convention swaps... reaaaaally!

It has come to my attention that I never posted my convention swaps... lol.

Our family had such a busy summer that we just hopped from one change of plans to another.

So... here they are!  I love punches and utilize them in swaps because they are easy and fast - just like they were designed to be!

Our sweet little baby boat is rocking on a scallop edge punch through basic black cardstock and backed with bliss blue for water - backed with white for clouds above!  Our Mickey face uses two different size punches - including the baby ears punched with the 'pig nose' punch.  tee hee

Those of you who have been to my workshops know that I like to rename all my tools.  We have whale tail punches, a pig nose punch, a camel spit ink pads.  If you need a translation for any of those... let me know!!!  lol

Baja Belly!

WHO is grrrooooowing???  It's my special lil' sistah!  And my lil' sis is expecting a WEE WEE Baby... all the way from Paris, France (well, that is where she was vacationing... ya know).  It just dawned on me that I should have added an Eiffel Tower in the background of the journal!  Ahhhhh - I already popped the journal in the mail!  Se la Vie... course I studied Spanish and have no idea how to spell in French.... sorry!

The cute little journal uses the new In-Color Baja Breeze... the new designer series paper in Baja Breeze and the new Baja Breeze ribbon!!!  Our darling prego stamp is a retired set by SU!... definitely an old favorite that I will not part with!  The edgings of the papers are cut with the new scallop edge punch... looooove it!  And I did also use the spiral punch for the nifty holes that line up!

Go make your own today!

Some day my fairy will come...

Forget about the prince... a six year old little girl has bigger things to think about... like dreaming that one day she will lose a TOOTH and her fairy will come!

Of course, my brother dispelled this vision for my own little sister.  Instead, he told tales of a big ugly TROLL who liked to hunt for loose teeth and would actually dare hike across your face and snatch them from your sleeping lips.  

Howdya like that for big brothers!!!

Well, my little six year old girl is waiting - and waiting - to lose a loose tooth.  So we created a beautiful tin watchmaker's palace for the pearly whites to reside in when they finally do shake loose.

The tin is decorated in Stampin' Up! supplies we had around the craft room.  Retired Slumber Party paper in fanciful pinks and plums made perfect backdrops to IF THE HALO FITS - a SU! Dormant stamp (which means you can purchase it but it isn't displayed in the catalog).  Of course, a fairy isn't complete without some ribbon, glitter, hodgepodge hardware in styled silver, pink reinkers and crystal effects!!!!

2 of YOU

My two very favorite girls in the world... my daughter and my sister.  The two of you make this girl feel very blessed! 

And to think that I did 'potty prayers' for both of you!!!  (Little inside joke about being 3 years old and praying in the bathroom for a baby sister.)

We made this adorable scrapbook page at convention.  It was 8.5 x 8.5 to fit in the new chipboard photo albums - go see that new catalog!!!  When I returned home I had this amazing picture of my 2 girls sitting on my nightstand... so I added it to the page and mounted everything on textured Baja Breeze and Rose Red cardstock to place in my 12x12 frame.  It sits on my kitchen counter!

This cute page uses a felt flower, a flower button, grosgrain ribbon, chipboard alphabet letters, white craft ink, the new scallop punch - that is a marvelous invention - and the new butterfly stamp set called Flight of the Butterfly.  Colors are Baja Breeze, Rose Red, More Mustard, and Mellow Moss.

Weblog Award ~ how sweet!

My dear sweet Debbie from Cornwall England has nominated me for an award!

The rules for this award are:

1.  The winner can put the logo on her blog.

2.  Link the person you received your award from.

3.  Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4.  Put links of those blogs on yours.

5.  Leave a message on the blogs of the girls you've nominated.

So, I nominate:

Siddy

Elaine

Laura

Nancy

Mary

Katie

Kristin

Enjoying 'paying it forward'!

 

Convention Craziness!

What can make 6,000 ladies go crazy?  FREE stamps... Stamping friends... On Stage recognition!  It really doesn't take much... that many women together just creates a tizzy of excitement.  Which is why I go back each year!!!  My treasured week with MOM - she is the CRAZIEST one of the bunch!!!!! (Right Katie?)

Happiness

I did it!  I put a little Happiness in Shaela's bedroom!  I thought I would put up a small Decor Element for my first go at it.  It was really simple!  (note to self... white shows up better on darker wall colors!).

The steps are simple and are included when you purchase the Decor Element.  Mark the grid on your wall with a pencil.  Rub the entire transfer so it is no longer sticking to the grid sheet.  Peel the grid sheet off.  Place sticky sheet with element on your wall right in the corner marks you made.  Rub, rub, rub!  Peel off the sticky sheet.  Yippeee!!!!

Remember!  My Shauna Special for Decor Elements includes a FREE Classic alphabet letter with each $20 purchase... now through July 23rd!

Shaela said that the Happiness is so light that you need to look for it.  And you know what???  That is so true of happiness.  It is always there.  You just need to look for it.

See my three munchkins?  I thought the All in the Family stamp set was perfect for stamping a happy little hello to neighbors who moved away last year.

My letter U features the 'Rock n Roll' technique.  Just ink your entire stamp in the main color (here Cool Caribbean).  Don't stamp yet!!!  First rock only the edges of your inked stamp into a darker color - now you can stamp!!  Isn't that fun?

A hobby knife is the perfect tool for making the little girl 'climb' through the U.  Let's see what else these kids can climb through... any ideas?

Boys Only

Dominic is a stamping artist!  He is so proud of his extreme and totally shredding cards that he decided to open his own 'Boys Only Webstore' to sell them in!  He has big plans to sell ten sets of these cards and add more selection too.  I'm all for it!  I love his entrepreneurial spirit!

These cards use some great colors together - Always Artichoke, Creamy Carmel, Bravo Burgundy, Not Quite Navy, and Bordering Blue.  The stamp sets??  They are retired sad to say... aren't they awesome?  BMX, Wakeboard, Skateboard, Quad, and Snowboard are all individual sets with the 'cool' dude words included.  However... I betcha Dominic will eagerly stamp scrap mats and journal tags for you upon request... for a small fee!  *WINK*

I treasure you Daddy!!!

Daddy, my little daddy... I love you!

We celebrated Father's Day yesterday with our wonderful man.  In preparation, I helped Shaela and Devin stamp fun little cards.  They have such great big 6 and 8 year old ideas.  Kids really know how to think out of the box!  Of course Daddy loved the cards and sentiments!  And he noticed the 'bird' theme... guess the kids miss their cockatoo.

I opted to create this fun little pocket card as seen on Patty's website.  Begin with a 12" x 4" piece of Buckaroo Blue cardstock.  Score at 4" and 8".  You will have three even sections.  Score a diagonal on the middle panel.  Doesn't that make a nice little pocket?  I mounted my 4" x 4" pocket card onto a 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" piece of Ruby Red... added some stars and In-Color River Rock double stitch ribbon.  A tag... a star... designer paper... a brad... all done!

Recipe: Ahoy Matey, All In the Family, Wild About You, Make it Count (HS) 

In-Colors - NEW!!!!

WOWZA!!!

I am a nut for color.  I always have been!  In high school I picked a fav color each year.  One year it was green, the next it was purple.  I bought purple pens, purple notebooks, purple backpack, purple socks (can you say Donny Osmond anyone?), purple sweaters, and purple hair accessories.  It was MY color and everyone knew it!  lol

So it should be no surprise that I go oodly cazoodly when the new In-Colors are announced each year!  Of course I will miss the old In-Colors, but I will keep my secret stash of cardstock, ink pads, and reinkers and use them sparingly until they are gone.  BUT... what is not to love about Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango... bold and vibrant and FUN contrasting colors.  I think those are my new picks!  Of course, that changes with each new sample I see and the more I play with them myself... which won't happen until I get my demonstrator sneak peek order in July!!!!

Enjoy your sneak peek - and don't forget to get all the great 'OLD' In-colors before they are gone!

Remember when you got letters from the mailman?  REAL letters that you could hold and open and that showed the personality of the sender?

This month Stampin' Up! is inviting you to reconnect with loved ones the 'old fashion' way... through handmade cards.

The eScape bundle was designed for you!  Take advantage of the 25% discount on select products in one nice bundle of crafting joy.

Circle of Friendship, Love Notes assortment, Rose Red ink pad, Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon are all bundled together for $36.05 (non-bundled total is $51.70).

Enjoy!

Mother's Day Booklets

Shaela is quite my little stamping buddy!!

We worked together to make little booklets of love for all the mothers in our lives!  We created booklets for grandmas, aunties, and sisters!

The fun part was filling them up when we were done!  Each page is a tiny pocket... perfect for wallet size pictures, tags, and even gift cards.

Enjoy the variety of booklets we made... each had it's own style and flare!  Now I need to make one for myself... and have a chance to play with my Bind-it-all machine again!

The best part about making these booklets is that they only use ONE sheet of paper!!! 

Instructions can be found on Vicki's blog.

If you don't own a Bind-it-all machine, the booklets can be held together with ribbon and eyelets and other types of clips.

If you would like me to cut and score and bind a piece of SU! decorative paper for you, I certainly can!  Each booklet is $5 including shipping.

Enjoy!

Carousel Joy!

Oh JOY!!!  

I don't know where I originally saw this darling purse scrapbook, but I printed out a copy and then it sat waiting for me for over a month on my workspace!  My mom came to visit and we courageously tackled figuring it all out ~ we did it!!!  Of course, then it sat for another month waiting for me to invite you to a workshop!

Now the figurin' is done for you!  I have all the little pieces and embellishments ready for you to assemble - everything is cut and scored and if you don't have the coordinating stamp set I can even pre-stamp it for you!

If you aren't able to join me tomorrow to play stamps, you can purchase the carousel purse scrapbook as a kit in the mail!  

$20 ~ materials, ribbon, embellishments, instructions and postage!

Enjoy!

TAG - I'm IT!

My sweet Scottish online friend at http://elaine-stamp.blogspot.com tagged me!  Here are my Qs & As!

1.  What were you doing 10 years ago?

Nurturing my first baby boy after moving from California to Virginia.

2.  What were you doing 1 year ago?

Planning a birthday tea party for 10 five year old girls.

3.  Name your 5 favorite snacks?

Almonds, strawberries, M&M's with pretzels, jalapeno humus with pita bread, dark chocolate anything!

4.  Name 5 things you would do if you were a millionaire?

Adopt a gazillion children, rent out a plane and fly all over the world with them, rescue an animal for each child, move next door to my sister, buy an island

5.  Name 5 things you like doing?

driving with the windows rolled down, laughing hysterically, reading, stamping, watching the sun bring color into the day

6.  Name 5 things you would never wear again?

Maternity underwear (eeeek), green valour short shorts, bikini, a watch, and I have to agree with leg warmers

7.  Name your 5 favorite toys!

iPhone, Rubix cube, scallop circle punch, apple computer's photo booth, rubber stamps

8.  Your favorite quote:

"God is never late, but is seldom early.  For in His perfect timing, He grows in us perfect trust."

Thanks Elaine!  What fun to play along!

the crab dude!

Is it really 2008?? I have really neglected my blog! But here is why... we spent half the month of January in HAWAII Baby!

My darling husband and I celebrated our 16th anniversary in Kauai which is the same place we spent our honeymoon. It was pure delight. We went crab hunting out on a jetty and found some pretty neat little snappers. Then we also found a random crab walking along at the beach - which was stolen from us by a 12 year old surfer dude. Go figure... we let him have it and chalked one up to the Aloha Spirit. teehee

So when we returned and celebrated my husband's birthday, my favorite little crab came to mind. So this is his cute little card... an easy fold and some simple stamping with the rock n roll technique and my card was done IN A SNAP!!!



Crab & Company, Big Deal Alphas, Retro Alphas, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Real Red - all SU!