It's Graduation Season!

I have a Senior! I can't believe it but I do! I haven't been able to stamp much this week because of a family "issue" but I was able to get Brittany's birthday/graduation party invitation samples done for her to choose which one she wants to go out to everyone. I was surprised when she picked my favorite....pleasantly surprised since it's also one of the easiest I did! ;o) I had to change one thing on it and I didn't want to show you until I made one of the "real" ones with the change. I'll post that as soon as I get it done....most likely Sunday.

I really can't believe that not only will Brittany be graduating at the end of this month but she'll also be turning 18! All this within days of each other....She turns 18 on a Friday, we'll have her birthday/graduation party on Saturday and she graduates the following Tuesday! Where did my little preschooler go? I can't believe she'll be going off to college in a few short months....even if she is going to school nearby! ;o) I am SO very proud of Brittany and super excited about this next phase of her life...and mine!

Be sure to check back Sunday evening to see the invitation that will be sent out for Brittany's celebration and tell me what you think about it!

Scrapbooking Starter Kit Promotion

In celebration of National Scrapbooking Month, join Stampin' Up! as a demonstrator for only $75 with our limited-time Scrapbooking Starter Kit. The Scrapbooking Starter Kit contains the following:

Schoolbook Serif Alphabet stamp set* - $42.95
Simply Scrappin' Petal Party - $19.95
Earth Elements Assorted textured card stock (12" x 12") - $11.95
Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad - $7.50

*Substitutable for any stamp set up to $43.95 value.


Please note: Each of the products listed above may be substituted for like items. Please see the Scrapbooking Starter Kit Order Form for details. The Scrapbooking Starter Kit also contains all the business supplies contained in the standard Starter Kit:

Getting Started DVD
Getting Started Guide
Guest Invitation Postcard (100)
Idea Book & Catalog (8)
Occasions Mini Catalog (8)
To My Hostess Envelope (10)
Recruit Folders (5)
Recruit Brochures (20)
Hostess Brochure (20)
Hostess Benefits Form (10)
Customer Order Form (50)

You can either join my team via my website or we can get together to complete the paperwork and mail it in. If you have any questions or need more information, don't hesitate to contact me!

Exciting Scrapbook Promotion!

Did you know that May is National Scrapbooking Month? For many people, scrapbooking has played an important role in their lives. It may have started with something simple: the first time they placed a sticker on a piece of paper or picked up a camera. Perhaps for you, it was the first time you realized you could leave your family story for future generations to read, enjoy and learn from.

During the month of May, we are celebrating National Scrapbooking Month. This is an opportunity for you to create while you save money at the same time....two different ways!

1. Buy three packs of Designer Series paper (including our Specialty Designer Series paper) or 12" x 12" textured card stock, and get one FREE! There is no limit to how many free packs of paper you can get, you can mix and match your paper and ALL Designer Series paper, Specialty Designer Series papers, and 12" x 12" textured card stock are eligible for this promotion!

2. Buy a sneak peek stamp set from the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog--Jumble Alphabet (set of 52; double-mounted)--at a 20 percent discount. There is no limit to the number of sets you can purchase at 20% off and this special is only available during the month of May.

Contact me if you would like more information.

Happy Birthday Becky!

This past Friday was my friend Becky's birthday (I'll keep her age to myself!). I wanted to take her out to dinner to celebrate and tonight was the day that worked best for her so she came over after school (she's a Para-Pro at a nearby middle school) and we chatted for a bit then headed out to visit TJ Maxx to see if we could find a lamp for her and then to dinner at Chili's followed by Chick-Fil-A for dessert! I can't tell you how GREAT tonight was! I loved getting caught up with Becky and making plans for next week. We've both got some milestone events coming up that we'll be working on.....Brittany's graduation and 18th birthday for me - her son & her mom's weddings for Becky. It's going to be a busy few weeks coming up!

I know that Becky needs some pampering so I made a very simple gift bag to hold the bath gel, body scrub and lotion I got her and a faux alligator skin purse to hold the bath beads. Does the card look familiar? ;o) After I made the card that you can find in the post below this one, I thought, "That card screams BECKY! I need to make one for her!" so I did! LOL! I didn't want to post these projects until after I had given them to her....just in case she visited. I would hate for her to see her gift before she got it so I waited until after we visited tonight. ;o)

Faux Alligator Skin purse, bag & card...notice how the colors coordinate...

AND they're same colors that Jaron challenged us to use?

Sorry for the glare...I had to take a very quick picture & I had already put it in an envelope.

Faux Alligator skin purse

Close-up of purse. How stinkin' cute is this?!

Bag holding bath accessories.

I wanted to keep this VERY simple so I just covered a small paper bag

with some DSP and punched the "handle" with the large oval punch....easy peasy!

What do you think? I would love to hear what you think of Becky's gifts. ;o)

Jaron's Color Combination Challenge #1

One of my very favorite Stampin' Up! employees is Jaron Winder....I should rephrase that to "former Stampin' Up! employees". He is no longer with Stampin' Up! but he's still one of my very favorite people! I would "stalk" him at each Stampin' Up! event I attended, have my picture taken with him and chat a little bit about his family. He has the most adorable little "chickens" (that's what he calls his kids) and his wife is just beautiful! He has a personality that's as big as Utah (they live there) and a heart to match! I was sad to hear that he was no longer with Stampin' Up! but happy that I get to keep track of him through his blog.

When I checked his blog this morning, I saw that he decided to start posting a Color Combination Challenge. Since it's Jaron I couldn't not do it! I mean how bad would it be for me to say that this man creates some amazing work and then not trust his judgement by not participating in his challenge? Just because his first color combination is Old Olive, Taken with Teal and Soft Sky (a retired In-Color, color) doesn't mean he's lost his mind or anything....or at least I hope he hasn't.

After I finished some projects that I had to finish today, I decided to pull out Jaron's colors and see what I could come up with....Holy Smokes - they look GREAT together! I don't think the scan of my card does it justice! Using the stamp set Bird on a Branch, I first stamped the peacock (I don't know if that's what it really is but it's what I'm saying it is!) in Taken with Teal, then I stamped it in Soft Sky and did the "rock-n-roll" technique to outline it in Taken with Teal on a separate piece of Whisper White card stock and cut it out. The sentiment is stamped in Taken with Teal and the tree limb is stamped in Chocolate Chip. I first inked up the blossoms with Soft Sky and then removed the ink off some of the blossoms and colored them in using my Old Olive marker. I "popped-up" the peacock with dimensionals after I did all the stamping. Because I wanted everything to line up in specific places, I used my handy-dandy Stamp-a-ma-jig. There is no way I would have been able to get everything lined up the way I wanted it if I hadn't!

So, tell me what you think. Do you like these colors together? Why don't you give it a try and leave a comment to tell me what you think. Better yet, send me a picture of your creation and I'll post it here and put a link to it on Jaron's blog as well (if you're okay with that). I would love to see what you come up with!

Admin. Assistant's Day

I wanted to make a small gift for Gary to take to the two Admin. Assistants that he works with. I used the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set to make the cards and some DSP to wrap around the bottle of air freshener. I also used the butterfly die to make the butterflies on the bottle. I didn't want to go "overboard" with the gift so I put some "smell good" bath items in the basket along with the reed diffuser air freshener. Gary was pleased with the gifts (although he forgot I was making a gift and was only expecting a card....again with the "man" thing!!!). He said the ladies LOVED their gifts and were pleasantly surprised! I'm a happy stamper! :oD

Close-up view of the basket contents.

View of the two baskets for Gary's Admin. Assistants.

Melissa's 23rd

I sat down to make my older step-daughter a birthday card and knew that I wanted it to be simple and pretty. I had just made Kehley's engagement card (see previous post) and loved the way the Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder worked with the vellum and I decided to do it with Melissa's birthday card.

I embossed the vellum and cut it down to 5 1/4" x 4". I stamped "Happy Birthday" on the same size Whisper White card stock and then adhered the vellum to the card stock using mini glue dots on the two upper corners (you couldn't see them through the vellum either!). After I did that, I wanted just a tad bit of color so I gently went over the raised edges of the vellum with my pastels and a sponge dauber. It doesn't really show up, but I used blue to give the rose some color...I didn't want a lot so I barely did it.


I wanted something more than the sentiment on the inside of her card so I stamped the big rose on the inside bottom corner. I *really* liked the way this card turned out!



Now that you saw the card that I created especially for Melissa....this is the card she'll get in the mail! Why? Because when I gave Gary the card to sign I didn't specifically say, "This is Melissa's card." and he signed "Gary" instead of "Love, Dad". I didn't because I told him earlier that I was making cards to get into the mail along with Melissa's birthday card that we would send her and another that we'll give her when we take her to dinner Sunday night.....I thought he would remember that his daughter was the only birthday card I would be making. Yeah, I know what you're thinking...."Are you kidding?! He's a man! Men don't remember things like that!" Oy! It was late last night and I was not going to make another card to get in the mail this morning so I went to my box of cards and grabbed this one. I'll most likely re-make the one above to give her Sunday night because I liked it so much but this is the one she'll be getting in the mail. :o( Oh well, at least she'll be getting one!

So excited!

I got a phone call from our neighbor telling me that her older daughter is engaged! I'm SO excited for Kehley and CJ! They are such a wonderful couple....sooo nice and just exactly what you would want in your own kids! I had to know how he proposed....OMG - he just stole my heart again (our family just loves CJ and Kehley!)!

He hid in Kehley's apartment - she came home from class early (she's attending UGA) and he almost got caught! He asked her if she had made her bed that morning. She went in to check and found a rose & a note. The note told her to go to a friend's apartment....where he had a rose & note waiting to give her. That note told her to go to another friend's apartment....where she had a rose & note waiting to give her. That note told her to go to the balcony....where she found another rose & note. That note told her to look down....where CJ was standing with a rose. She ran down to him and he proposed! How sweet is that?!!

I made the card below using UGA's colors since I have no idea what colors they will use (they're thinking next year) and I don't know what Kehley's favorite colors are. I used the Manhattan Flower Embossing Folder and cut out the dress. I saw this idea on a blog one day and knew I had to try it for myself! I really like how it turned out! What do you think?

Happy "Sweet 16" Kimberly!

Yesterday was our youngest daughter's 16th birthday and I really wanted to make a special pop-up 3-tier cake card for her! I knew I wanted to use chocolate and pink and this is what I came up with. I really like the way this one turned out...hope you do to! Let me know what you think of it. :o)

16 candles just for Kimberly

1st Birthday Invites

My Trainer's girlfriend asked if I could make some birthday invitations for her little girl's 1st birthday in June. These are the samples that I made up for her to choose from. Which one do you think she chose? I'll post the one she chose in a few days....she had a question about changing some colors so I did that & sent it to her to see how she liked it. :o)