So excited and it's not even Thursday yet!

My probably all-time favorite TV show is finally starting up again...LOST! I am so excited for Thursday night, I can hardly contain myself! I will get prepped tonight when they air the Season 3 finale, which was phenomenal!

So for the next 8 weeks, hopefully longer if the writer's strike will finally end, there will be no stamping on Thursday nights. I even got my wonderful husband to agree to putting my son down for bed that night so I make sure to see it from the very beginning (without having to watch it taped). Seriously, I am totally obsessed with this show! Any other LOST stampers out there??

So Kind

This is a detailed peek at one of the Stamp-A-Stack cards: Thank You card. I love the versatility of the Priceless stamp set, with all of its individual images (heart, flower, butterfly, etc). Plus the swirls are so fun! I used Beate Johns’ Weekend Sketch Challenge #32 for the layout of the card…love her sketch challenges! I swapped sides though from her sketch once I stamped my swirl and butterflies and realized that there was an empty space on the left side instead of the right. I think it still counts in following the sketch!

I probably could have added a lot more bling, pizzazz, etc. to this card, but I was trying to keep it a little simpler since it was for a Stamp-A-Stack. Although, I am guessing this is the one that gets complained about due to the cutting out of the butterflies…there is always one card every year that gets some grumbling because of the time consuming aspect of it…I just tell them to suck it up for the beauty of the card! Hehe! The swirl and butterflies were stamped in Sahara Sand and then the butterflies were stamped in the three colors and the wings were cut out and popped up. I really like how that part turned out. Then to keep it simple, I just stamped the little flower in the background and added the “So Kind” greeting. Hopefully it won’t be too bad. I have a hard time judging how long a card will take to make because I am designing it at the same time as making it, so it naturally takes longer!

The Engineering Details

Stamps – Priceless; Ink – Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Elegant Eggplant, Pink Passion; Cardstock – Sahara Sand, Elegant Eggplant, Not Quite Navy, Pink Passion, Whisper White; Accessories – Dimensionals; Supplies – scissors

Stamp-Attack

This is more for my customers out there than the general blogging community, but my Stamp-A-Stack (aka Stamp-Attack) is now scheduled for Saturday, February 16, 10 am – 2 pm. To give me time to prepare and for SU! to send me my supplies, I need to get all RSVP’s by Saturday, February 2. The picture shows all of the cards you will be making (5 of each design for a total of 25 cards!) and they include feminine bday, masculine bday, kid bday, thank you, and anniversary. The cost of the class is $30 and includes all supplies, lunch, a gift from me and an entry for a door prize. So contact me or look for the Evite invitation (if you are one of my current customers) to sign-up! Hope that you can make it!!

Trying out a Masculine Card

In my efforts to get my samples together for my Stamp-A-Stack (aka Stamp-Attack), I always have difficulty coming up with a masculine birthday card. I did a lot of browsing on SCS and found some samples there that I liked, so I set out to create my own version. This card is not suitable for my Stamp-Attack due to the number of brads and the use of retired designer series paper, but I think it turned out o.k. Not 100% pleased with it…something about it is not working for me, but I thought it might be worthy to post.

The white center greeting was too stark for me so I sponged Chocolate Chip ink all over it, shading it so it was darker on the edges and lighter towards the center. To age/distress the patterned paper, I also sponged chocolate chip over them as well. I like how it toned them down a little and maybe made them a little more “manly”.

I have some ideas on changes to it to make it suitable and cool for my Stamp-Attack…hopefully my attendees/potential attendees will agree when I show the updated version…stay tuned!

The Engineering Details

Stamps – Happy Everything; Ink – Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery; Cardstock – Always Artichoke, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Wintergreen Designer Series Paper; Accessories – Ticket Corner punch, Rounded Tab Punch, Photo Corner Punch, Always Artichoke Brads; Supplies – sponges, paper piercer

Weekend Sketch Challenge…well sort of

Well I was all pumped up to get back into some stamping this last weekend, although I will admit I was nervous too because it had been so long! I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I kept putting it off as my list of to-dos got ever longer. I started working on some samples for my upcoming annual Stamp-A-Stack or as my good friend like to call it, Stamp-Attack and thought I would garner some inspiration from the amazing Beate Johns Weekend Sketch Challenge. I swear I did look at the sketch, but for some reason it translated a little different in my brain. Anyway, this card which will be the Anniversary card in my Stamp-Attack, was the result. Comparing back to the actual Sketch that Beate created, I don’t think I did a very good job…but I liked the card nonetheless (plus I didn’t submit it to Beate in time for her challenge, but oh well…maybe next week).

I finally got to ink up the FREE (yes, free to demonstrators…so great sometimes to be a demonstrator) hostess set that I got awhile ago. I really like the set…it has a lot of pieces to make it very versatile. You can earn it by hosting a workshop that totals $500 or more, which could be fairly easy to reach with Sale-A-Bration coming in February!

My only problem with the card is that I used a non-Stampin’ Up! product on it which I hate to do for my Stampin’ Up! events. I needed to add some sparkle to the card…it was literally screaming at me to add sparkle! So I added some Diamond Stickles to the purple parts of the images…just added that extra something. Granted I probably could have done this with some of SU! Products (dazzling diamonds and Crystal Effects), but it would be much more time consuming and messier. So I hope I can be forgiven for that! Due to the coloring this may be a time consuming one, so I better try and keep some of the other ones a little simpler. Keep a look out for my other Stamp-Attack (this name is growing on me!) samples to come…I should have them all, along with an evite invitation, by the end of the weekend!


The Engineering Details

Stamps – Time Well Spent (Hostess Level 3); Ink – Basic Black, Close to Cocoa Marker; Cardstock – Perfect Plum, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Close to Cocoa, Shimmery White; Accessories – Stampin’ Pastels, Blender Pen, Diamond Stickles; Supplies – Paper Piercer, Post-it Note for masking

Photo Explosion Box

Back in December, I held a Photo Explosion Box class at my house. These boxes are so cute and I love how many pictures you can fill them with. I tried to keep the colors sort of Christmasy, but not Christmasy at the same time...does that make sense? Basically they were made for Christmas presents, but I wanted them to be out all year long. This was a perfect gift to give to my Mom and Mom-in-Law as they go away for the winter and miss seeing my son during that time. I think they cried a little when they got them.



The box consists of the box base, box lid, and the insert so you can add pictures. This box will hold up to 12 pictures...but I only placed 8 in there. I got the quote out of a book of quotes that I got from Jo-Anns a long time ago...just retyped it and formatted it to fit in the area I wanted it. I really love the Black & White photos. It just seems to make them more striking! And I got the Doodle This stamp set mainly to make the pop-up flower on the top of the box...love it!







Anyway, if any of you want the instructions that I wrote out for my attendees, let me know and I can email it to you. Of course, this is not my design...got the idea and basic instructions from SCS.

Edited to Add: I am happy to fulfill the requests to send my instructions that I had at my class to anyone that wants them, but please make sure that I can either get your email from your blog or that you leave me an email! I have gotten a quite a few comments asking me to send them the instructions and I have no way of contacting them. I never get to see nor have access to the "email" that you enter when leaving a comment...you have to actually add it in the comment area. Or just send me an email directly...my email is listed on the left sidebar below the "About Me" section. Thanks!!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Doodle This; Inks - Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum, Baroque Burgundy; Cardstock - Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum, Baroque Burgundy, Vellum paper; Accessories - Burgundy 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (dyed Perfect Plum), Ice Circle Rhinestone Brad, eyelets, White Gel pen; Supplies - Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, scissors, cutter with scoring blade, bone folder,

I was Tagged!

O.k. so this is my first time being Blog Tagged, so I hope I do this right! I was tagged by Lynn Put of The Queen Scene and so I am suppose to answer some questions and then pass the tag onto two others.

1. Name your two favorite scrapbooking topics.
My son (eventually children) and I guess I will throw other family in there too, but so far all I have scrapbooked is basically a book that my son will eventually get (like when he is 30!).

2. What are the two best places you’ve ever been to?
This is a tough one for me…my husband and I have been lucky enough to have gone to some amazing places. All of our vacations have something totally memorable in them and the parts we tend to like best our things outdoors. But if I have to choose two, I would have to say the island of Kauai (hiking along the Na Pali coast or in the Waimea Canyon) and probably our hike to the top of Mt. Giewont in Zakopane, Poland to reach the 15 meter high cross that has been placed at the top…truly an amazing hike and view! I am kind of curious what two my husband would pick now!

3. Name two things you do every day.
Kiss my son (a lot…especially like to get his neck because it makes him giggle...love that giggle!) and kiss my husband (he is such a wonderful man, how could I not kiss him?!)

4. Name to things that pretty much everyone knows about you.
I like to be crafty and my laugh is pretty loud (o.k. probably very loud…oh well!...you always know where I am because I like to laugh a lot)

5. What are your two favorite stores?
Probably Michael’s and JoAnn’s…I know so basic. I need to find a good scrapbooking store nearby…a new Archivers opened up but I haven’t been yet. I frequent Wal-mart an awful lot, but I wouldn't call it a favorite...it just tends to be the cheapest!

6. What are your two favorite accessories to stamp/scrap with?
Brads and sparkle (glitter, Stickles, etc.)

7. What are your two favorite occasions to make cards for?
Baby and Female Birthdays (so I can use flowers, ribbon, glitter, etc) and Christmas is up there too.

8. What time of day or night are you able to do the most stamping?
After 9 pm when little one is finally asleep, unless I get a chance during naptime on the days I am home…but usually that is reserved for cleaning (yuck!)

9. What two things do a lot of people NOT know about me?
This is a tough one since I feel like for the most part I am an open book, wear my heart on my sleeve kinda gal. I guess one would be that I am pretty quick to cry…I have a horrible tendency to cry (or at least well-up where I have to fight those tears from falling) when I am frustrated or mad...not good for those very frustrating times at work! I cry when I am happy or sad (although they are two different types of cries). I cry watching TV shows and simply when someone else is crying. But for some reason, I try to hide all of this crying…not really sure why. But my face, I am pretty sure, is a tell-all sign…my eyes get really bloodshot and my nose gets a little red! The second thing that not everyone knows about me is probably that I can sing pretty good. I really have no idea if I am truly good or not...I can carry a tune, but I cannot for the life of me harmonize or blankly sing acapella...I need to hear the notes to find my note. I sing at home for my son and I also am one of the song leaders in our praise band at church. Since joining the praise band, I know I have gotten better, but by no means a Star!

Well there you have it! Not sure it was terribly interesting, but maybe you know me a little better now. Thanks Lynn...sorry it took me so long to play! So now to tag two others...how about: Cheryl from Engineered Expressions (she puts out scrapbooking pages like I have never seen and it is not like they are basic ones either!) and Mary Jo from Beauty Lies Within (this is one lady that is truly an amazing artist...everything she creates is gorgeous! She probably won't be able to play, but I would love to learn more about her!).

Stamping on the Walls

So as you know I am expecting a second child in June. My husband and I decided that we would give our son a new room (all boy style) and leave the original gender neutral current room for the baby. It is funny though how my son’s current room, even though before he was born it felt fine for a girl or a boy, has taken on a boy feel to it…guess because he has been in there for almost 3 years now! Anyway, my little man is very into transportation vehicles of any kind and at one time he told me he wanted a blue room…although that changed on the day you asked. So I went about trying to figure what I wanted to do in there and found some great foam stamps at Michael’s. There was a bus, car, pickup truck, train, cement truck, and an airplane. My mom, the sewing goddess, and I set out to pick out material for a quilt that she would make incorporating these great shapes. I then took the colors from the quilt to get the colors for the room. So what do you think??

Oh and the cool “All Boy Blvd” sign on the wall is technically a rub-on (gotta love those rub-ons!) from Uppercase Living. My sister had a party and this is what I got…just fits perfectly in his room! It was super easy to put on the wall…I will admit though I was very nervous!!

Here are some close-ups of the stamping that I did. The stamping went really well. The images came out a little splotchy due to the slight texture on the wall. I wanted a slightly more solid look to the images though, so I had to fill in some patches by hand…the most time consuming part!

And finally, here is a preview of the beautiful quilt my wonderful mother is working on! I am still amazed at how great the vehicles turned out…cant wait to see the finished project!!

Now we just have to move my son’s bed and stuff in there and he has a brand spanking new “All Boy” room!

Great News

Many, many of you supported me in my request to get the Dunn Family RAK cards to let them know people are praying for their twin daughters, Madeline and Isabella, diagnosed with Neuroblastoma cancer. Well, I am once again convinced that prayer is amazing. After Christmas, Michael and Alissa announced via their Caring Bridge website that the girls’ latest tests showed no evidence of active cancer cells!!! Obviously they will be closely watched and checked, but what a miracle of prayer and a wonderful Christmas gift to the Dunn family. The tumors themselves are still there (no longer showing cancer cells), so they are determining the best option for them. I thought the latest was that the doctor’s were thinking that their bodies would start to absorb them on their own now that the cancer is gone. Anyway, I wanted to pass along this wonderful news and ask you to continue to offer them prayers and support at their website: DunnTwins. I find Alissa’s and her Mom’s writings to be inspirational and uplifting even through their hardest times!

I'm Back...

O.k. I know it has been a very long time since I last posted! I think my last post was back in November! Wow that seems like forever ago. I have many excuses for being absent…some good (had to work Overtime at work), some bad (lazy and caught up in Christmas stuff)…but mostly I think I just needed to give myself a break during a hectic time.

So what made the time between November and now so hectic? Well besides the typical Christmas activities (which I never start early enough and am always doing late nights trying to get stuff done), I am happy to report that my family is growing. Over Thanksgiving we announced to family and friends that we are expecting our second child on June 11, 2008. This explains a lot of my previous posts complaining about being so tired! The first trimester was very tiring…luckily only that. I only had one week of nausea, but the tiredness stuck around a very long time and made my motivation go straight down the tubes! Since then, the tiredness has gone away and I am feeling great. I have even starting feeling the baby move which is the best part about pregnancy…although my husband can’t quite feel it yet. We have had a couple of ultrasounds (pic included from the first one…first one at 10 weeks and the second at 16 weeks) and as of right now the technician believes we are having a girl. She told us not to run out and buy pink though, so we have to wait till my next one on Jan. 24 to confirm that! Until then, we are thinking pink thoughts and my son seems to be pretty excited to be a big brother!

The only stamping that I have managed to do during this long period of time was my Christmas cards (a little late to show a picture of that, although I thought they turned out nice), a photo box (post on that one later), and stamping a border in my son’s new room (post on that one too…I am so proud of it!). So I have a couple things to show you, but unfortunately not a lot.

I am going to be transitioning my stamping area to a hopefully better spot in my house where I can get a little bit bigger work area, but I am a ways from completing that. Hopefully I will be able to get stamping again soon. For all of my customers out there, I will be working on creating my Stamp-A-Stack cards for my annual Stamp-A-Stack class and I was contemplating a “lunch tin to put them” in class as well. Plus I have new stuff coming to me and an order I want to put in, so I should have lots of fun stuff to play with soon! Till then, look for my next posts to see what I have been doing while I have been gone!