Update

My daughter is home visiting from out of state- whoo hoo! We are so happy she is home for a week with us! We haven't seen her for six months :-(. My skater girl is celebrating her 16th birthday this week too, so I will be gone for the whole week. Hoping to be back after that :-). I hope everyone is enjoying the summer so far. Mine is busy so far!!!

11 more days until the new catalog goes live! There are some great stamps and other surprises in the new catalog that I am sure you will love! I can hardly wait for July 1st to get here so I can order new catalog stuff! Have a great week!!!!!!!!!!

Blessings!

Barb

New Schedule

I haven't posted much this week because we are adjusting to a new schedule. My daughter's skating schedule (which we were notified about the night before it changed) and the summer schedule. Beginning this week, skate classes have changed to two 6 1/2 hour days, two 3 hour classes, and one four hour class. Mix that with a 'no more school for the summer' schedule and it takes some adjusting :-) ! I had full plans of updating my blog each day this week- but, that didn't quite work out! Anyway, I hope you'll bear with me as I work on adjusting and prioritizing :-). Wishing everyone a great weekend!!!

Blessings!
Barb

I know this is Early but.....

This is the time of the year when I start working on the design for my husband's business Christmas cards :-). I thought I would share it since I used the Sunday Sketch posted below. I like the way this one came out so it has a really good chance of being the one I use this year. I finally got to use 'Dasher'! I ordered this stamp last year and never got around to using it because all of my Christmas cards were finished by that time. I will be using him this year though! I LOVE this stamp!

I stamped my Old Olive card stock for the background with the Bella Toile background stamp in Old Olive ink. I trimmed my stamped card stock and cut off the bottom piece first. Then I cut the two top pieces in half. I chose to use the same colors that I used in my sketch in the post below- Old Olive and Elegant Eggplant, but I used Very Vanilla instead of Whisper White.

For the inside of my card, I punched the corners with the 'Scallop Trim' corner punch and added a 'Jumbo Snowflake' accent in Elegant Eggplant. I stamped the smallest circle stamp in 'Circle Circus' on Very Vanilla in Old Olive ink and punched it out with the new circle punch from the 'Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack'. The circle punch is a perfect fit for the stamp :-). I added the little stamped image to the center of my snowflake and stamped my sentiment in Elegant Eggplant.

I tried several times yesterday morning to get this posted, but Blogger was down for a good part of the day :-(. Glad things are back up and running now! Wishing you all a wonderful day today! Thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate your visits!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Dasher-116816, Teeny Tiny Wishes- 115370, Many Merry Messages- 116586,
Circle Circus- 115778, Bella Toile- 111598
Paper: Old Olive- 100702, Very Vanilla- 101650, Elegant Eggplant- 105126
Classic Stampin' Ink: Old Olive- 102277, Elegant Eggplant- 105210
Punches: Modern Label- 116630, Jumbo Snowflake- 116628, Scallop Trim Corner- 118870, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack- 118309
Dies: Curly Label Movers & Shapers- 114506, Punch Windows- 115953
Other: Gold brads- 104337

Sunday Sketch 3

Time for the Sunday Sketch :-). My daughter really likes this one, so I hope you do too! The colors I used are Old Olive, Elegant Eggplant, and Whisper White, but you can use any colors that you like :-). Please link to Mr. Linky below if you do the sketch. I'd love to see your card!!

I hope you've had an enjoyable and relaxing weekend so far. Wishing you all a great day and a wonderful week!!



Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
My Digital Studio

Thinking of You in Blue :-D

I made this card in My Digital Studio first :-). I love MDS for designing cards before I even touch my paper. I know ahead of time exactly how it will look. It also gives me the measurements I need as I design. Cool, huh? Designing in MDS also cuts down on paper mistakes so less waste :-). In MDS, what you see is what you get. The punches and the stamps are all sized in real life size so you know if your stamp or punch will fit your design area. You can also re-size them though, if you'd like an element bigger or smaller. In my MDS sketch, I used So Saffron textured card stock, but when I made my actual card, I chose to use the Square Lattice embossing folder instead.

I chose a Bashful Blue mat for the inside of my card so it would match the colors of my card front. I also inked the edges of my Whisper White card stock with So Saffron to bring the yellow into the inside as well. The cute little butterfly body stamp is from the Level Two hostess set in the Summer Mini- Punched Posies. I'm looking forward to playing with this set more- it's awesome! The butterfly wings are punched out with the Butterfly punch and then I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig (love that tool!!!!) to stamp the little body on top. Easy Peasy!

That's my card for today :-). I hope you have a wonderful day today! Check back on Sunday for the Sunday Sketch :-).

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes- 115370
Paper: Bashful Blue- 105120, Whisper White- 100730, So Saffron- 105118, Old Olive- 100702, Bashful Blue Patterns Designer Series Paper- 112151
Classic Stampin' Ink: Bashful Blue- 105209, So Saffron- 105213, Pacific Point- returning on July 1, 2010
Punches: Butterfly- , 5 Petal Flower- , Extra Large Two Step Bird- ,Trio Flower-
Other: Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder- 119976, blue rhinestone

Card for Sunday Sketch 2

I got around to making a card for the Sunday Sketch 2 :-). The buttons are made with a 3/4" Circle punch and So Saffron card stock. Punch out three circles for each button and glue them together. I mark the center holes and punch out the holes on the smallest hole setting with my Crop-a-dile. Depending on the look I want for my buttons, sometimes I ink the sides and the edges and sometimes I don't. Either way, I always have buttons to match ;-). You can use any size circle punch that you have on hand to make buttons from tiny to big. You can also use Designer Paper for making buttons and finish them off with some Crystal Effects so they'll be shiny like real buttons.

The leaves behind my flower are actually wings punched from the Two Step Bird punch. The wings can be used for flower petals as well. They could be easily transformed into rain drops on a scrapbook page :-).

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far. I can't believe the week is almost over already! Monday holidays always make a week seem so much shorter even though it isn't, lol! Wishing you all a GREAT day today! Stay cool!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Very Versatile- retired
Paper: Regal Rose- 105130, Whisper White- 100730, So Saffron-105118, Old Olive- 100702, Bashful Blue- 105120
Classic Stampin' Ink: Old Olive- 102277, Bashful Blue- 105209
Punches: Extra Large Fancy Flower- 118073, 3/4" Circle- 107217, Scallop Trim border- 118402, Extra Large Two Step Bird- 117191
Other: Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon- 111368, Square Lattice Textured Impressions embossing folder- 119976, Petals-a-Plenty Textured Impressions embossing folder- 116824, DMC embroidery floss

My Digital Studio Bookmarks

Before my hubby got me 'My Digital Studio' for my birthday, I saw a post on 'Stampin' Connection' (a Stampin' Up! forum for demonstrators), and the demonstrator made bookmarks with her own photos in MDS (My Digital Studio). They were so pretty, I knew that I would want to make my own when I finally got MDS :-). I took some time over the weekend to create my bookmarks. It was so easy! I printed mine out on photo paper, mounted them on card stock, and then heat laminated them. I like my bookmarks to be sturdy and protected so I don't have to worry about them getting messed up- hence the little bit of glare you see in my photos :-).

I used all of my own photos on these bookmarks and my two favorite bookmarks are the last two. These two scriptures are really speaking to me right now :-), but I also love that my photos fit these last two scriptures so perfectly. You can print out five bookmarks on one 8.5 x 11 sheet of photo paper or Whisper White/Very Vanilla card stock. I'm going to make several sets for little 'send- in- the- mail' gifts ;-). If you would like to try this, you can find the tutorial for them at Kitty Stamp by Betty Traciak. So many possibilities for custom bookmarks! Wouldn't it be awesome to make photo bookmarks of the grandkids for grandparents who read? Wishing you all a wonderful day today. Thanks for stopping to visit! See you tomorrow!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
My Digital Studio

Masculine Birthday Card!

Wow! I finally did it, lol! This is my hubby's birthday card and it has his 'official' stamp ;-) that this is a masculine card! Cracks me up because there is nothing to it! (Sigh) go figure.

Now on to the news ;-). It's that time of year again- the end of the Stampin' Up! year. We are 'one month' away from the debut of the 2010/2011 Idea Book & Catalog! Whoo hoo! This means though, that many products in the 2009/2010 Idea Book & Catalog are leaving us for good to make room for great new products. I will be posting the 'Last Chance Lists' in my side bar in a few minutes. I highly, highly recommend that if there is anything on the lists that you want, that you order it ASAP, because 'Last Chance' products often go out of stock fast. Really fast. You can click on the link in my side bar to head to my online store if you would like to order through me... and I would really appreciate your business :-D !! If you order through my online store, you can have your items delivered directly to your home- cool huh? And the online store never closes either, so you can shop in the middle of the night if you want :-). All righty, I have a few things I gotta get done around here, so I am off to get those lists posted! Have a really wonderful day today and I will see you tomorrow!

Blessings!
Barb

Supplies:
Stamps: Whimsical Words- 119119 (Sale a Bration set)
Paper: Soft Suede- 115318, Kraft-102125, Very Vanilla-101650, Old Olive Designer Series Paper-112160
Classic Stampin' Ink: Old Olive-102277, Soft Suede-115657
Other: 3/4" Circle punch-107217, Crop-A-Dile-108362, hemp cord