Stampin' Up! Delicate Doilies

My sweet cousin in Kentucky recently signed up to be a demonstrator and is working on ideas for her open house.  I tried to help her by coming up with a card design for her.  She emailed her list of stamps and current colors and here's what I came up with.   In case she decides to use the idea, I tried to keep it pretty simple so new stampers weren't overwhelmed with their first stamping experience.   Tessa's amazing card was a great inspiration for mine.

Stamps:  Perfectly Penned, Delicate Doilies, Gorgeous Grunge
Ink:  Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White
Accessories:  Basic Pearls, Linen Thread

She looks much too old for me in this one.  Lately when I look at her I find myself starting to cry.  It's going by entirely too fast.  It feels like she should still be a little baby swinging in the swing and needed to be fed and burped.   Her teething necklace is probably going to have to come off soon and we'll shop for a longer one, she's almost in 2T clothes, and I've been looking for ideas for her second birthday party.  Just crazy! Whoever said the days were long, but the years are short really nailed that one!

Before I go, someone asked about the Stenciled class.  You can find it here:  http://www.onlinecardclasses.com/  Hope that helps.  :)

Stampin' Up! Gorgeous Grunge

Here's another of my Convention display samples.  This one uses Gorgeous Grunge to make a splatterific birthday card.  

Stamps: Gorgeous Grunge, Perfectly Penned

Ink:  Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush

Paper:  Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, In Color DSP stack

Accessories:  Ginormous Rhinestones, Basic Rhinestones, White Baker's Twine

Tools:   Big Shot, Tasteful Trim die, Pennant Punch

LOL  You never know what you'll find in the playroom bins!  I guess they are a good place to nap if you are a feline.

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.  

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.

Paper Players in Orange

It has been way too long since I had time to play along with my buddies over at The Paper Players.  I loved Jaydee's sketch this week and thought I could make it work for a young girl type card.   I was in the mood for some Pumpkin Pie (not the dessert as I think that's gross) so I used that and white for my card.  It's rare to just use one color and a neutral, but it happens every now and then.  :)

I really like how this one turned out.  I love the mix of patterns, the bit of bling, and the ORANGE.  Finally a bit of my retired DSP got used too.  I am running out of room, so I am trying to make myself use up some of it and NOT allowing myself to buy any more until I clear out some.  

The Christmas tree was just too bright for her.  :)

Simple Circus Circles

Whew.  It's been a rough day here today!  Jason is at work and Laila is being high maintenance!  She napped so well yesterday and then slept almost 12 hours straight last night, so I guess she's well-rested and thinking she doesn't need naps today.  We all know how babies with no naps are, right?!  We're hanging in there, but we are both exhausted at this point!   I did manage to squeeze in a simple birthday card for the HYCCT challenges.  This was a challenge from Lori and here's her description: My challenge to you is to use the letters HYCCT in your card or project! You can use any supply or technique, let your imagination go wild!! Please be sure to include what you used in your description!

Here's what I used for my creation:
H:  Happy Birthday
Y:  Yellow
C: Circles
C: Clean-and-Simple
T:  Twine

Stamps:  Perfectly Penned, Circle Circus
Ink:  So Saffron, Not Quite Navy, Pool Party
Paper:  Not Quite Navy, Pool Party, Whisper White
Accessories:  Pool Party Baker's Twine, So Saffron button (retired)

Laila was chilling in her bouncy seat in the kitchen while I emptied the dishwasher and luckily I had the camera snapping pictures when Bandit decided to check her out.  The cats aren't sure about her just yet and all her flailing around tends to scare them!

CAS Duo Circles

Today was one of those days, so I needed a little creative time to refresh my mind and relax.   My doctor's appointment went okay, but with my blood pressure still being high it looks like Miss Laila will be here a week earlier than we'd planned.   We should hear from them this week about changing our scheduled c-section to the week of the 25th instead of on July 2nd.   So...I gotta stamp while I can!    I wanted to play with the Dynamic Duos challenge this week and thought it might be fun paired with the Clean-and-Simple challenge on Splitcoast Stampers.    I'm determined to get this CAS thing down!   

My first instinct with those colors was flowers, but I really am a bit tired of flowers.   I decided to try something with Circle Circus instead.  I think I'm one of the few people who like this set.   :)   It works great paired with Perfectly Penned too!    I tried to do a bit of layering with the circles so that it wasn't so flat; a bit of dimension can add a lot!   I'm still a bit unsure of all that white space, but hey, I'm trying!

Stamps:  Circle Circus, Perfectly Penned

Ink:  Regal Rose, Basic Gray

Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Gray, Regal Rose

Tool/Accessories:   assorted circle punches, scallop circle punch, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Boho Blossoms punch, Basic Pearls

Online Extravaganza!

Here's another card we made at my all occasions class last week.   I think this is one of my favorite color combinations!   It is perfect for a masculine card of any type, even baby cards!    Paired with Circle Circus, it can become whatever type of card you need!    Just change out the sentiment for the occasion you need!

Stamps:  Circle Circus, Perfectly Penned
Ink:  Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso
Paper:  Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Tools/Accessories:   Big Shot, Stripes embossing folder, Marina Mist 3/8 taffeta ribbon (retired)

On Monday, November 21st, Stampin' Up! will be kicking off an exciting online extravaganza!   If you remember last year, there were some great deals and sales, so don't miss out on this!   This time there will be a 24-hour only sale from November 21, 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM (Mountain Time, so be sure to adjust for your time zone!) on two items!

The rest of the sale will run from the 21st until the 30th.   Some hints of the deals to come:

*Free digital downloads valued at $40 when you purchase My Digital Studio Express

*60% off select designer fabrics

*30% off an exclusive ribbon bundle

I'll have more information on Monday, but you can find the deals starting at 12:01 AM (MT) in my online store!   

FMS5: Fun Flowers

Time for another sketch from Freshly Made Sketches!   We have two wonderful designers joining us for the next six months and you don't want to miss their gorgeous cards this week.  A big Texas welcome to Jen Timko and Cindy Hall; so glad to have y'all stamping with us!   My fellow transplanted Texan and friend Anne Marie is also joining us this week as our featured designer, so stop by and say howdy and check out her beautiful creation!    (I'm working on my Texas talk, can you tell?  lol)

This one was definitely a challenge for me and I hope my card actually resembles it.   I kept trying different things and finally settled on one that I like. It deviates a bit from the sketch, but I think you can still see it.  (If not, please pretend that you do, okay?) 

I wanted something bright and fun and I think this fits the bill.   I have been making so many fall and Christmas cards that it was nice to take a break and do something with some of my favorite colors.   I am still loving my Fun Flowers die and the font on Perfectly Penned is to die for!  

Stamps:  Perfectly Penned

Ink:  Island Indigo

Paper:  Island Indigo, Baja Breeze, Rich Razzleberry, Brights DSP stack

Tools/Accessories: Big Shot, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Fun Flowers die, Brights buttons, White Baker's Twine

Be sure to stop and say hello to my fellow designers:

Tui Nathan

Lesley Croghan

Linda Callahan

Jen Mitchell

Monkeys for The Paper Players

I needed more cards for kids, so I decided to pull out one of my favorite sets, Fox & Friends, and use it with this week's sketch from The Paper Players.   I added in a few things from my recent order and I think the old and new really worked great together on this card.   The Stripes embossing folder is great for just about any type of card and look at that super fun sentiment!  Isn't that the coolest font?  I love it!   

I also added in a special element, the number.   What's so special about a number you ask?   Well, that number symbolizes what I love about Stampin' Up! and being a demonstrator.    As some of you know, I was on the Creative Crew design team on Splitcoast Stampers during much of the summer.   I had the honor of working with some great ladies, but one of them became so much more.   Kathy from Stamping Still is now one of my great friends and I enjoy our emails so much.   She's all the way over in Australia, but that doesn't matter thanks to technology.   She has created some adorable cards that have the addition of numbers on them and I had once commented that I loved that special touch.   Unfortunately, I didn't have the dies needed to do that on my cards.   Well, one day I open my mailbox and guess what was in there?   A whole bag of numbers that she had cut for me and one of her beautiful cards!   I cried of course.   :)   That's why I love being a demonstrator.  It's not just about selling stamping supplies, it's all about the bonds of friendship.  

Now before I leave you, I'll share a picture from last night.   Someone totally took over my spot on the couch.     :)   He's such a silly boy!