North! To Alaska!

I mentioned in a previous post that I'd FINALLY been able to take the cruise to Alaska that's been on my Bucket List for over 20 years! YES!

I tried to talk my mom into it MANY years ago, and she just wasn't interested. She never did say why, and now that she's gone, I wish I'd pursued it further with her. I don't THINK she got seasick, but maybe that was the reason.

Well, she went on the cruise anyway!

I went with my brother and sister-in-law (hey, you two!), and I took Flat Mama with us!



Here she is, resting in the floral bouquet that Jim & Laurel received once they'd boarded the ship.

And here are the four of us, toasting with champagne in their on board upgraded suite!


They never did figure out how or why they were upgraded, but I never heard a bad word about the idea from either of them! LOL

They had a FULL SHOWER and a FULL BATHTUB in that suite - and a great deck from which we viewed the glaciers during our day in Glacier Bay.

No, I STILL haven't attempted to upload all the pix I took on my new camera - so I don't have a lot of photos to share, but here's one I really liked that I was able to get with my old trusty camera.




Yep - that's Mount Rainier!

It decided to "come out" for the afternoon, just as we were setting sail. And it was quite lovely, wasn't it?

We really enjoyed our cruise and ensuing land excursions! In Juneau we took a tour to Mendenhall Glacier and saw a BEAR! And that bear caught a salmon while we were watching - but those pix are on the new camera, so I'll have to show them to you later. Please come back to check it out!

In Skagway, we took the Yukon Railway tour. And while it was drizzly and overcast in Skagway, by the time we got to the top of the mountain, the sun was out, and it was beautiful (but COLD!) Come back for those pix, too!

And Glacier Bay... well, it was a whole day and was very interesting...

Last Alaska stop was Ketchikan, which I LOVED! So quaint - and, truthfully, not very large, since it clings to the mountainside! Come back for pix of that, too...

We spent a couple of days in Seattle after our return from the cruise, so I'll share those pix with you one of these days, too!

Sorry - no stamping stuff today - but come back soon, and I promise, I'll have some Halloween stuff to share with you!

Thanks for stopping by...

Bingo!

About 3 months ago, Faye, the Curves attendent where I belong, asked me if I could help her think of a way to store the members' bingo cards she wanted to use for a game at the gym.

It typically takes quite a while before someone gets a Bingo, so, a safe storage place for the duration was a must.

Last year, she hung large sheet of paper on the wall, and we just adhered our card to the paper, and checked off squares as we were able.

But this year, that wall space has been taken up with other things.

She suggested she'd like to keep them in a box (recipe card size, maybe?) and that she wanted dividers.

She wanted 26 - one for each letter of the alphabet.

So, I came home and thought about it, measured a bingo card, scrounged around in the Stampin' Garage and found enough cardboard, left over from tablet backs and other things, to make one for each alphabet letter.

I had punched out a number of sets of letters using the Naturally Serif alphabet for the Big Shot a while back. I've been keeping them in a storage container that I use for my Swarovski crystals, so it makes it a little easier to find an "A", without sorting through ALL those I've punched.

So, I glued some Designer Series Paper to each of the cardboard backs and added the appropriate letter and took them to her. She liked them!

Then we found out that the box she'd wanted to use wasn't big enough, so I scrounged around in the Stampin' Garage again, and found a box that used to house envelopes that was PERFECT! And, it had a lid, so once this year's game was over she could store the whole thing until the next time she wanted to bring the game out.

So, I covered the box with Gray CS, stamped a Bingo Card image and spelled out "Bingo Cards" in a larger font, added some side decorations made using the Lace Ribbon Border punch, along with a button for dimension, and took it in to her. She loved it! What do you think?




I thought it came out pretty good!

While I was putzing around making this, I also stamped the Bingo card stamp on Whisper White CS and used the Jolly Bingo Bits stamp set.




Wouldn't this make a nice game to be given as a Christmas gift?

Stamp up 6-8 cards and laminate them. Create a master set of the all the Bingo Bits, wrap them nicely, and voila! A great gift!

We also have a set for Halloween called Spooky Bingo Bits. I keep thinking there might be yet another set of stamps that are the same size as these in the catalog, but didn't dig around to see what it might be called.

Hey - you could use them ALL on the Bingo cards, provide a master set of all of them and use these year - round! That would keep everyone on their toes, wouldn't it?

BTW - what did you think of my Shoe Box Swap from the other day? Would YOU swap with me?

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

Latest Shoebox Swap

Just thought I'd share with you my latest shoebox swap. Waddya think?

Remember Me?

Yeh - I'm back...

It's been a VERY long time since I last posted - life got in the way again.

Let's see, since I posted last I have:

• gone to the annual Stampin' Up! convention in Salt Lake City.
  

I received my 20 year pin- yes! I've been a Stampin' Up! demonstrator for 20 years! It sure doesn't seem that long - and it's been a fun ride!

I'm planning on sticking around for a bunch more, too, so call me when you need something!















Here's a photo (thanks Kelly!) of yours truly (in the red shirt and white pants) along with several other demonstrators who also received their 20 year pins. The gal to my left is Sherrill Graff - I know a lot of you know her, since she's the moderator of Late Night Stampers.

Unfortunately, I don't know who the gal to the far right of me is. You'd think, if we've all been around for so long, we'd know each other, wouldn't you? But I don't! The gal on my right's name is Jill, but I don't remember her last name. If you know, leave me a comment! TIA!

I've also:

• had cataract surgery on both eyes (and, miracle of all miracles, I can now see FAR AWAY! YEAH!!!! Up close? Well, I need cheaters to work on the computer, but, hey, seeing far away without my glasses is something I can't even remember being able to do! )

• Gone on an Alaska cruise with my brother and sister-in-law - we did the Inside Passage from Seattle and had the pleasure of visiting Glacier Bay National Park, which I understand not every cruise to Alaska is allowed to do. It was awesome!

• Gone to my upline's annual Stamp A Thon in St. George, UT.

• Played a lot of games on Facebook (yes, it's my guilty pleasure!...)

• Shipped almost 500 cards off to From Our Hearts to be sent to our troops overseas.
  

So, that's what I've been doing - what about you?

Yes, I've been stamping during all that time, too - but not sharing. How could I be so selfish?

I had to invest in a new camera while on the cruise - my old, dearly beloved, point & shoot camera kept giving me error messages while trying to take pix, and I just WASN'T going to go on my once in a lifetime Bucket List cruise and not have photos of it.

So, I still have not had the nerve to try and upload those photos - that's me - scared of technology!

Maybe today... And once I get them up there, you can be sure I'll share some of them with you!

In the meantime, here are a couple of photos of Halloween that I took with the Old Faithful point & shoot camera. ENJOY!

This is a witches boot made from...


Wait for it.....


The STOCKING die!

Isn't it cute?

This one was made by one of my stamp club ladies, Linda - didn't she do an awesome job? Her's was so much more classy than my sample, I just had to show it off!




And this is one of the Halloween treats I'm making for my favorite Starbucks baristas - SHHHH - don't tell them, OK?

I used the Howl-o-ween Creeps set and the 1 x 8" cellophane bags we're currently carrying in the Holiday mini.

I need to make about 20 of these for my baristas, and they ARE ADDICTING!

I've been working on them for about a week now, and beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The hardest part is sliding the candy into the bags!

Well, hope you didn't forget about me while I was gone. I certainly didn't forget about all of you!

Come back soon, OK? I promise not to be absent for so long!

A Basketful of Posies

This was my contribution to our Team meeting's Shoebox swap this month.

I used the new "In" color CS Wisteria Wonder as the base for the card.

I stamped the chair image from the new Cherish Friendship set using Staz-On ink on watercolor paper, then used an Aqua Painter and re-inkers to color the image. I then layered the stamped, colored image on to Rich Razzleberry CS, then on to Basic Black CS.

I used Versamark ink and a stamp from the 'Clearly for You' stamp set to create a little "background noise".

I also used the new Lace Ribbon Border punch - isn't it lovely?

Here's a close up, so you can see the detail of the punch better.


I punched one of the papers from the Pocketful of Posies DSP.

I think this punch will be very versatile, both with DSP and card stock. You probably NEED IT! hee hee So be sure to contact me to place your order for it.

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

Some of my favorite things in the whole wide world are flowers!

I have few, if any, plants in my backyard that don't flower. What good are they if they don't produce some flowers in reds and pinks and yellows and purples and blues for all of us? LOL

That's why I liked Sandy's card from our Team Meeting.

She used some Beyond The Garden DSP. This particular pattern might well be my favorite one from that package of DSP. She used the Petal Card Extra Large Double punch (Item 119273) and folded it like an envelope.

Next, she wrapped some white ribbon around it, glued it to the card front, which had been embossed with the Flower Garden Embossing folder.

There's also a little pull out note where she stamped 'thinking of you' where one could write a more personal greeting.

This is a quick little card to throw together and you could change the greeting very easily to Happy Birthday, or whatever sentiment you might need at the time.

Would you like to learn how to make simple little cards like this and then go on and share this with others?

Then why not join my Team?

Stampin' Up! is offering an awesome $99 Starter Kit and Free Project Kit Promotion during July.

This kit contains over $180 in products and business supplies--including new products from the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog! All items below are recommended, but a new demonstrator can substitute a similar item of equal or lesser value.

And when you recruit in July, you (and your recruiter - that's me! LOL) will get a Christmas Keepsake project kit absolutely FREE--a $40 value!


Isn't this beautiful?

Wouldn't YOU like to earn it? I know I would. It looks like something really fun to work on together while we chat about Stampin' Up! and the wonderful opportunities available from them.

This exclusive kit contains everything needed to create a beautiful Christmas Keepsake Box to hold your most treasured Christmas memories and is only available if you recruit during July, 2011!

The photo below shows the stamps, DSP and ribbon you get in the $99 kit. You may substitute any items of equal or lesser value, if you'd like, but the items you'll receive in your kit are coordinated to work well together, so why not just go with it!



In addition, you'll receive the items below.

Page	Item	Description
57	123225	Easy Events Clear-Mount Set*
69	122740	Pennant Parade Wood-Mount Set*
177	102277	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad
177	105216	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad
177	103133	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad
177	119706	Brights 8-1/2" x 11" Assorted Card Stock
180	101179	Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad
182	107311	Whisper White Note Cards (20)
185	124339	Just Add Cake Designer Series Paper*
195	124142	Chocolate Chip 1/2" Scallop Dots Ribbon*
203	122129	Blender Pen (1)
205	118486	Clear-Mount Block C
206	104332	SNAIL Adhesive

*New to the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog!

Business Supplies
The business supplies in these promotional mini kits will be the same business supplies that are in existing starter kits; no alternative selections can be made for business items.

• Getting Started DVD
• Getting Started Guide
• Guest Invitation Postcards (100)
• 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog (8)
• 2011 Summer Mini Catalog (8)
• Stampin' Up! logo vinyl
• Décor Elements applicator
• To My Hostess Envelopes (10)
• My Digital Studio Marketing DVD
• Recruit Folders (5)
• Recruit Brochures (20)
• Customer Order Forms (50)

This is an awesome deal!

If you're interested, please email me and we'll carry on a more in depth conversation at that time, and I'll show you how to sign up TODAY!

I'd love to have you join my 'we StAMp everything' team!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

The World Got a Present...

... the day you were born.

Another beautifully simple card!

This was Becky's contribution to our Team meeting Shoebox Swap.

I love the ruffled seam binding around the oval punched greeting.

I groaned when I saw we had to do that - sometimes I'm not a very girly-girl, and ruffles seem to be too much.

But this ruffle was easy to do - simply stamp, punch out the image, then apply SNAIL to the back of it and attach the seam binding pinched into little ruffles.

The hardest part of the whole thing is keeping the ruffling that shows a consistent distance from the image, so it doesn't look lop-sided.

But the nice part about the ribbon and the SNAIL is that you can repeated pick it back up if you don't like it, and reapply it.

We stamped with Versamark ink on the Pretty In Pink CS, then tore a piece of DSP that coordinated with the card stock.

We used one of the new Hostess level Stamp sets from the new IBC called Happiest Birthday Wishes. It's a great set - has 11 pieces, all dedicated to helping you make some awesome birthday cards!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

Festive Flowers

Isn't this a beautifully simple card?

This was Natalie's contribution to a Shoebox Swap we did at my monthly Team Meeting in June.

She used the Flower Fest set (122278-wood $27.95 or 122280-clear $19.95) which was introduced to us via the Summer mini-catalog.

But the good news is - it's in the NEW Idea Book & Catalog, too!

Most of the flowers in the set can be punched out with punches we currently carry.

If you have those punches, that makes this a REALLY QUICK CARD! Gotta love those, for those last minute card needs. And if you don't have the punches, why not? They're great staple tools to keep in your repertoire.

Natalie used Real Red and Tangerine Tango CS, with Whisper White on the inside of the card.

The only ink used on this card is Real Red.

She also used the Fancy Flower Extra Large and the 5-Petal Flower Extra Large punch. And of course, the large Oval Punch.

I love simple cards!

I sometimes get caught up in the race to make a busier and busier card, and then I see something like this one and realize it doesn't have to be that way...

Simple is good!

I'll show you some of the other cards we made at our Shoebox Swap in the coming days.

In the meantime, thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

Love My Customers!

I had a Retiring Stamps Open House on Saturday (hi guys! thanks for coming!) and had some of my favorite stampers join me.

A sort of a last chance to look at those stamp sets that are retiring and decide what you need/want/desire/can' t live without.

And a reason to get together with others who enjoy the art of stamping!

That's always the BEST reason - sharing what we love...

Anyway, the card above (yes, I'll wait while you scroll back up there and look at it again! LOL) is the Make & Take I designed for my guests to make while they were here.

And below is the card Kathleen & Del designed using the materials provided for them to duplicate it...


What a difference cutting some corners makes, huh?

And adding a bird...

I LOVE the card - I made this one from memory after they'd left - I forgot to take a photo. I hope I got fairly close!

We also had some munchies, and I gave them each new catalogs. Guess where their attention was most of the time they were here! Yep! On the new catalog...

Oh well - now they'll have time to decide what they want to order at my New Catalog Open House on Saturday July 23rd and pick one up!! Party starts @ 1 PM...

Would YOU like to get one of the new catalogs? Come to my Open House!

I'll have Make & Takes and door prizes and munchies - oh, and samples of the new "In" colors for you to take home.

Or, you can join my Stamp Club - monthly meetings, I teach new techniques and have projects for you to make. Meetings are held at my house on the 2nd Saturday each month. Minimum order each month is $25. More than that is greatly appreciated by each month's Hostess !

Or, if you're long distance, I'd be happy to mail one out to you - contact me to make arrangements to cover the postage. Priority mail runs around $5 now - will confirm cost when you contact me. Send me an email here and I'll get back to you.

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

6-4-10 - and I'm Sad

I held a 6-4-10 on Saturday afternoon and I think the ladies had a great time.

What's a 6-4-10, you ask?

Well, each person who attended made 6 cards for $10. (6-4-10)

And why am I sad, you ask?

Because all these stamp sets are being retired, and I won't be able to play with them and show you my ideas with them after June 30th!

That doesn't mean YOU can't play with them, though, so if you see something you'd like to order, contact me immediately, please!


My goal was to get their grubby little paws on some of the stamp sets and accessories that are being retired come June 30th.

If they already had the set, they were getting a new idea for its use. If they didn't, maybe they'd think about ordering it.

Wanna see the cards they made?

Alrighty, then, here ya go...



This one was made using the retiring Level II Hostess set "Fast and Fabulous", as well as some words from the "Hope Happens" set.

I'm going to miss that set - the words in that one are so positive and can be used for just about any occasion.





This card uses Cardinal Christmas, another one of my favorite sets that's retiring. I used the Holly Jolly DSP (also retiring) for this one.

I love cardinals, and I'm going to miss this set, come Christmas.

I grew up in PA where there ARE cardinals and we used to have a bird feeder right outside the big kitchen windows so we could watch for them.





ANOTHER one of my favorite sets being retired is "A Sense of Time". That clock face is so versatile. And the gear and cog stamp that's in the set is so masculine you can add it to almost anything else masculine and it works!





This card used the branch from the "Eastern Blooms" set. It's another excellent generic set that can be used for just about any occasion.

Here I used some of the Elegant Soiree DSP - I liked the color combination of Baja Breeze, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, and Ivory cardstocks.

The Spiral Border punch I used on this card is also being discontinued. Sigh... It, too, was a great generic tool.





Loved this card - it's so bright and cheery!

I used the "Pun Fun" stamp set and the Love Letters DSP to create it. I also used another stamp in the inside of the card (Grateful for you), but I didn't remember to take a photo of it.

And finally, an Easel Card.



Here's the outside of the card. I used the "Dreams du Jour" set, and some of the current "In" colors in the Sunny Garden DSP (Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizazz).

And here's the "easel" part



I stamped, sponged and cut out two of the butterfly stamp from this set. They're what is propping the card open.

Did you see anything that inspires you? Do you have the stamp set? If not, and you'd like it, send me an email along with your address and phone number, and I'd be happy to order it for you! Remember, all the sets used in these cards (and most of the accessories and punches I used) will be GONE, GONE, GONE come June 30th!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!

A Few Cards to Share

Today was our monthly demonstrator get-together here in my Stampin' Garage. These are other Stampin' Up! demonstrators who are not necessarily in my downline - we call them sidelines. And we try to get together once a month to keep each other inspired and motivated.

It's a great group of ladies - always so creative.

This card was Teresa's creation to share with us today.


Teresa usually makes very Clean and Simple cards - which I love.

I'm a simple gal...

She used Crumb Cake, Wild Wasabi and Basic Black, along with the Best Dad Ever stamp set and the Corners punch.

This was Veronica's submittal for our pleasure today. (We missed your smiling face today, Veronica, but thanks for sharing an awesome card with us.)




She used the new Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer punch, along with Cherry Cobbler, Baja Breeze, and Not Quite Navy CS.

Did you notice she punched some DSP with this punch and added it, too?


This is Susan's card for today.




I love how she used various embossing folders, then punched squares out with the Postage Stamp punch (122344), then layered them on to Chocolate Chip, Whisper White and Garden Green, which she THEN layered on to Melon Mambo CS.

Want to see those little squares up close and personal?



Cute idea, isn't it?

And finally, here's my submittal for today's event.



This is totally a sneak peek.

New Hostess set, new "In" color CS, new ribbon... I just ran the front of the card through the Polka dot embossing folder, corner rounded only two of the four corners of the attached pieces, and, viola, my card was done.

LOVE the look of something stamped over newsprint like paper, so this set grabbed my eye right away!

Want to see more of the new catalog? Well, come to either one of my 6-4-10 Card events and I'll share mine with you!

The events are scheduled for Friday, 6/17 @ 7 PM or Saturday 6/18 @ 1 PM.

We'll make 6 cards using stamp sets that are being Discontinued. You'll pay $10. (get it? 6 cards 4 $10)

RSVPs are necessary, so that I know how many people to plan for!

And, if you can't make that event, plan to attend my annual Stamp Retirement Party on Saturday, 6/25 starting at 1 PM. There's no charge for this event, and I'll have a Make & Take that day, as well as munchies.

RSVPs appreciated for this event, as well...

You can sit around and chat with other stampers! It'll be fun!

Thanks for stopping by - come back again!

Father's Day Event Books

My Stamp Club ladies were here today.

And they made event books like the one I showed you here.

Everyone's was different - that's the fun part!

I'll show you a couple of pages of each one - pages that show their creativity and cleverness!

The one above is the cover of Anne's - she's Dr. Destructo's wife, so she's planning to use hers for Father's Day.

Here's an inside page from hers...




She also had pages in there for Dr. Destructo's creative endeavors (read remodeling), and his puppy dogs. And she would have loved it if I'd had a stamp set with a fishing theme, but I don't know anyone that fishes - besides them, that is!

Here's Irene's book. She didn't say who she was making hers for, but she's an avid scrapbooker, so I'm sure she had someone in mind.



She's a big paper tearing, scrunch up the paper fan, as is evidenced by this page.


Almost every page of her book was similar to this - but she was quick to point out when I was taking photos that she still needs to add hardware and other accessories. So, hers, at least, is a Work In Progress...

Del likes to scrunch and mist and tear for her scrapbooking too.


Del's the one who turned me on to SteamPunk, so she worked hard to lend that look to her book.

The cogs punch (which, by the way, is retiring at the end of the month!) is a great tool for the SteamPunk look...

And here's one of the inside pages for her book.




Kathleen decided she wanted hers to open like a calendar, instead of a book.



The tall ship is a perfect cover for her book!




And I love how she used corner pieces all thru her book! Not something I'd have ever thought to do!

I tell ya, I learn more from my creative stamping guests than I teach them most times! And I love it!

Here's the last photo for tonight. It's another one of Kathleen's pages, and I love her little flags!




A clever little added touch, don't you think?

That's all I have to share with you tonight! Hope you enjoyed seeing other's creativity!

Thanks for stopping by - come back soon!