7.31.2008

Retiring Products

**Don't forget** August 10th is the last day to order retiring stamp sets/accessories from the current catalog. Don't miss your chance! Click here for the retired stamp set list. Click here for the most recent retired accessories list (retired accessories are only available while supplies last).

I thought I'd take one of my last chances to use some of the retiring paper, stamps, and accessories and showcase them to you:



This card was made using all In-Colors (Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky & River Rock). These In-Colors will retire on August 10th (along with their coordinating inks, re-inkers, ribbons, etc.). The stamp set on this card is "Polka Dots and Paisley"--one of my favorites. I don't know why, but I've always liked this set. I liked that it had something other than a flower. I'm sad to see it go :-(



This card also used a few retiring In-Colors, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, & Groovy Guava. The other colors on this card are Certainly Celery and Really Rust...a color combination I would have NEVER put together on my own! The rub-ons for this card are actually from Sale-A-Bration, so they're already retired, but several of the current rub-ons are retiring, so be sure to check out which ones and order before it's too late! The "{Friends" stamp is from a current hostess set--another set that will retire on August 10th. If you'd like to host a party so you can earn this stamp set (for free!), please contact me ASAP!

Both of these cards were CASE'd (copy and "steal" everything) from the current catalog (the first card) and the Fall/Winter Collection 2007 (the second card). Don't forget that our catalogs also double as AMAZING idea books! I can never flip through a catalog and not find a new color combination or new layout to use for my card or scrapbook page. It's incredible the things you find--even on your hundredth flip through the book :-)




7.30.2008

Scrapbooking Weekend 2

Although I did spend most of my weekend finishing up my Wedding Album, I did get a few other pages done. I thought I would share them with you as at least some of the kits/products used on these pages will be retiring in just a short week and a half! Don't forget to check out the retired stamp set promotion--it's only good until August 10th! Order today!

Well, you probably already saw page 1 of this layout last week. This weekend I was able to complete the page so I had a 2-page layout to put in my book (I pretty much hate 1-page layouts because they never coordinate with the adjoining page...it's just easier to add lots of fun embellishments to make the layout into two pages!).


A few weeks ago, Ben & I traveled to Illinois with the Youth Group from University Christian Church here in Manhattan. My goal was to take enough pictures to make a scrapbook page. I did it! This page was made using the Boho Blend Simply Scrappin' Kit (retiring August 10, 2008). It was so easy to put together! I love those Simply Scrappin' kits!!


I decided to go out on a limb for this page. I did not use a kit, but rather forced my brain to come up with a layout and just use Designer Series paper and ribbon. Although the scrapbook page came together at about 2 a.m., I think it looks pretty good :-)


Finally, this page I again refrained from using a kit and instead just used some leftover self-adhesive die-cuts from an old kit (I couldn't even tell you which one...sorry!) and some stamps! The flowers petals are from the "Pick a Petal" set and the title is stamped with the Taffy Alphabet stamp set. I really like the finished product :-) My very own creative genius!!


Well, just a few more examples of ways you can use either the Simply Scrappin' Kits or just regular old Stampin' Up! paper and stamps. Everything matches and coordinates, making it simple to put together a scrapbook page without having to waste time wondering which of the 10,000 shades of pink goes with the patterned paper you bought at the scrapbook store. That matching perk is probably the number one reason I LOVE STAMPIN' UP!




7.29.2008

Wedding Album

Yay! It's done (well...mostly). My goal for this past weekend was to finish the wedding album that I've been working on for about 8 months. I was really proud of my album until I got all the pages scanned and started looking at them with a critical eye...I may have to go back and re-do some of my titles. For those of you who know me, and I an extreme perfectionist. I'm trying to keep that under control (which is probably the reason that I thought it was a good idea to make a page at 3 a.m. at an all-night crop (when I had been scrapbooking all day already), make the title crooked, and say "It's good enough" and move on like there was nothing wrong...). Looking back, I realize now that "It's good enough" is probably not an okay thing to say at 3:00 in the morning...oh well.

Here's what I have so far. I'm missing the final page (which will say, "and They Lived Happily Ever After").

















Now, for the details:

I used one (that's right--one) Simply Scrappin' Kit (Tie the Knot) for my whole album. Obviously I had to use some of my own card stock and embellishments, but I was able to stretch out the kit over the whole album (15 double page layouts) so that my album had a theme throughout. I was pretty proud of myself :)

For most of the titles, I used the Cricut machine (one of my new favorites!), but pretty much everything else was Stampin' Up! products. I'll do my best to list the products I used:

Stamp Sets: Baroque Motifs, Taffy Alphabet, & Short Order Alphabet
Colors: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Kraft, Very Vanilla, Whisper White (Tempting Turquoise & Real Red on the "They Rode Away in Style" page)
Accessories: Pretties Kit, 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, Pretty in Pink Taffeta ribbon, Sticky Cuts letters, Chocolate Chip "crinkly" ribbon is from the Flirty Ribbon Originals from a mini collection in early 2007 (I don't remember which one), lots of punches (all sizes of circle punches), centerpiece leftovers from my wedding (on the "and Arrived at a Beautiful Reception" page)

I think I got most of the products. Let me know if you have a specific question about one of the pages. By the way, I even had enough leftovers from the kit to make several cards. Here is one of the them (it was featured in a previous post):

7.24.2008

Battle of the Bridesmaids

Next week is the annual Stampin' Up! Convention, but unfortunately, my mom and I were unable to attend this year :-( To cheer ourselves up, we decided that we would attend instead the Diva Designs crop in Lawrence this weekend. Diva Designs crops are BY FAR the best crops I've ever been to in my life! Of course the crop is nothing compared to Convention, but I'm still so excited to go!

Because I'll be scrapbooking all weekend long, I thought I'd leave you all with some scrapping inspiration! I logged on to the Stampin' Up! demonstrator website, because they always have cute scrapbooking layouts that really inspire me. Here's the layout I chose today:



I've really been working a lot on my wedding album over the past year, but the theme of my album doesn't really include fun circles and bright colors :-) I decided I'd dig out some old pictures that I hadn't yet scrapbooked. I came across some pictures from the Fall of 2006 when I was an RA. Ben & I had gotten engaged in May of 2006, but one of my good friends (and conveniently the 3rd floor RA) had just gotten engaged that fall. We decided we'd host an inter-floor competition...Battle of the Bridesmaids. We had so much fun!

I decided I'd try a new format for putting together my page. I stared with a 6" x 6" page (that could be stand-alone in a 6" x 6" album):



I then expanded the page to 8-1/2" x 11". I realized after I had already put the page together that most 8-1/2" x 11" albums are "portrait" orientation rather than "landscape" orientation...oh well...you get the idea :-)



I then finished the page as a 12" x 12" page. All of my albums are 12" x 12" size, so this will be the completed page I put in the album:



On a side note, the white "ric-rac" on the 6" x 6" page is actually Whisper White cardstock punched with the new scallop edge punch! Here's the tutorial I got from Jackie Topa's blog:

"I cut a 3/4" strip of cardstock and put a vertical pencil mark on the back. If I want to make ric-rac I centre the pencil mark in the grove of the scallop when I punch one edge and in the centre of the scallop when I punch the opposite edge.

This also works to make pearl necklaces except line up both sides with your pencil mark in the groove. If you don't punch right to the end you'll get some interesting borders like the chocolate chip one I used on my card."

Stamp Sets: Seeing Spots, Short Order Alphabet
Colors: Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze (all new In-Colors), and Pumpkin Pie




7.22.2008

Wishes

I LOVE the new In-Colors! I saw this card in the Demonstrator Magazine, Stampin' Success, that came in the mail today. I just loved it and had to copy it!



This picture really doesn't do the card justice--it is beautiful in real life :-)

I used the half-pearls and flowers from the Pretties Kit, the Wishes stamp from a new stamp set, "Heard from the Heart," and DSP from the current Bali Breeze pack. I stamped the "Wishes" saying in Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder.

I hope you're as excited as I am for all the new stuff to be introduced in the Fall/Winter 2008 Collection!

Stamp Set: Heard from the Heart
Colors: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Bali Breeze DSP
Accessories: White embossing powder, Pretties Kit, 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, mat pack

On a side note, I posted the Retired Accessories list on my Announcements & Promotions page. The list will be updated every day as some items on the list will run out. There are already some items that have run out, so check out the list now! If there's anything you want, be sure to let me know ASAP before the item that you want runs out!




7.21.2008

A Project...

I've been thinking recently that I'm really bad about only stamping cards and never doing any fun projects to post on my blog. So...today I set out to make something that was not a card. I remember seeing a project done some time ago with the Accents and Elements tin. I think the person who created the project used their tin as a picture frame, but I can't remember for sure. I really didn't have time tonight to look up the original picture that I saw, so I can't give credit to the original mastermind behind the magnet tin...but here's mine:

Side 1 (calendar)--the "Dream Big" and "De-lightful" images are magnets:


Side 2 (picture holder)--the "Happy" and "Live, Laugh & Love" images are magnets:


The background on the Calendar side was really plain--and boring. I decided I'd try something new for my background. Since I usually just stamp an image over and over with Versamark (and that's pretty much all I ever do for a background), I figured it wouldn't kill me to step outside the comfort zone. I decided to randomly (yes, you read correctly, RANDOMLY) score lines down the card stock. It created an almost striped look to the paper without having to stamp or draw or use Designer Series Paper. It was almost fun to be so haphazard with my non-evenly-spaced lines! :-)



This is such a simple background, and so easy to do! I challenge you to try a similar background on your next project...or even better--make up a new background! Be sure to email me your picture so I can see your creation!

Stamp Sets: Friendship Blooms (Sale-a-Bration 2008), Short Order Alphabet
Colors: Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, Bashful Blue
Accessories: SU! magnets (Convention 2007), 1/4" grograin ribbon (Pumpkin Pie & Certainly Celery), Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware, Calendar taken from Peggy Goetzke on SUDSOL




7.20.2008

I'm back!

Wow! What a week! 1500 High Schoolers can sure wear you out! I'm glad to be back and ready to play with my new stuff!

A couple weeks ago, I intended to use Julee's Monday Mojo sketch to make a card, but I never got around to it. I loved the sketch, so I decided I'd start with that sketch to make my card for today. I pulled out three new In-Colors, Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point, and Tangerine Tango. These are all fun, bright summer colors. Of course I had to use my new scallop edge punch (who can resist using a new toy!?), and a new stamp set, Wow Flowers.

Here is the sketch:



And here's my card:



I just can't wait to let you all play with new fun colors, tools, and stamp sets! Be sure to get me your address ASAP if you want an invite to the party! It's gonna be so much fun--you won't want to miss out!

On a side note, I thought you all might want to see the new scallop edge punch in comparison to our other current methods of creating scallops (the corner rounder, the slit punch, and the scallop circle punch). Here is a picture of scallops made with each of these methods. I hope this gives you a good idea of what you can expect from this new amazing tool:



Well, spending a week with 1500 High Schoolers does not exactly equal beauty rest...so I'm off to bed!




7.13.2008

Decor Elements...finally!

I'm so excited! I finally got my Decor Elements order in the mail, along with my pre-order for all kinds of new goodies that will be in the new Fall-Winter Catalog & Idea Book (starting August 11th)!

I am sad, though, because Ben & I are headed to Southern Illinois University early tomorrow morning (5:45a to be exact) with the youth group from University Christian Church here in Manhattan. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled to be spending a week with a bunch of high schoolers (really, I am!), I just wish that my order had come in the middle of last week so that I would have had plenty of time to play with my new goodies. I was able to carve out about an hour and half this afternoon to put up my new Decor Elements before we leave. I'm thrilled! I LOVE them!

I bought the "Together Forever" circle frame with the "M" to put inside. I convinced my husband that Decor Elements were the best thing since sliced bread and got him to agree to let me put the circle frame and monogram on our front door. Since we live in an apartment in the basement of a house, our Decor Elements piece won't be exposed to the elements, but it definitely spruces up our plain white door :-)





For right now, the Decor Elements only comes in Whisper White or Chocolate Chip (except for the Manhattan Flowers which also comes in Kraft). Our monogram is in Chocolate Chip. Here is an upclose view so you can hopefully see the color a little clearer:



I also bought the create definition in Whisper White (size medium) for my stamp area--a.k.a. the living room--our apartment is pretty small :-) Our walls in this room are basically a Close to Cocoa color.



This is my whole stamp area (including the ghetto chair from 1930 that our landlords, who were alive in 1930, let us use while we live here...I think the picture makes it look worse...):



Our walls are not very smooth, so if you look close, you can see right under the "g" in "through" there is a bit of a bump. I was worried that it would be obvious, but unless you look close, it's relatively unnoticeable.



Well, that's all I have for you today. Since Ben & I are leaving early tomorrow morning and won't be back until late Saturday night, this is all I have for you all week long. I hope I'll have time next Sunday to stamp a little, but I may be recovering from our trip :-) I hope you all have a great week! And stamp something for me!




7.11.2008

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's birthday. I was stumped when I sat down to make him a card. It's amazing how hard it is to make "boy" cards...even for your dad (who will love the card no matter what-even if it was pink-just because you made it for him).

I love the "In the Stars" stamp set (Occasions Mini Spring 2008), so I decided I'd start with that. My dad likes the color red (he's a Nebraska fan so he usually doesn't appreciate the K-State Purple cards quite as much as the Nebraska Red ones...). So here I sit. Real Red card stock, In the Stars stamp set. Don't you just wish the card would make itself--Beauty & the Beast-style?

Anyway, here's all my creativity could muster today:



Good thing my dad will love it anyway :-) As my friend, Nikki, always says when she messes up her card, "I'll send it to my mom. She doesn't care what it looks like." Yay for parents!

Stamp Set: In the Stars
Colors: Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive grosgrain ribbon, Bashful Blue (DSP from Summer Picnic)




7.10.2008

Face Lift

Well, instead of stamping today, I decided to give my blog a complete overhaul. I did not like the layout, colors, etc. that I had AT ALL! I finally got fed up and spent several hours re-doing everything. I'm still not sure I like it, but there are definite parts that I like better than I did. This is definitely not the last "face lift" you'll see here on my blog.

On a blogger note, when I started this blog a few months ago, I knew absolutely NOTHING about HTML or blog design at all. I stumbled upon Amanda Fazani's blog, Blogger Buster. She specializes in blog design, but posts tons of great tutorials on how to do lots of fun stuff with your blog. If you're interested in redesigning your blog, I would highly recommend Blogger Buster for any questions you might have. I give all the credit for my blog design to Amanda--she didn't help me directly, but because of her amazing tutorials I was able to make my blog look the way I wanted it to.

Although I didn't have time to stamp today, I'll still sign off and say, "Happy Stamping!" to you :-)




7.09.2008

A Little Blast from the Past

Ben & I help out with the youth group at our church here in Manhattan. Next week, we are going to a conference in Illinois with the group. In order to help pay for expenses, the youth group is holding a silent auction on Sunday. I decided to donate a basket full of Stampin' Up! products to the auction.

Since I have all kinds of retired stuff, I decided I'd give a couple retired stamp sets as well as a Simply Scrappin' kit and an assortment of cards. The Simply Scrappin' kit I decided to give was a kit included in Sell-a-Bration last spring. The stamp set that went wonderfully with the kit was another set that was also included in Sell-a-Bration last year. Since I had an extra stamp set and an extra kit, I decided to make up a card using the kit and stamp set to show the person who was buying the kit that they could make cards and scrapbook pages with the stamp set and kit.

Ironically, when I was home this past weekend, my mom had found an old SU! On Stage magazine (for demos) from last year (it came around wedding time, hence the reason she didn't find it until now...). It had all kinds of cute ideas for the Sell-a-Bration stuff from last year--including this card!



I thought it was a cute idea (originally created by Brittany Slaughter), so I copied it. I also found another card (originally created by Jodee Fraser) that I tweaked to work with my stamp sets:



I LOVE this color combo! Yay for color combos! Since I've been on the lookout for new colors, I have been overwhelmed by all the great ideas out there!

I hope whoever buys my basket will enjoy the free goodies!

Card 1:
Stamp Set: Delight in Life
Colors: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Always Artichoke (ink only)

Card 2:
Stamp Sets: Big Blossom, Make it Count
Colors: Chocolate Chip, Soft Sky




7.08.2008

Some more new colors!

When I first started demonstrating for Stampin' Up!, all I had were the Bold Brights colors...and let's face it--they're bright. Anyway, after I started getting more card stock and ink in the different colors, I really haven't used many Bold Bright colors, nor have I made very many bright cards. I think I just got really sick of the brightness.

Although this card is not made from all Bold Bright colors, it's still A LOT brighter than my cards usually are :-)



At the fitness center that I manage, I always give birthday cards to my employees on their birthdays. Unfortunately, not all my employees are girls :-) Sometimes I do have to make gender-neutral cards! Plus, none of the boys really care how long it took me to make the card or how beautiful I think the card is--they just read it and toss it (*gasp*) I've seen them do it. So, not only do I need to make gender-neutral cards, but they need to be simple...mainly so I'm not so sad when they throw them away! I think this card fits the bill perfectly!

Stamp Sets: Year After Year (my most favorite set that I'm very sad to see being retired), and Hugs & Wishes
Colors: Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue
Accessories: Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon, Earth Elements buttons




7.04.2008

Happy 4th of July!

In honor of the 4th of July, I thought I'd make a nice patriotic-themed card. I found this card on Nancy's blog, but saw that it originally came from skdeleeuw on Split Coast Stampers. So here's my take on the card:



I really like the spiral punch that was used on the original card, but for some reason I still haven't bought the punch (crazy, I know! I love punches!). So I used my paper piercing again (surprise, surprise). It seems like every time I don't have what I need for the card, I just do some paper piercing to fix it! :-)

As I was taking pictures of the card, I realized that it would also be cute on its side. I actually think I like it better on its side:



Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful (and safe) 4th of July! My husband and I are taking a weekend trip to Kansas City for our anniversary. I'm really excited to get to spend a weekend without work or school or stamping (I guess...) :-) I'll be back on Monday, so I'll post again then!

Stamp Set: Celebrate Everything (15% off this month if you buy my July Card Kit!)
Colors: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Real Red, River Rock, Prints Pack (current level 1 hostess set)




7.02.2008

for you

I just loved Julee's sketches so much, that I decided to try another one!

Here's the sketch:



I have been really struggling lately with using the same colors over and over, so I've been striving to use new color combos that I would have never used before. Of course I was having a terrible time choosing some new colors for this card, so I went to the Stampin' Up! catalog. Who better to consult than the stamping masters themselves!? Usually when I want a new color combo, I just flip through the pages of the catalog until I come upon a color combo that I like, but today I thought I'd try something new. I went straight to the pages where all the Designer Series Paper is pictured and found a pack of paper that I liked. When I first got my new catalog in January, I looked up the coordinating colors for each pack of paper and wrote those colors in the catalog next to the picture of the paper. This way, it was easy for me to figure out which colors to use with the DSP, and it was easy for me to find a new color combo to use today!

I chose the Fall Flowers DSP for my inspiration today and pulled out the colors used in this paper: Old Olive, Really Rust, Soft Sky, and Kraft (they actually used Sahara Sand, but I didn't have any, so I substituted Kraft). Here is the lovely creation I came up with:



For the large scallop circle, check out this tutorial by Andrea Walford. She uses this technique to make little scalloped note cards that are folded on one end and open to make a card. I only used one sheet of paper (not folded) to make my scalloped circle. One scallop edge will be cut off slightly, but I just hid that scallop under the sentiment. I punched the circles in each scallop with a crop-a-dile (one of the best tools of all time!).

The next time you go to make a project and you just can't seem to find a good color combo, go to the stamping master--the SU! catalog. You're sure to find tons of cute color combos all laid out for you and ready to use!

Stamp Set: One of a Kind
Colors: Old Olive, Really Rust, Soft Sky, Kraft
Accessories: slit punch, crop-a-dile, 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon




Mojo Monday

I am terribly disappointed with myself for not seeking out this fun opportunity before now! All the ladies on SUDSOL are always talking about Julee's Mojo Monday sketches, but I never took the time to look up what everyone was talking about...until today.

Julee Tilman has an AMAZING blog where she posts sketches each Monday--her Mojo Monday sketch. I realize it's not Monday, but I was in desperate need of some mojo!

Here was her sketch for this week (June 30):



And this was the card I made:



If you notice in Julee's sketch, there are photo corners in the top right and bottom left corners. Unfortunately, I don't have the photo corners punch, so I made do with what I had:



Paper piercing! It's so much fun! Take a look at Julee's blog. She's got tons of great sketches just waiting to be used! I know I'll be using her sketches in the upcoming weeks--I've got lots of catching up to do!

Stamp Sets: Holiday Blitz, Friendship Blooms (a Sale-a-Bration set from this year that I had not used until today!)
Colors: Wild Wasabi, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, Very Vanilla (you may be seeing a lot of the current In Colors in the upcoming weeks as I'm trying to use up all my card stock before it retires!)