Stampin' and Scrappin' With Kristin

December Philly Inkers Swap

I made this card several weeks ago, but never posted it.  This is the card I designed for our monthly Philly Inker's Downline Meeting Swap.  I wanted to incorporate as much new product as possible.  And, except for the cardstock, I think I succeeded! 

I'm totally in love with the new Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die.  All five of the little butterfly embellishments were cut from one tiny embosslit!  My husband loved the largest one - something about the position of the swirl.  I ask for his opinion on just about every card I design.  On this one I was concerned about the color combo.  Who really would have paired Sahara Sand, Crushed Curry, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Rose Red together in one card?  I certainly wouldn't have!  But, those were the colors in the stripes on the DSP!  Strangely enough, it works!

Here are the supplies I used on this card:

• Well Scripted Stamp Set (OccMini)
• Sahara Sand CS
• Crushed Curry CS
• Regal Rose CS
• Pretty in Pink CS
• Welcome Neighbor DSP (SAB)
• Rose Red Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon
• Rose Red Classic Ink
• Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die (OccMini)

Build-a-Bear Fest!

Get ready for a Build-a-Bear fest!  Today I'm demonstrating the Build-a-Bear products to a group of about 120 demonstrators at our Fall Fest event!  It's a fabulous event where demonstrators from all over the Northeast...and then some...get together to stamp, swap, share, inspire, create, and chat!  It's SO much fun.  At today's event, we're lucky enough to have TWO fabulous demonstrators from Ohio demonstrate and teach us some stamping techniques - Karen Barber (my "grandma" in the SU family) and Michelle Zindorf (one of my "aunts" in the SU family) - both stamping "royalty"!

I thought I'd give you a sneak peek of one of the projects I've made to display.  It was inspired by a project shown at convention.  It's a dress-up bear game.  I've cut lots of clothes and accessories out of DSP and magnet sheets.  It's SO simple to make magnets with your Big Shot.  I found self-adhesive sheets online.  I just cut the DSP and the magnet sheet to the size I needed, adhered the DSP to the magnet, then ran it through the Big Shot! I placed a circular magnet to the back of a couple of SU containers.  One is for boys clothes.  One is for girls clothes.  It keeps them all nice and organized.

(Side note....I made this project at 1am on Friday morning.  When decorating the tin I was very focused on choosing colors that coordinated with the teal tin.  Apparently I forgot the tin was teal when I dressed my bear!  What was I thinking???  Olive Sweater???  Oh gosh!  It's still cute, though!

I used an empty Hodgepodge Hardware box as the case (thanks, Tina, for the idea).  It's the perfect travel-size companion!  I decorated the box - and turned it into a purse (inspired by a convention project from a few years back).  I think the result is absolutely adorable.

I'll be sharing more of the projects over the next few days.  But, let me tell you....these little guys are ADDICTIVE!!!  I couldn't stop cutting out little bears - trying to find new ways to use their accessories.  

Everything Nice

Wow...now I like this stamp set!  It's amazing how your opinion changes once you use a set.  I received this stamp set for FREE at convention as an award because of my sales achievements last year.  I designed this card for my "I Can See Clearly Now" class last weekend.  A lot of the class attendees also decided they liked the set after using it!  Ha Ha!!!  It's addictive!

• Everything Nice Stamp Set
• Melon Mambo Classic Ink
• Melon Mambo Card Stock
• Rich Razzleberry Card Stock
• Whisper White Card Stock
• Clear Buttons
• 1" Circle Punch
• Crystal Effects
• White Gel Pen
• Flower Folds Die
• Big Shot

Masculine Birthday Card

I let my stamp club hostesses request projects for their clubs.  This month my hostess challenged me to design a masculine birthday card that didn't use cars, trucks, tools, or other traditionally masculine stamp sets.  Lucky for me, she made this request before convention, so I kept an eye out for ideas!  Of course I found several, but one stood out and inspired the card on today's post.  Can you name all five stamp sets that were used on this card?  No worries...I'll list all of the supplies for ya!

• Circle Circus Stamp Set (background)
• Cheers to You Stamp Set (Beer/Root Beer Mug)
• Sock Monkey Stamp Set (Cupcake)
• Crazy for Cupcakes Stamp Set (Top Sentiment)
• Best Wishes & More Stamp Set (Bottom Sentiment)
• Basic Brown Classic Ink
• Soft Suede Classic Ink
• Bordering Blue Classic Ink
• Sahara Sand Classic Ink
• Summer Sun Classic Ink
• Blender Pens
• Watercolor Paper
• Soft Suede Card Stock
• Very Vanilla Card Stock
• Bordering Blue Card Stock
• Linen Thread
• Mini Library Clips

Gram's Birthday Card

Yesterday was my grandmother's 87th birthday!  I made her up a basket of chocolaty goodness.  It was packed full of chocolate-covered pretzels, nonpareils,  assorted chocolates, chocolate chip cookies, and a few other things.  I tied up the basket with pink ribbon and decorated the chocolate boxes with some Tea Party DSP and coordinating ribbon.  The card matched, too!!!  I took a quick picture so I could share it with you.

Here are the supplies I used:

• On a Pedestal Stamp Set
• On Your Birthday Stamp Set
• Chocolate Chip Card Stock
• Melon Mambo Card Stock
• Whisper White Card Stock
• Tea Party DSP
• Pretty in Pink Classic Ink
• Melon Mambo Classic Ink
• Close to Cocoa Classic Ink
• Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon
• Scallop Edge Punch
• Stamp-a-Ma-Jig

I Love Buttons

I have been spending many hours in my craft room getting organized recently.  But, tonight I forced myself to sit down and make a card.  I'm totally in love with all of the new buttons and ribbons.  Check back in August to learn how you can get some of these buttons free!!!  In the meantime, I hope you like today's card:

• Cheep Talk Stamp Set
• Stem Sayings Stamp Set
• Old Olive Classic Ink
• Bashful Blue Card Stock
• Whisper White Card Stock
• So Saffron Card Stock
• So Saffron DSP
• Sherbet Designer Buttons
• Button Latte Designer Buttons
• Linen Thread
• Scallop Edge Punch
• Elementary Ribbon Originals
• Glue Dots
• Stamp-a-Ma-Jig

The More the Merrier - Level 3 Hostess Set

Can you tell I love cupcakes???  I've been stamping a whole lot of them recently!!!  Here's a card I made a couple of weeks ago using the new The More the Merrier Hostess Level 3 Stamp Set!!!  I fell in love with this set the moment I saw it.  Want it?  Contact me to learn how you can get this stamp set absolutely free!!!

I can tell you're going to be seeing a lot of this color combination over the next few months - I just love Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, and Chocolate Chip together.  I also love the new Polka Dot ribbon that comes in all of the new In Colors.  The best part?  It only has polka dots on one side.  Since this card uses Very Vanilla, I didn't like the white polka dots on the ribbon......so I flipped it over!  What do you think?

Here are all of the supplies I used:

• The More the Merrier Hostess Level 3 Stamp Set
• Melon Mambo Card Stock
• Chocolate Chip Card Stock
• Pretty in Pink Card Stock
• Very Vanilla Card Stock
• Watercolor Paper
• Big Shot
• Stampin' Up! Texturz Blackgrounds 1
• Modern Label Punch
• Word Window Punch
• Melon Mambo Classic Ink
• Jet Black Stazon Ink
• Pretty in Pink Classic Ink
• Close to Cocoa Classic Ink
• Certainly Celery Classic Ink
• So Saffron Classic Ink
• Dimensionals

Hostess Appreciation Party Invite

Last night was my annual Hostess Appreciation Party.  Every year I throw a fabulous bash to celebrate my fabulous hostesses!  This year was no different.  They stamped several cards, ate tasty food (at least I thought it was tasty), and won FANTASTIC door prizes.  Some lucky winners even went home with some of the new In Color Paper.  Other lucky winners won brand new stamp sets, accessories, Decor Elements, Designer Series Paper, Ribbon, and more!  They also got to take advantage of some fantastic promotions I offered just for the evening.  Half of the attendees have already booked parties for this next catalog!  They certainly don't want to miss out on the fun next year....and neither do you!  Contact me to book your own workshop!!!

Today's card is the invitation they all received in the mail a few weeks back.  I should have taken photos of the party, but I also baked cupcakes and put them on a fancy tiered cupcake server to mimic the card. 

Here are the supplies I used to make the invitation:

• Crazy for Cupcakes Stamp Set
• Family Phrases Stamp Set
• Ruby Red Card Stock
• Barely Banana Card Stock
• Baja Breeze Card Stock
• Whisper White Card Stock
• Big Shot
• Clear Circle Die
• Scallop Circle Die
• Dimensionals
• Jet Black Stazon Ink
• Ruby Red Classic Ink
• Baja Breeze Classic Ink
• Barely Banana Classic Ink
• Blender Pens

Jessica's Sweet 16 Card

This past weekend we celebrated my step-daughter's 16th birthday!  I've previously shared the invites.  Her color scheme was hot pink, black, and silver.  So, naturally, her card had to coordinate!  I made a larger-than-normal card for me.  It was 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 (a full piece of card stock folded in half).  At first I was worried I wouldn't be able to cover that much real estate, but no worries!  It turned out just fine!

Here are the supplies I used for her card:

• Taffy Alphabet Stamp Set
• "sweet" sentiment from some unknown stamp set from SAB a few years back!
• Sticky Cuts Letters
• Chunky Essentials Glitter
• Basic Black Card Stock
• Whisper White Card Stock
• Melon Mambo Card Stock (New In Color)
• Brushed Silver Card Stock
• Melon Mambo Classic Ink (New In Color)
• Small Oval Punch
• Large Oval Punch
• Big Shot
• Stampin' Up! Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates
• Standard Texturz Impressions Pad
• Standard Texturz Silicone Rubber
• Stamp-a-Ma-Jig
• Melon Mambo Polka Dot Ribbon (upside down)

Kelly's Birthday Card

One of my friends recently celebrated her birthday.  She's a serious stamper.  So, I felt pressure when designing her card.  I knew she would appreciate some sneak peeks on her birthday card, so I incorporated as many as I could.  I also kept in mind how much she dislikes pink!  Here's the card I came up with!

Here are the supplies I used:

• The More the Merrier Stamp Set (Sneak Peek Level 3 Hostess Set)
• Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set (Sneak Peek)
• Kraft Card Stock
• Bermuda Bay Card Stock (Sneak Peek New In Color)
• Shimmery White Card Stock
• Chocolate Chip Card Stock
• Brown Stazon Ink
• Bermuda Bay Classic Ink (Sneak Peek New In Color)
• Close to Cocoa Classic Ink
• Mellon Mambo Classic Ink (Sneak Peek New In Color)
• So Saffron Classic Ink
• Small Oval Punch
• Large Oval Punch
• Scallop Edge Punch
• Bermuda Bay Polka Dot Ribbon (Sneak Peek)
• Dimensionals

Jessica's Sweet 16 Party - Take 2!

Last week I shared with you the invitations we made for Jessica's Sweet 16 Party down in Ocean City, NJ.  Today I'm sharing with you the invitation we made for her friends and family.  She designed this card and we made about 50 of them a couple of weeks ago! 

Her theme is 80's...even though she was born in the 90's!  We struggled with the wording, but the good ol' internet gave us this one:

Dust off your leg warmers and tease up your hair, celebrate with Jessica, be there or be square!

She heat embossed the guitar and microphone from Family Accessories Too.  The cards are being mailed in clear cello envelopes.

Sneak Peek - On a Pedestal

Here's a sneak peek stamp set you won't see everywhere.  I've actually had this stamp set since January!  I received it as a reward for doing something after attending a Regional Conference in Orlando.  I didn't even realize I had qualified for anything!  It just showed up in my mailbox one day!  How fun is that?!?!?  This is the first time I'm using it!

You will see this stamp set in the new catalog.  I made this card as my monthly swap card for the Philly Inkers Downline Meeting.  I figured a lot of us would be using stamp sets from the new catalog.  But, I like to be different.  I knew none of them had this stamp set!  PERFECT!

I turned to my Rich Razzleberry again - remember my post from Sunday?  I think I blew through at least 1/3 of the roll of ribbon.  UGH!  I can't order more until July 1.  Oh well.  The color scheme is similar to Sunday's card (because I made this on Sunday starting with the scraps from that card)!

Here are the supplies I used on this card:

• On a Pedestal Stamp Set (New)
• Teeny Tiny Wishes Stamp Set (New)
• Kraft Card Stock
• Rich Razzleberry Card Stock (New)
• Very Vanilla Card Stock
• Bashful Blue Card Stock
• Old Olive Card Stock
• Old Olive Classic Ink
• Old Olive Marker
• Rich Razzleberry Marker (New)
• Melon Mambo Classic Ink (New)
• Rich Razzleberry Classic Ink (New)
• Stamp-a-Ma-Jig
• Rich Razzleberry Polka-Dot Grosgrain Ribbon (New)
• Word Window Punch
• Modern Label Punch (New)
• Dimensionals

Sweet 16 Invitations

Hi friends!!!  Some of you have started to e-mail me to see if I'm still alive.  I'm here.  I'm kicking!  No worries - I've been stamping up a storm - a couple of hundred cards to be exact!!!  Okay, well 100 of them were my wedding thank you cards.  Then there were the Tastefully Simple Invitations, the Hostess Appreciation Party Invitations, the Sweet 16 Party Invitations, and all of the projects for my stamping classes!  Whew!  No worries...I took photos of everything.  First up is a snazzy birthday party invitation.

Saturday I had the pleasure of stamping with my new step-daughter and her mom.  She's turning 16 next month and is having TWO birthday celebrations.  So, we had to design two invitations.  This first invitation is for a handful of her friends.  She's taking her friends down to the Jersey Shore for the weekend.  Because we only needed 4, we were able to add some extra special touches.

The inspiration was a cross between my wedding invitations - which Jess helped to assemble - and a card in the Occasions Mini Catalog.

Here are the supplies we used to make this card:

• Life's a Breeze Stamp Set
• Circle Scissor Plus
• Big Shot
• Swirly Decorative Strip Die
• See You Around Jumbo Wheel
• Bashful Blue Classic Ink
• Brocade Blue Classic Ink
• Riding Hood Red Classic Ink
• Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink
• So Saffron Classic Ink
• Bashful Blue Card Stock
• Whisper White Card Stock
• Riding Hood Red Card Stock
• So Saffron Card Stock
• Dimensionals
• Riding Hood Red Striped Ribbon
• Crop-a-Dile
• Whisper White Jumbo Brads

And, here's a picture of the inside of the invitation.  The pull-out tab includes some friendly packing reminders.

Crazy for Cupcakes

Here's a card my Die Cut Divas made last night.  What's a Die Cut Diva?  Die Cut Divas are the members of my exclusive club for anyone who has purchased the Big Shot from me!  They get to attend a FREE class every month and make a few projects using the Big Shot.  I love these classes because they challenge me to find new ways to use my Big Shot!  Tune in Saturday for another project my Divas made on Wednesday!

To make this card, we used the Decorative Accents Big Shot Die.  We cut the swirl out of a Sticky Page.  They're found on page 180 of the current catalog.  They are a 12x12 sheet of sticky.  You can create your own sticky cuts using the sheets.  Or, you can cover one of our chipboard albums using them.  Ever since the catalog came out in January, I've wanted to run them through my Big Shot.  Here it is - April - and I'm just now doing it!  Darn wedding.  I cut down the Decorative Accent and then glittered it up with turquoise glitter from the Fine Cosmo Glitter collection.

Here are all of the supplies I used to make this 5x5 card:

• Crazy for Cupcakes Stamp Set
• Short & Sweet Stamp Set
• Rainbow Sherbet DSP
• Whisper White Card Stock
• Tempting Turquoise Card Stock
• Green Galore Card Stock
• Tempting Turquoise Marker
• Apricot Appeal Marker
• Green Galore Marker
• Jet Black Stazon Ink
• Tempting Turquoise Classic Ink
• Tempting Turquoise Grosgrain Ribbon
• Fine Cosmo Glitter
• Decorative Accents Bigz Die
• Big Shot
• Dimensionals

Fifth Avenue Floral Birthday Cards

Remember on Sunday when I mentioned being inspired from the demo class?  Well, here are some more cards that were inspired from projects made and seen there.  Jen Peel designed a card that looked very similar to the Rose Red/Basic Black version.  However, her card used a fun bleeding blender pen technique - I'm gonna work on perfecting it then I'll incorporate it into my next Technique Day later this year!  We actually made three different cards that all featured a technique I've never taught you!!!

But, this first card in Rose Red, Basic Black, Tangerine Tango, and Kiwi Kiss was the card I made for my sister-in-law Brooke.  It's the same (or similar) color scheme that Jen used on her card.  I love how she layered the ribbon - so I copied it over and over again.  Recognize it?  Yep, I layered the ribbon on my swaps that I shared on Sunday the exact same way.

I also needed a card for Claire's birthday.  Since this stamp set is my favorite stamp set in the catalog, I had to make one in a color scheme I saw at Tina's house.  I believe it was a swap card she had received.  The creator also dyed the new white Organza Ribbon!  GORGEOUS!  Maybe I need to dye organza ribbon on my wedding menus or something!  It'll probably be like 100 yards of ribbon.  That's a lot to dye.

I also used a technique they showed at Leadership.  I heated the organza ribbon with my heat tool (after it was dyed) to curl the edges.  I love the ruffly look that was created!  And, of course I had to do some layering - so I piled on some chocolate chip taffeta ribbon.  The other colors in this card are Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, and Kiwi Kiss.

SO, the question is - which color scheme do you like better????

Birthday Bonanza

Wow!  Let me tell you - there are A LOT of birthdays in February.  Today is my friend Claire's birthday.  Yesterday was my brother's birthday.  My sister-in-law's birthday is later this week.  My cousin's birthday is Wednesday.  Mike's birthday was last Monday!  Whew!  What the heck goes on in the month of May???  That was 9 months ago, right???  They were all different years so something must happen around that time every year.  Hmmm....

So, because I haven't given Claire her birthday card yet, I'll first show you the card I gave Ed (my brother).  You'll see Claire's card tomorrow!  Claire...you'll see it tonight!  No surprise there, huh?

Masculine cards are tough.  I say that every time I make one.  So, as I cursed myself for holding off my new catalog orders - the new tool stamp set would have been perfect - I browsed my limited selection of stamps.  I ran across Owl Together Now.  I hadn't used it.  As I was just finishing up putting it together (I love die-cut stamps), I thought that I should double-check to make sure it was still an active stamp set!!!  Whew...it is.  Not that my brother cares, but I like to share active sets with you so that you can still purchase them when you fall in love with them!!!

I picked this one because I could line up three little owls on a branch - me, Mike, and Jessica!  How perfect for a group gift???  And look, no ribbon!  Guys don't need ribbon on their cards.  But I had just the thing to replace it - corduroy chocolate chip buttons!!!  Very masculine, right???  I LOVE LOVE LOVE these new buttons.  I can't wait to use the other new embellishments we carry!  The colors in this card are Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss, and Kraft.

Birthday Cards for Guys

Masculine cards are always so difficult for us to make, aren't they?  Well, today is Mike's Birthday.  Happy Birthday Honey!!!  We celebrated this past weekend and I gave him his gift and this card.  There's a bit of a story about why I chose a monkey for his card.  I had heard that husbands on the Stampin' Up! incentive trips swap cards.  I had told Mike about it.  He's not a stamper but joked (maybe threatened) to make a card with a monkey in the corner.  So, I'd like to think that maybe this is what he would have made (not).  There's a ton of paper piecing going on here.

I stamped the Sock Monkey with Chocolate Chip Classic Ink on Kraft Card Stock.  I colored the darkened areas with a Versamarker.  I LOVE Versamarker and Kraft Card Stock.  I stamped the flag image on the Very Vanilla Cardstock Layer in Chocolate Chip.  I stamped it again on scraps from the Sunshine Garden Simply Scrappin' Kit.  I cut the flag adhered it over the flag on the Vanilla.  I stamped the birthday hat in Chocolate Chip on Bashful Blue Card Stock then glued it on his head.  I used a Vanilla brad from the Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware for the top of his hat.  I stamped one cupcake on the Vanilla Cardstock to get the candle.  I colored the candle with a blender pen.  I then stamped cupcakes on So Saffron scraps (for the icing) and on scraps from the Sunshine Garden Simply Scrappin' Kit DSP.  I cut them all out, glued them together then stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment from On Your Birthday.  He thought it was cute!  But, I think he enjoyed his iPod Touch just a little bit more!

Bitty Birthday Class

Have you seen my Bitty Birthday Class over there?  In honor of Stampin' Up!'s 20th Anniversary this month, a selection of birthday stamp sets are on sale now!  So, of course I had to plan a class around this fabulous promotion.  When you attend this class, you'll get your very own Bitty Birthday Stamp set and make these four adorable projects - all for only $20!!!  The stamp set alone normally costs $12.95 plus tax and shipping!

Materials Cost = $20 (includes Bitty Birthday Stamp Set - a $12.95 value)

Date = Wednesday, October 22nd

Time = 7:00pm

Register Online Now!

Happy Birthday....to Me!!!

Wow!!!  It was a fantastic mail weekend!  I received all kinds of beautiful hand-stamped cards from my friends!!!  There's nothing better than walking out to your mailbox and coming back with a stack of invitation-size envelopes!!!

It was a good weekend.  Friday night I had the chance to share the Stampin' Up! Opportunity with several potential demonstrators.  You'll be hearing more about that and seeing the gifts I made tomorrow!  So be sure to check back.  On Saturday I threw myself a Pampered Chef party - not because it was my birthday - but because it was the only free day on my calendar this month!!!  Mike took me out to dinner on Saturday night.  I relaxed on Sunday and then mom cooked me dinner and celebrated my birthday with my family!  I couldn't have asked for better company, better weather, or better gifts (I got a gorgeous diamond necklace and GPS among other fabulous gifts).  Thank you all!!!

But, I wanted to share with you the cards that were in those envelopes!!!  (Click on the images to view them larger.)

Cindy made me this cute card in Groovy Guava and Black.  I love the glittery cupcake icing - it coordinated well with my Pampered Chef invitations!!!  So cute!	Claire made this card using her favorite stamp set - Fall Flair.  Talk about patience, she dotted each of those little flowers with a white gel pen!	Elaine made this one!  She used some of my favorite Wild Wasabi ribbon!!!  I love how she inked the edges and gave the card a distressed look.  So beautiful!
This one was hard to photograph, but Helen made this gorgeous acetate card!  She stamped the acetate with White Stazon and added a gold, glittery center to her flower.	No birthday is complete without our favorite chef!!!  Julie made this cute fall-colored card for me!  I love the little flower window - it says Happy Birthday inside.  The construction of this card is pretty tricky!	Kate made this beautiful card - it uses one of my favorite stamp sets - not to mention a beautiful color combo - groovy guava and chocolate chip.  Sad, I miss Groovy Guava after seeing this card!
Lynn stamped this card!  Just love how the flower glitters.  And all of that paper piercing!!!  More patience than I have!  I love the elegant color combo - River Rock, Basic Blac, and White!	Sharon stamped this card.  She gave it some bling with rhinestone centers!  I must invest in this Cuttlebug embossing folder!  I love the swirly background!!!	I love Steph's card!  I love the blocks of dry embossing and patterned paper in the background!  The colors are so bright and cheery - I'll be casing this one for sure!!!

6x6 Scrapbook Page Swap

We also swapped 6x6 scrapbook layouts at last night's downline meeting.  I made this right after the Scrapbooking Brag Book class on Sunday.  Kelly and her mom made two gorgeous 6x6 albums.  Their favorite layout was this layout, so I modified it and used the Hawaii Papaya Designer Series Paper.  I think it would make a cute birthday page.  I guess I have birthdays on the mind since mine is this Saturday!!!

Here are the supplies I used on this layout:

• Hawaii Papaya Designer Series Paper
• Old Olive Card Stock
• Chocolate Chip Card Stock
• Tangerine Tango Card Stock
• Very Vanilla Card Stock
• Celebrate Everything Stamp Set
• Eastern Blooms Stamp Set
• Chocolate Chip Classic Ink
• Tangerine Tango Classic Ink
• 3/4 Inch Circle Punch
• 1 Inch Circle Punch
• 1 1/4 Inch Circle Punch

• Linen Thread

Zoofari

Wow!  What an amazing weekend I just had!  It was all about the stamps!  I taught two classes - Bella Rose Booklet and Technique Day 1.  Plus, I went to an all day demonstrator workshop up in North Jersey - through Hurricane Hanna - on Saturday!  That was a lot of fun.  I was able to see a lot of friends I haven't seen since convention - or longer!  In the middle of all of that, I managed to get some stamping done!

After yesterday's class, I celebrated Mike's nephew's third birthday.  Mike thought I should make him a card.  Well, I really struggle with kids cards - maybe even more than masculine cards.  So, I knew there were only two different sets I wanted to use - Zoofari was the first of the two I found.  I remembered back to a stamp-a-stack last year where we punched the animals (so much easier than cutting).  I picked up some primary colors of card stock - Real Red, Brilliant Blue, and YoYo Yellow.  I stamped my animals in Basic Black then added some color with my markers.

I then embossed the number 3 with the new Schoolbook Serif Numbers stamp set with Whisper White Embossing Powder.  I also stamped the sentiment with the new On Your Birthday stamp set.  I added a little black clip as an embellishment.

Johnny, Mike's nephew, seemed to like the card and identified the animals.  Did you notice?  There are three animals for his third birthday???  No, I'm not that creative - it was a coincidence and I ran with it!

Crazy for Cupcakes

Look who found time for stamping again....me!!!  I had a fabulous time at Wacky Wednesday with several fun customers!  They had a fun idea - they all designed cards and stamped a stack to trade with each other.  While they were stamping, I was making invitations for my birthday party this year - I'm throwing myself a Pampered Chef Party.  I couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday - surrounded by friends and family and somone cooking food for me in my house!!!  Ha Ha!!!  What better stamp set to use on a birthday party invites than the new Crazy for Cupcakes stamp set?  I think this one is SO adorable!

So, here's what I did to make it....I stamped the cupcakes in retired Timber Brown Stazon and colored the cupcakes with Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, and Rose Red Classic Ink and my Blender Pens.  I wanted them to be jazzed up a bit....so I also "iced" them with Crystal Effects (which is really hard to see in either picture).  I then made the cupcake stand look like cut glass with some Tombo Multi-Purpose Adhesive and Clear Microbeads!  I may bedazzle the cherries in some way, but I'm not exactly sure what to do with them...

My cupcake layer is mounted on Regal Rose on this sample...but it's supposed to be on Pretty in Pink!  It's fixed on the rest.  That is layered on Certainly Celery which was punched with the new scallop edge punch.  I embellished my card with the brand new Rose Red Grosgrain layered with the recently returning narrow Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon.

I found the "You're Invited" sentiment in the Hugs and Wishes Stamp Set and stamped it in Rose Red Classic Ink.

What do you think?  I'd love to hear!

Album in a Day Pictures Posted

I'm sure by now you've heard me mention our Album in a Day class last weekend.  Well, I just finished uploading all of the photos of the layouts to my blog!  Click here to view the pictures.

I was also making cards tonight as well!  Look at me being so productive this week. I was inspired by a card I found in the new catty (it's a great source for ideas when you're stuck).

Here are the supplies I used to make this card:

• Wanted Stamp Set
• God's Blessings Stamp Set
• Blue Bayou Classic Ink
• Pumpkin Pie Classic Ink
• Mellow Moss Classic Ink
• Close to Cocoa Classic Ink
• Blue Bayou Cardstock
• Mellow Moss Cardstock
• Pumpkin Pie Cardstock
• Stipple Brush
• Scallop Circle Punch
• Always Artichoke Narrow Grosgrain Ribbon
• Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware

And, one final example...here's just another sample of a layout you can make using February's Monthly Scrapbook Kit.  Click here for more info.