Happy Anniversary

Today is my 5 year wedding anniversary and this is the card I made for my hubby. I wanted to use my new stamp set. I know Crab & Company is not new, but it's new to me. I started by stamping the crab with Jet Black StazOn on Whisper White and cut it out with my Coluzzle. I then colored it in with my much neglected watercolor pencils and blender pens (did I ever mention that the watercolor pencils were my first ever purchase from SU!?) I then used my X-acto knife to cut along his claws. I stamped my sentiment in Tempting Turquoise on Whisper White and mounted it on a piece of Real Red. I then adhered it in his hands. I adhered this circle to a larger circle of Tempting Turquoise, also cut out with my Coluzzle. I added a piece of Real Red Patterns DSP to my Creamy Caramel card base and added a piece of Tempting Turquoise 1/4" grosgrain ribbon around the card. I adhered my crab to my card with Stampin' Dimensionals. Hubby came downstairs shortly after I finished the card. Do you think he knows something is up since I was scrambling to hide it?

National Sculpture Garden

Here's another scrapbook page from our trip to DC back in April. We went to the National Sculpture Garden which is across the street from the Archives. I thought the "bunny" on the rock was kind of funny looking and hubby really like the house that changed shape depending on how you were looking at it. I used a piece of Brilliant Blue cardstock for my page and cut small pieces of Basic Black cardstock to accent the pictures. I rounded two of the corners of each piece. I added 3 brads, which were silver, but I embossed them with Whisper White EP. Before adhering my pictures I stamped an image from Pocket Silhouettes across the bottom with Jet Black StazOn. It's a simple page, but that's they way I like them.

Birthday Daisies

I'm loving this stamp set. It's so easy to work with and to make cute cards with. Look how simple this one is! I started with a Not Quite Navy card base and stamped the daisies from Upsy Daisy with Whisper White craft ink. I had to stamp it twice to fit across the length of the card. I then heat set the craft ink. I stamped my sentiment in Not Quite Navy on Whisper White and punched it out with my Large Oval Punch. I layered it on a scallop circle of Night of Navy that was layered under a Not Quite Navy 1 3/8" circle. I added a loop of 1/4" Whisper White grosgrain ribbon and adhered it to my card. I literally whipped this one up in less than 5 minutes. Can you believe that?

September Scrapbook Class

Here are the pages we made at my scrapbook class this month. The theme was Halloween and we used the Batty for You stamp set. Now, just like last month my pages aren't quite finished. I didn't stamp my title. I think I'm also going to add a few more circle accents with images from Batty for You. We used the Classic Stripes BG to stamp the bottom of our Basic Gray cardstock. We then adhered a piece of Old Olive cardstock across the bottom and Perfect Plum down the sides. Our photo mats are in Pumpkin Pie. On the first page we stamped an image from Batty for You in the corner. On the other two photo mats we used the Round Tab punch to punch two pieces of Whisper White. We then stamped "spooky" and "boo!" using retired Rough Edges Alphabet.

The titles that were stamped were Halloween with an image from Batty for You as the 'o'. And the fun thing about the Batty for You stamp set is everyone got to pick which circle images they wanted to use for their page. All these pages need now (other than a title) are pictures of Oscar in his Halloween costume for this year.

Daisy Thanks

Well, it's been a hectic week here in Ohio. We had our version of Hurricane Ike on Sunday leaving thousands without power and many (myself included) with damage to their homes. We lost siding, roofing, and gutters and right now it's just a waiting game with insurance. Luckily there's no rain in the forecast for the next week, so let's hope we can get this taken care of before it does rain.

Anyway, on to stamping. That's why were here, right? Here's another card we made at Jan's card class last Saturday. This one uses the stamp set Upsy Daisy. We started with a piece of Whisper White cardstock and using a Post-It Note and my 1 1/4" Circle punch we created a mask and sponged the sun using So Saffron. We then stamped the silhouette image from Upsy Daisy in Chocolate Chip. We had to stamp it twice to make it fit across the whole piece of WW. We then layered it on a piece of Chocolate Chip and added it to our So Saffron card base. Now, in this example I stamped "thank you" from Enjoy Every Moment in So Saffron and punched it out with my Large Oval punch. For the class we used "you're on my mind" from Upsy Daisy in Chocolate Chip and punched it with the Large Oval punch and attached with Stampin' Dimensionals. The ladies really liked making this card as they loved the sponging.

Well, kids, I'm on vacation for the next 12 days. I'm actually only going out of town for 4 of those days, so I'll try to do some posting when I'm here.

Simple Silhouettes

One thing I love about this stamp set is you don't have to get super fancy to make a beautiful card with it. As you can see here all I did was take a Very Vanilla card base, stamp my image from Pocket Silhouettes in the corner in Old Olive, stamped my sentiment in Old Olive and added a piece of 1/4" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon across the top. This is a card we made at my card class last Saturday and I loved showing these stampers how easy it was to create a beautiful card!

Patterns on my Mind

OK, so I caved and bought Upsy Daisy since it was on sale, too. I really liked what I saw of the samples, so I had to give it a go. I used a Pumpkin Pie card base. I added a piece of More Mustard Patterns DSP across the bottom section of the card. I then took a piece of Whisper White and having made a template with a piece of scrap paper and my Coluzzle sponged my "sun" with some More Mustard and Pumpkin Pie ink with Stampin' Sponge. I then stamped my silhouette from Upsy Daisy in Chocolate Chip. I layered it on a piece of Chocolate Chip. Before adhering this layer I punched a slot with my Slot Punch and tied a piece of 1/4" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon through it. I then stamped my sentiment on a small piece of Whisper White in Chocolate Chip and rounded one corner and adhered it to the corner of my card.

I love how the daisies look with the "sun" behind it and I'm loving this new DSP. I have to get my hands on more of it!

Silhouettes

I'm not sure if silhouettes are really my style, but I just loved the stamp set Pocket Silhouettes (and it was on sale) so I ordered it. And this is the first thing I've done with it. I started with a piece of Whisper White and repeatedly stamped my image along the bottom in Certainly Celery. I then took a piece of Barely Banana and added to 1 3/8" circles folded over the sides. I adhered my stamped layer on top of it. I wrapped a piece of 1/4" Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon around my Certainly Celery card and added my layer over top. I then stamped my sentiment under my main image. I love how simple it is to create such a pretty card with the silhouette images.

Online Ordering

As busy as I have been when I had the opportunity to post last night I really wanted to share with you a card that I had made, so tonight I want to talk shop. Online ordering is now available with Stampin' Up! How friggin' exciting is that???? I've played around with it and it's fun! So to shop in your pajamas, head over to my Stampin' Up! website at heatherhawkins.stampinup.net and click on Store. Have fun shopping!!!

Whew!

What a week it's been so far. I feel like it's Friday! Really I feel like it's Thursday because I've already worked 3 days this week (I usually don't work on Monday, but I did this week), so it's really thrown me off. I had family in town all weekend (my nephew won two Redline Cups in BMX over the weekend here), I worked an extra day, bowling league started back up, and I had meetings scheduled for Tuesday and today after work. Whew! I also have my monthly scrapbook class this Friday (stay tuned for pictures), a card class on Saturday morning (again, stay tuned for pictures) and a Scrapbook Surprise Party on Saturday afternoon. OK, enough of my boring life!

Here's another birthday card that I made last week for a co-worker. I started with a Bashful Blue card base, added a strip of So Saffron and some Chocolate Chip Polytwill ribbon. I did a little paper piercing underneath my So Saffron strip as well. I stamped my candles from Big Birthday candle in Bashful Blue on Very Vanilla, then stamped the "designs" over them in Close to Cocoa. I cut them out and added them to a piece of Close to Cocoa cardstock. I then inked up the flames in Summer Sun and Ruby Red using the rock'n'roll technique and stamped them on Very Vanilla. I cut them out and added them above my candles. I adhered a strip of Ruby Red along the side that was punched with my Scalloped Edge Punch. I adhered that layer to my card using Stampin' Dimensionals. I then added some Crystal

Effects to the flames and sprinkled on a little Dazzling Diamonds glitter. This one was a lot of fun to make. What can I say really, I always have fun playing with Big Birthday Candle!

Cupcake

A Sock Monkey card with no sock monkey? Yep, that's what we have here. I started with a Certainly Celery card. I punched out two Pretty in Pink 1 3/8" squares and two Chocolate Chip ones. I used my Crop-a-dile to emboss some circles on the lower Pretty in Pink Square. I adhere all my squares to the lower corner of my card. I then stamped the cupcake from Sock Monkey in Chocolate Chip on a piece of Very Vanilla. I colored it in with Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery and blender pens. i punched it out with my 1 3/8" Circle Punch. I then punched a Certainly Celery Scallop circle and punched the center out with my 1 1/4" Circle Punch. I adhered my Very Vanilla circle to the card, then attached my scallop circle with Stampin Dimensionals. I added a piece of Chocolate Chip Polytwill ribbon around my card and stamped my sentiment inside. This was the second birthday card given away last week. There's one more to come.

Lincoln Memorial

This is the scrapbook page I made last weekend when I was sick. I think it turned out pretty good considering I couldn't really think. My color combo is Whisper White, Creamy Caramel, and Sahara Sand. I picked the colors from the colors of the memorial. I stamped my title with Jumbo Outline Alphabet in Jet Black StazOn and colored it in with my Versamarker. I adhered my pictures, highlighting two of them with a mat behind them. I then took 3 circles of On Board Chipboard, inked them up with Whisper White Craft Ink. I then decided I wanted them bolder, so I inked them up again and embossed them with Whisper White Embossing Powder. I then layered them on Creamy Caramel circles that were punched with my 13/8" Circle Punch. I glued them down, but not before adding my journaling.

Birthday Butterfly

This week was a busy week for birthday cards. This is one of the birthday cards I made. I started with a Really Rust card. I used a retired Classy Brass Template (that I can't remember the name of) to add the dry embossed circles on the bottom of the card. I then stamped the butterfly from Priceless on the card in Chocolate Chip. I added a strip of Chocolate Chip across, notching out a spot to let the antennae stick up. I then wrapped a piece of Chocolate Chip Polytwill ribbon around it and adhered a butterfly that was stamped in Ruby Red and cut out. I used Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere it. I then stamped my sentiment from Hugs & Wishes in Chocolate Chip. I think it turned out really cute and the recipient loved it!

Slacker

I know, I know. I'm slacking. But I've been sick all weekend. My allergies are out of control, even with taking allergy medicine and I just have no energy or appetite. I haven't done any stamping. I take that back I did one scrapbook page yesterday. Well, I started it anyway. I'm just not happy with it. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow and I can finish my chores (after all I do have out of town guests coming this weekend) and get some stamping in. In the meantime I have some retired stamp sets I'm willing to part with if anyone is interested. Shipping is $4.80 for Priority Mail and I only ship to the US. If you want more than one set, let me know and I'll calculate the shipping for you. I take PayPal.

Polka Dots & Paisley $12
Fanciful Favorites $8
Good Times $12
Big Blossom $6
Polka Dots Blocks standard wheel $3
Wild Wasabi Classic Ink Pad, 10 sheets of 8.5 x 11 cardstock and scraps - $6
Soft Sky Classic Ink Pad, 10 sheets of 8.5 x 11 cardstock and scraps - $6
Wild Wasabi Stitched Ribbon, 3/4 of a roll - $7
Spring/Summer Collection IB&C - $3

Reminder: Labor Day Sale

Just a reminder that TODAY is my Labor Day Mystery Hostess event! There was some confusion that it was tomorrow, but in fact it is today. Be sure to get your order in as early as possible to try to get the best deal.

Labor Day Weekend Mystery Hostess Sale

It’s Labor Day weekend which means there will be lots of shopping deals. And I’m offering my own deal with Stampin’ Up! Shop with me this weekend and get a great deal or earn free products.

I am having a one-day ONLY sale this Sunday, Aug. 31^st from 10 am until 5 pm and here are the deals. The deals are based on what order number you are.

First order gets a “What you see is what you get” deal. That means no tax or shipping on your order!

Second order gets 10% off!

Third order gets a free Classic Stampin’ pad in your choice of color.

Fourth order gets a free spool of ¼” Grosgrain ribbon in your choice of color.

Fifth order gets a free pack of Stampin’ Dimensionals.

All other orders get a free Stampin’ Write Marker in your choice of color.

Orders must be placed via phone or email between 10 am and 5 pm on Sunday only. Orders must total $50 before tax and shipping to redeem the above deals. However any order placed with me between 10 am and 5 pm will be eligible for the Mystery Hostess drawing if the order total reaches $150! I will draw two names for the Mystery Hostess at 5 pm on Sunday. The first name drawn will receive the Hostess Stamp set and the second name drawn will receive the free merchandise.

All items will be shipped to me so and I will let you know when the order comes in and you can come pick up your new goodies!

To view the downloadable PDF of the catalog visit my website at heatherhawkins.stampinup.net. While you're there you can also view the Never Before Seen promotion.

Color Challenge

There's another Color Inspiration Challenge posted over on Kristina Werner's blog. I took a mental note of the colors and headed down to the studio to whip something up. This is actually my second creation. The first one didn't turn out like I pictured so I had to try again. Oh, and then I came upstairs to write this blog and realized I used Whisper White instead of Very Vanilla. Oops. I'm posting it anyway. I started with a Chocolate Chip card base and stamped the swirls from Priceless along the side in Chocolate Chip. I added a strip of Whisper White and Pretty in Pink (in place of Pink Pirouette). I stamped the little box in Certainly Celery and cut it out. I stamped the heart in Pretty in Pink and cut it out, too. I added the box to my Pretty in Pink strip and added the heart on top with a Stampin' Dimensional. I added the sentiment in the bottom corner and a piece of 1/4" Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon.

WWII Memorial

Here are the pictures we took at the WWII Memorial back in April. This page came together really quick. I started with a Brilliant Blue page and added my Real Red strips across the bottom. I then stamped the stars background from Classic Backgrounds across the top in Brilliant Blue. I stamped my title with Short Order Alphabet on the Whisper White strip and adhered it to my page. I adhered it to my page and then adhered my pictures. I stamped the stars from Classic Backgrounds in Real Red and Brilliant Blue on a piece of scrap Whisper White and punched them out with my Star punch and Large Star punch and adhered them to my page.

Halloween!

I know it's too early for Halloween, but I'm way late on scrapbooking last year's Halloween pictures. I had to reprint the pictures as I accidentally ruined the pumpkin pictures by spritzing them with some Stampin' Mist (they were a little to close to my Stampin' Scrub). I finally got around to reprinting the picture so I did some scrapbooking. I stamped my title in Basic Black with Big Deal Alphabet. I used the kissing technique with Sanded to give the letters a shabby look. I added it to a piece of Basic Black. For the "o" I stamped one of the images from Batty For You in Basic Black and punched it out with my 1 1/4" Circle Punch which was layered on a 1 3/8" Basic Black Circle and a Pumpkin Pie Scallop Circle that was stamped with Sanded. Before adhering my title strip I stamped the edge of my cardstock with the Sanded background. I adhered my pictures on a piece of Basic Black and added photo corners in opposite corners. One on top and one underneath. I then added a circle with the bat layered on Pumpkin Pie. I stamped the year in the bottom corner, using the pumpkin and spider punched with my 1" Circle punch for my zeros. I stamped the upper corner with my Sanded background and added a strip of 1/4" Basic Black grosgrain ribbon.

I'm glad I finished this one before Halloween rolls around this year.

VSN Card

I had a chance to play the VSN challenges posted on SCS this weekend. This is one of my favorites. The challenge was to use twine. I started with a Bravo Burgundy card base. I added two strips of Old Olive and a piece of hemp twine. I inked up the tree from Season of Joy with my Barely Banana, Old Olive, and Chocolate Chip markers and stamped it on a piece of Whisper White. I then layered it on a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock and adhered it to my card. Yeah, it was that easy!

August Scrapbook Class

Last night I held my monthly scrapbook class. Our theme was fall and these are the pages we made. We used the baby wipe technique to make our own stamp pad and stamp the flowers from Wonderful You. The Very Vanilla pieces were layered on More Mustard and the strip along the bottom is More Mustard. I distressed the edges of my More Mustard pieces using the distressing tool from the Cutter Kit. We added little loops of ribbon on the title strip (notice mine doesn't have a title yet as I couldn't decide on one) and our More Mustard journaling box. We then added Pumpkin Pie photo mats. Three of the photo mats will hold one 4 x 6 photo and the larger one will fit two 4 x 6 photos.


Everyone's pages turned out a little different as some switched up the layout a little, some stamped the outline on the leaves, some inked edges of their cardstock, but we all had different titles. The one thing that was the same is we all had fun!

With All My Heart

Here is another card I made while practicing the technique for my scrapbook class. Again, I used Wonderful You and stamped the leaves using the Baby Wipe Technique. I stamped the images on a piece of Whisper White and adhered it to a piece of Close to Cocoa. I added a piece of Pumpkin Pie across the bottom of the Close to Cocoa and stamped my sentiment. I tied a piece of (retired) Old Olive PolyTwill ribbon around my images and adhered it to my More Mustard card base. I love how it turned out and I can't wait for you to see how our scrapbook pages turn out. I'll post them some time this weekend for your viewing pleasure. Have a great weekend everyone!

Wonderful You!

I got new stamps! OK, this set is not new, new. It was in the Spring/Summer catalog, but I just got it yesterday. It is Wonderful You and it's currently in the Fall/Winter Idea Book & Catalog. So last night after the UPS man came back and delivered my box I headed straight down to the studio to get busy on some stamping. I wanted to practice the baby wipe technique that we will be using at my scrapbook class this Friday. So I make a few cards with it. This is the first one I made. I used the baby wipe technique and Close to Cocoa, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard, and Old Olive reinkers to ink up my stamp. I then stamped it on a piece of Whisper White. I then stamped the outline in Chocolate Chip. I adhered it to a piece of Old Olive cardstock that I distressed with my cutter kit. I then tied a piece of More Mustard 1/4" grosgrain ribbon around it and added a More Mustard button. I used my perforation tool and Chocolate Chip ink to add some faux stitching around three sides of my Chocolate Chip card base, added my stamped image, and stamped my sentiment. I love the way this technique looks and can't wait to show it to my class attendees on Friday.

On a side note I was home all day yesterday and Mr. Brown didn't deliver my stamps until after 6:00. Today, however, I was at work and Mr. Brown delivered 3 packages before 10 am. What's up with that?

No Time to Stamp

But, I have been busy cleaning up my studio. I sorted all the scraps that had collected on my table, put all my punches back on the wall, boxed up all the craft fair items I've been working on, and cleaned out a dresser full of scrapbooking contraband that I purchased years ago and never used. I didn't realize I had purchased so many stickers. And I don't even like stickers!!!! I'm getting ready for a garage sale, so I spent about an hour pricing all of that contraband. I've also been getting ready to have some out of town guests, so I've really been doing a lot of work around the house. And that has left me sitting here wondering why the UPS man just drove by and didn't drop of my SU! order. After he brings it to me I'm sure I'll have something to share with you.

Baby Elephant

I haven't done much stamping for fun lately. The only stamping I've been doing is for an upcoming craft fair. But today I needed a card. A friend of mine just had a baby girl so I'd like to send her a little note. I decided to use this week's sketch challenge for my card and in the end I'm not totally in love. It's a great sketch. I just didn't think it out completely. Anyway I took a Pretty in Pink card base and added a piece of retired Cutie Pie DSP. I then added some retired ribbon (from one of the Ribbon Originals in the last catalog) around the card by cutting a slit in the side. I then took my piece of Whisper White cardstock and stamped the elephant from Wild About You in Pretty in Pink. I added two 5-petal flowers punched with Tempting Turquoise and Certainly Celery and my sentiment from Short & Sweet, which was embossed with Whisper White EP on Rose Red and punched out with the Word Window punch. I adhered it to my card with Stampin' Dimensionals. I didn't get a picture of the envelope, but I stamped the flower from Wild About You on the front and the baby pin from Short & Sweet on the back flap. Now I'm off to write in my card and get it in the mail. Have a great weekend everyone!

Stampin' Up! Online Ordering

Last night Stampin' Up! had a teleconference to give demonstrators more information regarding online ordering. Here are the important points:

1. Orders can be made via stampinup.com or a demonstrator business website.
2. Orders made through the demonstrator business website will be the same price as well as same minimum shipping and orders over $150 are eligible for Stampin' Rewards (aka Hostess Benefits)
3. Orders made via stampinup.com will be the same price and same shipping as long as the customer allows the demonstrator to contact, otherwise the price will be raised.
4. Specials offered through individual demonstrators will not be able to be redeemed with online ordering. Those orders still need to be made through your demonstrator.
5. A release date has not been revealed. We're just told it will be available this fall, starting first with the demonstrator business website, then stampinup.com.
6. The online ordering will show you products that work together with items that you have added to your cart (this will help your husband shop for you!).
7. The online ordering will also show you how close you are to Stampin' Rewards to help you so you don't miss out on those rewards by just a little bit.

Another birthday?

Another monkey! I just can't get enough of this guy. As soon as I realized I needed a birthday card I immediately reached for Sock Monkey. I stamped the Sock Monkey in Jet Black StazOn on Whisper White. I then colored him in with my Creamy Caramel marker and Rose Red marker. I stamped the flag in his hand then colored the flag in with my Rose Red marker. I stamped the M from Euphoria Alphabet (retired) on my flag, but I smudged it. My solution was to stamp the flag on a piece of Rose Red Prints DSP (retired), stamp the M, cut it out and adhere it over my other flag. Problem solved. I layered my monkey on a piece of Basic Black that I scalloped the edge of with my Scallop border punch. I then scalloped the edge of my card and layered a piece of Rose Red underneath the flap. I added a piece of Basic Black 1/4" grosgrain ribbon around my card, put my monkey on top, stamped my sentiment inside (along with a cupcake), stamped the birthday hat on the envelope and colored it in with my Rose Red marker. Tomorrow I will give this card to one of my co-workers. I hope she likes it.

Happy New Catalog Day!

The new catalog is here!!! If you don't have a hard copy you can now view it online by clicking on the picture to the right. Enjoy!

And don't forget about the Never Before Seen Promotion! The link is on the sidebar!

Updated

I updated the side bar. I removed the retiring lists since they are only good through tomorrow. If you haven't ordered what you want from the retiring list, please do not wait until the last minute. I don't like stress. Anyway I added some of the new stuff; the Catalog Sampler, the $99 Starter Kit promo, and the Never Before Seen Promo. I'll get a link for the new catalog up on Monday when it goes live. Have a great weekend everyone!!!

How Can I Work Like This?

My desk is a mess! I've been working on items for a craft/vendor fair coming up in November. And this is what happens to my desk when I work like that! I can't see it anymore!!! I have this tiny little section of desk that I'm working on. And things just keep getting buried. I've been working on some coaster picture frames for all sorts of occasions. And they have magnets on the back. Here's a close up of some of the ones I made today. These are the perfect items to use up all my retired Designer Series Paper. I think they're turning out really cute. Hopefully they'll be a good seller at the craft/vendor fair.

New Catties!!!!!!!!

My pre-order of the new catalogs arrived today! I love it! I've gone through it a few times and now I'm ready to start my wish list!! If you're one of my lucky customers who gets one (and you know who you are) come on over and pick it up! We can officially order from it on Monday (and I plan on doing so). If you want to put in an order in first thing get it to me by Sunday night 'cause I'm placing the order early!

Sorry

I just want to apologize for my lack of blogging. I made a birthday card for my mother-in-law last week before I left, but I took it with me to give to her and didn't take a picture. It was cute, though. I used Big Birthday Candle and retired Charbon DSP.
I'm still trying to get caught up from my trip to NYC. Traveling really takes it out of you. I feel like I need a vacation after my vacation. Last night was the quarter auction. It was a ton of fun! If you couldn't make it this month you should definitely come in Oct.
Tomorrow is my last day of work for the week, so after I mow the grass (OK, maybe before I mow the grass) I'll do some stamping. And of course I'll share!

Back from NYC

I'm back from NYC and I had a great time. I missed all the convention chatter over on SCS since I was on a mini-vacation. I've been trying to get caught up on everything and here's what I have to share. Another phase of Decor Elements is coming. There will be holiday elements as well as elements in other colors. SU! has partnered with Sizzix and we will be carrying the Big Shot die cut machine as well as exclusive SU! dies. This will also create an opportunity to create your own Decor Elements with vinyl! Also, all stamp sets beginning in with the Spring/Summer IB&C will be die cut! For now if you want a little sneak peek of what will be in the I&C that comes out Aug. 11 take a look at the Catalog Sampler by clicking the picture to the right!

The Monkey wants to Wish You a Happy Birthday

It's not your birthday? Oh, well. He says happy birthday any way. I'm slowly working on using this monkey for every occasion possible. This time it's a birthday. I stamped the monkey on Whisper White with Jet Black StazOn. I colored him with my Chocolate Chip and Creamy Caramel markers. I stamped the flag in his hand and colored it in with my Summer Sun marker. I then stamped the birthday hat on a scrap piece of Whisper White and colored it with my Summer Sun and Rose Red markers. I cut it out and added it to the monkey's head. I layered the monkey on a piece of Chocolate Chip and set him aside. I added a piece of Rose Red Prints DSP to my Summer Sun card base. I then added a strip of Creamy Caramel and a strip of Whisper White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon. I added my monkey, then 3 brads to my card. I was attempting to follow last week's sketch challenge with this card, but I didn't have my computer in my stamping studio with me and was going by memory. Unfortunately I didn't follow it quite right. I still think he turned out cute.

That's all from me for now. I won't be posting for a while as I'm headed to NYC. Hopefully I'll have something for you at the end of next week. Bye!

FDR Memorial

The FDR Memorial is my favorite memorial in DC. It's kind of hidden away near the Tidal Basin and a lot of people don't know it's there. So if you are ever in DC check it out. Here are a few of the pictures I took while there. There wasn't much stamping to be done on this page, but that's OK. I used Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi textured cardstock. I stamped my title in Soft Sky using Short Order Alphabet on Whisper White. I added my pieces of Wild Wasabi, put my title down, added a little Wild Wasabi double stitched ribbon, adhered my pictures and I was done! This page will go next to the previous page in my book.

Toot, Toot!!!

That's my horn. I'm tooting it because another one of my cards is on the Stamper's Showcase on the demo side of the Stampin' Up! website. This is the second time in the last week I'm up there. I love it! For this card I used Garden Whimsy. I stamped the big butterfly in So Saffron then rock'n'rolled it in Ruby Red. I stamped it on a piece of Whisper White and layered it on a piece of Ruby Red. I used my So Swirly jumbo wheel inked up in Old Olive and rolled it across a piece of Old Olive cardstock. I wrapped some Old Olive polytwill ribbon around it and adhered it to my So Saffron card. I added my butterfly with Stampin' Dimensionals and finished it off with a sentiment from Short & Sweet in Ruby Red punched out with my Word Window punch. I didn't win the contest, but it sure is nice to see my creations on the website!

Happiness....

I got some more Decor Elements today. This is the small Happiness. I put it on a board that I painted black. If you are looking for boards like this for your small Decor Elements head on over to my store and see what I've got. This board has a routed edge, painted flat black, and I added a hanger on the back. Right now it's hanging in my living room for photography purposes, but I think I'm going to put it in my stamping studio because it reflects my mood when I'm down there. I like it!

Cherry Blossoms

Here are the rest of the pictures from the Cherry Blossom Festival. Since I had so many pictures and I had already done one with a title I went crazy with pictures on this one. I cropped and printed my pictures to 3 1/4" x 3 1/4". I glued them all down on a piece of Wild Wasabi Textured cardstock. I then punched some photo corners in Soft Sky and added them to a few pictures. Then I stamped the flowers from Classic Backgrounds in Wild Wasabi on Wild Wasabi. I punched it out with my 3/4" circle punch and added it to a Build-a-brad. I then adhered the brad to a 5-petal flower punched from Soft Sky. I adhered it to my page with Stampin' Dimensionals. Not much stamping on this one, but I didn't really think it needed it.

I'm going to stamp today....

This week has been crazy busy. I've had a bajillion home parties to attend and work and I donated my hair to Locks of Love (and had to celebrate afterward). Today I will stamp, though.

Accessories

I updated the retired accessories list with the items that are no longer available. I'll try to update it every day so you can see what's available if you still haven't placed your order.



Oh, and I wanted to let you know that SU! will allow online ordering later in the fall. I'll post more when I know more!

July Scrapbook Class

Here are the pages from July's scrapbook class. We did a summer them and with the Life's a Breeze stamp set. We used Creamy Caramel, Gable Green, Tempting Turquoise, Summer Sun, and Very Vanilla. We stamped some of the small elements from Life's a Breeze in our assorted colors and punched them out with the 1 1/4" Circle Punch. We then layered them on scallop circles. They were adhered to strips of Very Vanilla that we used the corner rounder on. We stamped our title with Big Deal Alphabet. For "fun" we cut it out with the Colluzzle Oval template. We also cut out the tube that we stamped with the Oval Colluzzle and layered it on the next larger size oval. We then "hooked" it to our photo mat with some Twill Tape and HodgePodge Hardware. We stapled a piece of Tempting Turquoise 1/4" grosgrain ribbon to one of our photo mats on page 2. This was the first time we used photo mats that were smaller than those for a 4 x 6 picture. I hope my scrappers like them and use different size photos in future layouts.

Retired Accessories List

Here's the retired accessories list. These items are first come, first serve while supplies last. Get your order in as soon as you can! As you can see some items are already sold out!

Item Number	Page #	Product Description	Availability
109200	177	Accents & Elements Build A Flower	Not Available
110718	177	Accents & Elements Lucky Star
110719	177	Accents & Elements Messenger
103158	184	Acrylic Graph & Grid
108638	163	Card Stock 12 X 12 In Color
108642	163	Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Blue Bayou
108643	163	Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Groovy Guava
108637	163	Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 In Color
108640	163	Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 River Rock
108639	163	Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Soft Sky
108641	163	Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Wild Wasabi	Not Available
108644	163	Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Purely Pomegranate	Not Available
103975	166	Card Stock Brushed Copper	Not Available
108694	163	Card Stock Textured 12 X 12 In Color
107312	167	Cards & Envelopes Gift Whisper White
107292	167	Cards & Envelopes Greeting Whisper White
109116	167	Notes & Envelopes Long Notes
109118	167	Notes & Envelopes Love Notes
109117	167	Notes & Envelopes Pocket Notes*	Not Available
110729	167	Notes & Envelopes Scallop Notes
109119	167	Notes & Envelopes Gift Notes
109018	163	Classic Stampin' Ink Blue Bayou	Not Available
109019	163	Classic Stampin' Ink Groovy Guava
109017	163	Classic Stampin' Ink Purely Pomegranate	Not Available
109016	163	Classic Stampin' Ink River Rock	Not Available
109015	163	Classic Stampin' Ink Soft Sky
109020	163	Classic Stampin' Ink Wild Wasabi	Not Available
109013	163	Classic Stampin' Pad Blue Bayou	Not Available
109012	163	Classic Stampin' Pad Groovy Guava
109011	163	Classic Stampin' Pad Purely Pomegranate
109010	163	Classic Stampin' Pad River Rock
109009	163	Classic Stampin' Pad Soft Sky
109014	163	Classic Stampin' Pad Wild Wasabi
110751	171	Designer Series Paper Azure*
110696	169	Designer Series Paper Bali Breeze
110749	169	Designer Series Paper Berry Bliss
109154	169	Designer Series Paper Cutie Pie
110699	168	Designer Series Paper East Coast Prep*	Not Available
109160	170	Designer Series Paper Fall Flowers	Not Available
109159	169	Designer Series Paper Flowers For You*
110697	169	Designer Series Paper Ginger Blossom	Not Available
110479	168	Designer Series Paper Jersey Shore*
109151	170	Designer Series Paper Le Jardin
110748	170	Designer Series Paper Notebook*
110750	171	Designer Series Paper Olive Press
109153	170	Designer Series Paper Porcelain Prints*	Not Available
109175	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Almost Amethyst*	Not Available
109177	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Always Artichoke
109173	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Blue Bayou	Not Available
109174	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Brilliant Blue
109178	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Certainly Celery
109169	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Close to Cocoa*	Not Available
109168	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Groovy Guava*	Not Available
109171	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Lovely Lilac
109172	171	Designer Series Paper Prints More Mustard	Not Available
109176	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Old Olive
109170	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Pumpkin Pie	Not Available
109164	171	Designer Series Paper Prints River Rock*
109167	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Rose Red
109166	171	Designer Series Paper Prints So Saffron
109165	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Soft Sky	Not Available
109163	171	Designer Series Paper Prints Tempting Turquoise	Not Available
110698	168	Designer Series Paper Spring Break
110273	169	Designer Series Paper Spring Fling*	Not Available
110271	170	Designer Series Paper Spring Silhouettes
110272	170	Designer Series Paper Western Sky	Not Available
107299	167	Envelope Confetti Cream Medium
105320	189	Eyelets Basic	Not Available
100375	189	Eyelets Bold Brights	Not Available
100381	189	Eyelets Earth Elements	Not Available
107233	189	Eyelets Fresh Favorites I
107234	189	Eyelets Fresh Favorites II
105316	189	Eyelets Rich Regals
100378	189	Eyelets Soft Subtles	Not Available
105515	188	Hodgepodge Hardware Pewter	Not Available
105531	188	Hodgepodge Hardware Antique Brass	Not Available
105532	188	Hodgepodge Hardware Aged Copper	Not Available
101120	183	Metallic Art Pencils
107307	179	On Board Accents
109181	178	On Board Blossoms & Basic
109179	178	On Board Ginormous Pieces
107306	179	On Board Simon Lower
102678	166	Mulberry Paper White	Not Available
109227	181	Punch Box Three For You	Not Available
102686	180	Punch Handheld Rectangle
100271	183	Pure Color Pencils
109060	191	Ribbon Double-Stitched Blue Bayou	Not Available
109063	191	Ribbon Double-Stitched Groovy Guava	Not Available
109061	191	Ribbon Double-Stitched Purely Pomegranate	Not Available
109062	191	Ribbon Double-Stitched River Rock*
109059	191	Ribbon Double-Stitched Soft Sky	Not Available
109058	191	Ribbon Double-Stitched Wild Wasabi	Not Available
109189	190	Ribbon Originals Beachfront*
109187	190	Ribbon Originals District*
109188	190	Ribbon Originals Fairy Tale
109185	190	Ribbon Originals Jersey*
109184	190	Ribbon Originals Sherbert
109186	190	Ribbon Originals Theater
110716	191	Ribbon Striped Grosgrain Wild Wasabi*
110281	182	Rub-Ons Cherished Memories*	Not Available
110284	182	Rub-Ons Eastern Elegance*
110285	182	Rub-Ons Urban West*
110557	174	Simply Scrappin' Boho Blend
109610	174	Simply Scrappin' Confetti	Not Available
110572	172	Simply Scrappin' Crew Kids Boy
110567	173	Simply Scrappin' Crew Kids Girl
109597	175	Simply Scrappin' Home Again
110562	174	Simply Scrappin' Rose Cottage
109648	173	Simply Scrappin' Special Delivery Boy
109627	173	Simply Scrappin' Special Delivery Girl	Not Available
110587	175	Simply Scrappin' Summer Days
110577	175	Simply Scrappin' Tie The Knot
111184	15	Simply Sent Friendly Notes
109228	16	Simply Sent Simple Delights	Not Available
109229	16	Simply Sent Three Thoughts	Not Available
106662	197	Stampin'Around Wheel Daisy Field
107561	197	Stampin'Around Wheel Garden Annuals
109681	197	Stampin'Around Wheel Good Dog
109678	197	Stampin'Around Wheel Kisses
107482	197	Stampin'Around Wheel Lily Pad	Not Available
109680	197	Stampin'Around Wheel Meow
109677	197	Stampin'Around Wheel Mistletoe	Not Available
106610	196	Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Basics Outline
107467	196	Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Birthday
109571	196	Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Dilly Dally Baby
109570	196	Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Dilly Dally Friends
109569	196	Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Dilly Dally Party
108423	196	Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Leaves A La Carte	Not Available
107468	196	Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Nature Hike
108980	196	Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Petals
107464	196	Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Rough Texture	Not Available
111261	196	Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Spunky Spots
109554	193	Stampin' Color Index Labels	Not Available
106694	194	Stampin' Kids Markers
101399	185	Stipple Brushes	Not Available
102673	183	Zig Painty

Got Wood?

If you are looking for a solution for your Decor Elements head on over to my store and check out the boards I have for them. I only have a few sizes right now, but like SU! with the Decor Elements I am starting small. Unfinished boards will ship in 2-3 days, while painted boards will take a little longer. I hope you like them!

Discounted Retiring Accessories

Just this morning I have learned that select retiring accessories will be discounted while supplies last starting Monday. So if you want anything off of this list I suggest you get it soon. To see the items click on the picture -------->

Wow Birthday Circles

Here's another card with the new Wow Flowers stamp set. This one used the circle with happy birthday on it. I stamped it in Chocolate Chip and Certainly Celery and punched it out with my 1" circle punch. I layered Chocolate Chip and Certainly Celery circles of different sizes. I used my new Scallop Border Punch along the edge of my Certainly Celery card base. On some of the circles I added them to my card using Stampin' Dimensionals. I added some retired 1/4" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon and I was done. This one came together really quickly and I love how it turned out.

Quick Wow Flowers

This is another sneak peek stamp set called Wow Flowers. I also used the new Scallop Border Punch on this one. It's just a quick and simple card to try out my new stamp set. I started with a Taken with Teal card base, added a strip of Rose Red that had been punched with the Scallop Border punch. I stamped 3 Rose Red flowers and my Thank You in Taken with Teal. I adhered this strip of Whisper White cardstock and another border of scalloped Rose Red.


I hope you're enjoying the sneak peeks! More to come!

Want More Monkey?

This is my pieced monkey. I stamped him on Very Vanilla, then again on a piece of (retired) Linen DSP. I cut out a few sections of the Linen monkey and glued them to my Very Vanilla monkey. I then stamped the flower in his hand and colored it and his mouth with my ink and blender pens. I mounted my monkey on Real Red and added it to my Close to Cocoa card over a strip and piece of Certainly Celery ribbon. I stamped my sentiment in the bottom corner and admired my cute little monkey. I love him!!!

Sock Monkey is Here!!!!!

Here he is!!!!! Isn't he cute???? I'm in love!!! I stamped him with Jet Black StazOn on Very Vanilla. I colored him in with Stampin' Pastels (Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel and Pretty in Pink). I then stamped the bananas in Jet Black StazOn on a scrap of Very Vanilla and colored them with my Barely Banana pastels and cut them out. I adhered them both to my main image. I then stamped a bunch of bananas on my Barely Banana piece, although I don't think you can see that in the picture and layered my main image on top. I added a Chocolate Chip Round Tab and a Very Vanilla 1" circle that I stamped my sentiment on with Creamy Caramel. I took a strip of Chocolate Chip, stamped a banana on it, and adhered it to my Creamy Caramel card base and added my main image.

I was talking to my husband on the phone while making this card and he was laughing at me because I said "I love the Sock Monkey" at least 4 times during the conversation. But really, I love the Sock Monkey!

Oh, the Humanity!!!

I'm sitting at the VW dealer waiting for them to figure out what is wrong with my car and my box of new SU! goodies is sitting on the porch. Doesn't it figure on the days that I am home Mr. Brown doesn't show up until 6:00, but the days I'm not he shows up around lunch time??? I'm ready to play!!!

Cherry Blossom Festival

Yesterday was great. My friend Michele came over with her daughter and the 3 of us scrapbooked. Here are two of the pages I did. These are some pictures of hubby and I in DC during the Cherry Blossom Festival in April. I used So Saffron and Pretty in Pink as my colors to play off the yellow of my coat and the pink in the trees. I also used some retired Designer Series Paper that I can't recall the name of. I used Short Order Alphabet and Rough Edges Alphabet for my title. I also used Polka Dots & Petals to accent my titles. I added some Very Vanilla 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and some swirly paperclips from my Antique Brass HodgePodge Hardware.

I must say that I love having a larger photo printer so I can print my pictures in different sizes to fit my scrapbook layouts. I've printed a bunch more photos so be looking for some more scrapbook pages soon.

But tomorrow be looking for something with sneak peek items as they are schedule to be delivered tomorrow!!! I hope Mr. Brown shows up before 6:00 so I have all day to play!!!

DiRusso's

I did a little scrapbooking!! And not for class either!! For my personal scrapbook!! These pictures of the hubby and me eating our DiRusso's sausage sandwiches at his hometown's annual festival. I pulled the colors from the pictures. I used a Garden Green base with Blush Blossom and Bashful Blue accents. We went to the festival on the 4th of July, so I went with a star theme. I stamped my title in Garden Green with Short Order Alphabet. I then stamped a Blush Blossom star from Classic Backgrounds in the bottom corner. I journaled using my Garden Green Stampin' Write marker. The journaling reads "Every summer we have to head down to Tuscora Park during the First Town Days Festival to get a DiRusso's Sausage sandwich. John likes his with onions and peppers. Heather does not." I stamped some Blush Blossom stars across the journaling and added a larger star next to it. I then added a Bashful Blue Round Tab and wrote the date on it. I then punched out some small and large stars to add to my page. I took a piece of On Board chip board and inked it up with my Very Vanilla craft ink. I added a Bashful Blue large star that has a small star punched out of the middle.

This page got hubby's approval!

Wild Color Inspiration

I had a chance to play with Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge today. I really like this color combo. It took me a while to decide on a stamp set that would work with this combo and Wild About You was the winner. (I really need some new rubber) So, anyway, I stamped the giraffe in Really Rust, the penguin in Close to Cocoa, and the alligator in Certainly Celery. I used one of the circles from Polka Dots & Petals to create a background on a piece of Really Rust. I added a piece of Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and adhered it to my Chocolate Chip card. I then added the piece with the animals. I stamped my sentiment in Chocolate Chip and punched it out with my Large Oval punch, adhered it to a 1 1/4" Close to Cocoa circle and added it to my card with a Stampin' Dimensional. I hope you like it!

Square Tree

This is a stamp set that hasn't seen ink a long time. I wanted to do something with squares, so I thought this was the perfect set since the image fits in a square. So I punched out some 1 1/4" squares in Whisper White, Apricot Appeal, and Soft Sky and arranged them on the upper portion of my Wild Wasabi card. I cut a 2x2 square and stamped the image from A Tree for All Seasons with Jet Black StazOn. I then colored it in with my ink (Wild Wasabi, Creamy Caramel, and Apricot Appeal) pads and blender pens. I adhered it to the center of my squares with Stampin' Dimensionals. I then stamped my sentiment from Short & Sweet in the bottom corner in Wild Wasabi.

Now I'm just patiently waiting for my new stuff to arrive!!! It'll be here Monday! I can't wait!

Baby Crazy

It seems like everyone is pregnant right now. I have so many friends and co-workers who are expecting so when I sat down to make a card or two last night I went with a baby theme. Usually when I use Wild About You I go with the giraffe, but lately I've been thinking how cute the alligator is. He's just so happy! So I stamped my alligator in Wild Wasabi on Whisper White and mounted him on Wild Wasabi. He was mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals on a piece of Soft Sky and a piece of Whisper White stamped with Polka Dot in Soft Sky. Before adhering those pieces I wrapped some Wild Wasabi stitched ribbon around them. I then stamped my sentiment in Soft Sky on Whisper White and punched it out with my small oval punch. I then mounted it on a piece of Soft Sky that was punched out with the large oval punch. I mounted it to my card with Stampin' Dimensionals. It was so nice to do stome stamping just for fun last night after a busy few weeks of classes.

Happy Independence Day!!!

These are the scrapbook pages we made at my June scrapbook class. I wanted to wait to share them with you until the 4th of July. They were so quick and easy to put together. We inked up our chipboard stars with Whisper White craft ink and set them aside to dry while we put the pages together. We tied the ribbon around our fingers to make a knot, then adhered the ends around the back of our Whisper White cardstock then snipped the loop of the ribbon to create our bow. The page title was stamped in Brilliant Blue with Short Order Alphabet. We also added a small piece of Brilliant Blue to page two for some journaling or maybe as a place to add the date. The fun part was stamping all the stars from Classic Backgrounds in Real Red and Brilliant Blue and punching them out with the Large Star punch. We also punched some small stars out to add in between. Everyone lined their stars up a little differently and a few people layered their stars, which looked really cute.

Hodgepodge Hardware

Just in case you aren't receiving my newsletter (email me if you want to be added to the distribution list) I wanted to let you know that the Hodgepodge Hardware that is in the Spring/Summer Collection is 25% off while supplies last. The Pewter, Antique Brass, and Aged Copper finishes are retiring, so they are discounting them until they are gone. Be sure to get your HPH order in soon.

Decor Elements Brochure

Head on over to the SU! website to check out the Decor Elements brochure. I hope you love this product line as much as I do. I love everything in the brochure now and I can't wait to see what else they come up with. Click on the picture to view the brochure!