There's a Senior in the House

My youngest son is graduating this year.  All I can say is "thank goodness"!  I was crazy enough to volunteer to make 40 table arrangements for his Senior Banquet.  As usual, I underestimated the time it would take for the project and ended up burning the midnight oil to get it done.  The banquet was this past Saturday.  The plan was to deliver the centerpieces at 4 p.m. for the final set-up.  Would you believe that I finished everything at 3 p.m.--talk about cutting it close.  Unfortunately, I also waited too long to really get after my Artisan Design Team entries and just couldn't get it all done.  It makes me quite sad, but I just keep telling myself that I can try again next year. 

Here are a few photos of the centerpieces and the assembly process.  I thought they looked pretty good for tissue paper, straws and glimmer paper.  I punched 320 scalloped circles, 320 circle punched numbers and too many stars to count!  I roped my older son into punching some of the stars and he asked how I was able to punch so many times without getting blisters.  The sacrifices we crafters make!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Fruit & Flowers Retiring Stamps

By now most everyone has seen the retiring lists from Stampin' Up.  Today my project uses one on the stamp sets that is soon to be retired.  I have been working on this small project for the past week trying to get my creative juices flowing.  I purchased some flower seeds for my mom and wanted to make a pretty package to present them.  I pulled out some older DSP from a couple of years ago that coordinated with the Fruits & Flowers stamp set.  In addition I used the new Round Array stamps and other miscellaneous word stamps.  As I  worked on my project I found myself wishing that Pure Poppy hadn't been retired.  It's such a vibrant red.

 

It's like a mini-album with pages that double as pockets.  As you can see, I attached a tab to each seed packet so they can be easily pulled out of the pockets. 

 

My posts are going to become extremely sparse in the coming month.  I have volunteered to make table arrangements for my son's senior banquet (40 of them), put together graduation announcements and work on my Artisan projects.  Oh, and I have a Retirement Party card class scheduled for May too!  I'd better step away from the computer and get busy.  Thanks for stopping by!

Patterned Occassions-Friday Mashup 105

I barely used my Patterned Occassions stamp set during Sale-a-Bration.  Lately that seems to be my modus operandi--never using current products and feeling like I'm always late to to market new promotions.  Stampin' Up has kicked it up into high gear for their 25th anniversary and there are new promotions on a regular basis.

 

This weekend I put together a couple of cards using a layout from The Friday Mashup Challenge Blog.

 

 

 

I don't know if I've said it before but I love this DSP.  But then I love everything flowers and bright colors.  This was a fun layout too.  I usually don't like a two panelled card (it's that even thing) but it works here. 

 

Yesterday I received my Stampin' Success magazine and saw a few sneak peeks of products that will be available with the new Stampin' Up year.  The new In-Colors were used in the samples and I must say I am surprised to see what will be offered.  I fully expected bold colors but that is not the case.  I will wait to pass my final judgement until after I see them IRL.  Demonstrators will be able to preorder some of the new stuff on April 24th--can't wait!  You too can get in on the pre-order if you become a demonstrator.  If you become a Demonstrator before the end of May you will also receive extra incentive.  Call me!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 



CCMC245 Sketch Challenge

Today I used my Secret Garden stamp set again since it was sitting out.  It just now hit me that I could have used the matching die set to cut out my daffodil-like flowers, duh!  I wish I had used a different color ribbon on this card.  There seems to be too much yellow going on.  But I used Tombow liquid glue to attach the card front to the base card and it can't be changed now.  I embossed the flowers with clear embossing powder.  The little cups of the daffodils were made with the new 7/8" scallop punch using Very Vanilla cardstock, spritzed with diluted alcohol and made into a cup with the non-pointy end of my piercing tool.  I also used my aqua painter to color the inside with Daffodil Delight ink.  The greeting is from the Wishes Your Way. 

 

We are in the midst of spring here in San Antonio and the wildflowers are blooming.  They are not as spectacular this year since we didn't get much in the way of rain this past winter.  We were lucky enough to get some rain today.  It has been so dry here that we may be looking at severe water restrictions by the end of the summer.  We'll take every drop that we can get. See you again in a day or two. 

 

 

Secret Garden-FabFri15

Hello to all you bloggers out there!  Today's card is inspired by this sketch from the Fab Friday Blog. As usual I am a few days behind.  Last week I was hoping to get my entries completed to submit for the Stampin' Up Display Stamper contest.  Alas, with Easter and my procrastination mixed together it just didn't happen for me.  I am a little sad but I have to look at it as a head start on projects for the Artisan Award contest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A month or two ago I was shopping in Target and saw this color combination.  I picked up some cute little dessert bowls in these colors and also a pretty teal color.  Well, back to the drawing board.  I'm collecting inspiration for my Artisan entries.  Where do you get inspiration for your projects?  Any favorite sites with scrapbooking layouts?  I'd love to hear from you!  Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

Bloomin' Marvelous meets a Rogue Die

One of my good friends is always finding dies "to die for" and somehow a couple of them came home with me as loaners.  I just love this floral element.  I cut several in different colors and the daffodil delight one called out to me.  I usually like to start with a layout but somehow this card just came together on its own.  I had been working with the Bloomin' Marvelous stamp set so it seemed to make sense to use it again with a few other bright colors.  I just wish the jewels had photographed better.  It is much more sparkly IRL.

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Buffet Leftovers

I'm always so relieved after my card classes are over that I usually take a short break from all things stamping. But I can't stay away from it for too long--the past few days I have been working on Easter cards and also pulled out some of my card buffet leftovers to see what I could do with them.  I started with this card using the Bloomin' Marvelous set (a CASE from and paired it with an older sentiment set.  Then I proceeded to make three more cards with the same basic supplies.

Not sure which one I prefer the most.  I do like the Summer Starfruit ribbon with the Sycamore Street DSP.  Somehow I never manage to use my Sale-a-Bration rewards during the promotion period. Then it's over and I have to move on to a new promotion. Do you ever feel like you never have enough time to enjoy some of Stampin' Up's products? Maybe this is a function of my age--the time seems to fly by.  Before I know it we'll be looking at a new annual catalog.  I'm already broke from buying almost everything in the Spring catalog!  Oh well.....  Thanks for stopping by.  Come back tomorrow for another look!

Not Primrose Petals Again!

My blogging has been in such spurts lately.  Wish I could get it together and post more regularly.  Today will be the last cards I will show from my upcoming class.  I feel like I should save a few as a surprise for the class attendees.  Hopefully what I keep back won't be a disappointment. 
I pulled out my new Tea for Two DSP to make this pretty Easter card--another simple layout.  Primrose Petals is okay in small doses. 

 

 

The second card is a CASE from Amy Storrie.  I love her style and this is one of my favorite cards.  It's such a happy card. I used a butterfly from the Papillion Potpourri stamp set instead of the one in the Bloomin' Marvelous Sale-a-Bration set.  It's too bad that the Sycamore Street DSP will only be available for a little while longer.  If you don't have a pack yet, you definitely need one!

 

 

 

If you'd like to attend my Card Buffet please RSVP before Thursday.  Details can be found at my Stampin' Up Demonstrator Site under Events.  Hope to see you there!  Now I'm off to finish cutting card kits.

 

Card Buffet Sneak Peek

Here is another peek at cards from the card buffet.  The first is more paper crafting than stamping. The ice cream cone looks good enough to eat.  Strange colors for ice cream though.   I don't think I've ever seen Wisteria Wonder colored ice cream in real life.  The pool party scoop is most certainly Blue Moon flavor.  When I was a little girl there was an ice cream shop where I lived that served Blue Moon.  It tasted like anise (or black licorice to those of you not familiar with herbs.)--delicious! My sons discovered Blue Moon during a summer visit to Grandma but somewhere along the line the flavor changed and it has more of an almond flavor now.  I was so disappointed.

 

 

 

This next card is an exact replica of a card by LeAnn Greff, except I used a birthday greeting.  This is a great masculine card.

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

By the Tide

These cards seem appropriate for Spring Break week.  Thankfully I'm not at the beach with all the college students and their youthful indiscretions.  I'm busy working on cards for my Card Buffet on Saturday.  Today I put together three cards and I need to determine which will work best for the class.  The first card is a case from Elaine Uhl that involves some basic masking.  I just wish I wouldn't have messed up the stamping.  No time to redo it today. 

 

 

The next card was made using a sketch I found somewhere.  It's difficult to tell but I stamped the coral and one shell on the Coral layer. 

 

 

 

This last one is a sketch from Marelle Taylor.  This is a very simple card but requires fussy cutting the seahorse.

 

 

When I do classes I sometimes run into the problem of not having duplicate ink pads for certain colors.  Being the crafting hoarder that I am, I had a retired Cameo Coral ink pad and textured cardstock to match.  I liked the softer look with the Cameo Coral instead of Calypso Coral.  Maybe when I am not so strapped for time I will try them with Calypso Coral.  Which is your favorite of the three?  My favorite is the second card.

 

Come back tomorrow to see another sneak peek or two for my upcoming class.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Be Inspired!

Last weekend I had a chance to go to Stampin' Up's Regional Event in Dallas.  I love going to SU events--you leave feeling so inspired.  You just want to get home and start creating.  The theme for SU's 25th anniversary year is "Making a Difference".  I stayed up late on Friday night trying to get a few swaps done.  I had plans to use the Papillion Potpourri set but when I started looking through my bag I realized I had left it at home!  Plan B was to make a 3-D swap to hold some fun colored licorice.  Before I knew it, it was 1 a.m.  I managed to make two dozen treats. Wish I would have taken a photo of all of them in a stack. Sorry for the poor quality, I took this in the conventional hall.

 

Here are a few of the swaps I received in return:

 

 

Lynda Gustafson.

Susan League

Tori Hobbs

Samantha Robertson

Anonymous

 

 

Shelli left us with the thought that we all can make a difference--one card at a time! Let someone know you care by sending a handmade card.

Thanks for visiting!

In Memoriam

Yesterday I lost a dear, sweet pet--Miss Fraidy Cat....

 

 

 

She will be greatly missed.

Who has time for Afternoon Daydreams?

Thanks goodness the weekend is over!  Wish I could say this upcoming week would be less busy but it appears my calendar is booking up quickly.  Saturday I had a Stampin' Up "Red Tag" sale (aka "garage sale"). After boxing everything up to get new floors I was able to see the madness of my hobby, so I decided to offer it up to other stampers (or should we say addicts).  Of course, it had to be a yucky, drizzly day.  This is San Antonio for crying out loud, what happened to the sunshine! There were a few brave ladies who turned out.  A special thank you to everyone who came by.  If you missed out and are looking to pick up some retired sets I will try to post what I have left on my blog in the near future. 

Yesterday I got busy working on my upcoming card class.  Recently I was blog surfing (which takes up too much of my time) and ran across a tutorial on My Little Craft Blog for a card box made from the Afternoon Daydreams Simply Scrappin' Kit.  It is actually pictured in the SU catalog on page 166.  I decided to use the From My Heart stamp set for the label on the card box.  Here is a sneak peek of the box and six of the cards.  I did get some inspiration along the way (can you say CASE) from Amy Storrie, Kathy Daisey and Mary Fish.  Check out my Stampin' Up Demonstrator site for the class details. 

 

Wow!  I'll bet you can't wait to sign up for my class. Well, you know where to find me....

Thanks for stopping by.