Evidence!

For those who think I'm crazy when I say that Coco has Siamese in her, I finally got a good photo of her face that really shows the Siamese features!

She decided to sit ON my Sunday paper this morning when I was trying to read the ads.  She seemed to be particularly interested in the CHAMPAGNE sale at World Market.  A kitty after my heart!

Welcome Coco Bella!

Last Friday I went to PetSmart and looked at the kitties in the adoption center.  I saw two there that interested me; Isis, who I had seen there before, and Callie who was a relatively new addition.  I went home and looked them up on the rescue group's (Cats About Town Society) website and when I was there, I saw another cat, "Calypso".  So, Saturday morning I went back to PetSmart to look at the three "finalists".  Callie was a little too feisty.  I've done kittens.  Sorry, but I don't want another kitten.  Isis just would NOT warm up to me at all.  "Calypso", however, crawled right onto my lap when I opened her cage.  SOLD!  She is about 2 years old and was declawed on the front feet when animal control picked her up as a stray.  She is part Siamese and Animal Control put her description as a "Tortie Point" mix.  She has tabby markings on her belly and tail as well.

Since we were going to be out of town for Christmas, C.A.T.S. agreed to hang onto her for a week for us until we were ready to bring her home.  We chose a new name for her too.  I wanted to call her Coco.  All my cats have had first and middle names, so her full name is Courtney Bella, or "Coco" for short. 

She came home last night around 7PM and spent about an hour exploring the house last night before settling onto my bed.  She slept with/on me most of the night last night.  Today I went out and bought a variety of beds for her to try out.  She, of course, liked the most expensive one of the bunch.  It is on my bed, next to my head, and she has been in it most of the afternoon.  We learned today that she knows what a can opener sounds like and what food being scraped out of a can sounds like.  She played a little today.  First with one of the toys we have, and then with the strap on my camera.  But mostly she's been exploring and resting.  Here are some photos from last night and today....

exploring the bed

the typical cat photo

attacking the camera strap

in her new bed

on my lap

The Retired List is here!

And it's ON SALE! 

December 9-23 take 10% off the stamps on the retired list! 

*PLUS* orders over $70 during the same period (Dec. 9-23) get FREE SHIPPING! 

What a great time to replenish your cardstock or other supplies used in making your Holiday goodies!

So, without further ado, here is the retired list (including regular and sale prices):

Item # Page Description       US Regular Price / 10% OFF
107027 ** Ahoy, Matey $ 23.95    $ 21.56
109401 42 Baby Jesus Is Born $ 15.95    $ 14.36
109552 ** Beautiful Life $ 20.95    $ 18.86
111169 ** Big Birthday Candle $ 22.95    $ 20.66
109411 121 Brocade Basics $ 23.95    $ 21.56
109529 119 Bronc Buster $ 18.95    $ 17.06
109288 74 Bundled in Love $ 27.95    $ 25.16
110999 ** Bursting with Joy $ 18.95    $ 17.06
109527 115 Calendar Cues $ 10.95    $ 9.86
104421 135 Canvas $ 17.95    $ 16.16
111074 113 Classic Backgrounds $ 15.95    $ 14.36
108559 68 Crab & Company $ 27.95    $ 25.16
111076 ** Dad's Day $ 22.95    $ 20.66
109250 113 Dots Are Hot $ 23.95    $ 21.56
109365 127 Elegant Notes $ 20.95    $ 18.86
104383 143 Everyday Flexible Phrases $ 41.95    $ 37.76
109519 74 Everything Baby $ 17.95    $ 16.16
109343 97 Fabulous Flowers $ 22.95    $ 20.66
104769 135 Floral $ 17.95    $ 16.16
111085 134 Form & Function $ 17.95    $ 16.16
111339 104 Fruit Stand $ 18.95    $ 17.06
109240 95 Ginormous Flowers $ 28.95    $ 26.06
109262 134 Happiness $ 17.95    $ 16.16
110969 ** Hattitude $ 24.95    $ 22.46
109284 27 Haunting Halloween $ 18.95    $ 17.06
111001 ** Hi & Hello $ 15.95    $ 14.36
109308 148 It's All Good $ 12.95    $ 11.66
109453 83 Just Golf $ 12.95    $ 11.66
109451 83 Just Hockey $ 12.95    $ 11.66
109505 39 Keep Christmas $ 19.95    $ 17.96
111095 122 Kind Thoughts $ 25.95    $ 23.36
111341 107 Light unto My Path, A $ 18.95    $ 17.06
110376 37 Merry & Bright $ 14.95    $ 13.46
109345 69 Moose You $ 17.95    $ 16.16
109320 108 On the Fly $ 19.95    $ 17.96
107192 135 Paisley $ 17.95    $ 16.16
111103 112 Perfect Timing $ 12.95    $ 11.66
109393 142 Pictograms $ 13.95    $ 12.56
109491 135 Posy $ 17.95    $ 16.16
111119 88 Pretty Peony $ 36.95    $ 33.26
110972 **Riot of Petals $ 17.95    $ 16.16
109292 93 Seasonal Whimsy $ 23.95    $ 21.56
111056 **Seriously Sassy $ 23.95    $ 21.56
109483 42 Sleigh Bells Ring $ 15.95    $ 14.36
111123 ** So Cool $ 18.95    $ 17.06
111125 ** Spring Pictograms $ 13.95    $ 12.56
107173 117 Starstruck $ 10.95    $ 9.86
111022 ** Stemming From $ 15.95    $ 14.36
110998 134 Stitched $ 17.95    $ 16.16
104243 ** Summer by the Sea $ 28.95    $ 26.06
107133 56 Take Three $ 17.95    $ 16.16
111060 124 Text & Texture $ 25.95    $ 23.36
109475 147 Thanks for Everything $ 17.95    $ 16.16
107383 30 Thoroughly Thankful $ 22.95    $ 20.66
102744 ** Tree for All Seasons, A $ 12.95    $ 11.66
111179 134 Twill $ 17.95    $ 16.16
107123 ** Warm Words $ 20.95    $ 18.86
107159 155 Well-Worn Alphabet $ 41.95    $ 37.76
107157 155 Well-Worn Numbers $ 22.95    $ 20.66
109232 108 Winds of Grace $ 19.95    $ 17.96
109469 37 Wishing You Cheer $ 13.95    $ 12.56
109300 109 With Gratitude $ 22.95    $ 20.66
103875 153 Wonderful Words $ 20.95    $ 18.86
109467 44 Wondrous Gift $ 22.95    $ 20.66

**Sets are from the Dormant list and last appeared in the 2008 Spring/Summer Catalog.  

Here is a link to the pictorial list of all retiring stamps, including those on the dormant list!

And if you're wondering, I have 6 sets on the list: Happiness, Twill, Canvas, Paisley, It's All Good and Wonderful Words.  I am the saddest about Canvas.  I'm OK with It's All Good retiring.  I bought it to use for Convention Swaps in 2007 when the theme was "Dream Big".  I don't think I've used it since!

Contact your demonstrator to place your order or, if you don't have a demonstrator, feel free to use the link on the right to my website where you can order 24/7!

Just popping in real quick.....

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  I did!  Ate too much, as always, but it was good.

Here is a card I stamped for my friend Julie's birthday last month:

all images ©Stampin' Up! 1996-2008

If it looks familiar, it's the same Verve sketch I used in one of the holiday cards a couple posts ago.  I like the look.  All supplies except the embellishments are from Stampin' Up!  The paper is from the Washington Apple DSP (112461).  Colors are Riding Hood Red and So Saffron.  The flower is a Prima from a Holiday assortment I've had for a while.  I added the pearl and some Swarovski rhinestones for a little BLING. 

In an albeit brief flash of stampin mojo, I did another birthday card for my friend Lori.  It's one of those "milestone birthdays" for her this year, so I wanted the card to be a little something extra: 

all images ©Stampin' Up! 1996-2008

Again, I used one of the Verve sketches.  Everything is from Stampin' Up! except the Red rhinestone and the Happy Birthday sentiment stamp, which is from "Birthday Surprise" by Verve Visual.  The paper is from the Holiday Treasures DSP (112469).  The card stock colors are Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red and Very Vanilla.  The Bella Toile Background (111598) stamp was stamped in Encore Gold on the vanilla.  The ribbon is Riding Hood Red Taffeta (111365).  The flower circle stamp is from True Friend (110378) and is stamped in Chocolate Chip.  The Verve birthday sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip and punched out.  There are 8 Gold brads used too.  Not a card that was Postal Friendly, but it went in a package I was sending, so it was OK!

Remember that the new Spring/Summer catalog from Stampin' Up! is coming in January, so if you are liking any of these designer series papers, you might want to get an order in before January 19.   Next week the retiring stamp list will be available and in early January we will find out what accessories (that includes the DSP) will be retiring as well.  If you don't already have a demonstrator and want to be on my e-mail list for the retirement announcements, just leave me a comment saying so!

Not getting ANYTHING done!

I've been trying to get my Christmas cards designed.  Thought I knew what stamps I was going to use.  Got them, love them, but the idea I had in my head did not translate well onto paper.  Unfortunately, the stamp I want to use is one I don't own.  And I'm having trouble talking myself into buying the set since I probably won't use it again after this year.  I did pick up a stamp at Michael's today with my 40% coupon that has potential.  We'll see where that leads.  It's also really hard for me to get in the Holiday mood when it's still 75 degrees out.  SIGH.  Maybe I'll get some stamping done tomorrow?  Don't hold your breath..... 

It's been a long and wild week!

I had good intentions of doing some stamping this week.  Julee was having a sketch challenge going over at Verve Visual for the new stamp release.  I had planned on doing all 5 of the daily sketches in the hopes of winning the new stamps.  Unfortunately, "life" had other plans this week which included me being suddenly away from home for a few days.  All is well and back to normal here, but Russ was in the hospital for about 40 hours and then we spent a day at his mom's house before we came back home.  Needless to say, no stamping got done. :-(

I thought I would take a shot at the challenges yesterday after I was all done with things around here, but was only able to do the first two challenges.  So here are my cards for VSHR1 and VSHR2.  All supplies but the rhinestones are from Stampin' Up!:

Both cards use Baja Breeze Textured Cardstock (from the In Color assorted pack 111345), Whisper White cardstock (100730) and Ski Slope Designer Series Paper (112994, available until January 18, 2009 in the Holiday Mini Catalog), and the stamp set used is Season Of Joy (110384) which is on page 34 of the Fall Winter 2008 Idea Book and Catalog.  The inks used were Baja Breeze (111833) and Silver Encore (101039).  I used the large oval, 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches on VSHR2 along with silver brads (104336) and white taffeta (109070).  VSHR1 also uses the Silver elastic cord (109866) from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  And since there is no such thing as too much bling, I added a few Swarovski Rhinestones from my bead collection.

Thanks for looking, and if you are looking for an online party this evening, be sure to check out the Verve Visual Release party over at Splitcoast!

The Verve Swap

This is a slide show of all 24 cards that were sent in for the Verve Visual Swap I hosted last month.  There were 3 groups of 8 swappers.  Julee (Vervegirl) was in all three groups and I had one other gal (babitoons) in two groups.  Some truly STUNNING work here!  They are not separated by group, they are in alphabetical order by the artist's Splitcoast name.  Enjoy!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I'm glad October is OVER.

And I'll be even MORE GLAD when the elections are over tomorrow.  I voted a while ago and the political ads were already driving me crazy THEN.  I won't even turn on the TV or radio now.  I'm just SO SICK OF IT.  And now I'm getting the phone calls.  3 or 4 a day reminding me to vote and support this candidate or that measure.  UGH.  STOP ALREADY!  

So, October kinda sucked overall.  Starting off with putting Taz down was bad enough.  Then my father-in-law passed away on the 15th.  Then I got food poisoning on the 19th and wasn't eating normally until the 27th.  While our trip to Disneyland at the end of the month at least ended the month on a good note, it wasn't enough to erase the general suckiness that was October 2008.  Good riddance.  

I'm currently working on a 6x6 recipe swap page for a crock pot swap I'm in with my Spamily.  I have the prototype done and the pieces are all cut out and in various stages of completeness.  I'm hoping to get that in the mail by the end of the week.  I'll post it here after the swap is mailed back out, which won't be till the 18th.  I'm still waiting on the last swap I was in to come back to me - the Christmas swap with my Swappers Anonymous group.  Sigh.  The postal service has not been my friend this week.  As soon as I'm done with the crock pot recipe swap, I need to get in gear and start on Christmas.  I need to design and make cards and ornaments for our family.  I have the blank ornaments at least, it's just a question of what I'm going to stamp on them.  Then there's gifts for the Spamily.  Eek!  Russ' mom and sister are going up to the cabin Thanksgiving night.  We had planned on going this year, but that's too many people up there for me to be able to work on my Christmas stamping which is the whole reason I go up there at Thanksgiving.  Russ thinks he might want to go up there with them, which is fine, but I will be coming home to stamp.  TOO MUCH TO DO!  LOL!

I have my mom asking for our Christmas wish list.  I have no idea what I want this year.  Everything we want is big ticket stuff (we got a new TV so we need a new DVD player and would really like to upgrade our audio system from the one we've had since the late 80's/early 90's.  I'd like another pot in my Calphalon set ($100).  Stuff like that.  And Mom hates doing gift cards.  Oh well.  I have started going thru and throwing/donating stuff out of my house and the thought of getting more "stuff" is really not appealing right now.  I donated stuff last week that came home from family Christmas gatherings last year and the year before and was still in the boxes it came in.  Ugh.  Hopefully it will make someone else happy this holiday.  

I need to finish cleaning out the "storage area" that our living room turned into.  I have boxes of stuff in there that came home from Dad's house in 2004 that just got stacked and stored in there.  I got through a few boxes before October went to the dogs, but all progress on that stopped on the 15th.  My hope is to actually put up our 7' Christmas tree this year.  We haven't had it up since 2002 when we discovered that there was no way (in this house) to keep Taz out of the living room and keep her from eating the tree.  Yes, it's artificial.  She loved to chew chew chew the branches and then she would barf little artificial tree bits all over the house.  Then she would repeat the process.  We tried spritzing the branches with bitter apple.  Didn't help.  Little monster.  So, this year, provided the mice in the garage have left the tree alone, we will have a BIG tree again.  We've had a little 3' thing on top of the entertainment center the past several years.  Now that the entertainment center is gone, it's big tree or NO tree!  We'll see what happens!  It would be nice to get my Hallmark ornament collection showcased again.  I've been collecting selected Hallmark ornament series since 1983 and have a collection that FILLS the 7' tree PLUS the mantle.....  Hmmmm...  Just realized that I need to find a new location for my Candlelight Churches.....  they used to go on top of the entertainment center, under the little tree.....  hmmmmm....

OK - enough babbling.  Off to work on my swaps!

Going thru stuff.....

I've been going thru some boxes of stuff that came from my Dad's house. I found a little stack of gift and greeting cards that my grandmother had saved. Most were from their wedding. I thought it was fun looking at these cards that are almost 80 years old and I thought I would share! A few of the greeting size cards had envelopes that were lined with printed "tissue" paper. I have salvaged all that and will add it to my stash of stamping supplies!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

It's been a hard day.....

This morning I had to do the thing all pet "parents" dread.   It's been a very long morning and I'm sure it will be a while before things settle into a new "normal" around our house.  Here is a slideshow of some of my favorite photos of Taz.  There is music with the slides.  Thanks for looking.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Gotta Vote for ATDR!

 

 

 

 

 

 

All Texas Dachshund Rescue is currently participating in 'The America's Favorite Animal Shelter Contest. If ATDR wins this contest, we will win a much needed $10,000 donation! Every vote helps save a homeless animal's life.

Simply click on this link to cast your vote:

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR ATDR NOW!

Tell all your friends and family about ATDR's quest to win $10,000 by forwarding this email!

Thanks !

My Spammy friends Janice and Kim volunteer and donate countless hours, dollars and LOVE to ATDR and their dogs!  When I went to visit Janice, I got to meet lots of ATDR Foster dogs!  Janice takes in a lot of the "special needs" dogs....  ones that are blind, deaf or have issues having been used in puppy mills  :-(

If you could take a minute to go vote for ATDR, that would be great!  It will ask for your name and e-mail address when you vote, but you can choose to have your vote show as "anonymous".  Thanks so much!

Joey- who found a forever home thanks to ATDR!

A new look!

Thanks to Silvia for convincing me that my font colors were not going to be wicked hard to change when I added the background!  Hopefully you all like this layout too!

Gettin' Krafty!

So, I've been looking at this challenge over on the Verve Visual blog for almost 2 weeks now....  I *just* ordered Kraft cardstock this month too.  What a coincidence!  Unlike the last Verve Challenge I played in, I didn't wait till QUITE the last minute this time (last time I uploaded my stuff with about half an hour to spare!).  So here is my "Gettin' Krafty" card:

I have also been playing with another swap that is due in October that I am using the Season of Joy stamp set for, so I thought I would combine the two.  Obviously, I can't use THIS for my swap since I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder, retired paper and Stickles on the image, but it's a start!  This is actually a Gift card holder too.... here's what it looks like OPEN:

This would be a fun and easy gift card holder to make for Teachers, babysitters and all those other people we thank with a little something around the Holidays.  And because it doesn't actually say CHRISTMAS, it's good for anyone!

The card holder is a 2 3/4" x 8 1/2" strip of Riding Hood Red Cardstock scored at 7" and then scalloped on one end and scored 5" from the scallops and folded into the holder shape.  The DSP was layered on top and cut to fit and then punched with the circle punch. I tied the bow with Kraft Taffeta on the flap, then the holder was glued down the sides.  I ran the Kraft piece (4 x 5.25 or "mountable card front size") thru my Cuttlebug in the Swiss dots folder, added the Chocolate Chip ribbon and attached the holder with Sticky Strip.  The image was stamped in Riding Hood Red on Whisper White, cut to size and adhered to the holder and then "stickled".  Love the BLING!  LOL!

Supplies used:

Papers - Kraft, Riding Hood Red and Whisper White Cardstock; Wild Wasabi Prints Paper (Retired)

Ink - Riding Hood Red

Ribbon- Double Stitched Chocolate Chip and Kraft Taffeta

Other- Scallop Edge and 3/4" Circle punches, Stickles, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing Folder

Another Cupcake Swap!

I did this card for my Swappers Anonymous "New Catalog" swap that was due this month. 

I used the "Crazy For Cupcakes" ATC from my other swap (See post Sept 2) as a starting point and built the card around it.  I used the matching Cupcakes wheel on the Creamy Caramel base.  I punched the sentiment (Also from Crazy for Cupcakes- stamped in black) out with the designer label punch.  Since my Stylized Vanilla Hodgepodge was on backorder, I framed the Real Red punch out with another one punched out of Creamy Caramel and then cut in half and adhered behind the red.  See how there is no "frame" on the sides?  Clever, huh?  Got that idea from Dannie Graves' blog, Dannie's Designs.  It still needed "something", so I added the gold brads.  Just right!  I adhered that to the Chocolate Chip ribbon and then layered that onto the Real Red panel which I scalloped with the new Scallop Edge Punch.

All products used are available in the Fall Winter 2008 Stampin' Up! Catalog and can now be purchased ONLINE!  Woo hoo!  If you don't already have a demonstrator, you can click the link on the side to online ordering and order from the comfort of your desk chair! LOL!

Supplies Used:

Stamps

• Crazy for Cupcakes 111618 $23.95 (on sale in October!)
• Cupcakes Stampin' Around Wheel 113121 $6.50

Accessories

• 1" Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon- Choc. Chip 111849 $8.95
• Gingham Ribbon - Red 104827 $7.50
• Scallop Edge Punch 112091 $15.95
• Designer Label Punch 107590 $15.95
• Ticket Corner Punch 107214 $6.95
• Crystal Effects 101055 $6.25
• Dazzling Diamonds 102023 $4.50
• Gold Brads 104337 $6.95

Cardstock (8.5 x 11)

• Real Red (102482) $5.50
• Chocolate Chip (102128) $5.50
• Creamy Caramel (102514) $5.50
• Brushed Silver (100712) $7.95
• Whisper White (100730) $7.50

Stamp Pads

• Basic Black (101179) $5.25
• Creamy Caramel (103220) $5.25

Stampin Write Markers

• Real Red (100052) $3.25
• Close to Cocoa (100072) $3.25
• Barely Banana (100039) $3.25

I have 2 swaps due in October.... A Christmas swap with my Swappers Anonymous group that is due on the 23rd (I'll be using Season Of Joy for that one), and a Verve Visual swap that I am hosting in the Verve Visual Forum on Splitcoast which is due on the 18th.  When I get that one in, I will be taking pictures of all the groups to make a slide show, but don't expect to see that till November, as I have a long weekend at Disneyland planned right after that swap comes in!  Stay tuned!  LOL!

THANKS TO ALL WHO VOTED.....

Morgan's drawing of Charlie the Lazy Cow *WON* in her age group!!!!!  Ty will be making MORGAN'S BEANIE BABY!  Here is a link if you want to see the winners of both age groups.....  

Please help my friend's 9 year old daughter win a contest!

OK - I am the enabler that sent them the link.  Ty is having a contest called "Make my beanie".  You submit a drawing of a beanie baby you want Ty to make.  Well, my friend's daughter drew a picture and submitted it.  She made it into the top 50.  Then into the top 20.  Well, now she is in the TOP FREAKIN TEN and has some SERIOUS competition, so I am pleading with EVERYONE I KNOW to please go vote for Charlie the cow.  You can vote for as long as you want to hit refresh and re enter the stupid green codes.  We thank you.  TRULY.....

http://makemybeanie.ty.com/mkmybeanie/mkMyBeanie_vote_indv_cap.php?id=12534

Nothing like waiting till the last minute....

All weekend I had been planning to work on Julee's Verve September Release OSW (One Sheet Wonder) Challenge. (Details here)

I FINALLY got all the pieces cut out YESTERDAY.  Stared at them, pushed them around on the card fronts.  NOTHING.  So, I resigned myself to the fact that I wasn't going to get this challenge done.  Well, I got up this morning and needed a card real quick and I figured that since I already had pieces cut, I'd use one of Julee's sketches.  That was over 3 hours ago.  I'm not incredibly pleased with Sketch #2, but it will have to do!  The deadline to upload these is 11AM my time.  It is now 10:37.  Like I said, LAST MINUTE!

Here is the photo of all four cards:

Sketch #1:

 

Sketch #2:

 

Sketch #3 (my favorite of the sketches):

 

Sketch #4:

Colors are Perfect Plum, Pale Plum and Mellow Moss.  The DSP is some retired SU paper I've been hoarding.  Sketch #3 uses the new Stylized Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, but I chose to use gold brads with it.  The satin ribbon is from last year's Holiday mini.  The green ribbon is Moss Taffeta.  The pearls came from a craft store.

Thanks for looking, and don't miss the new releases at Verve Visual tonight!

Crazy for cupcakes!

I signed up to use this set in 2 of 3 "new catalog" swaps I joined.  One is an ATC (Artist Trading Card) swap that isn't due until October and the other is a card swap that I need to mail out this week.  Well, I got the crazy idea in my head to do the ATC *first* and use them for BOTH swaps by mounting the ATC to a card.  Still working on that, but the ATC is almost done.  I say ALMOST because halfway thru them yesterday, I broke my Ticket Corner punch (I do use it an awful LOT!).  My friend Lori is loaning me hers so I can finish these up, but here is what they will all look like once I get them all punched and glued together:

 

All supplies are Stampin' Up!

The image is stamped on Whisper White using Basic Black.  Since my ZIG Painty pen retired with the last catalog, I stamped just the bottom part of the image again onto Brushed Silver Cardstock and cut the stand out (so it would have a metallic look) and pieced it onto the white.  The cupcakes are colored using Barely Banana and Close to Cocoa.  The cherries are Real Red with a dot of Crystal Effects on them to give them a little "pop".  It's hard to see in the picture, but the cupcakes are "frosted" with a mixture of Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds glitter which I applied with a little paintbrush.  Gotta work fast and rinse your brush off RIGHT AWAY when "painting" with Crystal Effects!  Then I added the Red Gingham ribbon, adding a little knot in the center, punched the corners and layered it onto the Real Red and then the Chocolate Chip.  Finished size for ATC's is 2.5" x 3.5". 

I originally did this in different colors and I may go back to that color scheme for the ATC swap since all I have finished on those so far is the main image piece.  We'll see!  Today I am going to play with the card option more.  I had a couple ideas yesterday, but they just weren't "perfect".  Happy Stamping!

OK, I admit it.....

I have been known to spend a little too much time at my local Starbucks.  Well, I have cut back DRASTICALLY and when I was in there today, I found out that my FAVORITE Barista, Jen, is about to transfer to another store!  Thursday will be her last day at the Starbucks by my house.  SNIFF!  Jen is this adorable, young, perky college student who likes to sing.  She will just be back behind the counter singing away while she is making drinks.  She makes me smile.  So I decided to make Jen a card.  Since she is a student, I thought a little bookmark would be fun too, so I made a pocket card for it.  And I also did it all in pink and brown for the challenge over at Verve!

So here is Jen's card:

And here is the bookmarker on the insert card:

The card is done on Confetti White Cardstock, the coffee beans are stamped in Close to Cocoa.  They are from a retired Stampin' Up! set called Like it a Latte.  The patterned paper on the pocket is from the Bella Rose DSP and the flowers and insert card use the new Pink Pirouette cardstock.  I also used Chocolate Chip cardstock for the bookmark and the mat on the insert.  The other color on the bookmark is Regal Rose.  The bookmark is embossed with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel and is the same "medallion" on both sides of the clip.  The flowers on the pocket are also embossed with UTEE.  The flowers and both sayings are from Verve Visual (Thankful Blossoms and Beautiful You).  "Jen" is stamped with the Playful font from Close to my Heart.  The ribbons on the flap are Stampin' Up! 5/8" Chocolate Chip grosgrain and Pretty in Pink Taffeta.  The little rhinestone flower is from Close to my Heart and various elements on the card are accented with the Spica Clear Glitter pen.  The image panel on the insert is "popped up" using foam tape so the paperclip goes in right behind it.

Thanks for looking!

Swap card spoiler!

If you are in Group Two of Lyssa's (GWTW Junkie) "Convention Quality Card Swap #5", don't read any further unless you want to see the card I made for my spot!

This started out TOTALLY differently in my head and then morphed into the PERFECT CARD which UNFORTUNATELY used a retired punch!  Ack!  I originally rounded the top corners and the corners on the pocket flap, but I realized that the corner rounder I had used was the one that Stampin' Up! retired a couple years ago, not the current one which gives a less rounded edge.  I don't like it as much, personally, but that's just me!  Tore my stamp room apart.  Can't find the current rounder.  Called every craft and scrapbook store in a 25 mile radius.... everyone was either out of that size or didn't carry it.  Checked WalMart and Target too.  No such luck.  So, my perfect card got sent out in a slightly imperfect form, with square corners.

ALL materials used are from Stampin' Up! as this is a demonstrator swap:

This is a classic pocket card made from Confetti White Cardstock cut 4.5" x 10.5" and scored at 1.5" and 5" from one edge.  The swirly image from Baroque Motifs is stamped above the pocket in So Saffron Classic ink.  The patterned paper is also in So Saffron from the Washington Apple DSP.  It is adhered flush with the bottom of the folded card.  The sentiment (from Best Yet; a Level 1 Hostess set) was stamped in Chocolate Chip Classic ink on the lower right corner.  Then I applied the 5/8" Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon to the flap and secured the flap edge down over the DSP.  The flowers are from the Eastern Blooms set and are stamped twice, once in Riding Hood Red Classic ink and once in Tangerine Tango Classic Ink on Whisper White cardstock, cut out and layered together.  On the small red flowers, I only cut out the 4 larger petals so the smaller tangerine ones would show underneath.  On the large red flower, the center is colored in with a So Saffron Stampin' Write Marker and then dotted with Crystal Effects and dusted with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.  The small flowers are held together with gold brads, the large flowers with a glue dot.  All flowers are adhered to the ribbon with glue dots and the pocket is sealed up the edges with Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive.  The insert is a simple 2x3 piece of Whisper White cardstock inside an envelope made using the new Riding Hood Red Patterns DSP and the brand new Big Shot Bigz Scallop Envelope die (a Stampin' Up! exclusive die). 

All of these products (Big Shot and dies not available until Sept. 2, 2008) used can be purchased through your Stampin' Up! independent Demonstrator.  If you don't have a demonstrator and are interested in ordering Stampin' Up! product, contact me or check the Stampin' Up! website to find a demonstrator in your area!

Thanks for looking!

Went to the State Fair today....

What a FABULOUS sampling of society!  You can see folks from ALL walks of life at the fair.  You can also see things that just should NOT be seen.  From the choice of outfits on some people to the choices of food available.  I mean, seriously, what the HELL is up with THIS:

One of my friends asked me if that was FOR REAL.  Oh yes.  Yes it was.  SPAM, the infamous mystery meat cut into "spears" and then BATTERED and DEEP FRIED.  Like SPAM isn't bad enough for you.  Served with a sweet and sour pineapple dipping sauce.  Well, there you go.  That just sells it right there.  NOT!

I did, however, enjoy my time in the Wine Garden.  Chatted with some charming people about wine tasting!

Ornament update....

Yes, I found them all.  Here is the blank slate of an ornament just waiting for me to play!

All sorts of idea floating around in my somewhat pickled brain...... LOL!

Thanks, Judy!

My friend Judy gave my blog this award today:

Here are the rules for playing this wonderful stamping blog award giving:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog (you'll find mine on the sidebar)
2. Link the person you received your award from (which I already did)
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4. Put links of those blogs on yours
5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.

Many of the blogs I read have already been nominated, so my list was hard to come up with!

1.  Julee at Poetic Artistry

2.  Jen at i {heart} 2 stamp

3.  Beate at Fresh & Fun

4.  Joan at Paperlicious

5.  Jeanne at Inky Paws

6.  Silvia at Mabie Stampin

7.  Belinda at Stamp With Belinda

It's one of those things.....

you just don't want to admit or even think about, but CHRISTMAS is four months from Monday.  Oh, yes.  Here it comes.  So today I began the annual search for the "blank" that will become this year's family Christmas ornament.  Have a favorite, but I have to see if I can get enough of them.  Apparently, each Michael's store only got FOUR and one of the ones at my store was kinda damaged.  So I got three there and 4 at another store.  I need a total of 10 - 12.  I have 2 more stores to try tomorrow.....

P.S. - I'll update with a photo when I know I have enough for the family!  LOL!

NEW STAMP SET!!!!!

OK - now that the birthday person has received her card, I can share it with the rest of the world!

I wanted to use the new Crazy for Cupcakes set.  The card needed to be TOTALLY Pink and girly.  I think it worked!

The card base is the new Pink Pirouette.  I used an uninked cartridge with Pink Pirouette reinker to wheel the design onto the base.  The accent color is Regal Rose.  The cupcake is pieced.. stamped on white, pink and apricot and then cut out and pieced together on a piece of the new Pink Pirouette Patterns Designer Series Paper.  Now most of the embellishments, are not Stampin' Up! as I wanted SUPER BLING on this card so it is accented with Stickles, 4 Swarovski Crystals and 4 rhinestone flowers that I think were from Close To My Heart.  The ribbon is 5/8" Regal Rose grosgrain.  I think I nailed "pink and girly"!

The Garage Sale!

Yes, I got my order of new SU goodies. But before I get into that with you, I thought I would share my photos from the Garage Sale up at Cherie's house on the 15th.

I got there Thursday afternoon. We priced sets and set up the tables in the garage Thursday evening and then got up bright and early Friday morning. We started hauling the tables out at about 6:35AM. We'd already had 2 cars parked in front of the house by 6:15AM. The forecast temperature was 114 or so for Friday. I know we hit 112 on Thursday. That's what I call "Stupid Hot". We brought the tables in a little after 1PM and HIT THE POOL! Around 7PM I barbecued pork chops for everyone and we all had dinner. After dinner, we moved all the stamps inside and took the tables down and put the cars back in the garage and driveway. Saturday, we SLEPT IN! LOL! It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun! Looking forward to next year!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

My first order from the new catalog

Has been placed.  It was finalized at 12:05:50 Mountain time.  I know that the bulk Hodgepodge frames that demonstrators could order starting today are on backorder, so those will follow whenever they get that all ironed out with the supplier.  So here is what I ordered:

113146  Bulk Vanilla HPH Frames w/brads

112966  Curly Label Punch Bundle

112081  Square Scallop Punch

111364  So Saffron 7/8" Poly Twill Ribbon

112577  Filigree Designer Brads

111365  Riding Hood Taffeta

111371  5/8" Striped GG - Tangerine Tango

113122  Cheers Wheel

112478  Fall Harvest Wheel

112469  Holiday Treasures DSP

112156  Pink Pirouette Prints DSP

112461  Washington Apple DSP

112155  Riding Hood Red Prints DSP

111373  5/8" Striped GG - Pink Pirouette

and I selected 111604 Best Yet as my Level 1 Hostess set.

I already have the new stamp sets I got at Convention, so I decided to concentrate on accessories for my first order.  I am patiently waiting until we see the Holiday Mini preview in September to place my stamp order since I will pick my Holiday set then.

So that's all the news from my little world today.  Time to start stalking the UPS man, looking for our new goodies!

Happy Stamping everyone! 

I found it!

I couldn't find the picture of my last swap card ANYWHERE!  I knew I had taken one, because I had sent it to Cherie and Lori to ask about the ribbon color.  Well, I finally tracked down the sent e-mail and realized I hadn't PHOTOGRAPHED it, I had SCANNED it and it was in the scanner files.  SIGH.  So, without any further delay, here is the 4th and final card I did for the General Swaps!

The patterned paper is from the Bella Rose DSP, the ribbon is Mellow Moss (so happy that we will now have Old Olive in the 1/4" Grosgrain, as well as Chocolate chip!) with a Caramel Gingham knot to accent.  The stamp set is 113622 Enjoy Every Moment and is stamped in Chocolate Chip craft ink onto the Apricot Appeal and then matted onto the Tangerine Tango.  The sentiment is from the same set and is stamped in Chocolate Chip on Tangerine Tango and punched out using the Word Window Punch and attached with 2 Gold Brads.  A very clean, simple and demonstratable card!

The last chapter....

And, here, Dear Stampers, are the rest of my Convention Swaps!  

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I know that I took a photo of the last card that I did.... I need to find it.  If I do, I'll blog it on Monday.  Let me just say that the last card was ASSSEMBLED ON THE PLANE and we had a little line going.... I glued the base on, passed it to Lori.  She put my label on the back and passed it to Cherie.  Cherie put them in their clear envelopes!  SMOOCHES, GIRLS!!!!!!  

What's sad is I don't even remember what STAMPS I used!  I do remember that it used the Tangerine Tango and I know there's a prototype photo on this computer somewhere because I was trying to decided between Mustard and Olive Ribbon and e-mailed it to a couple of my "Creative Advisors"... LOL!  You'll just have to wait patiently for it!

Convention ATC Swaps!

I hosted an ATC swap at Convention. We had a few no-shows, some of which I knew were missing Convention entirely, but still ended up with about 40 of the almost 50 cards that "signed up". Not bad! Here are the cards I did - I filled one of the spots for a gal who had to drop and the Red and Black card was my thank you to everyone who joined:

..............................................................................

And here is the slideshow of all the cards in my swap:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Card swaps - Part One!

OK - here is the first round of cards I brought home from Convention!  Some are from the "Spamily", some are from Kim Bolzenthal's "WOW" swap and the others are from trading on "the floor", or General Swaps.  I have included the creator's name on the photo if it was attached to their card.  If your card is pictured without a name, please contact me and I will correct it ASAP!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Let the Swaps Begin!!!!!

Here is the first slideshow of the swaps I brought home. This one actually starts off with gifts from my "Spamily". Most of the swaps came from the 3D Stamp Camp swap that I joined on Splitcoaststampers. It was hosted by jetty01. The small items were swapped on "the floor" for my bottle collar drink pouch holders:

These were made using the new Pink Pirouette and Riding Hood Red cardstock and the "Enjoy" stamp is from Lovely Labels and is stamped in either Tangerine Tango, Riding Hood red or Regal Rose. The frame is from "Together Forever" and is stamped in Chocolate chip. The "enjoy" was punched out with a circle punch - either 1-1/4" or 1-3/8". I rounded the top corners and punched the hole for the bottle with the 1-3/8" circle punch. The pouch is held together with 2 gold brads.

Here is the slideshow of my 3D swaps. Enjoy!!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Woo Hoo!

The box I shipped home from Convention arrived about 2 hours ago.  Unfortunately, that means another load of laundry arrived too.  LOL!  But MY SWAPS ARE HERE!  

So tomorrow I hope to go thru them all and get photos to upload into a slideshow for you all to see. 

I also need to ship a box out to Heather, who was 'sposed to be my convention roomie, but she had a NASTY family (medical) emergency and she missed Convention COMPLETELY.  How much does THAT suck?????   So I have her roomie gift and some other goodies that I picked up for her in Salt Lake City.  I know it doesn't BEGIN to erase the HELL she has gone through since last Tuesday, but I'm hoping it helps the sting a little!  

SMOOCHES, H!!!!!!!!!

I'm BAAAAAAAACK!!!!!

I'm back from Convention!  We had fun!  The catalog is awesome!  The new products rock!  I'll have pictures later this week.  All of my swaps are in the box I shipped home to myself which will arrive Wednesday afternoon.  I'll probably start scanning and photographing swaps on Thursday.  Same goes for photos of the stamp sets we got in our bags and the set we got as a gift from SU and UPS.  I also won a door prize set.  Swaps were fun and I got a lot of really nice cards this year.  I took a new camera to Convention and need to install the software to edit the photos......  

I know that Janice, Kate, Cherie and Lori are all home.  No word from Judy, but since it's 11PM her time, I'll just have to wait for an update from her tomorrow!  

Lots to tell about Convention and the new catalog.... Stay tuned!  LOL!

I'm SOOOOOO tired!!!!

I have spent the past few days staying up till midnight and getting up at my normal time of 6:15 - 6:30.  I'm trying to get my system used to it because I *know* I'm gonna be lucky to see 6 - 7 hours of sleep in Salt Lake City.  I aggravated my carpal tunnel today so now every time I pick anything up or squeeze anything, I get a shooting pain up my arm.  Fun.  It's made stamping a real challenge.  LOL!  I'm about halfway done with my last batch of swaps.  I'm hoping to get them to the point where all I have to do is mount them on the base and label them.  I can do that on the plane.  And get Cherie and Lori to help me!  LOL!  

Here is a peek at one of my swap cards!  Stay tuned during convention for more!  LOL!

  Everything on the card is from Stampin' Up!

The stamp set is "Fresh Cuts" from the new catalog, stamped in the new Tangerine Tango onto Whisper white and then cut and layered onto a Tangerine Tango mat and again onto Chocolate Chip.  The flower in the center is also from Fresh Cuts and is accented with a Rhinestone Fire Circle brad.  The card base is Apricot Appeal and the sentiment from "Heard From The Heart" (also from the new catalog_ is stamped in Chocolate Chip. 

I made "mountable" card fronts for swapping this year, meaning that they are cut 4" x 5 1/4" so they can layer onto a folded card and have a nice border of color around the edge.

THIRTY SIX HOURS FROM NOW I WILL BE IN SALT LAKE CITY!!!!!!!!!!!