Stampin' Up! Duo

I've been so bad about blogging lately.  It seems impossible while Laila is awake and then by the time she's in bed, I'm either stamping or reading.   I will try to be a bit better.  I have quite a few cards I haven't posted, so I do have stuff to show you!   Today I'm sharing two of the cards we made at my last club meeting.   I taught them how to make the watercolored backgrounds using stencils.  I just love Crumb Cake and red!

One of my ladies wanted to use the tag topper punches, so we made this card to practice that.   I think I sold several of the butterfly sets after people saw how pretty it was.  :)   It's a great set even without the framelits! 

Time to run!  It's the nightly pajama/toothbrush battle. lol   We are supposed to be getting some bad weather tonight and in the morning, so it might be a long night.   My goal is to get everyone, including myself, in bed early so we can get some rest.  If the thunder starts, I'll be in her room most of the night.  Poor dear is so scared.  :( I have my fingers crossed that it somehow misses us! 

Stampin' Up! Butterfly Basics

I thought I'd share one of the cards we made last weekend at my event.    I love these butterfly dies and we ended up using them on both of our projects.   :)   This one is my favorite!  I love the combo of Strawberry Slush with Rich Razzleberry.  

I'll share the second one on Tuesday and then see which is your favorite.   I'm off to watch The Little Mermaid with the family.

Stampin' Up! Nuts About You

I thought I'd share one of the projects we made at my little gathering on Sunday.   Everyone wanted to make a card for Valentine's Day so this was what I came up with.   I hadn't inked up this cute little set yet, so it was time!  :)   Don't you just love those little squirrels?!

Look how big my baby is. :(   I can't stand it.  Today I gave her a little Pinterest-inspired project, a calm down bottle.   She seems to get upset a lot lately, so I made it to help her relax and calm down.  She's been trying to assert her independence which doesn't always work out so great when it is something that she can't have or do.  Man they grow up fast don't they?!

Stampin' Up! Wondrous Wreath

I have my monthly stamping group next Sunday, so I started working on some samples for it today.   We are going to make up some fall projects, so I decided to use my new wreath set for Fall.   I went through a ton of colors and different combinations until I finally just decided to go simple with Cajun Craze and Early Espresso on a Crumb Cake background.   It's a simple card, but I think it's pretty for Fall.   I hope my ladies enjoy making it and learning how Stampin' Up! really improved the stamping and cutting of this set.  There's a notch on each of the 3 layers of the wreath and on the coordinating framelits so you know exactly where to place them.  It's SOOOOO nice and much less frustrating than some other sets I have.

We had some family art time yesterday.  :)    She's doing so much better with coloring and painting, so maybe that coordination is finally developing a bit.   She still uses both hands, so we have no idea when we'll know which she'll prefer.  Jason is a leftie, so she sees us using different ones.  

I'm headed back outside to enjoy the cooler weather before it warms back up tomorrow.   It's actually in the 70s!

Stampin' Up! Starburst Sayings

Pacific Point?!  I know!  I haven't used it in FOREVER, but I won this ribbon at Leadership and figured I should use it.  It actually turned out kinda cool, so I think we'll make it at stamp club this weekend!  Isn't that Hardwood background amazing?!  I love it.  I think this is a good masculine card even with the ribbon. 

She loves playing outside.  I am NOT an outside person, so maybe she's not mine?  Ha!  My mom bought her a bag of these balls for Christmas and it's fun to fill her pool with them so she can play.  It works for when it's not warm enough for water.   :)   We had a much better day yesterday with only a bit of meltdowns and a lot of making a mess.  Toddlers could really be hired out for demolition crews.

Stampin' Up! Vivid Vases

Vivid Vases was one of the sets we received at Leadership, so I thought we'd use it at my hostess club this month.  I really loved the make-and-take we did, so I recreated it with what I had on hand.  :)   It's nice to have the design work done for you sometimes.  I had fun watercoloring the vases and flowers with my Aquapainter.   Do you like to color?  I usually don't but this set seems fun for that.  

Laila seems to have hit the stage where she wants to pick out her own clothes.  Yikes.  Yesterday she brought me a shirt she wanted on and I had to change her.  Today she picked out this outfit when Jason was getting her dressed.   It should be interesting to see how this progresses.  I hope it doesn't add to the million things she already has meltdowns over, but I'm sure it will.  Sigh.   It's been a long, long week.  

Bandit's biopsy came back that he doesn't have cancer.  So happy for that, but they still have no idea what's wrong.   The next thing is an endoscopy/colonoscopy or exploratory surgery.   Or just waiting to see if he improves.   It is very frustrating that we've hit over $1,000 and have no real answers.  We are going to wait a bit since he seems better.  If it gets any worse, I think a second opinion will be needed to see if someone else can figure out things.  We aren't going to have anything left for treatment at this rate.   

It looks like Laila wants to go shopping, so I guess we are heading out for a bit.  Have a great weekend!

Stampin' Up! Countless Sayings 1

I thought I'd share our other project for my hostess club today.   It's actually a fun one and everyone will have some options to make theirs unique.   I made a few samples to show them, but they will get to decide the details like designer paper, which way their flags and embossing go, etc.   I can't wait to see how they all turn out.   I'll try to snap a few pictures and post them on Instagram tomorrow.  :)   

• Adorning Accents Textured Impressions Embossing Folders
• Brights Core'dinations Cardstock
• Coastal Cabana 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Countless Sayings 1 Photopolymer Stamp Set
• Fresh Prints Designer Series Paper Stack
• Stampin' Sanding Block
• Real Red 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock

Here's the $118 brushing of teeth in progress.  It's turning out to be an expensive week.  Please keep my fur baby Bandit in your thoughts as he is having an ultrasound this week to rule out cancer.  :(  He's my sidekick, so I've spent a lot of time crying and am super stressed.  He's really my first pet as an adult and I love him to pieces. 

Stampin' Up! Language of Love

Dude!  I don't know what is up with my horrible photography skills lately.  I hope you'll forgive me, but I tried to doctor it up and it just wasn't happening.  I'm such a mess lately.  Anyway... I am working on ideas for my stamp club.  I had planned out what I wanted to do and then I went to Leadership...   They gave us the new Language of Love set so I just had to use it.  I mean it IS a Valentine's kinda set and that's a month away.   I paired it with a Sale-a-Bration set that has a matching punch.  Super fun!  I love them already.  The punch will be going into the new annual catalog, so that's fabulous.  

• Banner Blast (SAB)
• Banner Punch (SAB)

• Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock
• Itty Bitty Banners Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• Language Of Love [clear]
• Tag A Bag Accesory Kit
• Real Red 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Full Heart Punch
• Petite Pennants Builder Punch
• Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents
• Banners Framelits Dies
• Bitty Banners Framelits Die

Before I go, I wanted to share a new thing I decided to do.  If you are on Instagram, I have an account for my crafty stuff now.  Be sure to come follow me!   I think you can click on the camera?  Still learning...  lol

She woke up from her nap in the best mood today and had some crazy hair.  I swear she's growing by the minute and so is her hair!  She was a good girl today and I'm glad.  Tomorrow makes five years since sweet Eli passed away, so it's a rough week for us.  Having a grumpy toddler wouldn't help, so let's hope the good girl trend continues.

Stampin' Up! Crazy Mixed-Up Love

I didn't share (or I don't think I did?) the second project we made a club last month.  It's super simple, but I love this layout and how cute the cards are with it.  Once you pick your pack of designer paper to use, the rest is easy!   It's a great way to show how the papers work together to make awesome projects!  I used the Epic Day DSP here and pulled from the colors of the paper for the rest of the card.  Easy, peasy!

Stamps:  Crazy Mixed-Up Love
Ink:  Gumball Green, Daffodil Delight, Basic Gray Markers
Paper:  Gumball Green, Gumball Green Coredinations, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Whisper White
Tools: Big Shot, Honeycomb TIEF

Laila was a bit overwhelmed with Christmas and just wanted to play with what she opened instead of opening more.  Nothing wrong with that for sure.  I hope we can do a more simple holiday next year.  Baking for our local fire department and picking out a gift for the child we picked from the angel tree was was more fun than the stress of shopping for each other and wrapping.  

Stampin' Up! Yippee Skippee

I thought I'd share one of the cards we are making at my stamp club on Sunday.  One of the members had asked to do the color blocking with cardstock technique, so I finally managed a design with it.  I know, what's up with the Valentine's Day, right?   I'm a bit over Christmas.  This time of year is stressful and after going through what we did with Eli in December and then losing him in January, I'd be happy to just fast forward from Thanksgiving to February.   So...I kinda did I guess.  I have to get busy soon to make Jason a birthday card.  Our birthdays are both next week!  I can't believe I'm turning 25...again.  Ha!  ;)   We won't say how many times I've turned that now.

Stamps:  Yippee Skippee
Ink:  Raspberry Ripple
Paper:  Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Tools:  Big Shot, Hearts framelits, Stripes TIEF, Small Heart punch
Accessories:  Basic Rhinestones

One of my friends came over today with the puppies she's fostering.  Laila and I enjoyed playing with this little guy.  We are thinking about adding a dog to our family, so Sunday we go to meet Minnie.  We'll see how it goes.  I hope Laila likes her because I've fallen in love with her picture!  I've never had a dog as an adult, so it should be a learning experience.

Stampin' Up! Perfect Blend for the Holidays

Okay, here's my sharing of my addiction. We all have bad habits that we waste money on and mine is coffee...and stamps of course.  I love Starbucks sooooooooooooo much.  This time of year always makes me happy because a peppermint mocha in a red cup is just pure heaven.   I try to be good because it ain't a cheap addiction, but man!  Thankfully Santa always brings me a gift card or two and my friends also get me gift cards for my birthday.   :)    So anyway, all that inspired this project we are making for club!  I used the Perfect Blend stamp set to make cute red cups for the holidays!   This is a cool gift card holder that I learned to make by watching the amazing Jackie Topa's video.  That envelope punch board does some cool stuff, right?!

Here's the inside:

All it needs is a gift card in that little holder.   I hope my club ladies like it!

Stamps:  Perfect Blend, Tags 4 You, Sweet Essentials
Ink:  Real Red, Early Espresso
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White, Brights DSP stack
Accessories:  Season of Style Washi tape
Tools:  Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Stylish Stripes EF, Merry Minis punch pack, Bracket Label punch, Simply Scored

I've been working on a swatchbook in My Digital Studio for Laila's first year and it's so crazy to look back at how small she was just a year ago.  This picture was from November of last year.  Crazy!  She's just growing too fast.

Stampin' Up! Christmas Star

Today I wanted to share one of the projects we are making at my stamp club on Sunday.   I decided to focus on Christmas and the Envelope Punch Board for this month.  I love these file folder cards and had to make one!  I used the gorgeous Christmas Star single stamp.  You can find it and the other single stamps in my online store under the stamp category.

Isn't that designer paper gorgeous?  It is called Winter Frost and I just love it!

Stamps:  Christmas Star, Greetings of the Season
Ink: Smoky Slate, Island Indigo
Paper: Island Indigo, Whisper White, Winter Frost DSP
Accessories:  Vintage Faceted button, Island Indigo baker's twine
Tools: Envelope Punch Board

Once she mastered the ottoman, she moved on to bigger (and more dangerous) things.  Yikes!  We are working on sitting in the chair so that mommy doesn't have a heart attack.

Stampin' Up! Halloween Happiness

No scrap card today.  :-/  Between football and stamp club coming up next week, I had to be focused on doing those projects.   I wanted to do a cute little Halloween card using the Halloween Happiness stamp from the Holiday Catalog.  I kept it pretty simple, but I think it's adorable.  

Stamps:  Halloween Happiness

Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip markers

Paper:  Basic Black, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Brights DSP stack, Polka Dot Parade DSP

Tools:  Big Shot, Chevron TIEF, Paper Snips

A certain little girl is obsessed with owls this week.  She learned to say it as we were reading a new Halloween book we found at Michael's and now she wakes up saying it....and says it all day.  My sweet stamping friend Anne Marie had sent Laila this owl way over a year ago, so I knew now was the perfect time to pull it out.  She LOVES it.  lol  She's back to normal now and feeling like herself again; throwing fits, fighting naps...all that fun toddler stuff.  lol  

Tape It and Washi tape for Club

I'm meeting with my club ladies tomorrow night so I thought I'd share the projects we are making.  I decided to focus on Washi tape and the new Tape It set.   This first card is a CASE of a card found in our demonstrator magazine.  It has some great ideas for this set and this was one of them.  I was excited to finally find the time to open My Paper Pumpkin that had been sitting on my desk for months for it.  :)

Stamps:  Tape It, My Paper Pumpkin starter kit stamps

Ink:  Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Crumb Cake

Paper:  Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

Accessories:  Linen Thread, Basic Rhinestones

Tools:  XL Oval punch, Decorative Label punch

This second card is the same layout as the top one, just flipped horizontal.  I used the Epic Day Washi Tape and DSP to make this one.  It has a very different look than the first one doesn't it? 

Stamps:  Blue Ribbon, Gorgeous Grunge

Ink:  Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Calypso Coral

Paper:  Basic Gray, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Epic Day DSP

Accessories:  Epic Day Washi tape, Basic Rhinestones

Tools:  Scallop circle and circle punches

 

Laila is officially ONE!   Her party isn't until Sunday, but we tried to make today special for her.   Daddy made her special pancakes for breakfast and then we went to the Houston Children's Museum to play for a bit.  She had lunch out and then presents and a cupcake after dinner.   I hope it was a good day for her.  She was sure worn out!  

Bicycles for Club

Today I wanted to share the second card we made at stamp club on Friday night.   This month has not been a creative one for me, so I turned to my Pinterest boards for some inspiration.   I just loved this card by Julie Davison and was inspired to make one!  Now I wish I'd put an Early Espresso layer between the image panel and torn dsp.  Hmm....maybe I need to make another one?!  :)

Stamps:  Feeling Sentimental
Ink:  Soft Suede, Early Espresso
Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, First Edition DSP, Neutrals DSP stack
Tools/Accessories:  Stamp-a-ma-jig, Color Spritzing Tool, Neutrals buttons, Early Espresso baker's twine

I heard Laila wake up from her nap the other day but then it got really quiet in her room.  I decided to go check on her and here's what I found.   She managed to pull her butterfly light down into the crib and turn it on.  Nothing is safe from this girl now!   She's finally starting to feel better, but her nose is still running.  I hate to see her sick.   It seems like every time we take her around other kids she ends up with something.  I know we can't keep her isolated forever, but man!  We went to visit her cousins last Sunday and a few days later she was sick.  I guess we'll just have to hope that she starts building up some immunity at some point.  

Club Card Redo!

Don't you hate it when you go to cut your card stock and realize that you don't have enough for your project?  That's what happened with this card I designed for club.  Bummer, right?  I managed to change it up a bit and redo it in colors that I did have!  Now I know why people hoard paper; I wish I had the budget to do that myself!  I think it's still a fun card.  

Have you tried this chalkboard technique yet?  It is so easy and so fun!  My white craft ink has been a bit neglected, so this was perfect to give it some use.  My white embossing powder was happy to come out of the drawer as well!

Someone was happy when they woke up this morning!   She seems to be eating better today which is great. Her nose is still runny, so we'll see what the nurse says in the morning if it hasn't improved.

Chalkboard Birthday

I had a great day stamping with one of my club members (and sweet friend) today!   She was kind enough to have me over and it was just us, her two dogs, and her cat.   After a rough day on Saturday, being up so much last night, and just general "I need out of the house" crazies, it was such a treat!   I was inspired by a sample in the Spring Catalog and wanted to try to recreate it.   This chalkboard technique is pretty popular right now and I figured I'd give it a go.  I do LOVE how it turned out, so I think we'll be making this one at club.  

To answer a few questions, this is all SU product.  The black is just normal basic black card stock that has been sponged with white craft ink!  I stamped the sentiment in the white craft ink, embossed with white embossing powder, and then sponged the white ink to make the erased chalkboard ink.  Hope that helps! 

Laila is so sick. :(   She's so congested and can't seem to sleep very well laying down.  Jason ended up sleeping in the recliner with her for part of the night and after he came to bed at seven this morning I got up and fed her and then held her for a nap.   She was pretty fussy for Jason while I was gone today, but woke up happy after taking a long nap on him.   We just put her down for bed and hope the humidifier and elevated mattress will help. 

My cousin found this cute outfit at Carter's and sent it for Laila.  It's so adorable and has a crab on the back.  She even sent her that huge matching bow too.  lol   She's been helping me come up with ideas for Laila's first birthday party which is great because she's great at party planning and I am not!  I think we are going to try to do a beach themed party in Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, and Tempting Turquoise.   If you see any cool favors or decorations, let me know.  :)    I love the idea of adding in a few crab things to honor Eli since he never got a birthday party.  

Club Thank Yous

I try to make up a little thank you card or gift for my awesome club ladies. They are not just customers, but great friends as well.  Sometimes I run out of time and fail at that, but I tried really hard this month to stamp a card for them. Laila was a good girl and played in her Exersaucer so I could get them done.   They are simple, but cute.

I just love this sketch and have used it a few times in the past.   The Big Shot and punches to all the work which is great when you are running short on time!   Add in the awesome combination of red and black and you have a winner, right?!

Can you believe she's seven months old today?!  It is going by so, so fast.  I guess I should start thinking about some birthday ideas before too long.  I wanted to do some crafty stuff for it and I will need time to work on them!   I'm thinking owls, but I need to see what all is out there and what colors I want to work with. 

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Club Time!

This week is my fun Friday night stamp club week!  I'm so excited to spend time with my super awesome ladies.   Today I've been working on some ideas of what we'll make, but I have a big problem! I have not been sleeping well, so my creativity is a bit off with the exhaustion.  I wanted to use my much neglected heart framelits and after seeing a similar idea on Pinterest over and over last year, I decided to make a card like Wendy featured here on her blog.

That picture is awful, but you get the idea!  The color is Calypso Coral and I used one of those snazzy clear buttons from the main catalog.   What do you think?   I wish I had a larger Valentine's Day sentiment, but that's all I had to work with.   Hopefully my ladies will like it and it will give them an idea of fun things you can do with the framelits and designer papers.

Here's a shot of Laila waiting on the nurse for her shots yesterday.  Poor thing.  She only cried during the shots and for a minute after.  I have to admit, I did too!   I am not good at seeing my baby girl upset like that.   She didn't have any other issues though. She napped a bit more than normal and then slept from 8pm to 6:30am this morning!   I downloaded a white noise app for the iPod Touch and left it on in her room all night.  I don't know if it was the shots, the noise, or the next serving of solids, but she slept great.   I needed that night of sleep too.  I still work up a few times worried about her, but it was a much better night than I've been having.  

We've been having to bundle up lately to go out!   It has actually been a bit cold here in Texas.

Perfectly Penned for Club

Wow you guys!!!!!!   I see that I went over the 200,000 views mark this week.   That's crazy!!   I appreciate you all visiting and seeing what's going on in my little corner of the internet.  I have a few cards that I'd love to send out to a few of you, so leave me a comment and I'll pick a couple random folks to send one out to!  

Are you like me and have a favorite sketch that you go to a lot?   This one from Try Stampin' on Tuesday is quickly becoming my favorite. I was working on some ideas for club cards and wanted to do one where people could pick their sentiment.  I like having a choice because some folks might need a birthday card while others need a thank you.   Perfectly Penned will work for either of those AND this layout.   Win, win!  Thanks to Glenda for her gorgeous inspiration.  

Santa was going to put these cute leg warmers in Laila's stocking but he sorta dropped them off a bit early.  :)   She's really discovered her toes now so she LOVES grabbing them.