Digital Tuesday!

I have just a few more pages to show you from my photobook/calendar that I showed you last week.  The book was printed and I got it Friday.  I was so excited and I got what I think is the highest compliment I could have gotten-Dan asked me to make him one for 2012!  I'm super duper excited now!!!!  So come the end of the year I'll be working on one for Dan, maybe we'll just print a bunch for Christmas gifts.......I'm really excited!  Can you tell?

It's so funny how when I started with Stampin' Up! 8 years ago I never would have considered myself a scrapbooker.  I even cringed when hostess asked to see scrapbook projects at workshops.  Scrapbooking just isn't my thing.  But with MDS I've been transformed into a scrapbooker-amazing huh!?!!!  I'm still a cardmaker and paper crafter, I always will be it's my first true passion, but I think just maybe I might be a scrapbooker after all :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Meeting Highlights

Happy Memorial Day to my US friends!  Last week was our monthly demo meeting here's some highlights from it!  Last week I showed my demo here and my swap here. There's lots to share so I'm just going to jump in :)

This was one of our Make and Takes, we used the crayon resist technique for this card. 

 This was another one of our make and takes.  We 'thumped' the markers on the stamp before stamping it to get the look of this card, isn't it cool?

 This was Amber's demo, she showed the black magic technique. 

 This was Kay's demo, she showed how to make the box.  The flower was her swap.

 This was Vanessa's card.  I love how just that little piece of Crumb Cake hangs over the edge!  So cute! 

 This one was Michelle's swap.  I've had that set for years and I don't pull it out much, it's so cute though maybe I should.

 Amber did 3 swaps, for her newest downline, this is her 1st one.  I love this one, the monochromatic look and it's so simple!

 This is Amber's 2nd one.  I love this one too, I just love how she did the butterfly!

 This is Amber's 3rd one.  This one is my favorite!  Isn't it beautiful!!

 This one is Kathy's.  Simple, clean and cute, I like it!

 This was is Corrina's. I aways love Corrina's cards, they're so pretty!

 This one was Nichole's.  She did a technique showed in our demonstrator magazine that demos get once a month-just another perk of being a demo :) The technique is double embossing, she embossed the paper in one of the big shot folders, and also heat embossed it.  I'll have more on this technique later this week-stay tuned :)

 This was Michelle C's swap.  I love the Upsy Daisy stamp set!!!

Last but not least is Mindy's card.  It's hard to see from the picture but she paper quilled the little flower, it's so cute!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

My Faux Bow!

I'm going to warn your right away today, this card is so pretty that you WILL NEED to purchase the Flower Fest stamp set to make your own card!  :)  Don't say I didn't warn you.  Isn't this card so pretty!!!  I love it!!  We had our monthly demonstrator meeting last night, and for my 3 minute demo I showed how to do this 'faux bow' (more on that later), but as I was getting ready I loved this card soooo much that I almost changed my demo at the last minute so that I wouldn't have to give this card away :)  How silly-I'll just make more :)  Who would've thought that Concord Crush and Daffodil Delight go together so perfectly-the color coach that's who!  I'll for sure use this color combo again!

So first of all the flowers are from the Flower Fest stamp set in the mini and the DSP is from the Beyond the Garden DSP also from the mini catalog.  I embossed the flowers in white embossing powder and cut the centers out and popped them up to add more dimension to the card.  They're so pretty aren't they!?!  I sure love them!!!

Now for the bow, what I demoed last night.  I saw it here on Dawn Olchefsky's blog.  She has a fantastic video so I won't try to describe how I did it, I'm sure it wouldn't make sense unless you can actually see it.  This bow is so perfect for people like me, the bow challenged.  I always tie knots because my bows always look so weird, but not anymore, thanks to this technique!!  I did find out that the wider the ribbon the easier it is.  For this bow I used the 5/8 grosgrain, I didn't try it with the 1/4 inch but I'll have to do that now.  I also did it with the satin ribbon and the 1 1/4 inch striped ribbon.  PS-the satin ribbon bows are so pretty! 

Go try it for yourself.  I'll have highlights from the meeting up on Monday, if not sooner,  depends on how the weekend goes.  We have lots planned and also a date with Captain Jack Sparrow :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Embossed Daisies!

As I'm typing this I'm anxiously awaiting the UPS man to bring my latest SU order.  I decided to wait until the last minute to order some of the on board journals for teacher gifts.  And now the last day of school is just hours away and the UPS man still hasn't shown up with my journals.  OH NO!  I'm sure he'll arrive, he normally hits my house around 4pm.  But just today (and the day that he has my new catalog) I was hoping he'd be early :)  No such luck.  Oh well.  I do have another set of teacher gifts to show you.  I made a stack of cards for one of the teachers at Logan's school.  She not in Logan's room all the time.  She helps out in which ever room needs her at the time.  I don't see her often but I thought she still deserved an end of the school year gift.  She has a stack of these cards, I hope she likes them!

The cards are pretty easy.  I used my Upsy Daisy stamp set and stamped the daisies in Versa Mark on the DSP, then use white embossing powder on them.  I love it.  I love the pattern on the DSP and the texture of the flowers.  It's so pretty in person.  The ribbon and linen thread just add a little something extra.  These cards are so cute!!!

Hopefully I'll get my journals soon and I'll have those to share with you next week sometime! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!! 

Punches, Punches and More Punches

It's been a while, make that a long time, since I've shared some punch art with you.  Normally my punch are would consist of an animal or something along those lines but not today.  I saw this card from Carrie Gaskin's blog and I LOVED it!!!  I loved the simple shapes, the colors (even though I used different colors), I just loved it all.  So I did what any good stamper would do I copied it :)  I changed it a little but I couldn't be more happy with the results.  I put a list of punches that I used below so that you too can copy!

Punches:

Circle Punches: 1 3/4 inch, 1 3/8 inch, 1 inch, circle punch from the itty bitty punch pack and Scallop Circle

Hearts: Heart to Heart and Small Heart

Other: Triple Blossom Punch and Scallop Border punch

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!! 

I'm in Awe of MDS!

I'm so stinkin' excited about this photo book that I did literally over the weekend with MDS.  These are 2 of my most favorite pages in the book. I was so inspired by Meg Loven's blog post that I just had to have a book of my own!!!! And to be honest with you I didn't even know that MDS had that function.  Ok let me catch you up to what I'm talking about.  I spent the weekend making a photo book planner, on the page layout, one side will be the 'scrapbook' and the other side will be the calendar.  If you go to Meg's website you'll understand what I'm talking about she has a great picture of her photo planner on her blog.  So how did I do that, there's no calendar template in the photo book section, well here's where I was totally blown away by MDS magic-it is magic too!  If you create a calendar as you normally would then go to 'edit' then 'change project type/size' you can change it to whatever you want!  I started with a 12x12 calendar then when I was done I changed it to an 8x8 photo book.  So easy!!!  What's fantastic about doing your own MDS calendar is that you can start the year anywhere!  My photo book planner will go from July 2011-June 2012...the SU year, hmmm how'd that happen ;)  My plan is to take it to workshops and classes and my guests will not only be able to see what dates I have available for their workshops but they can also see some of the fantastic features of MDS!!  The second page is inspired by Heather Summers, I saw this page and I just loved the layout!  I couldn't be more happy with my album and I CAN'T WAIT TO GET IT!!!!! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!! 

RAK from Karen...

...or Random Act of Kindness from Karen. 

Well it's 3:30 in the afternoon and I'm just now getting to my post.  I had a HUGE last minute project that I needed to get done.  I decided last week that while MDS scrapbooks are on sale this month I might as well finish another one :)  So I spent all day and finished it, I'll show you some of my favorite pages tomorrow.  And it's more than a scrapbook..more on that tomorrow too.  I do have a cute card to show you today.  I got this in the mail last week from my 3rd level upline from MN, Karen Titus.  I love this card.  I can't help but love Poppy Parade, and I never thought I would.  The vase has crystal effects on it which makes it extra special.  The stamp set is from the mini called On The Grow.  It's such a cute little set :)  I do have tomorrow's post ready to go up on time so you should see that bright and early.  I have so much stamping to do this week.  Our demonstrator meeting is Thursday and I haven't prepared a single thing for it and I need to make 3 journals for 'thank you' gifts for Logan's teaches by Thursday-his last day of school.  I'm usually not a procrastinator but looks like I'll be playing catch up this week!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Bright Birthday!

I'm usually not a fan of the really bright designer papers, I tend to use the more subtle toned downs ones more.  But this one in the Summer Mini, Beyond the Gardne, is bold, bright and so pretty!  And it uses colors that I generally don't use.  I just, a couple weeks ago, got a Pacific Point and Wild Wasabi ink pad, I still don't have a Tangerine Tango pad.  They're just not colors I use much but I can tell that this paper might just change my mind :) 

The patterns are so fun that even by themselves they make a beautiful card.  I didn't do alot on this card.  There's lots of punching and very little stamping. Which makes for an easy card to mass produce or to at least finish quickly. 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Scrapbooking...3 Days In A Row?

...Has someone hijacked my blog?  Well it is National Scrapbooking Month after all :)  I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it many more times, I'm not a scrapbooker.  I'm doing more of it with My Digital Studio but I don't do much scrapbooking with cardstock much anymore.  But about 2 months ago, I thought I'd take it up again, not for me, but for some friends. Megan's God Parents had to go to Denver for a few months, they would be gone a long time and by the time they got back Megan would have changed so much.  So I decided to get them a 6x6 album and every couple of weeks (I try to do it that often, sometimes that doesn't happen) I send them a few more pages to add to their album so that they can keep up with her growth and accomplishments.  These pages I just loved and thought I should post them here, why have I not been posting the others anyway?!   

These pages are pretty simple but they have some BIG accessories with an awesome technique.  A looonnng time ago, (well probably only a few years or so).  My upline showed me how to emboss brads, I loved that! I haven't done it in a while since SU offers such an amazing brad selection.  But when I was making these pages I couldn't find an accessory to put in the center of the flowers that I liked.  So while riffling through my drawers I found some glitter!  LIGHTBULB!!! 

Embossing brads is actually really easy and if you've never done it you should try it.  You can use any embossing powder, for these brads I used Heat and Stick Powder.  Push your brad into your VersaMark Pad, then dip it into the Heat and Stick powder (or embossing powder of your choice), then HOLDING WITH TWEEZERS (make sure you do that or you'll burn your fingers-ouch!) emboss!  It only takes a second!  If you're using heat and stick, after you emboss it stick it in the glitter, heat again for just a few seconds and your done!  Custom made glitter brads!  Yay!  For these brads I used the Jumbo 5/8 inch brads and the Fine Cosmo Glitter.  So pretty.  Logan watched me do a couple and said "That's totally awesome!"  I agree!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

More Of My Favorites!

Yesterday I showed you some of my favorite pages from Dan's Father's Day album and here's a few more that I just LOVE!!!  These pages Logan helped alot with :)

I wanted to have a page where Logan got to write something to Dan himself.  So he dictated and I typed.  I asked him to tell me some of the reasons he loves his Daddy and as kids always do he came up with some pretty fun stuff :)

I did the same thing with Megan but of course she couldn't dictate it to me, so I just had to read her mind :)  I love these pictures of her.  This was her 6 month old pictures and she's just so happy!  It makes my heart happy!

She loves bath time too, so as every Mom does, I snapped some bath photos :)  What mom out there doesn't have at least a couple of bath time photos of their kiddos!  I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of my favorites from Dan's album.  I had a great time making it and I just love it, I hope Dan loves it as much as I do!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!

Some Of My Favorites!

Well I've finished Dan's Father's Day album and I LOVE it!  It's elegant, simple, beautiful and I love it and I'm sure Dan will too.  I'll send it to be printed later this week, I can't wait to get it!  I'm so excited!!!  Today and tomorrow I'll show you some more of my favorite pages.  I posted a couple pages last week here.  I used the same colors throughout the entire book so it all coordinates and I didn't have to come up with colors for each page.  The whole book uses Basic Black, Whisper White and Soft Suede.  Most of the time, I toned down the opacity of the Soft Suede (I love the feature on MDS!), so alot of the time it looks like Crumb Cake but it's all Soft Suede :) 

The first 2 pages are a side by side layout and the 3rd and 4th pages are also a side by side layout.  I love doing it this way, because I could create one page then I just clicked "add duplicate page mirrored" and my 2 page of the layout was done, I just had to change the pictures.  So easy! 

The next 2 pages are probably my most favorite pages in the entire book.  I might even print these pages separately to hang in the house somewhere, they're perfect and I LOVE them!!!!  I used this page as inspiration for them. 

Getting pictures for Logan's page was such drama.  I must have took hundreds of pictures of Logan, I didn't want him to look at the camera for all of them I like the everyday, you don't know I'm taking pictures shots.  But every time I tried to get one of those, he'd look at me and smile so I finally had to pose him in other positions.  Silly boy!  The pictures of Megan I love, especially her little foot in the grass-so sweet!

I'll show some more of my favorites tomorrow.
Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Birthday Pearls!

I love this card!  It's so pretty it just makes me happy!  I very rarely use this many pearls on a card but then it occurred to me, why am I hoarding all these pearls!  So I'm breaking them out!  I have a horrible problem with hoarding DSP and some accessories, then they retire and I never use them anyway.  So I'm going to use more from now on...we'll see how long that lasts :)  But back to the card.  I got the colors from the color coach-a fantastic tool! I probably never would have put these colors together if not for the color coach.  Elegant Eggplant is a color I hardly ever use to begin with.  But with Melon Mambo and Old Olive it works so well, don't you think?!!

I embossed some flowers on the bottom of the cardstock in Melon Mambo embossing powder to give a little bit of texture and dimension.  The pearls that frame the flowers just add so much and before I added them I had my doubts about this card.  It just wasn't looking right to me.  Add a few pearls and ta-da MAGIC it was perfect!!!  I just love this card!  So pretty!!! 

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Love and Care, Best Dad Ever

Cardstock: Elegant Eggplant, Melon Mambo, Whisper White

Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, and VersaMark Pads, Melon Mambo Marker

Accessories:  Color Spritzer, Pearls, Melon Mambo EP, Heat Tool, Old Olive Ribbon, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Gift Cards Galore Class

I had another project ready to go up, then last night when I went to finish typing it Blogger wasn't working, still not working when I got up this morning either, and it deleted yesterday's post.  It said it's working to restore those posts they took off.  So if it's not back by then end of the weekend I'll re post it.  So since I couldn't blog last night I stamped, and I finished designing the cards for my Gift Cards Galore Class!!  I think the cards are phenomenal.  They're all incredible, I don't even think I can pick a favorite!  I LOVE them all!!!  So you defiantly won't want to miss this class, the details are below!  Here's a sneak peak at the cards!

Gift Cards Galore
I've wanted to do a class like this for a long time on cards that includes a place to hold a gift card and I'm so excited that now is the time. Gift card giving is so popular and I'm sure you've given, if not received a couple gift cards yourself. So I invite you to this class to learn some awesome fun techniques that will make you're gift card giving unforgettable! Here's the details on this class!!

• The class will be Saturday, June 4 at 10AM at St. John's Cathedral.
• The class is $15 or FREE with a $35 order AT the class.
• You'll make 4 unique and special cards that all include a spot for a gift card.
• There will be door prizes and gifts for all that attend!!!
• Invite your friends-the more the merrier!!!
• Space is limited, register early!!!
• You must RSVP by May 30.

So far I've had a great response to this class and space is filling up FAST!  So if you've been thinking about coming I encourage you to sign up now!  I hope you can come, we'll be using lots of stuff from the new Mini catalog, and there might just be a cute card featuring some punch art! You won't want to miss this class!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!

The Awesome Triple Punch!

I can't get over how awesome the new triple punches are!!  They are truly so AMAZING!!!  I was a little, no make that really hesitant to buy them.  After the big switch over to the new style of punches I kept getting defective punches, then SU fixed a bunch and over all I was just a little hesitant of new punches but after playing with this one I can say with confidence that they're totally awesome!!  The punch is a little hard to explain without seeing it in front of you but who knows maybe there's a tutorial coming up!  In the meantime I have this card to share with you.  It using the Blossoms Triple Punch and some of the current In Colors. 

Each flower is made extra special with a different accessory.  This card actually measures 5x5, but I just love the look of it and how every flower is different and how the colors all coordinate so well together.  This is the perfect card to use up your scraps and leftover accessories! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Father...

I'm happy to report that my album for Dan is almost done.  I have 4 pages left to do and it looks fantastic.  When I'm done I'll post some of my favorite layouts here!  Using My Digital Studio just makes scrap booking so much fun!  I'll be the first to admit that I am NOT a scrapbooker, I actually dread scrap booking with paper.  I'm just not good at it and it takes forever and I'm an instant gratification kind of girl so if it can't be done quickly then I don't want to do it.  Just one of the many reasons I LOVE MDS!!!

Onto today's card, speaking of quick techniques!  This stamp set I love!  I think it's my new go to stamp for 'manly' cards.  If you haven't had a chance to check out the mini catalog yet, make sure you do, it's awesome!! This card is pretty straight forward.  I did lots of crumpling and distressing the cardstock.  To get the white sails after I stamped the image I used a blender pen and some White Craft Ink Refill.  Just use it the same way you would the Classic ink.  I put a drop or two on the inside of my pad on the lid and just colored in the sails.  So pretty and it really makes the sails 'pop'.  You could also use the pastels for the sails, but I'm not sure they would be as bold as the craft ink is.   

I started layering this card and the Baja Breeze card base was just a little to overwhelming and was drawing attention away from the focal point so to tone it down slightly I used a piece of vellum crumpled up over it.  This is a great technique to use on really bold DSP too.  Sometimes you love the pattern and color but need it slightly muted, the vellum works fantastic.  I love all the crumpled and torn edges on this card, it just all goes together so well!! 

Supplies:
Stamp Sets: Sail Away, Best Dad Ever
Cardstock:  Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Vellum Cardstock
Ink: Not Quite Navy Marker and Black Staz On pad, Whisper White Craft Ink Refill
Accessories:  Blender Pen, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Father's Day Is Coming!

I know we just had Mother's Day, but Father's Day is only about a month away!  I can't believe it either!  For Father's Day this year I'm making (tyring to involve Logan) a scrapbook for Dan.  All of pictures of the kids.  The album will be 8x8 so it won't be huge but it will be a good size for a special keepsake and who knows maybe this will turn into something we do every year for him at Father's Day.  With pictures from the past year of how the kids have grown, now there's an idea I could really run with! 

My original thought for this scrapbook was that I'd take all the pictures in one day for this album, they'd all be in black and white and it would be an elegant, simple album.  Well the day I went to take the pictures (we went to the park).  After about 15 pictures in (probably only 5 or 6 usable pictures) the whining started and the 'When can I go play' 'Are you almost done' questions started. So I called the photo shoot a wrap and brainstormed plan B.  Well plan B isn't that different than plan A, but instead of the pictures all being from one day, they'll be from the past few months.  Which is ok too, and actually Dan will probably appreciate it more, so I'm not too upset by it.  Yesterday I got a big jump start on the album.  These are 2 of the pages from the album.  These two pages will face each other in the layout, and my thought for this album was to keep the pages simple, simple simple!  Nothing fancy, no super advanced techniques used here.  I still decided to go with black and white pictures.  I think I have the beginnings of what, I think, will be a beautiful album! 

PS Happy Birthday to my Mom! 

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Over the Top Swaps!

I showed you on Friday the adorable towel I did for the Over the Top Swap that we do.  Now I'm so happy to share the rest of the projects.  You'll have to excuse my horribly messy desk :)  I'm so pleased with the projects, everyone did a fantastic job and though I'm sad I missed the swap I so happy I got the projects.  I think they're all in use right now which is great!!! 

 This one was Michelle C.  I LOVE this board and all the cards on it!  It's so cute and just so fantastic!!  Great Job Michelle!!!!

 Kathy made this adorable dog treat jar!  It's so cute and perfect and just the right size for Chase's dog bones!

 Kim R made these giant clothes pin holders.  I just love them and just last week I kept thinking how I need something like this to hold recipes in the kitchen, so that's what I'm using one of them for anyway!  So excited!

 Amber did these awesome button bracelets!  I love mine.  I've been wearing it everywhere too.  I just LOVE it!!!!

 Karen always blows me away with her project and this year was no exception!  She made us paper snip holders from the Petal Cone Die.  How fantasticly creative is that!!!?!  And Karen also included a pair of snips with the holder.  Karen YOU ROCK!!!! 

 Corrina did this beautiful box!  I've never used that paper and now as we head into the end of the catalog I'm kicking myself for never buying it!  If they have a black and white patterned paper in the new catalog I'm getting it for sure!  I love this box, it's so pretty! 

Finally this one was Michelle G's bag.  The flowers are so pretty and it's a great size for a tote bag!  Perfect!! 

Fantastic projects, thanks again ladies-I'll be there next year for sure!!!  And you can too, join the SU family and you too can be there next year!  Plus this month the digital starter kit is on sale!  Does it get better than that!!!?!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!!