Stampin' Up! Another Thank You

I was able to order a couple of new goodies last week and they finally came yesterday.   Laila went to bed somewhat early, so I headed off to my room to get some stamping in.  I've been on the verge of just quitting this week, but I know I *need* to stamp so I decided to give it a go.  This has just been one of those awful weeks and no matter how much I try to make it better, it just seems to get worse.  Laila fought her nap for almost 2 hours yesterday and then after an hour of sleep, woke up just as grumpy as she was before it.  I was at my wit's end to say the least.  We survived though and today is a new day.   

The big Thank You stamp is from the new photopolymer set called Another Thank You.  It's my first of those sets and I did enjoy using it.   I also made my own envelope using our new envelope tool that will be available for everyone starting next month.  It was super easy and I am excited about being able to use up some of my DSP to make them!   

I think she likes getting a surprise box each month.  :)

Freshly Made Sketches #100!

It's sketch 100 at Freshly Made Sketches! How exciting, right?!  To celebrate some of our past designers have come back to play along and there are some prizes up for grabs.  Be sure to go over and check it out and then get busy on your card!  :)   I am LONGING for Fall.  Even though we don't get a real one down here in Texas, we do get cooler temperatures.  I'm so ready for those as the 90-100 degree days are draining and blah for me.  Back to my card...  I decided to use my new fall set, Truly Grateful for my card this week to help usher in that cooler weather.  We'll see if it works.  ;)  I'm still deciding on Crushed Curry as a replacement for More Mustard.

Stamps:  Truly Grateful
Ink: Early Espresso, Crushed Curry
Paper:  Early Espresso, Crushed Curry, Natural Composition DSP, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Naturals buttons, Early Espresso Baker's Twine
Tools: Big Shot, Woodgrain EF

I forgot to mention that we are going retro and doing our very first sketch all over again this week!  Do you remember it?!

Laila has been a little better the past few days and we managed to get out of the house on Monday.   I'm hoping we can do a quick trip to Kohl's today but that's her least favorite store because of the weird shopping carts.   We just need a small crock pot, so that shouldn't take too long, right?!  She took a few steps several times yesterday, so we are excited to see her finally doing that.  She's not ready to take off just yet, but she's starting to test out the waters a bit more.  Jason made risotto for dinner yesterday and she sure loved it!

Stampin' Up! Tag It

Another of my display samples for Convention.  I wanted to do something in some of the bold, bright colors as this stamp seems perfect for a little boy.  To me anyway.  :)   I made a red button using the Simply Pressed clay and molds.  

Stamps:  Tag It
Ink:  Real Red, Old Olive, Pacific Point
Paper:  Pacific Point, Real Red Core'dinations, Polka Dot Parade DSP, Whisper White
Accessories:  Simply Pressed Clay and Molds, White Baker's Twine
Tools:  Big Shot, Perfect Pennants die, 2 1/2 circle punch, Stripes EF

Another picture from our beach excursion.   She was VERY upset when she left the water because she loved this rock and shell that she had found.  She tried to eat them a few times, so we figured they were best left in the water.  She was not in agreement.

Scrap Card Sunday continues...

Sunday scrap card!  Woo hoo!  I managed to keep up my streak.  :)   For this week, I used some longer scraps ( at least 6 inches) and the bargello technique.  Have you tried it?   You should give it a go as it's kinda fun.  Splitcoast has a tutorial here that makes it pretty easy to figure out.

Stamps:  Toxic Treats (retired)
Paper:  Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, scraps
Accessories:  Basic Black satin ribbon (retired)
Tools:  Big Shot, Labels collection framelits, brayer

My niece had her birthday party at the beach yesterday, so we made the almost two hour journey down there to celebrate with her.  It was Laila's first trip to the ocean and she had fun in the water.   Riding in the car for that long was a whole other matter, but we made it there and back.

Stampin' Up! Tag It

Today I wanted to share one of my scrapbook pages I made for the Convention displays.  When I started off as a paper crafter, I started doing my wedding album and my intent was to ONLY do that.   Well, 8 years and who knows how much money later, I'm still going.  lol   I actually don't like scrapbooking now though.  I feel like my pages are very unpolished and kinda ugly, so I tend to avoid it as much as possible.  This page is okay, but still doesn't have a polished, professional look to me.   Maybe I should practice more...   The picture is cute at least.  ;)

Stampin' Up! Perfect Blend

This week I worked on some cards for my next event, an open stamping day.   I design the cards, send a picture and supply list to customers, and then they bring their consumables and make them using my stamps/inks/tools.  I always provide sketches with the measurements for them so that they can use them again for other ideas at home.  I love that they have the experience of cutting and making everything all by themselves.  :)  I used the awesome sketch at Retrosketches this week for this card we'll be making.

Stamps:  Gorgeous Grunge, Perfect Blend, Happy Hour
Ink:  Versamark, Early Espresso
Paper:  Early Espresso, Sahara Sand, Pear Pizzazz, Gingham Garden DSP
Tools:   Small Heart Punch

My little kitchen helper.  :)  She loves her whisk.  Today has been a better day.  We went to the program at the library and then to the craft stores to look around.   It was nice to get out of the house for a bit.  It was over 100 degrees again today, but we had a nice storm come through this evening and it's cooler now.   Thank goodness for that!

Stampin' Up! Zoo Babies

Time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  I'm the hostess this week and I created a simple sketch with a trio of circles.

Stamps:  Zoo Babies, Something to Celebrate (retired)
Ink:  Elegant Eggplant, Island Indigo
Paper:  Basic Gray, Island Indigo, Whisper White
Tools:  1 3/4, 1, and 1 1/4 circle punches

For my card I did a very clean-and-simple card with the adorable Zoo Babies set.   I picked a color combination from the Color Coach that looked interesting, grabbed my circle punches, and got down to business.   It's not a great card, which is kinda bad on my hostess week, but my heart just isn't into stamping right now.  It's been a rough week already for me and I want to hide in bed rather than stamp.   Hopefully that will go away and I'll get back to enjoying it.  Just feeling a bit off I guess. Family issues and a little one who refuses naps and bedtime will do that.  

Poor girl.  We gave her some treats in her little snack cup and she started shaking it like crazy.  The cats thought she had treats for them so they swarmed her.  She was a bit confused why they were running TO her rather than AWAY from her.  :) 

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.