How about a lady bug?

Who doesn't love a sweet lady bug? Okay, so it's a blue lady bug, but it's still cute. I love the new Pick a Petal set. Of course after cutting 144 petals for a swap I had a fleeting moment where I thought I would never touch the set again. However, I did! I used many sets on this card. All new, all fun!

Recipe:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Pick a Petal, Much Appreciated
Hostess level 3 bundle (wheel)
Ink: Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, Basic black
CS: Blue Bayou, Whisper White, Soft Sky, Basic Black
Access: Horizontal Slot punch, 1" circle punch, Scalloped punch, Black Brads , Crystal effects, Dazzling Diamonds, Ticket punch!


Hope your Saturday is going GREAT!

I just love to STAMP!

Good morning everyone!






I just have to say, I love to stamp!! I love the new stamps in the new catalog! I have been playing a lot with the new Baroque set and I am in love with it. It is such an ELEGANT set. The new catalog is GORGEOUS!!! Okay, let me tell you about this card and I will get back to it. I am just so excited!!!

I made this card using a transparency. I stamped on it using my favorite White Stazon. I just love using that ink. You can do so many things with it. I used the new Designer Paper that goes so well with the Baroque set. I tied a knot through the flower.


Recipe: Stamp set: Baroque Motifs
Ink: White Stazon
CS: Transparency, Soft Sky (yummy), Brocade Background DP
Access: Wide Olive Organdy Ribbon
This would make a very elegant wedding card. So fun!





Let me tell you what I was jumping up and down about in the new CATALOG! TEXTURED paper!!! Yes!!!!!!!!! All you Bazzil lovers..... well, Stampin' Up! has brought out Textured paper that is FABULOUS! I feel like singing on top of a mountain! LOL!! It is so fun to work with. I made this layout using the new Level 1 Simply Scrappin' kit. I love our new In Colors and the textured paper to go with it just blows me away.



I still need to journal on this layout. The story of my life really. I love these colors together. A little Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou and a little pumpkin and you have a FABULOUS color combination!!! Look at the die cut stickers. YUMMY!

Well, from this post, you can really tell I am excited about our new products. I am still sitting on top of the clouds. I hope you enjoy and I hope you have a fantastic weekend.

I have some stamping to do!!

Arrg!

That is what I said to this Pirate at the Renissance festival yesterday.

We had such a great time and this guy looked like Johnny Depp and after the kids had their picture taken, I jumped right in. :)

Okay, so I realize you are not here to look at my picture with a pirate, but bare with me.
I do have something to share. :)

This is a layout I did recently at a Scrapbook class. I still need to journal but I thought I would share. I really loved all our designer paper in the catalog and i am even more excited with what is to come. I love that Stampin' Up! keeps up with the Scrapbook Trends. Wait until you see the new Simply Scrappin' kits. Oh boy is all I can say. I have one of the kits which is a hostess kit and it is FABULOUS. Textured cardstock that you want to touch all day. Ahhhhhhh!

Okay, for this layout I used the treehouse designer paper. Loved this for boy layouts. It is messy splotches on it just like a little boy would make. I used my coluzzle that I am in love with and cut the circle. I edged around the circle with Choc. ink. I made a photo corner and then mated it to bring out the black and white photo. I love using the twill on scrapbook pages as well. Very fun!

Well, I am hot today. Just turned my air on. It really feels GREAT to me. I love the summer. I put sunscreen on the kids and it reminds me of being at the beach. :)

Oh, we had two birds hatch. The other three eggs didn't and mama bird left them behind. I was so sad. The others are now gone. The whole process was pretty exciting. :)

Have a GREAT day. I will have more to share later.

Inking those new stamps!

I think I have met my goal for trying to get many different mediums of ink onto those new stamps. For me, its like a new pair of tennis shoes. I can't stand a stark white pair of tennis shoes. I like to go outside and rough them up a bit. I am the same way with new stamps. I love to get them totally inky. It makes me happy!! So, I have been stamping away, playing with these fun new stamps. I am in the midst of a few swaps and so I am really putting the rubber to the test. I thought about throwing my Pick a Petal set away after cutting 144 large petals and 84 small petals. WHAT WAS I THINKING???

Stamping swaps are not my favorite because I really like to change things up a bit. However, since most my stamps are being retired, so are my swaps. It is time for new cards. I have another swap I will let you peek on tomorrow. Anyways, I love the new colors. I love how these colors all go with Choc. Chip. That Groovy Gauva is just awesome. I also love RIVER ROCK. Oh, in love!!!

Well, it is way past my bed time. Hope you have a GREAT TUESDAY and thanks so much for stoppin' in!

Happy Monday Morning!

I have a few things to share today. I actually have another layout to share but the laptop is being wonky this morning. Oh well. Typical Monday! I hope you had a fabulous weekend. I got to stamp and that alone makes for a GREAT weekend. We enjoyed a nice day yesterday with Russ and he was able to just relax. That is what he wanted. We bought the kids a slip n slide yesterday! I about pee'd my pants watching Alexis slide down it. She is still so tiny that she whips down it and tumbles around and around on it. Oh, what a great laugh!!

Okay, back to stamping. This little candy holder is using NEW stamps from the soon to be released 2007/08 catalog. I can hardly contain myself! I need that catty NoW. Anyhoo, this little gem here holds some chocolates in a cello bag. The outside is done with Kraft cardstock and then the new Bayou Blue and Soft Sky cardstock are layered on top. I used that beautiful stamp set Baroque Motifs on the Soft Sky cardstock with Bayou Blue Ink. I just LOVE these colors. Gorgeous.

Lastly, here is a litte memo pad that I altered a bit. Again, I used the same color scheme. I love how you can punch a hole in the center of that flower/circle stamp and run ribbon through it. Makes it looks so stinkin' elegant. I scalloped the bottom of the Bayou Blue cardstock and then punched holes above it. Again, a really fun set. Just think, this is ONLY the beginning!! It is going to be a GREAT year with Stampin' Up!'s NEW toys! Yippie!!

Have a Fantabulous day!! Looks like another day for the slip n slide!

Baby Birdies

I meant to update you on our baby birdies! Two of the five have hatched. It is so exciting. Mama bird is such a good mama. I will keep you posted.

Super women!!

No, not me. I buried my cape long ago when I found out I just couldn't be Super Woman! However, I was blog browsing and I really think two women are. :) Here Beate is gone to Germany and the girl is blogging. Amazing and has gorgeous artwork posted. She just puts me to shame. Then you have my friend Heather Summers, and she is just a super woman because she is a super demonstrator and she just had a baby. I am always amazed at the way women can be the best time managers EVER. I wish these two ladies would hold a class. I would be first in line to take it. You can check out both their blogs! On the right side of my blog is the link. They really are SUPER WOMEN!


Anyways, I held a scrap class tonight and as always enjoyed it. Oh what fun scrappin' is. Love teaching it!! Here is a peek of the layouts.


I used the new stamp set Pick a Petal and the new Hostess set In the Spotlight. Both are FANTASTIC stamp sets to scrapbook with. Pick a Petal has sooooooooo many great ways to scrap with. Love it. This layout I used a color combo that I really like. Bashful Blue, Real Red, a splash of Basic Black and Kraft cardstock. I love these colors because they are so neutral. Anything goes really. This layout has a lot of elements and a lot of chipboard but was a really fun layout to put together. I still need to find a spot to do a little more journaling. Remember a few months back when my head was hangin' low and I couldn't snap outta the funk? Well, my husband took me to this beautiful place called Garden of the Gods and I felt so much better after seeing this gorgeous place. Really magical but NOT Disney magical. :) Anyways, I love the pic of me on the rock. It kind of symbolizes the day I got my head outta my butt and got movin' with life in general. It was a good day.

Speaking of good days, I hope yours was. This week has literally flown by. I have another layout to share tomorrow. I hope you will come back to visit. My lonely rubbah is still sitting uninked. Kinda sad, but I will get to it. :)

Dreams and Goals

Howdy, howdy!! Another month is flying by so fast. It is almost mid month! Yikes! I have been busy stamping scrapbook pages and will share in the morning when my lighting is at it's best. I have all my new rubbah just screaming for attention. I am planning a BIG new rubbah fest this weekend. Just me and the new rubbah are going to have a little meeting! After I had seen the sneek peek of the newer products from the demonstrator magazine Stampin' Success... I almost fainted. Really! Talk about excitment! Jumping for joy excitement. My kids thought I had gone off the deep end. It is crazy that a few new products like the ones I had seen could just make you giddy. I know this new catalog is going to be fantastic. I thought last years was AMAZING! This one is going to blow our minds!!!!

I have very exciting news this week! I am so excited to announce that I will be cruising to BERMUDA on behalf of Stampin' Up! This was a HUGE accomplishment after many, many obstacles that stood in my way. If you remember way back in January while I was in the midst of a move, my dad had his heart surgery and then the travels to our new home and then of course it spiraled from there once I got here. I wanted to share this with you because I do believe DREAMS and goals do come true if you work hard to achieve them. My business has grown here in Colorado Springs and it is so exciting. The greatest thing about this great thing we call STAMPING is the friendships we make along the way. I have made friends all over the US just stamping and scrapbooking. Each of these people have touched my life in some sort of way and will always be remembered. While all this is happening, touching lives, sharing what I love to do... a big bonus happened along the way. I want to scream out on my back deck... "I DID IT!!!" Thanks for listening to me ramble. I am teaching one of my favorite classes tomorrow night. SCRAPBOOKING! Truly, my element. I know it will be a GREAT time. I will share the layouts in the morning. By the weekend, lets pray that new rubbah has seen the ink!!

Smooches!

My Everything!

As promised late last night, I have the layout that I worked on. I enjoyed doing this layout because it is rare there is a picture of me and Russ together. The picture was actually taken by our Son, who is only 6. Not a bad photographer. LOL! If you know me IRL, you know that I adore my husband. He really is a great guy. We've only been married almost 11 years, but I am still very in love with him. The other night we were sitting on the couch looking on the computer and found an article about your love life. After reading it we sat and talked about it for two hours laughing hysterically and talking about our own. Our lives get so busy that sometimes we forget to do things like this. Just sit, talk and laugh. It felt good.

Alrighty then, back to the layout!

I started with Kraft. I know, again! I matted the photo on Basic Black. I placed a piece of twill underneath the photo and stapled it on. I took the hearts from Happy Hearts and stamped them in Buckaroo Blue onto Brocade Blue. I cut them all out and placed them next to the twill using dimensionals. I love our dimensionals. I added black brads around the hearts! Then I stamped "my everything" in Basic Black using my ulitmate fav stamp set Big Deal. I added a little faux stitiching on the right side of the pic. Lastly, I journaled about why I think he is my everything!!

Funky and Babble!

I just finished a fun layout of my sweetheart. I will post tomorrow as the light in my favorite place is not so great at midnight! I feel so good. I feel this way because I just scrap'd a great pic of Russ and I. Then when I journaled it just made me fall more in love with him.

So, i was blog hoppin' and one that I just adore is Elsie Flannigans blog. Check on the right side and you will see the link to it. If you like fresh and funky and carefree scrappin', then check out her stuff. Her photography is amazing. Love that she is carefree. Hmm.. i have a ways to go, but i do feel a little like that this week. Just going with the flow, loving life, and loving who I am! This doesn't happen every week. Ha ha ha ha! Last week, not so much! Stress--- this week... who cares! WOW, I feel really good! *wink* It could be the dancin' crazy in my favorite room with my ipod on full blast. I love that thing! That is being carefree. Dancin' around like you are *it*! However, it is hard to journal when you are getting your groove on with the ipod going full blast. :)

I did finish up my tween book that I am teaching on Sunday. it just needed a few tweeks. Oh this little book makes me giggle. I am sure they will enjoy. It brings back great memories for me. I can't wait for them to see the book and ask me about some of my music artists I wrote down. I am afraid to hear, " who is that???" Sunday I may blog telling you I am not feeling so carefree, instead I am feeling WAY OLD! It's all good! Right?

Okay, nothing but babble tonight. Will post that layout in the mornin'! I think you might like. It's simple dimple!!!

It's almost Fathers Day!

Fathers Day is just around the corner and I have a few to make. I went back to a set I do adore, Natural Beauty! Of course this is retiring set, and I am sad to see it go. I just love this bird for masculine cards! I am back using my Kraft paper. Tee Hee! The designer paper was a scrap piece from the Tickets & Tokens Simply Scrappin' Kit. I stamped on the base of the card with Ephemera Background stamp with White Kraft ink and then embossed with clear EP.

I then stamped the French Script on the Buckaroo Blue. Then edged around the blue. I stamped the bird on Kraft, then watercolored with the aqua painter with watercolor crayons. I edged around the kraft with choc chip. I put some brads at the top and added some paper piercering on the other side and viola!

Now to finish some scrap projects piling on my desk. It is a scrappin' night!!!

Smooches!!

Giddy when I stamp!

Last night I was able to sit back and just relax and stamp. Oh that feels so good. I feel like I am catching up finally. I needed to make my mom a birthday card. We celebrated while she was here and sure enough her card will be late. Go figure. If you ever get a card from me on time, something is truly WRONG! :)

I am trying to use a lot of my retired sets so I won't feel so guilty when they come off my shelf. I told you yesterday that my French Script had smoke coming off of it and it still does. :) I used kraft paper and stamped the flower from Natural Beauty. I then masked it and stamped french script over it. I colored the flower with Watercolor Crayons using my aqua painter and then stamped and cut out another flower to pop one up off the card. I stamped happy birthday from the Level 3 hostess set (can't remember the name right now) and punched this out using my oval stamp on Rose Red. I then punched out another one in Choc. Chip and made a shadow effect underneath. I matted the flower image on Regal Rose paper and I love how this made the whole image just pop. Woweee. I then matted that on the new Designer paper (which I love) and some choc. chip. All that was placed on a piece of Kraft paper. Oh, I really like this card. Quite yummy!!

We had such a productive day today. Russ is in the garage sale mood so we spent hours in the garage today getting it organized. I can't believe we can actually fit a car in it. WOW! I had to chuckle about this because today I thought Russ was going to wet himself when we watched hail coming down on both the cars. I have never seen him scramble so fast like he did today. I have NEVER seen hail like this before. Everyone around here keeps talking about it and boy is it amazing. Check this picture out. I am sure most of you have seen bigger hail, but I have not. I kept screaming about how big they were and Russ just kept laughing. Our yard looked like it had snowed. I was more excited about this than the kids. In fact, I felt like a kid.

Lastly, I was hanging plants prior to my parents coming because I wanted the house to look foo fooie. I hung a beautiful fern on my front porch and two days later a birdie made a nest. I have watched her for a few weeks now building her nest and while my family was here she laid two eggs. Well today we peeked in her nest and she has FIVE! I love to watch her take care of them. She is a sweet mama and she really protects her eggs.

Isn't this the sweetest thing? I will update you on my little birds when they hatch. I hope they all make it. I would be devasted if something happened to them.

Well, it is late and that means it is time to stamp for me. :) I love late night stamping. The best work from me is at night!

Have a fabulous Sunday. I have another card already brewing for tomorrow. :)

Where did May go???

Oh my! Am I in the dog house!! Only three posts in May from me! Well, I promise I have been busy and up to every thing good. ;)

I had a great time with my family and as always hate to see them go! My mom and I looked like two blubbering idiots as we said our good byes once again. I just hate being so far away from my family. They did get to see the great sites of Colorado and spend time with more family I have in Denver. The kids loved having them around as well!

During their visit I was a stampin' fool! I had many events that my mom participated in and she had so much fun. I had a big stamp camp that was just a BLAST! Then I had my club and a punch class that she joined in on. May was a SUPER busy stampin' month and June is going to be the same. With all those beautiful stamps retiring I am trying to get the most use out of them. My French Script Background stamp has smoke coming off of it from the tremendous use it is getting. LOL! Who doesn't love that set? Soooo many uses for that one!

I have another BIG Stamp A Stack that is coming up and I can hardly contain my excitement. They are so much fun and the cards are gorgeous. Here is a little sneek peek at one of the cards. Now the original design is not mine. I went through a ton of my swaps from last convention and ran across a card VERY similiar to this. I tweeked it a bit and added a double background and VIOLA, this is one of the cards. To the original designer, whoever you are... amazing card. Just love this! So elegant!

I have another class this month I am excited about. My sideline and best friend mailed me this awesome accordian album that she made using the Simply Scrappin' Friends and Flowers and I LOVE it. So, I played around with it and made another sample using Tickets & Tokens Simply Scrappin' and came up with this lovely little design. This makes such a great little album to use for vacations. I will fill it with my last Salt Lake City trip from Regionals. I have a tween camp coming up and I can't wait. I love to stamp with kids. They are much more talented than we ever give them credit for. They are doing some really fun projects and one is a little journal with all kinds of fun stuff to fill in. I bought some teen magazines because I want them to use a few things in them. Man, do I feel OLD! You know, the good ole' Seventeen Mag and Tiger Beat. They were so GREAT. They had the pull out posters that we all hung in our rooms with Scott Biao (is that spelled right?) on them. What a hunk he use to be. LOL! Anyways, I actually had fun catching up on the teen news.

Well my friends, I am back. I am working on something fabulous for tomorrow already. I better get back to work. I am alive and kickin' and stampin'! Smooches!