Trick or Treat!!!

I have the BEST treat for you!!  Stampin' Up! has decided to extend the Free Big Shot Promotion until November 11!!!!  What a great Halloween treat! If you decide that you want to get in on this deal of a lifetime, please let me know.

I don't get many trick or treaters at my place, so I decided to give treats to my co-workers today.

I designed the tabs in My Digital Studio - it was really easy!  Just Pumpkin Pie background and then the Distressed Dots stamped twice (once with Basic Black and once with Concord Crush).  I also printed the "A Tasty Sweet" stamp from MDS.  The Bat, Jack-o-lantern and Spider were all stamped the old fashion way using Spooky Bingo Bits.  I really like the versatility of this set and am very happy that I bought it.
The candies are Sixlets - they are chocolate flavoured candy...seems a bit odd to me, but they are great colours and pre-packaged and fit perfectly into the cellophane bags!

Tonight I am supposed to be going to Zumba dressed in 80's garb...we will see about that.  I'm sure I have enough brightly coloured clothing that I can pull it off, just don't know if I have the energy!  I hope to post about the reason I think I am so tired soon.

Holiday Mini Swaps

I LOVE swaps!  On our demonstrator forum website there are quite often opportunities to join swaps, but most of them are in the US, so when one comes along that is Canadian I have a hard time passing it up!

Here are the TWO cards that I made for the most recent Holiday Mini Swap.

This card was very easy for me to come up with.  I knew right away that I wanted to use the Gently Falling stamp set, Spice Cake DSP and Spice Cake Fabric.  If any of you know me, these aren't really are not at all my colors, but I can't get enough of this Spice Cake paper!  The leaves are stamped in More Mustard (the lighter ones have been stamped off before stamping on the card) with the lines stamped in Soft Suede to match the papers.  I either distressed the edges of the papers or sponged the edges of the papers, just to give it a bit more of a rustic feel.

I did not put a sentiment on the front of this card, as I thought that it could be used as many different things - Thanksgiving card, Thank You card, Birthday, Thinking of you...really anything that you would like it to be and I would hate to limit the recipient.

This card did not come so easy to me.  I had the idea for the sketch that I wanted to use, but I couldn't get the ribbon to look "right".  I think that my friends were getting sick of me asking them what was missing and them telling me that it was ok, but I just didn't like the way it looked.  That was when I got the fabulous idea to add the brad to the center of the bow.  You can't really see it in the picture, but it is actually a double bow (two loops) and is held together in the center by the brad.  The "joy" is stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with Cherry Cobbler embossing powder and the cardstock colors used are Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla.
This is a simple card, but I think it is that simple elegance that I love so much about it.  And I know the girls in my classes like it too, as they were asking when we would be making this card!

I hope to be back in a few days with the cards that I recieved in the swaps.  There are LOTS of great ideas and I can't wait to share them with you...just need to have the daylight to take the pictures.

Have a great weekend!  Hope you find some time to play!

In-law Anniversary

So it just happens that my In-laws anniversary is the day before ours.  It is good because we will never forget when it is, but September is a very busy card month for me with all of the birthdays and anniversaries in my family.

When trying to figure out what kind of card I should make them, I settled that I would use a sketch from Clean&Simple as that is one of my favorite sites for sketches.  It was for sketch 157.  I then used the Color Coach from Stampin' Up! to come up with the color combination and here is what I came up with

I really liked the way it turned out and it even reminds me of the colors from their wedding, at least what I remember from photos.

Well, off to get my bum kicked by Kelly at Zumba tonight.  It is my first night back after over a month, almost 2, off.  I love doing it and I am excited to go, but I know I will be sore tomorrow!

Our 4th Anniversary!

I'm having a great day today!  How could it not be great when I was greeted at noon by a dozen red roses and I get to go out for an amazing supper at Hole in the Wall restaurant tonight!  Neither of us have been, but we have heard only great things about it and I was drooling just looking at the menu!

Here is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding.  I love how well it not only shows off the beading down the back of my dress, but it also shows off one of our favorite views of the our city.  When we got married, this was just a few blocks from where we lived and we walked here just about every weekend and some week nights.

I find it almost hard to believe that this was 4 years ago!  We now live on the other side of the river and past the bridge that you can see in the distance.  It isn't that much farther, but we just don't seem to make it there very often.

Here is another picture of us from this spring, when my husband finished his degree I decided that he needed to get some "grad" photos and I joined in. 

I'm so happy to be with such a great guy...who is still trying understand how I could go to the lake to craftbook* with friends last weekend and want to go craftbook shopping with them this weekend too!  Just wait till it is 2 nights a week in our apartment, he will really think I have lost it!

*craftbook* - my new word because I don't really scrapbook, but making cards, mini-almbums and 3D items is just too much to say!

Enjoy your evening!  Happy craftbooking!

Party Time!

Here is another card that was made with the new Pennant Punch from Stampin' Up!  I also used the new In Colors - Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade and Pool Party.

I think that this is the perfect card for this week!  I have lots going on, as usual, but it is going to be a week full of fun!  Tonight is my first club meeting of the year, tomorrow is my first club meeting with my upline (she is so amazing that I still feel the need to be in her club, even if I have to pay full price for my goodies) and then this weekend I am lucky enough to be able to go to a friend's cabin for a girls weekend to "scrapbook" all weekend!  Not only will we have lots of time to work on our projects, but it is also supposed to be in the +30 degree range for the weekend so I'm sure we will spend some time outside too!
I may complain about being busy and not being able to get on here as much as I like, but I am so blessed to be able to do so many things that I enjoy doing!

Pennant Birthday

I absolutley love the new pennant punch that Stampin' Up! has!  There are so many great thigns you can do with it.  I made a few cards to show off at an open house and will be showcasing them over the next little while.


This one, as most of these will be is a CASE from a wonderful Stampin' Up! Demonstrator on our demo website.

Thanks for stopping by to check it out!  I have to get to work on some wedding invitation orders that await!

Need to get back at it!

Well, I have decided that I need to get back to blogging!  I have club starting again soon and it would be really great for my ladies if I can blog about our projects and other things that I have made or am making so that they have inspiration!

Right now I am super excited about the One Sheet Wonder (OSW) class that I am holding this Saturday.  I have 12 ladies coming over to take part in the fun!

I know that this is retired paper, but it will make really great birthday cards.  I have let the ladies choose their own Designer Series Paper from my stash and they will be able to create something unique to them.

I hope to see you back here soon...

Another Birthday!

Today it is my Mom's birthday!  Happy Birthday Mom!

She came home from a trip on Friday and I was able to leave her gift (as well as Gram's - I will re-post the picture soon) in her vehicle so that when she got back she would get it, even though I did not get to see her.

This is a picture of my mom when she was around the age that I am now.  I LOVE this suit!  (I thought I would stick with using old photos as I am still in the process of scanning all of them.)

When I found out that for our Stamping Splurge (like Stamp Club) that we were going to need 4-5 pictures I knew that whatever we made was going to be my Mom's birthday gift as I had not made her anything yet and she is hard to shop for as she has most of the stuff that she needs.
**Please keep in mind that I did not come up with this idea.  It is all Julie Buhler's idea - you can check out her blog here.  She does not have the tutorial up yet, but I know that it is something that she will be working on.**

It is a wonderful easel card/flip photo album made with Greenhouse Gala DSP.

Most of the ladies in the splurge started with a picture on the front, but because I put all photos of my brother and I in the album, I wanted something for my mom on the front (This also would have made a very nice Mother's day gift).

Here is one of the inside pages from when my brother and I were very young.  You can see how the pages flip over and hang at the back.

Mom loved her gift and I love giving something as personal as this!  You can't beat a handmade gift!

Birthday Wishes for the youngest 89 year old I know!

The lovely young lady in this picture, turns 89 today!  This is my Gram (the one that we went to Alaska with, you may have read about it in this post)!  I'm not sure when this picture was taken, but by her hair colour I am going to guess that it was before I was born.

She is 60 years older than I am, but I am pretty close to her.  Not only is she my Dad's mom, but also one of my mom's best friends and that means that I get to see her a lot.  I also grew up living in the same town/city as her so she has always been around when it counts.

Even though we are very close, it wasn't until after we came back from our Alaska trip that I realized just  how much a like we are.  I know that I inherited her body type (long legs and a short torso), but hadn't really seen anything else that made me think we looked a like until I saw this picture!

This was not planned!!!  We were laughing at something that had just happened (my brother thinks that he put his head in front of my dad's camera) as my dad's girlfriend took this picture.  My husband was actually the one that really brought it to my attention - it is me and me in 60 years!!!  No doubt about the fact that we are realated!!  Not only are our expressions the same, we are even sitting the same - how does that happen?

Needless to say, we both really love this picture.  When we gave Gram a digital picture frame for Christmas, she asked where this picture was.  I didn't really have an answer as it isn't really a "good" picture, but I understand why she likes it so much, as I do too!  It makes me feel just that much closer to her.

So, seeing as her birthday is today I decided that I needed to do something special and it needed to be with this picture.  I bought MDS (My Digital Studio) through Stampin' Up! when it was on sale half off, but hadn't had a chance to really put it to work to see if I would like it or not and this was the perfect way to do that.  Here is what I came up with.

I can't wait to give it to her (I know she won't see this before then as she does not have a computer).  I am hoping that my Dad will bring her into the city so that I can see her face when she opens it.

**Edited**  I did not get to see Gram open this, but was sent this picture from when she did.  And spoke to her after, she loved it!

Happy 89th Birthday Gram!

January 25 - March 31 is Sale-A-Bration Time!!!

So I have been MIA for a long time, but this is just too good to not post!!  Sale-A-Bration is my favorite time of year!  For every $60 you spend between January 25th and March 31, 2011, you earn something for FREE!  How can you go wrong with that??

Don't miss out on all of the ways to earn free stuff - you can SPEND, HOST or JOIN you can go here to find out the details.

To see a catalogue of all of the great stuff that you can earn please go here.  Not only can you earn stamp any of the main 4 stamp sets that are featured, but there is a full page at the back of stamp sets from the IB&C that you can earn, as well as many other great sets including a Designer Series Paper and Accent Pack, a Ribbon and Button Pack, A CD of Digital Content, and a Chalkboard Decor Element!!  You couldn't have more to choose from!

If you want to place and order, host a workshop or join the Stampin' Up! family, please email me at the address in the sidebar or comment on this post!