Love Shaker

Ok, so not my best title, but you'll see what I mean in a second.

In the Holiday Mini we have a product called Shaker Frames and they make shaker cards soooooo easy!  Check it out...

I made this super cute Valentine's shaker card which was inspired by my friend Allison!  You can see her card here.  I pretty much followed her instructions to make my shaker heart shaped using the circle shaker frames.

My shaker is filled with Mica Flakes (get 'em while you can people...there has been no word of them carrying over, so I'm assuming they will retire on Jan 3), Champagne Glass Glitter and punched hearts (from the Owl Punch).

I used the exact same products to make a fun 6x6 scrapbook page.

The only thing I added was a piece of Cherry Cobbler cardstock for a photo mat.  I also punched along the top of the Crumb Cake piece with the Scallop Edge punch.  This page could easily stand alone in a 6x6 album or brag book, or it could be added to an 8 1/2 x 11 or 12x12 page.

Have an inspired day!

Woolly Socks

Have you got the Stocking Builder Punch yet?  Time is running out if you haven't!  The Holiday Mini ends on Jan 3 and the Stocking Builder Punch will not be carried over to next year's Idea Book & Catalog.

Here's a fun idea for you that uses the Stocking Builder Punch and Stitched Stockings stamp set in a non-Christmas way.

Doesn't it look like a pair of woolly socks?!?!?  I love that this punch and stamp set can be used in a masculine way!  I've just uploaded a few more ideas for this fantastically versatile punch and stamp set...check out my LA Stamper page on Facebook to see those ideas.

My last order from the Holiday Mini will go in on Jan 2...if there's anything you must have let me know before then!

Have an inspired day!

A Christmas Scrapbook

Hi!  I have a super fun project to share with your today and I have to thank my good friend Kristine for her inspiration!  I've made a Scrapbook in an Evening class where you come and complete a 20 page 6x6 album ready for all your Christmas pictures!  That's right...20 complete 6x6 pages in one evening!

Isn't it cute?  All class participants will receive an entire Simply Scrappin' Kit as well as the coordinating album to complete their project.  This class will be on December 29 at 7:30pm at my house and the fee is $45 (for an additional $10 you can add on an extra package of page protectors to put even more pages in your album!).  Fee is due at time of registration.  Space is limited, so contact me ASAP to reserve your spot!

Have an inspired day!

Clearance Rack Blitz!

You're not gonna want to miss out on some AMAZING prices on retired products!

From December 15, 2011, through January 5, 2012, nearly 200 products are being added to the Clearance Rack in the Online Store--with some discounted up to 80 percent!

Visit my online store to take advantage of these RED HOT deals while supplies last!

A Christmas Purse

Last month I did a super fun Christmas purse with my clubs (one of my clubs made them and the other got them in a swap!).  I got the idea from my friend Becky and you can find super instructions on her blog here.

Here is my take on it...

It's done with the super versatile Top Note die (is there anything you can't make with this die?!?!?!).   I embellished my purse by stamping "merry" across the front (from the Pennant Parade stamp set), and making a fun flower (5 Petal Flower punch).  In the middle of my flower I used a small flower punched with the Itty Bitty Punch Pack and finished it off with a Real Red Glimmer Brad.

I was excited to find these for candy for this project.

I love eating these at Easter and was excited to find them at Christmas...in Christmas colors to boot (Garden Green, Real Red and Whisper White...because I know Hershey's made them those colors just for SU Demonstrators!!!).  But, I think they should rename them for Christmas because eggs have nothing to do with Christmas.  Perhaps "Holly & Mistletoe" or "Christmas Berries" would be more appropriate Hershey's...just sayin'!!!!

Have an inspired day!

Frosty Kids

I have a super simple project for you today.  This was going to be one of my Great Little Gifts class projects and it was inspired by a project one of my downline did at our Summer Mini swap waaaay back in April (thanks Angela)!!!!

We do NOT have that much snow...yet!  I took this picture of my boys playing in our backyard almost a year ago...in fact, I think it was during Christmas Holidays last year!

I started with a 4x6 frame from my local dollar store.  I wiped the glass off with a swiffer cloth, stamped some snowflakes on it with VersaMark and then embossed with white embossing powder.  That's it, that's all!!!  So fun and super simple!  Beware...the glass gets really hot when embossing!

Today is Tuesday and you know what that means, right?  It's Digital Tuesday and Stampin' Up! released a new set of Digital Downloads which you can find here.   Did you notice the new look today?  A little Christmasy for a couple weeks courtesy of My Digital Studio (Holly Jolly DSP, Stocking punch, Houndstooth background stamp, Tasteful Trim border and the fonts are CK Journaling and CK Ali's Hand...I think!). I'm off to finish up my digital planner book...which I will be sure to share with you when it's finished!

Have an inspired day!

MDS to the Rescue!

Two out of our three boys have DS's (and the third is getting one for Christmas...shhh, don't tell!!).  We have about 12 games and have a HUGE problem with them getting lost.  Those are expensive little pieces of plastic to lose!  Well, this past weekend, Kevin and I had enough (when 3 of the games were missing) and came up with a plan in the hopes that no more games go missing!

We decided to have a DS Game Library!  All the games are now stored up on an unreachable shelf (unreachable to the boys...for now!!!) and they must sign them out.  The easiest way to keep track is to have each of the boys have their own DS Game Library Card (even Sawyer, even though he doesn't have a DS yet...he uses his card to get his Leapster games)...and the fastest way to make them cards was with My Digital Studio!

They have to ask for a game when they want one and when they have the game, we slide their card into the cover of the game.  This way we know which kid has the game and the rule is they have to bring the game back to us before they can get another one.  And, if they lose the game, they replace the game...nothing like a little financial motivation (it takes a lot of weeks of allowance to replace a DS Game)!!!!!!

It was quick and easy to make their cards.  I found some vinyl business card sleeves in my stash, that I had ordered many years ago.  I measured what size I would need the final product to be to fit into the sleeve.  In MDS, I used the square punch to make a "canvas", matted it and filled it with the scrunched paper from the Downtown Grunge download.  I added a cool skateboarder guy (each one has a different color), some stars (from Extreme Elements), their name (a CK font called Rugged) and called it their DS Game Library Card.

Kevin and I are thinking we're pretty brilliant and so far, two of the three have embraced this little change.  Carter, however, thinks we're the worst parents ever for doing this!!!!  Sigh...in the eyes of a 7 year old life is so unfair right now!!!!!

Have an inspired day!

Balance

Bear with me...this is a long post!

A week ago Sunday was the scariest day of my life!  I was set to go to Calgary to take my boys to see Stomp and we were all so excited.  What started out as a fun day quickly turned into a horrible day.  There was a wind warning that day, but that's nothing new around here, so we packed up and headed out to get to the show.  The winds were super strong on the highway, but we were ok...until we got about half way there.  We needed gas and I had planned to stop in Claresholm to get some (like usual), however the closer we got to Claresholm, the stronger the winds got.  And, when we arrived in Claresholm there was no power, roofs were coming off buildings and I couldn't even see the highway outside Claresholm in the direction I needed to travel.  There was so much stuff blowing around that visibility was very low.  It reminded me of the hurricane coverage that I see on the news...only without the rain.  No gas stations had power and the pumps were blowing apart so we couldn't get gas.  Hmmm...not enough gas to get to Calgary (not to mention we couldn't see the highway), and probably not enough to get home and the van was shaking hard from the wind.  So, we turned around and headed back the way we came to find gas and go home.

On the way back home, my van was silent (this never happens!).  It was obvious that my boys knew that it was dangerous and that even I was scared.  Between Claresholm and Fort MacLeod, I saw a camping trailer completely blow off its wheels, bounce on the highway and land in the median in pieces.  The whole back end was gone and stuff (blankets, clothes, etc) was blowing around everywhere.  There was a bus sitting on the side of the highway swaying like it was going to tip over and I saw 2 semis blow over into the ditch.  Scary stuff.  There was huge branches on the highway and tumble weeds that really should be called small shrubs blowing around into the sides of my van.  We made it to Fort MacLeod and I just needed to get enough gas to get home.  Easier said than done!  The first gas station we passed was completely closed and blocked off...again, pieces of the roof were blowing off, pieces of the gas pumps were blowing off and it was just too dangerous.  Right on the outside of town I found a station still open.  I pumped gas barely being able to stand up (I won't even get into how hard it was to even open the van door to get out!), with part of the gas pump flapping in the wind and the ice machine smashing into the door of the store so there was also glass blowing all over.  I got enough gas and we made it home...the wind blew us home!

At home, we took everything we could lift into the house from the deck and brought the decorations in from the front as well as the basket ball hoop and our garbage can.  Taylor was very helpful and realized the situation was serious.  Luckily none of our singles or siding blew off.

A couple hours later my day went from bad to worse when I looked out my back door and saw this...

Yep, that's thick, billowing smoke.  At first I thought a house in the neighborhood was on fire, but then I learned that it was a huge grass fire west of the city...in 120+km/hour winds and I live downwind from it (on the west edge of the city).  I have a child with asthma, my husband is 2000km away from me, my family lives half way across the province from me and I see this out my back window.  Ok, stay calm...everything will be ok.  Little did I know!

The fire continued out of control until about 8:30 that night.  It was smoky and scary.  Kevin was in Ottawa and I had to pack up our important stuff because we were on alert to evacuate.  I was doing good...staying calm, getting things organized, etc until I called my mom to let her know that we were safe and that I would keep in touch and let them know if/when we were evacuated.  I didn't want them to see it on the news and panic.  So, yeah, I was doing fine until I called her!  Then I had a small breakdown...sometimes you just want your mom!!!  I should say that Kevin and I were texting ALL day so he knew exactly what was going on and he was also texting with the guys he works with and then updating me so I knew what was going on with the fire too.

We didn't end up having to evacuate, but we went to bed with all our stuff still packed and in the van just in case and it was a looooong night.  I lost count of how many times I was up with a scared kid and none of them wanted to go to school the next day because they were terrified that they would get off the bus to no house after school.  Once the fire was out and the roads were opened up again, I took a drive with the boys to show them that it was actually out...that helped.  But, when the winds picked up again a couple days later, they were all scared that we were going to have the same situation.

As I packed up and then unpacked our stuff I thought a LOT about what's important and about life in general.  I've continued to think a LOT about this since, and I've come to a realization.  For a long time I've felt like I was drowning in life.  You know, the feeling that you're one step behind rather than one step ahead.  This has been especially true since the end of August when my world was rocked by the death of my good friend.  I have come to the realization that for the last 6 months or so my life has become unbalanced more and more which is why I feel this way.  I still feel crushed over the loss of my friend (although I do feel better about it each day).  I have a lump in my wrist that I have no idea what it is yet, but it hurts...a lot (I have an appointment to find out more about it this week)!  I've been fighting a cold/flu for about 3 months now...I get sick enough that it's annoying for a day or two and then I'm fine...well, fine enough to continue my daily running around, but not healthy.  I'm tired...really, really tired.  And, I've realized that I'm losing my spark for stamping!  I've gone away from my "why" and it has become more of a chore than fun.  Don't get me wrong...I still love it and I have no intentions of quitting as a demonstrator, but I feel the need to take a small step back.  I need to stamp for the sheer enjoyment of it and not for a class, club, blog post or someone else.  Know what I mean?  So, I  have decided to do something I've never intentionally done in my stamping career...I'm going to take a bit of a break this month.  I've cancelled most of my classes this month...over the next few weeks I will share the projects I had prepared for them here on my blog.  I'm going to stamp just for the fun of it...for me and not on any schedule and not because I have to!  I will share what I make...no worries!  I'm going to enjoy watching my boys play soccer; I'm going to watch movies with them in our jammies with big bowls of popcorn; I'm going to bake cookies with them; I'm going to go on dates with Kevin (he's been gone for work most of the last couple months); I'm going to get lots of rest and I'm going to find my balance between family, work and health again. 

This is what's important...

The health and happiness of my family and I is what matters most.  I hope you'll bear with me this month as I find my balance again.  And, come January, I will be ready to "sale-a-brate" Stampin' Up! with you!

Have an inspired day!

Shake It Up!

I love to make Shaker Cards, but they're a bit of work, so I don't make them too often!  Well, Stampin' Up! to the rescue!  In the Holiday Mini you will find a new product called Shaker Frames.  They are foam circles that are sticky on each side to make Shaker Cards super easy!  In each pack of Shaker Frames you get 6 sets of circles and each set has 6 circles in it...that's 36 for just over $6!

This month, my clubs made some shaker cards with these new Shaker Frames as well as the new Mica Flakes (so fun...but only if you don't sneeze, cough or sigh when the Mica Flakes are open!).

I just love that little fat snowman...and the fact that his belly is the shaker part of the card makes me want to just shake him up!!!!!  If you look close you will see that his snowball and his face are sparkly too.  I used the new Dazzling Details to achieve that look.  This card sparkles, shimmers and shakes and is SO fun!!!

Have an inspired day!

St. Croix

A couple years ago I earned the Stampin' Up! incentive trip to the Southern Caribbean.  It was the first cruise Kevin and I had ever been on and it was a great experience!  We were pampered by both Stampin' Up! and Royal Caribbean for a whole week...it was heaven, and hard to come back home!  I took loads of pictures, notes and saved lots of little stuff from the trip for a scrapbook.  I have slowly (emphasis on slowly!) been scrapping the pictures and momentos from that trip and today I'm going to share one of the layouts.  This layout was from Day Seven on our trip...the day we visited St. Criox.

At each island we visited, I wrote where we were in the sand on a beach.  I also took a picture of the licence plates on each island, some of the flowers as well as the architecture and what the streets look like!

To give  my album some continuity, I chose a pack of DSP (I think it was called Island Floral..maybe?) and have been pulling my colors out of that pack of DSP for each page.  I can't wait to have my album finished...my goal is to complete it before Christmas because come spring I will have a new incentive trip to scrapbook!!!

Have an inspired day!

Winter Wishes Stamp-A-Stack

Join me on December 12 for a fun Stamp-A-Stack using the new Winter Wishes stitched felt accents.  Each person will received a pack of the Winter Wishes felt accents to use on their cards.  We will complete 16 cards (4 of each of 4 designs).  Cost is $30.

If you're interested in joining me for this class please RSVP (with your fee) by December 2.

Have an inspired day!

Iris Ornament

Hi!  I'm going to start by saying Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!  Today I'm going to share one of the cards my clubs did this month.  Each month my clubs learn a technique and this month it was the Iris Folding technique.

My inspiration for this card was a card I saw on Stampin' Connection which is an online group like Facebook, but for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators only.  I didn't save the picture and I can't remember who made the one that inspired me...so if it was you, thanks!

We started by punching an ornament out of a piece of Old Olive cardstock and then used the Letters to Santa DSP to do the Iris Folding technique to give the ornament some pizzazz!  I stamped the swirl from Baroque Motifs to make a branch and "hung" the ornament with some Whisper White Bakers Twine.  To finish it off, I added a sweet little bow made from Whisper White Taffeta ribbon.

For the next little while, my posts are going to be short and sweet.  Let me explain!  For the last year and a half my left wrist has been hurting on and off.  Fast forward to this week...Monday it was really sore and I noticed that a rather large lump has formed on the side of it.  It hurts up my thumb and some days all the way down my arm to my elbow.  Typing really hurts right now.  Thankfully it's my left writs and I'm right-handed!  Long story short, next week I have an appointment to get it checked out and I'm hoping for the best.  I do have some posts scheduled to publish over the next week, so you will have some fun stuff to look at!

Have an inspired day!

Simple Merry Christmas

Have you started on your Christmas cards yet?  Today I have another quick and simple card that will definitely inspire you to get your Christmas cards started!

I truly believe that Stampin' Up! has some of the most gorgeous Designer Papers.  They are so gorgeous that they can easily be the focal point of a card, which makes your card quick and easy to mass produce.  Let me show you what I mean...

The Designer Paper on this card is from the Letters to Santa set which you can find in the Idea Book & Catalog.  This fantastic sentiment is from the Delightful Dozen set...a new one in the catalog this year that you're going to want to check out for sure!

Something hard and something soft completes a card!  In keeping with that "rule", I added some silver brads and some of the yummy Early Espresso quilted ribbon (which you can find in the Holiday Mini...and you're definitely going to want to order a roll or two!).

This card may look familiar to you!  I did one with the same layout using the Spice Cake Designer Paper at my World Card Day event.  You can see it here.

Have an inspired day!

Peek-A-Boo!

Time to dust off your Movers & Shapers dies people!  The Movers & Shapers dies are so fun to use and you can get some fantastic results from them.  And, most of the shapes that you punch out with this die have coordinating punches.  The piece punched from the die is a touch bigger than the punched shape, so they layer perfectly!

I was inspired by a card that Tara in my downline did for our last big group swap.  Her card was a Thanksgiving card, and I changed it up to be a Christmas card.

I used the Frostwood Lodge DSP (from the Holiday Mini) and took my color palatte from there.  The base of my card is Garden Green, accented with Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White.  I put a piece of Whisper White cardstock on the inside of my card and stamped the ornament (from the Delightful Decorations set) through the ornament shaped hole which I made with the Movers & Shapers die.  There's a rhinestone in the middle of the ornament and on the inside of the card I drew a line from the ornament up to the top of the card so it looks like the ornament is hanging in the card!

The Frostwood Lodge DSP is all plaids and wood grains and is so warm and cozy feeling!  Check out all the designs in this set of DSP here.  And, for all you digital fans out there, this set of DSP is available as a digital download!  You can find it here.

Have an inspired day!

Simple Stocking

I've said it before and I'm gonna say it again today...I *heart* the Notecards with Envelopes!  They are perfect for quick cards and today I have a fun and quick Christmas card to share with you!

This was one of my make & takes for my workshops in October!  The workshop guests started by stamping a stocking with Cherry Cobbler ink on Whisper White cardstock.  Then they got to punch it out with the coordinating Stocking Punch...love that punch!  The stocking is put on an Old Olive layer which was embossed with the snowflake embossing folder.  It's layered on a piece of Whisper White and then on a layer of Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  The finishing touches are a little loop of Old Olive Scallop Dot Ribbon and a Rhinestone on the stocking (in the middle of the snowflake).  That Merry Christmas sentiment is from the Petite Pairs set...another favorite product of mine!

Have an inspired day!

A First Birthday

We have celebrated 3 first birthdays in our family complete with some special traditions.  Today I'm going to share the layout I recently did for Carter's first birthday.  He's 7 now...yikes!

Carter's first birthday was a kite theme and I made him a fun kite cake as well as his own little kite cake to smash, get messy and eat all by himself!  Each of our boys had a smash up cake for their first birthdays and it was so fun watching all of their reactions to their own cake. 

I took my colors from his cake...Pacific Point, Real Red and Old Olive.  I have no plans for a title for this page or any journaling because I think the pictures pretty much tell the story.  I do think there's something missing on the left page right where my watermark is.  I think it needs something red, but I'm not sure what yet!  What do you think?

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

Triangles

As promised, today I have the second project from my die class to share.  Remember, I featured the Petite Pockets die.  The second project is a triangle box, made by attaching 3 of the Petite Pockets together.

The box was made from Soft Suede cardstock, which was stamped with an image from the Delicate Doilies set.   The belly band is a piece of Pool Party cardstock that I crimped and then there's a piece of Spice Cake fabric, tied through a Spice Cake Button, wrapped around it.

Here's how it opens...

There's quite a bit of space in this little box and you could definitely fit all kinds of fun little gifts inside this box.

Have an inspired day!

It's Petite!

One of the new dies this year is the Petite Pocket die...and I love it!  Tonight I had my To Die For class and the Petite Pocket was the featured die.  Check it out...

We used Lucky Limeade and the Letters to Santa DSP.  See how the little flap is embossed?  That was done with the Petals a Plenty embossing folder...just to give the flap a little something extra.  The little circles are attached with Whisper White brads and the flap gets secured shut with a piece of Early Espresso Baker's Twine.  It's finished off with a cute little tag!

I found that a gift card just fits into this pocket and a tea bag also fits nicely.  Of course, money would also fit and you might be able to get some smaller jewellery in it.  It's a fun die to play with and tomorrow I will show you the other project we did at the class!

Have an inspired day!

FREE Digital Downloads

"Capture, design & share your life events."

Today is the first day of all kinds of crazy digital fun brought to you by Stampin' Up!...join us on mydigitalstudio.net and get your FREE downloads!!!

Come on over and check it out!  And, here is a fun card made with two of the free downloads you can get...

I did one of my favorite tricks with this card.  My background is Pear Pizzazz and the flowers stamped on it are Old Olive.  To make it look like I stamped them with Versamark, I changed the opacity of the flowers to about 50%.  The two free digital downloads I used on this card are the So Typefelt Stamp Brush set and the Neutral Delightful Digital Tape.

Head on over to mydigitalstudio.net and vote for your favorite entries into the digital contest, get your free downloads and check out all the inspiration!

Have an inspired day!

Poppies

What a crazy week I've had...lots of family time with Kevin coming home after 2 weeks of being in Ottawa, sick kids, last minute Halloween prep and lots more so my blog got pushed to the bottom of my priority list!  But things have calmed a bit and I'm back.

It's November which means it's time to get a poppy and remember the sacrifices made for the life we enjoy today.  Now, I know that the poppies are sold to raise money for veterans and I'm all for that, but those silly poppies always fall off my coat and get lost.  So, this year I made my own poppy.  Actually I made it last spring for a demo I did and have been saving it in a safe place until now!

For some reason I can't get a good picture, but I will describe as best I can for you!  I used Poppy Parade cardstock and cut it with the Fun Flowers die.  I cut two flowers (the one with the points on the petals), cut the points off the flowers, scrunched them and then peeled just the petals apart (so the flower is still attached together in the middle).  I layered the two flowers together off-setting the petals.  Then I kind of scrunched the petals a bit.  The middle of the poppy is a black button from the Neutrals package.  I put a little knot of black ribbon in the middle and made some leaves with Old Olive Satin Ribbon.  The whole flower is attached to a pin back and it looks awesome on my black Stampin' Up! jacket!!!  This poppy isn't going anywhere...until I want it to!

Here's a look at Halloween at hour house this year...

Cookies for Preschool!  Sawyer and I made sugar cookies...black bats and orange pumpkins.  Sawyer had fun stamping the jack-o-lantern faces before I cut them with a pumpkin shape cutter.

Our pumpkins!  Kevin is super proud of his Oilers pumpkin!!!

My kids dressed up as Phineas, Ferb and Agent P!!!!

Have an inspired day!

A Little Over the Top!

Did you notice the fun new cello bags in the Holiday Mini?  They're 1x8 and a steal of a deal at $3.50 for a pack of 50!  There are so many ways you can use these bags...you're definitely going to want to order some today!

Check out what my clubs did with them this month...

It's a little over the top, and I wouldn't do something this involved for my kids to give their classmates, but for someone special it's totally worth it!  The bag is filled with Holiday Tic Tacs (the cinnamon and mint ones) and then I used a bunch of punches to create the topper.  Here's a closer look...

I love the button in the middle of the snowflake!  That button is from the Holly Berry buttons in the Holiday Mini.  It's a great pack of buttons...you get a bunch of Real Red and Wild Wasabi buttons in the pack.  I tied a piece of Whisper White Baker's Twine through the button...love the Baker's Twine!  Did you  notice the little bit of bling around the dec. 25?  That was done with another of my favorite products in the Holiday Mini...the Dazzling Details!!!  When you order some treat bags, you're definitely going to want to order a bottle...or two...of the Dazzling Details!

That's all for today.  I will be back tomorrow with another idea for these fun little bags.  Have an inspired day!