MY 8TH ANNIVERSARY

It's hard to believe, but I became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator eight years ago!  Eight years!!!!  My son was only 12 years old, and I was . . . eight years younger than I am today.  Through the years, I have learned a lot about stamping and paper crafts, and I have accumulated a lot of product.  A lot of product!  I have had the opportunity to be a part of design teams, and I've had some projects published in national publications.  I have had many classes, and I've made many new friends through my love of paper crafting and my association with Stampin' Up!  In honor of this anniversary, I decided to use My Digital Studio to create a Subway art-ish collage for my stamp room.  All of the images used for my collage are, of course, digital designs that are available for Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio software, which is so fun and easy to use!  Truth be told, I spent about 20 minutes on this design and, even though I could have given a lot more thought to the project, I'm satisfied with it.  To all of my wonderful friends and customers who have been on this awesome journey with me and to all of my demo friends . . . THANK YOU!!!  Becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator has been one of the best things I ever did for myself!  If you'd like to see a larger version of either photograph, just click on it.  ;-)

"FREESTYLE FRIDAYS"

It's Julie's turn to share a creative project today, and I am anxious to see the whole thing.  I can tell that she used that really fun window die, and I love the die-cut bird and embossed designer paper but what's really popping on this sneak peek is the splash of red!  Love it!!!!  I hope you'll join me in visiting Julie's blog today to see her project.  I know she'd love to hear from you, so how about taking a few minutes to leave a comment for her?  Have a great weekend!

"APOTHECARY ART" EASEL CARD

Today's card was inspired by the sketch for Craft Project Central's Card Challenge #9.  There's just something fun, interesting, and intriguing about a card that does something besides simply open and close, and I happen to love easel cards!  Sometimes when I send an easel card to someone, I wonder how long it will take them to figure out what to do with it and I have, on occasion, sent along instructions.  For this card, I used one of Stampin' Up!'s pattern paper stacks, "Kindness Matters" and "Apothecary Art" stamp sets, satin ribbon, Sizzix Beautiful Wings embosslits die, rhinestone jewels, Labels Collection Framelits dies, and Scallop Edge Border punch.  The sentiment is from the "Curvy Verses" stamp set.

"SUNRISE" - HAVE A GOOD DAY

Isn't this a cheery card???  It's my latest shaped card, created with images from the "Country Life" Cricut cartridge.  I don't remember where the stamped sentiment came from, but it seemed perfect for this card. 

TREAT HOLDER GETS SHAPED EDGES FROM FRAMELITS DIE

This project reminds me of a box that I made years ago that had a door hanger on the upper end of it, but I like this one much better, mostly because of the decorative edges at the top and the front of the box.  I used Stampin' Up!'s "Labels Collection" Framelits dies to cut the decorative edges of the card stock and the "Attic Boutique" designer paper.  All products used to create this project are from Stampin' Up! and include the Soft Suede taffeta ribbon, crochet trim, hemp twine, rhinestone jewels, silver glimmer paper, and the following punches:  Eyelet Border, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer, and Butterfly.

BLOG AWARD!!!

What a surprise to find out today that my stampin' friend, Nancy Dawson, has presented my blog with a Liebster Blog Award!  Thank you, Nancy! 

To accept the award, the following had to be done:

~  Pass the award to five other people whose blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) inspire me;

~  Leave a comment on their blog so they know about their new award;

~  Link back to the person's blog who awarded my blog;

~  Post the award on my blog.

It wasn't easy, but the five blogs that I selected to receive the Liebster Blog Award are:

Laura Lipe - www.smileslaura.blogspot.com

Julie Beaulieu - www.designedwithyouinmind101.blogspot.com

Tammy Howell - www.tarheelstamper.blogspot.com

Patrice Herrera - www.mylittlepatchofdirt.blogspot.com

Sherry Beeson - www.sherrystampinroom.blogspot.com (love the music)

And don't forget to visit Nancy Dawson's blog at www.creativewishes.blogspot.com

"MAKE-IT-SNAPPY-MONDAY"

Instead of a card, I decided to make a gift item for the MISM project today, and this one was easy peasy!  I cut a piece of Twitterpated designer paper in half and then die-cut both pieces with Stampin' Up!'s "Fancy Favor" XL die.  For the striped (box) portion of my project, I just folded all of the scored lines and adhered the box into shape.  For the gray top, I used the paper trimmer to slice off the box flaps so that I could use this piece as a top to close the box.  The top just slips off with the seam binding and floral embellishment staying intact.  Other Stampin' Up! products used on this project include "Mixed Bunch" and "Clearly for You" stamp sets, Blossom punch, small Oval punch, Baker's twine, Blossom Petals Builder punch, 3/4" Circle punch, and Eyelet Border punch.

"FAITH IN NATURE" MASCULINE

Stampin' Up!'s "Faith in Nature" stamp set is just beautiful, and it seemed like the perfect choice for the masculine birthday card that I needed to make.  In a non-boastful way, I'm quite pleased with this card.  I stamped the pear image twice, but I colored and cut out one pear and leaf and placed them on the other stamped image with Stampin' Dimensionals.  The sentiment is from the ever-so-handy "Happiest Birthday Wishes" stamp set.  It just occurred to me that both stamp sets that I used to design this card are hostess sets, but I think they should be added to the catalog and stick around for a while because they're awesome!  Although this card started as a regular A2 size, I decided that a 4.25" square cut would be best so the tag wouldn't just be resting across a mass of Very Vanilla card stock.  I like how the tail of the tag hangs over the right edge of the card.

FREESTYLE FRIDAYS

With her Freestyle Fridays post last week, Julie issued a mission for me to use "Everyday Enchantment" designer paper this week.  One of my favorite techniques is faux quilting, so that's what I decided to do.  This project features the following Stampin' Up! products:

Card Stock:  Chocolate Chip textured, Very Vanilla

Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Lucky Limeade

Stamp Sets:  Kindness Matters, In Stitches (jumbo wheel images converted to stamps)

Sizzix:  Big Shot, Labels Collection Framelits dies, Square Lattice embossing folder

Punches:  Scallop Circle, Blossom Petals Builder

Accessories:  "Everyday Enchantment" designer paper and coordinating ribbon, antique brad, Stamp-a-ma-jig

In this post, you can learn more about how I converted the "In Stitches" jumbo wheel to wood-mounted stamps so that I could use the assorted stitch designs individually.  This is a great way to get added value from any of the stampin' wheels, but it's an especially good idea for the "In Stitches" wheel because it will offer so many more (and better) uses for those pretty stitches!

Remember . . . Stampin' Up!'s Sale-a-Bration promotion ends this month so, if you'd like to earn any of the SAB products FREE, I'd appreciate it if you shop with me!  Just click the "Shop 24 Hours" sign in the right sidebar on my blog.

"ATTIC BOUTIQUE" 12X12 LAYOUT

I'm not a scrapbooker, but the idea for this layout hit me from out of the blue and was one of "those" projects that demanded my attention until it was complete.  A lot of Stampin' Up! products were used to create this layout, such as the "Attic Boutique" designer paper and "Watercolor Trio" stamp set.