Swaps are DONE!

Whelp, i went with the first one. Sorry, Claire. :) You're right, Kristin, it was more work that way but i decided i liked it better so it would be worth the extra work. Alison, the ribbon was a great idea too, but i didn't see your comment 'till today and i finished them up last night. I made 50 of them.

Good thing i got them done, because my Monday workshop got switched to Sunday, and i just found out we're having overnight guests on Saturday into Sunday. I'll be at Regionals all day Saturday, so that pretty much leaves tonight to get all the prep done for Sunday's workshop. So i'm pretty glad that i kept plugging away at it and finished the swaps last night.

In other cardmaking news, here's one i made last night (after the swaps were done) for a coworker who surprised me yesterday with a housewarming gift. It was after 10 and i was pretty wiped, so it's very simple, but i love how it came out:

I am LOVING that scallop punch. The projects i'm working on for Sunday also use it. The hostess requested the Flaky Friends set, and she also suggested that we make a bookmark card of some kind. I've been having fun with it. Once i finish it i'll post it for you all to see!

Finally back!

Wow, i can't believe i haven't posted since JULY. Things have been a little hectic this summer, what with the packing and the painting and the moving and the working and the getting the classroom ready, etc. etc. Plus we had no internet connection for awhile, and then just dialup.

I have managed to squeeze in a little stamping here and there, though, and am thoroughly enjoying my new little stamping room! I still need to paint the room, but it is so great to have my own crafting space.

Today i'm working on a card for swapping at next Saturday's Stampin' Up! regional seminar. I think this is what i'll be doing:

Although i am also thinking about doing it this way instead:

Let me know which one you like better!

Color my world

So, here i am, at the end of Day 2 of painting (at our new house). It has been a lot of work, but very satisfying.


The rooms we're working on started out totally white, so it's been a lot of fun to make a drastic change by adding color. I took "before" photos yesterday, which i will post together with their "after" shots once i take them.


So far we have the living room totally done, and the dining room almost half done. After that we'll do the master bedroom; all of that needs to be finished by Tuesday because the floor guy is coming. I hope to get the kitchen painted next Thursday if it doesn't get done this weekend.


Needless to say, i haven't had time for much cardmaking lately. However, i did make 2 birthday cards earlier this week. Here's one of them, which i made for my sister-in-love Janice and which i may use for an upcoming Stampin' Up! workshop:

And now i must get some sleep in preparation for tomorrow...Day 3 of the paint job!

Materials:

Stamp sets: Greetings Galore, Background Basics

Cardstock: Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Whisper White

Ink: Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, and Certainly Celery ink pads

Tools: 1/8" and 1/16" Hole punches, paper crimper, bone folder

Adhesive: Tape runner, dimensionals

Other: Pretty in Pink eyelets, Stampin' Pastels, blender pen

Happy Wedding Day!

Yesterday was a very special day around here because our dear friends Wendy and Michael tied the knot. Yes, they were one of the many 7-7-07 couples, although they did not set the date before meeting one another, or get married at one of 7 Walmarts, or any such craziness.

It was a beautiful day for it, the bride was breathtakingly gorgeous, and the groom was proud and handsome. I really am so happy for them...Wendy and i have been very close friends for many years, and I am so glad that God brought Michael into her life. I think they'll be great companions for one another on life's journey.

Anyway, i promised that i would post a scan of their wedding card after i had given it to them, so here it is!

A mini-stamping getaway

The other day, we went out of town. John still went to work, so i was left to my own devices. For the whole day. Away from the distractions of home. So, thanks to my new cool craft tote, i brought some stamping supplies and had a creativity-filled day. (Well, aside from the couple of errands i had to do.)

Beforehand, i had visions of making piles of cards, like my sideline Kristin can do given a few hours to stamp. That didn't happen. However, i did get some sets mounted and did come up with a few new designs. And i made several copies of some designs. One of the cards i made is downright ugly, so i am not posting it. :) Here are the rest!












These two are the result of forcing myself to get out colors i NEVER use. I used mostly Not Quite Navy and Old Olive for them, and boy did i fall in love with that color combination! Fun. Also, i tried a new (to me) technique on these, called direct to paper. Basically, you swipe your ink pad over the paper. I had left my sponges and stippling brushes at home and didn't bring a good background stamp, so i swiped some Old Olive on the base of these cards to add a little more color.














I made both of these cards with a stamp set and wheel i had not yet used. I had a lot of fun with that set and am pretty happy with how these cards turned out.

And now, for my favorite card of the day:

This was the first one i made with the Olive/Navy combination. The scanner doesn't quite do it justice, but i really love this one. I used another new stamp set, a hostess set called In the Spotlight. You can really do a lot with this set! If i had only thought to bring my circle punch i would have been able to do even more. (I love the fact that so many of the new SU! sets coordinate with various punches, especially because i am way too impatient to cut things out with scissors.)

So for any of you who are thinking about turning a weekend getaway or vacation into a stamping retreat, here is my advice:

1. Get yourself a tote or bag that has lots of pockets for your scissors, markers, stamp sets, ink pads, etc.
2. Don't forget your SU! dimensionals. If you do, you might be forced to use random-brand foam squares, and you will be kicking yourself big time.
3. Likewise, don't forget your bone folder. You'll be stuck folding your cards with *gasp* a popsicle stick, and trust the one who knows, it won't work as well and will drive you crazy all day.
4. Limit yourself to just a few colors of ink pads, but make sure you have the matching paper and coordinating embellishments or you'll be frustrated.
5. Expect your first card of the day to be kinda ugly. Once you get on a roll, they'll get better and better.

Happy Stamping!

Packing, packing, and OH! how wonderful! more PACKING!

I just spent the last 3 or 4 hours packing some boxes for our move. And i feel like i hardly made a dent. *sigh* Boy, do i ever dislike the moving process. The worst box so far was the dish box i just did. Those take forever because of all the wrapping. My favorites are the book boxes - they go pretty quickly. As of today, i have almost all our books packed up. Which was quite a feat, considering we have about 5 bookcases full, including cookbooks. Plus the random laying-around-because-someone-is-in-the-middle-of-reading-me books.

I did get to do a little stamping this morning, though. I made a card for an upcoming wedding, which i will post (after i give it!) at some point. I also started a couple more turquoise and white bookmarks to finish up the cardstock i cut for my open house events.

The other day i started working on the design for our "just moved" notes. My first design was very cute (if i do say so myself). It would have been one piece, not folded, with our new address printed on the back:


but then my husband mentioned who he'd like to send them to, and it's a LOT of people! There's NO stinkin' way i'm making 80-90 of the above. It took me an hour and a half to make SIX of them for a swap! So i came up with a simpler design. They'll be something like this:

I chose the yellow because i have yellow envelopes already, and the green because i thought it looked fresh and summery with the yellow. However, my (possibly colorblind?) husband said my color choice was perfect because we're "moving to a green and yellow house". Now, folks, our new house is indeed green, but it's green with creamy off-white trim. NOTHING like the "Yoyo Yellow" on the card. When i informed my hubby of this, he said that at least the green (Garden Green) was the same green as the house. It's not, but he didn't seem to really believe me about that part, and hey, if it makes him think i'm clever, then he can go on believing it, right?!

I chose the Loads of Love stamp set because it's cute, but also because my sweet but misguided husband (who has never moved an entire household) had originally suggested that we save money on a truck rental by using his little Tacoma pickup for the move! I think we have now agreed not to do that (*phew*! close call!) but this stamp set with the stuff piled in the back is a reference to that idea. Oh, if only it were that easy - just pile your chair, lamp, plant, and one box in the back of the truck and go!

Earlier today i cut all the brown cardstock for the base. My "did-some-packing" reward for later tonight will be to stamp the truck & its load. The rest will have to wait until my Stampin' Up! order comes in since i didn't have enough of the green and yellow on hand.

Well, the next box is waiting to be packed, so it's back to work for me!

It's HERE!!!

At long last the new Stampin' Up! Catalog has arrived! I have never in my life been so excited to see a brown-clad UPS man. Perhaps he had already encountered some crazy Stampin' Up! demonstrators today, because he literally dropped the box on the porch and RAN down the street back to his truck. It was quite funny.

Anyway, the new catalog looks great so far. Lots of new stuff and plenty of fresh inspiration. Beginning July 1, you can view the catalog online at the SU! website. (www.stampinup.com) Or, of course, you can contact your friendly local SU! demonstrator (like me!) to find out how to get your own Fall Winter Collection 2007. :-)