You Mean the World to Me

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary.  I thought this sentinment was very appropriate for an anniversary card.  Life gets so busy sometimes that you often don't tell your loved ones just how much you love them and how important they are in your life.  I always tell my husband that he's stuck with me! 

In addition to using the Word Play stamp set, I also used the Open Sea set.  I inked the stamp with Sahara Sand, stamped off once, then stamped again to create a very light background.  If you thought you missed out on the Open Sea set from the summer mini catalog, don't despair.  It ended up on the Stampin' Up hold over list and is still available.  It's a great set for making masculine cards.
 
Today my husband and I are headed to College Station to visit our oldest son at Texas A&M.  It's our first time to see him since we dropped him off one month ago.  Yesterday I baked cupcakes to take so we can celebrate his birthday belatedly.  Oh to be 19 years young again--wouldn't that be nice?  We have tickets to the football game, way up at the top of the stadium.  We're not big football fans but my husband wants to experience an A&M game.  They are going to be playing Oklahoma State University and my friend, Donna, offered to loan me an OSU shirt to wear. Hmmm, don't think I'd be allowed to sit on the A&M side wearing it.  We'll have to find ourselves a couple of maroon shirts to wear to the game.  It will be great to see James and spend the weekend with him. Do you think I'll cry again on Sunday when I have to say "good-bye"?  Probably so.

Have a great weekend!

Rushing the Seasons

Does anyone out there feel like they are always being asked to rush through the seasons.  Here in San Antonio we have had record heat for the whole summer and it's difficult to think that today is the first day of Autumn.  And do I have an Autumn card to show you?  No.... I'm having to move forward and start thinking about Christmas.  On Monday evening I went to my CyberStampin' Group meeting and swapped this card.  The new Frostwood Lodge DSP (124002) contains the perfect patterns for beautiful Winter/Christmas crafting.  My card is a center step card that I found on Julie Davison's blog.  She posted a free tutorial on how to make this type of card.  I really like this technique because your card stands up so nicely for display.  I don't know about you, but I love to display the cards I receive on my fireplace mantle or on the shelving in my craft area.  Without further ado, here is my card.

If you haven't purchased any of the new Silver Glimmer Paper (121790) it's a must item for your Christmas cards.  In fact, it will dress up your Halloween cards too.  I won't mention the other holiday the glimmer paper would be perfect for, but you know which one I'm talking about (hint:  it falls in the month of February. 

Thanks for stopping by!  Now go stamp something. : )

Spice Cake Butterflies

This card was inspired by a layout in the Idea Book & Catalog on page 90.  The new Spice Cake DSP is my all-time favorite paper from Stampin' Up.  I just love the patterns and the color combinations. Another favorite of mine is this new stamp set called Kindness Matters.  It's a small set but still so very sweet.  I decided against putting a greeting under the butterflies.  I liked the simplicity of this layout.

Don't forget the Retired Stamp Sale tomorrow.  Come early for the best selection.  I'm sure there will be lots of good stuff that you can't live without!  I should be spending my evening sorting through stamp sets and other retired items I have in my inventory.  I probably won't be able to part with as much as I really should.  You just never know when you will need that one retired stamp set.  Yeah, right!  I can barely get around to using all the current stuff I have.  Good intentions..... I was reading another stamper's blog and she wrote about PSS, Procrastinator's Stamping Syndrome.  I'm quite sure I suffer from this, how about you? 

I'll be back before the weekend is out.  Unless my PSS gets the better of me!

Where did the last month go?

Does anyone else out there feel this way?  Somehow August just flew by.  Can't even remember what seemed to keep my busy, all I know is that another month is gone.  On Sunday night I decided to CASE a few projects that I had saved in my computer files.  Thank you to all the wonderfully talented stampers out in blogland for the great ideas.  Here is what I managed to put together.

This first one is a Side Step Card and uses the Wicked Halloween stamp set.  How fun is this?  I think I will have to make a few more of these and send out a few Halloween cards this year.  I tried to track down the originator of this card using the Wicked Cool set and it appears that credit should be given to Patti Lee of Patti's Creations. 

The next creation is a 3-D project using the Fancy Favor Box Die.   This was a CASE from Dana Newsom.  Stay tuned for further spooky variations.

The third and final project is another 3-D treat.  This is a CASE from Pink Buckaroo Designs.  I had intended to make these last year but never quite got around to it.  Thank goodness I still had these anti-bacterial hand santizers in my stash. Do these have an expiration date?  A smidgeon of the Frightful Sight DSP was put to use, along with the House of Haunts stamp set.

Here's the inside:

Sorry to have been away so long.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Retired Stamp Sale!

If you live in the San Antonio area, then be sure to check out this Retired Stamp Sale next Saturday, September 10th, from 9 a.m.to 3 p.m.! I'm participating with our Cyber Stampers group.  It will be held at my upline's studio.  The place will be PACKED with demonstrators selling retired stamps, paper, accessories, and more for your crafting needs at awesome prices! There will be stuff that you NEED and even stuff that you can use for your holiday shopping list!

The address is 4750 View Drive and COME EARLY!!  Please park on the street and walk down the driveway to Gail's Studio (located behind her home).