New Catalog!!!

I got the new Stampin' Up catalog a couple of weeks ago and have enjoyed looking through it, seeing the new stamp sets and dies as well as all the great card samples. I love the new "In Colors", that is 6 colors of ink, paper, ribbon and markers that are only available for the year that this catalog is current. All the new goodies in the new catalog will be available for purchase beginning on July 1st. We are down to the last 2 days of the old catalog so if there is a set you want that is being discontinued, lmk asap so I can place it on my last order from that catalog.

I have a couple of sneak peeks today. We had a Stampin' Up Team meeting Saturday and I got some cards in our swap that were made with new stamp sets from the new catalog. The first one is my swap. I used the Big Shot machine to cut the new Rich Razzleberry cardstock with the scalloped circle die. I folded it in half first so there is a fold at the top which I tied the organza ribbon around. I cut circles of Bermuda Bay and white and I also ran the white cardstock through my Big Shot with a polka dot texture plate. I love the texture that the texture plates add. I used gold ink to stamp the bamboo with a bird stamp from the Asian Artistry set. This is a new level 2 hostess set. I love the little bird but decided to go with the dragonfly from the set instead. I stamped him in Bermuda Bay and punched him out with the 1 1/4" circle and matted it on a Rich Razzleberry circle. I stamped the quote from this set, also in gold, on Rich Razzleberry cardstock and punched it out with the new modern label punch. I love this punch and it is even better because it works perfectly with the word window punch. I'm sure I'll be making more cards from this set soon so you can see how sweet the little bird is and you can see the other stamps in the set.

The card beside my card is made by Nancy Reeves using another level 2 hostess set called Wings of Friendship. I love that little bird! He is embossed with black for a very elegant look. The Thanks So Much sentiment is so lovely, it came from a level 3 hostess set called Kind and caring thoughts. I wish I could write that pretty! My handwriting has always been terrible.

Here are 2 more swap cards made with a new stamp set called Circle Circus. It is a great set, perfect for lots of backgrounds and flower centers. The one on the left was made by Leslie Allen and the one on the right didn't have a name on it. They both use Bermuda Bay cardstock as a base. I'm loving the new "In Color" colors. The only one of the 6 new colors not represented on Leslie's card is Soft Suede, a nice medium brown that is on the next card.

These last 2 cards are the cards we made at the meeting. I'm very tempted by the Autumn Days set that the pheasant and the wheat shafts come from. It is a wonderful set for cards that will be sent to men but it also has fall-like stamps and pine cones and a berry bough that could be used on Christmas projects. It is a very versatile set. The other card also uses the Circle Circus stamp set. This set is great to make a background for your card as in the previous picture or to use as accents as demonstrated in this card. I'm imagining all kinds of scrapbook pages using this great stamp set!

I was going to post these Saturday night but my camera wasn't talking to my computer so I tried again Sunday, nothing. It finally decided to cooperate today so I'm finally getting a post done. I have been so busy that I haven't posted as regularly as I'd like to. We are getting good veggies out of the garden but I'm thinking the weeds are winning sometimes! I picked a few yellow squash and zuchinnis last night and steamed them to go with our supper. Yummy! We have lots of lettuce and the tomatoes are growing good. The corn is almost waist high so another few weeks and we will be eating fresh corn on the cob. I am most disappointed in the beets. I don't know if I planted them too deep or what but only 2 plants came up. Beets are my favorite vegetable but I only like them fresh from the garden, not canned. I'll have to go to the farmer's market to get my beets this year I guess.

Gone Camping

Wow, it's been almost 2 weeks since I last posted! It has been a busy 2 weeks. Last week was my church Girl's Camp and I am the craft director so I was busy preparing the week before last and busy teaching (in a big old barn) last week. It was a wonderful week, I love teaching at Girl's Camp every year. Not that I don't enjoy when the girls are there in my classes but I think my favorite part of camp is when I'm in the barn alone and can hear the girls outside, chattering, running and laughing and having fun. That is what life is supposed to be like for girls between the ages of 12and18. That is the life I remember as a teenager. Things are so different now and girls seem to live a less carefree life.

Another cool thing about Girl's Camp is the certification program they have. It is a 4 year program where they learn to do different camping skills and build upon the previous year each time. That builds their confidence as well as teaching them a lot of skills. I remember when I finished the 4 years when I was a girl (oh, so many, many years ago) feeling like I could take on the world. After all, I could catch a fish, prepare it and cook it over a fire that I had built without matches!

This year was the year of the storms. The 4th year girls came up on Monday and learned some advanced skills before the other girls came up on Tuesday. We had a flag ceremony Tuesday about noon and then took pictures for them to use on the scrapbook pages they would make on Thursday. Before we had finished taking all of the group pictures, someone got word that a bad storm was coming so we gathered all the girls in the barn. I don't know how many cows this farm used to support but that is one huge barn! There were about 75 girls there as well as around 4o adult leaders. We weren't even crowded, that is how big the barn is.

I'm not sure how it would have survived a tornado but with the 70-80 MPH straightline winds we had that day it was just fine. I felt safe while the rain was pelting and the lightening was flashing like crazy. After a couple of hours the storm lifted and we could go out to assess the damange. Lots of tents were blown down and several were ripped beyond repair. Of course, there were lots of wet sleeping bags and clothes and some ruined food but overall, things were good. We were able to do some of the certification requirements in the barn so we didn't get too far off schedule.

Wednesday we made birdhouses for our craft and many of the girls came to enjoy their craft time. I always have some beads out for the girls who aren't interested in the other crafts so there were some girls who created necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

Wednesday night was skit night so the girls were excited about putting on their skits. We always invite their families to come watch the skits so there was another 100 or so people there for that. Well, guess what happened - another storm! This time there weren't the high winds expected but lots of rain and lightening. We were actually able to fit everyone into the loft of the barn and had plenty of room to do the skits up there. We had to stop a few times because the rain was pounding so hard that we couldn't hear the skits but the youth leaders (the 16 and 17 year old girls) would lead the rest of us in songs and games during those times. By 9:00 the skits were over and I was just trying to decide if I should wait for the rain to let up a little more or if I should go ahead and go home.

That is when I realized - I had left my car windows down! I knew it had rained VERY hard for over 2 hours but didn't find out till later that it had rained 5 inches! I ran out to the car and it was really wet. I had a sweatshirt I had brought because it sometimes gets chilly at night so I put that on the seat as I hopped in. I soaked up the water that was in the panel on the armrest that has the ELECTRONIC controls for the windows and door locks and hoped that they hadn't shorted out or anything. Luckily they worked so I got the windows rolled up. By the time I got home my jeans were totally soaked. It took 2 long, hot days for the seats to dry out!

So, that is what I've been up to. It was a busy couple of weeks but fun ones too. I guess some of you are wondering about the drawing for blog candy that I had planned to do last Monday. I had 6 correct answers to the question about the wedding invitations. Nikki and I both liked the lower right invitation the best. Travis liked the upper left one the best. Sooooooo, the winner is: Quon! Congratulations, Quon, I will get your stamp set to you right away.

6 Wedding Cards

My baby boy is getting married in September. Why is it that even though he is 27 he is my baby boy? The colors they picked for their Fall wedding are persimmon and fern. The fern matches perfectly with Stampin' Up's Always Artichoke but there wasn't an orange color that matched the persimmon so I used Bazzil's Saltillo. On a couple of the cards I also used Bazzil's metallic Rusted cardstock to give the invitations some shimmer. I also splurged on the striped satin cardstock for the first card. All stamps are from the To Have and To Hold set except the background stamp for the last card was stamped with the discontinued French Flair stamp. Which card do you like best? Travis and Nikki picked different cards but Nikki and I picked the same card! I like this girl!

Since I'm excited about Travis getting married and it's been a while since I offered blog candy, I'll put all the ones who pick the same card that Nikki and I did in a hat and give away a stamp set to the winner. Good luck guessing the right card! Just in case you can't see them well enough, just click on the picture and a really big picture of them will pop up. You will be able to see the detail better but it is still a fairly bad picture. I already sent the cards to Nikki so I can't take a better picture. I'll draw next week, probably on Monday since I'll be away at our church's Girl's Camp for the rest of the week. Boy, will I be behind on my emails by the end of the week!

New Catalog!

The new catalog is going to be released on July 1st, that's less than a month away! I can't wait to get it and see all the new sets. If you would like to check a list of what sets in the current catalog are retiring, click on the last chance sign on the right of my blog, it will take you to both the accessories and stamps that are retiring. The accessories are going to sell out fast, the list is updated every day. Stampin' Up manufactures it's own stamps in their own factory so the stamps will be available until June 30 but the accessories are gone when they sell out. Some of the accessories are 50% off too! If you see something you really want, better just order it from my Stampin' Up website because it will be about a week before I send in another order.

I did get a sneak peek at the new level 2 and 3 hostess sets and they are great! I should get the new catalog in the next week so I'll have to find a lot of time to check out the new stuff.

How do you like this graduation card? I used the chipboard owl from the On Board So Tweet chipboard set. I covered him with the brown print paper from the Parisian Breeze designer paper and punched the wings with the scalloped circle and then double punched them with a circle punch to remove part of the scallops. I showed how to do this in my October scrapbook class if you want to go back and see how I did it.

The eyes are chipboard circles colored with the Whisper White ink pad and then I punched holes with the Crop-a-Dile (it punches right through that chipboard!) and put the green rhinestone brads in.

The cute grad hat is punched from the largest Tag Punch and the Key Tag punch. I took a piece of Bashfull Blue ribbon and tied a knot in one end, then I clipped up the sides of the ribbon all the way to the knot. I raveled all the vertical threads from the ribbon so it looks like a tassel. It was actually quick and easy to make the owl.

Monogramed Notes in a cute purse class

I'm teaching a new class for this cute little purse filled with monogramed note cards. I will be posting the location and date as soon as I firm them up. I also created projects for a Father's Day gift class but my camera isn't speaking to my computer right now so I'll post them as soon as I can figure out what the problem is.

One of my favorite parts of this project is the georgous faux alligator skin flap closure. It is so pretty and is easy to make. I love the

monogramed alphabet too. It is such a pretty set

and makes great accents on these notecards. The

purse and accents on the notecards is the beautiful Parisian Breeze Designer paper. It has a wonderful texture and is nice and thick.

From the inside view picture you can see the 2 pockets for the note cards and envelopes and the fun pen that is even decorated with the Parisian Breeze Designer Paper. With the Baja Breeze ribbon handle, the whole set coordinates beautifully. What a great set to have for yourself or to give as a gift!

It's planted!

After so long of the garden being too wet to get the tractor in and work it up for our garden we finally have it planted! We should have had it in a month ago but haven't had 2 days in a row without rain so it had to wait. We planted corn, green beans, purple hull peas, beets, spinach, lettuce, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, squash, zucchini (only 6 hills) and we transplanted about 8 tomato plants that our daughter and grandson had started before they moved here from Memphis. It got too hot before we did the cantalope and watermelon so we will do that in the morning if it isn't too wet. Yes, we got rain for our garden today. I didn't want to take a bucket of water out there, it would take a long time to water each seed and the hose won't reach. The top picture shows two of my grandchildren playing in the garden the day before we planted it.


Easton is helping plow the garden and Malia is doing what 17 month old babies do, tasting the dirt!

Featured Guest, Lori Stilger

During the blog tour last weekend I noticed a card that was so beautiful that I asked it's creator if she would be a Featured Guest for me. She gladly consented so let me introduce you to Lori Stilger and show you a couple of her cards. I asked her several questions, I think you will be interested in her answers. Don't you love her butterfly card? I ordered the Pretties Kit so I can make beautiful butterflies too!

Why did you decide to join SU?
About 11 years or so ago, I went to a Stampin' Up! party. The whole time I sat there, I thought, "I can do this a lot cheaper with eBay, Michael's, JoAnn's..." So I bought a stamp set, and left.
Two years later, I signed up. I had a STACK of card stock that I couldn't get the inks to coordinate with - especially yellows. Has anyone else noticed that??? I wanted things that I KNEW would go together without my having to think too hard. Stampin' Up! gave that to me - inks, card stocks, markers, AND chalks. And I've never looked back!

How long have you been a demo?
Eight years in June!

Where do you get your inspiration?
Well, to be honest, I hate to copy anyone. I get bored! IF I get stuck, I go bloghop, or go to some demo-only galleries to look. I also keep a file on my hard drive each year called POSSIBLE CASE, and I browse it when I'm desperate.

Tell about your family.
I've been married to my husband, Kenn, for almost 13 years - we met on the internet. I have a stepdaughter, Kaisa, who - along with her husband, Jeff, of two years - lives in California. Kenn and I share a house with my parents, and that's a good thing! I have two younger sisters, both married and in different states.

What is your favorite stamp set?
Oooh, that's a HARD question! I'd have to say, lately, it's been Fifth Avenue Floral. Rustic Rooster's been used a lot around here lately, too - but gosh, it's hard to pick!

What is something every card needs?
TEXTURE. Whether with ink, embossing, or design, it needs to have some depth to it. My customers will also tell you I used dimensionals on about 2/3 of my designs, too. They give a lot of that depth I look for, without breaking the bank - or causing me too much work.

Do you scrapbook? If so, what is your favorite technique for scrapbook pages?
I DO, but more for teaching than for my personal use - we're photographers who work with digital images, so I'm REALLY looking forward to the digiscrapping SU!'s bringing out soon. It can't be too soon. (Elaine's note: Did you see that? I haven't mentioned it but Stampin' Up is coming out with digital products very soon!)
That being said, the albums I HAVE done, I like to do theme scrapping - so that MOST of the pages are the same. I feel that, with a themed album, my memories and the pictures definitely take center stage. For instance, for our 10th anniversary, Kenn and I renewed our vows on our favorite Oregon beach, and took a WONDERFUL trip just for us (instead of spending all the time with family and friends. For MOST of the book, there are no titles, etc - there's a title PAGE, but nothing on individual pages, because the story flows from moment to moment, not event to event. The elements on most of the pages are the same: torn border with embossed starfish. There are two 2-page layouts, however, that I call EYE CANDY. No journaling - because when I take the time to journal, I JOURNAL. Those layouts are completely different pages; I used different colors, different accents, and just scenery shots. I LOVE that book.

I love all the glitter on this card. The Manhattan Flowers embossing folder is one of my favorites! I need to try this technique with it, such a georgous card!

I'd like to thank Lori for joining me today and sharing her projects and answering my questions.
Lori Stilger's blog http://www.poohisstamping.blogspot.com/

Card Portfolio, Great teacher's gift!

I went to a Retreat a couple of weeks ago for Stampin' Up demonstrators. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. We did 6 projects so I'm going to share one of them today. This is a fun card portfolio we did and it included 3 matching cards. This is the front of the portfolio. We used the Friends 24-7 stamp set, Friendly Words wheel and the georgous Parisian Breeze Designer Paper. This paper is cardstock weight and is textured. Wow, while I'm thinking about it, our designer paper is on sale this month!

Buy Three, Get One Free
Celebrate National Scrapbooking Month with Stampin' Up! From May 1-31, buy three packs of Designer Series paper and/or 12" x 12" textured card stock, and get one pack free! Mix and match your papers to meet all your scrapbooking and paper crafting needs.

You can email me an order or place an order online with your credit or debit card. You can click on the catalog on the right sidebar to access my online catalog. We have some great paper!

OK, back to our project, here is the portfolio opened. I love how the cards all match the portfolio so it is a great gift! Another thing I love is that the portfolio is made with a single sheet of 8 1/2 X 11 cardstock. We just folded up 2 1/2" on the long side to form the pockets and then folded that in half. We stamped the front of the portfolio with the Bella Toile background stamp and then added a strip of white cardstock wheeled with matching Baja Breeze ink. The butterfly cut with the Beautiful Butterflies die and tied with ribbon. Quick and easy!

The inside of the portfolio is stamped on the flap only in Creamy Caramel ink.

Here are the 3 fantastic cards we made to fill the portfolio. I just put 10 cards and envelopes in my portfolio and they fit so this would make a great gift to give your children's teachers for the end of the year. They always need lots of thank you cards.




















Limited-Time Scrapbooking Starter Kit
Start your own business for as little as $75 with the limited-time Scrapbooking Starter Kit. The Scrapbooking Starter Kit contains the following:
Schoolbook Serif Alphabet stamp set
Simply Scrappin' Petal Party
Earth Elements Assorted textured card stock (12" x 12")
Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad
In addition, this specially-priced Starter Kit contains all the business supplies found in the regular-priced Starter Kit.
Let me know if you are interested in starting your new business!

Sneak Peak at Scrapbook class

I thought I'd share a sneak peak at a bit of the layout we are doing in our scrapbook group next week. It was actually supposed to be last night but I am sick, sick, sick! The flowers are a great new technique I learned and I just love the little bird. I think he needs some glitter though! If you are in the area you would be welcome to come to the class, just leave a comment with your email and I'll get the info to you.

What a difference a layer makes

These 2 cards are basically the same except for the colors. The one on the left is nice but the one on the right has an extra layer, the striped paper with the green ribbon tied around. Such a simple added touch seems to make a big difference. You may have noticed that I usually have several layers on my cards. Simple is good sometimes but adding another layer can step up a card nicely.

BTW, I managed to get into my scrap room. My son in law managed to push the door open about 4 inches and I could reach in and pull the boxes from behind it and push them out of the way. It took probably 10 minutes to get in. There were 7 boxes in the landslide! Once we get the rest of the house livable we will have to work in there. Moving is so much fun.

Some of you don't know that my daughter, her husband and their 2 1/2 children moved in while he does an internship here for the Southern College of Optometry. I told them there was no reason for them to take more college loans to pay rent when we have 5 bedrooms. I'm loving having those sweet babies here, it will be a fun 8 months. The new baby is due in September. Easton (age 3) sometimes gets fustrated with his little sister (16 months) for wrecking his train tracks. The other day he said his baby brother won't wreck his trains. We don't know if it is a boy or girl but Easton knows!