Lacy pins

Well I've officially made it to 20 weeks pregnant! Halfway there and I'm counting every day! There were days I wasn't sure I was going to survive :) I wish I could say that the nausea is gone, but unfortunately it's still part of my daily life. I'm still on the meds my doctor prescribed. The good thing though is that I've learned to function through the nausea. I'm back to driving, stamping, light cleaning/cooking, and light shopping. Stamping-I think I've missed you the MOST! We have an ultrasound next week and we really need to decide if we're going to find out if it's a boy or girl. We were surprised with Logan and fortunately we saved everything from him. So everything is neutral and will go with either. Dan and I just can't make up our minds :) As far as everything else goes, I STILL need to reorganize my cardstock cabinet according to the new color families. Time is ticking away too, I'll be able to order the new colors on Tuesday so I really need to get to it!!!! THIS is the week!!

I have the cutest/prettiest project to show you today! I made 2 of these for my niece's. My sister and her husband are renewing their vows for their 10th wedding anniversary this summer and I thought these would be soooo cute in my niece's hair. I still need to attach a hair clip on the back, but they're so cute!! I hope my niece's like them! PS Joyce if you're reading this don't tell the girls I want to surprise them when you guys visit in July.

I used some lace and white taffeta for them. I actually raided my Mom's leftover fabric scraps to find these pieces. I ran several pieces through the big shot with the scallop circles #2 die. Once I got the whole bow together I used my heat tool and the heat from the heat tool, shrunk the lace a little to give it more texture and dimension. They're so pretty in person!!

The brad in the center is not SU-Sorry! I've had them for a long time, tucked away in my drawer. I don't even remember where I found them. I never use non SU stuff but I thought these brads went the best with the lace. These little bows are going to be so cute in their hair!!!

Supplies:

Big Shot, Scallop Circles #2 die

Non SU Supplies: Fabric, Glue Gun, needle/thread, flower brad

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

Star Swap

What a great meeting last night!! We had such a good time-like we always do! I look forward to the meetings every month. They're just so much fun!!!! Plus Mindy had the CUTEST project idea and as soon as she sends me the dimensions for it I'll make one and show you!! But as promised I said I would show my swap that I did for the meeting.

The theme this month was ribbon. I wanted to use the ribbon in a different way than the traditional bow or knot. I remembered seeing this idea on Heather Summers blog (who as you know, if you follow my blog, I'm an huge fan of hers!). She used a punched image and stuck ribbon on the back and ribbon would show through the punched image. Brilliant idea and I filed it away in my brain somewhere (can't remember what I had for dinner last night, but have all these stamping techniques stored away). So I thought this swap would be the perfect time to try this technique. And, not to be too proud of myself, but this card turned out sooooooo much cuter then I originally expected it to. So YAY ME!! Isn't that just the BEST feeling in the world when a project comes out better than expected!!

Isn't it just one of the cutest cards you'll ever see. Ok, seriously I'll stop tooting my own horn now :)

It's a great idea, go try it. It's a GREAT way to use those little scraps of ribbon you're saving and you know you're saving them.

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Birthday Bliss, So Many Stars Wheel Builder

Carstock: Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

Ink: Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink, Pretty in Pink Jumbo ink cartridge

Accessories: Star Punch, Wide Oval Punch, Silver Brads, Pretty in Pink Satin ribbon, Whisper White Satin and Grosgrain Ribbon, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon

I'll have what I demoed for my 3 minute demo and the rest of the ribbon swaps coming in the next few days! Remember to sign up for stamp camp-the projects are AMAZING!!! YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS THIS EVENT!!!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Stamp Camp coming soon!!!

I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated!!! To be honest though I haven't been busy with much stamping :( I did finally get my desk cleared off just in time to work on swaps for our meeting tonight, so now it's a mess again :) I'll update with my swaps soon and the highlights from the meeting soon too.

Hard to believe but stamp camp is right around the corner!!!! I truly love doing stamp camp more than any other event throughout the year. I think it's because I get to work with my fellow demonstrators on it. We have lots of fun before and after stamp camp. I look forward to it and I know my customers do too. There is still plenty of time to register and get the early bird price. So if you haven't already registered make sure you do! It's going to be loads of fun!!! Here's some more details on it:

• July 10, 2010 at 11AM at St. John's Cathedral, 318 Silver SW, Albuquerque NM

You'll get:

• Supplies for 5 projects featuring new stamps, colors and accessories!
• The NEW CATALOG!
• Entered for AWESOME door prizes
• Refreshments
• And of course our retired stamp and accessory MEGA sale! Stamps and accessories discounted 50%--some even more!!!

Early bird registration runs May 21-June 9 $28.00

Late registration runs June 10-June 21 $35.00

I sure hope you can come!! To register click here.


I'll be back soon with a project to show you. Just a reminder, the retired stamps and accessory list will be out in less than a week on June 1. I will try to post early that day to get that list to you, but can't make any promises :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Congrats Grad!

Things are starting to look up for me, I think. Though every time I post that I'm getting better I seem to have a couple of really bad days right after so who knows when I'll ever be better. I am 18 weeks along and I am feeling pretty good as I type this. I still have the overwhelming task of cleaning out my cardstock drawers and rearranging them according to the new color families. I had hoped to get it done by now, but that's clearly not going to happen so now my hope is just to get them done by June. My room is a MESS too!! I don't think I could even stamp if I wanted to-which I do! I could sure use some fantastic organizational skill right now--LISA where are you!!!??!!! Lisa is one of my sidelines, she's so super organized and I just love her! But unfortunately for me she lives in Minnesota and I'm here in New Mexico. Oh well I just need the motivation and energy to do it.

Onto the card! Here is yet another copy of the swaps from our last meeting. Have I mentioned how talented the ladies in my group are? You may remember this card that I posted a while back. This card is done the same way just in So Saffron and Chocolate Chip.

I made this card for a graduate that we know. She's graduating high school this year, I used to spend my summers in high school baby sitting for her and now she's graduating!! The DSP is from the Sweet Pea Pack (retired--sorry I really try not to use retired stuff, but I have SOOOO much of this DSP left and I love it so much!!)

I LOVE those filigree brads!!! I added a little pocked on the inside for a gift card. Hopefully she'll be able to get some cool stuff for her new dorm! Or clothes or whatever she wants :)

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Elements of Style

Cardstock: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Vanilla, Sweet Pea DSP

Ink: So Saffron, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Filigree Brads, Word Window Punch, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

I will have some new cards up soon. I have lots of ideas and I do want to get back to stamping regularly, just gotta do a little cleaning first. Stick with me I'll be back permanently soon!!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Flowers and polka dots

As I mentioned yesterday, you'll see plenty of cards inspired by the swaps from our last meeting. Here's another one. This is one of the Mother's day cards I made this year. The stamp set is a new stamp set that will be in the new catalog in July. I can't believe it's almost time for a new catalog! The retiring stamp set and accessory list will be out in just a few weeks! The Stampin' Up! year is flying even if my year is dragging on.

Isn't it pretty though? I really like these colors together, So Saffron and Chocolate Chip. I think Chocolate Chip is great with ANY color though.

The card is very simple, I used the big shot polka dot background and the scallop circles die #2. The big shot is amazing and in just seconds you get a beautiful card though it looks like it took a long time!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Flowers Awash, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Carstock: White, Chocolate Chip, So Saffon

Ink: Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, More Mustard, Old Olive, Bashful Blue

Accessories: Sponges, Big Shot, Polka Dot dies embossing folder, Scallop Circles die #2, Chocolate Chip striped ribbon, dimensionals, coluzzle cutter

By the way I've had a couple requests for making the cow card. The card or body itself is cut with the coluzzle cutter-any circle cutter will work. Don't cut a full circle. Leave the seam at the top and cut the rest of the circle around that. The spots are all randomly cut out. And the rest of the cow is done with punches as follows:

Ears: Small and large Oval

Head: 1 3/4 inch circle

Nose: Wide Oval

Eyes: 3/4 and 1/2 inch circle punch

nostrols: 1/4 inch circle punch

Legs and hoofs: Word Window and 1/2 inch circle

Hope that helps!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Razzleberry Birthday!

Oh my goodness what a couple of day's it's been. While I am feeling a little better I'm still not up for doing alot of regular things that I think I can and should be able to do. I've been cooking dinner every night since Friday, and while I make it through that ok, I usually have to spend 2-3 hours on the couch 'resting' after dinner to make sure my dinner stays down and to recuperate from making dinner. It just wears me out. Yesterday I successfully took Logan to school by myself and made a trip to Kohls and stopped at the movies since I had 2 hours to kill. I did ok while I was out but boy did I pay for that much activity in the afternoon when I got back home. I was exhausted and my back hurt. I have to keep in mind that I haven't done ANYTHING for 3 months and I'm not going to be able to jump right back into my 'normal' schedule right away, it's gonna take some getting used to. I'm still on a bunch of meds, while I'm not throwing up as much I'm still nausous all the time and there's always that risk that I could throw up at ANY time. I still hoping that it keeps getting better and will someday go away completely. There are still soooooo many things I can't eat because of my nausea. Lots of fruits and veggies for example. I'm sure my doctor would be horrified to hear that I have cinnamon raisin toast for almost 2 meals a day. Oh well, baby seems to be fine and I'll survive this-or so I'm told.

I have a great project for you today. My mom's birthday was Monday and her co workers asked me to make a card for them to pass around and sign. I love the swaps from our last meeting and I've been so inspired by them (as you'll clearly see in the next few days). Today's card comes from what's probably my favorite swap card from the bunch.

With a few color changes it's a whole new card!!! I love this stamp set. It's got to be my favorite in the mini catalog, Elements of Style. And remember when you order this stamp set this month you can get a package of designer brads for free!! The filigree brads are MY favorite!

I just love how simple and lovely this card is! I have lots of cards to show you on my camera. I'm hoping to find the time to get them here in the next few days. I usually try to work during Logan's nap time but the past few days I've been taking naps too :)

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Elements of Style, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Cardstock: White, Black, Rich Razzleberry, Bride Specialty

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Black Satin Ribbon, Word Window punch, brayer, sponges, Filigree brads, dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Turtles and Cows

Yep, strange combination huh. Turtles and cows! I have a couple projects done and I wanted to show you. I have a bunch more done, but since they're birthday and mother's day cards I can't really put them up yet. I don't want the recipients to see it here before they see it in person.

Logan and I spent some time crafting this week. My mom's birthday is next week, we celebrated it a little early by going out to breakfast this week with her and some friends. Logan wanted to make his own card. I gave him my bag of 'scraps' to look through. It's a bag full of leftover card kits from classes and workshops. Logan chose some So Saffron cardstock, some DSP and some Old Olive ribbon. Then we punched a VERY simple turtle and Logan assembled it.

He wanted a bow in the ribbon so I helped tie that for him. Then he glued everything where he wanted it, stamped a greeting and signed the inside. Isn't it cute? He's really loves to make punched animals and he's getting really good at it. His teacher's at school actually commented on their parent/teacher conference notes that 'he's really good at placement of eye's, nose, ears, etc when they're making projects' I guess that's thanks to all the punched animals we've made through the years :)

The next card is sooooo stinkin' cute I couldn't help but giggle when I made this card! The idea came from Lynn Pratt's blog. She is so super talented-oh my goodness!!!! I love looking at her blog!! This card is so cute!!

It's a little cow card!!! I made this card for my friend Jennifer's son Easton. He's going to be 1!! I can't believe it's been a year since he was born! His nursery is a barn yard theme so I thought this would be the perfect card for little Easton. Maybe he'll at least smile a little. I'm hoping Jennifer smiles alot :)

Look at that face-how could you not love him!!!!!!

No supply list today-I'm feeling like I need to go lay down for a while so I better go. If you have questions on the cards please leave a comment and I'll respond back to you!

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

My swap-finally :)

Well as promised I'm finally getting the card I made for swaps for our last meeting up for you to see. I meant to do it yesterday, but it never happened. I actually made it to church on the freezing cold May morning that it was :( When we got home from church I laid down on the couch and fell asleep until about 4pm. By that time I was feeling pretty sick since I hadn't eaten anything since about 10:30am. So the rest of the day was spent with me snacking try to get food back in me. I am feeling a little better and at 16 weeks you'd think the morning sickness would be gone. But it's not. I do have days where I feel really good, then there are days that I can't do anything. I've found that I need to snack hourly. It's kind of cutting into my stamping time but I gotta do what I have to not to throw up again, and again......
But here's my swap. I love it, the colors, the stamp set I just think it's all so pretty!

The base of the card is sprayed with our new smooch sprays. I love them, but they're taking a while to get used to. The rest of the card is pretty self explanatory. I used blender pens and ink pads to color the flowers.

Hope you like it. I have about a gazillion birthday cards to make in the next week. Why practically my entire family is born in May I'll never know. Not really but when you add Mother's day into the mix the list of cards that need to be made is really long. Plus graduation cards, I better get started :)

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Elements of Style

Cardstock: Regal Rose, Old Olive, So Saffron, Vanilla, Kraft

Ink: Regal Rose, So Saffron, Old Olive, Staz on, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Linen Thread, Buttons, Kraft taffeta ribbon, Word Window punch, Log Cabin smooch spray, blender pen, glue dots, dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Swaps

Posting 2 days in a row!! Holy cow!!! I'm officially now 16 weeks and hopefully this is the end of the horrible, horrible morning sickness stage. I have lots of great highlights to show you from our meeting on Thursday!

This was our make and take. In honor of National Scrapbooking Month we all made scrapbook pages. Well I didn't, Michelle made mine-thanks Michelle!!!! It's hard to tell from the photo but the black paper is the Groom Specialty paper. This page is so elegant and pretty.

Now for the swaps, the theme this month is Mini Catalog. Not all of them were labeled so I'm going to try to tell you who's is who's. Joanna and Amber had a BUNCH of new recruits so they did multiple swaps. It's a nice little thing we offer new recruits, when you sign up and attend your first meeting your first swap is done for you!!! Just another great perk of being a demo-let me know if you'd like to sign up too!!

This one was Amber's. I love those colors!!

Karen did this one, it wasn't labeled but I remember Karen saying her swap had a title "Farwell to Yoyo Yellow" Super cute Karen!

This one wasn't labeled but I'm pretty sure it was Amber's not positive though. Isn't it pretty? I love it-whoever did it!!

Joanna did this one. That set was really popular for our swaps and it's super cute I may have to get it now :)

Joanna did this one too-great masculine card, which I know many of us struggle with!

Another great one by Joanna!! I love this one. The colors, the ribbon-everything!!

Here's another one by Joanna, beautiful!! Love the colors!

Also by Joanna, this one is so pretty and simple!

I don't know who did this one-please label your swaps!! I think it's super cute though. I love the banner made from the ice cream cones! How creative!!

This one was Amber's! Love the texture and thank goodness I just bought that scallop die!! :)

This one is by Angela, great job. I love the colors and the ribbon. I love when the ribbon is all ruffled up, it's so pretty!!

Carmelita made this one. She has the sweetest little baby girl!! I'm so glad she came to the meeting so I could hold the baby! This card is so pretty, I never would have put those colors together. And check out the butterfly, that's new specialty paper in the mini. Parts of the paper will resist ink so you can customize the DSP to any color to match ANY project-isn't that AWESOME!!!

Last but certainly not least is Corrina's card. I love this graduation card. I need to make a couple too!

I'll have my swap to show you soon. I love it and I took lots of pictures of it. So check back soon for that!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!