7.30.2011

Happy Birthday Dad!

Well, Happy Belated Birthday...

My dad's birthday was July 11. I did send him the card a little closer to his birthday, but I'm just now getting around to posting it. Oh well...at least it's not a spoiler for him!

This is one of the first cards I have made since last summer. After I got pregnant last fall, I experienced some pretty severe morning sickness (such a misnomer!!), plus I was tired and working full time. Then my little sister got engaged so we started working on her invitations, programs, menus, etc. Hence the reasons why I have not stamped a card in almost a year! Anyway, when it's been a while since I've created something, I usually have to start by copying something almost exactly. I had just received my copy of the new 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog, so I started flipping through it. I found this card on page 142 and knew it would be perfect! By the way, you'll probably see at some point soon a rendition of the other card from this page as I really like it too :)



This is a pretty straight-forward card. Nothing too fancy--perfect for a "beginner" card for me! I hate making cards for boys (one of the reasons I hope I have all daughters...at least I'm starting out well!), but I thought this color combo and stamp set worked well. I won't tell you how old my dad turned this year, but let's just say that next year's card won't have so many bright colors...hehe :)

Happy Stamping!
Cari

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Stamp Sets: Circle Circus, Something to Celebrate (retired)
Paper & Ink: Very Vanilla, Island Indigo, Cherry Cobbler, River Rock, Basic Black
The Little Something Extra: Brights Buttons, Linen Thread, Curly Label Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, 1" Circle Punch, 3/8" Circle Punch

7.28.2011

Charlotte's First Year Scrapbook

Since Charlotte was born, I've been taking at least one picture of her every day. I intend to make a scrapbook of her first year with 365 pictures--one from each day. I know...what a HUGE project! Since I knew this would be such a big project, I decided to make a digital scrapbook so I could just have it printed as a bound book when I am done.

Stampin' Up! sells a digital scrapbooking software, My Digital Studio. I LOVE this software! It has many of the products that SU! sells...but in the digital form. How great is that!? I wasn't sure how I'd feel about digital scrapbooking (I really like the look and feel of "real" embellishments and card stock), but for this particular project, it's perfect! It would take me so long to put together a 52-page scrapbook with 7 pictures on each page--not to mention the cost of printing all those pictures! I'm really happy with how the scrapbook has turned out so far. Since Charlotte is only 6 weeks old, I've only done 6 pages. I'll show you weeks 1 & 2 today and save the rest for later!



Happy Stamping!
Cari

7.25.2011

1-Month Anniversary

It's so much fun to get stuff in the mail...especially when you've just moved to a far away place! I've been meaning to send my little sister a card in the mail ever since she and her husband moved to Virginia. Unfortunately, the thought doesn't always count :) I finally decided that since her 1-month anniversary is today, that an anniversary card would be the perfect excuse to send her something.

Here's a little card I made up for Danielle & David:





I am absolutely in love with this Happy Anniversary stamp...unfortunately, it was part of a hostess set from the last catalog. I have a feeling that I'll be using some retired stuff for the next few weeks. I'm ashamed to say that I have several stamp sets that are still unmounted from Sale-A-Bration and from the hostess section of the last catalog. Oops!

Danielle's wedding colors were this bright green and several shades of purple, so I went with the same color theme for her card. This is another simple card, and I stole the layout from a card sample on page 90 of the current catalog.

Happy Stamping!
Cari

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Stamp Sets: Always Elegant, Something to Celebrate (retired)
Paper & Ink: Lucky Limeade, Concord Crush, Whisper White
The Little Something Extra: Concord Crush Stitched Poly Ribbon, Scallop Trim Border Punch

7.23.2011

I'm Back!

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I posted here! So much has happened! Yes, I'm still a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator...and yes, I still stamp and scrapbook :) But I also have a new baby, an almost-attorney husband, and a new brother-in-law!





Charlotte Irene was born on June 13. She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20-1/2" long. She is almost 6 weeks old now! I can't believe how fast time flies. I will likely be posting pictures of her here occasionally, but I plan to keep my blog focused on paper crafting. I've been doing some digital scrapbooking with some of her pictures, so I'm sure you'll see plenty of pictures of her that way as well.



My little sister Danielle became a Mrs. on June 25. Her husband David is in the Army, and they promptly moved to Virgina after their wedding. I helped design and make all of the invitations, programs, menus, place cards, etc. for their wedding. Although we didn't use all Stampin' Up! materials, I'm still planning to post those designs in the next few days. Danielle is always full of great ideas for projects, and I just tried to make her ideas come to life :)

Ben just finished his 2nd year in Law School, and he's working at a firm this summer. He has 2 more weeks of work, then 1 more year of school. We don't know yet what the future holds for us after he graduates, but I'll be sure to keep you up to date (in case you care...).

...in other words, we've had a busy summer :)

So, on to a little stamping! Stampin' Up! just came out with their new 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog. There are 5 new BEAUTIFUL In-Colors and tons of new stamp sets, accessories, and digital scrapbooking downloads. I'm so excited about the new catalog, and I'm looking forward to getting back into the stamping scene and sharing with all of you!

This card showcases all 5 new In-Colors. I love the fresh fun colors that Stampin' Up! always chooses for their In-Colors. This year's colors are especially bright and fun.



This card was super simple. I copied the design from a sample in Stampin' Success, a publication specifically for Stampin' Up! demonstrators. Also, I got a sewing machine for Christmas and hadn't opened it yet! I wanted to try it out on this card, and I really like the way it turned out. Don't worry, mom, I plan to use the sewing machine on clothes too :)

That's all I have for today. I have several other scrapbook pages and cards to post here in the coming week...it's just a matter of getting little Charlotte to sleep long enough so I can type a blog post.

I've missed you all! Happy Stamping!
Cari


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Stamp Sets: Happy Together (retired), Thank You Kindly (111700)
Paper & Ink: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Calypso Coral, Wisteria Wonder, Lucky Limeade, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
The Little Something Extra: Concord Crush Stitched Poly Ribbon, sewing machine