MDS Blog Header

I did it! I created my blog header using My Digital Studio from Stampin' Up! I can't beleive how easy it was to do and it looks so much better than the generic header that I got from blogspot. Let me knnow what you think of it!

Box of Tags

I am really far behind on my projects from Simply Holidays by Heather Summers. We are on Day 10 and here is the project from Day 2. It is a box of Christmas tags using the Delightful Decorations stamp set and the Ornament punch. Super easy! I used Kraft, Chocolate Chip and Riding Hood Red cardstock and Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Old Olive ink, along with silver cord and 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon. Hope you like it! I will be working on the next project and will post it as soon as I am finished.

Christmas Scrapbook Page

Here is a page I created thanks to the inspiration of the wonderfully talented Canadian demonstrator Heather Summers. She is running an online class called Simply Holidays. She has amazing projects daily. This is the first one I've been able to do so far. I will try to get the rest of the projects done and posted. Hope you like it.

Still Alive and Kickin'

I'm still here! Been busy with the kids and work and creating. I've done a few thigs lately. I created a 20 page 8x8 scrapbook album for my brother and SIL for their 1st anniversary from the Tie the Knot Simply Scrappin' Kit from a few catalogs ago along with a few extra sheets of cardstock. I was AMAZED at how quickly it went together and how easy it was. It ony took about 3 hours for the entire album.

Page 1

Pages 2 & 3

Pages 4 & 5

Pages 6 & 7

Pages 8 & 9

Pages 10 & 11

Pages 12 & 13

Pages 14 & 15

Pages 16 & 17

Pages 18 & 19

Page 20

Card/Framable Art

I am thoroughly enjoying Heather Summers' Simply Holidays punch class. This card (which is 5x7 and suitable for framing) is for my mom. I used Perfect Plum, More Mustard, Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie card stock as well a More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Close to Cocoa ink. I also used the following punches: wide oval, large oval, small oval, word window, modern label, 1 3/4" circle and small star. The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.

Halloween Bitty Box

I started putting together Halloween treats this morning! I know it's only the first week in September, but my son's class has 27 students this year, so I had to start early or I'll never get it done with all the other stuff on my plate. These were made with the Bitty Box and Envelope Die for the Big Shot and retired Ghostly Greetings DSP. The spider was done completely with punches! Let me know what you think!

First Workshop Update

My first workshop went really well. I was very happy with the results. I didn't get any bookings, but that's okay. My name is now out there and hopefully I will have some residual business from that! Thanks Nichole for having me in your home! It was great fun.

First Workshop

I have my first workshop tomorrow and I am sooo far behind on my prep work. I decided (at the last minute) that I would do a display board to get folks excited about all we can do with Stampin' Up products. Unfortunately, I don't have many current samples so I am busy, busy, busy making stuff happen! I will post the board when I am finished, but in the meantime, I altered a cute magnetic write/wipe board for my daughter's locker when she goes back to school on Monday. It uses Tea Party DSP. I used my Cricut to cut the letters for her name in Certainly Celery and Almost Amethyst and I created the cute flower magnet in the lower right corner with my Big Shot, Daisies #2 Die and fun foam! I finished it off with a Build a Brad in the center. She was so excited when she saw it! I hope you like it too.

Punch Storage

A fellow stamper asked me how I store my punches, so this one's for you Angie!

Simply Punches Holidays with Heather Summers

If you've ever wondered what else you can do with your punches besides punch out images, then Heather Summers is your girl! Beginning September 1 she will be running a 20 day online class (that's 20 complete projects) for just $20 (Canadian). If you're not sure you want to spend the money (and you don't trust me to tell you that you should), simply click on over to visit Heather at http://www.stampwithheather.typepad.com/. Check out her post of August 17 with a sneak peak video tutorial and PDF and you'll see how amazing her creations are (my pic is just a smidge of the actual project created by Heather)! Hope to see you there!

Party Favors

My kids (whose birthdays are a month apart) agreed to a joint party this year as they both wanted pool parties. So, tonight, we are looking at about 100 people at the pool at least half of which are children, as we invited siblings as well as the party guests! Yesterday, with a little help from my daughter, I put together the goodie bags or everyone. I wanted to make sure all the kiddos left with something, even the brothers/sisters, so it needed to be something really quick and easy and most of all CHEAP! I was able to put together 55 goodie bags for about $.50 per bag. I think the turned out okay. After all, the kiddos are likely not to even notice the hard work I put into them.

We Stamp Color Challenge

I've never done a color challenge before, but when I saw the colors for this week's challenge on We Stamp (http://westamp.blogspot.com/2009/08/ws-colour-challenge-2.html) I just had to play along! The colors are Night of Navy, Kiwi Kiss and Rose Red. I used Night of Navy as the card base. I stamped several images from Circle Circus and mounted it on Rose Red card stock. I embossed the bottom half of the card base with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and finished it off with the Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla satin ribbon. The inside of the card is a piece of Whisper White with a row of circles from the Circle Circus stamp set. Hope you enjoy!

Demo Challenge

Every month my upline issues a challenge to all of us demos in her downline. This month's challenge was "Not Your Ordinary Card" - create a card with a non-standard fold. I chose to do the Tri-Shutter Card. There is a fabulous tutorial on SCS - http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/trishuttercard/. This card was s easy and is such a WOW! My best friend just bought a house after living in England for three years so I wanted to send her a little something. I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I see a lot more of these in my future!

Happy Stamping!

Jamie

Lots of Bots Birthday

Now that the kids' summer schedules are slowing down, I'm hoping to be able to stamp more!

My son had a birthday party to go to and I needed a quick card. I used Lots of Bots - seemed appropriate for a 9-year-old boy, don't ya think? The card base is Night of Navy and the DSP is from the past hostess level 1 Patterns Pack. I also used Whisper White cardstock and Night of Navy ink. There are lots of layers on this card! It was CASE'd from a card I saw on SCS http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1392566. The only difference is the color - she used Pacific Point. I really like how it turned out, but most importantly, my son thought it was really cool! Hope you like it.

Masculine Birthday Card

Here is a birthday card I made for my BIL. I based it on the instructions from the very talented Amy Celona here (http://ustamp4fun.com/fathers-day-shirt-card/). I sure hope he likes it!

The card base and collar is Wild Wasabi (retired). The DSP is Jersey Shore (also retired) and the brads are from an oriental trading bulk buy. I also used the new Modern Label Punch and the Word Window Punch along with the Family Phrases stamp set.

Bad Blogger

So, I am probably the worst blogger on the planet. I'm hoping to change that. I'd like to set a mini goal of posting once a week and go from there. That means I have to make time to create at least once a week, which I should be doing anyway! Being overseas living in small quarters makes it difficult to have a creative space. As we don't have any extra rooms in our house, my dining room doubles as my craft room, which means I have to take everything out and put everything away every time I create (or at least I'm supposed to). This also makes it hard to be organized. But, I'm going to give myself the challenge of posting every week.

Stampin' Addicts dot com Giveaway!!!

Stampin Addicts dot com has tons of ideas using the Stampin’ Up! Big Shot and is giving away a Big Shot Die Pack as part of the Stampin’ Up! summer celebration. To enter, all you have to do is write about it. This is my entry. Now give me my dies.

My Attempt at a Scrapbook Page

My son went to Cub Scout Day Camp over Spring Break this year and I wanted to attempt to scrap some of the pictures. He's just finished his second year and Scouting. I bought a specialty album to commemmorate his time in Scouts and I have yet to put anything in it, so I figured I should start now before he's graduated high school and become an adult Scout! This page was inspired by Heather Summers at UStamp. It's fairly basic, but I'm pleased with the outcome. I've used some blue and gold card stock that I had in my stash - no idea what brand. The ribbon is More Mustard 1/4" grosgrain from Stampin Up' and the title is done using the Billboard Alphabet decorate strip die for the Big Shot from Stampin' Up. Sorry about the glare on the photo. I'm working on that! Thanks for looking!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

I want to take a moment to wish all mothers a very Happy Mother's Day. I am fortunate enough to have the most wonderful mother who is also one of my best friends and equally fortunate to have a fabulous mother-in-law who is also one of my best friends! I made these beautiful gift sets for them (all images © Stampin' Up). Hope they like them! These were inspired by UStamp.

The set on the bottom was made with Chocolate Chip cardstock, Kiwi Kiss cardstock, Raspberry Tart Designer Series Paper, Chocolate Chip and Kiwi Kiss ink, scallop oval punch, large oval punch, Botanical Blooms and Asian Art stamp sets (both retired), jumbo eyelets and Chocolate Chip 5/8" grosgrain ribbon.

The set on the top was made with Chocolate Chip cardstock, Soft Sky cardstock (retired), Afternoon Tea Designer Series Paper (retired), Chocolate Chip, Groovy Guava (retired) and Wild Wasabi (retired) inks, scallop oval punch, large oval punch, Botanical Blooms stamp set (retired), jumbo eyelets and Soft Sky double stitched ribbon (retired). Hope they like them!

Just Celebrate Boxed Set

I have been participating in UStamp since it's inception. Two very talented ladies, Dawn Rapsas and Heather Summers, set up an online "class" filled with amazing projects utilizing Stampin' Up products. This set is from the previous UStamp. I used the "Let's Celebrate" stamp set as well as River Rock, Groovy Guava, Purley Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, Lovely Lilac and Chocolate Chip cardstock and ink and River Rock Designer Series Paper (all but the Lovely Lilac and Chocolate Chip are RETIRED). This was a really fun project to make. If you'd like to learn more, you can join the current UStamp by heading over to http://www.ustamp.blogspot.com/. Tell them I sent you!

Getting Started

Okay, so I decided to jump on the blog bandwagon. Not entirely sure what I'm doing, but I figured why not! I want to use this blog to share all my creations with everyone. Hope you all enjoy my ramblings.