So the sun's finally shining here in lovely SOCAL - it sounds as though things aren't as nice in other areas of our country, though. I'm sorry, guys - like I tell The Kidz, it's outta my control. All we can do is deal with it...

Speaking of deals, here's one for all of you...

Until the end of February, for every I {Heart} Hearts stamp set sold, Stampin' Up! will donate $2.00 to the Red Cross for relief in Haiti!

I think that's awesome! You get the pleasure of some new Valentine's stamps, and Haiti receives more money for them to use to rebuild. It sounds like it's going to be a long haul for those folks. But the good news is that as of yesterday, they're still finding survivors! Unbelievable, but wonderful!

I have a clip of the stamp set, but haven't been able to figure out how to post it to my blog. So, you'll have to go to page 14 in the Occasions mini-catalog to see it. You can follow a link on the left sidebar of my blog.

The set costs $26.95 in wood mount, and $18.95 in clear mount.

Let me know when you're ready to order!

I'm continuing to make cards to send to my downline - last night I made this one.

I used a design sketch I found on Tammy Fite's blog, and created my own take on it.

Ran the So Saffron thru the Polka Dot embossing folder.

Used some of the paper from the Welcome Neighbor DSP Pad from the Sale-A-Bration catalog.

Then I stamped a tree from Trendy Trees on a scrap of Whisper White, (since those same trees are in the DSP) and backed it with Pumpkin Pie, as I did the DSP. Mounted it on some Old Olive.

I added a paper reinforcer made from Saffron to the Olive, just to give it a bit more color, then ran some Pumpkin grosgrain ribbon through it to turn it into a tag.

I haven't looked at design sketches in quite some time and decided I need to challenge myself more, just so I can step up my own cards.

Do you ever do that?

Challenge yourself to work beyond your comfort zone when playing with your stamps and papers?

Try it! You might surprise yourself!

It could turn out really great, or only so-so - but you'll never know til you try...
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The grass (well, OK, weeds) in my backyard is turning green and The Kidz and I were hanging out there tonight. I had a blast watching Melie playing in the flower bed. He loves to hide under the California poppies, hoping Smudge will wander by and he can attack.



Here he is, just sitting, looking so handsome!







Here he is, lurking - trying to be a flat cat, so Smudge (who isn't anywhere near him at this point!) can't see him...







And here he is, looking out at Smudge- contemplating attack.





A little later, the two of them went to their separate corners. Here's Melie











Here's Smudge - sitting on one of her favorite perches, right under "the Bird Tree"! She spends a lot of time in that area of the yard...












And Velvet just sits and watches the show every evening, from one of her many favorite viewing spots.









Thanks for dropping by!

Stampin' in the Rain, part 2

Ok, so what was I stampin' while it was raining?

Valentines - using our new stamp sets. I'm making cards to send to my downline, just in case they haven't gotten the sets and "bling".

This is the Artistic Trading Card (ATC) that I made for my stamp club members this month. As a part of their Goody Bag each month, I include an ATC, using a current set or technique.

For this one, I put Real Red CS through the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, then punched it out using the heart punch. I roller stamped the white background with the Romance wheel, using Pretty In Pink, then stamped the polka dot heart from the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set.

Speaking of that set, if you'd like to help with the Relief efforts in Haiti, Stampin' Up ! has announced below how we will help. If you're interested in purchasing this set, give me a call or an email!

"From now until February 28, 2010, $2 from every I {Heart} Hearts stamp set sold will be donated to the American Red Cross’ Haiti Relief and Development Fund. The Red Cross is already well-established in Haiti, and this money will be used to provide immediate relief and long-term support through supplies, technical assistance and other support to help those in need."


Here's another card I've made to send to my downline. For this card I brayered Bride DSP with Rich Razzleberry, and used the new scalloped edge punch.

I also made one of the ruffly flowers to put on it.

You can find the directions for making these here.



And, finally, for this card I used some of the Sending Love Specialty paper. LOVE that paper!

Used the Scallop Trim punch again, along with some of the new 5/8" satin ribbon. The heart was run thru the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder before I punched it out.

I keep seeing these little tags on things on Kimberly Van Diepen's blog, so I "borrowed" the idea and applied it here.




Remember about the Relief efforts for Haiti, and call or email to order the I {Heart} Hearts set from the Occasions mini-catalog. Item number for wood mount is 117010 ($26.95) and for the clear mount is 118571 ($18.95).

Let me know how I can help you!

Stampin' in the rain

Hi Everyone

I've been MIA for a while. We were having really heavy duty rain storms last week, and I spent more time stamping, and less time posting about it.

Here are a couple of photos of my backyard after last week's pounding rains. We had 4 different storms come through, and I swear each one was worse than the last.

After 4 days of rains (we got about 1/2 our yearly average of 9 inches last week) my backyard was just saturated and turned in to a pond.














The palm tree beside my driveway sure looked like it was going to blow over during some of the winds on Monday during the first storm.

And after 4 days of being confined to the house most of the time (even the Kidz didn't want to go out in that stuff!), Smudge decided on Friday that she didn't care, she was going to pick her way into the yard, using little "islands" of grass to make her way.














Melie, of course, decided it was nap time!














But all that rain finally, on Friday, afforded some beautiful clouds











and sunsets


I love weather! I watch the Weather Channel for hours on end sometimes, especially if there's a huge storm hitting somewhere in the U.S.



I understand from my nephew's wife that Illinois is now getting these storms - unfortunately for them, it's in the form of SNOW!

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Susan and I went up to L.A. Saturday to the CHA show. Always wanted to go to it and jumped on the chance when I saw the ad. Great show! We both enjoyed ourselves immensely.

Stamping, scrapbooking, quilting and other fabric ideas. It was a big one, and I was afraid we were going to run out of steam before we'd gotten all the way through it!

On the drive up we could see snow in the mountains east of L.A. And of course, I hadn't brought my camera! I've NEVER seen snow there before and it was really low on the mountainsides.

I also heard them say on the news tonight that the town of Big Bear (about 50 miles away) is finally able to get people out and supplies in just today. Bet that was a weekend to remember!

I know we San Diegans will remember last week's weather for a while!

It's supposed to rain again tomorrow, but they've assured us it will be a quick rain, just rushing by. Hope so!

Regional Samples

How about a few samples from the Phoenix Regional?


This is very light and airy. I like it very much!

The designer used the Scalloped Heart of Hearts embosslit, some of the gorgeous Sending Love Specialty DSP, the scalloped border punch, white Organza ribbon, and the words are from Well Scripted.

Love the font on this set. And I like how she attached the ribbon to the heart.








Another valentine card. This one was made with the I {Love} Love" wheel, as well as a couple of hearts using the Scalloped Heart of Hearts embosslit die.

I LOVE this little die! It embosses dots on the heart while it's cutting it out.

The designer also used the "I {Heart} Hearts" set.




This card was made using the Beautiful Wings embosslit.

I really like those embosslits. They emboss and cut at the same time and when you've run them thru Mr. Big, you're all set to plop them on a card.

She also used the new Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder to give the card some additional texture.






And this one uses the butterflies and the daisies dies for Mr. Big.

I like the glitter that was added. Gives it some "pop".









Hope I showed something tonight that appeals to you! Feel free to copy - and if you need any supplies to do that, place an order through my SU website. The link is on the left sidebar.

Happy stamping!

Ruffly Flowers

I realized after I'd posted last night that although I made references to and showed photos of the ruffly flowers, I never really explained how to make them!

They're so easy!

Cut a 1" x 12" strip of either Whisper White, Very Vanilla, or one of the Designer Papers. Our colored card stock is too thick - it doesn't bend the way you want it to.

Punch along one side using the Scallop border punch. Sponge along the edges if you want. It does make the flower "pop" more if you do.



Run it through the corrugator 5-6 times. You're doing this to break down the fibers in the paper so that it will curl more easily.









Next, punch out a circle of CS using the 1-3/8 circle punch, and cover it with sticky strip.






Now take the beaten up, scallop punched strip and start scrunching it up and laying it down on the sticky strip covered CS circle. Start about 1/8 to 1/4" from the outside, and go around the circle, pushing it into the sticky strip.

You'll be able to make a little over 2 revolutions of the circle before you run out of paper.




Cover the middle with a corduroy button or some other sort of bling.







Add a couple of leaves. Place them where you started the strip around the circle, so that it covers that part.

I used the wings from the new XL 2-step bird punch to make mine, and adhered them with SNAIL.







Now take a couple of dimensionals and adhere the flower where ever you'd like it!

Besides the calendars my club ladies made, I also made a couple of cards with the flower to show its versatility.

Here's one in red...






And here's one I made using Rich Razzleberry.

I brayered the Bride DSP with Razzleberry ink, then made the flower.

I also used the Print Designs in Razzleberry, as well as some of the Razzleberry CS.

Again, I made the leaves for the flower from the XL 2-step bird punch.




A card with this flower on it will need to either be hand delivered, or mailed in a padded envelope. You definitely want the post office to hand cancel it!

So - are you excited about making these for yourself? Are you, even as you read this, running out to your stamp/craft room to begin the process? Let me know how they turn out for you - leave me a comment and a photo!

2010 Calendars

Stamp Club members gathered here on Saturday, and I taught them how to make the ruffly flowers using the Scalloped Border punch I showed here the other day.

I think they really liked them - as do I.

After they made the flowers, I gave them a 2010 calendar and a couple of coasters and turned them loose to make their calendars for this year.

They all used the flowers they'd made to decorate their calendars!



This is Margaret's.










And here is Bernadette's














Anne's














Lindsay's














Kathleen's - she added a bookmark to hers














Linda's














Del's














And finally, the one I made as a sample for them.


Mine is now sitting on the top of the computer desk. I seem to always need a calendar for something, and this is the closest I can get it - and still be able to see the numbers! LOL







We in SOCAL are experiencing a VERY rainy week this week. The media is hyping it as the storm of the century, but aren't they all, until they've come and gone and nothing has happened!!!?

Our average rainfall here is 9 inches a year. They're telling us we'll get anywhere from 5 - 8 inches at the beaches THIS WEEK! And potentially, 20 inches in the mountains!

We're hoping it's a more slow and steady rain than constant downpours, since there were some pretty bad fires up north of Los Angeles earlier this year, which makes for messy, muddy run off, not to mention the potential for homes just washing away.

It did rain pretty hard this afternoon. And then about 5 PM, when the sun was setting, this is what we saw.

Out the back door, facing west















Out the front door, facing east














It was like night and day! I didn't see any rainbows, though...

Hope the weather where you are is OK with you - not that we can do anything about it, but it's nice if it to pleases you... Personally, I can live with an average rainfall of 9 inches rather than feet and feet of snow!

I'm planning to stamp while it rains! Hope you are planning to stamp soon as well.

Occasions Mini

Isn't this beautiful? It's a quilt square all the Leadership attendees received. These were made by the employees of Stampin' Up!'s manufacturing facility in Kanab, UT.

The employees, although quilt making is NOT in their job description, brought their own sewing machines from home to make 1,000 of these for Leadership attendees.

What a wonderful surprise for all of us, and what a thoughtful thing for those employees to do! Stampin' Up! really is an awesome company to work for!

They used the Big Shot, fabric, and the 5-Point 3-D Star die for this square.

They were made for us because Jill Olsen, my upline, received the Bright Idea award from Stampin' Up! for using our Big Shot to promote another type of craft.

Here she is, on stage at Leadership, receiving that award from Shelli Gardner.




She's been doing this type of quilting since last summer.








You may remember this post. Jill had called me to tell me she would be demonstrating the Big Shot at the local Quilt show. I went to touch base with her and see how she was going to promote this idea.

Mr Big (as he's lovingly called by some) can cut up to 8 layers of fabric each time dies are run through the machine.

Makes for speedy cutting out of the pieces, doesn't it?

Jill's made so many quilts now and used the same ideas to make other things as well.

She's inspired a lot of people, including Shelli, to play with Mr. Big and come up with other ideas - such as these:




These are flowers Shelli demonstrated at the Phoenix Regional, which took place the day after Leadership ended.







Velvet hasn't shown up on this blog for quite a while, so here she is, beautiful girl, sitting out on the patio one night this week.















And with that, I'll sign off for tonight. Have a wonderful weekend!