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On the drive over yesterday, we stopped at a gas station with remarkably clean bathrooms, so much so that I thanked the lady at the counter and the manager for keeping them so clean. However, outside was this sign that struck me as EXTREMELY funny. Oh, if all dirt were "clean dirt!"
Can't come to the class, but you still want to make the cards? Just let me know, and I'll get you all the supplies you'll need through my Stamps-in-the-mail program. Have the kit delivered right to your door for just $40.00, or pick it up from me at your convenience for $35.00. Since this item is an accessory, I cannot guarantee availability after Monday, July 21, but feel free to contact me anytime before August 10, to see if it is still available.
So this is just a silly post, but Wednesday night, when we got home from some adventures that I will share with you another day, we found this HUGE head of cabbage sitting on our porch. I'm telling you this thing is 12" in diameter! The next day Michael picked up some bananas at the grocery store and they were all 8-10" long! What is up with the ginormous produce? The cabbage was with some tomatoes and jelly (not pictured), the cucumbers came from someone else in the community, and the onions were store bought and just happened to be there.
Sweet wishes!
Sweet wishes!
Our second card came from another Make-N-Take kit that I ordered from SU! a while ago. Like the other MNT kit using the Be Happy stamp set, this one also used some old In Colors, but it was easy to switch the True Thyme to Always Artichoke and the Cranberry Crisp to Purely Pomegranate. My guests enjoyed the non-traditional size of this card (3x6).
Finally we made this candle using Blossoms Abound stamp set. I love this set (in case you didn’t notice yet), and I LOVE this candle. The colors are perfect together, and it smells really good too.
Hey, one last thing: EXCITING NEWS ABOUT A RETIRING STAMP SET SALE COMING TOMORROW (or later today)! So stay tuned.
Shuckin' corn!
AJ’s first ear was a little odd. It had a few HUGE kernels including this MONSTER one. Michael broke it open and it was all brown inside. He said it was dirt, but I don’t think so.
Then the next ear she picked up was this tiny one, she kept going, “Aaawwww! It’s a baby one.” With her very southern drawl. (Where did that come from for this Yankee-born child!?!)
AJ didn’t fish, DJ and I didn’t catch anything, but Michael caught three. This was the final and biggest. (The first one fit in the palm of his hand.)
ETA: all fish were thrown back in!
DJ didn't do much in the way of helping make this card, but he chose the colors, the layout, and the design. Of course when you ask a 5-yr-old what colors he wants to use, he's going to name them all, but he did say, "Green and yellow and red and blue...oh a rainbow! I want to do a rainbow!" And I needed to use some chipboard, so I asked him what shape, and he chose a star, which of course had to be yellow (why did I even ask that?). Then I asked if he wanted it sideways or up-and-down. And he definitely wanted Birthday wishes in blue. He usually loves to use the SNAIL adhesive, but was too preoccupied with who-knows-what to even bother with that. He did, however, write the entire message inside by himself.
And here's AJ's card. Again, I let her choose the colors. And I had another card with a Pun Fun hippo laying next to my desk, and as soon as she saw it, she HAD to have a hippo on her card for Daddy. I tried to show her other stamps, other cute animals even, but it was no use. She was set on using that hippo. She helped me ink it up and stamp it, I helped her sponge the edges, and then she got to color him and help me stick it all together. She "wrote" a message inside too. ;)
Sweet wishes!
And here's the whole herd:
Sweet wishes!
As soon as I saw the white lacework on the pillows, I knew I needed to play around with Stampin' Up!'s new Scallop Edge Punch. That is how I made both white trims. I CASEd this layout from someone on SCS. Unfortunately, I didn't save the card in my favorites, I just sketched it in my challenge journal, so I can't give credit. I don't even know what the original stamp set or colors used were because I wrote my own color ideas on my sketch. These weren't them, but as soon as I saw the colors and the bedding, this sketch popped into my head, and I knew I had to try it. I did change the Certainly Celery to SU!'s new In Color-Kiwi Kiss.
Sweet wishes!
I haven't put it up on my wall yet, and even when I do, I won't be able to share a picture with you all for a while, because one of the swaps I just joined for Convention is a photo swap of Décor Elements ideas, so I don't want the picture I'm going to swap up on my blog where someone might see it before the swap. I appreciate the element of surprise. But I promise I will share it as soon after Convention as possible (or as soon as I remember). I'm sure I won't have anything else exciting to share. ;)
Btw, if you are an SU! demo, and are going to convention, and are interested in participating in this swap, check out the thread over at SCS (you have to be a member on the demo side to view it): New & Open DECOR ELEMENTS Swap.
Sweet wishes!
These are all items that will be available in the upcoming Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog premiering August 11. Seen here are the new In Colors: Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, Pacific Point, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, and Tangerine Tango; four new stamp sets: Deer Friends (the one with all the circles) and Happiness Always (the one with the purple rubber) will be Level 2 & Level 3 Hostess Sets respectively, Wow Flowers (the set of 4) and Sock Monkey (that would be the one with the monkey ;)); there are also new buttons from an all new "Button Bouquet," the new Bella Rose Designer Series Paper, and a new Scallop Edge Punch. I obviously mounted all my stamps...which was super easy because Stampin' Up! has officially announced that all NEW stamp sets will be die cut! So while you still have to put them together yourself, you no longer have to cut them out. Existing older sets which were not previously die cut will still have to be trimmed and mounted, but all NEW sets will be die cut! Anyway, I mounted all my new stamps, but I haven't gotten a chance to play with them yet. All of my remaining swaps for Convention will be using the new sets, so I'm really going to be getting these things inky soon! Well, enjoy the eye candy. TTFN!
Sweet wishes!
Michael's dad, grandmother, and older brother and his family came into town to celebrate with us. The kids spent the afternoon outside playing in the water with our slip-n-slide, water balloons, and the Elmo sprinkler. Here's the crew after the water balloon fight. 
And here's a video of them playing in the sprinkler...well, sans AJ, she had had enough by this time. ;) It looks like it might be a little fuzzy, sorry if it is.
Sweet wishes!
The inspiration piece was this beautiful cake from Martha Stewart's website.
So far all of my stampin'/craftin' posts have been projects I have designed for specific events ie. a workshop, class, or VBS, but today I stamped for fun and just for the sake of blogging. I've seen other crafters who have made some lovely creations based on color combinations suggested by Kristina over at KWernerDesignBlog. Each week she posts a picture of inspiration piece with the colors to be used in the challenge. I've participated in several SCS challenges, but this is my first blog challenge.
So you may remember this card that I posted last week. I used the pieces from this Make-N-Take kit to create my page element. Inspiration is everywhere, and I was all about thinking out of the box yesterday. Plus the pieces were already cut, YEA!, So it required no prep time...other than the time it took me to come up with the idea, which was how the majority of my day was spent yesterday. 
