Lazy Love Monkey

Well it started to snow last night and I do not think that Love Monkey is happy about it. He is looking out the window but does not seem to want to go out in it. Lucy on the other hand decided to leave her buddy this morning to go out and play in the snow. Maybe I can get Love Monkey to help shovel snow this afternoon but I have a feeling that Love Monkey is going to be a little lazy about helping shovel the snow. Although, Lucy is not much help either.

Hopefully I will be able to work on some projects today. My father became ill last week and I have spent most of my time taking care of him these past two weeks. He is getting stronger everyday and maybe today I can get some of my things out and relax a bit. If I do, I will try to get Love Monkey to hep instead of just looking out the window at the snow.

Enjoy your day!

Lucy Meets Love Monkey

Here is my dog Lucy meeting Love Monkey for the first time. She is not sure what to make of her but it looks like they are getting along fine. It is a good thing too because Love Monkey is going to be living with us for the next month!

At Kim's Downline meeting on Sunday, we were all introduced to our group's new mascot-Love Monkey. That is not his real name but the group has not picked his new name yet. Each month a new peson will get "Love Monkey" and a journal to write down his adventures and put pictures of what he has been up to that month. I was picked to take him first since I was top seller in January of our group.

It is a good thing Lucy likes him because he is her new roomie for the month. Go out and enjoy your day! I know Lucy and Love Monkey will have a great time playing together all day today while I try to get some housework done.

Chocolate Bunny Swap

Tomorrow we will be meeting at Kim's house. She is my Up Line and once a month we have a group meeting. Each month we make swaps to share with everybody in the group. This card is my swap for February. The supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SETS: Chocolate Bunny, Teeny Tiny Wishes

PAPER: Barely Banana, Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Bride DSP

INK: Classic Orchid Opulence, Craft Chocolate Chip

ACCESSORIES: White Gel Pen, 1/4" Pretty In Pink Grosgrain Ribbon, Eyelet Border Punch, Large Oval Punch, Modern Label Punch, Word Window Punch, Dimensionals, Clear EP, Heating Tool, Perfect Polka Dots Impression Folder, Big Shot, Brayer

I tried to use Springy Colors for this card. I wanted to create a cheery felling when you look at this card. I don't want to give away too much information on how I did this card because I am one of the Demos tomorrow and the technique that I used on this card is what I am demoing. I hope they like the card when they see it tomorrow. I always enjoy getting together with the group because everyone has so many great ideas to share. Hopefully on my next post, I will be able to show some of the great things that my group has been doing. Have a great day!

Hostess Appreciation Luncheon

On Saturday, after my Technique Class, I had all my hostesses who booked from me in the past year over at my house. When I invite them over to my house for my Hostess Appreciation Luncheon, we play a few games (with prizes of course), do two Make and Takes, and have lunch. We had a great time!

I could not decide on what to do for my Make and Takes until I checked in on Katherine Rock's blog. I saw that she made a cute memo pad holder and I realized that I had not made one for a long time and thought maybe it was time to make one again. I love the Cottage Wall DSP and had already decided to use it for the first make and take. So it was easy to decide to use it for this project too. I have gotten hooked on the embosslit, "Beautiful Wings" and of course managed to add it to this project. I think that it fits in well with this paper. The supplies that I used for this project were:

STAMP SET: none

PAPER: Orchid Opulence, Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry. Cottage Wall DSP

INK: none

ACCESSORIES: Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Post-It Notes

Everyone had a good time at the luncheon. But of course you could not expect anything else when you get a group of women together who love to stamp. Enjoy your day!

February Technique Class-Card 3

This is the last of the three cards that we are making this month. This card uses the technique of "Faux Photo Corners". This is a quick way of making photo corners if you do not have the Photo Corners Punch. Believe it or not these corners were made with the Five Petal Punch. This card was another easy card, but everybody at my class yesterday loved it. They liked the idea that it could be used for a variety of occasions. The supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SETS: Friends 24-7, All Holidays

PAPER: Confetti White, Real Red. Garden Green, Basic Black

INK: Black Staz-On, Real Red, Garden Green

ACCESSORIES: Perfect Polka Dots, Impression Plate, Big Shot, Silver Brads, Five Petal Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch. Large Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Blender Pens

I went through so many color combinations before I decided on this one. I ended up coloring the flowers red because it was so close to Valentine's Day. Then the whole thing seem to fall into place for me. So anyway... I waited to post this card so I could wish everyone a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!! Have a great day!

February Technique Class-Card 2

Here is the second card that we will be making in my February technique Classes. This is another way that you can use punches. I used the punch and then wove ribbon through. What a small detail to add to a card but I think it gives it a little punch to the card. It makes the card more interesting. Sometimes the smallest detail that is added to a card can make a huge impact. I think that is what happened to this card. The supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SET: Whimsical Words

PAPER: Whisper White, Apricot Appeal, Cameo Coral

INK: Cameo Coral

ACCESSORIES: Stampin' Pastels (Summer Sun), Certainly Celery Ribbon, Eyelet Border Punch, Double Rectangle Punch, Elegant Bouquet Impression Folder, Big Shot

I started out with a very different card in my mind. After trying many different colors and arrangements, I decided the more simple the card, the more impact I would have. So I stopped all the stamping I was doing and went with the subtle impression of flowers in the corner. First I colored all the flowers and stems with the pastels but decided that there was too much going on. I then decided only highlighting the centers. That looked much better. Then I added the simple sentiment to finish the card. I originally did not have the eyelet border but when I saw the card this way, I felt that a frilly border was a good way to soften the end of the card, since the card had a softer look to it than when I started. Don't ever be afraid to stray from your original idea. Sometimes the best designs that I have come up with are ones that I have changed and changed and worked on for many hours.

Well, my husband left at 5 this morning to go snowmobiling in Maine for the week so I plan to do a lot of projects while he is gone. Starting as soon as I post this. Have a great day!

Square Scallop Die Bag

Remember last week when I said I was going to make something special at my Upline Kim's house? Well here it is!! Isn't it adorable? Since Leadership, these quilted squares seem to be everywhere. What a great idea to use the Big Shot and the dies to use for different crafts! So when the group of stampers that I stamp with came back from Leadership with all these great ideas to make different items using the different dies, everyone just had to start making them. This was so simple to make but oh so cute. I have not sewn since my oldest daughter was born 28 years ago. So you can imagine how clumsy I was at the machine to begin with. The group that I am with, "Love At First Stamp"uses the colors black, pink, and white. Our shirts, our flip flops, our scarves, necklaces, everything we have made for the group has used the color scheme, black, pink, and white. So making the bag would not be any different! Kim found this great material that besides being "our" colors even said LOVE on it. I love the different patterns she found that use our colors. So we got together and made them . The first picture shows the different patterned squares and the second picture shows the inside of the bag using all the same squares of fabric. It is REVERSIBLE!! How neat is that! Well, I guess I had better go and help my husband shovel snow. It is still snowing here and is supposed to all day. But it is easier for me to do a little all day than try to shovel it when it gets deeper and heavier to shovel. Go out and enjoy your day!

Valentine's Day Early

Here is a very simple card for Valentine's Day that is extremely quick to make. I used the Vintage Vogue stamp set again. I saw a card that was a swap at Leadership that used this layout. Instead of hearts they used butterflies but I thought I could adapt it to be a Valentines Day card. The swirling greens and floral shape is a stamp from the stamp set "Vintage Vogue" I used Real Red and Handsome Hunter markers and colored the flowers Real Red and the greenery Handsome Hunter. I punched out the hearts from Real Red Cardstock using the Small Heart Punch from the Occasions Mini. The large heart in the middle is from the "I (Heart) Hearts" stamp set and is stamped in Craft Real Red Ink and embossed with Iridescent Ice EP. I attached the hearts using dimensionals. The sentiment comes from the Level 1 Hostess set "Holiday Best".

I decided to post this card today because my husband is going on a snowmobile trip to Maine and won't be home for Valentines Day. So we are celebrating this week before he leaves at the end of this week. I guess any day can be Valentine's day! Go out and enjoy the day!

February Technique Class-Card 1

It is that time again when I am preparing for my Technique Classes. This month's theme is "PUNCHES". We will be making three different cards using punches to create different effects. This card is a Fancy Two Toned Scallop Edge which I found on Gretchen Barron's Blog. I saw the technique and thought it created such a unique effect on a card. It is so easy but what a Wow it creates. I used some of the products which are in the Occasions Mini. This card also used the "Vintage Vogue" stamp set. I also used the "Beautiful Wings" embosslit. Look very closely and you can see the small butterflies intertwined with the flowers. All those items are from the new mini. The sentiment is from "Whimsical Words" which is one of the items that you can pick for free from the Sale-A-Bration Brochure.

I hope you enjoy this card. Please contact me for more specific information on the classes if interested. Go out and enjoy the day. And if you live near me, you better enjoy it now before the big snowfall they are calling for starts!

Another Vintage Vogue

If you have been checking my blog recently, you know that I love this set! Here is another version using this stamp set. And for some reason I am stuck on this Orchid Opulence and Old Olive color combination. I also am loving those Scallop Trim punches. a reminder that the Scallop Trim Border Punch can be gotten free if you choose it as your Sale-A-Bration item. If you purchase $50 worth of product then you can choose an item from the Sale-A-Bration brochure. This punch may be in the brochure but will also be available in the 2010-11 catalog. The supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SETS: Vintage Vogue, En Francois, Teeny Tiny Wishes

PAPER: Whisper White, Orchid Opulence, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive

INK: Old Olive, Orchid Opulence

ACCESSORIES: Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Pink Brads, Small oval Punch, Word Window Punch, Matchbox Bigz XL Die, Big Shot

It is fun to play around and come up with many different cards using the same stamp set. Snow is predicted for this weekend here. I think that sounds like a good time to experiment with the products in the new Occasions Mini. Next week I will post what I came up with while trying different things. Go and enjoy the rest of the day.

Love at First Stamp Swap

The stamping group that I am with is called"Love at First Stamp". Once a month my Up Line Kim has a group meeting at her house. This is my swap for this month. I cased this card from one that I saw but can not remember who did the card. Please let me know if you know who did the original so I can give them credit. I did change mine around. I simplified mine and made it all one piece. What had caught my eye to begin with was the piece that has the sentiment stamped on it. The design was made using the new Scallop Trim Corner Punch. The heart is from the I (Heart) Hearts stamp set. I embossed the heart with clear EP and Real Red Craft ink. It gives it a really nice effect. Th supplies that I used for this card were:

STAMP SETS: Teeny Tiny Wishes, I (Heart) Hearts

PAPER: Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red

INK: Basic Black, Real Red Classic Ink, Real Red Craft Ink

ACCESSORIES: Round Corner Punch, Scallop Trim Corner Punch, Silver Brads, Perfect Polka Dots Impression Folder, Big Shot

I love the new Perfect Polka Dots Impression Folder. I like using the folders to create texture for the backgrounds of cards. I usually don't make a lot of Valentine cards but this year I made a lot. I think it is because I really like the selection of stamp sets that are available in the Occasions Mini. I know I posted late today but I was helping a friend set up her NEW basement stamping room. It will look fantastic after everything is put up and put away. Enjoy the rest of the day.