Boys Will Be Boys

Hi Stampers!  There are a lot of boys in my life...I have three of my own, three nephews and 4 out of the 5 kids I look after are boys!  With all those boys around, it was a no brainer that the stamp set Boys Will Be Boys would end up on my stamp shelf!

At Christmas my sweet little nephew lost one of the people to his new playmobile set and was devastated to have to go home without it.  We searched everywhere and it seemed as though it vanished into thin air....until yesterday!  I went to take a load of clothes out of my washing machine and what did I find, the missing playmobile person!

Of course this toy is going in the mail to it's forever home, and I decided a simple card needed to go with it!

I kept is SUPER simple and just stamped the robot image from the Boys Will  Be Boys set with my Memento Black ink pad.  Then I colored him with my Blendabilities, added a couple cardstock layers and popped everything in the mail.

I love how easy it is to blend and shade colors with the Blendabilities!  Four new colors were added to the Blendabilities line in the Occasions 2015 Catalog and during Sale-A-Bration, you can earn Blendabilities as your free products for every $60 order you place (before shipping and tax).

You can find everything I used to make this card in my online store.  Head on over there to place your order today, or contact me to place your order...don't forget to get it up to $60 so you can get some free Blendabilities!

If you like what you see and are Canadian, I would love to be your Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  Contact me today to get a catalog and start your creative journey with me!

Have an inspired day!

Sweet Sorbet Stationary Box

Last fall my grandma moved out of the house she has lived in for longer than I can remember and into a senior's lodge.  I was happy that she made the decision that it was time, but I know it was difficult for her.  And, I know it was difficult for all of us!  I have so many memories of going to visit her at that house when I was a kid and my own kids have memories of visiting her at that house.  I remember my parent's putting my brother and I on the Greyhound and we would ride the bus to go visit her (what a different world we live in now...I don't think I could do that with my boys!).  I remember her making us homemade french fries and she made the BEST donuts!  She had a swing in the backyard that my brother and I would play on for hours!  She would take us to the park and the Farmer's Market to see my other grandparents.  She would take us on walks and to the lake.  She would take us shopping and for dinner with her friends and relatives we didn't know!  But, most of all, she showered us with love.  While I'm sad she isn't in that house anymore, I'm thankful we got to visit with her this summer and that I will always have the memories...and that we will make new memories with her living in a different place!

So, after all that, you're probably wondering how that relates to stamping, right?  Well, I decided that she needed a special stamp with her name and new address and, of course, some cards to go with it so she could send notes to her friends.  And, I had to put all this in a special little box, 'cause that's what I do!

I used the Sweet Sorbet DSP which is one of the Sale-A-Bration items this year!  This is such fun DSP...I can't wait to use it on more projects!  I took my colors for this project right out of the DSP.  The box and lid are basic black.  I added a Pool Party layer which was sponged and stamped (with the new Petal Parade stamp which is one of the SAB items this year too!) with Pool Party ink.  Then I added a layer of the DSP and finished it off with some ribbon!

It's a super easy box to put together.  Here are the measurements as well as where you need to score.

Box Base:  8 1/2" x 8 1/2" (score 1 1/2" on each side)
Box Lid:  7 5/8" x 7 5/8" (score at 1" on each side)
Insert:  5 1/2" x 7 1/4" (score at 3 3/4", 4 3/4" & 5 3/4")

Here's what it looks like open.

There's 10 note cards with envelopes, a personalized stamp and a Basic Black Stampin' Spot in there for her!  Check back on Sunday to see the cards I made!

Remember, when Sale-A-Bration starts next week, you can get the SAB items free with every $60 of product you order (before shipping & tax).  So start making your list because there is some super fun SAB products this year!

Head on over to my online store to get some cardstock, note cards with envelopes and a personalized stamp so you can make this project for someone special in your life!

Have an inspired day!

What a Week!

This last week has been a crazy emotional roller coaster!  My husband and I celebrated our 14th anniversary by driving 2 hours away from home for him to have a spinal fusion surgery done.  We were both nervous about the surgery.  And, to top it off, it was a busy week for me trying to get everything done that I needed to before his surgery and the 5 days I would be spending away from home and my sweet boys while with him until he's ready to come home.

I'm happy to say that his surgery went well and he is now on the long road to recovery.  He's still in the hospital, and will be for another couple days, but I've already noticed an improvement in the way he walks!  And, he has told me that his nerve pain is better (not gone, but much better) and he has some feeling back in his foot already!  Yay!  I am trying to be super positive that he will make a full recovery and be good as new in the next few months.

While in Calgary, I visited with my good friend Rose.  I enjoyed a wonderful dinner with her and her family and then I got to join her stamp club!!!!  I had a blast being the "student" that evening and meeting her club members.  They were all so welcoming and sweet!  It was wonderful getting to know all of them!

Like I did with my clubs this month, Rose's projects were a mix of retiring product and some sneak peeks of new stuff!

We made a fun box using the retiring Fancy Favor Box.  This is a die that I will definitely be missing a lot when it's gone!

We also used some fun new products...a new color (Strawberry Slush), 2 new stamp sets and the super fun new Simply Pressed Clay and the Clay Molds.  I made a button!!!!  So fun!

We also did 2 cards, but I'm only going to show you one today!  I'm saving the other because my clubs are going to make it next month with some super fun new products.

This card uses some of the Spring Catalog products (get them while you can...the Spring Catalog is done at the end of the month!) and a retiring color (Not Quite Navy).

It was a fun evening spent with a great friend...just what I needed!

Have an inspired day!

Party Hats!

Today is a party kind of day at my house!  My sweet middle kid is turning 8 today (sigh...where does the time go?)!!!  We are not having his party until I get back from Convention, but my mom happens to be in town for meetings so he's pretty excited that Grandma is here to celebrate with us!  We asked him what he wanted for birthday supper tonight and he said that he wants to go to the fanciest restaurant he's ever been to since Grandma is here.  Not gonna lie, I was a bit concerned...until he said he wanted to go to Rickies!!!!!  Clearly we've set the bar really low in terms of "fancy" restaurants with our kids!  At least he didn't choose McDonald's (or should I say McCafe now)!!  And, he doesn't know this yet, but after supper Grandma and him are going present shopping...just the two of them.  I'm sure he's going to love having the undivided attention of my mom (middle kids don't get undivided attention very often!!!).

Anyway, on to my project for today.  No surprise...it's a birthday card!

I have been so inspired by the gray/yellow combination on page 38 & 39 of the Annual Catalog that I have made several cards with that color combination, and today's card is another!  This time I added a little Night of Navy in too.  It's a pretty simple card with some stamping, punching and texture courtesy of the Big Shot.  I think this card could be both masculine (although I'm not sure about rhinestones on a masculine card!) or feminine and happens to be one of the cards my class participants will be making in my Bunch 'O Birthday Cards class tomorrow night.

Before I go, I have a picture of my birthday boy to share!

He was playing outside a couple weeks ago and came home pounding on the door.  When I came to the door he was so excited..."Mom, I found the HUGEST dandelion ever!".  It was so sweet, that I grabbed my camera and snapped away while he tried to blow it.  Try as he might, he could not blow the fluff off...in fact, all three boys tried to do it together and they couldn't!  I don't think it was actually a dandelion, but some sort of other weed from around here (probably from where they aren't supposed to be riding their bikes!).

I love my sweet middle kid...even though he drives me bananas sometimes!  I love the sprinkle of freckles across his nose, I love his sweet smile, I love his sense of humor, I love how polite he is (when he wants to be!) and I love his hugs.  I hope he has a great day today!

Have an inspired day!

Stampin' & Campin'

We went off to Writing on Stone for May Long this year for some camping and relaxing.  We have learned to go East on May Long to avoid snow, and this year was no different!  We had wonderful weather and had a blast hanging out together.

I had some new stamps and stuff to play with, so I packed a little (sort of!) bag to bring with me and one afternoon got to work playing!

First I had to put my new stamps together!

And, it's stamping time!

Yep, I'm stamping with a glass.  I forgot my blocks, so I used a glass...works great in a pinch...but don't look too close or you'll see all my gray hairs!!!!

All done!

Here's a closer look at my card.  I used one of the Notecards with envelopes and just did a simple one layer card with new In Colors.

I actually stamped a few cards before I got too hot and packed my stuff up.  I will share those in the coming days.  For now, I will leave you with a little photo collage of our camping trip that weekend.

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

Rock Climbing

Taylor is turning 10 in less than a month and wanted to do a Rock Climbing party to celebrate double digits!!!  I checked into it at the University and it was only just over $100 for two hours (an hour of climbing and an hour in the party room), so we booked it!  He gets to have a super fun new experience with his friends and I don't have a bunch of 9 and 10 year old boys in my house!!!!  It's win-win!!!

Because I have a super busy month, I wanted to do up some quick invitations that he could hand out and before I leave for SU's Leadership Conference.  So, once again, MDS to the rescue!

I started with a 5x7 postcard.  The picture is one I found online from superstock.com, which I cropped to fit into the space I wanted.  The side with the wording has a basic gray background.  The "celebrate" is from the Fabulous Phrases stamp set brush and it's done in Tangerine Tango.  The rest was done with a text box.

It's simple and was super quick to create.  I would have liked to get it printed through SU, but I don't have enough time, so I will take it to a local photo printing place tomorrow to get it printed and he can start handing them out!

It's Tuesday, so that means new digital downloads!  You can find today's downloads here.  They will be available for purchase and download starting at 1pm!

I'm off to create a new non-Christmas background and banner!!!  I might just go snowy to try and entice Mother nature to give us some of the white stuff (in the hopes that the arrival of snow will calm the crazy winds we have been having!).  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!

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!

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!

My Family

YAY!!!  It's Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada.  I love Thanksgiving...I love making and eating turkey dinners and it's the one time of year that I make Pumpkin Cake (which my family looks forward to ALL year!).  We have family visiting with us this weekend and have a fun weekend planned...Farmer's Market, Corn Maze, season opener for the Oilers (my dad, husband and kids will definitely enjoy this) and of course, turkey!!!

After the year we've had (especially the last few months), I have a lot to be thankful for!  I have a wonderful and healthy family and I fully intend to make the best of the time we have together...because I have learned that life can throw you a curve ball when you're least expecting it and change things forever.
One of our family traditions is to get a family picture each year.  In the past we've done this around our anniversary in May, but the last few years we've done summer and fall pictures.  I have a special album that I put all our family pictures in.  As much as my family complains about pictures each year, it's so fun to look back and see how our family has grown and changed!  The pictures we had done last year were some of my favorites (although this year's are pretty awesome too!) and I just had to do a scrapbook layout of some of my favorites.

My scrapbook club always comments how coordinated my family looks in pictures.  For our family pictures I always make sure we all have coordinating outfits because it makes the pictures so much better!  When they saw this layout they commented that even the dog is coordinated...that wasn't planned!!!

I did some really fun stuff with this layout.  I made a great leaf background with the Gently Falling set just like I did with my pumpkin frame here.  I also used the new Simply Scored tool (I *heart* this tool!!) to add some visual interest to one of my photo mats.

I also accented with some of the new Spice Cake DSP from the Holiday Mini and one of those big beautiful Spice Cake buttons (you need some of these...trust me!!!).

See that tiny Pear Pizzazz scallop edge?  I did that with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon border punch and just positioned my punched piece under the DSP so that just the scallop edge would show.  Cute!

To my Canadian friends...enjoy your weekend and turkey dinner and remember everything you have to be thankful for!  Have an inspired day!

Rollercoaster

Hi friends.  My stampaversary celebration is on hold and the post that was set to publish today has been moved to another day.  Today is a waterproof mascara day.  Let me explain...

Yesterday started out as a great day.  We went to the parade, the kids had a blast, they were thrilled to have McDonalds for lunch, we played outside and we just had a really good summer day.  Fast forward to yesterday evening.  I was checking email and received an email from a good friend (we've been friends since we were 8!) saying that she had had baby #2 and it was a girl!  I was just emailing back a congratulations to her when the phone rang and Kevin and I found out that one of our very good friends had passed away suddenly.  Our lives have been intertwined since we were all very young...Kevin and her have been friends since Kindergarten.  We grew up together in the same small city...went to the same schools...had the same teachers...and some of the same friends.  Her brother and mine played hockey together; her mom and my mom worked together for many years; we have kids the same age (who are friends).  We spent many evenings together playing cards and games, laughing, reminiscing, talking about the future, sharing meals and just watching our kids play.  She showed up on our front step one day with an ultrasound report and three baby blue balloons to tell us that our third and final baby was going to be another boy and not a girl like we thought!  We often commented that we were more like family to each other than friends...especially since our extended families live quite a distance from us.  She was only 35...way too young for something like this to happen.  It's tragic.

To say that we are in shock is an understatement.  We are numb.  We are devastated.  We are emotionally exhausted.  I feel like this is all a nightmare and I will wake up soon and everything will be back to the way it's supposed to be.  My heart is breaking for her family...her brother, her parents, her husband and most of all her two sweet girls who will have to grow up and go through so many experiences without their mom.  I can only imagine how they are all feeling right now.  My heart is breaking for everyone whose life was touched by her, as I know we are all feeling the same overwhelming emotions right now.

Last night was a night of very little sleep (for both Kevin and I)...so many emotions, so many memories, so many thoughts running through our heads, lots of tossing and turning, lots of tears.  In times like this, I'm thankful to have a family and friends to turn to for support and I'm thankful to have my stamps.  I know that sounds silly, but it was very calming in the wee hours of the morning, when I was unable to sleep or concentrate on my book, to just pull out my stamps and create something.  Something that is mine, something that nobody can take away from me, something that brought a small smile to my face when it was finished, something that made me feel a little better.

Sympathy cards are a type of card that I usually rarely have a need for.  It seems kind of morbid to have them on hand and it's sometimes hard to make them when you need them.  Since November, this is the 5th one I've made.

The Gently Falling set from the upcoming Holiday Mini is what's on my desk right now, so it was what got used last night (or should I say this morning).  I chose More Mustard, Cajun Craze and Bravo Burgundy for my card with some Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Naturals Ivory.  I'm not going to go into more detail today, but if you have questions about what I did, ask and I will answer.

Well, that's all for today.  I sincerely hope that your week is going better than mine!  I have posts set to publish for the next few days and the winner from yesterday's post will be announced tomorrow. 

Tash...you left us too soon.  You are greatly missed and will not be forgotten.
Hug your kids tight today (if you have any), tell the people that mean the most to you that you love them, keep in touch with old friends, be kind and thoughtful and live with no regrets...you never know what could happen to change things in an instant.  Have an inspired day.

Decor Family

Today is a quick, but fun post!  I mentioned a while back that we had bought a trailer.  We've been busy getting it ready for camping season and can't wait to take it out.  Check out what I did to the back window...

It's our whole family...dad, mom, three boys and two dogs!  I even gave Taylor glasses...just like real life!

You can order a selection of All In the Family decor elements to go on your trailer, vehicle or anything else from my online store here.

Have an inspired day!

The COOLEST Mom in the World!

Hello fellow stampers!  Well, all I can say about the last few days is whew!  I'm glad it's over and I have a few days off to enjoy with my family and stamp some samples and do some planning for some upcoming classes! 

I will start with my crazy busy weekend!  It started with the Children's Festival...which was a HUGE success!  Sherri and I had a blast that day, but boy were we beat when it was over!  The organizers guess for attendance that day was over 5000.  WOW!!!  We had a fantastic location right by the stage and the concession and we were busy ALL day!  Here are some not so great pictures of our booth that I managed to snap during a very short quite spell...

This was the Decor Element Demo and Big Shot Build-A-Bear cutting side of our booth!  The kids loved cutting and dressing their own paper Build-a-Bear!



This was the display side of our booth where we had some class samples set out for moms to look at!  You can also see the little coloring station we had set up for the kids.


Then, Sunday I had my Easter Stampin' Kids class.  You can see the project the kids made here.  The kids had a blast...and so did I!!!

Yesterday and today I had Stamp Club.  I love Stamp Club days...my club ladies are always so enthusiastic (even though I really challenged them this month!!!).  I never have a Stamp Club where my stomach and cheeks aren't sore from laughing so hard!  I will share the projects they did later this week.

Today, I want to share a project I did last week that made me "the coolest mom in the world"...at least in the eyes of my nine-year old!!!

I started with a plain navy blue long sleeve T-shirt, that I slid over a piece of foam core and then applied a decor element to.  I used the Extreme Skateboard decor element for this project.  Once the decor element was applied to the T-shirt, I spritzed it with bleach.


Hee, hee...hello Penny!!!

Then I dabbed the bleach off the decor element and peeled the decor element off the shirt.  The decor element is garbage after you spray it and take it off the shirt.

Once that was done, I washed and dried it and it was ready for my model!

He LOVED it!!!  For now, according to him, I'm the coolest mom in the world.  So, I think I'm going to enjoy that title for the time being...because I'm sure it won't last!!!!!  And, now I have to make a couple more shirts like this for my other two boys.  Can't leave anyone out...ya know!!!

Well, it's almost midnight here and this stamper needs to get some rest!  Have an inspired day!

Commitment Issues

The other day the doorbell rang at lunch.  I had my hands full, and Kevin happened to be home for lunch so he answered the door, gave a wave to the delivery guy and brought in three packages from Stampin' Up!.  Just another normal day in my life, I was expecting some backordered product anyway...except I got a white box from Stampin' Up!.  I know, you're thinking whatever Lisa, it's just a white box.  But seriously, in 8 1/2 years, I have NEVER got a little white box from Stampin' Up!.  I think I asked Kevin about 3 times if he was sure it was from Stampin' Up! and got a nasty reply from him each time...something like "yes Lisa, I do know how to read"!!!  Of course, curiosity got the better of me and lunch for the kiddos had to wait while I opened it to see what they sent me!

It was my very first My Digital Studio book!  We unwrapped it and had a look right away and I have to say I'm thrilled with the results!  I "sat" on this book for a loooong time before sending it away to be printed...commitment issues!  I have created a lot of stuff with My Digital Studio, but it just sits on my computer.  There's something so final about that submit button when it comes time to print!

So, since I got my book back, I'm going to show you it.  And, rather than put a boatload of pictures here for you to see, I saved my book as a MOVIE for you!!!  Isn't that exciting?  Now, I hope it works and you can see it...so bear with  me if I have to fiddle a bit with it.

Drumroll please....

So, what do you think?  The cool thing is that I had 4 copies of the book printed so I could send them to some very special family members that we don't see very often.  I know they will be super surprised when they open their mail in the next couple weeks (I'm kinda sad I can't be there to see the looks on their faces!!!).

Today I learned that I need to get over those My Digital Studio commitment issues and not be afraid of the submit button.  I also learned how to easily upload videos to my blog!  And, I've decided that I'm going to add Movie Producer to my list of skills!!!!  *grin*

Today's Bingo Square:  Tempting Turquoise Gumball Machine (I know I haven't posted in a few days, but I still drew bingo squares and you can find all of them by clicking on the Bingo tab).

Have an inspired day!