and Green color palette. The second card that I made was with 'One of a Kind'. I picked the Guava and Banana papers because they were the two that I had the most of in stock, and I thought that they really complemented one another. I was inspired by a card that I saw that Nichole Heady had made, and this was the result.

Recipe: Stamp Set: One of A Kind; Ink: Groovy Guava, Barely Banana, White Craft; CS: Barely Banana, Whisper White, Groovy Guava; Accessories: Vanilla 1/4 Grosgrain, White Embossing powder, Whimsy Jumbo SA Wheel, Boho Blossoms Punch, Dimensionals, Heat Gun

Stampin' Up! Regionals was AMAZING!!!

2008-04-22T09:18:00.000-05:00

Every year when I attend SU! Regionals I become totally inspired! I meet some of the most amazing women/stampers, get new ideas, and see some of the most amazing papercrafted projects that you could ever imagine. This year was no exception! I sat with some wonderful women from the Manitowoc/Green River area in Wisc., and shared lots of ideas and tips. As always there were people doing some WOW projects that included; New and improved glitter windows, double pocket gift cards, embossing and brayering metallic papers, and Wine glass flip/flop coasters (instead of using charms on your wineglasses, each person puts this adorable little flip flop on the base). I took HUNDREDS of pictures of cards and scrapbook pages, and even have some new class ideas! I can't wait to share all of this with all of you!

Later today I'll be posting my swap cards, and a few that I got in exchange. I got so many incredibly beautiful and unique swaps, but I won't be posting all of them because we'll be making them in my camps and clubs! Thanks to all of the Milwaukee Regional Swappers who did their creative best and gave me so much great material to inspire me......I'll be CASE'ing your work!!

Stampin' Girls - Free kids class

2008-04-16T13:16:00.000-05:00

I had such a great time teaching my Rubber Stampin' Fun class at my kids school, and had such a great response from the students, that I decided to do a few free classes at our local library. I'm so excited because I filled the class! Here are the two projects we're going to make (if we have time for both!). The hair gel filled fish card is made using Beate's tutorial from http://www.splicoaststampers.com/ and it's easy and fun to make. The little journal is made using clearance pads of paper with a little pen included that I got for $.50 at Michaels. We're going to use the shaving cream technique to create the swirls on the background of the paper with the big flower. I hope the kids like them!

Regional Swap CHAOS!!

2008-04-16T13:07:00.000-05:00

I've been working like a crazy woman trying to make swaps for Stampin' Up! Regionals in Milwaukee this weekend! Here's what my dining room table has looked like for the last few days. I have a crafting room, but for some reason I always gravitate to the dining room when I have a large project like this to do.

I finally came up with a design and have gotten about 3/4 of the stampin' done. I LOVE swapping cards at Regionals. For those of you not familiar with swaps, what I do is make 50-100 of the same card design, and then when I get to Regionals there will be about 1000 woman who have also done the same thing and I'll get to trade with them. This way I end up with 100 different card styles!! For those of you who are members of my stamp club B, you'll get to see all of my swaps on April 25th!! Other stamp club members will see them at our next meeting, and my customers can always see them any time they want just by asking.

Speaking of Regionals, I should be bringing back lots of new, trendy, and exciting new ideas! Can't wait to share everything with all of you!

Disney Scrapbook pages!

2008-04-09T14:27:00.000-05:00

Here are two scrapbook pages that I made from our Disney pictures. I rarely use products that aren't SU!, but I made the exception on some of these pages because Disney has such cute scrapbooking products - I couldn't resist. Like I've said before, I love to scrapbook, but don't like to publish my work. I'm trying to get over my phobia of being judged! Hope you enjoy!

DISNEY MEMORIES

Recipe: Cardstock: Real Red, More Mustard; Stamps: Sprinkles (stamped on Red CS), Ink: Chocolate Chip, Real Red; Accessories: Date Stamp (making memories), Disney Designer Papers, Buttons (SU!), Pockets and Pieces File Foler (Stampin' Up!), staples

FUN

Recipe: Friends and Flowers Simply Scrappin' Kit (retired), Apricot Button, Ice Rhinestone Brad, Stitched Ribbon (all supplies SU!)

....and the 2nd Card

2008-04-09T11:18:00.001-05:00

Whoops....I forgot to post the 2nd card....here it is! And thanks to two of my Stamp Club customers - Cathy T. and Deb A., I bought this adorable stamp set Lovely labels. As many times as I went through this catalog, I never saw this stamp set! When both Deb and Cathy purchased the set on the last club order I looked at it in the catalog and thought I'd give it a try. LOVE IT! It is just so quick and easy to use since all of the labels fit right in our punches.

Recipe: Stamp Set: Lovely Labels, Cardstock: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranate; Ink: Pumpkin Pie; Accessories: DSP Bali Breeze, Paper Piercing tool and mats, Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon, 1 1/4 circle punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, Round Scallop punch.

Me Time

2008-04-09T11:11:00.000-05:00

Because Zach and Avery are in morning Kindergarten, I took some time while they were gone to get some stamping done. Usually I'm running around the house cleaning, or out running errands while they're gone, but today I thought that I'd take some time for ME!! I made two cards using paper from the Bali Breeze DSP, and the second one was inspired by the Pumpkin paper that I used from the first card. Although I wish that I had a stamp set with a bolder font, the 'birthday wishes' from Sincere Salutations worked o.k.

Recipe: Stamp set: Sincere Salutations, Cardstock: Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Ink: Basic Black, Accessories: DSP Bali Breeze, Flower Fusion Felt Flower, Fire Round Rhinestone Brads, Corner Rounder, White Gel Pen

Inspiration from a Fabric Softener Commercial???

2008-03-30T19:08:00.000-05:00

I have to admit, sometimes I get the inspiration for my cards in some strange places. One time it was the packaging on food at the grocery store, another time it was a Pottery Barn Fabric, and this time it was a commercial for Fabric Softener on T.V. I can remember seeing the commercial and saying out loud 'they used Purely Pomegranate and Pixie Pink!' and my husband looked at me like I was some sort of fruitcake. I went to my computer desk right after the commercial ended and quickly sketched a card on a sheet of scrap paper and knew right away what supplies I was going to use for it. I love the way it turned out, and it just goes to show, you never know where your next idea will come from. Keep your eyes open, a sketchpad handy, and your Stampin' stuff ready!!

Recipe: Stamps: Curvy Verses; Cardstock: Whisper White, Purely Pomegranate, Pixie Pink; Ink: Purely Pomegranate; Accessories: SAB Rub-ons, 5-Petal Flower Punch, Cutter Kit (to cut curvy lines on CS)

Distressed

2008-03-30T18:35:00.000-05:00

I've seen so many cards lately that have this really eclectic - distressed look to them. I just had to try it for myself! I must say that it was fun to do, and I'm pretty happy with the end result. I got the idea from a card in a cardmaking magazine (although I can't remember which one), and used the same layout, but with different punches and paper. The only non Stampin' Up! item on the page is the letters H and I, which I cut out with my Cuttlebug. I used Chocolate Chip and White Craft ink to rub directly onto the DSP to give it the distressed look. It's hard to belive that the background paper is from the Cutie Pie line. The distressing gave it a totally different look! Try some distressing for yourself, it's fun!

Recipe: Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive; Ink: Chocolate Chip, and White Craft ink; Accessories: Rich Regals Brads, Coluzzle Oval Template, Large Star Punch, Small Star Punch, DSP Cutie Pie, DSP Rose Red Print Pattern

Jennifer Buck's Card

2008-03-30T18:06:00.000-05:00

For those of you not farmiliar with the term, CASE is an acronym that you will see a lot in the stamping world (it means copy and share everything). Stampers don't mind if people copy their ideas, as long as they're given credit for their work. With this card, I found the idea on Jennifer Buck's blogspot (click on the title above to see her blogspot - scroll down towards the bottom) and just loved her card but wanted to try it with all Stampin' Up! products. This was the result! I used the scallop punch to make the tassel on top, and cut 2 scallops in 1/2 to make the bottom of the birthday hat. The 'h' is one of the new Sticky Cuts Letters with the Blue Micro beads on top of it. For the dots on the hat I used a new pencil eraser. Here's the Recipe:

Stamp Set: Eat Cake; Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Bashful Blue; Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Real Read, Bashful Blue; Accessories: Sticky Cut Letters, Scallop Punch, DSP - Summer Picnic (Summer MiniCatalog), Large Oval Punch, 1/8 circle punch, Bashful Blue Taffeta Ribbon, Blue Bead Duo, Brayer (to flatten beads onto sticky letter).

I'm BACK!!!!!

2008-03-27T09:30:00.000-05:00

It's taken me a while to get back in the swing of things after vacation....catching up on laundry, kids homework, housework, bills, etc. First are a few pictures of our vacation....I couldn't resist rubbing it in a bit to you all, it was so wonderful! Warm weather, Disney, Seaworld....it was one of the best vacations I've ever been on! We spent HOURS combing the beach for shells and found hundreds! It was a beautiful 83 degrees and the ocean was cold! We were some of the only people that were actually in the water. With Chicago's temps at a balmy 28, the water actually felt warm to us.

Can you tell that this picture was taken on our first day in Florida??? We're a little pale!! With all of the sun block that I put on everyone, none of us got much of a tan, but we did get enough sun so that in later pictures we don't look like we'd been living in a dark dungeon! Again this was taken at Clearwater.....one of the most beautiful beaches that I've even been on (Marathon Key, FLA is the only place that I've been that even compares), and we loved it!

And what is a Florida vacation without a visit to Disney? We did the Magic Kingdom and had a great time. Hunter was a little disappointed that there were no 'big' coasters, but Zach and Avery had a spectatular time. I'm glad that we went before the kids were older....6 year olds still are enchanted with the magic that is Disney.

I did finally get to spend some time in my scrapbook room after I got all of the post vacation work done. I made about 10 cards and actually did 8 scrapbook pages! My scrapbook pages are never as good as I think that they should be, but I'm hoping to post a few of them later this week. For some reason I'm so much more confident in my card making skills, and scrapbooking is so much more personal. I love to make scrapbook pages and do it for my kids and to preserve our memories, I'm just not as keen on publishing them. But keep and eye out...I'll be posting them!

This card is a favorite of mine....I was a teen in the 80's, so the pink and green color scheme is really my thing! Every time I make a card with these colors I think of my freshman year of high school and my favorite pink Izod polo shirt (collar up!), under a kelly green crew neck sweater. You know what I'm talking about! Here's the recipe:

Stamp Sets: A Beautiful Thing, Lovely Labels; Cardstock: Whisper White, Old Olive, Regal Rose; Ink: Regal Rose, Old Olive; Accessories: DSP-Flowers For You, 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 1/4 circle punch, Celery wide grosgrain, Crystal Effects (It's hard to see, but it's on the center of the flower and the dots inside the flower to add dimension).

Sale-A-Bration!!

2008-02-20T20:05:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, it's Sale-A-Bration time at Stampin' Up! Those of you who are new to SU! and our products will soon be like the rest of us and wait impatiently for that time of year when we get our wonderful FREE stuff!! I've been a SU! customer for 13 years and a demonstrator for 4, and I can't wait to see the SAB brochure every year. SU! came through for us again with a great selection of FREE products that you get to pick with every $50 purchase. My FAV is the Rub-On's!! You can rub these bad boys on ANYTHING from glass, ceramic, and metal, to my favorite - paper!

Here are two cards that I made with Sale-A-Bration products. The first one was made with the So Many Scallops stamp set. I used SU! markers to color the portion of the stamp that I wanted and then punched it out with the circle punch and then layered it onto a punched scallop. The second card was made with the fabulous rub-on's and was made in 5 minutes!

Happy Birthday

Recipe: Stamp set: So Many Scallops, Eat Cake; Inks: Versamark; Cardstock: Barely Banana, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate; Accessories: Markers, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 1/4 circle punch, Scallop Circle, DSP Cutie Pie, Celery 5/8 grosgrain ribbon.

A Small Thing

Recipe: Cardstock: Taken with Teal, River Rock, Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Black; Accessories, Rhinestone Brads - square ice, photo corner punch, Love and Happiness Rub-on's, DSP Bali Breeze, Taken with Teal Marker, Tempting Turquoise Marker

Does it get any better than Baroque Motiff's???

2008-02-13T19:29:00.000-06:00

I have to admit, I had no idea when I bought this stamp set that I would love it as much as I do. When I got it I checked out SCS and was amazed at the cards that people were turning out. Using those cards as inspiration I picked up this set and immediately made 5 different cards in less than an hour and knew that I was hooked. This is the set that I always turn to when I'm not sure what I feel like stamping......it's simply the best!

Recipe:

Stamp Set: Baroque Motiff's

Ink: River Rock, Ruby Red

Cardstock: River Rock, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Wide Chocolate Grosgrain, Horizontal Slot punch, DSP Ginger Blossoms, gold brads

Valentine's gifts for Teachers

2008-02-13T19:24:00.000-06:00

I am the queen of procrastination!! I just finished these teacher's gifts about 15 minutes ago, and Valentines Day is tomorrow! Oh well, the teacher's won't know that I threw them together at the last minute. The kids each picked out their own DSP to wrap the Giant Hershey bar in, and I just made the same front for each one. I think they turned out pretty cute, if I may say so myself!

Recipe:

Stamp Set: Sweet Shapes

Ink: Rose Romance, Tempting Turquoise

Cardstock: Rose Romance, Tempting Turquoise, Confetti White

Accessories: Turquoise Grosgrain, Pretty in Pink Grosgrain, Pink Gingham, Horizontal slot punch, dimensionals, retired DSP from last year's Spring Mini (forgot the name!)

Another little piece of Spring......

2008-02-13T19:17:00.000-06:00

I pulled out an oldie but a goodie, Heartfelt Thanks, and sticking with my springy colors I put together this super quick card. I just love this layout (of course I case'd it from an issue of Stampin' Success), because it is so easy and pleasing to the eye and works with just about any stamp set. Try it with any of your stamp sets and you'll see!

Recipe:

Stamp Sets: Heartfelt Thanks, Warm Words

Cardstock: Rose Romance, Whisper White, Certainly Celery

Ink: Basic Gray

Accessories: Markers - Rose Romance, Certainly Celery; Taffeta ribbon Pretty in Pink; DSP is the Hostess Level 1 Prints Pack

Spring is in the Air?????

2008-02-13T10:18:00.000-06:00

Just wishful thinking on my part! I'm tired of the cold and the snow!!!!! So when I sat down to stamp today I pulled out the 'springiest' stamp set that I could find and made a card that gives me hope that it will be warming up soon.

Recipe:

Stamps: Garden Whimsy and Baroque Motiffs

Cardstock: Celery, Rose Romance, Rose Red, Whisper White

Ink: White Craft, Rose Romance

Accessories: Rose Romance, Celery, Rose Red Markers; Whimsy Jumbo Wheel;Pretty in Pink 1/4 inch grosgrain

Chipboard Card

2008-02-01T18:13:00.000-06:00

Here's the second card that I made.....super quick...the only thing that took any time at all was glittering up the chipboard. If you haven't tried this technique yet it's very easy!

1. Apply Craft ink to Chipboard

2. Sprinkle Heat and Stick powder onto ink covered chipboard.

3. Heat powder with Heat Tool JUST until it turns clear (if heated to long it will become hard and glitter won't stick)

4. Sprinkle Dazzling Diamonds or other glitter to sticky chipboard.

5. Heat again until set (about 40 seconds)

That's all there is to it!

Recipe

Stamp Set: Celebrate Everything

Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise Classic and Craft

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: On Board Chipboard flower, Bali Breeze DSP, Heat and Stick powder, dazzling Diamonds, Heat tool, Dimensionals

Oh the weather outside is frightful....

2008-02-01T17:53:00.000-06:00

Oh do I love snow days! Especially when the neighbor calls and wants the boys to come over and play! My daughter and I went into the stamp room and didn't come out for 2 hours. A lot of my time was spent helping her to make her projects (she's only 5), but I managed to get a few things done myself. Here are a few cards that I made using the On Board chipboard and the Pretties kit.

Recipe:

So Kind

Stamp Set: Priceless
Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate, Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise (to color flower using sponge)
Accessories: Bali Breeze DSP, Pretties, 5 petal Flower punch, 1/8 inch circle punch, Sponge.

Ribbon Blossom

2008-01-31T20:35:00.001-06:00

I found this incredible Ribbon Blossom on a blog that I frequent and thought I'd give it a go......Although mine isn't as good as Pam's, I don't think it's too bad for a first try!

Here's the Recipe:

Stamp Set: A Beautiful Thing

Inks : Tempting Turqoise, Always Artichoke

CS: Tempting Turquoise, River Rock, Whisper White

Accessories: Mat Pack, Paper Piercing Tool, SU! Ribbon, Photo Corner Punch, Ginger Blossom Designer Paper

All supplies from Stampin' Up!

If you want to try this technique for yourself, Check out the tutorial! http://indigostudio-4hounds.blogspot.com/

Recipe for Shaving Cream Card

2008-01-30T13:47:00.000-06:00

I forgot to post the recipe for this card! Here's the scoop:

Stamp sets: Priceless and Holiday's and Wishes
Ink: Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Re-inkers: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose
Cardstock: Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate (scalloped edge), Whisper White and Regal Rose
Accessories: 1/2" circle punch, Pretty in Pink grosgrain, dimensionals.

I'm working hard on projects, so hopefully I'll be posting again soon.....

Shaving Cream Card

2008-01-28T17:12:00.000-06:00

I'm teaching an After School Enrichment class at my children's grade school and had to come up with some fun techniques to show 2nd thru 5th graders. What could be more fun than Shaving Cream and re-inkers? Here's one card that I came up with while perfecting my technique (I haven't done this in year's!). If you've never done the technique, it's very simple! Directions:

Put a mound of shaving cream on a paper plate or other disposable surface. Smooth out the shaving cream using a knife or spatula (a bone folder works too!) until it's about 1/4 inch deep and is big enough around to fit your piece of paper on (my paper was 3x3, so I smoothed mine out to about 5x5). Drop dots of different color ink around the shaving cream (I drop about 8 dots on the 5x5 surface). Using a stick or the pointy end of the paintbrush, drag it through the ink, first in vertical lines, then in horizontal lines, making a grid in the shaving cream. You will have a gorgeous ink pattern in the shaving cream! All that's left to do is lay your white piece of CS on top of the shaving cream. Push down slightly until shaving cream starts to come over edges slightly. Lift the paper out of the shaving cream and wipe of excess shaving cream....voila! Patterned background paper using shaving cream!

New Catalog Swap

2008-01-23T13:23:00.000-06:00

At our last Stampin' Up! group meeting, we did a few swaps, and here are two of my favorites. Robin's cute swiss cheese inspired card uses the mouse from Stampin' Up!'s Happy Heart Day, and Vanessa's gorgeous card (Love the colors!) uses the new Level 3 Hostess set called Time Well Spent. I just love Stampin' with these ladies! So many cute idea's and things that I can CASE!

It's a New Year!

2008-01-23T13:13:00.000-06:00

As a New Year's resolution, I'm determined to blog 3 days a week! I made a committment to my downline to do this, and with the help of my good friend Robin, I think I may have the hang of it. I was having a very hard time with putting my watermark on pictures, and seeing as though I'm computer illiterate I needed Robin to coach me on Photoshop. So let's see if I can carry through with my goal.....

So, in keeping with another of my New Year's resolutions (to do more thank you notes and gifts to the people in my life who deserve them), here is a jar that I made for my downline Robin as a Congrats for being promoted to Senior Supervisor! I used the awesome new Eastern Elegance Rub on's, and the Pretties kit to make this jar full of kisses!

They talked me into it!!

2007-09-18T12:50:00.000-05:00

I've been fighting it every step of the way, but last night my downline finally convinced me to start blogging. I've wanted a way to share news, tips, and pictures with my downline, friends and customers, and I am so excited to start! I'm sure there will be a few bumps along the way, but bear with me while I figure out what I'm doing.

I thought that I would start by showing you the great Halloween page we made at my Stamp Club's meeting last month. We always make 3 projects, one of them a 6x6 scrapbook page that I should my members how to convert into an 8 1/2 x 11 page and then a 12x12 page. The blank areas on the 2 larger pages are for the journaling that I haven't gotten around to doing yet! The pages use Glorious Green, Pumpkin Pie, Very Vanilla and Lovely Lilac CS, Silver Mini Brads, and Lilac Ribbon; Ink Colors are Pumpkin Pie, Glorious Green, Lovely Lilac and Night of Navy. Accessories were the 1 3/8 circle punch, Uniball White Pen, and the black spiderweb paper is a retired one from last year. Stamp Sets were Booglie Eyes, and Trimtastic. ALL products used were from Stampin' Up!

My moto is, 'If it takes longer to make the page than it does to make the memory, then you're doing something wrong!', so you'll notice that I am totally into simple scrapbooking. The pages took 20 minutes, start to finish.

Hope you all have a great day, and thanks for looking!