Vase CASE

The card-makers in my stamp club stamped this card at our gathering tonight.  I have been super busy lately and didn’t have a lot of time to come up with my own projects, so I turned to some fellow demonstrators for inspiration.  This card was CASE’d from the talented Patty Bennett.  You can see Patty’s card here.

To make this card a little more my own, I changed the colors and used a different stamp set & wheel.  I also omitted the greeting in order to keep my card a little less crowded.  I love when people find new ways to use our punches.  The vase is actually made from our new Ornament Punch (available in the Holiday mini catalog)….simply snip off the bottom of the ornament.     

Stamp sets: eastern blooms, cornelli lace wheel; Inks: rich razzleberry, always artichoke, versamark; Cardstock: rich razzleberry, always artichoke, whisper white; Embellishments: rich razzleberry polka-dot grosgrain ribbon; Tools: big shot, cutting pads, scallop oval frame bigz die, stampin’ sponge, paper snips, stampin’ around handle

Stampin' Up!'s New Clearance Rack

Exciting news!  As of this morning, Stampin' Up! announced a new section of their online store called the Clearance Rack. The purpose of the Clearance Rack is to clear out the inventory of surplus items that have been retired. Many of these retireditems are being offered at a substantially reduced price (up to 80% off!)All products in the Clearance Rack section are retired, discontinued items. No current products will be sold in the Clearance Rack.

• Clearance Rack items are only available while supplies last. Items will be removed and new items will be posted depending on inventory levels. There is no set time for availability.  The Clearance Rack will be a permanent part of the online store. 
• All sales of Clearance Rack items are final. No returns or exchanges will be accepted, except in the case of defective product.

To order, go to my Stampin' Up! webstore and click Shop Now. On the left side of the screen, you'll see a link to the Clearance Rack.  Then simply shop online as normal.  Your order will be delivered directly to you in approximately one week.

Now go check it out...there's some great stuff up there now, including holiday products!  Who doesn't love a clearance rack?!!!!

Sneak Peek at My Digital Studio

I was busy prepping for my stamp club tomorrow night so I didn’t have time to post something new.  So, I’ll leave you with a sneak peek at Stampin’ Up!’s new My Digital Studio software, available starting October 1st.  My Digital Studio allows you to digitally create a variety of products including (but not limited to) photo albums, cards, calendars, individual scrapbook pages, and multimedia projects that use exclusive Stampin' Up! art, accessories, and colors. When printed with Stampin' Up!'s professional print services (or printed at home), your projects can be combined with traditional Stampin' Up! products to create unique, multidimensional "hybrid" projects. 

Click here to watch a short video about My Digital Studio.

Technorati Tags: my digital studio

OT: My Weight Loss News

This is Off Topic from stamping, but I just had to share my good news!  I lost 7.2 lbs and 15.75 inches in 1 week using Isagenix!  I’m using their 30-day Cleansing and Fat Burning System and it is AMAZING!  I’ve tried many diets and this is the only one I’ve been on that I’m NOT HUNGRY.  I also have alot more ENERGY.  Several of my friends are having great success with it, so I decided to give it a try myself.  I wasn’t planning to post about it until I had been on the system for at least a few weeks, but I’m so excited about my results (and the way I feel) that I couldn’t wait.  I’ve even encouraged my mom and a few friends to try it. 

Family Photo Tree

I put the large, black Thoughts & Prayers Tree Decor Elements on the wall in my dining room, but thought it was missing something.  At first, I contemplated adding a Decor Elements saying underneath the branches, but decided instead to use the tree as a background for some small family photos.  I hung three black 3-1/2 x 5 frames throughout so they looked like they were hanging from and/or sitting in the branches.  That was a few months ago.  Well I finally got around to getting photos in the frames and here are the results.  Love it!

Note: those gorgeous photos of Seth & Mia were taken by my friend Kristy Hanlon.  If you’re in the Springfield, IL area and want some great pictures, I highly recommend her.

Supplies: black Thoughts & Prayers Tree (L) decor elements, decor elements applicator; photo frames (non-Stampin’ Up!)

Technorati Tags: decor elements,thoughts & prayers tree,wall rub-ons

Stickin’ with Stampin’ Up!

Great news!  I am going to remain a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator after all.  I am still in negotiations with Stampin’ Up! to determine if I can promote my Hoorray online photo books just through the end of the year.  Though I don’t know what that outcome will be, I still plan to sign the new demonstrator agreement by September 30th, especially since they have relaxed their policies on what’s allowed on blogs, etc.  I’ve already mentioned the good news to a few of my customers and they are thrilled.  As am I.  I love being a part of the Stampin’ Up! family. 

So, I’ll still be here blogging AND I’ll still be selling Stampin’ Up!  If you’d like to place an order, send me an email or order directly online using the button in my sidebar!

If you’d like to check out my photo books, I have one book (Year in Pictures) available now and another one (School Days) that will be posted in the next week or two, so be sure to head back to Hoorray to check it out.

Thanks for stickin’ with me!

Welcome Hippo

One of my friends had a baby a few months ago and I created this card for her yesterday.  I have already sent her congratulations through Facebook, but it’s just not the same as a hand-stamped card.  You’re probably thinking that Stampin’ Up! demonstrators send out cards by the hundreds and on time, but that’s not the case with me.  I do have tons of cards in my stash, but it’s more fun to design a card especially for the particular occasion.  Even if it makes them late!

I used Stacey’s Curtain Call Color Challenge to pick the colors.  Since I prefer bright colors instead of pastels for babies, the colors in Act 4 are perfect.

  Stamp set: pun fun, warm words; Inks: stazOn black, real red, pixie pink, brilliant blue; Cardstock: real red, pixie pink, watercolor paper; Embellishments: real red 1/4” grosgrain ribbon, bold brights brads; Tools: paper piercer, big shot, stampin’ up! scallop square bigz clear die, cutting pads, blender pen

Technorati Tags: big shot,square scallop bigz die,paper piercer,pun fun,warm words,curtain call challenge

Scrapbooking 101: Frame Your Title with Torn Paper

If you’re like me, you’re always looking for fun ways to vary your titles.  On my page below, I framed my title between two pieces of torn patterned paper.  The torn strips attract your eye to the title, and in my example, the effect is even more dramatic because the vertical lines actually seem to draw your eye in to it.  Take care that your title doesn’t overwhelm your photos when you try this technique.  To keep my photos first and center, I grouped them in a single strip on top of the patterned paper and backed them with a dark green piece of cardstock. 

For more Scrapbooking 1o1 posts, click here.

Stamp sets: taffy alphabet, baroque motifs; Inks: whisper white, glorious green; Cardstock: real red, glorious green, patterned paper (non-Stampin’ Up!); Embellishments: real red 1/4” grosgrain ribbon, rub-on; Tools: round tab punch

Technorati Tags: round tab punch,12x12 layout,12x12 scrapbook page,scrapbooking 101,taffy alphabet

First Visit with Santa 12x12

Here’s a page I finished last month at an all-day crop.  This one features photos of Mia’s first visit with Santa at the mall when she was 11 months old.  One of my coworkers met us out there so she could watch Mia’s expressions.  Luckily Mia was too little to be scared.  She just looked at Santa with wonder.
I used patterned paper & a pre-made label from the now defunct Dude Designs company – one of the founders used to own our local scrapbook store.  The cardstock is all Stampin’ Up! (can you believe that I actually used glorious green…one of my least favorite colors?!!) and I used my Cricut to cut the stocking shape.
Stamp sets: schoolbook serif; Inks: whisper white, basic black; Cardstock: not quite navy, real red, glorious green, whisper white, patterned paper (dude designs); Embellishments: real red 1/4” grosgrain ribbon, white gel pen, label (dude designs); Tools: cricut

Technorati Tags: cricut,12x12 layouts,12x12 scrapbook page

Happy New Home

My downline Heather moved to a new home a few months ago and it was my intention to send a card, but I just haven’t gotten to it.  Tonight I made it my priority.  So if you’re reading this Heather, please don’t peek at the remainder of this post or you’ll ruin the surprise…..I’ll put the real card in the mail to you tomorrow so you should have it in a few days!

For the colors, I used Color Throwdown #60.  I love that this week’s color picks are colors I wouldn’t normally put together.

For the layout, I used Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #36.  I had a hard time getting all of my elements small enough to fit on the card, so I cheated a bit and made my card 5x5 instead.

And here’s my card….I used the Neighborhood wheel and stamped the center house on a scrap piece of cardstock so I could cut it out and pop it up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.  The greeting was stamped with our Family Phrases and Just Perfect alphabet stamp sets.  Instead of stamping the “o”, I added a Gable Green button.  To add interest to the top of the greeting piece I added hand-drawn lines.  The bottom piece consists of a punched shapes: scallop circle, 1-3/8” circle, & butterfly.  Though it’s hard to tell in the picture, I added polka dot texture to the butterfly by running it through my Big Shot with the Stampin’ Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates.  I used my Bermuda Bay marker to hand-draw the butterfly’s body and antennae. 

Stamp sets: neighborhood wheel, family phrases, just perfect alphabet; Inks: basic black, barely banana, green galore, bermuda bay; Cardstock: barely banana, green galore, bermuda bay, whisper white; Embellishments: bermuda bay polka-dot grosgrain ribbon, white gel pen, bold brights buttons (retired); Tools: big shot, stampin’ up! backgrounds 1 texturz plates, butterfly punch, 1-3/8” circle punch, scallop circle punch   

Technorati Tags: big shot,texturz plates,neighborhood wheel,sweet sunday sketch challenge,color throwdown

Subscribing to my Blog

Due to hosting my blog in several blog platforms, I had multiple blog feeds going at once.  I’ve consolidated those and now have a single feed so I can better keep track of my subscriber statistics.  In order to consolidate, I actually had to delete the excess feeds and subscribers on those feeds were re-directed to the new feed for 30 days.  Unfortunately that time period is up, so if you are no longer getting email updates each time I post, you will need to re-subscribe.  Simply enter your email address in the subscription box at the top of my sidebar.  If you are still getting regular emails with my new posts, there is no need to do anything.  I love and appreciate all my subscribers, so I hope to see you all back!  Thanks for your patience during the last step of my blog platform transition.  Rest assured, I will not switch platforms again!

Pumpkin Smiles

Well I’m back with some new projects.  Hopefully you’re still with me and enjoyed the 8x8 scrapbook pages I shared with you last week from my boss’ retirement scrapbook.  Because I had to pre-schedule 8 posts ahead of time and each post had a handful of photos, I didn’t have any extra time to make the photos prettier in Photoshop or get them centered in Live Writer.  My intention is to create sketches for all of those pages and post them as a reference, but that’s a task for a later date. 

During the 8x8 scrapbook page posts, I was actually on a family vacation in Seal Harbor, Maine.  Now that we’re back I feel that it’s safe to post that info.  We had a fantastic time beachcombing, sailing, surfing, and exploring Acadia National Park by car and foot.  I took tons of photos and can’t wait to start scrapbooking them.  I’m actually debating if I should make them in traditional 3-D page format or create them digitally using Stampin’ Up!’s new My Digital Studio software (available to customers October 1st….see the Holiday mini for more details).  Decisions, decisions! 

Here’s a little Halloween card that measures 3-1/2 x 4-1/8 inches.  I used our Pumpkin Patch stamp set from the Holiday mini.  Stamp the larger pumpkin first on your cardstock and then immediately stamp it again on a piece of scrap paper.  Cut out the pumpkin shape from the scrap paper, staying as close to the outside of the image as possible.  Use this scrap pumpkin image as a mask….place it directly over the pumpkin image you stamped on cardstock so you won’t stamp over your original image.  Now stamp another pumpkin so it overlaps the first image.

Stamp set: pumpkin patch; Inks: stazOn black, pumpkin pie, old olive; Cardstock: pumpkin pie, old olive, basic black, whisper white; Embellishments: basic black 1/4” grosgrain ribbon; Tools: word window punch, modern label punch, paper snips   

Technorati Tags: pumpkin patch,Halloween card,modern label punch,word window punch

8x8 Retirement Scrapbook – Part 8

Final pages from my boss’ retirement scrapbook…

8x8 Retirement Scrapbook – Part 7

More pages from my boss’ retirement scrapbook….

8x8 Retirement Scrapbook – Part 6

More pages from my boss’ retirement scrapbook….

8x8 Retirement Scrapbook – Part 5

More pages from my boss’ retirement scrapbook…

8x8 Retirement Scrapbook – Part 4

8x8 Retirement Scrapbook – Part 3

Still more pages from my boss’ retirement scrapbook….

8x8 Retirement Scrapbook – Part 2

More pages from my boss’ retirement scrapbook.