Packing, packing, packing

Packing, packing, packing equals no stamping, stamping, stamping. I hate to say this, but there may be a few days with NO PROJECTS. Hopefully not, but it may come to that. Going on vacation takes a lot of effort, and in our family's case, a lot of looking around for stuff that we know we have but don't remember where we stuck it. Ugh. But I think we're in pretty good shape now, thank goodness!! And hubby's not coming on vacation right away, so he can always bring stray stuff down with him when he joins us.
Tonight's project is one of those things that I tried, because I bought the product that I HAD to have, and then I never used it. In this case it was the Cheep Talk chipboard set. HAD to buy it, never used it. So a while back I took it out of the packaging and tried a couple things. It didn't really work for me, so I never posted the card. But now all this stuff is about to retire and I won't be able to post it anymore, so I figured, what the heck, I'll just post it. I used Crystal Effects on the 'brads' to try something else different that I never do. They take a while to dry but I do think they're pretty cute and will work in a pinch if you don't have any brads that match a project.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Sentiment from inky antics (shhhh!!!)
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, retired DSP from winter mini
Ink: Chocolate chip
Other Stuff: Oval punch, scallop oval punch, chocolate chip ribbon, crystal effects, circle punch, button brads (source unknown)

I {heart} hearts

Tonight's cards use one of the stamp sets I got in my demo kit - I {heart} hearts. This stamp set came out in the winter mini this past year and made it into the new catalog. It's obviously featured in the holidays section as a Valentine stamp set. Since we're nowhere close to Valentine's day, I tried to come up with a different way to use them. I pulled out my new color coach (have I mentioned how much I love that thing???) and found the most un-Valentine color combos I could. I've got a bunch of July birthdays coming up so I decided to go with a summer theme, and I think that, in its own way, it worked. So there you go, a little love in the summer.


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: I {heart} hearts, Teeny tiny wishes, Vintage labels(?)
Cardstock: Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Old Olive, So Saffron
Ink: Tangerine Tango-Old Olive-Tempting Turquoise or Tangerine Tango-So Saffron-Pacific Point
Other Stuff: Sponge Daubers, Cuttlebug folder, Turquoise or Pacific Point ribbon, Dimensionals

Because I Care

Busy busy week! Son had swimming lesson tonight (with Daddy) and I took little girl to buy a new pair of sneakers, but not just any sneakers. She got a pair of Skechers Twinkle Toes, which are the coolest little girl shoes in the universe!!! We had to go straight from the mall up to the gym where swim lessons are so that she could show Daddy her light up shoes right away (of course she wore them out of the store!). By the time we had all that excitement and got the shoes off long enough to bathe, Mommy was WORN OUT!!! I went up to my scrapbook room tonight, but put forth only a halfhearted effort and didn't like the results. I put that aside for another day (something may strike me with that card later) and luckily had a couple of things made from the weekend. Today's card is one of those. This is another sneak peek from the new catty, a level 1 hostess set called Because I Care. I colored the flower with the new Marina Mist marker, and then 'thumped' Perfect plum on it. I wasn't planning on cutting out the flower, but I got a new Tonic cutter and I'm still on the upward slope of the learning curve and I cut too close to the edge on one side. I didn't want to waste the whole thing, so I was kind of forced to fussy cut. I like it though - it doesn't automatically look cut out, but it gives the card some really nice dimension. Also new on this card is the Marina Mist 1/8" ribbon.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Because I Care, Very vintage roller
Cardstock: Perfect plum, Marina Mist, Whisper White
Ink: Perfect plum
Other Stuff: Markers, 1/8" Marina Mist ribbon, Silver Pearls (Queen & Co)

Sneak Peek #2

I hope everyone had a terrific Father's Day. It was a busy day at our house because I'm getting ready to drive to Florida with the kiddos and my mom on Friday. Hubby gets 3 weeks of vacation, but it's 'frowned upon' to take more than a week at a time so he's going to fly down and meet us there a week later. So needless to say, I've got a lot to do this week!! I did get a couple cards made to share with you this week, and I'm taking some stuff with me to work on while I'm there, so the blog won't have a two week vacation, in case anyone was worried :-)
Today's sneak peek is one of my most favorite products that Stampin'Up! offers: the jumbo wheel. I love these wheels because they can totally jazz up a card and they are so fast and easy to use, especially when you buy the nifty ink cartridge that fits inside! I'm slowly building my collection of wheels and the cartridges and they really are one of the most fun things to add to a card. This one is a little different than most in that it's more of a focal image than a background image. There are even more little onesies that didn't make it onto the front of the card, and there are so many ways to color it up! I tried to do a very gender-neutral card this time, but you could really make cute boy or girl cards, as well as scrapbook pages and even shower or baby gifts!! My head is spinning with ideas for this roller!!


Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Baby Tees jumbo roller
Cardstock: Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Basic black (roller cartridge), Bashful blue, Certainly celery
Other Stuff: Markers, word window and modern label punches, Pearls (Queen & Co), Sponge dauber

Sorry no card tonight . . . we had a barbeque tonight and it was so stinkin' hot it was hardly worth it. We did get to catch up with some friends and family but I'm just too tired to take pictures, edit and post tonight. I'll get some good new stuff out to you tomorrow, I promise. Happy Father's Day!!!!

Sneak Peek!!!

Today was a VERY exciting day!!!! Three big Stampin'Up! boxes were waiting for me when I got home - my very first demo order! It took me a while to get everything organized by new color families (I stocked up on a lot of cardstock, and got the new markers) so I ended up not having a ton of time to stamp tonight. Since I still have to go to work in the morning, I can't stay up all night and play like I want to :-( So tonight's card is unfortunately not that inspiring, IMO, but it does show off a bunch of new products available starting July 1: DSP (Greenhouse Gala), a new stamp set (Friends Never Fade), and two of the new colors (Daffodil Delight and Pear Pizzazz). I love all of it. I especially love that markers are available in ALL the colors, including some of the old in-colors that have become un-retired (mainly Baja Breeze). LOVE IT!!!!!! In my order, I also got one very precious thing: the new 2010-2011 Catalog!!!!!!!! I will tell you this: it is pretty awesome. I have gone through it twice so far and there are a lot of new things that make me super excited and REALLY glad that I became a demo so I can get a lot of this stuff over the next year. I have made my preliminary wish list and it has 28 things on it already (some things are single stamps and paper and ribbon and stuff, but like I said, I only went through it twice.)
Well, I could go on and on about the new catalog but a) I'm not really allowed to give you lots of details yet online and b) it is getting pretty late and I need get my beauty sleep, you know:-) So I will leave you tonight with this promise: I will get up in my scrapbook room at least a little bit before I leave for vacation in a week and make some more sneak peek samples to share with you.
Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps:Friends Never Fade
Cardstock: Whisper White, Pear Pizzazz
Ink: Baja Breeze
Other Stuff: Markers (Real red, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze, Chocolate chip), DSP (Greenhouse Gala), Dimensionals

Party dress

I'm having one of those inner struggles tonight with this post. A few days ago, I was flipping through my huge idea binders, trying to find something, anything to do with what I've currently got on hand (I'm stalking UPS waiting for my big sneak peek demo order to come in). I found this template for a dress card and I went to town. I decided to use the funky swirl from Trendy Trees as the pattern on the dress and I was pretty proud of myself for thinking of that. I put the ribbons on and then I let them sit on my desk for a few days. I was worried about posting this card because I have NO IDEA where this card concept came from, so I don't know who to give credit to. And I hate that. Well then tonight I was up in my scrapbook room, playing with a bunch of different ideas, and NOTHING was working for me. So all the stamps got cleaned up and put away, and I was ready to just pack it in for the night. Then I saw these dresses sitting on my desk, and decided what the heck, I'll just post one and let people know it's not my original idea and if it happens to be yours, a) you're awesome and b) let me know and I'll give you credit. So there you have it. A cute little dress for the beginning of summer.

Card Supplies: (All supplies from Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Trendy trees
Cardstock: Whisper white (doubled up on front of card to give it some heft)
Ink: Tempting turquoise, Pretty in Pink, Sahara Sand
Other Stuff: Tempting turquoise 1/4" ribbon, Pretty in Pink satin ribbon, Gemstones (The Paper Studio), Dress template (unknown source)