Let's Celebrate

Hey there stampers!
Thanks for joining me on this beautiful sunny summer Wednesday.  Wish I didn't have to go to the dentist today, but on second thought, I guess I should be feeling happy that I get to visit the dentist.  How many people in this world endure terrible pain from decaying and/or broken teeth?  More than I want to think about!  So with that thought in mind, I'll happily go to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned this morning.

I've been working on Big Shot projects for my Technique Geeks class that is coming up on Friday, August 8th at 7 pm at my house.  So far I have a pretty card and a fun french fry box made.  Today I'll be working on the second card, a great design that I saw at convention.  I'll show it to you soon, but first I have to make it!

Today I want to show you a card that's made with the new Striped Scallop Thinlit die that's in the lower left-hand corner of page 228 in the new annual catalog.  There are several tricks to using this new thinlit, which I'll be sharing with you at the class.  Take a peek and let me know if you like it.

This class is built around new items for the Big Shot, so I thought a card using this new background thinlit,
the new Flower Fair Framelits, plus the Banner Framelit dies would make for a very Big Shot-intensive card that will keep everyone busy turning that crank!  The colors I used are Coastal Cabana, Crushed Curry, and Old Olive.  The sentiment is from "Sumthin' Sumthin'" on page 8 of the new annual catalog.

I'd love it if you could join me for this class.  I'm hoping that Friday night will work for some of you.  My daughter and her little girls will be visiting next week from California, so I needed to move the Technique Geeks class from Thursday night to Friday night, as they are leaving Friday afternoon. It just would not have worked to be holding a class while we have family visiting. Please check your inbox for the evite I sent for this class.  I would appreciate a response very much!

Have a great Wednesday and I'll hope to see you back here on Friday when I'll show you the cute little
French Fry box.

Oh, one more thing... tomorrow (July 31st) is the last day for the Buy 3, get one free offer on Designer Paper.  This offer is good for the $10.95 packs of DSP only, but what a nice deal!  And of course you don't pay shipping on the 4th package either.  It is entirely free!

Choose Happiness!
Susan

Sunny Monday

Hello there stampers!
Thanks for stopping in this sunny Monday!  As you might have guessed, I've got a simple and sunny card for you today, to go with our wonderful weather.  We made this cute and quick card at Marilyn and Joan's party on Saturday and I thought you'd like it too.
Check it out...

I saw a similar card on the blog memystampsandi.blogspot.com and thought I'd case it.  Of course I ended up changing a few things, like the colors and the ribbon.   I used the new photopolymer set called Flower Patch, which you can see on page 136 of the annual catalog.  Although this set has plenty of large blossoms, I chose to use one of the smallest blooms and its corresponding stem.  Daffodil Delight card stock gives this card a happy disposition and the Mossy Meadow is a nice contrast to the yellow.  I had fun using my Fringe scissors to create the grass that the flowers are springing out of.  The saying is from the same set as well.  I used the very versatile Decorative Dots embossing folder to add a bit of texture and extra interest, along with some of the new 1/4 inch cotton ribbon in Daffodil Delight.  If you haven't tried this ribbon yet, please do.  It is soft and pliable and easily tied. Best of all, it comes in 12 popular Stampin'Up! colors and is only $5.95 for a 10 yard roll.  That's a great buy!

Thanks for coming by today! Let's meet up again on Wednesday, when I'll have another card that will inspire you to get out your stampin' stuff!
Hugs and Happiness,
Susan

Choose Happiness

Hip Hip Hooray for Friday!

It looks like we've made it through another week!  I wish there was a way we could slow things down, though.  Summer is going by much too quickly to suit me.  I want to drag it out as long as possible... how about you?  Are you a fan of summer like me?

One of my favorite quotes goes like this..." We tend to seek happiness, when happiness is actually a choice."
Isn't it good to know that we don't have to go hunt out happiness, like some kind of hidden treasure?  We just have to choose happiness.  Of course sometimes that's easier said than done.  But knowing that our happiness is up to us and that we can make a conscious choice to be happy is empowering.
Here's another happiness quote that's a favorite of mine:
" I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be, for I have learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances."  Martha Washington. What a wise woman she was!


By now I suppose you might be wondering why I'm focusing on choosing happiness.  Well, that's because the card I'm going to show you right now has the sentiment "Choose Happiness."  Here it is...

Some of you probably know that I'm a stamper who loves the collage look... where images are combined and stamped on top of each other to make a sort of collage.  For this card, I started by stamping the Dictionary Background stamp in Crumb Cake on a panel of Very Vanilla.  Then, using images from the  Choose Happiness stamp set (page 118) I stamped over the dictionary page in three of the new In-Colors--
Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow, and Lost Lagoon.  I tried to stamp randomly, to avoid straight lines.  I made sure to have some of the images going off the edge of the paper, which helps the stamping look more random.  I stamped the sentiment in Lost Lagoon and then punched it out with the Artisan Label punch (page 220).  I love the new In-Color stitched satin ribbon this year and I love how this Lost Lagoon ribbon looks on this card.

I hope you've got some fun plans for the weekend!  I'm looking forward to stamping with Marilyn and Joan at their stamping party on Saturday at 1 o'clock at my house.
Thanks for reading along with my blog!
Happy week-ending, everyone!
Susan

Big Shot Swap Project

Hello again and happy Wednesday!

Time is just flying by and I can't believe it is already the 4th week of July!  How did that happen?
I hope you aren't getting bored with these convention projects, because I've got another one for you today.

Each year at convention I meet up with a group of demonstrators from Kansas City.  We all stay at the same hotel and over the past 5 or so years we've become friends.  One of these demonstrators organized a Big Shot swap for us this year and for some reason I just couldn't seem to find an idea I wanted to pursue.  I spent way too much time agonizing over what to make, instead of just getting busy.  I knew I didn't want to make a three-dimensional item such as the new Fry Box or Hamburger Box (see these cute boxes on page 233 of the catalog) because they'd be squashed in my luggage. I finally settled on the new Kraft Grid Journals (see page 200).  Here's what they looked like when I was finished...

And here's a list of all the new products I used:

Kraft Grid Journals\
Kraft Card Stock
Tiny Triangles Embossing Folder
Flower Frenzy Bigz L Die for the Big Shot
Hello Honey, Blackberry Bliss, and Mossy Meadow Card Stock
Mossy Meadow Stitched Satin Ribbon
Rotary Alphabet Stamp (You can make any words or phrases you want!)

One item was not new... the Very Vanilla label cut with the Apothecary Accents Collection.

Once I got started, these were pretty quick and easy to make.  Thankfully I only needed to make 6 of them, so that was a happy thing.  I think I might have grown a little tired of cranking the Big Shot to make 20 or more.

I sure appreciate all of you loyal blog-readers!  Once again, my thanks for coming here on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to see what I've been stamping. Please come back on Friday because I have a card I think you'll like!
Hugs and Happiness,
Susan

She believed she could, so she did!

Happy Monday, stampers!
I'm back from the convention and I'm working on adding all of the great swaps cards to my display boards! I think you'll find looking at all of the swaps very inspiring.  There are so many great card designs!  

Today I'm going to show you a little gift that I made for a demonstrator friend who reached a mileston in lifetime sales with Stampin'Up!  You could easily do something similar with a notebook and designer paper and make a fun gift for a friend.

Wouldn't this make a great graduation gift, or a gift for a friend who landed a new job?  Maybe you know someone who recently achieved a long-held goal.  This sentiment is perfect for those occasions!  This sentiment is from the Feel Goods stamp set, a carry-over set from last year's catalog.  You can find it on page 36 of this year's catalog.  There are some other equally great thoughts in this set.
The DSP I used on this little journal is called Back to Black.  Check it out at the bottom of page 187.
There's nothing quite as crisp as the combination of black and white and this collection has some striking patterns in it.  I added a little two-layered flower stamped with the Flower Shop set on Hello Honey card stock and punched out with the Pansy Punch.  The sentiment was stamped in black on Whisper White card stock and then cut out with the Deco Labels Collection of framelits on page 231 of the catalog.

Have you stamped lately?  If not, get out some stamps, ink, and paper and PLAY!  Creativity is good for the soul!  Thank you for stopping by today. May your week be filled with sunshine and happiness!
Susan

Another Work of Art

Hello again, stampers!
Thanks for coming back this fine Friday!  Do you have great plans for the weekend?  This is definitely the busiest time of year for all sorts of festivals.  In our little town of Sherwood, it's Robin Hood Festival weekend, with a parade through Old Town Sherwood and tons of other activities.  As you know, I'm in Salt Lake City enjoying a grand time at the Stampin'Up! convention.  I'm going to have a lot to share with you once I return home!

I think by now, most of my customers are familiar with the Work of Art stamp set on page 165 of the new catalog.  I've made quite a few cards with this amazing set and I'm sure there are countless others that I'll make in the future with this very versatile set.   Here's my latest "work of art..."

 Crisp Cantaloupe, Soft Sky, Pool Party, and So Saffron are the colors I used for the different elements in the Work of Art set.  The sentiment is from Fabulous Four on page 13 of the new catalog.  In case you can't read the fine print, it says "Celebrate amazing, spectacular, fantastic you."  I added some of the new sequin stars from the 2013-2015 In Color Sequin Assortment on page 208.  There are round sequins, hearts, and stars in the 5 In-Colors that were introduced last year.  I used a glue dot to adhere each one, so those stars  will really stick!

Have a great weekend, everyone!  I hope I'll see you back here on Monday.
Hugs and Happiness!
Susan

Sweet Baby Boy

Hi there stampin peeps!
Hope everyone is having a good week so far!  If it hasn't been the best, then you can take comfort in the fact that today is "hump" day... after Wednesday is over, you're over the hump and you can coast downhill to the weekend.
While you are reading this, I'm winging my way to the big Stampin'Up! convention in Salt Lake City!  It's the highlight of the year for crazy demonstrators like me.  The general sessions, when all the new products are revealed, the prize give-aways, the stamping demonstrations, the fabulous displays, and just being with thousands of other demonstrators who are crazy too... it's quite the best time!  There are classes to attend, make-and-takes to do, and oh, I almost forgot about all the card swapping that goes on.  It starts the minute you get to the Portland airport (where there are lots of demos flying out at the same time) and goes on at the Salt Lake City airport, the hotels, the convention center, and even restaurants.  When I return with all of the great cards I swapped, I'll be adding them to my display boards for your viewing pleasure and stamping inspiration.
Today I want to show you a cute baby card I made for a young friend who's about to deliver a sweet baby boy.  It's a clean and simple card, but I love how it turned out!

The colors are simply Pool Party and Whisper White.  I used the fun little elephant from Zoo Babies for my focal point.  It isn't often that I need a card for a new baby, but when I do, Zoo Babies is always there to help me create a quick and cute card that the new mommy will love (and hopefully save in a baby book).

Thanks for stopping by today and please come back on Friday when I'll have another classic card for you.
I may or may not be showing you photos from convention... it depends on how my camera uploads to my new laptop.  But I'll still have posts for you while I'm away!
Hugs and Happiness!
Susan