Itty Bitty Birthday

One of my favorite pages in the Summer Mini is the page with all the Itty Bitty stuff!  I love itty bitty stuff!!

Isn't this a fun card?  I started with a 6x6 piece of Rose Red to make a 3x6 card.  I couldn't do my countdown without a 3x6 card!!!  I layered a piece of the very fun new Island Oasis DSP and tied a piece of Whisper White Taffeta Ribbon around it.  Below the strip of DSP I stamped Happy Birthday and pierced a hole between each happy birthday. 

Above the strip is where the magic is!!!  I punched out some circles (So Saffron, Old Olive & Pumpkin Pie) with one of the punches in the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  You get three punches for $23.95 (CAD) in this punch pack and they're cute!  Layered on the circles is some of the Bitty Buttons.  I used three hearts and tied an itty bitty piece of Linen Thread through each of them.  The punched circles and the buttons are both attached with Mini Glue Dots.

I can't wait to play with the Itty Bitty products a little more.

That's all for today.  Have an inspired day!

Potted Plant

Today I have another card to share with you.  Again, I used the Bouguet Bunch set and the Square Lattice Embossing Folder.

I used Always Artichoke, Soft Suede and Really Rust for this card.  The potted plant is stamped with StazOn on watercolor paper and put on the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

See that cute little tag?  It's one of the new Mini Vintage Tags.  They are so ca-ute!  You're gonna want a lot of these little beauties!

That's all for today.  Have an inspired day!

Make It Masculine

Today is my husband's birthday so I'm going to show you a masculine card!

I *heart* how this card came out...exactly how I pictured it!!!  I started with a Night of Navy base and then layered some brushed silver cardstock which I had run through my Big Shot with the new Square Lattice Embossing Folder.  This is a great embossing folder that I know I will use A LOT!!!

See that red on the card.  It's the best red...it's the new Cherry Cobbler which you can start ordering in July.  I think it's the prefect deep red and definitely a color that I will be using a lot.  Don't you think it goes wonderfully with Navy and More Mustard. 

The main image is from the Totally Tool set and I watercolored it with some Platinum Shimmer Paint.  One word people...AWESOME!!!

I finished it off with some silver brads, which I pounded flat with my little hammer.

That's all for today!  Have an inspired day!

For All You Do...

I'm super excited about the project today!  Check it out...

I used one of the new Oval Chalkboard Label Decor Elements!  Isn't it awesome!  I got the watering can from Ikea and applied the Decor Element to it.  Then I stamped it with Craft Ink using the For All You Do set.  To finish it off, I tied a piece of Double Stitched Rose Red Ribbon around the handle.

Here's a closer look at the Decor Element.

Sorry about the picture.  No matter what I did, I seemed to get a bit of a glare.

That's all for today!  Have an inspired day!

Gratitude

Hello!  Today  I'm going to share a really simple card made with the new Bouquet Bunch set.  This is quite possible one of my favorites in the Summer Mini.

I started with one of the Notecards with Envelopes!  Then I stamped and watercolored the tree...notice the little bird.  It's the cutest little stamp.

I got out my ruler and drew some lines and then finished it off with a stamp from Define Your Life.

Quick, easy and cute!

Have an inspired day!

Summer Mini Countdown

I have 6 projects to show you in my countdown to the Summer Mini.  And, I will be showing you all those projects over the next week.  There will be no Scrapbook Saturday or Simple Card Sunday for the next two weeks!

So lets get started!

This card features the new Builder Wheels.  These are so fun, and I'm excited to play with them a bit more!  I used two of the Builder Wheels, Psoy Party & Thoughtful Friend.  They are both stamped with Chocolate Chip ink.  I watercolored the flowers in the top wheel and for the bottom one, I inked up the words "Dear Friend" with my Bashful Blue marker and then stamped and punched it out on some scrap Whisper White. 

The coolest thing, is that three of these little wheels fit on a spindle in the Jumbo Handle.  For my card, I used two and left a space between them, which is a perfect spot for ribbon!

Love it!

Have an inspired day!

A Little Quite

Good morning!  I've been a little quieter than normal with blog posts lately...but that's because I've been busy!  You're gonna want to check back tomorrow and everyday next week for my countdown to the Summer Mini!  I will be featuring projects with some of the new Summer Mini product and the 5 new colors...

Have an inspired day and don't forget to check back tomorrow!

Flip Flops

It's toenail painting season!  And, in honour of toenail painting season, I did a super fun project with my stamp clubs this month.  Check it out...

I had everyone bring a pair of flip flops with them to alter, and we talked about using the Big Shot to cut fabric.  Did you know that you can cut up to 8 layers of fabric with the Bigz Dies?  Isn't that awesome!!!  The only exception to that is if the die you're using has a scoring feature...then you only want to cut 3 layers at a time.  If you're a quilter, you NEED the Big Shot to cut shapes and squares and stuff for your quilts.  It will save you a lot of time!

Here's a closer look at my flip flops.

I actually made a couple of pairs because they're so fun!  For this pair, I chose a funky tie-dye looking fabric.  I have discovered that ugly or "loud" fabrics work well for this project!  When you cut up the ugly fabric, you don't see the ugliness as much and they actually tend to look the best when all is said and done! 

We used the Daisy die and each person cut themselves 6 flowers (2 of each of the 3 sizes on the die) for each shoe.  They layered the flowers together, offsetting the petals on each layer, and then stuck a large brad through the middle.  I chose the Flower Designer Brads for this pair, but the corduroy button brads look awesome too! 

I had a stack of fabrics for the girls to choose from and then I put out both of my Stack & Store Caddys (I *heart* these caddys!) that hold brads and other accessories and let them choose whatever they wanted to personalize their shoes.  The girls were so creative mixing and matching fabrics and choosing brads!  They looked and sounded like they were having a blast last night!!!

When everyone was done, they all put one of their shoes on display so I could take a picture.

How fun is that!  To attach the flower to the flip flop, we just used hot glue on the back of the flower...it you're going to do this, use a lot of glue otherwise your flower will fall off.  Or, maybe rough up the strap on the flip flop a bit before gluing.

So, now you all need to paint your toenails and personalize a pair of fun flip flops for yourself!  To order the Daisy die, or any other Big Shot product, or anything else you need to create this fun project (except the fabric and hot glue!) be sure to stop by my online store where you can shop 24/7!  Be sure to choose me as your demonstrator so you can get the preferred pricing (Canadians only!).

Well, that's all for today!  Have an inspired day!

Break Out the Cake

Carter was invited to a birthday party this weekend, and he asked for a special card becuase he really likes the birthday girl (he tells me that "she's so nice")!  I've been super busy, so rather than start from scratch, I decided to have a look through my stash and found one of the cards I made for my demo in Calgary at the beginning of March.

I started with a 6x6 piece of Certainly Celery cardstock and stamped with a fun design using the Circle Circus set and Certainly Celery ink.

The middle strip is a piece of So Saffron, and some squares of Shades of Spring DSP (remember, you only have until the end of the month to order this DSP from the Occasions Mini).  Over top that is a piece of Window Sheet (I used the medium ones here) and it is attached with a little bit of adhesive (behind the birthday cake) and then the Certainly Celery brads on either end.

The sentiment is a rub on, which was white until I made it yellow by sponging Summer Sun classic ink over it (see this post for more detailed instructions).

And, finally the focal point of the card...the cake!

It's from the Bitty Birthday set.  I stamped it with Black StazOn on Watercolor Paper, and then watercolored it with Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Pretty in Pink and Basic Gray classic pads and an Aqua Painter.  I then used a Two-Way Glue Pen where the icing is and applied some yummy pink glitter!  It's so sparkly in real life!  I mounted the cake on Basic Gray cardstock and then stuck it to the card with some dimensionals to really make it pop.

Well, that's all for today!  Have an inspired day!

Lil' Oilers Fans

It's official...spring is here!  It poured rain this evening and the frogs are back at our pond!  We've had our windows open all day and it has smelled so wonderful and fresh and tonight we can hear the frogs for the first time this year!  I love the sound of the frogs!

Anyway, because I switched things up this weekend, today I have a scrapbook layout for you (if you're looking for the simple card...I posted that yesterday).

I used Really Rust textured cardstock for the base of my layout this week (remember, Really Rust is one of the colors that is retiring at the end of June...if it's one of your favorites stock up now!).  I stamped the grass image from Inspired By Nature with Old Olive ink on Old Olive cardstock and then tore it.  I stuck these pieces along the top of my pages.  All my pictures are mounted on Night of Navy.  And, for an accent color, I chose Creamy Caramel (which, like Really Rust, is retiring at the end of June so if it's one of your favorites, stock up now!).  Creamy Caramel is one of the retiring colors that I will really miss!

I haven't done a scrapbook page without using my big shot for a really long time.  So I challenged myself to not use it on this layout.  So, everything is stamped.  I just got the Contempo Alphabet, so I decided to get it inked up and used it for my title.  I haven't stamped a title for quite a while, so I'm a bit out of practice!

The Creamy Caramel was not quite right, so I did the Direct-To-Paper technique around the edges with my Creamy Caramel ink.  It totally finished it off and was just the look I wanted.

Well, that's all for today.  Have an inspired day!

Butterflies for Mom

Hello, hello, hello!  I'm going to switch things up a bit this weekend and do my simple card today and the scrapbook layout tomorrow!  And, at the end of this post, I will be announcing the winner of the Beautiful Wings Embosslit Giveaway from my 100th post.

So, here's my simple card for Simple Card Sunday on a Saturday!

The base of this card os Bordering Blue (one of the colors that will be retiring at the end of June), and the main layer is Naturals Ivory.  Did you notice the polka dots on the Naturals Ivory layer?  That was done with the SU Perfect Polka Dot Embossing Folder.  Did you notice that there's an oval shape int he middle of the card that has no polka dots?  That was done by replacing one of the cutting pads in the "sandwich" with a thin wood frame purchased at my local craft store.

The butterflies were cut with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit.  I cut them out of the Bella Bleu DSP.  The sentiment is from the Well Scripted set in the Occasions Mini (time is running out to order from the Occasions Mini...order your favorite products by April 30 before they're gone!), stamped with Not Quite Navy classic ink.

Now, what you've all been waiting for!  All you had to do to enter the contest was to leave a comment telling me what your favorite part of my blog is.  There was 7 comments left, so I asked Carter to choose a number between 1 & 7.  He chose 5, becuase he's 5!  The fifth comment was left by Melanie.  CONGRATULATIONS Melanie!  You've won the Beautiful Wings Embosslit, and I will give it to you at Stamp Club this week!

That's all for today.  Have an inspired day!

Soup Day

This is a loooong post...so buckle up and enjoy the ride!

I absolutely LOVE to make soup!  Today was a soup day for a couple of reasons...my husband BBQ'd the BEST flank steak on Sunday and there was leftovers to use up, a friend of mine just got discharged from the hospital after surgery and I wanted to make her and her family a dinner, and I woke up to 15 cm (that's about 12 inches) of heavy, wet, slushy snow and no power this morning.  Yep, it was a soup day!  Not only did I make the best soup, I also made an awesome card to share with you!

So, here's the card...

I bet you're wondering what set I used...right?   Well, it's a new set from the Summer Mini called "Elements of Style".  You can see this set in the mini soon...if you're one of my regular customers your mini is on it's way to your mailbox soon!  If you don't get one of these cattys in your mailbox, you'll want to contact me to get a copy (Canadians only)!

It's a gorgeous set and part of the Shelli's Signature line.  Shelli gave each of us at Leadership (in Phoenix in January) the set for FREE!!!!  Can you believe it!?!  It was really exciting and funny to watch 1000 women get so excited to receive free stamps and start to dance...in unison!  Priceless!

Anyway, I wasn't sure about this set at first because it's not my usual style and I probably wouldn't have ordered it.  But, since Shelli gave it to me, I figured I should give it some special attention and ink!  I stamped the gorgeous flower image on Naturals White cardstock with black StazOn ink.  Then I watercolored it with Pretty In Pink, Old Olive, So Saffron and Soft Suede classic inks.  It was super pretty when I was done, but it looked too perfect...so I scrunched it up (a lot!), smoothed it out and rubbed some Soft Suede ink all over the image with a sponge.  I also sponged around the edges.  The result was so pretty, soft and vinatge looking.

I used Pretty In Pink Taffeta Ribbon, and Vintage Brads for embellishments.  The ribbon was a bit too bright against the rest of the card, so I gently rubbed Soft Suede ink on it.  Check out that bow...*wink*!

It's hard to see in the picture, but I stamped the swirl image from the set with Pretty In Pink (stamped off once on scrap) all over the kraft background of the card.  The result was soft and subtle...and exactly the look I was going for!  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (since it's for my friend who just got out of the hospital, I thought a get well card was appropriate).  I sponged Soft Suede ink around the edges of all the pieces of cardstock I used.  I had to tone down that pink a bit!  Once I had the whole card together, I used my Color Spritzer Tool and a Soft Suede marker to splatter it.  Very vinatgey, don't you think?

Ok, on to the soup!  In addition to the card for my friend, I'm taking her some yummy soup and cheddar biscuits tomorrow for supper.  Soup always makes me feel better and it's so nice to be surprised with supper, so I hope it will do the same for both her and her family!

I made the best Beef, Vegetable and Barley soup.  Now, I don't really follow a recipe when I make soup, but I'm going to share how I made it....sorry no specific measurements!

Here's the cast of characters...

Celery (I used three sticks), onion (I used the whole onion), Pearl Barley (the whole bag), Frozen Mixed Veggies (the whole bag), a large can of diced tomatoes (I used the whole thing, juice and all), two containers of Vegetable Stock and two containers of Beef Stock.  And, finally that mouth watering flank steak my husband made on the weekend.  Can you believe we BBQ'd on Sunday and two days later it was snowing!?!

So, I chopped up the celery and onion and threw it in the pot with the all the stock.  Then I added some spices...

Pepper, Salt, Garlic Powder, Dried Basil, Dried Dill, Epicure Beef & Steak seasoning, Epicure Beef Boullion and Dried Parsley.  I added each spice to taste.  The Boullion was added as per the package instructions, mixed with water becuase I needed more stock...I made a LOT of soup!

After I added the spices, I added the can of tomatoes, and the barley and let it boil until the barley was almost cooked.  Then I threw in the frozen veggies and let it cook a bit more, and last I added the beef.  YUM!

Fresh made buns are great with soup, but I don't make buns very often, so tonight we had Cheddar Biscuits.  I've been using this recipe since high school (I learned it in Grade 10 Foods!) and it always turns out and my familiy LOVES them.  I think I could make them in my sleep!  Here's the recipe.

Baking Powder Biscuits

2 cups flour (I use a mixture of Whole Wheat and All Purpose Flour)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup firm shortening (I use butter)
3/4 cup cold milk (approximately)
1/2 cup grated old or sharp cheddar

Mix the dry ingredients and the cheese together in a large bowl.  Cut in the shortening until you have a crumbley mixture.  Add enough milk until a ball of dough forms around the spoon.  Now it's time to take your jewellery off and get your hands dirty!  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead about 10 times.  Don't overwork the dough or you will have tough biscuits!  Roll it out to about 1/2 inch think and cut your biscuits out.

As you can see, I use a highly technical tool to cut my biscuits out!!!  Don't mock it till you try it!

After you've cut them out, bake them at 400 for about 15-20 minutes.  They will be slightly golden when you take them out.  Cool a bit and then enjoy!

And here's my supper...

It was soooo yummy and the perfect meal for a day like today.  Just looking at that picture makes me want another bowl!  I hope my friend and her family enjoy it as much as we did tonight!

Have an inspired day!

Marathon Man

Happy Saturday!  I dug through my stash of scrapbook pages to find today's layout to share with you. 

I wanted to share this particular layout because I used two former In Colors that are coming back in July...Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango!  In addition to those two colors, I chose two neutrals to balance the page out a bit...Basic Gray and Naturals White.  I chose all my colors right from the pictures themselves for this layout.

The base of the pages is Basic Gray stamped with the Sanded Background stamp and sponged around the edges with Basic Gray ink.  I thought this made it look kind of like cement or the road that my brother was running on!  The Tangerine Tango pieces are stamped with a little running shoe (sorry, I can't remember the set and it's now retired).  The outside corners of these pieces were rounded to soften them up a bit.  The pictures are mounted on Pacific Point.

Check out the little embellishment I did on the pages...

I used the large oval punch and punched an oval from Tangerine Tango cardstock.  I layered a Pacific Point Corduroy Button and Silver jumbo Brad together and then stuck them on the oval.  The ovals are placed just off the page a bit and trimmed flat to line up with the edge of the page.  While we don't have Pacific Point Corduroy Buttons anymore, I'm sure come July we will see some other fabulous embellishments with that color!

And, finally today, I want to leave you with this.

I know...you want one now!!!!

Have an inspired day!

Blowin' in the Wind

So, spring in Lethbridge means lots of wind.  And, I mean lots!  Wanna know how windy?  Check this out...

Yes, that sign blew over and yes, those two things sticking up are CEMENT things, that are usually in parking lots, that were holding the sign in place!  CRAZY!!!!  I drive through this intersection about five million times a day (well, not that many, but some days it certainly feels like it!) and this is the second time this spring I've seen that sign laying down because of the wind.  We've had wind warnings the last few days and we go to bed at night listening to the howling of the wind hoping that all our siding and shingles will still be on our house in the morning!!!!!  And, knock on wood, so far all is good at our house except for the tiles in our patio table!  But I've seen lots of pieces of siding and other building materials blowing around the neighborhood the last little while!

I've been busy doing wedding stuff the last little while.  My cousin is getting married and I've been comissioned to make favours...500 of them!!!  I'll show you those when they've decided on a design.  I also had a customer's daughter wanting to make her own invites.  The bride, three of her bridesmaids, her mom and future mother-in-law all came over last night to make the invitations...160 of them!  It was so fun and they are almost finished.  Here's a look at the design.

The bride wanted a different alphabet for the initials and we ended up just having the ribbon wrap around and get glued to the back of the initials piece rather than knot it.  The ribbon is what holds the invitation closed, and it easily slides off so their guests can open the inviataion and see the details.

The top part folds up and the bottom part folds down to open it up.  On the top flap they put one of their engagement pictures printed in black & white...it was such an awesome picture of them in the coulees! And, on the bottom flap they made a pocket to hold all the "stuff" that goes out with wedding invitaitons.  The middle section has all the wedding info.

I think they turned out great and everyone loved them!  Kella & Ryan...I wish you both a long and happy life together!

Have an inspired day!

Color Renovation

Stampin' Up! announced a Color Renovation today!  I'm so excited to share this exciting news with you!

Here's a look at the refreshing new color palette...

You'll notice some familiar names...some of the colors we have now are staying and some our favorite past In Colors have been added to the collections.

These 40 colors will be our new core colors!  Stampin' Up! will continue with the In Colors, but we will have 5 new ones each year and they will be around for 2 years now!  How exciting is that!?!  And, every 3-5 years, Stampin' Up! will tweak the Core Colors to keep them current and fresh!

With this change we are also saying good bye to some colors.  The following colors will not be returning in the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalogue in July.

Remember, that any product with these colors (ribbon, brads, markers, pastels, watercolor crayons, cardstock, classic ink and refills, craft ink and refills, DSP and any other accessory) will retire at the end of June.  Because these products are accessories, they will be available only while supplies last.  So, I would strongly recommend that you stock up on your favorites while you still can and order some ink refills for your ink pads while you can!

While it's sad to see some of my favorites go and change can be difficult, I'm super excited about this change and everything that will come with it!  I can't wait to see the 5 new colors being added to the core colors (Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Cajun Craze, Cherry Cobbler & Marina Mist) as well as the 5 new In Colors (which I don't know yet!) and play around with them.

With a smaller offering of core colors, we will see more products offered in more of the core colors.  I can hardly wait to see that new catalogue in a few short months!!!

That's all for today!  I'll be back tomorrow with some stamping.  Have an inspired day!

You're not 20 anymore...

Hello!  So, I'm going to start with a little story today!

My oldest son, Taylor, had joined the Running Club at school with the goal of completing the Little Souls Marathon.  In the weeks leading up to the marathon, he has to run a total of 40.2 km and then at the marathon, the kids run the final 2 km so in total they will have run a full marathon over a period of 6-8 weeks.  They run twice a week at school, which isn't enough to make the amount of km they need, so we have to run with him on the weekend or some evenings during the week.  I can't run becuase of my knees (there's too much impact on my knees...I need a low impact sport for my knees), so I've been rollerblading with him around one of the lakes in town.  It's almost 2km around that lake, and it's been going great.  In fact, Taylor can run faster than I'm comfortable rollerblading!

Today it all came crashing down...I should say I came crashing down!  I was getting pretty confident in my roller blading skills and was doing pretty good since I hadn't used my roller blades for about 3 years.  Today though, a stick jumped out at me and got tangled in my wheels.  It's wasn't pretty people!  I have a little road rash on the palms of my hands (not condusive for stamping!) and an awesome bruise on my leg!  My sweet little 8 year old came running back to see if I was ok and then held his little hand out and helped me up.  I'm proud to say I kept going (with him making sure there was no more sticks in my way!) without crying or swearing.

We got home and I told Kevin I needed a little first aid.  And, what do you think the first thing he said to me was?  Go ahead...take a wild guess.  He's so loving, he said "You're not 20 anymore honey, you need to be careful".  I totally would have punched him if my hands didn't hurt so much!  Then he cleaned me up and helped make supper...so I guess he earned some brownie points back!

Anyway, on to the card for today.  A month ago, I went to Calgary to attend a Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar.  The most exciting thing was that I was asked to do a demo!  I was super pumped to do my demo and shared how to color white rub ons.  Today I'm going to share one of the samples I showed that day.

It's kind of hard to see in the picture, but the words are a rub on and I made them yellow...Summer Sun in fact!

 Here's a closer look.

The picture doesn't do it justice!  It's really easy to change the color of your rub ons.  First you need to make sure they are on a non-porous surface (like our Window Sheets, a brad or a glass container).  Rub them on like normal and then sponge Classic ink over them.  Gently wipe off any excess ink with a paper towel or kleenex.  Don't rub too hard or you will rub the ink off the rub on.  I found that darker colors worked best for this technique becuase they "stained" the rub ons better.

That's all for today.  Have an inspired day!