Embossing Crazy

I LOVE my Big Shot and Embossing Folders.  It's such an easy way to create some texture and visual interest on your projects.  When I was designingRMHC cards for our event, I was stuck on one image...the Blimp!  And, so, I decided to start with a color scheme and add some fun texture to the background.  This is what I came up with.....

I used a bright and fun color scheme and 3 of my favorite embossing folders...Fancy Fan (looks like clouds so it's perfect for a blimp card!), Stripes and my all time fav the Chevron folder!  I added some layered ribbon, which was stamped on...YES, you can stamp on ribbon...and then the main image.

I would say, the 2 1/2" Circle Punch is a MUST with this stamp set!  All three of the larger images in the set fit perfectly in a 2 1/2" Circle! 

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

Smile!

Today I have another RMHC card from the World Card Day event I held back in September.  I love this one...yellow and gray are so chic right now. 

This is another card that I CASE'd from a display board at a demonstrator event.  The colors just make me smile when I look at this card...so happy and cheery!

Quick and simple!  That's all for today, so have an inspired day!

Come Sail Away with Me!

I think boats are perfect for using on boy and baby cards.  The boat in the Moving Forward set is absolutely perfect for these kinds of cards so we did 2 at our World Card Day event in September!

This is another of the display board ones that I changed a bit.  I love the curvy little banner!  In my head it makes the card feel like the boat is floating in waves!

Short and sweet today!  Have an inspired day!

Birds & Flowers

How's your Monday going so far?  I am going to show you something fun that will make you smile this Monday morning...another RMHC card!  This one is bright and cheery and has some fun bling.  Have a look.....

This is another one of the cards that I CASED from a display board.  I just changed up the colors to use Primrose Petals!  Wondering where that DSP is from?  You can find it in the Patio Party pack.  I have a hard time with that pack of DSP...something about those designs just gives me a hard time!

Have an inspired day!

Dear Friend

I am so thankful for Stampin' Up! because through SU, I have met some of my dearest friends.  I made this card based on one I saw on a display board, featuring the RMHC set Moving Forward, at a demonstrator event.  When I  was making my version of the card, I decided to go a little vintagy with my colors...Baja Breeze, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake & Very Vanilla.  Check it out...

Of course, to add to the vintagey feel I added some pearls to the centers of my punched flowers.  I also love how the DSP fits right in with the feel of the card.  It's from the Comfort Cafe DSP, which to me doesn't say vintage, but here it works!  My favorite thing about this card is that whenever I look at it, I think of my dear friend (you know who you are!).

Have an inspired day!

Flying Machine

Happy Monday!  I have another RMHC card to share with you today.  This card uses the flying machine or blimp image in the Moving Forward set.  I struggled with using this image so I turned to the web for some inspiration and came across a card by Lori Mueller that I fell in love with...so I CASED it!  CASE stands for Copy And Share Everything and it's one of the best parts about being a demonstrator...when I'm stuck, I know there's loads of cards out there by other demonstrators that I can use to spark my creativity!

I pretty much copied Lori's card exactly, except for using a different embossing folder on my Riding Hood Red piece!

One of my favorite parts of this card is the clouds!  They are whisper white cardstock which was embossed with the Fancy Fan embossing folder and then punched out with the cupcake punch.  The tops of cupcakes make perfect clouds!

Have an inspired day!

Happy Birthday

Whose birthday you say?  I don't know!  But, if it's yours, let me be the first to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!  Today, I have another RMHC card to share with you and, it's a super simple birthday card.  Check it out!

A few strips of DSP (Summer Smooches), some punching, a sentiment, a cute little button and VOILA...a super simple birthday card.

And, just for fun, here's a version with the Candlelight Christmas DSP!

Remember, the DSP is part of the bundles on special this month and if you purchase one of the bundles you qualify to attend a special class on November 17 for only $5!  Check out all the details on the bundle on my Specials page and the class on my Events page!

Have an inspired day!

Super Simple

Happy Monday!  It's the start of a new week and I have some inspiration for you...another RMHC card and this one is super simple!

I saw a card similar to this on Pinterest and loved the simplicity of it, so I re-created it using the Twitterpated DSP and the Moving Forward set.  In fact, I love this card layout so much, that I also did a Christmas version using the Candlelight Christmas DSP and Ornament Keepsakes stamps and framelits (which are part of the bundle on special this month!). 

Check out all the details on the Bundle on the Specials Page (link at the top) and remember if you purchase one of the bundles, you qualify to come to a fun class on November 17 for only $5! You can find all the information on the class on my Events page (link at top).

Have an inspired day!

Happy Thanksgiving

ETA:  I'm not sure what happened with this post!  It was supposed to post on Monday, and for some reason it didn't...I probably didn't set the date right when I set it up!

Happy Thanksgiving!  How has your long weekend gone?  Mine has been great!  We travelled to see my family and had loads of fun!  We met our new niece (she's all squishy and smells so good!) who is 3 weeks old, made caramel apples with the boys, ate waaaay too much good food, and just had a good visit.  It was nice, but not long enough!

Since it's Monday, I have another RMHC card to share with you using the RMHC set, Moving Forward.

Fun card, eh?  It's a pretty simple card!  I just used a lot of circles and a little embossing with my trusty big shot.  And, to finish it off, I put some of the super fun Googlies on the frog!  I'm loving these Googlies...25 pairs of self-adhesive googlie eyes, what could be more fun than that?!?!?!?!

I have to admit, I wasn't too fond of the Moving Forward set when I first saw it, but after playing with it (a lot, for World Card Day!), I'm really a fan of it!  And, you can't go wrong with purchasing a set for charity!  Stampin' Up! donates $3 from the sale of each set to RMHC!  Check back next Monday for another Moving Forward card.

Have an inspired day!

Ronald McDonald Monday!

Hi all!  This past weekend, Sherri and I hosted our annual World Card Making Day event.  We chose to move our event a week earlier than the actual World Card Making Day because of Canadian Thanksgiving this coming weekend.  We changed things up this year a lot!  First of all, we supported a different charity...Ronald McDonald House Charities rather the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.  We did this because it's Stampin' Up!'s 10th anniversary supporting RMHC and it's such a great charity!  The way our event ran also changed this year.  We started our day with a morning of Stamp Olympics which was a fun morning of stamping games and lots of prizes!  We then had a yummy lunch and spent the afternoon stamping!  All of our event participants got the Moving Forward stamp set (which is the exclusive RMHC set for this year...Stampin' Up! will donate $3 from the sale of each set to RMHC).

The ladies made 12 cards with their new stamp set and over the next 12 weeks, I will be showing you all the cards they made...on Mondays!

So, here's the one for this week!

 
I think the little bird from the Moving Forward set looks like a cute crow, so I decided to go with that for this card.  I also paired it up with our Halloween DSP, Howlstooth and Scarringbone!  I think it's cute!

We gave our participants a $5 discount on their registration if they donated 5 or more cards for RMHC.  Look how full our donation basket was.....

I've got to say, I'm thrilled with how everyone got involved in this part of our day!  I can't wait to take them to Orlando with me to Leadership conference in January to drop in the RMHC basket so Stampin' Up! can donate them to various RMHC houses across North America.  I know that the people who get them to use will love them!

We had 12 ladies participate and each of them made 12 cards with their new stamp sets.  Here's a shot of all the supplies for 144 cards, cut, sorted and ready to be made into cards.

You can see many more pictures of all the fun we had on the LA Stamper Facebook Page.  I think the pictures do a great job of showing how much fun we all had!

And, one final thing, I will be slowly posting the recipes from lunch and snacks that day on the LA Stamper Cooks blog.  So, you can go over to that blog and check out the yummies!

Check back over the next few months on Mondays to see all 12 cards made at this fun event....and plan to join us next year!

Have an inspired day!

World Card Day Fun!

Before I go into the fun we had at my World Card Day event, I need to announce the winner of the Stocking Challenge!  Stocking #1 received the most votes...so, congratulations Angela!!!  I will have a prize for you at our next Group Gathering!  Thanks to everyone who voted!

On to World Card Day!  The first Saturday in October is World Card Making Day...a day set aside to celebrate the craft of making cards and kick off the busiest greeting card season (Christmas!).  Each year I do a fun day long card making event.  This year we had a small group, but what we lacked in size, we make up for in fun!!!

We started our day with a really fun game of speed stamping!  To choose participants, we had a round of Stampin' Up! Trivia.  The winners were Kelly and Kristi-Ann so they got to play the game!  We gave them each a blank BINGO card and they had to fill the squares with images from the Spooky Bingo Bits stamp set.  Each image in the set had to be used once and completely inked and stamped in a square on the card.  The one who filled their card first won.

We also gave a prize for the best cheerleader during the game...Kim won that one!  All winners got to choose a prize from the prize basket!

After we got everyone's blood flowing we started a project like nothing else we have done before at World Card Day.  Did you notice the new Card Keepers in the Holiday Mini Catalog?  Well, each participant got to make a card keeper during the morning!

We stamped some First Edition DSP with the tall leaf image from the Just Believe set and added some small punched flowers which were embellished with pearls!  They got to choose between three different colors for their ribbon and flowers. 

Janet was the only one who chose pink!  Since our event raises money for Breast Cancer Research, we gave Janet a prize for doing a pink one!!!!

Right before lunch we did another game...Blind Stamping!  Sherri made a Halloween card and our two participants (Kim and Shelley) had to recreate it blindfolded!!!  They were great sports and did awesome!

Our day continued with a delicious lunch...we had Slow Cooker BBQ Beef on a Bun and a mini Salad Bar (so fun!)...and some visiting time with each other!

During the afternoon, we made cards...16 total!!!  Here are the 8 that I contributed (Sherri did the other 8).  I was inspired by cards I've made in the past, some convention swaps and so many cards on Stampin' Connection (the online demonstrator community).

We had a fun start to our afternoon!  Sherri and I began by telling them about some of the new products from the Holiday Mini that they would get to use and how much we loved these products...especially the new Dazzling Details.  Then we surprised everyone with their own bottle of it...it was like Oprah's Favorite Things, only it was Lisa and Sherri's Favorite Things...and we didn't give away a car!!!

We had a fantastic day and I'm pleased to say that we raised $150 for Breast Cancer research through our silent auction and the donation we made from each person's registration fee...fantastic considering we had such a small group!  Thanks ladies for a great day...can't wait until next year!

Have an inspired day!

Butterflies and Post-Its

The last time I went to one of my upline's meetings, I participated in a fabulous swap.  My friend Winonna swapped a great little post-it holder and I knew I was going to make it with my clubs!  So, that is just what we did in June.

Now, I know it uses retired DSP, but remember, we made these in June!  Here's a look at it open.

We used the Strength and Hope set...that's the set that Stampin' Up! is donating money to the Breast Cancer Research Organization for each set sold (wood, clear and digital).  For some reason, I feel the need to use colors other than pink with this set!!!  This time we used Peach Parfait and Poppy Parade.  And, to create the effect we did the Rock & Roll technique.  Here's a closer look.

Here's another little tip.  See how the butterfly is kind of popping off the page?  Well, it kind of is!!!  It's cut out, wings curled and then glued in with a little Tombow in the middle of the wings.  I know what you're thinking...cutting those antenna out would be painful.  Well, I 'm here to save the day!!!  The antenna were stamped first, then when the butterfly was cut out the antenna were cut off.  When you glue the butterfly back on you glue it so the antenna are in the right spot.  Easy peasy!!!

Have an inspired day!

Hope in a Bottle

Did you know that by purchasing the Hope & Strength stamp set in the Summer Mini you will make a donation to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation?  Yep, that's right!  Stampin' Up! will donate $2 from EVERY Strength & Hope set (wood, clear or digital) sold for the duration of the Summer Mini.  Isn't that fantastic?  It's a great cause to support and the stamp set is fantastic...it's a 4 image set that, I think, is pretty versatile.  In fact, I'm working on a Stamp Camp using this set so you'll want to stay tuned for pictures of the projects (I think you're gonna love 'em!).

Today I have a project that my upline made for me using the Strength and Hope set which I loved so much that I completely copied it with my Stamp Clubs this month!

 
The jar is from one of our local dollar stores (I love getting jars for projects from the dollar store!).  Then it's simply decorated with some DSP and ALL of the stamp images from the Hope & Strength set!  Trust me, they're all there...one of them is stamped with Pink Pirouette behind the word image so it's hard to see in the picture.  It's embellished with a little pink punched flower and some fabulous pearls.  Love it!  You'll notice that the jar is full of chocolate covered pretzels.  When I got this, Christy had it full of cute little white chocolate covered pretzels with pastel sprinkles on them...ya, those didn't make it home (it was a 4 1/2 hour drive...girl's gotta eat!!!).  : )  Don't you think these would make a great little something to give to a close friend...a get well thing, a thank you thing, party favour...you get the idea!  And, you could fill your little jar with almost anything!

Christy mentioned that she was inspired by a project in one of our recent Stampin' Success magazines.  I can hear ya..."What's the Stampn' Success Magazine?" and "How can I get one?".  The Stampin' Success Magazine is a wonderful monthly publication for Stampin' Up! Demonstrators.  Stampin' Up! fills it with ideas (both creative and business), new techniques, interviews with other demos, contests, info on specials and loads of fun.  Wanna get a copy?  All you have to do is sign up to be a demonstrator, and right now is a great time!  Until the end of May, the Digital+ Starter Kit is on sale for only $150.50...that's 30% off the regular price.  And, it has loads of stampin' stuff in addition to the digital program, My Digital Studio.  In addition to all that, you will get to preorder stuff from the new catalogue in June...that's a FULL month before everyone else can order from the catalogue.  Now, I should add that we can't preorder everything, but Stampin' Up! does a great job of giving us a nice selection of stuff to preorder...including the 5 new In Colors that are coming!  Contact me today (or get started here) for more information or to sign up!  I would love to have you on my team.

Ok, I have to run.  No post tomorrow, but I will be back on Saturday with a scrapbook layout to share.  Have an inspired day!

Japan

Good morning!  At the end of last week, the world woke up to extreme devastation due to a MASSIVE earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  The pictures and stories in the news have been both scary and heart wrenching.  I can't help but feel so sad for what the Japanese people are going through right now and what they will go through as they come to terms with what has happened and try to pick up and move on with a new life.

My friend Allison is married to a man who was born and raised in Japan and whose family is still living there.  Thankfully, his dad and brother are ok.  She decided she had to do something to help the hundreds of thousands of people in need there right now.  So, she is selling some gorgeous cards and will donate ALL proceeds to the relief effort in Japan.

If you would like to learn more about her efforts and donate please visit her blog here.

Check back later for more birthday and March Madness.  Have an inspired day.

The Event

No, not the new show on NBC (although so far it has me hooked!), I'm talking about The Event this weekend...World Card Day-Stamp Out Breast Cancer.  Were you there?  If you weren't, you MISSED OUT!!!  We had a blast and have already started talking about next year.  Mark your calendars ladies because you don't want to miss it next year.  The first Saturday in October!

Ok, so I had a lot of late nights last week prepping for this event.  We cut so much paper and ribbon and packaged everything up for all the participants!

That last picture was only a small portion of all the stuff we cut!  It was a long night, but we had fun doing it! We were so excited to get everyone started stamping and having fun.  We had some delicious food for the day...muffins, soup and sammies, veggies & dip, pumpkin dip (made by my friend Sherri!) and gingersnaps (super yummy!), delicious muffins (courtsey of Tara)...you get the idea!  Check out the yummy cupcakes Heather made and our little candy bar.

YUM!!  Seriously, those cupcakes were to die for!  The room was ready and the silent auction stuff was all set out.

See those little pink boxes at each spot?  Those were made by Sherri for all our participants to dill with candy and treats throughout the day.  They were a big hit!

Now all we needed was some crazy excited stampers!  Everyone was encouraged to wear pink and I was so excited to see how many people did!  It was great to look across the sea of pink stampers in the room.  We stamped, laughed, played some silly games, gave away A LOT of prizes, and raised some $$$ for a great cause!

I will be sharing the projects from the day over the next couple weeks...the ladies did 21 projects throughout the day!

Have an inspired day!