End Of Summer!

It's been a few months since I've posted anything.  Guess I've been busy with work and stamping.  I sent a box of 275 cards last week to "From Our Hearts" organization.  I had some help from fellow workers with Christmas Cards.  What a great organization this is!  If anyone has any card fronts they are not using contact this group and they will make them into beautiful cards and send them over seas.   Martie Shea is the organizer of this group.  She boxes all the cards she gets from all over the country and sends them off to our soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, so they will have cards to write in and send home to family and friends.  If you'd like to know more click on the button at the right.  "From Our Hearts".   It is truly a beautiful mission.
I also took a box of 60 cards to the Ronald McDonald House in Indianapolis.  They were thrilled!  These cards are for the parents of the sick children down at Riley Childrens' Hospital.  They then are able to send cards to family and friends while they are staying at the House.  Another Great Organization and one that Stampin' Up! works closely with.  Check it out on the demonstrator website.

So what have I been doing besides making cards?  Well I've watched my grandson grow by leaps and bounds this past summer.  He'll be two in October, he's trying to grow up and I know he will be a "BIG" help when his baby sister gets here in December!  He's been practicing on his stuffed bear.  Mommy watch out!
Then we went wedding shopping for my oldest daughter's wedding dress.  She found the perfect dress in less than two hours and in only 1 trip!  She is going to be a Beautiful Bride!!!   Now we are looking at invitation designs and everything else involved in getting ready for June 18, 2011.

And along with all of that the "NEW" Stampin' Up! Catalog came out and the "NEW" Christmas Mini came out!  New papers, New stamps, New colors!!!  So many new things this year.  So I'm posting
some of the things I've made in the past few weeks.

These above are little 2 x 2 Thank You cards I put in my boxes of retired stamp sets when I sell them. This is a very good way to use up those small scraps that are really hard to throw away.  Just add those little scrap pieces onto your cards, a scrap of ribbon and a small stamp and you're ready to go.  They also make nice little gift tags for bags and packages.  These are a couple of the new colors and designer papers.  #1  I have  used  Pear Pizzazz card stock & ink, Daffodil Delight card stock & ink, Greenhouse Gala DSP and Daffodil Delight 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon.  #2 Concord Crush card stock, Daffodil Delight Card stock and ink, Concord Crush DSP, And again I used Daffodil Delight 1/8' Taffeta Ribbon.  #3  Baja Breeze card stock & ink, Greenhouse Gala DSP, Very Vanilla 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon and I used the stamp set "Friends Never Fade"  Beautiful new set!   If you're looking for any used sets check out my Ebay Site. "Stamping*Cockatoo"

Here is a card I made for my Great Nieces 1st Birthday.  I used Pink Pirouette card stock and ink, Pretty in Pink card stock.  Melon Mambo ink, Retired Stampin' Up! Ribbon (Pink Pirouette), the stamp set is from the Spring Mini.

Here are 3 cards I made recently with some of the new stamp sets and papers.  #1 is a birthday card using Early Espresso, Sahara Sand and Very Vanilla card stock.  I used Sahara Sand, River Rock and Daffodil Delight inks, Designer Paper Newsprint (I love it!), Early Espresso 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, and the Stamp Set is Artistic Etchings.  #2 is Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight and Very Vanilla card stock.  Greenhouse Gala Designer paper,  Marina Mist, Chocolate Chip Ink, Marina Mist 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon.  The stamp set is "Aviary".  #3 Again I used Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Pumpkin Pie Card stock, Marina Mist, Pear Pizzazz, Pumpkin Pie Markers, Greenhouse Gala Designer Paper, and the Marina Mist Taffeta Ribbon.  The Stamp Sets used were  "Friends Never Fade" and "Pendant Park".
Thanks for stopping by and have a Beautiful Week!

5-7-2010

It's May, does that mean Spring?  I don't know there is a chance of snow flurries tomorrow night!  Cover up your veggies if you've started planting!  Well I'm thinking Spring and Summer with the new Mini Catalog.  Love, Love, Love it!  If you don't have one let me know and I'd be glad to send you one.  I think this is the best Mini yet, can't wait to see the New Catalog in July.  there are so many beautiful stamps!  I've cased everything I'm posting from the New Mini except for the scrapbook page.

Our Pippi Dog

We had to put our little cockapoo to sleep this week.  What a hard thing to do. She's been a part of our family for almost 17 years.  She was such a good dog and we loved her very much.  It got me to thinking and to looking on google for animal obituraries.  I found some different sites where they are posted but I wanted it posted where I could see it.  So "My Digital Studio" is a real gem for creating a page of whatever you want.  All I wanted was some background paper and the words I'd written along with a picture of my Pippi.  So here is what I've come up with.

PPA 38: Sketch

  This is the sketch for the PPA38 Challenge for this week.  It is a design by Margaret Moody of the PPA Design Team.   When I saw this challenge I was kind of excited because I'd been working on a card with a similar design!  So I modified my card just a little by adding the #2 piece along with two strips of ribbon.  Perfect fit!  So here is my take on the challenge this week:

 

          It reminds me of summertime and children and just plain fun!  And it seems that all the colors I've used except for Tempting Turquoise, are retiring at the end of May.  I hate to see them go but the colors they are bringing in are beautiful and they are bringing back some of my favorite IN Colors from the last couple of years!  That will be in my next post for you to see the retired and the new or you can go to my website and see them immediatly!  Well thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you all soon.
Happy Stamping!

Kim

Items used for this Birthday Card:

Cardstock:Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal, Green Galore, Gable Green

Designer Series Papers:  A retired set of Rainbow Sherbet (even sounds like summer)

Stamp Sets used:  Circle Circus, Fox & Friends and Well Scripted

1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Turquoise - Stampin' Up! 
Scalloped edge punch

It's been a long time.........

I can't believe it's April already.  Easter has come and gone again.  Where does the time go?
I've been taking an on line class and I love it!  I bought this little machine called the "Zutter Bind It All".  What fun!  I can use all my Stampin' Up! things when making these books.  We first made a Guide book to remind us how to figure the amount of holes you would put in a project depending on it's size.

Here it is!  I used Stampin' Up! "Sweet Pea" Designer Paper and Embellishments on this guide.  Didn't it turn out cute! 
Then we made a 4 x 4 album which I used a retired set called "Hoppy Memories" from a Stampin' Up! Simply Scrapin Kit.  I'm saving for when we babysit for Brady in May and I can put his pictures in it! 

It's just right for a little boy playing outside, with frogs and turtles.  Although by May I hope he's not afraid to  play in the grass! (He was doing a whole lot better with the grass thing by the time we left on Sunday though.  He's a tough little guy!)   It even has some pockets with pages that pull out.  What fun!

Then I made a 6 x 6 book, this one had photos in it and I gave it to Brady's mom so she would have some baby pictures of herself.  Plus some pics that were just laying in a box out of order from everything else.  Now I have to make Sara a book which will be a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to it!  Then you ask, "How did you get all of those pictures on one page like that?"
Well of course. I used my "My Digital Studio" from Stampin' Up!  On the cover of this book I did a two step stamping technique with a brand new set from Stampin' Up! called "Awash with Flowers".   It's a "Sneak Peak" from the new catalog coming out July 1. 
We also have a NEW MINI coming out for the summer it begins May 1.  If you'd like a copy of the new mini send me an email with your name and address and I'll send you a copy.  If you'd like to order any of the dsp papers or embelishments from the Sweet Pea collection you can do so by clicking on the order now button at the top of the page.  Thanks for stopping by!

Kim

PPA Challenge# 30 - KISS (Keep It Simple Sweetie)

My Great Niece Anna's Baptism is today! Congratulations little Anna!

I made her a card for her Baptism and decided to enter the PPA Challenge, KISS.

It's been a while. This is a new technique for me so I was pleased with the way it turned out. I used the "Finial Press" embossing folder from "Stampin' Up!" and I learned how to put a flat oval in the center of it. It was very simple and when I first saw one made this way I thought they bought the folders like this. I found a tutorial on Tammi White's Blog that showed me how to do it. You can find her blog on the left side under Blogs I follow. I used some embossing powder and one of the new punches (I love the new punches!), the "Scallop trim border" punch. You can find this punch in our "Sale-A-Bration" Catalog. *Remember, spend $50 and get a free item from this catalog until March 31st! Just click on the "Follow Me" button at the right and ORDER NOW!

This card was very easy to make and took very little time. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think. Thanks for looking!

Supplies I used:

Stamp Set: Special Blessings

Card Stock: Whisper White, Basic Gray

Ink: Versa Mark

Other Supplies: Finial Press embossing folder, Scallop Trim punch, Silver embossing powder, Filigree Designer Brad, Crop a dile Punch, Stampin' Up! heat gun and the Big Shot

Non Stampin' Up! supplies: Ribbon, Stamped verse

Birthday Card and Thinking of you......

I've posted a couple of cards I made recently. These are two cards from a set I've made to give as a gift. My only problem.....I put on to many layers and the container I made that should hold eight cards now only holds four cards and four envelopes! :0)

Items Used:

Stamp Sets: "Well Scripted", "Heard From the Heart", "Circle Circus"

Card Stock: Basic Gray, Shimmer White, Almost Amethyst

DSP : Tea Party

Classic Ink: Basic Gray, Certainly Celery, Pretty In Pink, So Saffron, Almost Amethyst

Ribbon: Pretty In Pink Satin, Elegant Eggplant Ric Rack from Ribbon Originals

Other: Pretty In Pink "Sending Love Epoxy Brads" and "Circle Ice" Brads

Wide Oval Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Dimensionals and paper snips.

All items were "Stampin' Up!".

Thanks for stopping by

Kim

Under Construction!

Please excuse my mess while I'm under construction. Brady's come by with his new Hummer to help Grandma out. Online orders can still be placed while I'm learning how to do this through "My Digital Studio". Thanks for stopping by, I hope you like what you see and come back again!

Kim

Valentine's Day!!!!

Wow, Thanksgiving was the last time I posted anything. Time sure does fly when you're working! I've taken some pictures today that I'll post of Valentines Day Cards that I've made. And of course they are for my two very special guys!
Mike gets this card...It's a Tri Fold Shutter Card we did in club. I found the pattern on Split Coast and there is a tutorial by Bonnie Szwalkiewicz. Thank you Bonnie! We used the new paper from the mini called "Sending Love". Beautiful paper, it sparkles and shimmers so pretty. It's hard to make a card you don't like when you use this paper. I also used several stamp sets on this card for the flowers. I used stamp sets "With all my heart" from the new mini, "Love you much" from the big catalog, and I used "Greenhouse Garden" for the third flower. The inside was made with the heart punch and cutting a square for the sentiment.



My next card is for my little grandson Brady. I used the new set "I {Heart}Hearts". By the way if you buy this set Stampin' Up! is donating a portion of the sales to the Haiti Disaster Relief. Just click on the "Follow Me" button at the right to shop from my website. Your order will be delivered right to your door! I also used the Wheel that goes along with this stamp set for an edging to my red background.
I then used the build a bear stamp set and "Sending Love" specialty paper and the build a bear paper for the little guys pants. I used the "Pinking hearts boarder" punch on this card which is a new punch from the Mini Catalog also. I made them valentine cookies to go along with their cards. I hope they liked them and I hope you do too! Leave me a comment or two and let me know what you think!

PPA Challenge #18 K.I.S.S

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

Wow Great Food, Great Company, Great Times!

What a beautiful Thanksgiving, it was cold outside and rainy but it was warm and toasty inside with the people I love.

Here is a picture of what I used for table settings today. Even the baby had his own, although he can't eat half of what was in the bag. These were simple and quick to make, we had dinner at 1:00 and I made these about 10:00 a.m.. I only had to make 7 so it took no time at all. I ran the Stampin' Up! Fancy Favor die through the Big Shot using the Autumn Meadows Designer Series Paper from the Holiday Mini. I wrapped the 1 1/4" Chocolate Chip Striped Grosgrain Ribbon around the box and knotted it. The tag is from the Holiday Best stamp set which is a level 1 stamp set, I used my markers to stamp with and punched it out with the extra wide punch and attached this to the striped chocolate chip ribbon with a light brown 1/4" grosgrain ribbon. Then I filled the boxes with little treats for after dinner if anyone had room! Hope your Thanksgiving was "wonderful"!

Sunday Evening

I've been working on My Christmas Cards this weekend and only have 4 completed. I didn't think they would take that long as they didn't seem to be that difficult when I looked at them in the beginning. So I quit working on them and have been reading email and looking for a dining room table and chairs on line. Looked for one in the stores this weekend but I don't want a pub style table and chairs. I'm only 5' tall so those chairs are a little high for me. I found a few on line so now I'm feeling better about the whole table shopping deal. Leave it to me to sell my dining room set before I found a new one. Now with the Holidays coming I need somewhere for people to sit. :0) Oh well, I wanted to post a picture of Brady in his new car! Remember he is a year old now. He needs his own wheels! This little car is like a big slipper. He sits down in it and he doesn't go anywhere but it honks and sounds like a real engine from the steering wheel. It has a side mirror that he likes to chew on and a key that fits in the ignition. We had so much fun with him when he was here this last time and he's such a little ham. He can be crying one minute and you bring the camera out and he's all smiles. Have a good week, I have to finish my Christmas Cards and get ready for my Christmas Card classes.

Happy Stamping!

Brady's 1st Birthday!

Here are two pictures of Brady on his firetruck. The fireman outfit I got on line for under $10 on ebay. He had an ear infection so wasn't feeling well but he did pretty good with opening his presents and eating his cake.

1st Birthday Party!

A first Birthday Party already....where does the time go? A year ago today our first grandchild was born. It takes three hours to get to Indianapolis from where we live and as we walked into the waiting room the morning he was born his daddy was walking in from the other side to let everyone know that he was born. Great timing. I didn't think you could love anyone as much as you love your own children but this little guy has stolen my heart forever! So today we took the 6 hour drive to be able to spend 5 hours with Brady for his Birthday. We had a wonderful time and the long day was worth every minute. So I wanted to post his Birthday Card I made for him.

It's not the traditional 1st Birthday Card but on the inside it does say Happy 1st Birthday. It is Stampin' Up! card stock, designer paper and embellishments. The stamp is not but it was so cute I couldn't resist. His daddy got him a bat and ball and he smiled really big when he got it opened. His mommy got him a remote control that talks to him and he didn't put that down. Oh no, two guys in one house with remote control! :) He also got some new books and bath toys. His great grandma got him a lawn mower that makes a lot of noise, yeah! He got a really neat piano, he just loves music and hitting the keys, pushing buttons and this does it all from Grandma and Grandpa G. And we got him a ride on fire engine with a bell to ring! He loved the wheels because they moved! He even got a little cake of his own and he was really very neat about it. So we enjoyed our day with the little guy, I'll post pics of him later riding on his fire engine.

Products Used:

Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Dusty Durango and Water Color Cardstock

Autumn Meadows Designer Paper from the Holiday Mini

Dusty Durango Ribbon

The Tag Corner Punch and Star Brads from the Designer Series on page 179 of the Idea Book and Catalog

PPA Challenge #12 (Sketch)

This is the sketch that was designed by the Featured Sketch Artist, Margaret Moody for this weeks challenge. She has created a beautiful card for this weeks challenge also. Click on the PPA sign on the left to see her card and the other PPA designers. Try the challenge it's a lot of fun to see all the different designs and ideas.

I needed a thank you card this week and I just love the stamps from the Ronald McDonald set called "Very Thankful". For every stamp set sold Stampin' Up! donates $2.00 to the Ronald McDonald House Charity.

I used the Peacock with her beautiful plumes and jeweled crown.

I know everyone is fired up about the Holidays and making cards for them but I wanted something a little different. I found a scrap of the Bermuda Bay designer paper on my counter top and looked it up in the book to find out it was called "Thoroughly Modern" designer paper. I haven't used this color a lot but I really like it. Well I'm not an organized person and I knew I had more of this paper so I had to look for the folder it's in. Like always it wasn't where it's supposed to be. Well I found it and I fell in love with it all over again.

I wanted you to see the Peacock up close so I took a second picture, I hope it works so you can see the detail. It's fun to play at PPA!

Items Used:

Bermuda Bay textured cardstock

Soft Suede cardstock

Sahara Sand cardstock

Very Vanilla cardstock

Bermuda Bay and Rose Red Designer Paper from "Thoroughly Modern"

Bermuda Bay Designer Ribbon

Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Razzleberry, Always Artichoke and Summer Sun Stampin' Write Markers

And then I topped her with Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss Powder

The card is about 5 1/2 x 5 1/2

Halloween Bags, It's almost here!

TRICK OR TREAT!

Our little tricksters will need their candy bags when they go out for their treats on Halloween Night. Little bags for little people. My sister-in-law and downline, Angie Kindig stopped by last Sunday and we had so much fun. We made cards and bags, what fun!

The "Big Shot" provided us with the cutting machine we needed to cut out our "Build A Bear" dies. These Bear dies and their clothing dies come from the new "Holiday Mini". So take a look, shop right from your chair and you'll find some of the cutest products you've ever seen!

We used white bags with handles, great for little hands. The which bag was done in Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa. The pumpkin was done with Basic Black, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durango, Pumpkin Pie and Summer Sun. Also used The Eyelet punch and the Scallop punch. Dusty Durango and Pumpkin Pie Ribbon. Stop by my web page to shopand stop by Angie's at http://www.weluvtostamp@blogspot.com She has a really neat Halloween Card posted today for the PPA Challenge #12.

PPA Challenge #11 Color

My oldest daughter's birthday is 3 days before Halloween and she'll be 30. While she was growing up she always got birthday cakes and cards that had to do with Halloween. So when I saw these colors it was an easy way to use the fall or Halloween colors in her card but make it birthday. So here is my take on this weeks color challenge.

I started out with an old olive base using Cottage Wall DS paper. Took a round flower stamp from the "Charming" stamp set with perfect plum ink on to perfect plum cs, then used the eylet border punch on that. Then I took pumpkin pie ink and the word stamp from "Charming" and stamped onto pumpkin pie cs, used the eyelet punch on this one also and glued the two together. Then I attached the two to the designer paper, wrapped the old olive pollytwill ribbon around it and into a bow. Attatched all of this to the old olive cardstock.

I took my markers to the long stemmed flower stamp from "Charming" and stamped it onto naturals ivory cs. Then I took left over pieces of old olive, perfect plum and pumpkin pie and layered it with the bottom torn. Added the floral piece last with dimensionals and stamped happy birthday on the pumpkin pie cs. I thought the card looked kind of bare at the bottom so I stamped the little florals on naturals ivory with perfect plum ink and then cut them out. I attached these to perfect plum cs and cut around the ivory and attatched it to the card. To give it just a little bit of glitter I used the two way glue pen on the flowers and added irridescent ice to it. I think she'll like this birthday card. It will be a little different this year. Thanks PPA!

Stamp Set: Charming

Cards Stock: Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Pumpkin Pie, Naturals Ivory

Ink: Old Olive, Perfect Plum, Pumpkin Pie

Embellishments: Old Olive Polytwill Ribbon, Irridescent Ice embossing powder, dimensionals

PPA Challenge #10 Gratitude and Thanks

I had to try out My Digital Studio and this is what I came up with.
I love the program. There is still a lot to learn but these were some of the simple things you can do with it. The first thing I did was pick out the picture I was going to use. I centered the
little guy and his puppy in the middle and then chose the colors, papers and embellishments around the picture. The color is Not Quite Navy Villa designer paper and Not Quite Navy Grid designer paper. It's neat because you can add the paper right on top of the picture and then send the designer paper to the back, there is your picture again. I then added the corner punch large and small in more mustard and crushed curry, then added a Not Quite Navy brad. I added More Mustard Grosgrain Ribbon and Bow. Then used a large oval punch attached it to the ribbon with more mustard brads and put the hugs and kisses sentiment on the oval that is from the Hoppy Moments stamp sets Greatest Moments. "A special not of thanks" saying came from the Cheep Talk stamp set. The bird came from the Embellishment section under Designer Kit Sunny Day Elements. This was made on a 12 x 12 page. It could be framed, the mat is already there and given as a thank you gift to someone special. Have a "tweet" week!

PPA CHALLENGE #9, Picture Perfect Insperation

These are the challenges that scare me but I'm going to do it anyway. Here is the picture for the challenge from "Pottery Barn". They always have the prettiest pictures. So here we go again I tell myself. I've been thinking about this since Thursday and I finally got the paper and stamps out tonight, it's Saturday. :)

I started with my cardstock; I pulled out Always Artichoke, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, More Mustard and Very Vanilla. I also used Designer Series Paper, "To The Nines". Love that paper! Next came the stamp sets and after going through all the fall things I came back with some new ones, "Holiday Best" which is a level one Hostess Item and "Gobble, Gobble". I tried a few things with ink pads but couldn't come up with the colors I wanted so I went back to my markers, Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie and More Mustard. I used the wide punch for the "Give Thanks"and used dimensionals to set it on 1" double-stitched chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon. I also used another 1/4 chocolate woven ribbon and wrapped it around the designer paper twice and tied a knot at the bottom. I layered the cardstock using all the colors except for Always Artichoke and used the Ticket Corner Punch. I added three pumpkin pie corduroy buttons which I sponged a little bit with ink. Thanks for stopping by!

My Digital Studio Is Coming!!!

October 1st it will be ready for purchase!

I've been playing with it a little bit and here are a few of the things I've done:

I made a flyer for my Friday Nite Scrap:

I used a little of just a few things available.

I also made a card for my grandson with his picture on it. Not sure how much he'll like it but I think his mom and dad will. He'll be 1 year old on October 18th. His Great Uncle Jeff will be 51 on the 19th of October! And his Aunt Sara will be 30 on October 28th.

This is really fun to play with and it is just full of options to choose from. Can't wait to create my first Album.
Thanks for stopping by!

PPA Challenge #8 K.I.S.S.

"Keep It Simple Sweetie"
This is Challenge #8 from Pals Paper Arts.
Clean with lots of white space, simple designs, minimum time to create and limited layers and embellishments.

My card this week is a simple wedding card.

I used the Big Shot to make my card simple and fast.

I used the "Top Note" die first to cut my card shape with "Shimmer White" cardstock and then I sent it through again using the "Elegant Bouquet" embossing folder. This gave me a plain white card. I wanted something soft. I took a blending brush and Stampin Up's! Classic Stampin' Pads in Pale Plum, Certainly Celery and Barely Banana and went to work. In just a few minuets I had color in my Card. I added Stampin' Ups! Whisper White Organza Ribbon and the hardest part of all, the wording. I used the Stamp-a-ma-jig to place my words on my card so that I have a better chance of getting them straight or semi-straight. :)

I used the stamp "A Day to Remember, a Lifetime to Love." I just love the stamp set it comes from, it's called "Very Versatile" and it is. I just found out today that it is no longer available as it is not in the new catalog.

For any of the other items to make this card shop 24/7 from my web site to have your items shipped directly to you or give me a call, send me an email and I will order everything for you.

Have a good week and Happy Stampin!