I'm excited today because I'm going to Atlanta to get my punch rods (better known as towel rods) at Ikea! I can't wait to get them up and make more room on my desk. It will still need a lot of attention before it is considered "uncluttered" but it will help a lot to get the punches off of it. I actually took a picture of my desk a couple of weeks ago and was going to title it "Why can't I find my scissors" but haven't had the nerve. When I get it all cleaned off and organized I may post the before picture. Any coments from my daughters who have seen my mess will possibly be removed :~)

The first card is one I made after seeing a card on the website for Stampin' Up demonstrators. They used a different stamp set, it was a Christmas card but I thought this one would work for it too. I'm still feeling like it needs something but I kind of like it.

Next are 4 of the cards I got from the swap at the Chattanooga Stampin' Up regional meeting last month. The rest of the cards are Christmas cards so I'll be posting them next week. The top left card is so sweet, I just love the bear and the brown and red color combination is surprisingly pretty. It is hard to see how pretty the one below it is because the flash glared a little on the gold embossing powder but it is beautiful and I love how she colored it in.

Have a great day everyone! I don't reckon I'll be stamping today, I've got a long drive ahead of me. I hope you will find some time to stamp though.

10 minute challenge card

I just had to do a fall card with the baby wipe technique pheasant I did the other night. Somehow, the green on the card turned blue in the picture. Humm, maybe I like the blue better than the green anyway! The card was done loosely using a sketch posted on CaroleAnn and Sandi McGiver's blog for a 10 minute challenge they do every week. If you don't count the time I spent looking for the stamp set (it was in the drawer under the main drawer I store stamps in. I forgot I expanded to another drawer!) this one would have easily taken less than 10 minutes.

Swap Cards from Regional Seminar

I still haven't posted any of the cards that I got in the swap at the Regional Stampin' Up Seminar in Chattanooga last month. Here are a few of my favorites.

The first one isn't a card, it's a bookmark. I think it is very cool and will make your page easy to find. These would make a pretty nice gift when you needed just a little something for someone. Or, if you like to give books as gifts, add a nice homemade touch to it with a bookmark specially made for them in place at the beginning of the book. Of course, it would come in handy to mark the page of the catalog with the stamp set you just HAVE to have next!

These four cards all have fall colors. The top left with the punched flowers was made by Jacqueline Price from Knoxville, TN. The Embrace Life card was made by Kriste Millington, I love how she used the baby wipe technique to color the leaves, very cool. The friend to friend card was made by Lora Lee Braswell of Montgomery, AL and the pumpkin card was made by Amy Ord. All are beautiful cards.

Oh man, it may be nearly 11PM but I feel a quick tutorial coming on. The baby wipe technique is a fast and easy way to add lots of color to your stamps with very little effort. You just need a few reinkers and a baby wipe.

Drip several drops of each color onto a folded baby wipe. You might want to put the wipe on a paper plate to protect your table because the ink will soak all the way through. The drops will bleed together pretty quickly.

Ink up your stamp on the baby wipe just like you would on a stamp pad. The technique looks really nice on the script stamp from the Charmingly Yours set but look how great it looks on Circle Circus. I think my favorite that I stamped tonight is the pheasant from the Autumn Days stamp. I love that you can get all that color from dripping a few drops of reinker instead of opening 4 different ink pads and sponging the color onto the stamp over and over.

You can get over 50 inkings from your baby wipe ink pad. Of course, the last ones will be a more muted color but this "ink pad" will stamp a lot! What a great tip if you are doing a swap or working on lots of Christmas cards. I used Pumpkin Pie, Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green and Brilliant Blue. Try a different combination and see what it looks like.

I used fall colors but wouldn't Christmas colors look great and then think of the soft colors for the spring projects that I'm sure are just around the corner. Can you tell I'm ready for winter to be over and it isn't even here yet!

Today is National Digital Scrapbooking Day

It seems there is a national day for everything, doesn't it? I just found out at 9:30 tonight that today is National Digital Scrapbooking Day. Too late to celebrate? Not with MDS as Stampin' Up demonstrators like to call our new digital program. The home office tells us that it isn't a digital scrapbooking program, it's a digital paper-crafting solution. It kind of makes you grin but it is actually true. I've done scrapbook pages, even whole albums with MDS (My Digital Studio) as well as cards, flyers, newsletters and I'm working on a video scrapbook now. I even was able to figure out how to make a pattern that could be printed out and cut and folded to make a box. I'm imagining making curved lines too, no telling what other kinds of patterns I'll come up with. It would also be great for doing sketches for both scrapbook pages and cards.

So, in honor of this special day I took the tests and did the project that is required to be certified in MDS. Some may even say I'm certifiable! Stampin' Up has a certification program for demonstrators to show that they are qualified to teach, sell and provide support for the My Digital Studio program. I missed a couple of questions here and there but even that helped me learn some things I had missed in the video webinars I watched before taking the tests. There were 4 tests in all and then we had to submit a card to be printed.

Here is the card I submitted. What do you think? I decided to do a birth announcement for my grandson who is just over a month old. I'm having fun helping to spoil him. I was going to put a piece of white grossgrain ribbon across the card too but it seemed like it had plenty going on so I skipped that. It will be fun to see the card in real life when it comes. I haven't done much as far as cards are concerned in MDS. I've been doing a lot of scrapbook pages, probably close to 100 by now. I plan to use the program a lot to design cards and pages and then make the actual project from "real" stuff. I like cutting and creating too much to go totally digital!

So, National Digital Scrapbooking Day will surely be over by the time you check my blog again but go ahead and do something digital anyway. I guess I should write it on my calendar so I won't forget about it next year. Hey, I created a calendar for one of my certification classes, I can add it to that! That is one of the great things about creating a calendar in a digital program - you can add your personal things like family birthdays, family reunions and the really important days like Digital Scrapbooking Day. I'm thinking about adding a note about 5 days before every birthday to remind me to mail a card. It would be nice to be able to remember it myself but that just doesn't seem to happen anymore. . .

Fall Cards

There is a set on page 92 of the Stampin' Up catalog called Autumn Days. I kept looking at and thinking about how versatile it would be but for some reason I never bought it. I really liked it but it didn't make it to the top of my ordering list. When I went to the Fall Retreat last month I won it! I was so glad because I wanted to see what I could do with all those great pieces. Here are three cards I have made with it so far. I haven't been able to stamp a lot lately or I'm sure I would have made lots more cards with it by now. These are all pretty close CASEs but it is fun to put your own twist to someone else's card.

Clean and simple is the best way to describe this first card. Just Very Vanilla cardstock, Old Olive ribbon and the pinecone stamp from the Autumn Days set and the Merry Christmas stamp from the Teeny Tiny Verses set. It kind of looks embossed but it is just layering of the cardstock.

I created a background paper on the Creamy Caramel cardstock with 2 of the stamps using Chocolate Chip and Whisper White ink. It didn't take as long to cut out the pheasant as I thought it would. I bought the Stampin' Up paper snips a while ago but I keep picking up my old scissors when I need to cut something. I think I have a mental block about the snips being so sharp. I decided to break them in cutting this and they really cut nicely. I think they were worth every cent!

The last card was very easy. I punched out a circle and adhered it to the center of my card. Then I stamped wheat in yellow, the branch in Old Olive and the berry branch in Real Rust ink around it, placing the end on the circle and stamping them in wreath form. I peeled off the circle, added a Pumpkin Pie bow and a sentiment and all there was left to do was mount it on a cardstock mat and the card base. This was such a quick card!

I love fall. I think there are only 2 reasons that I don't like it more than spring. First, spring colors last for a couple of months, from the first time I see the crocus peeking out until the buttercups and iris fade. Fall just lasts a week or two and then the glorious colors of the leaves turn brown and it seems everything is brown and dull for months on end. But the biggest reason is because after spring comes summer with all the fun activities and vacations and the rewarding work in the garden. Winter drags on with cold weather and days and days shivering and cold. I don't like to be cold! My hot flashes come way to far between during the winter!

But then. . . when I'm sitting by the fire all winter I can use the excuse that it is too cold to be outside as a reason to stamp!

I have been amazed at some of the creations I've seen online using the ornament punches that definitely aren't Christmas ornaments. I had a chance to play around with it while I was in the mountains of East Tennessee 2 weekends ago and here is the card I made. I'm just crazy about those cute little fishes! Who would have seen a fish in the Christmas ornament? I frequent a blog where the Stampin' Up demonstrator creates cute little guys with the punch, she calls them "chins" and they are adorable. Here is her blog so you can check them out.

Layout From Halloween Party Tonight

All of the grandkids were dressed up and ready for the Halloween party tonight. It was pretty cool to come home and whip out a double page layout of the festivities in less than a half an hour. Baby Brennan is 1 month old and makes a mighty cute lobster and Malia is the sweetest ballerina around! The superheros are ready for candy and we can't forget the Lightening McQueen pit crew member. Although his mom noticed that he was only in 1 picture so maybe we nearly forgot him!

By the way, in case you didn't know, tomorrow is November! Where did Oct go???

Pumpkins!

I've been seeing a lot of great ideas for pumpkins lately. I just can't resist a cute pumpkin! Here are 4 of my latest CASE's of pumpkins.

First, I can't remember which blog I saw this pumpkin on but I just love it! This adorable little pumpkin is 1 1/2 inches high. I used the round tab punch for my pumpkin but I've also seen the circle punches, oval and scalloped punches used. I used 8 punches but you could use more if you wanted to. First, I cut the paper into 2 inch strips and rolled them with the Baroque Borders wheel. Since it is a small wheel I had to roll it twice on each strip. Use any swirly wheel but if you use a large one you will only have to roll it once.

After rolling each strip I punched the Round Tab punches out and adhered each one to the next until I had all 8 attached to each other but didn't attach the final ends together. I made a square of Chocolate Chip cardstock about 1"X1 1/2" and rolled it up tightly, secured the end and adhered it to the center of all the punches. I cut thin strips of Old Olive cardstock and wrapped them around a stylus handle to get some curl started then I wrapped them around the metal tip of the stylus to get a tighter curl. I added these to the stem and then adhered the 2 ends of the pumpkin and that's all there is to these cute little guys!

For the card I made the pumpkin the same way only I used 7 punches instead of 8. There's no reason you couldn't use 8 again but it looked pretty full at 7 so I stopped there. I pretty much totally CASEd this card but I can't find it now to give the creator credit. If you know who's blog I found it on, let me know so I can give credit to her.

Next is a Top Note Die pumpkin. Again, I copied it from someone's blog but I didn't put their name under it in my Top Note document so I don't know who to say came up with the idea. Angie gave 2 sheets of Cast A Spell designer paper at a crop Thursday (she is soooo sweet!) and they were perfect for a pumpkin patch layout. I cut 4 of the Top Note Dies from Pumpkin Pie cardstock and sponged Pumpkin Pie ink around all edges. I overlapped the first two in the back of the third one so they extended nearly an inch on either side then I reinserted the last die into the machine to come up with the skinny middle. I didn't take any pictures when I was doing it but when you are trying to line it up there is pretty much one way to make it nice and rounded on the ends. After inking that last edge I put it in the middle and added a stem of Close to Cocoa punched with 2 of the Modern Label punch and curly q vines of thin strips of Old Olive like the Round Tab punch pumpkins in the first 2 projects.

The picture of the layout is a little blurry but I mounted the designer paper onto Close To Cocoa cardstock and stamped pumpkins from the Autumn Harvest stampset on the bottom. I designed the title in My Digital Studio and printed it out on Very Vanilla cardstock. I was amazed that the orange perfectly matches the Pumpkin Pie cardstock! My printer didn't fail me (for the first time in about 3 months). I'll have to see how it matches some of the other colors but now I know it matches Pumpkin Pie exactly.

A friend called me a traitor (hi michelle!) for doing digital layouts but I think I will use the program more for hybrid layouts and for designing layouts than I will for plain flat digital pages. I just love playing with my stamps and paper too much to totally go digital. I do love the My Digital Studio program though. I've learned how to use it to do flyers and I saw someone who did a picture video on it. I need to check that out and do a picture video to send to family with all the pictures I have of the grandkids. You can even have music playing with your videos! I'm sure I'll post when I figure it out so you can do videos with it too. I'm going to put my newsletter on the sidebar after I post this so you can keep up with the latest news from Stampin' Up and my class schedule too. I've been trying to figure out a good way to do a newsletter and My Design Studio is wonderful for them. I just need find out how to make it clickable so you won't have to email me for a copy of it!

The last pumpkin is one I did last year but it folds up flat to store through the un-pumpkin season so I just spread it out again and put it on the shelf above my stamp desk. It is from 1 1/2" strips of Pumpkin Pie cardstock, rolled with the same Baroque Borders wheel. I stacked 8 of the strips up and punched a hole with the Crop-a-dile. It is cool because it will go through all 8 layers with no problem at all! I put a large brad through both sets of holes and then pulled the strips apart, they just take on the round shape as you pull. I topped it off with a 5/8" bow of Old Olive ribbon.

One of the things I love about pumpkins (besides pumpkin bread) is that you can use them for Halloween decorations and then keep them out in November for Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoyed my pumpkin fest today!

I'm probably having fun!

Happy Friday! I'm in the Gatlinburg, TN area at Croptoberfest. This is my 10th year to go, goodness, it doesn't seem like that long! My friend Diana and I go every fall and it is a great get-away and a fun crop too. One year I got 2 pages done in the 4 days of the crop. Another year I did 32 pages. I'm thinking I will spend a lot of time doing pages with MDS this year. That will mean a lot less to pack and haul 250 miles.

The crop is in the mountains at a youth camp. It is beautiful and I'm thinking that the leaves will be in full color if the leaves around here are any indication. My daughter and I went to a pumpkin patch about 2 miles away Monday and she took some great pictures. Of course, my favorites are the ones with the grandkids in them but I really like this one. I like how it is still pretty green but the fall colors are starting to show and the pumpkins are laying thick in the patch.

Since I'm at Croptoberfest and we will be eating turkey in just over a month I thought I'd include the 2 Thanksgiving cards I got at the Stampin' Up Fall Retreat. These are the last of the swap cards from the retreat. I think I got 28 cards in all.

Do you recognize the punch that the acorn is made from? Yes, it's the Christmas Ornament punch! What a great idea for an acorn. I've seen so many ideas with that punch, I'd say it is a must have for your punch collection. Mary Ranger made this card and stamped the tree from The Season of Friendship set. The other fall

card didn't have a name on it but is beautiful as well. She used the Harvest Home stamp set and Fall Harvest wheel to make the card and tied it all up with raffia. I love the fall colors. If it wasn't for the cold winter that follows, I'd love fall best of all.

Last 5 Christmas Cards from Swap

There are 5 more Christmas cards left from the swap at the Stampin Up retreat. The first one is a big tag made by Thelma Collins using the snowman from the Simple Seasonal Thanks stamp. This is a giant snowman that usually says "Dear ____, thank you so much for the ______ . I like it a lot! Sincerley, ________ It is a great way to have your children send thank you cards for the Christmas presents they get.

It seems like sending thank you cards is becoming a lost art anymore so we should teach our children to stay thank you this year. She finished off her snowman by stamping it again on patterned paper and cutting out the hat and scarf and punching his buttons from the same paper. I think this is a nice touch.

The second card is a circle shaped ornament card. She used Merry Moments Designer Series paper for the bottom half and stamped her cardstock to make patterned paper for the top of her ornament and added a Round Tab punch for the top and a 5-petal punch to resemble a poinsettia. This very cool round card was made by Tracy Potenski.

This very beautiful card made by Nada Morgus uses the Christ is Born stamp set. She stamped the poinsettia from the set in real red and then stamped the verse in Versamark and embossed it in gold ink. It is on a Top Note die which is mounted on a piece of Real Red cardstock that was embossed with the Petals-A-Plenty embossing folder.

Another beautiful card shared by Marsha Hosner features the A Wish for Peace stamp set. You can kind of see the glittery Irridescent Ice Embossing Powder on the trees. It is quite simply a georgous card!

The last of the Christmas cards is certainly not the least! Pamela Kroeger used the Serene Snowflakes set along with Bermuda Bay cardstock to make this pretty card. She stamped the snowflakes lightly in the background with White Stazon ink and then stamped the largest snowflake in Versamark in the center of the card and embossed it with white embossing powder. After adding a Rhinestone brad to the center and tying on some white organza ribbon she mounted it on Shimmery White cardstock, a beautiful cardstock for anytime of year but it seems like it is extra perfect for Christmas cards.