STAMPS- INK- PAPER

Moved

2011-04-25T15:55:00.000-04:00

Hi Stampers
Just in case you didn't know...I haven't been updating this blog...however you can view my updates, class information and other stampin related stuff at my Stampin' Up! website! Hope to see you there!

Happy Fall

2009-10-01T08:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Fall Everyone! Can you believe it's October 1st? Crazy how fast time flies! Our garden is full of plump orange pumpkins that the kids can't wait to pick. I think today is the day. It really feels like fall!

As of now I do not have any classes scheduled. I know! I always have a Christmas class, but due to the basement still not being done...well, I just don't have the space to do it. Plus...ALL my stamps are now boxed up and living in the garage. I feel so bad to put them out there, but when the big room is all done, it will be so worth it. After I finish typing here, I will be heading back down there to box up more of the room. I can't wait to have it all done! I know, I know you've heard that a lot for the past almost year! Believe me, I am going crazy not being able to create! I will continue to keep you updated on the progress. Who knows, maybe if it gets done by mid November, we'll have time for a StampNStack Christmas class!

In the meantime, today is the 1st day to order from the awesome holiday mini catalog. Let me know what you think! There's a couple links to some fabulous deals this month - take advantage of them, they're great!

I am excited to share with you the new product - My Digital Studio. I my free time (quit laughing) I am working on becoming certified with this software to be able to really help you utilize the program. I've played around with it and am really excited not only with the scrapbooking capabilities, but I can design a card and see how it looks before I actually make it with my stamps and paper. It comes with over 2000 digital items, including all SU colors of paper, and lots of digital images, ribbons, embellishments and more! And, after you've created your pages you can send it to Stampin UP and they will print a book for you! I am really excited to try this out. Oh, I need my basement done...I miss stamping and creating....I miss my stampin friends!

1st Day to Order from Holiday Mini and more Promos!

2009-09-01T11:40:00.000-04:00

Check out these amazing offers!
	Sweet Rewards
	From September 1-November 30, 2009, host a $250 workshop and choose any item* from the Holiday Mini Catalog for just $10—that's in addition to Stampin' Up!'s already fantastic hostess benefits! Choose from our award-winning stamps, beautiful new Simply Adorned^™ jewelry, exclusive Build-A-Bear Workshop^® products, or latest dies for the Sizzix^® Big Shot^™. With so much to choose from, you'll feel like a kid in a candy shop! *Excludes hostess sets and My Digital Studio^™

	Build-A-Bear Workshop^®
	Stampin' Up! is beary excited to introduce its exclusive line of Build-A-Bear Workshop dies, stamps, and paper—now available in the Holiday Mini Catalog and my Online Store!

	Holiday 2009 Mini Catalog
	Find new, exclusive products for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas—and more!—in the Holiday Mini Catalog. Only available through January 4, 2010!

	They Grow Up So Fast
	Track your children's growth with the limited-time Décor Elements^™ Growth Chart, now on sale for just $24.95. But hurry—it's only available through September 30!

Contact me to learn more about any of these promotions, or visit my Online Store by clicking SHOP NOW above!

Peace And Hope In Suffering

2009-09-01T09:59:00.000-04:00

Peace And Hope In Suffering

Good News

2009-08-18T16:09:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone. Thanks for stopping by today! I have some good news for my stamp class friends. My remodeling guy was here today to go over all I want done for the basement. I think he might be able to begin as early as next week! Wouldn't that be wonderful? We are not only doing the laundry area but also the stamp studio and the play area. Oh I can't wait to have it all complete. I wish they could start tomorrow. Looks like we'll also be putting some gutters on the house too. I think that will be first.
Anyway - check back and I'll keep you informed on the progress. In the meantime, since the basement is off limits for stamping for a bit longer - does anyone want to hold any classes at their house? You would get full hostess benefits! Now is a great time since the new catalog is out and Christmas believe it or not is on it's way! I've already been conjuring up some ideas for xmas cards!

Last - here is a card I have been meaning to post for a while. It is the card I made for Todd for Father's Day. The stamp reminds me so much of my kids! The stamp is from Firecracker Designs and the "Happy Father's Day" is from Stampin' Up!
Have a great day!

2009-08-10T15:33:00.002-04:00

Not much again for me personally post today, but I did want to share with you some blog candy that Bev is giving away at her blog : All the Things I love. It is quite generous amount of candy and she is a talented artist. Go visit her blog and sign up! Wow is all I can say!
Happy Stamping everyone!

2009-08-05T11:13:00.006-04:00

I am back from a wonderful vacation in the UP of Michigan. We so love it up there on the shores of Lake Superior. It seems to be more relaxing each year as the kids get older. I'm so blessed. Summer seems to be flying by so quickly.
I hope all of you are enjoying the lazy not so hazy days of this summer.
Have you been able to stamp much lately? I would love to feature some of your stamping creations here on my blog. If you would like to have your pics posted here on my blog, just send me a jpg image and a list of items you used for your project and I will post it!

Finally today - I know this is a quick post - but I want to share some blog candy that Melissa is giving away. So many great items for you to possibly win. This is a generous offer from a very talented stamper and blogger.
Have a great day everyone!

Deal of the Week July 20

2009-07-20T21:31:00.002-04:00

Deal of the Week: Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge HardwareOur Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware adds class to any project. Get them for just $18.99 (over 30% off the regular price of $29.95)—only July 20-26!

Throughout July, be sure to check my web site every Monday at 10 AM (MT) for the week's new deal.
Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

Shared via AddThis

New Products Coming Soon

2009-07-13T13:39:00.005-04:00

First I am going to share with you the deal of the week for this week. They are the square Fire rhinestone brads. This is a great price for these! This offer is good until Sunday.

Now – as you know being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I get to see all the new stuff early – and I can't wait to share with you all the absolutely exciting new items coming to you this fall. I will however, will tease you a bit:

Stampin' Up! has a new line of jewelry. Jewelry, you ask? Well this is high quality jewelry that you can add your own artwork to. I can't wait to get my PAWS on these.
Speaking of PAWS… Stampin' Up! has teamed up with Build-A-Bear Workshop! Wait until you see this cute stuff! So many different things – not just stamps….. Stay tuned online for more information
Speaking of being online…Stampin' Up! is also going digital!! I am so excited about this one – this won't be available right away in September, but will be available this coming fall. There are endless possibilities with the Stampin' Up! Digital Studio!

Have I tickled your creativity bone?? I hope so! Now I bet you are thinking …."I need to host a workshop" and you do because you'll want to be one of the first to get your inky fingers on these great new products.

Happy Stamping!

Just a little something

2009-07-11T23:46:00.002-04:00

Not much to share stamping wise with you tonight. Today's picture is of a cute little backpack box I made for Nolan's teacher. I filled it with some homemade cards which I will share at a later date. They turned out pretty cute and I can't wait to share them – but today is the backpack. These are really fun to make and I did have to alter the original pattern a little to compensate to hold regular size cards.

Anyway – I hope you are all enjoying your summer. I hope you are all enjoying the really great specials from Stampin' Up!. Have you checked out my Stampin' Up! website? There are many project ideas and featured items for you to help inspire your creativity.

The weather sure has been gorgeous! The new Idea Book and Catalog is awesome. Check it out online today at my SU site too!

Happy Stamping!

99 Things

2009-07-10T11:35:00.001-04:00

What follows is a list of 99 things that you may or may not have done and I thought it would be fun to see what you've all done.

So here's the list. My 'Haves' are in Red

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland/world/Disneyland Paris

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo (only if the shower counts)

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (calligraphy)

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (Did visit it and would have gone up but it was closed due to 9-11)

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill

24. Made a Snow Angle

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a Marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset

31. Stood in the rim of the Grand Canyon

32. Been on a cruise (A mini cruse to Denmark)

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an erupting volcano in person.

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo's David (only if the one in Vegas counts)

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted (drawn in pencils, does that count?)

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theatre

55. Been in a movie

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Cookies for charity

62. Gone whale watching

63. Been given flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited Buckinham Palace

71. Eaten Caviar

72. Pieced a quilt or blanket (Crocheted a blanket of lace flowers that needed to be pieced together)

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Been to the top of the Empier State Building

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone's life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake – didn't swim but I was there

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

46 out of 99

Now lets see what you've done!

Week 2 Deal of the Week

2009-07-07T11:18:00.001-04:00

Deal of the Week and more

2009-07-02T10:30:00.007-04:00

The new catalogs are here with more fun and exciting stamp sets and new In Colors! Contact me today for your copy!
Have you visited my Stampin Up! website lately? It has lots of great project ideas for you to try - including the instructions on how to make them. Visit there today and tell me what you think.

Last Dance, Last Chance for….

2009-06-30T09:32:00.003-04:00

It is hard to believe that we are looking at tomorrow being July 1. I can't believe how fast summer is going – I've been so busy with coordinating our VBS and keeping my kids busy that I haven't even had a chance to really enjoy the summer yet. I have, however been able to push aside some of the mess that my basement/studio is in and get some stamping projects done. I will be sharing those with you in my next few posts. But first I want to bring you up to speed on all the cool new stuff happening with Stampin' Up! Here we go…

Today is the last day to order from the 2009 Spring/Summer catalog and the Occasions Mini Catalog! There are many accessories retiring too – if there is something from the accessories retiring list that you want to order today, please call me first as some of these items are no longer available. You can click on the Last Chance list here to the left as well as the Occasions Mini Catalog.

Tomorrow you can begin ordering from the new 2009-2010 Idea Book and Catalog. My shipment of catalogs has already come in and is available for pickup at anytime! They are $10 or free with a workshop of $150 order. Some exciting news with the new catalogs: Stampin' Up! is returning to offering just one Idea Book and Catalog per year. I must say I am excited about this as they will also be offering the mini catalog program as in the past – with each new mini catalog you will get new host exclusive sets and of course exciting new stamp sets throughout the year.

While today marks the last day of several exciting promotions (the sneak peek, hostess set preorder, and hostess bonus), tomorrow, July 1, marks the beginning of two new deals:

From July 15 - August 31, you can join the Stampin' Up! family for just $85 with the limited-time Mini Starter Kit.
From July 1-31, we're offering a new Deal of the Week each Monday (tune into my Stampin' Up! website for your weekly deal)
There are some more deals to be had – to find out more visit my Stampin' Up! website (click on the tab above) in the Promotions Section.

Now I haven't had a chance to play with any of the new In Color colors or new stamp sets that I have already pre-ordered, but I have been playing with some older sets. Here is a card I made for my BFF's son's 4^th birthday. Hope you like it!

2009-06-01T16:57:00.004-04:00

Summertime means flip flops, beach umbrellas, swimming pools, popsicles, and spending time with friends--both old and new. This June and July, Stampin' Up! is celebrating one of the most enjoyable times of the year with the Summer Fun Campaign.

Spend time this summer doing what you love with family and friends--hold a workshop (or several workshops!) during June and July and take advantage of all the great offers that are coming your way.

Among other exciting offers, the Summer Fun Campaign will include

Last Chance list (formerly the Retired list)
2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog Sneak Peek and Hostess Set Preorder
Country Living Summer Cookout Kit

Last Chance List

You may be wondering what the Last Chance list is. The Last Chance list is the new name of the Retired list. After consulting with demonstrators, including those on the Advisory Board, we decided to change the name of our retiring stamps and accessories list. This gives the list a greater sense of urgency and will encourage your customers to purchase these stamp sets and accessories before they're gone!

Please note: the Retired list name change occurred after Stampin' Success went to print, so it is still referred to as the Retired list in your June Stampin' Success; however, moving forward, all communications will be consistent in referring to it as the Last Chance list.

2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog Sneak Peek and Hostess Set Preorder

The 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog will debut in July. But during the month of June, you'll have the opportunity to purchase a selection of sneak peek products, as well as one Level 2 and one Level 3 hostess set.

Country Living Summer Cookout Kit

Once again we have partnered with Country Living magazine to bring you the Country Living Summer Cookout Kit containing simple and speedy projects that will add zest to your summer cookouts.

Start planning your June workshops today! Want some inspiration? Check out the winning entries of the Summer Stamping Challenge.

Contact me today to reserve your new Idea Book and Catalog! Cost is $10 or free with a workshop or $150 order!

Prayer Request

2009-04-24T09:29:00.003-04:00

Good Morning Friends.
I want to start off this morning by asking for some prayers for a blogger friend that I follow daily. Her name is Joan and they have recently had a tragedy in their family. Please visit her blog and share your prayers for her niece and her family.

Today,s card is another Easter card I made. I used my new PTI Stamp Set and a Clear Dollar Stamps set for the sentiment. The cross and sentiment were both embossed with gold embossing powder and the layers were embossed using the dots Cuttlebug embossing folder. The Frame layer was die cut using the sizzix Frame die and the ovals were cut using my ovals nestabilites from Spellbinders. Here is a list of all the items I used.
Stamps: Everyday Blessings (Paper Trey Ink), The sentiment is from the For Our Lord set by Clear Dollar Stamps.

Ink: VersaMark

Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White

Accessories: Sizzix fram die, ovals nestabilities dies, Cuttlebug dots embossing folder, ticket corner punch (stampin up), Vanilla hodgepodge hardware(stampin up), stampin dimensionals, detail gold embossing powder, heat tool.

A Little Chick

2009-04-22T10:16:00.003-04:00

Hello!
Today's posting is of an Easter card I made for my dear friend Alice. I have been so behind in being able to do any card creating cause of my unfinished basement. It's difficult to work in the mess I have. You know it must be absolute chaos cause I am a messy person - but this is really putting a damper on my mojo. Anyway - walls are up - waiting for the twalet to go in as well as flooring and painting. The painting I have to do, but don't want to begin until all the drywall is done - too much dust to continue cleaning up.
Anyway - back to the card...
Stamps: A Good Egg
Ink: Basic Black
Paper: Bashful Blue, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White.
Accessories: SU yellow glitter(retired), SU DSP from SAB, Sizzix BIgz Daisy 2 die, cuttlebut dots embossing folder, Spellbinders nestabilities Labels 1 & 2, michael's dollar ribbon

I hope you lie it! I made a few more Easter cards that I will post later.
Also, don't forget about the PUNCH ART SAMPLER CLASS on May 16! Cost is only $10. Bring a friend and have some fun. For more information, visit my CLASSES page by clicking on the tab above!
Thanks for stopping by!

Someone has Blog Candy and I’ve posted another card!

2009-04-07T22:08:00.003-04:00

Okay ,so I had a little time today to get online and catch up with the blogs I read. I could spend (and sometimes do) hours reading other stampers' blogs. It is where I find lots of inspiration and ideas. There is so much out there that it is difficult not add a new blog (or two or three or..) to my reader every day. Today is no different. I was drawn to Jodi's blog today called Inked Inspiration. I was initially drawn because she has blog candy. Now, lots of people post blog candy every day, but I don't enter for their drawings unless I really think I might use what they are giving away. Blog candy is sooo fun to give and receive and I encourage you to go check out Jodi's blog to see what she has – aaannd maybe enter her drawing too. While you're there, let her know how you like her inkspiration! She has some really cute cards and ideas.

Okay, now for my card today. I absolutely love this new stamp set and Big Shot Die – Good Friend and the Daisy 2 die cut. I hope you like it. I sure had fun making this one!

That's all for tonight! I'm going to go catch up on some more blogs. Until next time!

Punch Art Sampler Class

2009-04-06T16:46:00.008-04:00

FIRST ANNUAL SPRING

STAMPIN' UP! EVENT!

Saturday MAY 16

9:00 – 11:30

Registration ends Monday May 11

mail: 3429 - 52nd St SW, Grandville MI 49418

or Phone: 616-481-1099

Registration is due before the event no later than May 11th. Registration fees are refundable in merchandise credit only.

Punch Art Sampler

Just $10

You will want to bring your camera to this event to capture all of the great punch ideas!

Where: Calvin Christian Elementary School

601 36th St SW, Wyoming 49509 (just west of 131)

We will be offering a choice of about 40 small punch projects, and everyone will receive 15 card-protectors and paper. Customers can select their favorite 15 projects to make for their sampler. (And if they have time left, they can make more!)

April Fools Day - No Kidding!

2009-04-01T13:30:00.003-04:00

Today is April 1st - which means it's April Fool's Day, and boy did the weather team in Western Michigan play an April Fools joke on us. Last night I watched the weather. It was supposed to be around 50 degrees today. The joke is on us cause it's only 39 and it feels like 20 with the windchill. It has even been snowing on and off today. Now I've heard that we are supposed to maybe get 6 inches on Monday - which is of course spring break for my kids. I was looking forward to doing some outdoor activities with them - spending some of their pent up energy - but not now! Maybe next year I will just have to plan on going somewhere warm.

Onto the card above - I made this card in a hurry for my dear friend Maegan who needed a card for a friend. I told her I'd make one for her as she worked on her valentines.
I rarely get to the east side of Grand Rapids where there is a quaint little stamp store called Stamp On It. I'd like to visit it more often, but I rarely find a reason to get out that way. Anyway, I had recently been there and had found this cool sunfish stamp from Fred B. Mullett nature prints. I had also found the really cool fantasy film made by art glitter. I had been looking for a good excuse to use these new items, and Maegan's masculine card she needed seemed to be just the ticket. Soo, this is what I came up with. I hope you like it. I think Maegan did.
Isn't the iridescence just awesome with the sunfish? I can't wait to try it with a tree or dragonfly or butterfly. The Fantasy Film comes in many different colors.

Stamps: Sunfish (by Fred Mullett), Sanded, Seaside, Sincere Salutations (all Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Basic Brown, Palette Noir Black
Paper: Brocade Blue, Not Quite Navy, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Natural Ivory
Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware, Spritzer Tool, Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy, Creamy Caramel Stampin' Write Markers, Fantasy Film, iron, stampin dimensionals, glue dots.

Last Day of Sale-A-Bration

2009-03-31T08:54:00.003-04:00

Good Morning everyone!
Today I am sharing with you a card that I absolutely loved making. I did CASE it a little and unfortunately I did not save (although I thought I did) whom it was I CASED it from. If I find it, I will share with you whom it was.
Anyway I wanted to share this card today because it uses the DSP that is in our Sale-A-Bration mini catalog. Today is the last day to be able to get it free! The stamp set is Dream A Little Dream which is a hostess set in the current Stampin' Up! Catalog.
I kept the glare on the photo of the picture because I wanted to show you how this card shimmers. I stamped the flower onto the designer paper, cut it out and curled it with my bone folder. I adhered it using stampin dimensionals and then painted on a little stickles for some shimmer.
For the pretty humming bird I stamped him onto whisper white cardstock then painted over him using some Twinkling H2O's. I love how the Twinkling H2O's really make the hummingbird shimmer just a like a a real one would.
The ribbon used in the background is from Michael's dollar bin. When I saw this ribbon I knew it was perfect to pair with the Dream A Little Dream and Amazing Stamp Sets.
Here is a list of the supplies used to make this beautiful card.
Stamps: Dream A Little Dream
Ink: Palette Jet Black, Certainly Celery
Paper: SU SAB DSP, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Whisper White, Basic Black
Accessories: Scallop edge punch, soft subtles brads, Crop-A-Dile, stampin' dimensionals, Michael's ribbon, stickles, Twinkling H2O's, bone folder.
I hope you like this one. It is one of my favorites!

A long time coming

2009-03-30T14:01:00.003-04:00

Greetings friends!
I know it has bee sooo long again since I've posted. Just a quick update on what has been happening here over these long winter months. I am so looking forward to nice warm spring days.
For those of you reading to learn about the card I made - simply scroll down to the end of the post and there you find the my list of supplies and such - otherwise, please feel free to read on.

Over the past few months I have become quite addicted to Facebook where I have spend many hours catching up with old friends and making many new ones. So, you will see my FB badge now here on my Blog.

The past few months have not been without worry and stress as my DD S* has been continuously ill. Over the past 3 months she has had two bouts on pneumonia and 2 bouts of strep throat, undergone 2 rounds of blood tests, 3 chest x-rays and soon some allergy testing and meeting with an immunologist. Shes been on 5 different medications trying to fight these illnesses. Please keep my sweet girl in your prayers as we once again are dealing with health issues with her. She has missed lots of school, but her grades are still very good - thank goodness. Hopefully with the warm weather on the way, we will find some reflief and some answers.

Now for those of you wondering about any upcoming stamp classes.... Nooo, the basement is not done yet but we do have a shower in and all the electrical in. We are on our way to having the basement bathroom finished - then I am thinkin since I've gone this long without my classroom, that maybe I should think about tearing that apart too and repainting that too. What do you think??
Okay - enough about me for now - above is a card I made for my DH for our 13th anniversary on March 2.
Stamps: All Stampin' Up! Nature Silhouettes, Branch Out, small script (retired)
Ink: So saffron, basic black, elegant eggplant
Paper: whisper white,So saffron, basic black, Basic gray, DSP (sorry, it's SU, but I can't remember which one)
Accessories: Big Shot, Top Note Bigz Die, silver brads, crop-a-dile, charcoal taffeta ribbon, brayer, curly label punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, matting tool
The deer and tree are stamped onto whisper white cardstock. Brayered on using Michelle Zindorf's brayering technique. Punched a circle using the 1 3/8 circle punch from regular copy paper and adhered using dotto adhesive to paper. Brayered again with so saffron, then with elegant eggplant and basic black. Cut image using the Top Note die then sponged the edges with basic black. Using the magic matter I matted the top note die cut piece with so saffron and basic black. Remove the circle (moon) mat. Assembled the rest of the card. Hope you like it! Todd did!

Oh yes, btw - the big white cup to the left of my card is a big tin mug I found at the local antique store - it says "Stamps" on it. I got 2 of those and one that says "clips" and another with "cotton balls". Very cool find for my stamp room!

2009-01-27T09:03:00.003-05:00

Here's a little card I made for my cousin's baby Allison for her 1st birthday. It's a quick simple one made using the cuttlebug embossing folder (dots) for the perfect plum card base. I stamped the hippo using Palette noir ink and colored it in using my copic markers. This cute little hippo is layered.
This is a quick simple card, but I think I really like the simplicity of it. Hope you do too.

I cannot wait to get back at stamping - I cannot wait for my basement to be done so I can!

Until next time! Thanks for stopping by!!

2009-01-25T22:10:00.004-05:00

Hey Stampers and Friends
I can't believe it is January and almost over with already. Where did Christmas go, time seems to be flying by so fast these days - maybe because I have so many things to do. But, don't we all?
I'm sharing with you today one of the simple Christmas cards I made. I know I'm posting a little late, but I really had fun doing this simple card - plus I love the sentiment.
No, it is not a Stampin Up stamp. I actually got it from another source - AmericanArt Stamp. I saw this somewhere and thought it hilarious and fitting for the tight budgeted holidays.
Anyway, I hope you like it. I stamped it with Black Palette ink onto Whisper White cardstock and colored it in with copic and Stampin Up markers. Quite simple, but I needed simple this year.

So, the basement still isn't done which means I haven't been doing any stamping, which means I haven't made any cards, which means I haven't worked on any projects to work on for classes for you, which means we all have to wait a little longer for classes to be held here - but it does not mean that I can't come to you.

Sale-A-Bration begins February 1st. Did you get you Sale-A-Bration mini catalogs yet? If not, you should be getting them soon, or you can view them online at my Stampin Up! website beginning February 1st. Remember during Sale-A-Bration which runs until March 31 - with every $50 ordered you get to choose a free item from the Sale-A-Bration mini catalog for FREE. When you host a workshop - for every $300 in orders, you get to choose another FREE set! This is always a great time of year to host a stamping party - and with our tightened belts - we'll take anything we can get for free! Remember, catalog parties count too as well as full or partial demonstration workshops presented to you by me :)

Also, beginning February 1st, anytime you place an online order, Stampin Up! will send you a complimentary Spring Summer 2008 Idea Book and Catalog - yep you guessed it - FREE! If you order more than once, you will get yet another catalog FREE! These are for online orders from my Stampin' Up! website and it begins February 1st! If you need help with online orders, please do not hesitate to contact me and I can either help you place your order or place it for you.

That's all for today except to ask a little favor and say a little prayer for my Sophie. She has pneumonia - although a small case - it does not seem to be getting better. I will be keeping her home from school again tomorrow.
Thanks and have a super week!

Retiring Stamps and Accessories

2009-01-07T09:39:00.004-05:00

Greetings! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I sure did - it was probably the most relaxing holiday I've had in years. We've been having fun with the new Wii that Santa brought us and so far Nolan has proved to be the best at Mario Kart.

Today I am sharing with you all the latest news from Stampin' Up!. The new catalogs have been shipped to me and should be here in a few days (I hope). You can begin ordering from them January 19 (My mommy's birthday!). As always, catalogs are $10 or free when you book a workshop!!

Sale-A-Bration will begin February 1 and end on March 31. Included in this year's Sale-A-Bration are 4 great stamp sets, a ribbon bundle consisting of two 10yard spools of ribbon, or a 16 sheet package of designer series paper. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait to view the details of these items for when the mini catalog comes out. Sorry :)

Out with the old, in with the new! With the new catalog coming up of course there are retiring sets and accessories. Stampin' Up! is also having an Inventory Blow Out sale going on NOW with some items (not all retiring) at 50% off! That is huge savings!! As soon as the quantities are gone, they will not be available so order today!!

Remember, you can always call me to order or visit my Stampin Up! website and place your orders there.

Please call or email with any questions! Have a super day!!

Happy Holidays from the Diekevers

2008-12-12T18:02:00.002-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Retired Stamps are 10% off - only for a limited Time -and Free Shipping!

2008-12-12T09:50:00.000-05:00

Fall-Winter Retired ListFall-Winter 2008 retiring stamp sets are available for purchase December 9, 2008 – January 18, 2009. Buy your favorites today before they’re gone!

Plus, now through December 23, you can get 10% OFF all retiring stamp sets and FREE SHIPPING on orders over $70—don’t wait to take advantage of this limited-time offer!

Click here for the list of retiring sets.

It's that time of year again! The retiring stamp list is out and Stampin' Up! is offering them at 10% off plus free shipping with a $70 order!! This is awesome and comes at a great time for Christmas! Remember you can visit my Stampin' Up! website and place your orders there! Share my link today and Merry Christmas!

Plus - there is still room for my Ornaments Galore and More Stamp class. It was rescheduled to December 19th at 6:30pm! We'll be making an ornament, I'll show you how to make a pop-up gift card holder and more! Cost is $20. If enought orders are placed to qualify for a workshop I will enter all participants name into a drawing for the hostess benefits!! Call today to reserve your spot!!

Merry Christmas!!

Blog Candies

2008-12-12T09:35:00.004-05:00

Greetings Friends!
Today I'm posting a list of sites offering blog candy today. Good Luck and enjoy! Remember Free shipping for $70 orders from Stampin Up is good until Dec. 23!
Happy Holidays!

http://www.clairebsd.blogspot.com
http://notimetostamp.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com
http://susiestampalot.blogspot.com

2008-12-03T23:24:00.003-05:00

Here is a picture that totally describes my son's personality. This is a typical "Oh Brother" picture. Here's S* looking so sweet and N* being a typical stinker of a brother.

I wanted to share with you today that my Ornaments Galore and More class has been rescheduled for December 19th. You can view the details by clicking above on my Stamp Classes tab at the top.

Life has been busy with making the spirits bright :) The holidays are such a busy but happy time. I hope all of you are feeling the true spirit of the season. May you all have a season of giving and answered prayers.!

Holiday Extravaganza - Holiday Bundle Sale

2008-11-25T10:09:00.003-05:00

Stampin' Up! Spreading Holiday Cheer With Thought

With recent economic strains and a possible recession looming in the minds of many, holiday shoppers are transforming from a shop-till-you-drop mentality back to the pace of simpler times. In fact, based on an annual survey, the National Retail Federation recently forecast the lowest increase in holiday spending by consumers in at least six years, and for the first time in the survey's history, those surveyed said they plan to spend less on family gifts than the previous year. With this in mind, this year's budget-conscious shoppers need suggestions for spreading holiday cheer with thought—not debt

Give Handmade

This season, shoppers will find that making handmade gifts, packaging, holiday décor and baked goods are a great alternative for stretching the holiday budget. The value of a handmade gift is priceless, and for many budget-conscious holiday shoppers, much less expensive. I know a few on my list getting a simple but memorable mini scrapbook of my kids (shhh, don't tell the Grandma's) while my SIL will be receiving a handmade stationary set.

One company helping shoppers do more with less is Stampin' Up!® The company will host a Holiday Extravaganza sale with up to 50% off select product bundles Nov. 26-Dec. 1, 2008 only online at www.lauradiekevers.stampinup.net "I love to give handcrafted gifts. It is often less expensive, plus the people I give the gift to usually appreciate them more," says Shelli Gardner, CEO and Co-founder of Stampin' Up! "Creating and giving handcrafted gifts also provides and opportunity to appreciate the spirit of the holiday season by spending more time at home with the ones we love, sharing our talents and spreading holiday cheer the old-fashioned, handmade way."

To learn more about exciting offers during the Holiday Extravaganza sale, unique handmade gift ideas or to attend a holiday crafts demonstration, contact me at 616-481-1099 or email lauradiekevers@sbcglobal.net or visit my Stampin Up! website at http://lauradiekevers.stampinup.net

Holiday Extravaganza - Holiday Bundle Sale

Sneak Peek SAS

2008-11-07T07:46:00.002-05:00

I recently made this card. I absolutely love the Christmas Cardinal set from Stampin' Up!. All materials used are from Stampin' Up!. I colored in the cardinaly using Riding Hood Red ink and an aquapainter. I sponged the edges with Baja Breeze. The cardinal was first embossed using Basic Black and VersaMark ink then embossed with clear embossing powder. I stamped the back riding hood red piece with Canvas background stamp using Chocolate Chip classic ink. The designer paper is retired DSP from last year's catalog from SU. The scallop circle is die cut using the Big Shot and the circles were cut using the coluzzle. Corners were distressed using the distress tool. The sentiment was cut and corners were punched using the ticket corner punch then I used silver brads to embellish.
That's it for today! I am off to get ready for my SAS class tonight! I can't wait to see all my stampin friends again! I hope they'll excuse the construction!

Falling For You

2008-10-29T22:01:00.004-04:00

Ahhh, so nice to be home tonite. It's been such a busy day. I got to dress up as a pirate tonight as it was Father/Daughter Night at our GEMS and I had to help with the crafts – Hmmm, I wonder why they ask me to help with crafts all the time :). It was kind of fun dressing up though.

I made this card with the intention of giving it to a few of my GEMS girls for doing such a great job last week when they helped rake leaves for an elderly lady from our church. While most of the girls were goofing off, my girls were working very hard. I'm so proud of them!

This was a perfect opportunity to use my new stamps that I've had for a while, but not been able to play with until now.

The Girl stamp is "Falling For You" from Paper Pretties. Isn't she adorable? With a few freckles she could be my Sophie. I stamped her and the tree – called Garden Tree – from RubberNecker Stamps - using Basic Black ink and embossed with clear Embossing Powder. Then I colored her and the tree in using Copic markers.

After coloring everything in with the Copics, I took my Versamarker and colored over everything colored in with the Copics , sprinkled on Clear Embossing Powder and Embossed. Doing this lets me brayer over the entire image and not ruin my coloring. Make sense?

Over the embossed images, I brayered on Kiwi Kiss and Baja Breeze from Stampin' Up!. I also sponged some Baja Breeze and Old Olive ink around the edges and to darken some shadows around the tree and under the girl. I then sponged Chocolate Chip ink around the entire edge of the card.

Using the paper piercing tool and templates from SU, I pierced the stitch holes all around and connected the dots using my Basic Black Marker. I put gold brads in the corners. I punched the corners using the ticket corner punch. I ticket corner punched a Chocolate Chip matte piece too and mounted the two together.

I punched 4 photo corners of Chocolate Chip cardstock using the SU Photo Corners punch and placed them in each corner of my Baja Breeze card base. I layered the image piece over the photo corners and VOILA – a card.

THanks for stopping by today!

CASED Halloween WitchiePoo

2008-10-28T21:30:00.003-04:00

Greetings! I can't believe that Friday is Halloween already. I'm curious – what does everyone do on Halloween? Does everyone still take their kids around trick or treating or do most people attend other functions? I'm just curious. We do the traditional thing, go to my Mom's for pizza and then take the kids around her neighborhood then home to bed. The night always seems to go pretty fast. Of course there is always the school parties – which I will be working again this year J. My kids are both big Star Wars fans so they both decided they wanted to be Star Wars characters. So, once again I get jipped out of making a cool unique costume, but they are happy to be who they are going to be. Sophie is going as Padme Amidala and Nolan as Jango Fett. I'm thinking it would be fun to join in the whole Star Wars theme and dress myself as Princess Leah. I wonder if I could get Todd to be Darth Vader -YEAH RIGHT! LOL

Anyway – in keeping with the spirit of Halloween (excuse the pun – heee heee), Here is a card that I cased from my favorite blogger, Michele Zindorf. I purchased the cute Halloween set from Michaels with my 50% off coupon a few weeks ago. My card doesn't come near to being as awesome and Michele's, but I still think it's pretty cool.

The witch, spider and web are a set from Inkadinkadoo. I also used Lovely as a Tree from SU. Inks I used are: basic black, old olive, apricot appeal and craft white. I used white and black embossing powder for the spider and web and filled in the stars on the witch with the signo white gel pen from SU. All the images were stamped on whisper white paper. I also used apricot appeal, pumpkin pie and basic black cardstock. The background is all brayered. I also used the SU photo corners punch, cropadile and black brads. The moon was created by cutting out a circle with my coluzzle and masking. I think if I were to make this card again, I would emboss the witch too. Regardless it was fun to make. I hope you like it!

Happy Halloween!

Boo!

Win a Free Handbag

2008-10-14T11:33:00.001-04:00

I'm going to go stamp in a little while. Hopefully, I'll have something new for you next time I post. In the meantime, go enter yourself in to win a free hand back. Click here to enter.

Have a great day!!

Class Date Change

2008-10-11T16:14:00.002-04:00

In the mail today our family got an invitation to the Inaugural Celebration for the new Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. This is exciting news for us because the new Chancellor happens to be my uncle (my only uncle). We are really honored to be invited and want to be there for this wonderful event. Isn't this great news? Well, yes and no. It is great news because I get to take a little road trip and it isn't because now I have to reschedule a couple of classes that I just posted yesterday. So, the Stamp-A-Stack classes originally scheduled for November 14 and 15 are now rescheduled for Friday, November 7 or Saturday, 8. Here is the new information:

_{Holiday Stamp A Stack}

Info: Make 20 cards for $20- 4 designs, 5 of each.

I'm offering this class 2 different nights so hopefully everyone who wants to do this class will be able to make one of the 2 times offered. If space allows you can attend both nights and make 40 cards for $40.

When: Friday, November 7th or Saturday November 8th

Time: 6:30-9:30pm

Where: Laura's house (subject to change)

Cost: $20 and a pre-register fee of $5 due by October 31. Pre-register fees are non-refundable if you miss the class, but can be used toward the cost of another class or towards your next order.

I hope one of these dates works for you! Hope to see you soon! Have a great day!

Classes Back In Session

2008-10-10T13:48:00.004-04:00

Greetings Friends!
Classes are now in session again!

We are in the process of putting in a bathroom in our basement. It will be a bit of a long process so you'll have to bear with me – Soon there will be a bathroom for you to use - and not feel like you're going to wake my hooligans (my darling children) when you have to use the "loo".

Please note that the location of the classes may change from my house to a different location due to the construction. Here we go:
Christmas is comin'! -

_{Holiday Stamp A Stack}

Info: Make 20 cards for $20- 4 designs, 5 of each.

When: Friday, November 14th or Saturday November 15th

Time: 6:30-9:30pm

Where: Laura's house (subject to change)

Cost: $20 and a pre-register fee of $5 due by November 10. Pre-register fees are non-refundable if you miss the class, but can be used toward the cost of another class or towards your next order.

_{Ornaments Galore and More}

Info: Join me in a fun night of making Christmas Ornaments and tags to give as holiday gifts using some of holiday Designer Paper. You'll get to play with the new Big Shot Die Cutting Machine and some of our new punches. Come see how easy the Big Shot is to use. You're going to want to put one on your Christmas List after this class.This class includes your own package of Stampin' Up! Designer Holiday Paper Ski Slope found in the Holiday Mini Catalog. Registration is due no later than November 17th as I need time to order your paper.
When: Friday, December 5
Time: 6:30-9:30pm
Where: Laura's House (subject to change)
Cost: $20 and a pre-register fee of $10 due by November 17. Pre-register fees are non-refundable if you miss the class, but can be used toward the cost of another class or towards your next order.

Hostess Incentive: October 1-November 30, 2008
Host a $350 workshop and choose one stamp set from the Fall-Winter Sampler for free. Download a copy of the Fall/Winter Sampler to view the sets.

111564 Flight of the Butterfly $31.95
112911 Vuelo de la mariposa (Spanish Flight of the Butterfly) $31.95
111676 Puns from the Past $27.95
111660 Just Jawing $25.95
111624 Dreams du Jour $18.95
111700 Thank You Kindly $13.95
111714 Wow Flowers $12.95
112955 Flores llamativas (Spanish Wow Flowers) $12.95
111600 Bella's Bloom $12.95

Brayered Sky

2008-09-25T07:59:00.002-04:00

I've gotten to play in my stamp room a bit lately. My design today was sort of CASED from one of my favorite blogging gals – Michelle Zindorf. I say sort of CASED because I don't think it comes very close to Michelle's talent, but I'd like to say I did her beautiful technique some justice. I think I have some tweaking to do.

When I first saw this stamp from Stamp Oasis (purchased from Rubbernecker) I envisioned a beautiful night sky behind the celtic goddess. The background leaves are from Rubber Stamp Avenue . To make a brayered background of your own, Michele has a tutorial at splitocast stampers under the resources pages. Her tutorial is called Brayered Sky. I played with this technique again last night and got some better results that I will share with you next time. Go check out Michelle's blog and gush over her stuff (Like I do).

My 1st Sara Kay

2008-09-24T08:14:00.003-04:00

Good morning! A quick post today…

Todays creation is a quick card I made using the new Big Shot scallop circle die's and my new Sara Kay clear stamp (gasp – another non-SU stamp). I colored the Sara Kay image in using my Copic Markers then sponged the Always Artichoke around the edges. I love these Sara Kay images – they remind me of Holly Hobby, which I loved as a girl.

Can I just say that I love the big shot! This machine is so versatile. Recently we made a bunch of flowers for our GEMS girls at church. Do you know that I can cut 4 pieces of cardstock at a time? That makes bulk card making so much faster. I love the new Big Shot. I have begun using the spellbinders dies too and it works great.

Thanks for stopping by today – it's time for me to get the hooligans to the school. Have a super day!

Trying the Copics

2008-09-23T12:48:00.004-04:00

Today's creation - well, not actually today – I did these cards a few nights ago at about 3am – so I guess that would make that 3 mornings ago – Anyway….

I decided to jump on board the copic marker kick and see where it takes me. I purchased a few online and have liked them. I'm still working on my technique and get great tutorials from Marianne at her blog I Like Markers. She is "copic certified" – whatever that means – but she really knows what she's talking about and her daily tutorials are AWESOME! Thanks, Marianne for your inspiration!!

I found a great store here in Grand Rapids that sells Copics and PrismaColor markers at a decent price. The really great thing is they are even cheaper when you purchase them online. The store is called Service Reproductions . Online the PrismaColors are only $2.58 and the Copics are only $3.99. They were a little over $4.00 in the store, but I didn't have to pay shipping either. I am a visual learner, so actually seeing the colors in person makes it easier for me to pick which ones I want. So go check them out. They have just about every color you can imagine!

Now for the stampin bit – Here is the information on how I made the 2 cards above. I used all the same paper and stamps for both.

Both cards use the following supplies:

Stamps:

Ethel with coffee cup by Rubbernecker stamps,

Real Friendship sentiment stamp by DRS Designs.

Paper:

Whisper White, certainly celery, bashful blue, real red & Barely Banana by Stampin' Up! Designer Paper – unknown – from one of the paper packs I purchased at Michael's a long time ago.

Copic Markers :

Baby Blue, Willow, Chestnut, Pink, flesh

Accessories:

Red grosgrain ribbon from Stampin' Up!. paper piercing tool (card on right), stampin dimensionals, Spellbinders Nestabilities scalloped ovals and cuttlebug embossing folder (for rug on the card on the left)

I hope you like it. This one is going to my good friend…to thank her for all she does for me.

Do They Make a Stamp In THis?

2008-09-10T06:57:00.004-04:00

Every Saturday and Sunday morning my hubby and I have the same conversation:
"Did you make coffee"
"No, did you?"
"No"
"Are Ya Gonna"
"I though you would"

Depending on who wants coffee more ends up making it - which of course is usually me. Silly me thinks that because I get up with Todd each morning and brew him a pot before going to work that on the weekends he would do it - Yeah Right! :)
Anyway, I was surfing around yesterday looking for some new pajamas. Little Miss Picky (me) really wants a new pair of lounge PJ's with coffee cups on it. I came across the most awesome site called CafePress and found this T-Shirt - which of course I must now have. I'm ordering one for my friend Doomba for Christmas too. Luckily she doesn't read my blog so she won't know. (She's not a crafter) (!Gasp!).
So I think this is hilarious and very fitting for a weekend T-shirt around here.(excuse the pun - fitting ....T-shirt) Who knew I could be this plucky so early in the morning.

I'm also thinking this would make a great stamp to have. Don't you!
I hope I tickled your funny bone today.
Have a good one!!

Anniversaries and Fun

2008-09-08T08:11:00.007-04:00

Good morning folks! I'm sitting here blogging before taking the kids to school. I don't have much to write today except there are some great blog candy giveaways going on in blogland. First, Sharon at No Time to Stamp is celebrating her 1^st blogoversary with some blog candy. Go check out her site. She is very talented and is giving away a great coffee stamp set. I'd enter myself, but I already have this really cool set.

Second, Janine is also celebrating her blogaversary with some great candy. Check out her site at 2bKrafty . They both are talented stampers – go take a peek at their sites

Today I am going to leave you with a couple of great pics of my kids. I took these at the cottage we rented. The water was warm the times we had were wonderful. I'm looking forward to going again next year.

Remember – online ordering starts on my Stampin' Up! website tomorrow!

The Wedding Card

2008-09-04T11:43:00.003-04:00

Seeing as how I have always been called Last Minute Lulu, I took this picture in the car on the way to the wedding - so I apologize for the shadows on the photo. It took me a few tries because my husband was taking advantage of my weakness (procrastination) and kept swerving the car so the card would fall each time I tried to take a picture. He thought it was funny. :)

I will admit that I CASED a little bit of the design of this card from the new SU Idea Book & Catalog. I wanted to keep with the same colors I used to create the guest book so here is what I used: All items are from Stampin' Up!

Cardstock: Whisper White, Soft Sky DSP(retired)

Ink: Soft Sky(retired), River Rock(retired), Basic Gray

Stamps: Always, Together Forever

Accessories: Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, narrow organdy ribbon, pretties kit, 1 3/8 circle punch, stampin dimensional, mini glue dots.

I hope you like it! Now I have to get stampin' so I can have some more to share with you!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thoughts

2008-09-02T23:09:00.005-04:00

I can’t believe I am posting twice in one day! Anyway, I was sitting her blurfing this evening to all my favorite spots and came across Kim’s post today. I don’t know Kim, but today is her birthday and she shared some sweet thoughts about what she has learned in her 30 short years of birthdays. She has a little blog candy to offer so you can participate if you would like to. I’d be interested in hearing your answer to Kim’s inquiry: “Tell me something about yourself that you have lived to experience .”
You can see how I answered over at Kim’s blog” Paper in the Works. If you participate you have the opportunity to win a free set from Our Daily Bread Designs called Peace on Earth. Here is what it looks like:

Last of the Wedding Book

2008-09-02T12:50:00.013-04:00

I know you're probably sick of the wedding pages, but I am kind of proud of them, so bear with me a little more. This is the last of the ones I took pictures of.

The pages for the guests to sign (on the left here) were done with Adobe Photoshop Elements and some free digital brushes. I found a great site for free brushes – you'll have to check it out. I've downloaded so many of them that I'm afraid I'm going to run out of room on my puter J.

This page again is painted with the acrylics and gesso first. You can see form this photo a little shimmer to it to, I forgot to add that I put in a little shimmery pearl acrylic paint too. I stamped the leaves from Wonderful You (stampin' Up!) using River Rock and Cool Caribbean ink (both retired from Stampin' Up!).

This page uses the following stamps:

Stampin' Up! Stamps: Print Pattern, En Francais.

Autumn Leaves: Flourishes

I stamped the print pattern stamp using ColorBox chalk inks in light blue and black, but the black turned out looking a little more brown, I think that is because it is old. Stampin' Up! used to carry the color box chalk ink palettes and this is what that is from. Even though the black looks brown, I like how it turned out. The edges of the pictures are sponged with craft white ink.

This page is simply stamped with the Autumn Leaves flourishes again using the black (brown) color box ink, palette jet black, river rock and soft sky inks.

This is another of my favorites. Stamped the Baroque Motifs (SU) with Basic Gray and the flowers from Wonderful You (SU) using the color box chalk ink in light blue. You can see the shimmer from the acrylic paint in this picture too.

THis is the last page in the book. I used the spellbinders long scalloped rectangle and the long rectangles to make the frame. The flowers are from the pretties kit (SU) and the center of the flowers are dollar store bling. The sentiment reads : "For hearing my thoughts, understanding my dreams and being my best friend, for filling my life with joy and loving me without end. I do".

Thanks for stopping by. Tomorrow – the wedding card!

More Wedding Book

2008-09-01T20:55:00.008-04:00

Today I am sharing a few pages of the wedding book. You can see more detail of the brush marks and how I painted the pages as I explained in my last post. I stamped the Brocade Basics stamp using Basic Gray in the corners. The frills above and below the quote is a cuttlebug die and the flower is from the Stampin' Up! pretties kit. I dyed the flower using the soft sky ink pad.

You can see a little bit of the pen I made to go with the book above. I took a fine tipped Sharpie marker and wrapped it with sticky strip and rolled it in some silver microbeads (also from Stampin' Up!).

The quote I thought was wonderful and honestly can't remember where I found it. It says "They gave each other a smile with a future in it". Isn't that great for a wedding quote?

This page was a complete oops. The picture was originally printed using some digital scrapbooking elements. The background of the page had a little design to it, but it's basic color was a black background. Since I had decided to paint all the pages, this one looked a little odd not being painted. So, I took a chance…

I mixed some shimmery silver acrylic paint with some gesso and thinned it with water. I painted it over the page and prayed that it wouldn't ruin the picture by smearing. It didn't ruin the picture, but it did take away from the swirls from the original digital background . I really didn't mind though, because I like the outcome of this even better. The page has a little shimmer to it from the silver acrylic and then I took the pretty flourish from Baroque Motifs and stamped it onto the page using black Palette Hybrid ink. I edged the page with some white craft ink. This is one of my favorite pages.

I hope you like what I've shared today. I'll share a few more next time and then the card I made them.

Title Page

2008-08-30T12:38:00.005-04:00

Today I am going to share with you a couple of pages from the wedding guest book that I posted about yesterday. It's nice to see that folks do actually visit my site – thanks, Ann for your sweet comment from yesterday's post. You asked to see some of the inside pages and here you go. Gavin and Sara had emailed me some of their photos to include in their album, so I got to make this more like a scrapbook. I printed all the photos with a matte finish photo paper here at home. I wanted them to look more like paper and it was easier to add the softness to the edges using ink and paint.

I began the pages by taking whisper white cardstock and painting them with a mixture of sapphire colored acrylic paint, some gesso and thinned it a little with water. I painted it all on each (front and back) using random strokes.
All the text was done on my computer using the English font that I downloaded from my favorite free font site. I printed it all on transparent sticker sheets from Avery. I always stick the sticker on the paper before I punched or cut circles. When I wanted the font to show up on the dark cardstock I stuck the words onto whisper white paper, cut that out by hand then stuck it on the page with Snail adhesive. You can see that here on the black circle.

Before I bound the book together (after all the pages were done) I took all the pages and stacked them together then wrapped them with a piece of white mulberry paper (from Stampin' Up!) so that it would look nice when looking at the spine of the book.
As I posted yesterday, the cover of the book is the 9 x 9 On Board Book Basics from Stampin' Up! I covered the inside with textured basic gray cardstock from SU. The 1^st page of the book is mulberry paper. You can see it on the right of the photo a little.
For the cover page I stamped the swirls from Autumn Leaves onto the page with Palette Black ink.
I cut various circles using my coluzzle to mat the pictures and text. A little side note here: I had forgotten my cutting mat for my coluzzle in my hasty packing for vacation – I found that a folded piece of paper towel under my cardstock works well for cutting your coluzzle shapes when in a pinch.
Before placing the photo and text circles on to their circle mats, I sponged the edges with their coordinating colors. For the picture I used basic gray.
To finish the page I sponged basic gray around the edges of the entire page.

I have lots to get to today. I will post more pages next time.

Thanks for stopping by!

It’s All About the Cake

2008-08-29T13:30:00.004-04:00

We are back from our vacation and let me just say we had an absolutely wonderful time. We always enjoy our trips to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. We travel to our cabin way on the western end of the UP each year where we thoroughly enjoy the splendor of God's creation of nature. If you have never been to the UP, and you really enjoy the outdoors and pristine wilderness and natural attractions, then the UP is the place to go. The western end of the UP has the Porcupine Mountains with numerous hiking trails and waterfalls to explore. Life seems so relaxed there and wherever you go to eat, you meal is always piping hot and homemade.

We planned our trip this year around my cousin's wedding. I have only 2 cousins and they are siblings. My extended family is very small so I cherish my Aunt, Uncle and cousins.

Gavin and Sara's wedding was just beautiful and was held outdoors at Presque Isle Park on a beautiful warm, almost fall like day in Marquette. My cousin Rachel (Gavin's sister) and her husband Sean got to show off their new baby Allison which was another highlight of our trip that we couldn't wait for. What a wonderful day. (Feeling the warm fuzzies?)

I'm going on about the wedding because I was honored by my cousin and his lovely bride, Sara when they asked me to make their guest book. When they first asked me I planned on doing all the inside pages using digital elements and hand making the cover. When I didn't like the outcome of the digital pages, I decided to hand make all the pages (well, most of them anyway). The only thing is the decision to make the pages by hand came the day before we were leaving.(very typical of me) So, I packed a crate full of items I thought I might need and prayed my husband wouldn't be too put out by the work I needed to do. He was put out just a little bit because we had to run the generator to light the cabin at night so I could work. We don't usually use the generator cause we're usually too whipped from our daily excursions to really need the light. We usually just need our beds. I suppose if that is the worst of it, then it really wasn't too bad for him. (Sorry sweetie ). I worked into the wee hours and finally finished the book the day of the wedding! They don't call me Last Minute Lulu for anything. I work better under pressure anyway. I'm so pleased with how the book came out and I luckily was able to snap some pictures of it during the reception so that I can share with you.

Here is a list of items I used to make the cover:

Paper: Soft Sky DSP (retired), whisper white, Gray designer paper(unknown source)

Ink: Whisper White craft, Basic Grey, Soft Sky

Stamps: Brocade Basics (Stampin Up!)

Accessories: Computer for title – font is English found at dafont.com, Spellbinders scallop and petite oval nestabilities, Stampin' Up! pretties kit (flower and rhinestone), bashful blue taffeta ribbon from Stampin' Up! and the new scallop edge punch from Stampin' Up!, Crop-A-Dile and the cover is the Stampin' Up! 9 x 9 on board book basics.

I hope you like it. I will post some more pages from it next time.

Here is a picture of my dancing children and my niece. They had a blast at the wedding.

Just before the ceremony I told Nolan that even though this is outside, he had to pretend like he was in church, to be quiet and behave himself or he wouldn't get any cake.

After sitting there so quietly, watching all the people get teary eyed during the reading of the Velveteen Rabbit and then greeting the family in the reception line what does he ask me? "

"Can We Have Cake Now?"

Wait, there's more…

While taking a break from dancing at the reception, Nolan asked me

"Mom, are all weddings like this?"

Me: "Do you mean are they all fun with dancing and great food?"

Nolan: "Yeah"

I chuckled

"Did you think it was going to be boring with old people music?"

"Yeah"

"I told you that Gavin said the DJ would play the Hamster Dance for you kids. Did you think that would be the only fun song played?"

"Yeah" (with a sheepish smile).

"So if we are invited to another wedding, you won't be all mopey about going?"

"Nope! Weddings are fun! Will there be cake at other weddings too?"

Bless the hearts and minds of children. He then ran back to the floor to boogie some more. The little party animal was all over the dance floor turning cartwheels and handstands and enjoying rockin' out to Bon Jovi and more! My sweet daughter, Sophie and my niece were also dancin' fools and so sweet when they took the hands of some 3year old twins and danced with them. I am so blessed with wonderful and amusing children.

Thanks for stopping by and listening to my ramblings!

OMG This Is So Me!

2008-08-28T00:34:00.002-04:00

Did the little blogthing survey today about Back to School. This describes me to a T! I just had to share it.

"Your biggest stumbling block in life is time management. You tend to waste time with silly tasks,(like blurfing at midnight like I am now instead of sleeping) and as a result, your life can be pretty chaotic"

I just had my life explained to me by a blog thing Poll – who needs a shrink?

What Your Back to School Personality Says About You

You are laid back and fairly dispassionate. Traditional concepts of success are not important to you.

You are most likely to succeed when you are able to be independent and self directed. You are perfectly able of carving your own path.

Your greatest skill is making something out of nothing. You don't need much to feel inspired.

Your biggest stumbling block in life is time management. You tend to waste time with silly tasks, and as a result, your life can be pretty chaotic.

You're so thankful for everything in your life. It's hard for you to pick just one thing.

The Back to School Test

Going on Vacation

2008-08-19T09:06:00.005-04:00

Good Morning Everyone! I've had so much fun lately just lurking around the net. I've found so many inspirational sites belonging to fellow stampers. On one of these great sites I found one of these really cute stationary boxes. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of it closed, cause my camera is being finicky. However, Here is a shot of it opened and of the cute card and gift card I made to go inside. I think I did pretty well for my 1^st time on one of these. I thought the coffee theme was a good one to begin my new blog title with so here you go – I hope you like it. Here is where I learned how to do these cute boxes (thanks Jackie Topa) and here are the materials I used to make these: All items are from Stampin' Up!® unless otherwise noted:

Paper: Soft Sky & Au Chocolate (retired) DSP, Textured vanilla, chocolate chip

Ink: Palette® Hybrid black ink, chocolate chip

Stamps: Coffee stamps by See Dee's

Accessories: Spellbinders Nestabilities (scalloped long rectangles, rectangle, scalloped ovals, ovals, die cuts), Scalloped edge punch, ticket corner punch, stampin dimensional, wide vanilla grosgrain and narrow chocolate chip ribbon, soft subtle brads, crop-a-dile, ¾" circle punch.

I am leaving today for the U.P. to enjoy the beauty of Lake Superior and time with my family. We also have a wedding in Marquette for my cousin which I am really looking forward to.

Until I return…..

Happy Stamping!

New Blog Title

2008-08-14T10:40:00.003-04:00

Good Morning!

If you haven't figured it out yet, I get bored with things easily. Well, not exactly bored, but I do try to embrace change. So, for a while I decided to combine my two favorite things - Coffee and Stamping. One of my favorite things to do is to sit with my friends over a brimming cup of foo-foo flavored coffee and share life. A lot of times my life revolved around stamping - so I figured why not share my love of stamping over coffee with my blogging friends. I hope you enjoy it!

New Catalogs Are Here

2008-08-13T17:30:00.004-04:00

Hey Stampers! I have been away on a well needed vacation and what did I find on my doorstep when I returned home? Yes – a whole box of the new Stampin' Up!® Catalogs along with some other fantastic and exciting tidbits of information. I have so much to share with you that I can't stand it! Here is a quick low down of what is new with Stampin Up!® this catalog season –

All New stamps sets from the catalog are now die cut! This means no more trimming (unless you want to ) of your stamps when you get them! Isn't this great news? To be clear, only the stamp sets that are new to this catalog are die cut. But…..for the next catalog that comes out in January/February – by then they will all be die cut!

Stampin' Up!® will be offering more the the new Décor Elements items that they just introduced this past summer. Stay tuned for more details on that or click here to see the current Décor Elements flyer.

THIS is the most exciting news that I have to share – Stampin' Up!® has teamed up with Sizzix and together they have created the Big Shot die cutting system exclusive for Stampin' Up!®. This die cutting system will cut dies not only from sizzix but many other companies dies too. Plus you can die cut up to five pieces of cardstock at at time and the SU Big Show will feature dies exclusive to Stampin' Up! as well as others that you can purchase from sizzix. Stay tuned for more information on the Big Shot – or call/email me for more information! This new item is not in the current catalog, but will be available to you beginning October 1. But I'm sure you will be getting a demonstration from be before that!

Start taking advantage of my Stampin Up!® website where starting in a few months you will be able to place your orders yourself at my webiste. Remember, if your order totals $150 or more, it qualifies as a workshop and you get Free Hostess Awards! Stay tuned for more information on this too! Why not explore my SU website now so you can learn how to navigate around and see some great samples and ideas for your upcoming projects! Click here to visit my Stampin' Up!® website

Latest & Greatest

Never-Before-Seen Stamps at Never-Before-Seen Savings!

Never before has Stampin' Up! offered a discount on brand-new stamp sets. But from August 11 through September 30, you can save 15 percent on select brand-new stamp sets, with no additional purchase necessary! Click here for more information

Join the Stampin' Up! Family for Only $99

Becoming a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator has never been easier! For a limited time, you can choose one of three different Starter Kits—stamp–focused, scrapbook–focused, or home décor–focused—and each one is only $99 (including business supplies)! Click here for more information on the Mini Starter Kit Promotion.Or, choose the standard Starter Kit—featuring $350 of stamping and business supplies for only $199—and get a stamp set of your choice from the new catalog for FREE
Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog Now Available!
The brand-new Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog is here, and it’s brimming with new stamp sets, accessories, and ideas. Contact me today to get your copy! Remember your copy if free when you set a workshop date! I’m scheduling today and you can begin ordering today! Click here to download your own copy for the 2008 Fall Winter Idea Book and Catalog!
That is all for today! Thanks for stopping By!!

Just a Little Something

2008-07-29T11:59:00.003-04:00

Good AfterMorning everyone!

I have been some lame when it comes to blogging lately. I blurf around looking at everyone else's blogs all the time and find I don't ever get to mine. Today is a rare exception, but I must confess that I will be on another hiatus here soon as I am getting ready for a nice vacation at a cottage that we rent. We have saved our major summer travels to the end of the summer - Don't ask me why...

Yesterday I did get to some stamping, however with my creative block it has been difficult for me to really like what I made and hence I don't know that I want to show it. I just let myself go with the flow and lets just say my mojo flow just isn't what it was. Maybe I need to do more and things will come back to me. You'd think I'd be on a roll with all the inspiring blogs I've been visiting - Anyway - that is all I have for you today excpet here is a little blog thing for you to try so hopefully you wont find my post today too overly boring.

A New Project

2008-07-07T15:11:00.002-04:00

Greetings Stampers and Friends! I hope you've all had a wonderful 4^th of July! We had a wonderful time going to the parade and spending time with friends and family. Our home town always has a phenomenal parade and once again they did a bang up job! The parade always starts off with a military fly by and that always moves me.

Before I get to the card I made I have something to ask all of you. I have to get working on a big project here today that I've really been looking forward to doing. My cousin (I only have 2) is getting married next month and he and his fiancée have asked me to make their guest book. How exciting is that? So I'm wondering if any of you fellow bloggers have and suggestions, links or tutorials I could take a gander at. I have an idea in my head, but I would really like to see what all of you have done in the past. I'd like to bind it myself – maybe a little Japanese binding or something. I don't want to spiral bind it, I'd like to be able to use some pretty ribbon. So, if you could help me out with that I would dearly appreciate it.

Anyway, The card today is one I made quite a while ago. I used the pretty princess set from Stampin' Up!. This little purse opens up and is a birthday invitation. The front of the purse is actually a shaker card and filled with microbeads. I used some feather boa pieces from the clearance rack at Michaels. You gotta love clearance racks!

I used the Stampin' Up! markers to color in the princess and used some of the long ago retired yellow glitter from Stampin' Up!. I can't believe I still have some, but I do.

Now I am off to take my beautiful Sophie to the orthodontist. Fun stuff! Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Laura

Oh My Goodness!

2008-07-01T08:57:00.002-04:00

Oh My Goodness, I have some exciting news. Something many of you have requested on numerous occasions… Can you stand the suspense??

Well, Stampin' Up! just announced that all their new stamp sets coming up in the new 2008-09 Fall/Winter collection will be die cut for you. What does this mean? It means you don't have to trim your stamp sets anymore! You will still have to mount your own stamps, but that is what is so appealing about Stampin' Up! stamps because you get the option to place your stamp anywhere on your wood block. I'm really excited about this. I had the opportunity a few years ago to actually ask Shelly (founder of Stampin' Up!) if this would ever be possible and now here we are! This is great news! One little disclaimer though – this applies to new sets in the Fall/Winter collection. This means that any sets that are in the current catalog that are carried over into the new catalog (unveiled August 1^st) will still need to be trimmed. That's okay because we don't want our craft and rubber scissors to be sad. L

I am waiting impatiently today for my Stampin' Up! order that was supposed to be delivered 2 days ago, but it seems that the package hit some bad weather somewhere and was delayed. Today is the day though that I should be getting my new Décor Elements. I ordered the one that says Create and I can't wait to put it in the Stamp Room!

You know what else I did today (yes, already and it is only 8:45 in the morning)? I pre-ordered some items that will be in the new catalog!! I can't wait to play with the new colors and share them with you!

So, I am interested in what all of you think about having the new stamp sets die cut – so leave me a comment for I am interested. Maybe I'll even pass the information onto Stampin' Up! for you. We all like to hear praise, I bet the folks at Stampin' Up! like to hear it too.

Until later – Have a Happy Day!

Blurfing Day

2008-06-27T10:19:00.003-04:00

Instead of using my free time stamping lately I've been enjoying my new laptop and wireless capablilites. I love this thing! I am so happy that I can now sit with my family and still enjoy my blurfing. I'm so spoiled.

Anyway, in my bluffing around today I found a great blog candy give away that I wanted to share with you. Check this out:

This set up up for grabs in a blog candy at Starving Artistamps. Go to the site and check it out and enter for your chance to win this set and a sentiment set to go with it. I love the bird wearing the tiki mask. Anyway click here to enter your chance to win.

Just a reminder to all my stampin buddies – I will be stamping on my own tonight if you want to join me to work on your own projects. I am really in need of some serious stampin time – How about you?

Sorry, not much more to share with you today. I am off to clean Nolan's room so it can be painted – He's going to have one wall camouflage – How cool is that?

Have a great day, Thanks for stopping by!

Laura

Graduates 2008

2008-06-22T17:18:00.003-04:00

This being the season for graduation parties I thought I would share with you the card I made for all the Open Houses we had this summer. We were invited to 3 Open Houses this past month. Two Open Houses were Grandville High School Students (I had to make 2 of these for the 1^st open house because they were twins) and one was a Byron Center Student – So – seeing as both Grandville's and Byron Center's mascot is the bulldog, I got to make the same card over. Making the same card was hard for me because I just like to be different. However, I really like how this card turned out so I made it for all the grads.

The stamp set I used is from Stampin' Up!, I used Bravo Burgundy, brushed silver (retired) and whisper white cardstock from SU. I cuttlebugged the top burgundy piece with the polka dot embossing folder to add dimension. It doesn't show up very well in the picture (I really need a new camera - hint hint Santa!) I glittered the G for Grad and the hat using the 2 way glue pen and dazzling diamonds. For the boys I didn't use the glitter though. The bulldog (my favorite part of the card) is embossed using my wizard die cut/embosser and a brass embossing template in which I cannot remember what company it is from and I am too lazy (It's Sunday and I'm missing my nap to blog J) to go down to see what it is. If you absolutely must know where I got the bulldog brass template, just leave me a comment here and I will let you know.

I hope you like the card, It really was fun and I think I need to make a few more. Oh yes and the card is 6 x 3 ¾ which is the size card that fits when you make your own envelope form the 5 in 1 Envelope template. I used the 5 in 1 template to make a cool envelope with some designer paper.- it adds a nice personal touch. Have a super day. I'm off to help the hubby set up the kids' pool!

New Product Line Introduced

2008-06-19T08:19:00.004-04:00

After a long hiatus from blogging is sure seems I have a lot of news to share with you.

This is good and I do have an exciting new product line from Stampin' Up! to tease you with. I'm pretty excited about this one.

I've seen some of these before and have been very close to purchasing them for my home before Stampin' Up! came out with them. Now, I don't have an excuse – I must get one.

I'm very excited to share with you Stampin' Up!'s new line of DECOR ELEMENTS!

More and more people are using Stampin' Up!'s^® rubber stamps and accessories to customize their home. Because of this demand, Stampin' Up! is now offering additional coordinating home décor products for making customized personal space easy, cost effective and flexible. Stampin' Up! is adding a new product to the Definitely Decorative^® product line by introducing wall graphics, expressions, and lettering. The new product, Décor Elements^™, will be available July 2008.

Enjoy creating a complete space that reflects your style and expresses who you are!

Get Em' While You Can

2008-06-18T08:57:00.003-04:00

Good Morning !

I couldn't remember if I had posted this card before or not, but I really love this one. I wanted to share it again for another reason....

This card was made using Purely Pomegranet, Blue Bayou and Whipser White and with the upcoming anticipation of the new Catalog coming in August, it will also be a time to say farewell to the 2007-08 In colors. If you have a passion for the Purely Pomegranet, an obsession (guilty:)) with Wild Wasabi, a soft spot for Soft Sky, a thrist for Blue Bayou, a hankerin' for groovy guava, or an inkling for River Rock. So, stock up today. These items are also available for 20% off (only through me) until June 30! I will sadly these colors, but I am really looking forward to the upcoming 2008-09 In Colors due out in August. ALthough I don't have pictures of the colors, these are the names:

Pink Pirouette

Riding Hood Red

Tangerine Tango

Kiwi Kiss

Baha Breeze

Pacific Point

Have a super day! Thanks for stopping by!

Retiring List is Here!

2008-06-16T08:50:00.004-04:00

Greetings friends and stampers!

It's that time again for the Stampin' Up! Retiring list. It's hard to believe it is time to say "good bye" to more stamp sets. It's always a sad time to see some of them go, however it is a great time to get them if you haven't already. Starting today - 20% off all retiring stamp sets when you place your order before June 30!

I always find this time somewhat bittersweet. I always hate to say good-bye to sets. There is always at least 2 or 3 sets on the list that I am really sad to see go, and yet I am always equally excited to see what is going to be new.

So, with no further adieu – Here is the list – order yours today.

For those of you waiting to hear about my next classes – I'll have a new list out in a week –after all the excitement of Vacation Bibile School is done. The next class will be wedding favors – I just need to finalize the date. I'll let you all know when that is.

Have you checked out my Stampin' Up! Website lately? Go to http://www.lauradiekevers.stampinup.net/ and there are some great new specials for you there too!

2008-03-18T17:40:00.003-04:00

I have a few minutes here before dinner is ready (leftovers from yesterday’s yummy St. Patrick’s’ Day Dinner of corned beef and cabbage)

I thought with this time I would share with you a few items I’ve recently stamped. This first one is a card I made using a technique from the Technique Junkies Newsletter that I will be teaching

a class on in April. I absolutely love this technique and it is so easy and uses very few items. I used the From the Garden hostess Level 1 set from the current Stampin’ Up!â catalog along with a brayer, Blue Bayou and Basic Black classic Ink. I also used watercolor pencils and a blender pen. I can’t wait to show everyone how to do this at my class in April. I have a few variations on it that I will share later.

For one of my classes I held in February to celebrate Sale-A-Bration, these are a few boxes we made along with a cute card.

That is all for tonight. I am off to check on dinner and make sure the kids have their homework done so we can enjoy a relaxing evening.

Thanks for stopping by!

Last Day For Free Stamps

2008-03-17T16:02:00.005-04:00

I can’t believe how long it has been since I’ve blogged. I have been busy getting some stamping done. It has been so long since my creative juices have really been flowing.

Today I share with you a couple of non-stampin up cards that I recently made. The dog house and the cute little “Spike” bulldog are from Rubbernecker stamps. They’ve got some really cute fun stamps and many other accessories. You know what else is so awesome about these? I won blog candy of $10 to Rubbernecker from Jeanne at her InkyPaws blog. She does some really great work and I‘ve enjoyed visiting her site. Check it out sometime – I think you’ll like it too.

When I first visited the Rubbernecker website and saw the bulldog, I knew I had to get it since our school mascot is a bulldog and I have many a stamping to do for the teachers coming up for Teacher Appreciation Day and all. The trees for this card are from the awesome, but retired set Trees Three. Oh yes and for the one with “woof” on the dog house, I used the SU alphabet set, Rough Edges. I colored in Spike with my new copic markers. These markers are expensive and I am still learning to use them, but I really like how they color in. I want to try this with my SU markers next time to see the difference. Funny, you’d think I’d know how to color from 1st grade right?

Okay – some important news to share with you. I will try to keep it short and simple as I must get some more stamping in today…

First, Today is the LAST DAY FOR SALE-A-Bration orders. I will be taking orders up until 8:00pm tonight. ORDER TODAY AND GET 10% OFF YOUR ORDER! After that it is good-buy until next year for SAB. I must say that I have really enjoyed the rub-ons from SAB this year. We had fun with them at my stamp class in February where everyone got a sheet to take home. Here are some samples of my Sale-A-Bration creations including some dollar store vases I found and decorated with the rub-ons. How cute are these???

Now for the next specials that Stampin’ Up! is offering – These are absolutely awesome! Host a workshop between March 18 & April 30 – when your workshop reaches $350 or more you get an additional $25 in Hostess Dollars to spend at your workshop. OMG this is so fantastic. With a $350 workshop you will be able to pick any Level 1 or Level 2 Hostess exclusive set plus spend $65 on anything else you would like from the Spring-Summer 2008 Collection or the current Mini Catalog. $65 in Free Stamps – how awesome is that???

SU is also offering a WHEELY GREAT DEAL from now until April 30. I think we will have a Wheely Fun class in April so you can all get a chance to become experts at the Jumbo Wheels. When you purchase any of these sets: Wonderful You , Life’s a Breeze, Pun Fun, Year after Year, Stitched Exotics or Enjoy Every Moment – you will receive the coordinating jumbo wheel free with your order. I’ve decided to have a Wheely Great Stampin class on April 25th. You'll be an expert at the wheels after this one! Well, it will be fun anyway. I'm going to show you how to use the Wheel Guide found on page 185 of the catalog. If you order one of these bundles prior to the class, you will be able to attend the class for free! Orders must be in no later than 11th. FYI if you attend my April 11th class on brayered spotlight and order your wheely bundle that night, both classes will be free! Remember at my $5 classes any orders of $25 or more and the class is free!

Last, but certainly not least – I have a new SU website that I have set up. When you go there you can visit all the current catalogs plus see all my classes and many projects, not just from me, but from SU also. I have a calendar there with my classes listed and there is a place where you can request my newsletter. I am able to send you invitations for my classes from this site The link is: http://lauradiekevers.stampinup.net. Go visit and let me know what you think by leaving a comment here. There’s a little blog candy in it for one lucky winner. I have an adorable vase decorated with some rub ons for the winner! I'll draw the lucky winner on Friday!

For now I am signing off – it’s time to make some corned beef and cabbage for dinner!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Laura

$5 Classes for February

2008-01-22T18:38:00.000-05:00

Greetings & Salutations this evening. I hope all you Michiganders enjoyed your snow day today. My kids had another day off of school and enjoyed (almost )every minute of it. The sun came out and they went out and enjoyed all the white fluffy snow building a snow fort and sliding down the little hill their dad made for them when he plowed the drive. That was fun - now the warm weather can start - :)

Today I am quickly going to post to you the classes I have planned for February. As I mentioned in my previous post I would be offering more $5 classes and with now further adieu here are 2 more classes. The class on the 15th is $8 but we will be utilizing more materials and making more than cards. I hope you can all enjoy a fun evening of stamping at one or both of these classes. Please note that registration is due pretty quickly as I must have enough time to order supplies for everyone. I hope you find them intriguing and will want to join us.

Here goes:

$5 ART SHOW CLASS - Heart to Heart

When: Saturday, February 9

Time: 7PM

Ideal card for mother, daughter, sister, friend - we will make an accordion card that combines a unique color palette with carefully-placed accents (and a bit of glitter!) More than just cardstock, images, ink and accessories, this artfully created card will be a gesture of love from your heart to hers. Cost is $5 or Free when you order $30 or more or if you preorder the Valentine Bundle before January 25! Call or email if you would like more information about the Valentine Bundle.
Kindly register for this class no later than January 25

$8 STAMP CLASS: Celebrate Sell-A-Bration

When: Friday, February 15

Time: 7PM

Cost $8

Join me for a fun night of stamping as we Celebrate many ways to Sell-A-Brate! We will be making the following items and enjoying a fun evening of stamping.

Party Time Notecard - a cute, fun little notecard for almost any event.
Try out our new line of Rub-ons with the Love & Happiness card,
Dabble in a little bit of watercoloring as we make a fun gift box using the 12 x 12 textured paper
Make a sweetly scalloped 6 x 6 scrapbook page using our scallop circle punch,
try your hand using the crop-a-dile and our jumbo eyelets
and we'll heat things up a little with some embossing!
Bring a picture if you'd like to add it to your page that night. Remember 6 x 6 pages can easily become your focal point on your 12 x 12 pages at home.

Kindly register no later than January 25.

That's it for tonite - The card above is another one of the Christmas cards that wasn't . Enjoy!

The Christmas Card That Wasn't

2008-01-18T10:28:00.000-05:00

I’m baaaack! After a number of weeks of hiatus I think (after this week) life will be getting a little back to normal. The Diekevers family is finally on the mend and life after the holiday illnesses and septic problems is finally getting back to normal (if there is such a thing as normal).
To the left here is a look at one of my Christmas cards that wasn’t. This card was created using the Sleigh Bells Ring stamp set – which you won’t see in the current catalog right now, but is still available. It has just been put on the dormant list. I also used the Baroque background stamp and Baroque motifs. I highlighted some of the snow scene using stickles and brushed the edges of the scalloped punched scene (marvy giga scallop circle punch) with a sponge using basic black ink. I thought at first this was a little busy, but my mom actually liked this one. Too bad I didn’t get any out to anyone huh?

Now that things are feeling somewhat normal again, I am now putting together classes! I know a lot of you have been waiting for one so, here goes!

Next class is Friday, February 1 at 7:00 pm.!

Spotlight on Spotlighting Stamp Class
When: Friday, February 1
Time: 7:00pm-10:00pm
Where: Laura’s House (call if you need directions)
Cost: $5 or free with a $30 or more order

Kim and I will be showing you a cool stamping technique called spotlighting! We will make 4 (maybe 5) cards using this technique. Feel free to bring a snack to share and a drink for yourself.

FYI
You will begin noticing a change in the classes I will be offering. I will be offering more classes showcasing certain techniques. Classes featuring techniques will cost only between $5 and $10 or free with an order of $30 or more. As will all other classes in the past, registration is kindly requested as space is limited. I will be doing many of these classes with fellow demonstrator, Kim. I hope you will find these classes intriguing!

Sale-A-Bration
A little idea to keep in mind – if you attend my class next Friday, February 1 and spend $50 you will not only get the class for free, but you will also get to choose a free stamp set from the Sale-A-Bration catalog! If you spend $100 you’ll get to pick 2 free Sale-A-Bration sets and so on……

Even better – if you host a workshop in your home (or mine) you will be eligible to earn even more FREE Sale-A-Bration sets. With every $300 your workshop reaches, you will be able to receive a free stamp set. If you happen to spend $50 of your own – it will go towards your workshop and you’ll earn even more. That’s not including all the other free hostess dollars and stamp sets you’ll already be earning based on the benefits in the catalog!

As I hinted to you above, I am now offering workshops here in my home. If you would like to host a workshop for your friends but don’t want to have to worry about cleaning your house, mine is now open for business. You can choose the format of your workshop too! If you would like to just focus on one technique, we can do that. If you want to bypass all the catalog information, we can do that. I’ll also be offering fast & fun workshops where the demonstration takes 20 minutes or less. I’m going to let you choose how you want your workshop to go.

Right now
You can earn a FREE stamp set from the Spring/Summer Preview Brochure by hosting a $350 or more workshop! This offer is good until January 31! I still have dates left and it is really easy to put one together quickly. If you would like to earn a free set from the Spirng/Summer Preview Brochure let me know and we can get going today!

Have a super weekend everyone! Registration for the Spotlight on Spotlight class begins….
NOW!

Laura

It's Here!!

2007-12-18T11:42:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays! I can't believe only a few short days until Christmas! My schedule is so off course - but I am gaining speed. I have a goal to get my Christmas cards done by Thursday - better late than never right?

Last night I had a few girls from my downline over to celebrate and brainstorm ideas for the new catalog coming up. I gave each of them one of these adorable Christmas trees I made from the cerise designer paper. I love making these trees and especially like the curled edges of this one. It really makes all the patters stand out.

There is lots of new to share with you today. Yesterday I got my new Spring/Summer 2008 Collection catalog. I can't wait for all of you to see it. There are some really fun new sets and some great new accessories to try out. I love the new glitter (how's that for a tease?). I have a couple of boxes of the catalogs ordered and they should be here on my doorstep in a matter of days. If you would like one of these and would like to be one of the first to get your hands on one, feel free to call me and let me know. Catalogs are $10 or free when you book a workshop. Remember - there are some great specials to take advantage of which I will share with you. The "Wrapping Up the Holidays" promotion has been extended until December 31. Take advantage of 20% savings on the tags stamp set, some pre-cut paper and tins for decorating - to name just a few. Click on the link above for more information.

Next once again is the Fall/Winter Collection 2007 Retiring List. Here is a list of all the stamp sets that are retiring as of December 31st. Order by the deadline and enjoy 10% off any retiring sets when you mention the 10% discount. Enjoy 15% off retiring sets and accessories when you book a workshop in January-March! And when you place your retiring order and book your workshop for January, February or March you will also get your Free copy of the new 2008 Spring/Summer Collection catalog! Looky at the cover - isn't it pretty? There are even some embossed flowers on the cover of this one - you can't tell by the pic, but they are there. Very pretty!

There are some retiring accessories going to and some of the stock is already depleted. You can view the list of retiring accessories at the bottom of my blog page. The cerise designer paper used for my Christmas tree above is one of the items retiring - I"m so sad to see that one go.

For those of you whom I email this post to, I'll email an attached flyer with all the information. For those of you reading for the fun of it here are the details:

Customers - Purchase the Valentine's Day Bundle (item #111903) for just $33.40 and get Regal Rose wide grosgrain ribbon-FREE!

Hostesses - Hold a workshop of $350 or more and choose any one stamp set from the Spring-Summer Preview 2008 Brochure for FREE!

The Valentine's Day Bundle includes:
Happy Heart Day stamp set $20.95
Real Red wide grosgrain ribbon $7.95
Medium cellophane bags $4.50
Regal Rose wide grosgrain ribbon FREE!

PROMOTION FAQs
Q: How many Valentine's Day Bundles can a customer purchase?A: As many as she wants--there's no limit.
Q: How many free Preview brochure sets can a hostess earn?A: A hostess can earn one free Preview brochure set for reaching the $350 workshop order level. She cannot earn additional sets.
Q: How many free products can a hostess choose from the Preview brochure?A: Hostesses may choose one stamp set from the Preview brochure. The offer does not include the Valentine's Day Bundle, Nursery Jumbo Wheel, or any accessories featured in the brochure.

I will be having some new and exciting classes coming up. There is a really great chance there will be one in January already. We'll be doing something more than cards and maybe even a few scrapping classes! I'll be making some changes to the way I hold classes and workshops. As mentioned, I will be offering classes to everyone beginning in January, but if there is ever a time you want to come to a class, but cannot make it on the date I have scheduled, I will be offering my classes as a workshop based event for you and your guests upon request! That way you never need to miss an event to learn a new technique! I'm really excited about the new ideas and I hope you'll stay tuned for my list.

For now, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and blessed holiday season. May we all remember the true meaning of the reason for the season.

Retiring List is Out

2007-12-11T11:06:00.000-05:00

Happy Snow Day! The kids are home today from school due to the nasty icy snow weather we are in the midst of right now. Of course I have a bazillion things that need to get done today and now it will be very slow going. So to boost up my motivation I thought I'd post a little ditty for you today. My pic here is of a pretty little ornament I made a few years ago (as you can see). I picked up my coluzzle again recently and made some more of the really cute glass ornaments. These are so fun and easy to do and I am looking forward to making a few more for my relatives this Christmas.

Here are the links to the retiring list for the Fall/Winter 2007 Collection. These items are available until supplies last. One list is of the retiring stamp sets and the other is a list of the retiring accessories. Hurry and order today to get these items before they are gone, gone gone...

I am still putting together gift certificates - a great Christmas gift for your stamping friends!

Speaking of Christmas gifts - we are only a few short weeks away from my favorite holiday. I love the hustle and bustle of the season when we are going out and about to see the kids perform in their Christmas programs at school and church. Sophie gets to go caroling with her GEMS group next week and we will soon be getting together with my mom to make our Polish traditional Chruschiki. I can't wait to taste the sweet flaky pastry!
There are so many wonderful things to be thankful for and this is such a wonderful time to reflect on all our riches while keeping in mind that the greatest gift we can give anyone is the gift of Christmas - the knowledge that God has sent his only Son as a gift to us sinners so we may be forgiven and saved from our sins. What an incredible gift that is! I hope that all of you have a wonderful and blessed holiday.

2007-11-29T21:34:00.000-05:00

Hello! Can you believe I am posting 2 days in a row? I can’t either! Wow!

Today I got my carpets and living room furniture cleaned. This was the first time ever doing this after having both the carpet and furniture for 12 years. The carpet cleaner guys couldn’t believe that neither had ever been cleaned. They guy asked me 3 times when was the last time I had had it cleaned – I told him “Never!” So, that made me feel pretty good – especially in those 12 years – 8 of them have been with kids jumping, eating, pooping and well, you get the picture, all over it. I’ve spot cleaned, but never deep cleaned like they did for me today. It looks great – only now I think I need to paint my walls because once you start cleaning one thing – everything else now looks soooo dingy! So, I’m thinking of painting the walls in either so saffron, sahara sand, kraft or creamy caramel. Yes, folks I do see the world in 48 colors – Stampin’ Up!® colors!! I think the Kraft color is winning out so when the time comes I will take a piece of the kraft cardstock with me to the paint store and have them mix me my color!

Okay – enough about my personal life – now for the good stuff – stampin!- I need to apologize to you all about yesterday’s post. I am not giving up on Stampin’ Up!®. I mean, I love it too much, but I know things are lacking in the economy now and I think that is what is making a pinch in my business. I am not giving up and have decided to see where I am at come March – after Sale-a-Bration. I will be offering some classes between now and then. Look for my posting on those within a few weeks. There will be something other than cards coming up.

In the meantime – I hope you are enjoying the picture I have shared with you today. This is my first attempt at making one of the cool Christmas trees we’ve been seeing done everywhere. I am very happy with how this turned out. I even made the bow on the top all by myself (yeah me!) Sorry, it isn’t often I get something right the first time. For this tree – I used some retired Stampin’ Up!® designer vellum paper. It is copper (I wish they hadn’t retired all the copper stuff – I loved the EP, cardstock and cord). I did my Christmas cards last year in eggplant envy and copper – very elegant. Anyway, I will be making a few more of these trees to give away as some gifts. I can’t wait to make some more.

Now, before I sign off tonight I want to share with you an absolutely fantastic special that Stampin’ Up!® is offering. Here is a link to the flyer for your viewing pleasure – but below explains what is on sale. These prices are some of the best I’ve ever seen from Stampin’ Up!.®

Also, the Pick a Pack of Pretty Papers promotion ends tomorrow! Buy 3 packages get 1 FREE! Enjoy!

Wrapping Up the Holidays
November 23-December 15, 2007
Details:
This offer includes a variety of products designed to help simplify preparation for holiday gift giving with a number of timely offers. These are:

Holiday Tag Bundle $4.95
Tags for All Stamp Set* (20% off) $24.76
Designer Gift cards* (30% off) $4.55
Chocolate Chip satin ribbon* Buy 1, get 1 free! while supplies last!
Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon* Buy 1, get 1 free! While supplies last!
Tin 3-Pack $9.95
Celebration wrapping paper* $17.95
Hand Selected Accents & Elements (25% off)* $8.21

There is no limit to the number of items you may purchase, but Holiday Mini items are available only while supplies last.

The Holiday Tag Bundle includes the following pieces:
-30 pieces of Whisper White card stock
-15 pieces of Real Red textured card stock
-15 pieces of Soft Sky Prints Designer Series Paper (Dotted Diamond pattern)
-15 pieces of Real Red twill tape
The pieces for this bundle make 15 cellophane bag toppers that are perfect for neighbor or teacher gifts. These pieces are from the Holiday Glitz card kit and will come shrink-wrapped individually (for example, all 15 pieces of Real Red twill tape will be shrink-wrapped as one package), but not as a bundle, so hostesses will need to refer to the packing list as they assemble the orders of their guests. Instructions are not included in the bundle, but you can provide instructions (available in the right column) for your customers who wish to make the projects shown in the flyer.

The satin ribbon offer (buy one, get one free) is good on both the Purely Pomegranate and Chocolate Chip ribbon. Customers may select any combination of ribbon for their free ribbon. For example, a customer can buy one Chocolate Chip and choose a second Chocolate Chip or a Purely Pomegranate ribbon for the free ribbon.

The Tin 3-Pack contains three empty Accents & Elements tins. These tins have never been available for purchase separately.

I think that ribbon will be moving really fast!
Have a super evening everyone! Thanks for stopping by!

Santa is A-Coming

2007-11-28T09:43:00.001-05:00

Greetings everyone. I hope all of you enjoyed a wonderful, bountiful and pleasant Thanksgiving last week. Our table was filled with beautiful food, a huge turkey, lots of stuffing and homemade cranberry sauce. Thanksgiving is always such a wonderful holiday. It is when I reflect even more upon how thankful I am for all the wonderful blessings in my life. I have a great family, fantastic friends, shelter over my head and a loving Lord who by his grace has blessed me with all these wonderful things.

Stamping and Stampin' Up! are such a wonderful part of my life also, as I truly enjoy sharing ideas and techniques with other stampers. Another really great thing about being a demonstrator is sometimes we get free stamp sets as a thank you from Shelli Gardner (the CEO and founder of Stampin' Up!) In the pic above is a stamp set she just sent all demonstrators as a Thank You gift. It is one of the sets that will be in the upcoming new catalog.

However, I have hit a point in my career as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator where I need to make a decision as to whether I can remain as a Demonstrator.

I know the economy here in Michigan is very poor. We are all feeling the crunch of gas prices and the increase of just about everything lately - therefore making it more difficult for many of us to have the extra funds to spend on stamping(including myself). I am hoping this is also the only reason why I have had the tremendous decline in my business. Because of this I am feeling my time as a Stampin Up Demonstrator are limited. I love being a Demonstrator and I love spending time with all of you - my wonderful stampin' friends. I haven't given up totally yet thought. There is a new catalog coming out in January and Sale-A-Bration starting in February so I am hoping this will spark some interest in hosting workshops and attending some classes I have been putting together for all of you. Therefore, I have a couple of challenges for you:

Host a workshop in December - (It can be a catalog, virtual or in home workshop). When you host a workshop in December you will receive not only the present Fall/Winter Collection catalog, but also the new Spring/Summer Collection for 2008 along with a Free ink pad and matching package of cardstock. If your workshop reaches over $500 I will also give you a free ink pad or package of paper per month for one year beginning in January 2008 (restrictions apply - a free ink pad or package of cardstock will be given each month to anyone who's workshop reached over $500 in the month of December 2007. Ink pads or paper package will be rewarded only as long as Laura remains a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator or until December 2008)

Host a workshop in January - and receive a Free copy of the Spring/Summer Collection 2008 catalog for free and a package of one of the new designer papers featured in the Preview Brochure. If your workshop reaches over $500 you will be rewarded with a free inkpad or package of cardstock a month for 6 months (same restrictions apply for the December challenge)

One More Challenge: Introduce someone new to stamping or to my stampin' up circle. If they set a date to host a workshop of their own then each of you will receive a sheet of Stampin' Up!'s new line of Rub-Ons featured in the Preview Brochure. These are really great ways to quickly add a special touch to your cards and scrapbook pages.

Sharing Time:

I am finally posting some of the pages of the altered book I made when my Uncle Steve passed away. What a wonderful person he was and I am very proud of the the job I did on this book. For my first attempt at an altered book and collage art I think I did a pretty good job. I'll post more pictures of other pages at a later date. Here is the cover and one of the first pages. The picture on the cover is of my Uncle making his first communion. I copied the picture onto a transparency and adhered it to the cover. I worked a lot with transparencies in this book and really like how it looks. I like seeing part of the images from the paper show through the pictures. On some of the other pictures inside the book I have painted on the back of the transparencies highlighting the dress of my grandmother and the uniform of my grandfather. I'll post that pic at a later date. Anyway, I hope you like it. I am looking forward to making another one of these books. It is a challenge, but one worth doing.

I got the idea for doing this from one of the fantastic publications from Stampington. They publish many art magazines where I find tons of inspiration. From Stampington I found a book they featured called : Altered Books Workshop. You can find and purchase this book on Amazon or I am sure you can find it or have it ordered from any bookstore. It is a wealth of information and inspiration for all levels of altered book and collage artists.

This book gave me a chance to try some different mediums. I had never used acrylic paints or gesso before and found it pretty fun to work with. Modge Podge was my choice for adhering the pictures on the pages. My cuttlebug was used for some of the embellishments on this page. Other pages use some antique lace I found at a local antique store (I love Somewhere in Thyme). Anyway, I hope you enjoy these pages I featured today. I'll post some more later.

Last, the candy is still available for when I have 100 guests sign my guestbook! Share with your friends my website.

Oh, one thing I will clarify just in case you are wondering - Stampin is in my blood - therefore the blog and ideas will continue even if my career as a demonstrator doesn't.

Have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by.

2007-11-13T14:39:00.000-05:00

Stampin' Up! Info first - Did you notice my little tag up here? The retiring list is coming!! If you want to order for Christmas gifts, orders must be in before December 15th to ensure Christmas delivery. Stampin' Up! does not offer expedited shipping right before Christmas. So, make up your lists and check them twice! Don't forget to put Stampin' Up! on your list - I'll be taking gift certificate orders until December 20th if you want little goodies to go with the gift certificate.

The retired list will be good until December 31 so if there are items from the current catalog that you want you'll want to spend your gift certificate before Dec. 31. Otherwise, you can wait for the exciting date of January 1 when the New Spring/Summer Collection catalog will begin with many new stamp sets and exciting projects!

Oh yes, if you're wondering about Sell-A-Bration (now called Sale-A-Bration)- We'll look forward to that anticipated event to happen in February/March. Keep posted for more info and I'm taking Workshop bookings through March!

Hey! I've missed blogging for a while. I've been trying to find some interesting things to share with all of you, but I am at a creative block. So, I've decided today to share pictures from Friday night's Stamp-A-Stack I had here. It was a lot of fun and for the 1st time I think everyone finished their cards before going home! Now That's Incredible! Here are some pics of the girls working hard. Big Kudos go out to Laura for traveling all the way from Evart to join us.

This was her 1st time stamping and she did a marvelous job! I think she's hooked! Me thinks she will be joining us again! (Evart is about 1.5 hour drive north of here). Whew!

And.. Melinda gets the "stay up late award" as once again she was the last to leave - only because she's awesome & we always have such fun - I really love having her here - she keeps things hopping! Plus, Melinda knows the catalog better than I do!

Hey, my DGF Julie even made it to stamp (see cards for a cure post about Julie). Who BTW had her last chemo treatment yesterday! Woo Hoo! She still has a little ways to with radiation, but she is keeping herself in the loop and is just being her fantastically awesome self! So glad Jules could make it. She even brought her DD Rachel who hung out with Sophie (Rachel is Sophie's BGF) until 11:00pm! They thought that was pretty cool!

Even Nolan had a good time. (Isn't he adorable?)He always enjoys having people over to stamp. He's quite the show off -Plus he really likes Miss Maegan (above left) who got a really nice "good night hug" from him.

Last pic here I am sharing with you is of the little Halloween treats I made up for both Sophie & Nolan's classmates. I had found the little spider rings at the dollar store (50 to a package - perfect amount for both classes). I used the ribbon punch to make the hole to hold them in the candy holder. I also put a McDonalds coupon and a laffy taffy in their little boxes for them to enjoy. I got the pattern from splitcoast stampers. I used some retired SU designer paper (can't remember the name), the scallop circle punch, 1 3/8 and 1 1/4 circle punches and the cutest Halloween stamp set - "Batty for You". I love the little Frankenstein saying "trick or treat, smell my feet".

Just a reminder: I still have the blog candy for the 100 hits to my guest book. Let me know that you visited by signing my guest book!

Here They Are! SAS Xmas 07 Samples, SU DSP & Much Much More

2007-10-29T21:59:00.000-04:00

STAMP-A-STACK CHRISTMAS

Greetings! As you can see I have FINALLY been able to post pictures of the cards we will be making for the Christmas Stamp-A-Stack on November 9th! Besides being behind the 8-ball as usual, I was having difficulty posting pictures to Blogger lately due to some of their technical problems. Oy! If it isn’t one thing it’s your mother!

Anyway – I hope you like these designs and that they inspire you to attend my class. I have about 10 guest who have already RSVP’d and there is still room for a few more!

The class will be held here at my place on November 9th at 6:30pm – until whenever you feel done. Feel free to wear your jammies, bring your own adhesive, a light snack to share and your own trimmer too! I’ll have Xmas music for our listening enjoyment along with probably a few other goodies to Win! Cost is $25. You get to make 5 of each 4 designs and will get envelopes too.

10% off any order at the SAS Class on Nov. 9th!
Oh yes – I almost forgot – Anyone who places an order of $30 or more at the class will enjoy 10% off their order too! If anyone who attends schedules a workshop to receive FREE SU stamp sets and other goodies for November or December they will enjoy the rewards of being a Stampin’ Up! hostess plus get a set of 16 Christmas Cards (lovingly stamped by yours truly) to use for their own Christmas Card stash! Workshops can easily be thrown together within a few days and you can also invite guests virtually. For more information just give me a call or send an email!

Stampin’ Up!® Designer Series Paper
(otherwise known as SU DSP)

Stampin’ Up!® Designer Series Paper is Awesome! If you haven’t noticed – lately I have been using a lot of the SU DSP in my card making. From instructing all you wonderful ladies who attended my One Sheet Wonder Class earlier this month to my everyday every occasion cards SU DSP is finding its way into many of my projects. I love this paper! I love the whimsy of the Cutie Pie paper and the elegance of the Holiday Harmony paper – and don’t get me started on the Designer prints! What really excites me about our DSP, however is that all the colors used in our series are SU colors! So when I go to mount my DSP on a solid color, I know just the right color to use. If you have some of the SU DSP and aren’t quite sure what colors are featured in yours, Here I have all the colors used for each DSP series. Many of you have requested this information, so I thought this would be a fantastic time to share it with you. Here goes:

Stampin’ Up!® Designer Series Paper Color Palettes:

· Brocade Backgrounds: Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, River Rock
· Cerise: Real Red, Very Vanilla
· Charbon: Basic Gray, Very Vanilla
· Creepy Crawly: Basic Black, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust
· Cutie Pie: Bashful Blue, Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Rose Red, So Saffron
· Darling Doodles: Brocade Blue, Groovy Guava, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi
· Dashing: Old Olive, Real Red, River Rock, Very Vanilla
· Fall Flowers: Old Olive, Really Rust, Sahara Sand, Soft Sky
· Flowers for You: Certainly Celery, Lovely Lilac, Regal Rose, Tempting Turquoise
· LeJardin: River Rock, Soft Sky, So Saffron, Very Vanilla
· Linen Prints: Apricot Appeal, Cameo Coral, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive, Pink Passion.
· Notations No. 2: More Mustard, River Rock, Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi
· Outlaw: Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Really Rust, Sage Shadow, Very Vanilla
· Petals & Paisleys: Certainly Celery, Rose Red, Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Taken with Teal
· Porcelain Prints: Blue Bayou, River Rock, Wild Wasabi
· Uptown: Almost Amethyst, Basic Gray, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi
· Wintergreen: Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Sage Shadow, Soft Sky
· Holiday Harmony: Purely Pomegranate, Always Artichoke, River Rock

I think that is all of them – WOW a lot of cool color combinations huh?

Remember, you can get 4 packs of DSP for the price of 3 starting November 1st.

More to Share:
Please remember to sign my guest book. There is blog candy waiting to be had. As soon as I get 100 guests to sign my book, someone will be winning my blog candy from my previous post! Remember to tell your friends too!

Stamp Sets For Sale!

Finally tonite, I have numerous used (some brand new) Stampin’ Up!® stamp sets and stampin' around wheels that I would like cleaned out of my stamp room. Below is my list with prices. Shipping costs to the continental US will be $5 and I will ship Priority Mail. I can combine orders with shipping if you purchase more than one set. If you're purchasing just a wheel, shipping will be @2.50. I hope you find something you've been looking for! Enjoy your shopping!

$15 Sets:

Greetings Galore
Holiday Tag Team
In Any Event (Hostess)
Seasons Sketches (brand new unmounted)
Posey & Bee

$10 sets:

Along the Same Lines
Botanical Garden
Buds & Blossoms
Hearts & Posies
Just Jeans Background
Little Layers II
Nice & Narrow
O My Word (hostess set)
Sun Ripened II
Tags N More

$12 Sets

Bloomin' Wonderful
Brushstroke Hummingbird
Cute as a Bug
Fishy Friends
Flower Garden
Frolicking Frogs
Ladybug Picnic
Petal Pushers - sold

$8 Sets

Fun Frames
Love Ya Bunches
Mon Ami
Noteworthy (new unmounted)
Paint Prints

$6 Sets

Around & About
Around the Block
Letter Perfect Backgrounds
Little Shapes
Love Ya

Stampin' Around Wheels - all $3.oo each - small wheels, no Jumbo ones.

Funky Firs
Gingerbread Man
Daisies
Great Outdoors
Candy Cane Craze
Snowflake
Candy Cane Christmas
Blossoms & Bugs
Happy Birthday
Love Swirls
Graduation Day
Whimsical Blossom
Wings & Things
Hugs & Kisses
Confetti Play
Butterfly
Star Studded
All Hearts
Lovely Ladybugs
Pindot

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping By!

I'm not above bribery

2007-10-24T00:20:00.000-04:00

Hey There. Just a quick post tonite. I've been busy again with school stuff and making cards for all the orders I got for my "cards for a cure" thing I'm doing for my GF Julie.

Thanks to all of you who have signed my guest book so far. Keep signing and tell your friends. I'll draw for the candy winner as soon as I get 100 guests to sign!

Hey - if you haven't heard - Beginning November 1 Stampin' Up! is offering a free package of Designer Series paper when you order 3. I think this is a great offer. I love Stampin' Up! DP and can't seem to get enough of it lately. You can definetly bet on me taking advantage of this deal next month! I have really been using the SU DP a lot on my projects lately. My little wren house I made here uses the Stampin' Up! Designer Paper "Outlaw". If you happen to have the Art From the Heart CD from Stampin' Up! you'll see this in there too. This was one of my convention display samples and probably one of my favorite projects.

Anyway - that's pretty much it for tonite. I"ll be posting the Xmas cards next time. My camera is not working properly so I haven't been able to take any pictures - which is why I haven't posted them yet.

Took one of those fun little online quizzes today and here is what I got. Just a little fun thing to share:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have">What American accent do you havehttp://www.gotoquiz.com/">Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Check out My New Guest Book - and a Bribe

2007-10-20T10:15:00.001-04:00

Isn’t this guestbook thing a cool idea? Since you visit my site, you get to know a little about me. Unfortunately with this process, I don’t get to know you. Therefore, I would like to get to know a little about all of you who visit me here so I have added a guestbook to my site for you to sign and tell me a little about yourselves. I’m really excited about this – it’s pretty cool. Oh – and even if I do know you really well, please sign it anyway. J By all means share my site with your friends too because….

Yep you guessed it I've got a Blog Bribe for you. :)

Once I get 100 guest signatures in my guest book I will celebrate by randomly picking a winner to receive the current and last issues of the Stampin’ Up! catalogs along with a retired stamp set (already mounted for your convenience) Gently Falling. I don’t show the case for the stamp set in the pic, but it will come with the case. Even if you might already have these catalogs and stamp set, but all means sign it anyway – they make great gifts for your stampin’ friends! You’ll be one gift closer to having all your Christmas shopping done!

I do have one more thing to ask you when you do sign the guestbook. Please also leave me a comment to this post and let me know you signed it. Aaaannd.... please give me your email address so that if you win I can email you and let you know.

For those of you waiting for the pics of the Stamp-A-Stack xmas cards – I’m working on them now and will hopefully have them ready for posting tomorrow!

Last – thank you to all of you who have ordered Cards for a Cure in honor of my BGF Julie. I’ve had orders come in from her blog and am caught up with all of those. I’m just waiting on the “extra special gifts” to arrive that I am giving to the 1st 10 people who ordered. Thank you again. Orders are still being taken for these until October 31!

Have a blessed day everyone! Thanks for stopping by.

Cards For A Cure

2007-10-16T19:23:00.000-04:00

A few things have been weighing on my mind lately and one of them is that one of my best friends, Julie was diagnosed with breast cancer in June. I've been wanting to do something for her where I can utilize my stamping abilities to help her and all the other women whose lives have been turned upside down by breast cancer.

Julie and Stamping are two of the many wonderful gifts that I have been given by the grace of our wonderful and awesome God. So, thanks to the ideas from a few other bloggers that I frequent I am borrowing their idea to help raise some $$ for the Susan G. Komen foundation in Julie's name.

Therefore with no further adieu -

I have designed 3 different cards (using pink of course) that are available in a packages of 5 with envelopes for $8 a pack. You can choose any of the 3 designs shown here.

Just so you know, I am not selling these for profit, all $$ will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation For the Cure for breast cancer.

The 1st choice (above) is the Dare To Be Fabulous card. The flower has some pretty glittery sparkle. It is my favorite of all of these because I love the saying "Dare to be Fabulous"! Here are the other 3 choices below.

The first 10 people who order a set will get an extra surprise!

I'll be taking orders until October 31st. I will have all orders fulfilled by November 25th.

These would make great stocking stuffers for Christmas.

If you would like to read a little more about Julie's story or send her a little note of encouragement, you can visit her blog Julie's Friends.

To order your cards simply drop me an email letting me know which set you would like (Dare, Life or Thank You ) and I will send you an invoice payable via paypal/check/cash or money order.

Thank you

A Normal Day

2007-10-04T10:11:00.000-04:00

Good Morning Bloggers! Hope you all are starting your day off with a little sunshine and a smile. Today actually feels like a normal day - I have things to do but don't feel like I have to rush. I like days like this. The weather is nice - cool in the morning and warm in the afternoon. The only problem with days like these is I never quite know how to dress my kids for school - jeans or shorts, short or long sleeves. Anyone else have that problem? Michigan weather is so fickle - you never quite know what you're going to get (like a box of chocolates).

Well, Saturday is World Cardmaking Day. Is anyone out there holding or going to a class or other stamping event? I'd like to know what the rest of you are doing for this wondrous occasion.

Post a comment on what you are doing for World Card Making Day and On October 7 I will use the random number picker and pick a winner for the following

BLOG GOODIES!

a new clear stamp & acrylic block that I found at Michaels. (Has anyone seen these?)

some ribbon samples for you to enjoy!

some pre cut 12 x 12 designer paper from the Fall Flowers series in the Stampin' Up! catalog to make your own OSW cards. like

Here's a pic of the Goodies:

I myself am doing a fun One Sheet Wonder class on Saturday with a fellow Demonstrator - Kim. I'm really looking forward to this! The pic above is a sample of a couple of the cards guests can make with their paper. Everyone will be getting the Fun & Fast Notes stamp set from the 2007 Fall/Winter Collection Stampin' Up! catalog along with all the materials to make 16 cards! I am cutting and mounting all of the sets for my guests. I will be double mounting the set like in the pic above. This way you don't have to use the sentiment unless you want to. I so like mounting my own stamps so I can have this option.

Needless to say that after my volleyball game tonite I will be working on cutting a whole bunch of stamp sets! I better go exercise my cutting fingers for a bit. Have a wonderful day!

chit chat

2007-10-02T15:20:00.000-04:00

Hello Friends!

I hope all of you fall is off to a great start. Haven't we just had wonderful weather here in Michigan? I can't believe it's going to be 80 this Saturday. Good for the soccer games - bad for hunting! Yes, October 1st is the beginning deer hunting and my DH was out there 1st light yesterday. No deer yet, but there's still lots of time.

Anyway - I only have a few minutes to type here and I just wanted to blog today since it's been a while again. I've been slacking because every day life is just so busy. I've already helped out at both kids classes in school today, gotten my hair cut, gone grocery shopping. I now have to get Sophie from school, take her to get her hair cut, take her to dance class and then take Nolan to soccer practice.

So, not much to write about, but Just wanted to shout out to the fun ladies who came for PMS night (sorry I had to reschedule for Sept) but we really had fun. I hope to see more of you at the next one in December!

This weekend is still the OSW class at my church. I have room for 2 more if you are interested! Call or email me if you want more info!!

Okay - I am off to taxi again!

Hope you have a super day!

Another Day Another....

2007-09-19T21:41:00.000-04:00

I'll let you finish the title. To me today was just another day (makes me think of John Cougar - I love that song).

This past week has been very crazy. We lost my great uncle Steve last Thursday. He is the uncle I think I've mentioned before that my mom had moved in with her to care for. On Thursdays I would go over and help him out while my mom took a day for herself. My great uncle was 93. His mind all there, but his body was shutting down. It got to a point early last week when he decided that he couldn't take going to dialysis anymore he was tired and ready for his heavenly home. He was a sweet loving man who adored my kids. I am so thankful that they were able to know him. Both of my kids took it pretty hard when he died. I am so thankful for our faith in the Lord. I am so thankful that we share our faith openly with our children so they are more able to understand that death is a part of life and it is not something to be afraid of. They will miss him very much, but they are happy that they have wonderful memories of him - ones that I don't think they'll forget. He passed away at Hospice last Thursday. Since he was originally from the Detroit area that is where his funeral was on Saturday.

We knew earlier in the week that it probably wouldn't be long before he left us, so I started on a memory album of his life. I decided to do an altered book. I had found one at a garage sale recently and the title just caught my eye. It was titled The Very Best People. My uncle was one of the very best people in my life along with his siblings - who were my grand parents and favorite great auntie. I have been wanting to do an altered book for some time, but the whole collage thing kind of scared me a little as well as actually working with paint. Well, I worked long and hard on it and finally finished it about an hour before we had to leave for Detroit. I am pleased with how it turned out and I can't wait to share some of it with you. My mom is hanging onto it right now, but I plan to get some pictures soon. I'll tell you more about it when I actually have pictures.

Until then - I'll tide you over with the above card I made using the Wanted stamp set. For the background you simply

take a piece of copy paper and rip it.
take the ripped piece and lay it along the bottom edge of the card then take a cotton ball and rub it in the pastel chalk color of your choice.
Using the torn copy paper as a guide burnish the chalk onto the card.
move the paper up a little and add another burnished chalk line.
Continue moving the torn copy paper up and burnishing the chalk until you reach the opposite edge.
I then stamped the horse in basic black & Chocolate Chip - stamping off on one of the horses before stamping onto the card.
I sealed the chalk onto the card using a little Aqua Net hairspray - the cheap aerosol stuff!

I hope you like it!

I am off to bed now as I have a headache and really need to catch some zzzzzzzzz's................

Friday Already?

2007-09-07T23:12:00.000-04:00

I really can't believe that it is Friday already. My kids have made it through their first 4 days of school! Nolan has jumped right into Kindergarten and is absolutely loving it. Here he is on his 1st day. He was thrilled yesterday because he had homework already.

On the other hand Sophie wasn't as thrilled - although I think she is happy to see some of her friends again. She had a little bit of a rough day on the playground tho. There is a boy that likes her and his way of showing it is to tease her and chase her around the playground. However, sometimes the teasing gets a little out of hand so she was a little upset that day. I think each day it will get a little easier. Here she is in her class. She is really excited about watching the live Monarchs turn from pupa to butterfly. One of them just formed their chrysalis today and the kids got to see it. How cool is that?

Tomorrow is both Sophie & Nolan's 1st soccer game for the season. This is Sophie's 4th season of soccer and Nolan's 1st. I will only get to see 2 of Nolan's games as both he and Sophie play all the other games at the same time. I am asst. coaching Sophie's team so I really need to stay at her games. I really enjoy watching her play. She really likes it. We are hoping everything will be okay for her as her foot is still healing from her biopsy. She is going to play defense and goalie so she doesn't have to do as much running. She's still limping a little, but I think we're getting there!

Now for some stamping stuff. Right now I am beginning my 1st every altered book. I am doing a memory album of my Great Uncle Steve. I found a book recently at a garage sale and the title of the book is "The Very Best People". I though this would be a great one to alter with his photos because all the people in the photos are of my dad's side of the family and growing up - for me- they really were the very best people. I wanted to be like all of them. I have some ideas in my head and I need to get them on paper.

Today was spent hooking up my old scanner so I could scan all the old photos so I can photocopy them to make transparencies and such out of them for the book. Wish me luck on this one - I'm a little nervous about it - an excited at the same time. I'm going to be trying some collage techniques and really getting artsy fartsy! (I think) It took me forever today to get all the photos scanned (old scanner). Now I have to go in and edit them as best I can to get the best quality.

Now - to close I am sharing with you another item that is on the Art from the Heart CD for all you SU demonstrators. It is one of the display samples I did for Convention using the Wanted stamp set, Outlaw Designer Paper, the Sanded background stamp and Think Happy Thoughts stamp set. I have the template for this boot card if anyone would like it. Simply send me a comment with your email and I'd be happy to email it to you. For the boot strap I punched a piece of paper from the Outlaw DP using the Word Window Punch. Then I placed that piece onto a piece of creamy caramel cardstock and adhered it with the dotto removable adhesive. Then I took the matting tool (the name of it slips my mind right now - you know the little circle things that you put a pencil in the center and run around what you want to mat) and matted that piece and cut it out. Then I permanently adhered the punched piece to the mat piece and did a little faux stitching using a basic black marker and the paper piercing tool. I stamped the heel piece using the sanded background stamp with chocolate chip ink on creamy caramel cardstock.

Okay - I think that's it for tonite. I'm going to edit a few more photos then off to bed.

Good Night!

I'm Beginning to think there is no Challenge...

2007-09-05T21:43:00.000-04:00

I'm beginning to think that I won't be getting any entries for my blog challenge to make the slit flower frame or scallop frame cards. Oh well, if I don't then the candy will be saved for something else.... I'm leaving a link to the original post in case anyone is up to the challenge. I appreciate everyone stopping by though.
Here's the link to the post.STAMPS- INK- PAPER: New Title - What Do You Think??

I'm feeling a little BLUE tonite. You would think that all the change of getting the kids back to school, coaching soccer, taking Nolan to soccer practice, Sophie starting dance lessons again and all the hub bub of the beginning of the school year would be the reason, but the funny thing is it's not.

Why is sometimes that the changes in our lives are much easier to handle than the things that stay the same?

Note: If you don't want to read my venting - feel free to scroll down to the end where I give the list of items used to make the card above.....

You see things don't seem to change in my family (mom, bro, SIL ect). Why is it sometimes I'm okay being the "different" one in the family & other times it's so frustrating. I mean they just don't seem to get me. What is with double standards? Why is it that I am expected (don't get me wrong I want to be there for them) to attend my niece and nephew's 1st communion/confirmations and yet my bro, SIL and kids don't come to either of my kids baptisms? What's up with that? & why doesn't my Mother say anything to them about it - yet if it were me - she'd make sure I knew I had to be there?!

They don't seem to get the whole stamping, cardmaking, crafting thing either & so they don't respect it. My nephew (he's 13) doesn't want to hear about it so when I talk about it he cuts me off and says "well, it's just a hobby" & yet I am expected to be overjoyed with his accomplishments & interests. I mean come on last year he passed the SAT (or was it the ACT) at age 12 for heavens sake who wouldn't be impressed with that! My niece (she's 9) & in one of the pages I did for the SU Art from the Heart CD - I sent an email to them showing that it was on display (someone had taken a pic at convention) & I got no reply - NADA!
So the CD comes in the mail while my niece is here & I ask her if she would like to see it & she says "yeah yeah yeah, you made a picture of me and you won an award I heard all about it". What the heck!? Lets just slap me in the face!

So my enthusiasm for my "hobby" is fading & my faith in my family is not very strong right now. How many of you out there have to pray to keep your cool & calm when you know you're going to see your family? It shouldn't have to be that way! I shouldn't have to get stressed out to see my family and yet every time I do - every time I pray about it - and every time nothing changes. So finally I voice my pain and I am looked at with a blank stare.

At a conference I went to one time the speaker said "If you don't like something that is happening either

Change It
Accept it the way it is or
Walk away from it."

So I guess I am resigned to choose option #2 - because I know you cannot make a person change - only yourself. If I choose option #3 then that means I abandon my family & I don't want to do that to my kids - they get along splendidly with everyone - which is good - it means I am raising them right.

If it weren't for my friends I probably wouldn't continue with stamping. I mean if the people you really want to share this with don't give a rip then what's the point?!

Okay - I feel better now.

NOTE: If you skipped the venting - Begin Here:
Well, I don't think I will give up the whole stamping thing. I like it too much. Hence I made this card above for my dear friend D. who has listened to the whole story, (I just gave you the highlights - aren't you glad?) prayed for me, listened to me and helped me make a little sense of all this.
So, she's getting this little TY card sent in the mail tomorrow.

The card base is Paisly background stamped onto Pale Plum cardstock using VersaMark and then embossed with (retired) Dark Brown EP. I saw this done on a card that Beate did (see a link to her blog on the right) and I just loved it. Then I cut a big circle of vintage violet (retired) using my Coluzzle and stamped the Sanded background stamp onto that. I punched a Scalloped Circle using my Giga Scalloped Circle punch then stamped and embossed (dark brown EP again) the flowers & sentiment from the True Friend set in the mini catalog. I placed a rhinestone brad in the center of the small flower, strung some brown taffeta ribbon across the front and Voila a heartfelt TY for my dear friend. ((hugs))

Oh - and one more Shout Out to my blog friend Linda S. Thank you so much for the sweet gifts your sent Sophie. She is thrilled and will be getting you a TY out soon! Know that you are loved and in our prayers too. Thank your little Gabriella for her sweet thoughts too! Thank you for caring about her. She is on the mend and the foot is getting easier to run on every day. She still has the antibiotics until at least January along with monthly blood work - but she seems to be on the mend.

Thank you, blog friends, for stopping by today and listening to me vent(or not - thats okay too). I guarantee that tomorrow I will feel better and life will be sunny again - for tomorrow is a new beginning - fresh and without flaw.
God bless!

New Title - What Do You Think??

2007-08-31T15:12:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon! My reason for not posting in so long is because instead of posting I have been working on making my very own Blog Title design. So what do you think? I rather like the colors and really enjoyed figuring out how to do this on my Adobe Photoshop Elements. It's a long painstaking process because whenever I run my Adobe Photoshop it takes forever. I think I need a bigger graphics card or more memory or something put on my puter. Oh well, I finished it and of course I will probably make others as I am always changing my mind.

How did I do this?

Well, I downloaded some of the free digital kits from Two Peas In A Bucket. I then took elements from the digital kits and stacked them on eachother, cut them out ect with the Adobe Photoshop. The fonts were downloaded off of another free font website called dafont.com. There are links to both of these sites under my links list.

Above is a photo of a card I made as a sample of the SLIT FLOWER FRAME PUNCH TECHNIQUE. I learned how to do this from another blogger - Maria Bell. I demonstrated this technique at our last demonstrator meeting. The other ladies wanted to know how to do these, so here I will give a brief tutorial:

SLIT PUNCH FLOWER FRAME TUTORIAL

Begin with a piece of 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 piece of cardstock. I used Wild Wasabi here.

Using your coluzzle & circle template (use the template that has the littlest circle in the center) cut a 3" circle (3rd one from the outside) in the center or where you would like your flower to be on the card. The sweet pea one above is positioned more toward the top.

Now using the slit punch, begin on either the right or left side where the space between the circle and the edge of your cardstock is smallest. Punch a slit about 1/8" in from the edge of the circle.

Continue punching 1/8" in from edge of circle & leave about 1/8" between each punch as you go around. As for the 1/8" I just eyeball it - I am usually pretty well on.

Now you should be able to lift up each "petal". Lay a piece of scrap paper under a petal and using a sponge add some color around the edge of the petal. Repeat for the rest of the petals.

Using your white gel pen add a white dot to the center of each petal. Another option for added WOW is to punch a hole or add eyelets to the center of the petals.

Now if you have a little area left on the left & right sides go ahead and trim your piece so it is 5 1/4 x 4.

Cut a piece of card stock for your base (5 1/2 x 8 1/2) and fold to make your base. I used Whisper White.

Lay your flower punched piece over your card base to determine approximately where you would like your main image to go remove it then stamp. I used the Spotlight background stamp and the sweet pea image from the Event Full hostess stamp set.

Another way to put an image behind your punched flower piece is to stamp it on a piece of cardstock then adhere it to the back of the flower piece then adhere all that to your card base.

Here is another sample I made using the Stinkin Cute stamp set. I added a little dazzling diamonds to the skunks tail - so cute!

This really is a lot of fun to do.

THERE IS ANOTHER VARIATION to this technique which I have a couple of images to share too.

This is done pretty much the same way as the flower frame only instead of leaving a 1/8" space between each punch (see step #4) punch them side by side so that once you go all the way around you will be able to remove the punched flower - just like you would do if you were doing a scalloped edge using the slit punch. Once you remove the "flower" from the piece you can finish like I outlined above. It makes it look like a very large scallop frame. Here are a couple of my examples:

Here I used the Little Flowers stamp set to stamp around the flower. I filled in the center using a sponge and added purely pomegranate and groovy guava. I stamped the butterfly onto whisper white cardstock using purely pomegranate and cut it out (took me a while). Added a punched scallop from our scallop circle punch then an groovy guava circle on that then a clear button over another stamped piece of cardstock. Another thingy I did on this which I haven't done before is on the brads used to hold the ribbon on I put a mini glue dot and then dipped it into the dazzling diamonds. It works pretty good and adds a little extra sparkle. I added some faux stitching using the white gel pen all away around the punched frame.

For the one here on the right I used the Paisley background stamp for the frame. I stamped the horse from the Wanted stamp set - inked once and stamped 3x. The background behind the horses was done using a torn piece of copy paper and adding different layers using a sponge - lay the copy paper down add color onto your cardstock - move the copy paper and repeat using different colors.

There! Wow that was a lot of uploading and typing - but I hope it all makes sense - I hope it does because ....

IT'S A STAMPIN' CHALLENGE!

I am challenging all of you to make one of your own using either of the techniques - the flower frame or the scallop frame!

I have a little something for the prize draw winner.

Simply email or send me a pic of your creation -

add a little comment to my blog here

and be entered in to win a little package of stampin sweets from me - included in the package will be a stamp, some ribbon, paper and other little goodies.

Deadline for the images is September 10th

I will draw my winner (using a random number draw) on the 11th!

Well, that is all for now - have fun with your scalloped frames and flowers!

I Blog therefore I must Post

2007-08-24T00:30:00.000-04:00

I forget every year how exhausting it is getting ready for a new school year. It's crazier this year as Nolan will be starting Kindergarten and will finally be at the same school as Sophie. Both kids will be getting ready in the morning together and all. A whole new thing.

I have so many projects sitting around needing to get done! I have household projects still waiting for me to finish as well as stampin and scrapping projects that I must must must finish. I wish I could just have 4-6 hours every day to sit and stamp. My creativity comes so slow - I wish I could just execute my ideas quicker, but I find I must do a lot of tria and error before getting a look I want. I am also my own worst critic.

This page her is another of the convention samples I did. it is a great pic my mom took of my niece Shannon. I used 3 background stamps on this one - Happiness, Sanded and Print Pattern. Of course I just had to add the iridescent ice EP for some added snow on the picture. I hopy you enjoy it.

I went to on of my demonstrator meetings last night along with 2 of my best girl stampers - Kim and JoAnn - thanks for going Ladies! It was another fun night of stamping. We made the cutest little folders! I just love the idea. I'll have to take a pic and share with all of you.

Speaking of pics, I will hopefully get my pics taken of the samples I brought to the meeting last night - where I demoed the slit flower frame punch technique. When I get them posted, I'll also let you know how I made them & hopefully, by then I'll be able to give you the link to the person whom I found the idea from originally.

For now you'll just have to settle with a few more of my submissions I did for convention displays: The jar is made using the Happiness background stamp set and the flower petals are made using the oval punches and circle punches. The fish is actually a box - you put your goodies inside its mouth and you can seal it shut. I left it open. Again used the Happiness background set and using the circle punches made the scales with cardstock and vellum. The finishing touch (difficult to see in the pic though) was spraying the fish with the Pearl Ex/Hairspray mixture to give it a "fishy" shimmer. Totally loved doing this!

Enjoy! and thanks for stopping by!!

Blog Brownie Winner Revealed and More

2007-08-15T12:01:00.000-04:00

I am back from one of the most relaxing vacations I've ever had. We rented a cottage on a lake north of here in Michigan and spent 10 days up there with friends who also have a cottage there. All the kids got along so well with no fights or lack of things to do. My kids learned how to go tubing behind the boat and played most of the time in the water. The cottage we rented was so homey and comfortable.

I spent some of my time crafting. I learned how to make those barn stars found in the SU catalog! I mad a whole bunch of them and even left some at the cottage for the owners. They fit right into the decor so I'm pretty sure she will enjoy them.

Here is a picture of some of my first attempts. I got the pattern for this site. I followed the pattern, but still tweaked them a little after making the 1st cut. They're pretty fun and easy to do once you get the hang of it. They look really nice when you also put an eyelet in and string it with some hemp. Very cute.

Okay now for my BLOG BROWNIE WINNER! My little contest for the blog brownie was to guess how many emails I would have waiting for me when I returned from vacation.

Well, the answer is 498!

My blog brownie winner is..... Lindystamper! So Lindystamper I will await your snail mail addy and you will be getting this cuttle little purse full of cards along with a few sheets of the retired Au Chocolate designer paper from Stampin' Up!. Thank you all for your submissions. Some of you predicted that I would have 2000 or more! Wow, I wouldn't know what to do with that many! I'd be sitting here for a week just trying to get thru them! OY!

I am now off to prepare for a workshop and make some copies at staples.

For all my local stampers - be sure to check out my calendar for the upcoming classes. I only have a few spots left for the PMS Night on September 15! Also, note that the OSW Class is being held at Woodhaven Church on October 6th. A little note - October 6 is National Card Making Day so it is the perfect day to come and enjoy a night of stamping and making 16 cards from one sheet of 12 x 12 designer paper. Click on the calendar on October 6 to review the details.

Thanks for stopping by today and bringing me smiles with your comments.

Blessings!!.

Convention Samples & New Classes listed!

2007-08-03T09:06:00.000-04:00

Hello!

Check out my calendar - new classes are listed for September thru December!!

This will be my only post for the next 2 weeks as I am going on vacation. So please stay tuned! I don't know what I am going to do without my computer. It's such a part of me. It will seem weird to be away. I can only imagine how many emails I will have when I get back. Hmmmm......

I THINK I SMELL SOME BLOG BROWNIES BAKING!!

HOW MANY EMAILS DO YOU THINK I"LL HAVE WAITING IN MY INBOX?

Send me your guess of how many emails I will have waiting for me when I return. The person who is closest will win my BLOG BROWNIE -

a sampling of the AU Chocolate designer paper (retired now but very cool),
A set of cards made with the paper
and an extra little tidbit! SOUND YUMMY?

Here is another of my submissions for the display boards for Stampin' Up! convention. It is of Sophie and Nolan on Sophie's last day of Camp last year. I thought it fitting to share these pictures today because today is Sophie's last day of camp for this year. She's having so much fun - and getting around really well even with the cast.

I love the bright colors the kids are wearing in this photo. Is it just me or do all Stampin Up! Demonstrators see the world in 48 colors? Sophie is wearing Pink Passion and Nolan has a Real Red hat and a Brilliant Blue t-shirt. So, I totally had to use those colors in my scrap page. I love these pictures of them. Nolan missed his sister so much last year that on the last day when we went for the little program he didn't want to let her out of his site. As usual Nolan is making some sort of silly face, but the hand holding was a natural thing that just happened as they were telling each other all about the things they had done that week away from each other. I just had to snap the 1st pic without them knowing. I used the Happiness background stamp, flower punch and the journaling CD for this one.

This pic is another of my submissions for the displays. I used the WANTED stamp set again, Linen background, copper paper and EP and the OUTLAW designer paper. I have a jean purse that has pockets and all in front (great for holding my cell phone) which is what inspired me to make this purse box with the Wanted set & Outlaw paper. This box was totally cool and fun to make! The ribbon at the sides of the purse are being held together with some of the hodgepodge hardware.

I had a workshop at my friend Christi's last night. She is going to have a baby soon so of course I had to do a baby card for her. I will share that one soon. I just wanted to put a shout out to Christi and thank her for hosting the workshop. I have a few classes coming up on the next few months and just about everyone of her guests have signed up of one of the already! It's going to be lots of fun - I can't wait!

I am off on my vacation today - I will blog at you later! Thanks for stopping by today

More Display Samples

2007-07-26T11:46:00.000-04:00

Good Afternoon!

Here to the left (to the left, to the left ... sorry had a Beyonce moment there) is another of my submissions for the display samples at convention. Here I used the designer paper OUTLAW and fashioned a paper bracelet. Remember the old bracelets we used to make from gum wrappers? - well, why not make one from designer paper? It really is cool and stretchy so it is easy to put on. The cuff on the bracelet was made from the On Board Accents chipboard, some brushed copper (so sorry to see that go - I love copper), copper EP for the medallion from the WANTED stamp set and some vintage brads (my favorite brads) Oh yes, with the on board accent piece I just coated it with some Chocolate Chip craft ink. It looks like leather. The whole idea came to me when I was thinking "Western" and I thought of the big belts that the cowboys wear (a very nice visual I might add as I thought of Tim McGraw in tight blue jeans and a big belt..mmmm) Sorry, I got on a little tangent there. Anyway - I though this an original idea and had lots of fun with it. Oh - did you notice what I put the bracelet on to take the photo? I thought is accented the bracelet well.

Leave me your comments and tell me what you think it is! I .

Like my watermark? I downloaded the font for my initials online at a great Free Font site called dafont.com. There are soooo many cool fonts at this site and they're all FREE! I thought this paisly one would be great for all my BoHo samples that I post. I created the watermark in Photoshop Elements 5.0. There was an article in PaperCrafts magazine that kind of showed how to play with word layouts and such.

There are some really great Stampin' Up! specials coming up that I can't wait to share with you. One of them is in regards to Sell-A-Bration! So stay tuned and I will blog at you again soon!

Happy Monday

2007-07-23T14:26:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday Everyone!

Here is a picture of another of my submissions to Stampin' Up! for the displays at Convention. I'm still really bummed that I am not going! Who out there in blog land is going? Any demonstrators out there? Send me a quick note and let me know! I want to know all about the experience. I have only made it to one convention and that was 2 years ago. Time just doesn't permit me to go - I wish I could! Convention was a lot of fun. Oh well, even though I won't be there, my samples will be! I made the paper dolls above using the Happiness background stamp. I got the template for the dolls from Papercrafts magazine a while back. I kept the file on my computer in case anyone would like a copy. I would be more than happy to share it with you. These dolls were a lot of fun to do.

Here is another creation using my new Stampin' Up! Hostess Set "Vases in Vogue" along with the stamp set from Rubber Stamping Fun. I used some of the new in color colors (River Rock and Blue Bayou). I like the simpleness of this one. I watercolored the vase with the aquapainter and re-inkers. I colored in the flowers with the white gel pen. Simple but nice.

Keep checking back as I will be scheduling some classes very soon. I am looking at hosting 2 classes in September. I think we are in need of another PMS night (pizza, margueritas & stamping!). Stay tuned.....

We are off to get hair cuts today and then I am coming home to do some stamping. I'm still working on my neice's prayer journal. I really want to get that finished this week.

Have a super day and Happy Stamping!

We Have a Winner!

2007-07-20T00:03:00.000-04:00

Hello! Well, I know I said that I would post my Blog Candy Winner on Thursday - it looks like I am a bit late (It's about 12:06 am on Friday) Anyway - I tried.

From my random number generator I got #10 and the 10th person to post for my blog candy about her craft room was LindaSS. So, I'm waiting to hear from Linda so I can get her new Tags So Much Stampin' Up! stamp set. Congratulations Linda!!

Okay now to share a little info about my card I made above. First of all, it is one of the cards I made while sitting in the hospital with Sophie. She was in TV coma mode happily watching cable TV (A luxury we don't have here at home - if we did we would all be watching too much TV and I am envious of all you who get to watch Carol Duvall and QVC - but that's another story) - She was in Disney channel heaven and I was doing my best to keep myself occupied so I did not have to dwell on the possibilitIes of Sophie's illness. Anyway - here is a creation I did with Polka Dots & Paisley. I also stamped the polka dots on some pretty in pink cardstock and adhered it to a piece of the chipboard and sanded it down. Then I placed one of the new cool rhinestone brads in the center. Oh and used some of the Stampin' Up! Designer Paper.

Now you'll notice my sentiment on the front. That is from a company called RUBBER STAMPING FUN (notice the link here - I'll post it to my favorites soon). I really like this sentiment. It comes with 3 others in the set. They are pretty nice stamps - wood mounted - they carry some clear stamps too. I took the sentiment and stamped it on pretty in pink and certainly celery paper then cut out the words individually. It really looks nice as a whole too. I really like this font and how the stamp is laid out. I'll share more of this set at a later date.

Last Item I want to share with you is how I did the swayed border with my designer paper and whisper white. After much searching I found the new flexible ruler from Bo Bunny Press. You may have seen this advertised in all the recent scrapbooking and paper crafting magazines. I've been looking all over for it and I finally found it at our local crafting store (Country Needleworks). I think I got a pretty good deal on mine because I got a whole Apron Tool Kit- I got pencils, sanding boards, a pink apron, a stapler and staples, a pencil sharpener, eraser, bone folder, ruler, scissors and the flexible ruler! It totally ROCKS! Plus I got the whole package of stuff for only $14.99 and it retails for $29.99! I was so excited! The flex ruler is what I was really after and it is really cool. You just shape the 20" ruler into any shape you want, trace and cut out! Here is a picture of the Apron Tool Kit. Oh if you noticed, I've inserted a link to the Bo Bunny Press site. Check it out.

Today, I am also going to share with you my proud parent moment today. Well, from my previous post you know about our recent medical situation with my dear Sophia. Well, Sophia went with my mom on Tuesday to the doctors where my mom has to go once a month for her blood to be drawn. We wanted to show Sophie how her "Baci" (grandmother in Polish - sort of) deals with having her blood taken. This has been pretty rough on Sophie as she is quite scared every time we have to go and last time they had to poke her twice because she tensed up so much. Anyway you can see our philosophy on having her go with my mom. Unfortunately I think the reason she really went is because mom offered to take her out to lunch afterwards. Well, she's not one to pass up a free lunch and one on one time with Baci. Well, I don't think our philosophy worked, but God still had something else planned for her that day. At Applebee's where they went to lunch Sophie was reading her children's menu and it had a little ad on there about an organization called "Alex's Lemonade Stand". It basically tells kids that they can set up a lemonade stand to earn money to go towards this organization which raises money for pediatric cancer research. I guess this touched Sophie because today she had a lemonade stand out front of our house. She sat there from 1-6:30pm. She made about $15 and is ready to go at it again tomorrow. She recruited a couple of friends to help her today and Nolan (my son) even helped out too. She just didn't want to give up on it tonite - I think she would have sat there all night if she could have. I broke my heart to have to tell her to come in. Anyway we are $15 into it and we'll see where tomorrow brings us! I'm so proud of her! In fact, you may be seeing another link under my favorite links for this one soon too.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Why I've Been Away

2007-07-18T13:20:00.000-04:00

Hello my blogging & stamping Friends

I know it has been what seems like ages since I last posted to my blog. We had a little scare with my DD this month and it seems like things are getting a little back to normal. Thanks to those of you who emailed me to see if everything was okay. I appreciate your concern and I appreciate knowing that you all stop here to my little corner of cyberworld often. I have many things in my head that I want to share with you so hopefully with life getting a little more normal I can share some new ideas with you.

Anyway - by now you are probably wondering what it is that has kept me away so long. Well, my DD Sophia for the past few months has been complaining that her ankle is hurting. We took her in May for some X-rays but they came back negative. So we wrote it off as just a sprain or bruise. Well, the pain subsided for a while with her complaining about it off and on. Well the week of the 4th of July there was some swelling and although she was running around and doing what all active 7 year olds do it was still bothering her. Hence, we called the Dr. again and this time he wanted another set of x-ray's but he also wanted some blood work. We went on July 5 for the x-rays which they read right away and still nothing showed. We then went upstairs (we are at the hospital for all of this) for the lab work and waited until the next day for some answers. The nurse called and said they wanted another set of lab work done and that they would probably admit her to the hospital because they wanted to get an MRI. They did the MRI and found 3 spots on her ankle and informed us they needed to do a bone biopsy. They did that and we had to wait 48-72 hours for the results. At this time I was preparing for the worst news - that my DD had cancer. My dad died of a sarcoma type cancer 4 years ago so you can imagine it was was I was expecting the results of the biopsy to be. Thankfully, after spending 5 days in the hospital they let us know that the biopsy showed no cancer and grew no bacteria - however, because of the elevated sed rate and white blood count they think she has a bacterail infection in her bone. The name for it is Osteomyelits. Her presentation of this infection is very atypical which is why all this has stumped the Doctors. She was treated for 2 days in the hospital with IV antibiotics (we nicknamed the IV machine EVIL IVY) - very stong ones that needed to be administered every 8 hours. Sophie has been sent home with a cast on her leg to prevent any breakage since he did put a hole in her ankle for the biopsy. We had to meet with a pediatric infectious disease specialist late last week and he has put her on a 6 month regiem of heavy antibiotics and weekly blood work. Apparently this is a pretty tough bacteria to fight. Yesterday we went back to see the orhtapedic Dr. where he put a new cast on her - NEON PINK with a matching walking boot! And - get this - the new cast is also waterproof so she can still go swimming and salvage some fun out of the rest of her summer. Praise God for his wonderful works and life lessons. Sophie and all of us here have learned so much about the power of pray and how resiliant we can be when we really stick together and pray together. I am so proud of her and how she has handled this whole ordeal.

Sorry for such a long post, but it really is just a nutshell of the story - we are on the mend.

I wanted to share a picture of my beautiful girl which you see above. It is one of the items sent in to Stampin' Up! as a display sample. For those of you who don't know I was chosen to be a display sampler for this year's convention. Unfortunately I cannot attend convention this year, but my work will. I absolutely love this page of Sophie. She is such a great, caring wonderful girl and this page just represents her beauty so well. I did it all in black white and embossed in silver. I used the new "Wanted" stamp set. Sophie loves horses and this set was perfect for doing pages of her.

Oh yes, like my watermark next to the picture? I did it all by myself! I am so proud of it. I have Photoshop 5.0 and I taught myself how to do it. I did a few of them! Fun Fun!!

Keep posted for more items I submitted!

I'll draw for my blog candy today too - for those of you who have been so patiently waiting. I really love hearing how you all organize your stamping spaces! Very interesting reads and ideas. Thank you all who responded. So - next post I will draw my winner!

Have a splendid day!!

My Stampin' Space

2007-06-27T12:25:00.000-04:00

Here are pictures of my stampin' space. I thought it would be really fun to share how I organize all my stampin' stuff.

I would absolutely love to hear about how you store your stamps, paper and accessories. There are so many good ideas out there - so lets share them.

I HAVE BLOG CANDY! Submit your stamp room organizing tips (and pictures of your stamp rooms if you like). I will pick one lucky winner to receive a free "Tags So Much" Stampin' Up! Hostess set (only available until the 29th). I will draw my winner next Friday - July 6th. If I get more than 100 submissions I will draw for a 2ND BLOG CANDY (I have a few wheels looking for a home).

Okay - here is how I store my items and where I got them from:

I store my stamps in the wire cubes that you can get from Target. I have bought all of them when they were on sale (I think they're on sale this week along with the steel shelves that I use here too). I believe you can make 6 interlocking shelves from one box.

The black canvas drawers on top of the wire shelving in Picture 1 were bought using my 20% off coupon to Bed Bath & Beyond. I went back 3 times to get them all on sale. These hold all templates for scrapbooking, my cuttlebug and its diecuts/embossing folders, my sizzix dies (useable with my cuttlebug), some pictures & cards in the drawers. Another of the drawers holds my chipboard pieces.

My miscellaneous ink pads, craft and encore ink pads (see pic 1 top right) are all in a big inkpad holder bought on ebay. Unfortunately I cannot remember the ebay store I bought it from, but I'm sure you could find one by doing a search on ebay. I don't think I paid more than $30 for it.

My classic ink pads stored in a stampnstore ink pad holder (pic 2) on my drafting table. The inkpad holder from stampnstore was a christmas gift from my Mom a few years back. These are a little pricy, but I like the sturdy acrylic.

To the right of my drafting table (pic 2) you will see 2 wire shelves filled with boxes and such. Here you'll also see how my paper is stored - the paper sorter on the top shelf was bought at a garage sale, but you can find them at any office supply store. I keep 2 colors in each slot. I keep all my scraps in drawers from Oriental Trading Co. The plastic frosted drawers and boxes run for a package of three 12 x 12 boxes Ithink it's around $17. For the 3 drawer unit (frosted plastic) it is $19.99. (you can't see the 3 drawer on in the pic, but I use this one for my scraps).

In the red canvas drawers - purchased from Target (on sale 2 for $11) I keep embellishements, tools, ink cartridges, adhesives(I keep lots in stock). In the round Hat boxes I keep misc. ribbon, brayers and attachments, cotton balls/qtips, miscellaneous stamps. The hat boxes were all bought from Hobby Lobby when they were 75% off. I don't think I paid more than $5.00 for any of the boxes. There are 2 red suitcase type boxes also bought from Hobby Lobby at 75% off which holds all my coloring mediums - pastels, WC pencils, WC crayons, blender pens, aquapainters ect. The other 3 red boxes (Hobby Lobby 75% off) hold my scissors and other tools.

Anyway - that's how I keep all my stuff together. How about You? I'd love to hear!

For those of my customers who subscribe to my blog - one item of information!

I am cancelling my Open House for Saturday. I haven't gotten any RSVP's so I am going to cancel. The catalogs are scheduled to be here today - so if you pre-ordered one, simply give me a call to set up a time to get your copy.

Thanks and have a super day!!

2007-06-21T17:07:00.000-04:00

2007-06-18T15:59:00.000-04:00

Greetings! Here is the Father's Day card I have my hubby yesterday. He actually liked it. I knew he would though. The deer is actually 3D and so cool. The deer stamp is from Grey Wold Graphics. It is a mom & pop stamp company from South Haven, MI. All their stamps are so detailed, real like and cool. They come to the Rubber Stamp convention here in GR each year and each year (the past 4) I have wanted this stamp but was too late in getting there because this stamp and the other deer stamp they carry sold out so fast each year. This year I went earlier and alas they had 2 left! What's cool is they even give you the instructions on how to make the 3D deer. The paper is all Stampin' Up! including the wood designer paper. The metal tags is one of the retired metal tags from SU which I trimmed the top off so it would just be a rectangle. The deer was stamped on glossy cardstock with basic black ink then colored in with Stampin Write markers in more mustard and creamy caramel. Cool huh?

I've been lacking in my posting lately for a few reasons. I wont go into too much detail, but I've been helping with getting our Vacation Bible School going for church, running my kids to swim lessons and play dates. Just over a week ago one of my closest friends was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I've put a blog together for her so she can post her progress through this difficult journey. Please say a little prayer for her. Her nanme is Julie and she has 3 young girls. She is very blessed with a very supportive family and of course her friends are doing what they can for help. I am a firm believer in the power of prayer - so if you could all just say a little prayer for Julie, her family and even for the doctors who are caring for her. Thank you.

I am off to our first night of VBS - wish me luck!!

Lots of Stuff Today!

2007-06-07T09:58:00.000-04:00

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:

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.
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.
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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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!

Dancin'

2007-06-04T19:51:00.000-04:00

Saturday night was the big night! Sophie performed in her 5th Dance Recital. They danced to "The Best Years of Our Lives" from the movie Shrek. A fun song to dance to and she just shined! I can't believe she has been dancing for 5 years already! Where does the time go?

Here is a picture of her from her first recital :

Isnt' this sweet? She's only 3 here. Amazing how quickly they grow! She's all ready to sign up again next year too.

Anyway - things are starting to wind down a little here. School is done on Wednesday. I spent all day today with Sophie's class on a field trip. Nolan had a great time hanging with the bigger kids.

I actually got some stamping in yesterday. I spent most of the time working on the prayer journal for my niece, Shannon. I've really been putting a lot of time in it, but it is worth it - even if she thanked my kids for the gift and not me or my husband - but that is a long and tired story. I hope she will know that in spite of everything I am working on the book for her and it is coming from the heart. I'll post a picture of it when I am done. I have been doing my own pages for the jouranl. The pages cosist of catholic prayers and I am decorating the pages with stamps and embellishments. It's been really fun to work on and I hope it portrays the heart I am putting into it as well as my Love for the Lord and my hopes that she too will one day know the Greatness of God's mercy and love.

I did do a few other cards yesterday too. I tried a new technique -which I will share in my next post. I also made a few cards to send out as RAK's - which will be my first ones to send out. I got a few RAK's this week and will be sending these ladies some of my creations as I thank them for sending one to me. This RAK stuff is really great - how nice to receive something other than bills in the mail!

Sorry, not much to say today. I will be spending some time putting together a class for some new stampers. I'll be teaching the basics of basics - from cutting your paper - to stamping your project using a few basic techniques - to making sure you sign your name on the back. I've taught this once before, and got a good response. It is something I am going to offer to all my new stampers. Once someone holds a workshop, I am offering my services to teach them how to use their new stamps and stuff to help them gain the confidence to try some stamping at home. So many time people buy the stamps, but never use them once they get them because they are intimidated. I plan to help east this by offering a post workshop basics class to each hostess and her guests. I'm thinking this will be a good program.

Okay - now I am off to bed as it has been a long day!

Thanks for stopping by!