Stop the presses!

This past weekend something AMAZING happened. I got together with some local friends for the annual Michigan Mingle. The three ladies who plan this do a fantastic job, but that is not the astonishingly amazing part. Are you ready? They had these fun challenges and I actually stamped. I did more than flap my jaws and feed my face. I'll wait for the smelling salts to start working... I'll share a few of the cards over the next few days. All of the challenges were based on a menu that you picked beforehand. So creative!

This first card was a huge challenge for me. My menu item was 7 Layer dip so I had to make a card with at least 7 layers. Ack! That could have gone horribly wrong. It just seemed like SO many layers. I thought about friends who make cute bazillion layered cards and made it work. This uses the Celebration line again along with the cupcake punch.



Supplies: Celebrations DSP, Cupcake punch, Brads, real red CS, Old Olive CS, WW CS, Pacific Point CS, dimensionals, glue dots

Thing 2

These are flashbacks of my little guy. He has always kept me on my toes, but he brightens every day with his joyful soul and insures no day is boring. I used Stampin' Up's Celebrations line of products on these. These fun products made these pages go together lickity split. The pages are pretty basic; but I think they are fun, and I tried to keep the focus on the pictures.



In these he is enjoying an apple. He used to swipe them off of the counter and then stash the cores throughout the house. That was motivation to regularly clean under the couch! I added a few buttons, some ribbon, and letters from the Timeless Type Alphabet.

This second layout highlights a bit more of life with Luke. Look at his face in these pictures. I was searching for him in a mild panic. I thought maybe Caleb locked him outside, except I had been playing with Caleb and Luke was supposed to be napping. Maybe we were being a bit too loud. He found a quiet spot. The dryer!


The left page and his, "You're going to make me get out." face.



This is the right side. That is Luke right before he pulled, "These are not the droids you're looking for." on me. I want to get mad at him, but I just can't do it. Darn Jedi mind tricks.



Some of the circles are stickers, some are punched. I also cut some of the arrows from the Celebrations DSP.

I enjoyed this little trip down memory lane. Thanks for coming along! Later in the week, we'll flashback with Thing 1.

Shaking off the dust

Anyone need a Kleenex? I can't stop sneezing. This place is dusty! Thanks to a couple of lovely friends and a little bit of guilt, I am back. I have been a scrappin' and stampin' fool the last few days. I may even have something for you tomorrow. Yeah, don't bet the farm on it. :-)

So right now is my favorite part of the Stampin' Up! year. It is Sale-A-Bration! Hot deals galore! Who doesn't love FREE? There is so much to choose from this year. There are cute stamp sets, a scrappin kit, some adorable accessories; and then if that doesn't suit your tastes, there are dozens of sets from the main catalog you can choose from. Yippeeee!

This card uses one of the SAB sets. It's called Sweet summer.



This second project, I love. It makes me happy every time I look at it. I better stop before I have to buy all new hats. These pictures are special. This is my beloved grandmother and her family. I used the Nature Walk set and the matching paper along with some of my favorite embellishments. This set has so many possibilities. This project was hard to photograph, but I took a close up of the tag to give you a little feel for the texture. I finally broke out my Distressing kit and used the tea stain on this project. It was a great fit.







Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit!

All products are Stampin' Up!
Sweet Summer
Stamps : Sweet Summer, Teeny tiny wishes
Paper : Poppy Parade, Pear Pizazz, So saffron, Marine Mist
Ink : Black Stazon, Poppy Parade
Accessories: Markers, oval punch, scallop oval punch, label punch, Poppy Parade stitched ribbon, square lattice die, tulip die

Grandma's Family
Stamps : Nature Walk
Ink : Early Espresso, tea stain, Old Olive
Paper: Crumb cake, So saffron, Early Espresso, cream, Botanical Gazette
Accessories : Markers, Distressing kit, crochet trim, antique brad, Crumb Cake seam binding

Just Believe

Just Believe is a gorgeous set from the new catalog. I love the images and the sentiments. It's just so versatile. I used it on this card. I also used some of the new colors. I really like Marina Mist.

Mmmm Cherry Cobbler and Vintage wallpaper

I recently got some new Stampin' Up! goodies. The new catalog is fantastic! The new colors are luscious. There is a great variety of new stamps; and the new accessories... Well, I want to just roll around in them. Seriously.

One of the new colors this year is Cherry Cobbler. I love, love, LOVE it. I'm a bit disappointed SU! didn't name it Sooner Sweetness, but I have slowly gotten over that. It is my favorite red ever! So my first card here uses this color. It's got some new goodies and an old favorite.



The bird is from the Always set. Nevermore! I can't see a black bird without going there. I like Poe. What can I say? Duh. Nevermore! hehe

I used that gorgeous texture folder, Chantilly crocheted ribbon, and the pearls on this card as well. I really love them both. Then I also used Morning Cup. It's a whole set dedicated to caffeine. What's not to love?!




So now that my GPS finally led me back to my blog, I hope to post more often. I think I can manage more than once every 3 months. LOL Thanks for looking. I hope you have a fantastic day!

Nevermore
Stamps - Always
Ink - Black Craft
Paper - Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake (formerly called Kraft), Basic Black
Accessories - scallop edge punch, Chantilly crochet thread, Neutrals button in Crumb cake, embossing powder, pearls, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder

Vintage tea time
Stamps - Morning Cup
Ink - Crumb Cake
Paper - Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, Very Vanilla
Accessories - Pearls, Chantilly crocheted ribbon, circle punches, scalloped circle, edge punch, markers, sponge

Faith, Hope, Love, Life, and procrastination

Every once in a great while, I make something I really love. This was one of those projects. I love everything about it. I really can't take much credit for it, however. I won this gorgeous frame at Michigan Mingle. Debra and Emma donated the most gorgeous basket of Stampin' Up! goodies. It had a frame, Decor Elements, a mat, Bella Bleu paper, ribbon, and more. To make it even better it was all beautifully packaged. I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted to win it. Well, then I did! Woohoo! So over the weekend when I was supposed to be preparing for a vendor fair and my son's first communion, I decided to make my frame. Inspiration always comes along when I should be doing something else. Probably because I'm never doing what I'm supposed to be doing! hehehe

So here is what I did with the frame. I am really happy with how it came together. I just love everything about it. I love the picture here too. It is just one of my favorites taken in Orange County. I hope you like it too!

All Supplies SU!

Decor elements, Bella Bleu DS, jumbo brad, ribbon originals, Pretties kit, Night of Navy CS, Choc Chip CS, top note die, scallop edge punch

Card purse kit

Yesterday was Stefan's aunt's birthday. Debbie is just one of the nicest people you will ever meet. Her dear husband Paul invited the family out to Olive Garden to celebrate with them. It is always good to see them and visit! I had a fabulous time with them.

Since it was Aunt Debbie's birthday, I wanted to bring her a little something. She likes birds so I thought I'd make her a card with a bird on it. Then I decided a set of note cards would be even better. Now there is a slight problem. I have OCD when it comes to nature images. They have to be accurate or cartoony. There is no in between for me. I hate blue roses, and cardinals are red! I don't like purple daffodils. Artistic expression? Whatever! (just so you know- "whatever" is code for "You're full of it!" or "Go away!") Taking realistic nature images and coloring them weird colors is just not for me.

So for this little set I freed myself and made no attempt at realism. It wasn't that hard because I know almost nothing about birds other than 101 ways to cook a chicken. I used the Extra Large Two-Step Bird, the perfect polka dots impression folder, and the scallop trim border punch. The color palette is chocolate chip, certainly celery, and soft sky. Soft sky is retired and no longer available. I'll wait while you dry your eyes. I know it is very sad. Sniff. Sniff.





Above is the inside of the card purse. Isn't this a clever idea? I didn't come up with it. These have been cropping up at several stamp gatherings over the last year, and I just thought they were adorable! I found the tutorial here on Julie's blog. Check it out. She does very nice work.



Finally this is the little card we put our birthday wishes in and tied to the handle. This set went together surprisingly quickly. I came up with the design and made ten cards and the tote in about an hour and a half. I take longer than that to choose a color palette some days! So to make something that I like that comes together quickly makes for a very good day. I hope you had a good weekend too.