After school kids class next project please.

So again this class was a huge success last Wednesday and I am so excited for class tomorrow. One of the mom's asked me if she could participate and help her kiddos out. Seeing as she has two of my youngest kiddos I told her she could absolutely join us. The more the merrier. The class will be a little crowded but I don't think that it will be that big of a deal by any means. 

Here is another card that we made. 

Another simple card enhanced by a piece of retired DSP. This is a great way for me to use up my retired products. The kids don't care that the paper they are using is no longer available. It's fun and that's the most important thing.  This card, to me, was an important card to do because it helps teach the younger ones fine motor skills when it comes to using a pair of scissors. Over time they will improve on their cutting as they practice with a guide of sorts. I had embossed the oval frames ahead of time and had each child cut around the dots that bordered the inner oval. Great cutting practice for sure. 

These cards for the kids aren't about the millions of layers of paper, but rather about the stamping itself and about creating something that they can say they did by themselves, with a little bit of help of course. 

Tomorrow is our next class and I will share the final card that we made in our last class. Then I'll have more to share with you on Thursday from the cards we'll be making this week. 

Come by and see me soon. Until then Happy Stamping and Creating. 

First Kids stamp class a hit

Remember I told you I was going to be starting an after school stamp club/class for some of the kids at the school I work for? Well originally I was going to do it at the school and I had half a dozen students who were interested in participating. I couldn't secure the liability insurance that the school district wanted so I asked the parents if they would be willing to bring their kiddos over to my house. I'm only a mile from the school, so this wasn't going to be too much out of anyone's way. They all agreed and we had our first class on Wednesday. 

Since these kids probably won't be buying any supplies from the actual catalog I decided to use up as much retired products as I can, including retired DSP. 

Here is the first card we did. 

This was a simple enough card for the kids to put together. The base was Calypso Coral card stock. The DSP is I believe Tea for Two, it came out in the spring catalog and I totally forgot I had ordered any of it so it sat unused. 

The greeting is again from my favorite greeting stamp set. Perfectly Penned. 

I used the same style card from the card I did last month and posted right here

The only difference really is that I didn't use any embellishments such as brads on this card. To give you an idea of the ages of the kiddos who are taking this class with me they range in age from Kindergarten to 4th grade. I have to make the cards easy enough for them to duplicate without losing interest and without being too difficult for them to do with very minimal amounts of instruction. 

Stop on by again to visit me on Monday and I'll share with you another of the cards that we made. Have a great weekend and Happy Stamping and Creating to you!

Last Chance for a great deal on My Paper Pumpkin!

It's almost the end of the month and that means that the great offer to try the first two months of My Paper Pumpkin for just $10, before tax, is almost up. Don't forget to go and sign up before the end of the month. Remember to use code PUMPKINDEAL to get this amazing deal. Remember you can cancel at any time, you can also skip months that you don't want by going into your account by the 10th of every month. 

These kits are so much fun. So far we've been receiving one month with card kits and the following month we'll have a 3D project. You can find great ideas on Pinterest for additional ideas for how to use these kits besides the ones that are already pre-designed for you. 

Looking for an additional person to sign up for this awesome program. I have a few extra Try It kits available and I would love to send you one for signing up for this program. The catch is that you must live in the US. This special offer applies to new My Paper Pumpkin customers only. 

Have a great Friday! I am working on getting my stamp club samples photographed and labeled with my watermark using MDS. I hope to have those posted by next week. 

Happy Stamping and Creating!

Get Well gift bags

So a few years ago I was helping a friend design some toppers for some get well gift bags she was selling at a craft show. I got the idea for these based on what she was putting in her bags. I used what I had at the time and used what I thought was going to fit in the bags a little easier. since then I've modified a bit more. I love making these though they are a lot of fun. I was selling some back in April at a craft fair at the elementary school I work at. The principal loved them so much she asked me to make some for staff when they get sick throughout the school year. I just finished the last two of these up on Tuesday and took them into work yesterday. 

They're not super fancy, but it's the thought that counts. I have been using my notecards with envelopes a lot lately. Of course I have been using more of the notecards and less of the envelopes so I had a bunch leftover that I could use with this. Those cards are actually a perfect fit for this and I think I will continue to make this size from now on. 

I include a package of chicken noodle soup, a package of tissue, tea bags, cough drops and a hand sanitizer wipe. 

I had a bunch of the in color dahlia's from last years in color set and so I thought I would incorporate those into these cards I figure they're not super girly so they could be given to some of the guys in the building too if I used the Midnight Muse dahlias. 

Hopefully I will remember to post pictures of some of the simple cards I've got designed for the after school stamp club that I want to start at the elementary school next month. I hope to be able to post it for you soon. 

Have a great Thursday! Happy Stamping and Creating to you. 

Let's Celebrate!

Sorry I've been MIA for the last few days. I have had severe allergies that turned into a slight cold. Not much fun really. Finally broke down on Friday and went and bought some Nyquil. Slept like a baby and woke up mostly dried up Saturday. I have done some stamping but nothing that I can share because unfortunately I did it so late at night that I forgot to even take pictures of anything. Duh!

Today I am working on some quick and easy projects to do with the after school stamp club that I'm hoping to start at the school, I work at, in September. 

I hope to have some of those to share with you soon. Also did you notice I have my new "Shop Now" button linking you directly to my Demonstrator Business Website or DBWS if you will. It's only taken me forever and a day to get it up there. I will also be working on getting a link set up that takes you directly to my calendar but I haven't gotten that far yet. 

Today I'm going to share a card with you that I made, sometime earlier this year, as a sample. I never shared it and never even photographed it. I make a lot of cards for fun and sometimes I give them away, and other times I forget I even have them. I made this as part of a color challenge that my upline had presented to us. 

I used Embellished Events. A great stamp set because you can add any variety of our embellishments to the stamps to add to the finished look. The colors we were required to use were Baja Breeze (which is now retired), Summer Starfruit (current 2012-2014 In Color) and Elegant Eggplant. I used the retired embossing folder that came out with last years holiday catalog. I do miss this folder but I do like the fact that our embossing folders are inexpensive and they add so much detail with so little effort. 

Hope you have a great Monday. I promise to have more to share with you tomorrow. Until then Happy Stamping! 

Love is in the air

For my project share today I have another MDS card for you. I just sat down and started pulling elements that I wanted to use from what I already have downloaded and put them onto this card. I knew some of what I had as far as DSP within the program. I have been missing the Love Letter paper and using Modern Medley got me thinking about it and I wanted to use it on this card somehow. 

I remembered this paper and decided to use it as a mat for my design. Originally I was thinking of doing a graduation card because I had already seen the greeting and I loved it so much it went on the card without a second thought. Then as I was scrolling quickly through all of the awesome stamps I have, I came across these love birds and decided to use them instead. I also knew I wanted to use some pearls but they were just a little too flat on the page without any color so I decided to use some flowers instead. I grouped the flower and the pearl on the page and then copied it and made it smaller. Then I just copied that one and I had my 2 flowers. Then I took the leaf from the 2 step bird punch and copied and pasted it and then did the same thing with a resized version of it. This probably took me about 15 minutes to finish. I did it before I went to bed last night. 

Here's the list of supplies used on this project:

Background
     Color = VERY VANILLA 254,249,232

Embellishments
    Basic Pearls and Rhinestones/Basic Pearls and Rhinestones - pearl small
    Basic Pearls and Rhinestones/Basic Pearls and Rhinestones - pearl small
    Basic Pearls and Rhinestones/Basic Pearls and Rhinestones - pearl medium
    Basic Pearls and Rhinestones/Basic Pearls and Rhinestones - pearl medium
    Basic Pearls and Rhinestones/Basic Pearls and Rhinestones - pearl medium

Stamps
    _Designer Kits/Meant to Be/Meant to Be - kissing doves
    _Designer Kits/A Little of This/A Little of This - congrats, Color = 0,0,0

Punches
    Labels & Tags/Decorative Label Punch, Fill Color = VERY VANILLA 254,249,232
    Two Step Bird Branch Punch, Fill Color = OLD OLIVE 138,151,71
    Two Step Bird Branch Punch, Fill Color = OLD OLIVE 138,151,71
    Two Step Bird Branch Punch, Fill Color = OLD OLIVE 138,151,71
    Two Step Bird Branch Punch, Fill Color = OLD OLIVE 138,151,71

Photos
    Designer Series Paper/Love Letter - designer series paper/Love Letter - pattern 5

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Stamping and Creating to you. Come and visit me again soon. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

In August? Not quite yet. As I shared yesterday I am getting my mojo going again and getting ready for the holidays by designing things that get me in the mood to stamp and craft. Craft show season is quickly approaching and I have two events on my calendar that I will need to begin crafting for shortly.

I decided to play with My Digital Studio (MDS) a little more last night. Here's what I came up with.

Simple card right? I love that you can color in certain parts of your stamps using the coloring tool on MDS. See how I colored in Christmas? You can colorize just about anything in MDS, including the DSP. I didn't need to do that for this card, but just know that it can be done if you need to do it. 

I'm still enjoying playing with the drop shadow feature. I like to have an overall shadow around the entire image rather than just 2 sides of it. I like how it makes the card look more realistic of something that was being popped up using Stampin' Dimensionals but without actually using Stampin' Dimensionals. I also love how you can take a shape and fill it in with any DSP or cardstock that you like. In this case for the banner I used the punch that's shaped like a banner, stretched it out to the size I wanted and then filled it with the paper design that I liked. Easy Peasy.

Here's a list of everything used to create this project. 

Background

     Designer Series Paper/Vintage Overlays - designer series paper/Vintage Overlays - texture 6

Embellishments
    Baker's Twine/Baker's Twine - Old Olive
    Baker's Twine/Baker's Twine - Old Olive bow
    Basic Pearls and Rhinestones/Basic Pearls and Rhinestones - rhinestone small (re-colored)
    Logo/Logo - my digital studio

Stamps
    _Designer Kits/Very Merry Twenty-Five/Very Merry Twenty-Five - very merry christmas

Punches
    Extras/Flag Punch,  Filled with: Designer Series Paper/_Designer Kits/Joyful Times - designer series paper/Joyful Times - 8
    Ornament Punch,  Filled with: Card Stock/Cherry Cobbler
    Snowflake Punch, Fill Color = 225,225,224

Photos
    Designer Series Paper/Vintage Overlays - designer series paper/Vintage Overlays - texture 11

Page 4 Supply ListEmbellishments

Hope you enjoyed this little project share today and Happy Stamping and Creating. 

It's all about the candy

Good Monday morning friends. Hope you had an enjoyable weekend. We had friends over for game night yesterday. Sometimes I play, sometimes I watch or listen to them play. We play a variety of different board games. They are a ton of fun. I was able to finish up this card on Saturday, before I cleaned off my stamp table and got my stamproom game day ready.

I wanted to play with some Washi Tape. I've had my Washi Tape from the This and That collection since early May, when I could pre-order it and I haven't even used that yet. Yep I'm not only a slacker but I'm also a hoarder, although I think we already knew that one. 

I used the Halloween Hello stamp set on this one along with Witches Brew DSP and of course the Witches Brew Designer Washi Tape.

I'm blogging to you from my phone today. (Quick editing note: I don't much like the way the app formats my blog. The photos end up on the bottom of the post. :( I guess I'll keep playing with it and see if I can't do something about that.) Testing out the app to see how well I like it. Sorry I can't add in catalog pics of the product sets that I used but you can always find them through my online catalog by name if you're unsure of the product numbers.

Stop on by tomorrow. Happy Stamping!

Happy Friday!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday. It was a busy day with lots of running around involved for my kiddos. 

I decided to play with My Digital Studio (MDS) a little bit last night instead. I don't play with it as often as I would like but I really should. I can come up with great projects using this awesome program. I figured out a few things while playing with it tonight. I'm kind of self taught. I remember reading something that basically says get in it and play with it. You can't break it. I figured out how to create shadow effects by just putting the x and y on 0. Can you see the shadowing on this card? It looks like I popped them up using dimensionals but this is a digital creation. I love how I can resize and color stamps, fill in shapes with paper and then resize them as well. Here's my creation. 

The stamps on this project are included in MDS when you purchase it. The only thing that isn't is this Designer Series Paper (DSP) that I used on this card. The paper came from Lemonade Stand the free disk that we offered during Sale-a-bration (SAB) earlier this year. The paper doesn't exactly match with the Coastal Cabana card stock but it's very close. Did you notice I colored the cupcake stamp in and faded it some to create a muted image of it on the card? 

I've been on a birthday kick. Can you tell? I just thought this looked like a birthday card when I was putting it together. I guess part of me designing birthday cards lately is that I am trying to come up with inspirational ideas for a stamp club that I have in the works. Hoping to have some ideas to present soon. 

Hope you have a great weekend. Depending on what my days look like I hope to be able to share at least one project with you this weekend, if not I will see you on Monday. Until then Happy Stamping and Creating. 

Happy Birthday Dad

My dad's birthday is coming up next Friday. I need to get his card out in the mail soon. Sadly enough I recently found a card from last year that I had made for my dad and for whatever reason I never mailed it out. Yep that would be me. Always making these cards and sometimes not remember to post them.

This year I promised myself that would not happen. So the card is made and it is addressed and ready to go out. I actually have a box that I need to send to my brother as well so I will put them out together on the same day. He lives in Hawai‘i. I figure if I post it by next Monday he should have it either have it by Thursday or Friday and I will either be early, or at least on time this year. :D 

I used the fish and coral stamp from By the Tide. The greeting comes from Petite Pairs

Hope you have a fabulous Tuesday! I am hoping for some more much needed rain. This is the first year in quite some time that we've had lots of rain. I'm not so happy that it has been in areas that have been recently devastated by fires that we've had in Colorado in the last 2 summers but I am hoping that with the way this weather has been during the months of July and August, so far, that it will be a good winter, full of heavy wet snow and that we'll finally be at or above normal levels for the that time of year.

Before I go, I'll leave you with a photo of my dad and I. This was taken in June, just a few days before we left. I miss the beauty that is Hawai‘i and cannot wait for the day when I will finally return to my island home. I miss my family much more and I hope to be able to return long before all of my dearest loved ones are gone. 

Come and see me again soon. Happy Stamping and Creating!

No rest for the weary

This is days 3 and 4 of my girls being back in school. It's a short week thankfully, because I have a lot of things to do this week. It's my day 4 of being back to work as well. I sure did miss working with some of the great kiddos at my school. It's a challenge this year because my schedule has changed somewhat and it's taking me some time to get used to it. Tomorrow I get up and do this all over again and then Thursday only one of my daughters has testing before they both have dental appointments that afternoon.

Today I'm sharing a quick and easy card with you. I was inspired by some butter mints that were packaged in cute plastic wrappers that we picked out for my daughter's 16th birthday party back in June. I finally got around to working on her Thank You cards. Her birthday was June 16th, Father's Day and it's taken me a month and a half to do these. Yikes! Normally Thank You cards go out the week after any party that we have except this year her birthday was spent in Hawaii visiting our family there. I was able to visit so many of my family members who I haven't seen in nearly 7 years and some even longer than that. I also got to visit my mom's grave. It's important to me that I go and visit her while I am there, she was the one who got us started with stamping even before Stampin' Up! was started. I credit my love for paper and crafting to her. 

Anyway here's the card. 

Pretty simple right? We got these green wrapped butter mints as well as these black and white polka dot wrapped butter mints. I basically combined the polka dots on the green instead. Used the Thank You stamp from Perfectly Penned. I really like this set a lot, if you haven't already noticed. :D I lightly stamped the En Francais background stamp in Basic Gray under the greeting. This is one of my favorite quick and easy background techniques. Just ink up like normal and put down on paper, Don't press though. You're not going for full coverage, you'll want the image to look flawed and like it wasn't printed all the way. It's got that faded or aged look to it. 

Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday. Stop by tomorrow. I'll share a birthday card with you that I'm sending off to my dad here shortly. Happy Stamping and Creating!

Not very lucky with gardening but hopefully my stamping makes up for it. :D

Happy Monday! As usual I am a little late in getting my blog off today. It's been a crazy hectic weekend. My sixteen year old and I started some plants from seeds a few weeks ago and several of them started sprouting a little over a week ago. The strawberries finally started sprouting just the other day too. Yesterday we took all the girls to go and see Pacific Rim and I had put the plants out for the day to soak in the sun. It was beautiful at the start of the day. I forgot to bring them in before we left and when I got home the poor plants were overwatered and several of them had been pelted by the hailstorm that went through here. It looked like it had snowed that's how bad it was. The hail was probably only 1/4" in size but that was still enough to cause some damage. I am really hoping the plants will survive this. I'll take some pictures later so I can share with you just how pitiful the plants look now. :( I have never had good luck with plants. I can usually start them just fine and then for whatever reason they end up dying on me. :(

To leave you with something happy though, here is my project share for the day. I got this great idea from one of our awesome demonstrators from Australia, Tanya Bell. This treat requires no cutting, once you have your paper to it's desired size. It also requires no adhesive to keep it closed. 

I met this nice lady at a craft fair in April, that I was in charge of. She contacted me last week asking me about some cute packaging ideas and I remembered this one is customizable to just about anything small. This lady sells her own handmade soaps and she puts her own labels on them. I think she was looking for something a little more though. I think this will be a great idea for her. She also sells these cute tiny square shaped soaps and we could also do a small bag for those as well. She could easily package a few of them up in a bag already and then all she'd have to do would be to pop them into a smaller holder like this one and voila, instant gift. 

As you can see I am using some retired product. Didn't I tell you I was going to make use of what I have? Since this was just a mock up project I decided to use some retired DSP instead of current DSP. This is Floral District Retired DSP. 

I used retired Lucky Limeade bakers twine as well. Everything else is current including A Round Array stamp set and the 1 1/4" scallop circle punch. I still don't have the 7/8" punch that goes with this set, but it is on my list of punches to own. 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your Monday and I also hope that you'll come back and see me soon. Tomorrow I'll share some Thank You cards that I did for my daughter to get filled out and sent off to family in Hawaii who helped her celebrate her sixteenth birthday, which fell on Father's Day this past June. Yes I know I should have had these done back in June but she was supposed to help me get them done and help me to design them. She didn't help so I designed them based on what she picked out for her butter mint decorations for the tables. You'll see what I mean tomorrow. 

Until then, Have a great day and Happy Stamping to you!

Poppy Birthday

Good morning and Happy Friday to you! As I mentioned yesterday my youngest daughters started school yesterday. Today I sent my oldest daughter off to start the beginning of her Junior year in high school. Time sure does fly by I remember when she was just a little baby and I brought her home from the hospital. She was such a tiny little thing, of course later on she would end up being my biggest baby. 

As I promised you I would share another birthday card with you today. 

I made this card for one of my workout buddies. Last year when I started working at the elementary school I knew that just watching my diet wasn't going to be enough to help me lose weight and keep up with the kids I was going to be working with. I decided to go to the community rec center and start taking some of the fitness classes that they had to offer. I have met some amazing ladies and men while I have been going to these classes and I wanted to make her card for her birthday. Her birthday is tomorrow so I will get it to her tonight at Kettlebell class, unless she goes to cardio circuit tomorrow. 

For this card I did use some of the thin vellum. If I remember correctly we no longer carry it but we do carry the cardstock vellum which is a little bit thicker. As you've seen before I am a hoarder when it comes to Stampin' Up! products. 

The vellum and the whisper white button are the only retired products on this card. I have been trying to incorporate a lot of retired products onto my gift projects if at all possible. Above is the Pleasant Poppy Background stamp. As you can probably see, if you've been following me recently, is that I really like this stamp. I just love it, don't you? 

I also used the Fancy Fan embossing folder (127751) underneath the vellum to give it some extra added dimension. The stamped greeting comes from Label Love

This set is extremely versatile. I picked it for that reason. The fact that it has a coordinating punch made it even more desirable. 

Hope you have a great day and a great weekend. Come by and see me again on Monday. I will be working on some new projects over the weekend and hope to have them ready to share with you then. Happy Stamping and Creating!

First day of school

My girls go back to school today. In the chaos of getting ready for school I completely forgot to send my girls to school with a little Love Note. Sigh! Bad parenting today. :( Oh well tomorrow is another day and all of my girls will be in school starting tomorrow. My oldest daughter will be in 11th grade. Yikes! Where has the time gone? Do you make any special cards for your kids to let them know about your wishes for them for the school year and encourage them to have a great school year? Do you even just send random cards in their lunches to let them know you're thinking about them? 

My little ones are starting 4th and 3rd grade today. I am excited to have them back in school as they were beginning to wear me out. I got up early and woke them up and shot down into the kitchen to make them breakfast to start off their day. They'd made their lunches the night before so all they had to do was come down and pack them up to take with them this morning. I drove them to the bus stop for pick up. They were nervous to ride the bus again after having not ridden them for the past two years. I met them at the school and dropped off all of their supplies to their classes for them. I am looking forward to all the great things they will accomplish this year.

Before I leave you I will share at little quick bit of creativity. I made this card for my dear friend who I met through the school. Both of my little ones had her as a 1st grade teacher and she's such a great person, who incidentally has a birthday one month after mine so it makes it easy to remember her birthday. 

I love this new DSP and Coastal Cabana. I'm also so excited that Crushed Curry has been put back into circulation. This was one of my favorite colors and More Mustard was my go to color when they retired Crushed Curry the first time. I used Eastern Elegance Designer Series Paper and Perfectly Penned stamp set for the greeting. I love this paper and this stamp set is such a great greeting set. 

I'll have another birthday card for you tomorrow. I have several friends having birthday's coming up and I love to make them cards. 

I need to put a late card in the mail for my cousin. His birthday is today. I should have done it sooner but sometimes masculine cards can be difficult for me to do. I need to do another one for my dad too so I will get working on those tonight. They both live in Hawaii so it will probably not get there until next week and I'll have to send my dad's card out by the 10th the latest. 

Hope you have a great Thursday. Stop by and see me again soon.

Teacher gift/Vintage Notebook

I love my girls teachers. They have always been such amazing people. This year my youngest is entering third grade and she was fortunate enough to be put into the same class as her sister was the year before. My soon to be 4th grader had this same teacher for both 2nd and 3rd grade. She is a great friend. We have a little chuckle every time someone calls me her or she gets called me. She had no idea what I was talking about, until I started working at the school last year.

This is a combination of my favorite retired products and current products on it. For the current products I used the Tea Lace Doilies (129399), Linen thread (104199) Very Vintage designer buttons (129327), En Francais Background stamp 128562 (w) 127790 (c), Honeycomb embossing folder (129378) Victoria crochet trim (118481). The stamps come from both A Round Array and Delicate Doilies

The bottle cap, striped grosgrain, key and findings and silver rectangle Hodge Podge hardware and alphabet stamp on this project are retired. I will admit I am a hoarder at times. I loved these products so much and I use them on occasion when I want to give a special gift away. I think it mixes the best of both worlds into one project. I like to challenge myself to use up what I have held onto because at least if I am using it then I know someone else will also be able to enjoy it as well.

Why not challenge yourself today to use some of your supplies that you've been hoarding and you haven't used in a while. I'm sure you'll bring a little bit of sunshine to someone else's life if you create something using something(s) you loved with them.

I start back to working at the school again tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing all of the great little kiddos at our school and finding out how their summer went. I am hoping to be able to keep up with my creating, expanding my business and sharing all the great things that I've been working on with you.

Stop on by again and come and visit me for my next project share. Until then, Happy Stamping and Creating to you.

Undefined - Design the perfect stamp for you

During convention a new product line was announced and shared with us and went live the day it was unveiled. Undefined is the newest product and though it's a little strange at first, the process gets easier as you go. I didn't have a lot of time to make my stamp the way I wanted to. My original drawing was much too big so I had to redo it while I was there standing at the carving station. I think it still came out cute but I know it could have been better.

Hawaiian sea turtles, known as honu, are my favorite. I have them all over my home in the form of metal sculptures, wooden baskets, and jewelry pieces. I found this little clip holder when I was home on O‘ahu, visiting my family, in June. This reminds me more of what a petroglyph would look like if one had been drawn on the rocks or in caves in Hawai‘i. For being drawn and cut in under 15 minutes this wasn't bad at all.

Check out Undefined and get started with a starter kit for $19.95.  Refill kits are just $9.95. 

How likely are you to purchase this new Undefined carving kit? Do you know anyone who would do a great job of designing their own stamps? These would make a great gift for someone who loves to carve or enjoys art in general.

Hope you come by tomorrow. Until then Happy Stamping and Creating!

Mixing the old with the new

While I was at convention my husband notified me that his friends dad had passed away. I told him I would make him a card when I got home since we'll be seeing him on Sunday. My husband has a group of friends who he's known for over 15 years and every other Sunday we get together for game night and play a variety of different board games. So of course to say his friend is like a part of our family is a mild understatement. 

Here is the card I designed. 

 

I used the pheasant from the retired stamp set Autumn Days. I incorporated the greeting from So Sorry and also used the larger splatter patterned stamp from Gorgeous Grunge 1300514(w) 130517(c) stamp set that we received at convention. I also used a retired neutrals button I love the newly designed buttons but I loved our old ones a lot so I had an extra container hanging around when these were retired. I also used some of the twine we carried a few years back in our spring catalog. I split the twine up into thirds for this card. I used the Woodgrain (127821) background embossing folder for this card as well. I can't stress enough how much a little bit of embossing can add dimension to a card or any project. 

Come back tomorrow I have more to share with you. Until then Happy Stamping and Creating!

Update: We gave this card to our friend yesterday and my husband told me today that his friend had contacted him today and thanked him for the card and said it had a real personal touch that you don't get anymore. 

"Love Notes" I just love them

Ever want to just create a quick little card to say Hello, Thank You, or you need a gift card? I do all the time. I love the small space it challenges me to design something great but in much less space than I would have to design a standard card.

Here are two swaps that I designed for the groups I was placed in for an organized convention swap. I love that I only needed to create 15 of each design and now I have 14 new designs from each group, in addition to my design. So now I can share 30 different unique designs with people, the best part is that down the road, when products on the card retire, I'll be able to take these and give them away because they are full sized cards.

This first card I was inspired by the Modern Medley Paper, I know I shared it with you yesterday, but I can't help myself. Isn't it just gorgeous paper? The previous card was actually inspired by this one since this was the first swap I finished. Many elements are the same. As you'll notice I also used the Silver Glitter paper here and also the Fancy Fan embossing folder. The only notable differences are that I used Blushing Bride for the greeting to give just a hint of added color. I stamped the greeting in Versarmark (102283)  and embossed with black embossing powder (109133) and heated it with our 2 heat setting heat tool (129053). I also used the Boho Blossom punch but used a different flower from it and instead of using a pearl in the center of this one, I used a rhinestone (119246) instead. I love that I can add just a little bit of bling to any project for about 3 cents a piece. Don't forget the dimensionals (104430). It's amazing how one simple little thing helps you add that extra pop to any project by giving your project that dimension and depth. At just a little over a penny a piece they really are something you want to keep on hand. 

This is the second swap card for the last group I was in. I have a hard time with bright colors on things so this card was made to challenge me. I had a ton of Daffodil Delight cardstock on hand that I have barely touched in the past few years since this color was first introduced and decided I'd create this card using it. This card was also designed before the bee card that I shared with you earlier this week. I can't believe I actually created 2 swaps built around that one color. 

Since I accidentally ordered 2 packages of the Polka Dot Parade DSP (126902) I decided to use it on this project before I decided to use it on the bee card of course. I love these little dots. They are just so cute. This is the Marina Mist Polka dotted paper. 

The backside of this DSP is just as pretty, don't you think? I also used the soda pop bottle stamp from Cycle Celebration 130270(w) 130273(c) This is such a cute stamp set. I received quite a few swaps that contained the candle on it. I also have another card that I will be sharing with you that has the Celebrate a Sweet Birthday greeting from the set as well so don't forget to come back to check it out. :D I stamped in Old Olive and used the second smallest oval from the ovals collection framelits (129381) Framelits have made my life as a stamper and crafter so much easier. 

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. Stop by on Monday I have another card share for you. It's not from convention but rather a card I had to design when I got home from convention. It's a mixed old and current product card. I'm trying to get rid of products we no longer carry and so I am making a ton of cards and incorporating old product in them so that I am not "hoarding" products. How many of you hoard products? Until tomorrow, Happy Stamping and Creating!

Stampin' by the Sea organized group swap

Happy Friday. I am proud to be a part of a fabulous group of ladies. My upline Kimberly Van Diepen is an awesome stamper, great friend and a great motivator. At every organized Stampin' Up event she organizes a group swap and dinner for us to get together and catch up as well as swap cards and ideas with each other. This year was no different. Since our group consists of a team scattered across the US it is always a treat for us to get to see each other. I am hoping to be able to upload a team photo here soon. I know one was taken I am just not sure if it has been posted yet. Once I see it I will share it here just so you can see all the fabulous ladies, whom of which, I am proud to call my "Stamp Sisters." 

Here's my swap, another simple yet elegant card. I love this stamp set, don't you? 

I also love this Modern Medley DSP 

Before I forget you still have time to get in on the buy 3 get one 1 DSP special offer until July 31st. I loved this special so much I couldn't help but snatch up 2 more of these packs of paper along with 2 other new found favorites. Thanks to convention I was able to discover 2 additional must have paper packs, that I didn't already have. This graphic doesn't do this pack any justice, but take my word for it, the paper is beautiful. 

To make this card come together quickly I used the Big Shot and a few punches. I'm in love with our embossing folders. They add texture without adding additional weight to any project. This is the Fancy Fan folder 127751. Also the trim along the bottom under the Silver Glimmer paper (124005) is from the set of Finishing Touches Edgelits (127010) In addition to that the three punches used on this card are from Boho Blossoms (119858), Artisan Label (130920) and Decorative label (120907). 

Believe it or not I still have more to share so come back tomorrow and see what more I swapped. Enjoy the rest of your Friday and have a safe and hopefully creative weekend. Until next time Happy Stamping! 

So Sorry - Convention 2013 Swap card

I wanted to create at least one simple card this year to swap at convention. I came up with this creation.

I just love this background stamp. Pleasant Poppies 132061(w) 129499(c) You can either color it in or you can just stamp it and leave it be. I chose the latter for this card and decided to do just a two color card. 

Very Vanilla and Midnight Muse are a great combination of colors. The greeting on this card comes from So Sorry 132585(w) 126527(c) I love this set for it's versatility and variety of greetings. 

I was recently reminded that beautifully stamped projects don't need to be loaded with a lot of extras. A simple greeting like this and a stamped background are enough to set the mood and make a statement. Stop on by tomorrow and see what else I created for convention. Until next time Happy Stamping!  

My Family MDS

It's been awhile since we've taken a professional family photo. Just before we went on vacation to visit my family in Hawaii, we took some. Here is a quick and easy page that I designed in using MDS. 

The last time we took family photos like these my girls were all still very young. My oldest just turned 16 in June but she was just 8 the last time. My now 9 year old was 28 months old and my 8 year old was just 15 months old. We did have them take photos when they were 9, 3 and 2, but they took their photos by themselves so it wasn't a family portrait. 

Have you tried My Digital Studio yet? If you haven't you really should try it out. Go ahead and download your free 30 day trial here. If you enjoy the program you'll want to make sure you purchase the full version before those 30 days are up so that you don't lose any of the projects you've created. It's now just $20 and you receive over $500 of the most popular downloads when you purchase the program. There are so many great things you can do with this program. The possibilities are endless. 

If you're on Facebook you'll want to check out this great group for people who are wanting to learn how to use MDS and also want to create to share with others. FB group You can also learn through the  MDS website. There are videos through both of these websites. Through the FB website you'll get a lot of great designing videos. They will show you how to do a certain technique using MDS and then they will post a challenge to you to see if you can take what they teach you and come up with a design of your own. 

If you are using MDS let me know what you think of it and what you enjoy most about using it. 

I will be posting convention swaps again beginning tomorrow. I hope you find your way back here then. Until then Happy Stamping and Happy Creating. 

Awesome My Paper Pumpkin Deal

If you haven't yet tried My Paper Pumpkin here is a great deal for you. 

You're getting 2 months for the price of one. Also the next person who goes to register for My Paper Pumpkin and signs up under me, Samantha Malchow, will receive an additional My Paper Pumpkin kit, that I received at convention, for free*. I am notified via email as soon as someone registers so don't wait, join today and see the amazing and cute projects that come in each months kit. Don't stamp or craft yourself but know someone else who does? No problem, you can sign them up for monthly gift memberships as well. 

July's kit has already been shipped but don't fret, you have until August 10th to sign up and register for the August kit, which usually arrives after the 15th of every month. 

*This offer is only available to new customers and those who live in the US or have an APO or FPO address. 

Amazing 25th Anniversary Celebration

Convention last year was exciting. Convention this year was awesome. Sure it was a little crowded, there were almost 6000 people there. The overall excitement was definitely felt. The energy was definitely there. The display boards were full of amazing displays and all the new and wonderful products that were revealed there are awesome. I can't wait to get my hands on some of the new and wonderful things that will be coming our way in the coming months.

One of my new favorite things being offered is our new Undefined product line. If you've ever wanted to design that perfect stamp, now you can. Create your own personal logo in a stamp. How awesome would that be to get your design onto a stamp that you could use to stamp on your own letterhead or envelopes. Imagine the money you'd save by not having to pay someone else to print it all out for you. :D

When I finally get around to unpacking my bags I'll post a sample of the quick little stamp I designed and cut on my own. Until then, here is one of my favorite swap cards that I designed for convention this year. I love this little guy a lot.

He was actually my most popular card. A lot of people weren't sure they wanted this set, but after seeing my card they did. 

I originally had cut the daffodil polka dots pattern to use on an ATC swap I had been designing, If I haven't already shared this with you I tend to design on the go and in my head I create sketches that I allow to take shape on their own. Unfortunately when I was finished with the stamped part the polka dots no longer fit the design so I put it off to the side and figured I would come back to use it later. 

I haven't been a huge fan of the Daffodil Delight paper. I don't know if it's because it's too bright to me or if it's because it's yellow. Probably a combination of the two. Originally the design was going to include the Pucker Up greeting from this same set. As you can see below it's cute but I wanted to add in an additional color and yellow on yellow would just sort of drown itself out. 

I thought this stamp set was different and it was a play on words and visuals. Wasn't sure how much I would like it but I bought it because I like to be challenged. When I was visualizing the design I didn't have the set by me but then I thought I remembered seeing the bee and I had myself a little "A-ha" moment and decided on the bee. From there the design actually came together rather quickly. I decided I'd add in some black and use the honeycomb embossing folder on the black. I also wanted to use the new Chalk Talk Framelits

One thing I will recommend, since I didn't think about it ahead of time, is that if you are going to layer your frames like I did just cut them out without the holes and then after you adhere them together, then you can go ahead and use one of the pieces to put the hole in. I cut in phases so I had cut out both layers of labels separately instead of together. I learned a valuable and time saving lesson, after the fact. LOL  I'm posting my original design below. At the time I thought it was cute just like this and didn't even color his stripes but I ran out of my daffodil seam binding and couldn't find the additional roll that I knew I had. 

Thank you for stopping by. Please feel free to like my blog and share it with others and if you have any questions about anything you see here don't hesitate to contact me. 

Until next time "Happy Stamping."

Wedding Sweet

A long time friend of my husband got married this past Saturday. As always I make my cards. 

I used one of my favorite embossing folders (Elegant Bouquet, which will be retiring June 3rd). One of my favorite retired wedding sets (Wedding Sweet) along with the Boho Blossom punch in Rich Razzleberry. I also used the two toned gray ribbon that's in the current Occasions catalog, which retires May 31st. 

I used colors that were in the original wedding invitation and program from the evening.

This is one wedding we won't soon forget. We got to the part of town where the wedding was to be located and missed the turn into the venue. As we passed it I noticed there were fire trucks and a ton of police cars in the parking lot and wondered what was going on. When we turned around we were unable to get into the parking lot because they had started turning away cars. We realized within a few minutes that there was a fire there. We found out later on that there was a fire in one of the 2 kitchens at their facility. We were finally informed of what was going on and that there would definitely be a wedding, it would just be delayed some. Thankfully even though everything was running behind about 30-60 minutes, but we were picked up and shuttled in the back way, to the area where the outdoor wedding would take place. There were still fire fighters on site. We watched as they pulled the hoses apart and evacuated all of the water out of them. My girls were fascinated by the hoses as they deflated from big round hoses down to their flattened and rolled up state. My dad is a federal fire fire fighter and will be retiring soon as he approaches their required retirement age of 57. I think this is one of the big influences on the girls fascination of watching what fire fighters do. 

Eventually they were all packed up and drove off and we were able to be gathered up and seated for the event. The women were all asked to wear Fascinators. My girls all wanted to participate as well and they wore them as headbands. The brides parents are from (The British Isles) as her dad referred to them, this was a nod to her British heritage. I wish I had remembered to take pictures of my girls. They were all so cute. Maybe I'll get lucky and if she is able to post photos that were taken by the photographer and then maybe I'll be able to update with a few photos then. 

Hope you are enjoying your Tuesday. I am trying not to break down in tears as I sit and watch media coverage of what happened in Moore, OK yesterday. Remember to hug your loved ones and keep them close to you. 

Till next time Happy Stampin'!