Highlights From The Meeting

I've said it before, but I feel that I can't say it enough.  I'm proud to be part of a group of amazing stampers.  Our monthly demonstrator meeting was last Thursday.  We had a wonderful time laughing, chatting and learning new techniques.  Amber had brought lots of stuff from Leadership-I fortunately remembered to take my camera, so I have TONS of ideas for cards and projects now :)  Here's some more highlights from the meeting. 

 I didn't get pictures of all the wonderful 3 minute demo's but this is the one I got to take home.  Michelle demoed this super adorable game.  She used one of our brad, eyelet, etc containers to make it.  Isn't is just the MOST adorable game.  Logan's been playing with it all weekend.  He loves it.  I finally got it away from him long enough to take a picture :)

Next up is our make and takes:

 You MUST get the petal cone die!!  I just love it!!!

  I love this bookmark too!  At the meeting Amber had us write on the back one goal or one change we'd like to do in our business.  I now have this bookmark hanging above my desk so that I can see it everyday and remember to implement that change.  Cute project and wonderful idea!

Now the swaps!  The theme was Occasions Mini Catalog or Sale-a-Bration.

Carmelita used the owl from the Punch Bunch set (which by the way has been the most popular set so far).  Cute!  I love the clouds done with white craft ink lightly in the background. 

 This card is Angela's and I just love it.  It might be one of my favorites from the swap.  I love the colors.  She also used Punch Bunch :)

 Amber did 3 sets of swaps.  She has 2 new recruits, plus hers.  So this is one of Amber's. I will for sure be CASEing this in the future!!

 This was another one of Amber's.  You can't tell in the picture but she sprayed the card with smooch spray so it's super sparkly.  I LOVE IT! 

 This is Mindy's swap.  I LOVE it.  She attached the ribbon then embossed it.  Isn't that a great idea.  The ribbon got embossed too-genius!

 As always Karen's swap is spectacular.  I love the heart, plus she added the pearls.  I love the lace too.  I bought a whole roll of it to use for an album of Megan that I made for Dan for Christmas, thinking I'd have leftovers, but there were no leftovers.  Guess I'll be ordering a new roll :)

 This was Michelle C's swap.  She used the Button's Button's set in the mini.  I like the bright colors on this card.  And she covered all of the 'button's' with crystal effects. 

 This is Amber's 3rd swap.  I just love how she crimped the cupcake liner then punched it out.  Way cute.  And the glitter on the cupcake-what could be better!!!

 This is Kay's swap.  I love the border punch!!  And I love that stamp!  Yes that's one from the IDB&C that you can earn free during SAB!!!

 This is Joanna's.  I love the colors.  I'm so loving the Concord Crush in color.  Didn't think I would but I just love it!!!  She also sprayed her card with smooch spray so it's sparkly.  LOVE IT!!

Last but certainly not least, this is Vanessa's swap. The hearts are punched with the Real Red glitter paper.  I'd actually never seen it in person but I'm so in love with it now.  Guess I'll be getting some of that too!! :)

By the way Thanks for all the WONDERFUL comments you left on my last post.  I just love that headband and it looks so cute on Megan.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Butterfly Headband

It's the weekend!  Yay!!  And I have a special Saturday post for you!!  I made this yesterday and it was just so cute that I couldn't wait to share it.  One of my many goals this year is to do more with SU's fabric.  I just love our fabric but whenever I want to make something with it I usually have my Mom, the seamstress, make it.  So this year I'm going to try to do more of it by myself :)  I want to do a fabric class soon too, so keep an eye out for that announcement.  I just have to get the details figured out :)

But for today's project I used the new Springtime Vintage Fabric from the Occasions Mini catalog.  Oh my goodness I think this is my all time favorite fabric-it's so pretty!!!  Megan will be my helpful model for this project too.  A while back I got a set of headbands that have the organza bows on them.  So I removed one of the bows and was going to replace it with a flower but the flowers just weren't working for me. So I thought, hmmm how about a butterfly-SO CUTE!!  So Megan now has the most adorable--one of a kind----butterfly headband!

I used 6 butterflies total to make the butterfly.  I just layered them on top of each other-couldn't be easier!  Then I used a Vintage Brad-love these by the way, and stuck it through all 6 butterflies to hold them together.  To add a little extra eye catching detail to it, I attached some pearls to the brad.  I used the smallest ones on the outside, then the largest one in the center.  I can't say enough wonderful things about the adhesive pearls and rhinestones.  They have got to be (next to dimensionals) my favorite accessory.  

Isn't is so adorable.   I haven't been this excited about a project in well a couple days,  But this one is just so cute!!!  Ok I've said that about million times now LOL!

One more shot of it.  Isn't that fabric just some of the most beautiful you've ever seen.  I'm a little embarrassed to say that I've had it since December but I love it so much I didn't want to use it until the 'perfect' project came along :)  How silly is that, if I use it, I'll just get more :)

 Here's a few more shots from the photo shot :)

This one is my favorite.  Thanks for looking, see you soon!!! 

A Masking Tip

This will be a very quick post.  I'm typing this as Logan gets ready for bed and Megan naps :)  Last night was our demonstrator meeting and I showed these cards for my 3 minute demo.  Don't they look awesome, it's a version of masking that I saw on Tami White's blog.  Check out her video, very cool :)  I just love these cards, aren't they pretty.  I love the vellum on top too.  I really should use vellum more :)  Make sure to check out Tami's video for the how to for these cards and scroll down for the rest of the pictures.   I promised a short post :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Vintage Adornments

I thought I'd start the post today with a little update about Megan.  She's 14 weeks old (or 3 months).  She's pretty vocal now, not just crying but laughing and cooing too, she's grabbing things and has rolled over a few times from her tummy to her back.  She's really close to rolling from her back to her tummy.  Here's a few pictures of Megan.

Isn't this a cool picture.  She just loves to look at herself in the mirror.

 This was her a couple days ago helping me while I stamped my swaps for our meeting tonight.  Yep that's a stamp a ma jig in her hand!!!  A stamper already! 

 So cute!!!

Tonight is our demonstrator meeting!  I love these nights.  They're always so much fun and I get to hang out with some of the most creative women I know!  The swap theme tonight was mini catalog or SAB.  So I used both! When I saw the vintage flower adornments in the mini catalog I just loved them and knew I had to get them.  I wasn't quite sure what I'd do with them but I knew I wanted them.  For this card I used the Hello stamp set-which you can get for free during SAB, it's one of the 50+ sets that you can choose from that are in the Idea Book and Catalog. I stamped just the stem from the flower from the Hello set and topped it with one of the flowers.  Isn't it cute!  I also used my markers to add the greeting, which is the one from Punch Bunch.  Lot's of SAB products used on this card and lots of mini catalog products used. 

 I made 6 in Rose Red and 6 in Baja Breeze. I didn't have enough to do it all in one color so it's the same card just with a slight modification. :)  Check back tomorrow, I'll have my 3 minute demo posted here. 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets:  Hello, Punch Bunch
Cardstock:  Always Artichoke, Rose Red or Baja Breeze, Very Vanilla, Springtime Vintage DSP
Ink: Always Artichoke, Baja Breeze and Rose Red Markers and Pear Pizazz Pad
Accessories:  Big Shot, Scallop Rectangle Sizzlit, Vintage Flower Adornments, Pear Pizazz Seam Binding, Linen Thread, Scallop Border Punch, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Sponges

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

A Carrot A Day...

...keeps the doctor away?  No that's not right :)  We'll get to the project in a second.  I'm so blown away by how successful Sale-a-Bration already is!  We're 1 day into and THANKS to those who have ordered already!  Did you know that you can get a free stamp set (or other product) with every $50 you spend before tax and shipping?  This year SAB has something for EVERYONE!  From stamps to digital downloads to ribbon to decor elements!  There truly IS something for everyone! 

Today's project came from talking to one of my blogger friends-Hi Mary! She was asking how the petal cone die worked.  You have to cut 2 separate pieces then adhere them together to get the 4 sided cone.  So I was explaining it and she mentioned how you probably couldn't make it with just one piece cut out.  Which got me thinking.  Maybe you can!  It wouldn't be a 4 sided cone but it might be a cute pouch!  Which is where this came from. 

 How cute is this little Easter carrot. I think it's adorable.  It's not very big that's for sure.  I really had to squish to make the 2 Ghiradelli chocolate square to fit.  But a gift card would work perfectly, a smaller candy bar, a handful of M&M's.  There's still tons you could put in there. 

When I was making it, I wanted it to look like a carrot, so before assembling I kind of crumpled it-just a little, not much at all.  Just to give it an uneven carroty (is that a word?) surface.  Then when it was all together I spritz it with my color spritzer tool.  I swear that tool is like a third hand for me :) 

So there you have it a cute pouch made from the petal cone die! Cute!  I think I might try some Valentines Day ones!

Supplies:

Cardstock: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive

Ink: Pumpkin Pie Marker

Accessories:  Color Spritzer, Old Olive Satin Ribbon, Big Shot, Petal Cone Die, Square Lattice Embossing Folder, Crop a Dial, Sticky Strip

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

For You!

Today is the day!  The kick off of Sale-a-Bration!!! I'm so excited!  This is going to be a fantastic SAB!  Stampin' Up!  is kicking off SAB with a super fantastic starter kit special!  If you've been thinking of joining the SU family, of which I can't say enough wonderful things about, then SAB is the time for you to sign up!  Through March 31 the starter kit has been discounted by 15% that's only $148.75 for over $300 worth of SU merchandise and business materials!  You can choose either the standard starter kit or the digital starter kit which includes MDS!   

Also with your 15% off SU is also going to give you this fantastic bundle, valued at over $50 for FREE!!!

In the bundle you'll get:

119883 Heart to Heart (or any punch) on page 202 in the IB&C

120806 Something Special Simply Sent (or any Simply Sent) on page 183 in the IB&C

117114 Live, Laugh Love stamp (or any Simply Sent Stamp) on page 183 in the IB&C

121620 Color Coach on page 165 in the IB

&C  

There's never been a better time to sign up!! 

 

Of course I have a fantastic project for you today too.  Today is the last day of registration for our Sale-a-Bration stamp camp.  You'll get to make 10 projects for only $25, such a bargain!  I hope you'll come.  Today's project is one of the 10 projects you'll get to make.  It uses the Punch Bunch SAB set.  I just love this set!!!  it also uses the Ice Cream Parlor SAB DSP!  Isn't this card great though!!  I just love it!!

Of course I add to add a rhinestone!  So pretty!!! 

Supplies:

Stamp Set:  Punch Bunch

Cardstock:  Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Ice Cream Parlor DSP

Ink:  Old Olive and Melon Mambo markers

Accessories:  Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Scallop Circle Punch, Rhinestones, Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Happy Thoughts!

Tomorrow is the day!  Sale-A-Bration starts!  I can't wait!  I'm so excited for SAB this year.  I have so many wonderful things planned!  But before we can get to SAB we have to deal with life first.  Logan was a little sick over the weekend.  He has a cold.  Nothing major just a runny nose and a cough.  He'll be fine.  But it was so difficult to explain to Logan that just for a couple of days he needs to keep his distance from Megan.  We kept telling him "What might be a little cough for you, might make her very sick."  It was a hard lesson for him to learn, he loves her so much and wants to play with her all the time.  So cute!  

Today's card is really pretty.  I just love it and I wasn't sure if I would or not.  When I first saw the beveled window panes in the catalog I was a little, nope a lot hesitant.  I wasn't sure how heavy they were or if they would even look good on a card.  But boy was I wrong.  After seeing wonderful things done with them I just loved them and decided to get some of my own :) 

I really like them.  They're very lightweight so they don't weigh the card down and they're really cute and easy to work with.  For this card I colored my stamp with the markers, then sponged the edges of the paper and used my color spritzer too.  I just adore our seam binding ribbon.  Oh I love it.  It's so easy and fun to work with :)

The greeting is from the level 2 hostess set Apple Blossoms.  It's such a cute set!  You can earn it free with only a $300 workshop!  I love how the scallop border under the seam binding extends to the end while the greeting is just a smaller piece of CS on top of the seam binding.  I like small details like that, it adds so much for the eyes to look at :)

For the border I ran a piece of DSP from the Botanical Gazette pack in the mini, through the Framed Tulips Embossing Folder.  Then I used my sanding block and lightly sanded the embossed part.  Since SU's DSP is white based the white of the DSP shines through and makes the border 'pop' more.  Plus it gives it a wonderful faux suede feel.   So there's a lot going on on just this card.  I hope you like it as much as I do!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets:  Apple Blossoms, Funky Four

Cardstock:  Cherry Cobbler, Vanilla, Crumb Cake, Botanical Gazette DSP

Ink:  Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke and Crumb Cake Marker, Crumb Cake and Chocolate Chip pad

Accessories:  Big Shot, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Scallop Border Punch, Sanding Block, Beveled Windowpanes, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Linen Thread, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Take a Bite!

Quick post today, it's been a busy week.  I think I just might put on a movie for Logan while Megan sleeps and have some stamping time.  I think Logan and I could both use the down time.  Before I get to the project today I want to remind you that there's only a few days left to sign up for our Sale a Bration Stamp Camp.  It's going to be so much fun and this year you'll be making 10 projects for the same price(normally at our stamp camp it's 5 projects)!!  I'm super excited and I hope you can join me!!!

For the card today.  I was inspired by this super adorable card on Dawn Griffith's blog.  It was from a swap she did with her downline and the idea was so stinkin' cute I had to copy it :)  Plus if you love this set like I love this set you should come to my Eat Chocolate Class-where you get the set with the class fee!  To read more about this class click here :) 

Isn't it adorable?!  Just like chocolate-take a bite out!  This card is a 4x4 card, you could easily modify it to a standard size card though.  I think it's super cute-love the colors, love the punches, love the rhinestones, LOVE it all! 

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Eat Chocolate

Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink

Ink: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip

Accessories:  Scallop Circle Punch, Label Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Pretty in Pink Ribbon, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Mushroom Thanks!

Yesterday Logan started a class at the Zoo/Aquarium/Botanical Gardens here.  It's a 12 week class so they'll alternate between locations each week.  He had a great time.  This week was at the Aquarium and we learned about Zebra Sharks.  Next week we'll be at the Zoo and learn about Zebras. I'm excited.  I hope Logan makes some new friends.  Megan goes of course too.  She's so alert now at 13 weeks and she just loved watching all the kids play and do their crafts and sing songs.  So we're looking forward to this for the next 12 weeks.  Meanwhile, I'm gearing up for Sale-a-Bration.  It's only days away-can you believe it!?!  I'm still booking workshops for Sale-a-Bration and would love to do one with you! 

Today's card is so cute! I just love this set but just haven't had a chance to use it.  We'll I've had plenty of chances I just choose to use other stuff.  But this time I 'made' myself use this set.  It's so cute-I just love the mushrooms!  If you knew how many stamps are in my cabinet that have yet to see ink you would probably be shocked.  If only I had the time to use them all.  I've had to start keeping a check list of projects I want to make on my desk.  I just have so many ideas and so little time.  Maybe that's why I'm so excited for workshops this year, so I can show all these ideas that are floating around in my head.  Anyway, back to the project.  I used my markers to color the stamps in this set.  Aren't these colors so cool together too!?  It's Baja Breeze, Cajun Craze and Old Olive.  I'm such an Old Olive fan though I'm convinced that it goes with EVERYTHING!  The rest of the card is pretty self explanatory.  I added a pearl to the flower on the second flower.  I just love our pearls and rhinestones :)

Supplies: 

Stamp Sets:  Funky Four, Thank You Kindly

Cardstock:  Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Cajun Craze, Old Olive, and Baja Breeze Markers, Cajun Craze Pad

Accessories:  Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Pearls, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Floral Petal Cone

I'm so excited about my new Facebook page.  I created it on Monday and it's gotten pretty good feedback so far.  I thought having a FB page for my SU business would provide me with fun opportunities to keep in touch with my customers and fellow demonstrators about specials and events, share projects that might not be here, do fun give aways and that's just to name a few.  If you haven't had a chance to 'like' me make sure you do.  You never know when I might just do a random giveaway!  Also make sure to let your friends know.  The more people that 'like' me the more often I'll be doing giveaways...hint, hint :)

 

I just love today's project and it's all made possible by the wonderful, glorious, all purpose Big Shot.  If you don't own the big shot you must get one!  I literally don't even remember what it was like to craft without the big shot-isn't that sad :)  I made this cone with the new Petal Cone die in the big shot.  It's cut out of Rose Red DSP from the Subtles pack. 

Then the flower on top is made with the Island Floral Die.  I cut 2 of the biggest flower out with Rose Red.  I crumpled and crinkled and mushed it up until the cardstock started to separate.  Then I gently pulled them apart and got 4 flowers.  I scrunched those together to make the flower on top.  

I love it and the texture on the flower is just beautiful.  I wish you could see it in person!

Supplies:

Cardstock:  Rose Red DSP and Cardstock, Old Olive

Accessories:  Big Shot, Petal Cone Die, Island Floral Die

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!