Stampin' Up! Geometrical Love

I've had this poor card on my desk for a while now and finally finished it up before I climbed in bed tonight.  We always hop in bed early to watch a show or two once Laila's in bed, so I never seem to get any stamping done after the middle of the day.  This card using the fun sketch at Try Stampin' on Tuesday with the colors from colourQ.   I didn't have Poppy Parade, so I subbed in Calypso Coral.  It looks like everyone else went with Real Red for a current color, so oops!  Hopefully mine still counts.  Sorry, guys! 

  

• Arrows Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
• Calypso Coral Baker's Twine
• Designer Buttons - Neutrals Collection(retired)
• Geometrical [wood]
• This And That Epic Day Designer Series Paper
• Basic Gray 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Island Indigo 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Pool Party 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Small Heart Punch

She is so silly.   We had our first trip to the dentist today.   Taking an 18 month old is such a waste.  $118 and all they did was brush her teeth and look at them for like a minute!   We won't be going back for a while.  That's just crazy!   She did great though, so maybe taking her will make her not be afraid like I am.  

Love for Freshly Made Sketches

Time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!   One of our newest members, Cindy L. is showing off her first sketch this week.  Be sure to play along and leave her some love for this fun and challenging design!   For my card, I used My Digital Studio, my e-cutter, and regular supplies.

• Brights Designer Series Paper Stack
• Neutrals Candy Dots
• Red Glimmer Paper
• Basic Black 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Real Red 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Hearts Collection Framelits Dies
• e-cutter

I snapped a quick photo with my phone while we were at the cemetery yesterday and it turned out so amazing.   Laila knows Eli's name and ran up to his headstone saying his name.  It's sad, but I hope we do okay teaching her about him.   

Eli

No card today, just my sweet boy.   Tonight at 7:30 will make five years since I last held him.   I thought I'd share some pictures.  As always, if you aren't familiar with SMA, spinal muscular atrophy, please take time to read about it.  That's especially important if you are planning on starting or adding to your family.  

We are having a low key day.  We are going to the cemetery soon and will be sending out a box of the crab toys you see in some of the pictures to Families of SMA.  They add them to care packages that they send out to newly diagnosed families.  Other than that it's hard to know what to do besides cry.   

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! Leadership Update and Swap

I thought I'd share my swap card that I made for Leadership.  I didn't do general swapping, so it was just 20 for an organized swap.  I hope people liked it as it was much different than most of the ones I got back.  They were mostly soft and bright, not the dark masculine thing I created. lol   I was happy that I got to meet a few friends at the swap, especially Pat Smith who I was hoping to run into.  (Hi, Pat!)

I'm trying out a new thing for the supply list, so you'll have to let me know what you think.  If you are in the mood to shop, you can click the links and go directly to my store to buy all these goodies!

• Banners Framelits Dies
• Early Espresso Baker's Twine
• Hardwood [clear]
• Lovely As A Tree Wood-mount Stamp Set
• Naturals Designer Buttons
• Neutrals Core'dinations
• Perfect Pennants [english, clear]
• Stampin' Sanding Block
• Woodgrain Textured Impressions Embossing Folder
• Early Espresso 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock
• Very Vanilla 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Big Shot Die-Cut Machine
• 2-1/2 Inch Circle Punch

I had a fantastic time at the event.  My roommate was super fun (Love ya, Anne Marie!) and I got to meet some awesome new people and a few blog followers too!  It did make me think about where my business is at the moment and where I want it to go.  I'm down to very few customers and the thought of dropping has crossed my mind more than once over the past few months.  I am now hoping that maybe I can turn things around a bit.   If you are local, please consider coming out to an event, contacting me about any questions or needs you might have, and let me know if there's any type of event you'd be interested in.

I'm sure if you've been on any Stampin' Up! related blogs or websites you saw the awesome information about the new markers that are coming soon.  Exciting, right?!  Learning to color was on my list to practice and improve on this year, so they are totally helping me out there.  ;)   I need all the help I can get, so yay!  Here's a peek of the colors:

Finally, there's an awesome new promotion for new My Paper Pumpkin subscribers.  We got to see the next 3 months of the kits and let me just say, if you aren't subscribing yet, GO DO IT NOW!  I am so in love with the March kit!  If you are a new subscriber, sign up NOW to get the Welcome Kit in February and then you can get the March kit that I LOVE!  Plus if you sign up before February 10th you get a free set of markers! Between the markers and the clear block included, it's like getting all the cards and stamps for free! Who doesn't LOVE free?!   If you sign up before January 25th, I'll also be sending out a little freebie.  I'll also be hosting a My Paper Pumpkin night for my local subscribers to get together to assemble their kits.  Fun, fun!  So head on over and sign up! 

The other big announcement was also AMAZING!  Demonstrators who signed up after July of last year and those who sign up before Convention registration ends get to attend Convention for free*.   Well, free in that they don't have to pay the registration fee.  You'd still be responsible for travel and hotel expenses.  Saving almost $300 off the registration fee helps a ton though!  I wish I was new again.  lol  Be sure to contact me today if you are interested in signing up and getting in on that! 

Laila and Jason survived okay without me, so it was nice to get away and not worry too much.  Maybe I'll have to do it again! Ha!

FMS118: What Does He Say?

Time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!   We took a nice break off for the holiday, but we are back with this great sketch from Jen Mitchell.    I love it and I loved using my Christmas gift to make my card!   I am really liking my Cameo a lot!  

For my card I used a file I bought from the Silhouette website.   I got a gift card with my bundle, so I figured I should use it and get some fun things to cut out.   I think this card will be a huge hit with the younger crowd because of that annoying song that we hear way too much. I used some new projects from the Occasions catalog, the Just Sayin' stamp set and the Arrows embossing folder. 

Laila loves snowmen, so she was super excited when she saw this gift box.  :)   She was also excited about her pack pack that her aunt got her.  She's just like me now with her own Vera Bradley!  

I'm off to the Stampin' Up! Leadership conference later today, so I'll be back with lots of pictures and excitement this weekend! 

Stamp Review Crew Hearts a Flutter Edition

It's time for a new hop of the Stamp Review Crew!  This time we are featuring Hearts a Flutter.  Perfect timing with Valentine's Day coming up, huh?!  Remember if you get lost or confused you can always drop by the landing spot, the Stamp Review Crew blog.  If you are following the hop, you were just treated to an awesome project by Mary!

My first project is a card I made for Jason.  It's a busy month and with lots of other obligations, so I figured I could go ahead and make my Valentine's Day card for him.  Two birds, one stone, right?!  lol  Busy moms have to multitask even with crafts!  I have a huge board of sketches I've pinned on Pinterest, so I found this layout and it all fell into place pretty quickly!

Stamps:  Hearts a Flutter, Itty Bitty Banners

Ink:  Bermuda Bay, Basic Black

Paper:  Bermuda Bay, Basic Black, Whisper White, Bermuda Bay Corediations

Accessories:  Brights Designer buttons, Bermuda Bay baker's twine (from Tag a Bag Accessory Kit), Neutral Candy Dots

Tools:  Big Shot, Decorative Dots TIEF, Bitty Banner Framelits, Itty Bitty Punch Pack

I put together another fun little project with this set to show how you can use it to decorate your Valentine's treats!  I started with the Tag a Bag gift bags and decorated from there!   I am going to need an intervention soon for my Crumb Cake/Real Red obsession! 

Stamps:  Hearts a Flutter, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink:  Real Red

Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red

Accessories:  Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons, White Baker's Twine, Real Red 1/4 Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Basic Rhinestones

Tools:  Hearts a Flutter Framelit dies, Bitty Banner Framelit dies, Small Heart punch

Be sure to go on to the next hop to see a fabulous project from my dear friend Ann Schach! 

 

I hope you enjoy the hop!  

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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.