I'm On My Way!

I left this morning for SLC and the SU Convention '08!!! It is four days full of a lot of first for me and I am so excited. I thought while I was away I would show you the two swap cards I came up with. The first one is for the SCS Dinner. I will be joining hundreds of other members of the amazing community, SCS! It should be so fun. A great way to start the trip off.
Again we could only use current SU product. I had to make 46 of these babies! Thanks to my Convention roomie, Kristin, we agreed to split the swaps. So she made half and I made the other half. We will each get to keep 23 of the swaps we receive in return. The color combo used is Apricot, Olive, and Regal Rose. We used the Priceless stamp set and once again, I was in a polka dot and circle mood. I think they turned out super cute! I can't wait to see all the cards I get back. I'm having fun! Check back for my other swap card.
Hugs from SLC!

Monochromatic-Lauren's Dirty Challenge!

I really am trying to use up paper and ribbon that will be retiring. I love the Bali Breeze paper and had some scraps sitting on my desk, so that is where I started with this card. This is the card for Lauren's Dare to Get Dirty Challenge: use a monochromatic color scheme. My card base is textured Pomegranate (the card is a 4 1/4 square). The dp is from Bali breeze and I matted those pieces with Rose Red-a great compliment to the Pomegranate. I stamped the flower from A Beautiful Thing on the polka dot dp. I knew I needed a sentiment and decided I had to go with black ink, otherwise I thought it would get lost on the card. Make a Wish is from PTI (limitless labels). Again, I pulled the stitching out of the pomegranate ribbon, tied a bow and done. Well not quite, I felt the card need some bling and another bit of black to balance out the sentiment. So I punched a 1/4 inch circle from black cs and stuck my pink rhinestone brads through the center. I also added some sparkle with my Sakura Gliltter pen to the dots on the stamped flowers and on the sentiment. Take a closer look here! I'm getting a head start on Aug. BRAK's. Thanks for stopping by. I'm off to try and pack while my sister and all the kids are having some quiet time! Hugs,

Getting Dirty

I feel like I am always a step behind on following challenges. I know it shouldn't matter, but there are A LOT of stampers out there that crank cards out within hours of the challenge being posted. How do you ladies do it? I'm about a week behind on these challenges, but yesterday I finally took a look at the Dirty Girls Challenges over on SCS. You have to be a member of the Fan Club (so worth the annual fee!) to see the amazing work of the Dirty Dozen each month on the 15th. This past week they have been celebrating by posting challenges each day by a different dirty girl, past and present. I only had time to do two, so I picked two of my ALL Time Favorite Stampers, Julie Ebersol (JulieHRR) and Lauren Meader (mytime). Here is the card I did for Julie's challenge-Create a clean simple white one! I used to think this was hard, but the more you work with a white card base the easier it gets. I love how this one turned out! I used white stampers select cs and used my scoring blade to create a dry embossed line across the top and bottom of where I wanted my image to be. I then masked off the top and bottom of the card base with copy paper and stamped my flourish from Baroque Motifs in River Rock. I added the little flowers and the Birthday sentiment (PTI) in Soft Sky. This card was also for this weeks color challenge except I used white instead of vanilla (oops, got focused on Julies challenge and forgot about the vanilla). I then sent the card through my cuttlebug with my pin dots embossing folder along the bottom third of the card. To finish it off and add a touch of pretty I took the stitching out of the Soft Sky ribbon and tied it on.
Check back tomorrow to see my monochromatic card! Hugs,

Get Used To These Colors!

I think I found a great color combo. Now I do admit, these cards came from scraps that were on my desk from the GSG swap card I was working on, but I am lovin' the combo- Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, and Pink Pirouette.

These two cards are going out to two of the three girls who have Birthdays on the same day (7/28). I couldn't believe it when I was writing up my BRAK list for the month on July. Someone from each of the three swap groups I belong to share the same Birthday, not to mention so does my sister! Must be a good day :)
So the stars are all punched using my large and small star punches and the new In Colors mentioned above. The Birthday sentiment is from the set that is retiring, They say it's your Birthday (it's my favorite stamp in the set). I did combine these new colors with Blue Bayou (card base and double stitched ribbon). I thought it was a close enough match, at least it coordinates! The white cs is shimmery white. I need to order more of that stuff, it gives just the right amount of shimmer sometimes! Have a great weekend. I have a busy one since my sister and her girls are coming in for a visit. We haven't seen each other in a while and the boys can't wait to hang with their cousins.
Hugs,

Feeling Limited...

I just finished making another round of swaps for Convention. I made this card while I was trying to come up with the design for the GSG meet-up. I am excited to say it looks like there are 16 of us going to Convention. I can not tell you how excited I am to meet these fabulously talented women IRL! I did meet one of them today-Hi Kristin! My roomie for Convention was in the area visiting her sister and we got to get together this morning. She is just as sweet in person! We are going to have a blast in SLC. There are only 13 of us actually swapping so the number of cards to make was not overwhelming, but boy did I feel limited. We could only use current (so nothing that is retiring) SU product. Of course I wanted to use NEW stuff, but since the only new things I pre-ordered (remember we won't see the new catty until we get to SLC) were the new In Colors, I had to get creative. All the ds paper is retiring, I have no matching ribbon for the new In colors, and I didn't get any new rubber yet-yikes! I'm saving my actual swap card to show you while I'm gone (want it to be a surprise to the GSG who are swapping), so until then you get to see some of the cards that helped inspire my final cut. hehehe. This is one of them. I love all the polka dots (used my circle punches to make them) and I thought these In Colors (kiwi, pink pirouette, and baja) look FAB! with kraft. The little flower piece is the scallop punch with slits cut into each of the scallops. I layered it with 1 and 3/4 inch circles and then tied the white grosgrain through the center. The sentiment is the only stamping on the card and it is from Warm Words. I stamped that in white craft ink and embossed it with Irredescent Ice. Cute and Simple!
Hugs,

Wonderful Weekend-now back to Work!

We had a fabulous weekend at the lake. Good food, good friends, and good weather! The boys had a blast, it really felt like a mini vacation. This is exactly why we bought the lake house! So now back to work. I can't believe I leave for Convention in a week. I am so excited, but am really getting nervous to leave the boys for 4 days and to travel alone. I haven't traveled by myself in 10 years, I never realized how much I depend on DH to take care of a lot of the travel plans. I'm sure all will be good, once I pass through security and know I have 4 whole days to myself to hang with my stamping friends :) Today I worked on a few baby cards and decided to use the Stamp Something Challenge for this week. My neighbor had a baby girl last Tuesday so I made this adorable Onsie card (made famous by the Oh-so-Talented, Lauren Meader) and a tea tin filled with chocolate stix. I had to use something sweet in my creation, and I love these tins (not to mention I still have 8 of them to alter). I used the new In Colors (Pink Pirouette and Baja Breeze). Don't forget to vote! Hugs!

Soon-to-be-Retired

Big Pieces is a great set and I'm sad to see it go. After Aug. 10, you will no longer be able to order it from SU. I ordered this set when it was first in the Summer mini and was very excited when it made the big catty. I've used it many times since then and think it is a set I will use for many years down the road. I scraplifted this layout from the catty (p.95). I used brocade blue, bordering blue, olive and saffron. There is also some Saraha sand. I love my arrow punch, it is great for pointing out smaller details you want to focus on a picture. In this case it is to highlight Nicholas's two front teeth! I'll have new stuff as soon as I get back. Thanks for stopping by!
Oh, and don't forget to vote over at Stamp Something. I'm in the running for a Guest Designer spot. Thanks! Hugs.

Exciting News to Share!

I made the Top 5 on the Stamp Something website! I'm so excited and completely honored! Now I need your help...there is a vote involved. The winner from this weeks Top 5 (along with the previous week's winner) will make it to the finalist round in their quest to find a Guest Designer. The card I made was for the Triple Play Challenge-3 layers, 3 colors, and 3 embellishments (just a few posts back). Click This link and cast your vote (in the sidebar). Thanks in advance to anyone who votes! Thanks so much! Hugs,

You'll have to wait...

... for more In Color stuff. I just didn't get around to stamping yesterday. Instead I ran to the mall to look for a new bathing suit. Sounds fun, huh? NOT! I was so disappointed, while everything is marked way down (yeah, thought I'd get a great deal), there is NOTHING to choose from. Everything was so picked over and now that suits are sold separately (which is a great thing since top and bottom sizes on most women vary) it makes for a very frustrating shopping experience. I'd find a top I liked, but then couldn't find a bottom to match. Or I'd find something I liked but it was only in a size 2 (I'm not a size 2!) I did get to go out last night with my DH! We went to a concert, a Jimmy Buffett concert and had a blast! I'm not a big ParrotHead and was not familiar with most of his new songs, but the oldie but goodies were so fun to sign along with. It was all quite an experience, let me tell you! Now we are off to the lake for a long weekend and I can't wait. It's a mini vacation and we have friends coming out so it will be a great time. I'll leave you with a card I did before I started this blog. It is one of my faves. You'll recognize the color combo! This was for one of Kristina Werner's color challenges back in March. Thanks for stopoping by. Hugs,

Pirouette and Tango!

Is this Dancing with the Stars? Not quite. Actually, this is two of the new In Colors paired up, so I guess you could say they were dancing (okay, corney, I know. But I couldn't help myself,LOL!) You know I love Pumpkin, and now I am lovin' Tangerine Tango. Most people wouldn't think to match the two colors together, but I think they work quite well together. I use Pumpkin with Pomegranate and also with Regal Rose all the time! I need some Birthday cards to send out to my swap girls-there are a lot of them with birthdays at the end of this month. I pulled out Pick a Petal and went with one of my standard layouts I tend to use with this set. The stem is from Stem Sayings and I inked it in Kiwi Kiss. I'm dying for some accessories, um, like RIBBON, in these new colors. For now I had to use the Pretty in Pink grosgrain. It looks okay, but I really wanted some Tangerine ribbon for this card. Patience I know, but I am not so good with it when it comes to stamping goodies! Hope you like this one. I hope to have a few more cards done up in the next few days. Have a great end to your week. We get to head out to the Lake for an extra long weekend, kind of a mini vacay! We can't wait. Hugs,

New Colors, New Colors, New Colors!!!

Did you know one of the perks of being an SU demo is being able to pre-order certain products before each new catty and mini catalog? This year, SU created an In Color Bundle we could order and I jumped on that! The stamp sets they offered us to pre-order didn't suit my style so I passed on those :( I was a bit sad since I am dying for new SU rubber. I already know two sets I want (The Owl set!!! and a silhouette set) and I can't wait to see all the others. Convention is two weeks away, so I will get some new stamps with my Convention bag-yeah! Until then, the new In Colors will have to do. The new colors are: Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Pacific Point, Pink Pirouette, and Riding Hood Red. I am so glad I finally came around on these colors. I'm sure most of you have seen them, but if not, keep checking back here because the next few posts will consist of nothing but In Colors! Today's card I made using Baroque Motifs with the Baja Breeze and Kiwi Kiss. I used white as my card base and added silver brads and white taffeta ribbon to accessorize! The birthday greeting is from the soon-to-be-retired set, It's Your Birthday! The layout is for the sketch challenge over at SCS this week. It was a nice and quick one! Check back tomorrow for a look at more In Color samples. Hugs!

Another Bird and Another Challenge!

See, I told you I had a thing for birds. I used this set one other time and that was for my DH's Anniversary card. I figured I'd better use it some more otherwise that was one expensive card I made, LOL! Over on SCS, Verve Visual just became a new Member Company. In the Verve forum Shannan (steubner) started a Meet the Verve Diva Challenge thread which will feature a new DT Member Challenge each week. You know me and challenges, I couldn't resist. Plus these colors are soooo ME-Pumpkin (go figure), Olive, Saffron, and Choc. Chip. While this color combo was no challenge for me, it was the perfect excuse to pull out this set (the only Verve set I own so far). Aside from the stamps, all products used on this card are SU. I used a ton of accessories on this card-nestabilities, flower fusion felt flowers, build a brad, twill ribbon, scallop and circle punches, and a cuttlebug embossing folder. This one is going out to my sister at the end of the month. Have a great week! Hugs,

Triple Play!

Have you visited the blog, Stamp Something? If not, go check it out. I found it a while back (I think it just got started a month or so ago) because one of my stamping/swap buddies, Becky Carafa (beccabatgirl on SCS) became part of their design team. This is not a stamp company that sells stamps or stamping related products. It is a site which provided inspiration. Every Friday they post fun and unique challenges. The DT posts pics of their creations and anyone can play. I loved the concept behind this weeks challenge. They called it Triple Play-3 layers, 3 colors, and 3 embellishments! Right away I knew the colors I'd use-Guava, Banana, and Choc. chip (this week's color combo on SCS). These three colors are so beautiful together. Since I am still playing with my new Unity stamps, I just had to use my Giggle Grove set again. Are you sick of it yet? Good, neither am I, LOL! The hardest part of this challenge for me was the three layer limitation. It is amazing how quickly layers add up when you start trying to mat everything you stamp. The three embellishments I used were my Jumbo eyelets (I love how you can see the guava color peeking through each of those circles), Choc. chip twill ribbon (isn't the tailored bow so cute?!), and Ice Stickles (just had to add some sparkle-look at the birdie's wing and the banana dots below the choc. ribbon).

I love how this card turned out. The other cool thing about this challenge and the blog is that they are looking for a Guest Designer and they are holding a little contest. This is my submission. I'll let you know if I make the top 5 this week! Keep your fingers crossed! Have a terrific weekend. We are heading out to the lake after Tim gets off work. The boys are looking forward to some S'mores-yummmm!

Hugs,

I think I have a thing for Birds...

It seems that birds are HOT right now! and I've fallen for them. I can't wait to get my hands on the new SU set with owls and then Unity came out with this awesome bird set, Birds of a Feather. That's the set I used for these two cards. There are a ton of sentiments included in the set, too. I think this sweet bird in the nest image is so versatile. I made this first card for my BFF that just moved into her new house yesterday. I thought the bird sitting in her nest was great for a new home card. It could also be used for a new mom, an Easter, or a Spring card. You know me, I love versatility!
I guess I got in the Christmas spirit with this second card. Blame it on the paper. I was going through my stash of scraps and found some strips of the retired SU paper, Wintergreen. I paired this bird with the word Peace and added some Burgundy accents and finished it off with some organdy ribbon. I used my copics to color both images and framed the main images with the rectangle nestabilities.
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Hugs,

Unity Love!

I have been lovingly watching and maybe even borderline stalking Unity Stamps since they hit the market in May. I had almost ordered three different times but stopped myself mainly because of the shipping charges (I hate to pay shipping!). In the last week or so I saw the announcement that shipping is now only $5! I couldn't resist any longer and I placed an order on Thursday. The best part was, I got my order on Monday! I've been having fun playing with my new stamps the last two days. I ordered three sets:Giggle Grove (this has been the one set I've wanted from the beginning), Birds of a Feather, and Creating Yourself. Since Giggle Grove was my first love at Unity, I'm showing you the first two cards I made using that set. Aren't these images just the cutest? and let me tell you, they are big! Don't' let the website fool you. Make sure you read the dimensions of the stamps you are buying, the pictures are not true to life like they are in the SU catalog. The first card I made is a big one, 8x4! This set is perfect for paper piecing! which is what I did with the three trees in the first card and to the bird on the second card. All products (except the stamps of course) are SU! I'll have more Unity stuff to share tomorrow. Hugs,

Two more Rejects!

I know, I shouldn't refer to them as rejects. I'm just glad I can show them off now. I always wait until the contest deadline is over before I share any of the projects I submitted. I'd hate to see that someone won because they CASED my card (not saying it would happen, but you just never know. I've heard stories...). This first card was for the same category that I won in-Eye on Fashion. This card uses product from the Eastern Eclectic Style collection, shown on p.10 of the catty. I just love Pomegranate and Pumpkin together and the black just makes it pop!

The second card was for a category calling for colors of Fall. Well, Choc. chip, Olive and Pumpkin just scream fall to me! I made this card, kick stand style, and used the Pewter Jumbo eyelets to accent the main image. These didn't win, but I still love them. All project that are submitted to SU become SU property, so maybe just maybe I'll see them on Stampers Showcase or even on a display board at Convention! Have a great Wednesday.

I Won, I Won!

I was going to subtly add this to the end of this blog post, but I'm just so darn excited. I'm shouting it from the roof tops. I finally won a contest I submitted to. I got an email yesterday from SU saying I won in the Eye on Fashion Category for the July Contest! I've been sending in submissions,mostly to SU, for their monthly contests for over a year now. It hasn't been every month, but since Jan. I've really tried to do it more regularly. I've also submitted about 8 or 9 cards to Cards Magazine and nothing. Last month I sent SU 4 submissions that I was really proud of. I did this awesome scrapbook page (well I thought I was awesome. probably because it was of the 4 favorite men in my life). This page did not win, but I've been dying to show it off. I need to make sure I can post the winning card here on my blog. So once I find out, I'll let you all know. Look for the other two "rejects" in tomorrows post. Thanks for stopping by and sharing my excitement! I know you all get my excitement and surprisingly so did my non-stamping friends last night. I went to play Bunko right after I read my email from SU so I just had to tell my Bunko group. None of them stamp, but they were all excited that I won a contest.
Hugs!

Wild about You!

While I had out my Wild About You set and Jersey shore paper the other day I decided to knock out a baby card I needed to make. A friend and neighbor just had a baby boy, so I thought this would make for a cute card. I've never seen a green giraffe, but the dots and colors went with the Jersey shore paper I used. This is another bonus to stamping, you can create images in any color you want-creativity is so much fun! Once again, I added the little birdie and this time I had the giraffe hold the flower in his mouth. I haven't used this set in a while (to make cards I mean, I know I just used it on a recent scrapbook page) and I forgot what cute cards you can make with these fun little animals. The sentiment is from Family Phrases. I pulled out the stitching from the wasabi ribbon and called this card done. Feels good to make a card that I know will brighten someones day!

Hugs,

Splish Splash

I have a few more sketches to get through from the rest of my online Got Sketch 101 class. This sketch was for a project to make a message board on a piece of canvas, but since I didn't want to make a message board I turned it into an actual scrapbook page. I think it is such a cool idea for a page. I used the Bali Breeze paper and the criss crosses are made out of Olive twill ribbon and turquoise brads. I love the bright, fun colors for these pool pictures. The boys had so much fun running and jumping, trying to pose all at the same time. Tim captured some fun shots!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Alligator Bites

Finally, I got around to the Featured Swapper challenge over at the Great Swaps Girls Blog from almost two weeks ago. Becky Carafa (beccabatgirl) was the chosen one and right away I knew which card I wanted to case (this one). I love the idea of this card-the alligator with the bite out of the cs. I used wasabi cs for my base and then added strips of Jersey shore paper. The stamp set is Wild About You. Isn't the little birdie a nice touch, sitting there on his tail? I added the brilliant blue brads and some Pumpkin Striped grosgrain ribbon. This was another quick and easy one!

Hugs!

A card to Demo

I made this card two weeks ago at my latest workshop. The girls loved it, because of how easy it went together. Plus it show-cased some of the In Colors that will be retiring. I then showed them how to "step it up" by simply stamping the medallion image from the Baroque Motif set and adding a Build-a-Brad to attach it to the card. They loved it. I wish I had the stepped up version to show, but I gave it to my hostess. She was thrilled to get all my samples. I always tell my hostesses they get to keep the samples I demo with, but I think they must forget this little perk because they are always so surprised when I give them the finished projects.

Hugs,

My Tart-n-Tangy Tin Class

I fell in love with this project when I saw it on Jamie's Blog almost two months ago. I pretty much CASED her class exactly because it was just too stinkin' cute. Here is the link to her Blog. I had high expectations for this class when I sent out the invites but I only had two people sign up. Normally I won't hold a class for this few people, but I really wanted to do the class and the two people who signed up were my MIL and one of my BFF's. I'm looking at it as a fun evening of stamping with some good company.

I used the Tart-n-Tangy set along with the Summer Picnic paper. The tin is an altered Altoid tin and the little cards that fit inside are so cute and small (2x3 inch). I used the mini envelope template to create coordinating envies. The class price was $35 and included a pre-order for the stamp set, two markers and a mono multi adhesive. The rest of the class supplies were cut and ready to go! Here's a shot of the tin by itself.

Hugs,