Lots of Stuff Today!

Hello!

I have a few fun things to share with you today. First, you'll have to read thru some of my day today - hopefully it's not too boring. Second, I will give you a few pointers on how to make the card here along with a great link to a visual tutorial for a card like this (Maria has an awesome blog with lots of great tutorials), Third I will tell you about some of my upcoming stamping events! Of course, don't forget to comment with any ideas, suggestions or just a shout out. Last, I have some pictures of some RAK cards that I received recently. For more info on RAKs just continue reading....

Yeah! School is finally done! It just doesn't seem like it should be summer vacation already! My kids already started fighting today, but we tackled the boredom with a bike ride to my mom's house - visited with Uncle Steve- where I proceeded to work on the jammed paper shredder for 3 hours. Am I crazy? I think so because after getting all that paper out - I went to shred some more paper and it just kept sticking and not shredding very well. Therefore I have concluded that the shredder is pretty much done for and my Dear Mother will have to face the fact that her expensive shredder didn't last very long. My uncle couldn't believe my patience - but I was determined to fix it for him. Afterall, he is 93 (he's actually my great-uncle) and shredding paper to save him and my mom from identity theft is his job. He is such a sweetie. Here is a picture of him and my DD from last week. Sophie is named after Uncle Steve's 2 sisters so she has a special place in his heart.

Anyway - do you like my card above? It is my first attempt at a really cool technique I learned from another blogger - Maria. Here is a link to Maria's tutorial. She has some really great cards and inspiring things to check out.

However, I think I can pretty much explain how to do this without pictures to show you like Maria did. Although I am one who learns best with visuals, this one even I could figure out without pics. So I will try:

1. Begin by making your card base (51/2 x 4 1/4) then set aside
   Cut a piece of cardstock at 5 3/8 x 4 1/8.
   
2. Using your coluzzle or other circle cutter - cut a 3" circle out of the center of your 5 3/8 x 4 1/8 piece.
   
3. Take the slit punch and punch slits from the inside of the circle leaving about a 1/8 inch gap between each punch. I find it easiest to begin punching on the right or left where there is the littlest room between the edge of the card and the circle. Beginning there helps ensure that I do not hold the punch too far - leaving enough room at the edge so I don't cut the edge. I think you'll understand what I mean when you get to this point.


4. For the rest of the card that I made above, I cut a 4" x 4" piece of the Au Chocolate Designer Paper and laid it underneath my punched flower piece. BTW you'll see I stamped polka dots on this piece, added a little color to the flower petals using a sponge and close to cocoa ink and using my white gel pen I added a dot in the center of each petal.


5. I stamped a flower using the Big Blooms set in the Spring Mini Catalog onto a piece of very vanilla scrap paper using Cool Caribbean ink.


6. I punched the center of the Big Bloom flower using the 1 1/4 circle punch.


7. Using the 1 3/8 circle punch I punched another piece of the Au Chocolate and placed it behind the Big Bloom.


8. From the 1 1/4 punched piece that came from the big bloom I cut the center of the flower out. Stamped the Big Bloom (This makes me think of my BIG BOOBS every time I say Big Blooms) again onto a scrap piece and cut the center flower again.


9. I adhered the two center cut flowers together the placed in the middle of my Big Bloom using a pop-up glue dot.


10. Next I placed the punched flower piece over my Big Bloom (he he) and adhered a ribbon to it.


11. Cut a small piece of chocolate ribbon and added a little chocolate leaf to the side of the Big Bloom [img]Okay, I'm done.

I really liked doing this card and have created a few more which I will share at a later date.

So, feel free to comment - as I always like comments!

Stay tuned as I ponder my next blog candy offer.

STUFF ABOUT STAMPING

I have a few events this week. You are invited to both of them - just in case you feel the need to stamp and save:

Tuesday, June 12 :

My friend Melinda is having a workshop at her house. If you would like to join us - just let me know and I can give you directions. I'm sure Melinda would love to have you and you will get to order retiring sets at a 20% discount and any non-retiring items at a 10% discount.

Thursday, June 14:

I will be hosting a class here at my house. It is open to all of you out there who want to learn the basics of basics about stamping. I will be covering topics about paper, cutting your paper, types of coloring mediums and other simple but beautiful stamping techniques. Even if you are a seasoned stamper, this class is a good refresher and an"Oh I forgot all about doing that" class. There will be some hand outs for you to take home and use for reference. Of course there will be some projects to take home too. The cost for this class is $10. As always with a $30 or more order you will get 1/2 off the class. Call or email for more information.

NOTICE: DATE CHANGE!!

Originally I posted that I would be having my Customer Appreciation Day on June 23. I am going to go ahead and change it to June 30 as I will anticipate having the Fall/Winter Collections Idea Book & Catalogs by then (keep your fingers crossed!) This way you will be able to get your new catalogs, spend some time here looking through them, enjoy some goodies and a make n' take. Catalogs are free when you book a workshop -which you can do right now or when you come to the Customer Appreciation Day on June 30. If you want the new catalog, but are not sure of a date to host a workshop, I am taking pre-orders and the books are $10. Watch your mail for your invitation!

Friday, June 29 is the last day you can order from the current 2006/2007 Idea Book & Catalog and the last day to order from the Spring Mini Catalog! The Spring Mini catalog is where you can order your own BIG BLOOMS

Random Acts of Kindness

Okay - I recently signed up for the RAK group at Splitcoast Stampers. This is a really great idea! RAK stands for Random Act of Kindness. When you sign up for the group basically you pick people from the list to send RAK cards or such to. I just signed up a few weeks ago and have already received (and sent) a few cards. What's really cool about this is you are getting a hand stamped card to bring a smile to your face, but you are also getting cards that you can actually use since RAKers don't usually sign the inside of the card, they just attach a sticky note or such with a sweet little note to bring a smile to your face. This is such a wonderful idea and I am so glad that I finally signed up for this. Below are a few of the cards that I recently received. From Cheryle in Lincoln Nebraska I received the cute little duck card. From Eileen in Connecticut I got the pretty flower one with the polka dot and gingham ribbon. Aren't these cute?

I do believe that is it for tonite (actually it's morning - I think I need to get some sleep!)

Thanks for stopping by!