ANOTHER CLASS CARD

Happy Friday!!! I'm looking forward to this weekend.....simply because we don't have anything planned!!! Yeah!!

Below is a card that we made during Karen's stamp class a couple of weeks ago that I just realized I hadn't posted. It's using the new Vintage Vogue stamp set that is currently available in the Occasions Mini catalog.....this is a FANTASTIC set. It even has a matching jumbo wheel....you can see that it was used on the base of the card and the scalloped strip. Also featured from the Occasions Mini is the medium jewelry tag punch, which is stamped with a stamp from the Tiny Tags stamp set, and the bird and branch are punched from the extra large two-step bird punch. All those items are available to order in the Occasions Mini. The scallop border punch, used on this card, is available FREE in the Sale-A-Bration catalog.....if you order $50 in SU merchandise, you can order this punch for FREE....pretty COOL!!!

The background on the top note die cut was achieved by using a sponge dauber and swirling the ink onto it....it's a great way to add a textured look. This is a very versatile card.

If you are interested in looking at the current Occasions Mini catalog and all the other current SU catalogs....click here.

This last Saturday, I met my friend Karen at a local craft store and bought some fabric. This fabric is going to be used to make a rag tote bag.....with the squares cut with the Big Shot! There are TONS of these bags on blogs and Splitcoast, etc.....but I first saw the idea on Angie Juda's blog (Chic-n-Scratch)....which is on my right side bar and a FABULOUS blog!!! Anyways....here is the fabric that we picked out to make a bag.....along with some ribbon for the handle.

All the cutting was done using the Big Shot and the SU scallop square Bigz clear die....no scissor cramps and it only took me about 20-30 minutes!! Because with the Big Shot and a Bigz die you can cut up to 8 layers of fabric at once....depending on the thickness of the fabric. Now that I've got all my squares cut out.....I just need to sew it all together. I can't wait until I get a chance to do that. Maybe it will rain this weekend and I will be forced to stay indoors :-)

I also have a TON of scallop squares cut out from scraps of flannel I had leftover from making robes for my family as Christmas presents year before last....these I am going to also sew together and make a rag quilt. It's weird....but die cutting can become addicting....once you start it's hard to stop. You begin to look for things to cut up ;-0

Well....that's it for me today! My fairy god-maid seems to have gone on strike, so I guess that I will be put to forced labor cleaning house ;-)

Until next time, find some time for stamping!!

Blessings to you.......Cindy

CUTE PUNCH PENGUIN

Good afternoon friends! I never got back to the computer to post this card yesterday....but better late than never.

Isn't he just adorable?! We made him in my stamping class with Karen Angel that I go to on Mondays. He was VERY EASY to make....I assembled him at home because I wanted to stamp some snowflakes behind him just to jazz it up a bit.

He is mounted on a half sheet of basic gray, his feet and beak are pumpkin pie, heart is real red and the rest of him is basic black. I want to make some more of these....they would make good birthday cards too.

Well...if you need more information regarding which punches to use...just leave me a comment and I will forward those on to you.

Tonight Andy has another wrestling match. This time it is an away match, so we are going to be leaving here in about half an hour. Monday he had his very first match. He wrestled really good, but ended up losing :-( He was nervous and said that this time he will know more what to expect, etc. Monday I was a WRECK!!! I was so nervous for him I almost felt sick :-{ I'm such a pansy!!!

That's it for me today......Until next time, find some time for stamping!!!

Blessings...........Cindy

SORRY FOR ABSENCE

Sorry I have been absent from blogging.....time just gets away from me.

The kids were suppose to go to our church's junior high winter retreat last weekend, but due to the weather it was canceled....which threw off my schedule. Last night Andy, our son, had his first wrestling match of the season.....he will have matches every Monday and Wednesday until March....with a tournament and championships (we're crossing our fingers on this) after that. Anyway.....toss in some everyday living with all the school stuff and the days just zip by.

I will be back later this afternoon with something that we created in stamp class yesterday.

Until next time, find some time for stamping!!

Blessings.........Cindy

BOOKMARKS

Hi Stampers! Thanks for taking the time to visit!

Sunday after church is usually just a real laid back time at our house. If we can't find any friends free to come over after church, we usually just lay around, eat leftovers, take naps, and relax. I might add.....that sometimes we do the exact same things when we do have company :-) Anyways.....yesterday it rained and so it was a PERFECT day for Steve to nap on the couch, the kids to watch DVD's, and for me to stamp.

Madison and I are reading the book "Beautiful Girlhood" together and we needed a bookmark....so I decided to make one on Sunday afternoon. I actually ended up making 3.......here they are.......

The one with the M is the one I made for Madison.

Bookmarks are a great way to not only use scraps of paper, but also small scraps of ribbon and DSP.....and they serve a purpose!!! They make quick little gifts too! Plus, they are just FUN to make!!!

Darn! My household chores are calling my name......I think they are feeling neglected!

Until next time, find some time for stamping.

Blessings...........Cindy

BIG BUBBA'S & MADISON'S CARD

Hi there!

Well, just in case you were wondering....we had a very FUN time at dinner for my mother's birthday. Here's a picture of my mom with her official Big Bubba's birthday sticker....

We went to Big Bubba's Bad BBQ....the ribs tasted great and the kids had a good ol' time when they finally mustered up enough guts to ride the mechanical bull. At first, they didn't want to ride, not because of the ride itself, but because it's announced (very loudly, I might add) and broadcast throughout the entire restaurant on closed-circuit tv.....they were a bit embarrassed. But Andy was the first....he manned-up and then the others followed. Here's a picture of him sitting on the bull......

This was not him "officially" riding the bull.....he just jumped on so I could snap his picture.

Since it was a celebration.....we splurged and ordered these incredibly yummy onion rings....boy, they were worth every calorie too!!! You can tell that Andy is using every ounce of self-control in his little body not to devour them all.

We had loads of fun!!! Big Bubba's is definitely a place to go for special occasions.

Ok, before I forget, I wanted to show you the card that Madison made the other day......I think it turned out very cute. It looks like she combined the get well cards that we made on Monday and by doing so made this darling Friends card. All I did on the card was tie the bow......She did a GREAT job!!!!

Well.....that's all for today. Tomorrow I will show you what I did Sunday afternoon just havin' some fun.

Until next time, find some time for stamping.

Blessings to you.......Cindy

GET WELL CARD & HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

Hi Stampers!!

Today is BEAUTIFUL!!! The sun is brightly shining and it's warm!!!! The last few days it has been foggy and cold!! So this beautiful sunshine is like medicine to my "old" bones!!! But unfortunately this sunshine is not to last.....a storm is suppose to be blowing in sometime this evening or tomorrow. Thankfully I LOVE rain.....it's the fog that makes me batty.

I wanted to show you the feminine get well card that we made at Stamp Club on Monday. It is based on this card, and this card from Karen Graff-Povis (her blog).....changed up just a bit. I like the white on white....and the Elegant Eggplant paper and ink just makes it pop!

Today is also my mother's birthday! So tonight we are all getting together for dinner at this place called Big Bubba's BBQ. I have not been, but they are known for their FANTASTIC ribs. I'm not a big rib eater, but I'll gnaw on some tonight just for my mom!!! They also have a mechanic bull for folks to ride. The kids want to ride it....not sure you'll see me on there though.....I'm kind of a chicken and not into self-inflicted injuries. But I will certainly enjoy watching other family members risking their lives :-)

Madison is in the process of making a card and she keeps telling me "Don't look!", so when she gets done, and she lets me see it, I'll be sure to take a picture and post it.

Well, I better get going. Until next time, find some time for stamping!

Blessings to you........Cindy

DECOR ELEMENTS

Hey there Stampers! Hope this is a good week for you.

I have had a couple of SU Decor Elements in a drawer and I finally got around to putting them all up today......I think they turned out lovely! Now that I have them up, it makes me want to get some more! My craft budget is pretty tight and when I think of spending money....Decor Elements are not that high on my wish list....but seeing how they look on my walls, might bump them up a few notches :-)

I have always loved the Thoughts and Prayer tree and so I put that up in my stamp room.....it is the medium sized tree. I think just looking at the tree will give me inspiration! Here it is......

I also put the Welcome and the Dotted Flourish in our dining room.....but I've gotta say.....putting up the Dotted Flourish was a pain!!!! Our walls are a bit textured and that just made it so hard to get the small dots to stick. The welcome wasn't bad since the letters were larger. Here's what it looks like....

They really look classy!! The more I look at them the more my opinion of Decor Elements is changing.....might be having to split my money between wall art and stampin' stuff :-)

Well, I didn't get to any stamping today.....between the Decor Elements and the Mt. Everest size pile of laundry, I was tied up all day.

Until next time, find some time for stamping!

Blessings............Cindy

GET WELL...CLUB CARD FOR MONDAY

Hey Stampers! Thanks for popping in. We've only got this weekend until the kids go back to school on Monday :-( Even though I am ready to get back into a routine it has been fun having them around.

Our trip to San Francisco was fun. We had big plans to go and walk across the Golden Gate Bridge and some other stuff, but it just didn't work out.....we got stuck in traffic and some other setbacks that just ate the time away. But it was still a blast! The King Tut exhibit was great.....although it was extremely CROWDED! It's fun seeing artifacts in real life that you've seen in books! We weren't allowed to take any pictures of the exhibit...but here we are outside it......

The weather almost couldn't get any better. A part of the museum had an observation deck....so we went up there.....here was the spectacular view.....you can barely see the top of the Golden Gate in the center.

With parking being so limited, not to mention expensive....we took the BART train. BART is short for Bay Area Rapid Transit.....here is a cool picture that Madison took of the turnstiles.

Here's a couple of pictures of the kids......they LOVED riding BART about as much, or even more, as going to see King Tut's stuff. Ladies first, then the gentlemen......

OK.......On to stamping stuff......Right off the bat let me say.....I'm AWFUL at coming up with masculine cards! Each time I begin to design a card for a guy, I realize that I really don't have any stamps for men....and I never think to order any.....mostly because I usually buy just what I like :-) How selfish of me. Anyways......since I don't have any "guy" stamps, the Big Shot once again came to the rescue! Not super masculine, but here's what I came up with.......

Pretty basic.....not much stamping. I don't have a picture of the inside.....but what I did was stamp the Medallion with VersaMark in the middle of the entire card's base and then put the words from the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set inked up with Chocolate Chip centered on the right side of the card. The colors are Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue and Not Quite Navy....the medallion is stamped with VersaMark.

Well....It's late and I still need to come up with a fem get well card.....this one should be a tad easier. I'm going to go surfing on SCS and see what I can find :-)

Until next time, find some time for stamping.

Blessings to you.............Cindy

BABY CARD, SALE-A-BRATION & OCCASIONS MINI

Hey there! This year is off to a speedy, but good, start. This is the last week of Christmas vacation for the kids. I have enjoyed having them home but I'm somewhat ready to get back into a routine.

Tomorrow we are headed to San Francisco to see the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibit at the DeYoung Museum. We plan to spend the day in the city having fun with the friends that are going with us. The kids have not ever walked across or on the Golden Gate Bridge, so I'm hoping that we will get the chance to do that as well.....it's very cool but it's also kinda creepy, but it's worth it!

I heard today that my friend Cindy, who moved to Iowa a couple of months ago, had her baby girl today!!!

CONGRATS CINDY!!!!

So, this evening after dinner while the kids played monopoly and Steve watched the Fiesta Bowl, I made a card for her. I wish that I could deliver it to her in person so that I could see that sweet baby.....but I guess I'll just have to snail mail it to her and wait for pictures. She has a blog that is in my blog list entitled The Smith Zoo Crew......she sews more than stamps, but I don't hold that against her.

Now about the card......The card's base is Pink Pirouette (retired InColor) topped with some retired DSP (I don't know the name....but it had all the right colors)....the ribbon is the current 1/2" striped grosgrain pretty in pink (oh, after I saw the picture of the card, I cut the ends of the ribbon even more.....they just looked too long). I used my nestabilities to cut out the square for the Teddy and Train bear and the scallop square that it's on. After I tied the bow, I had a small scrap left, so I just tucked it under the bear. Since this year I am going to work at being more detailed with my cards, I decided to pry open my container of brads and actually use one of them....I'm such a miser when it comes to my accessories :-( What a dork I am!!!

Well, here is what I came up with......

On the inside I used the Congrats stamp set from last year's Sale-A-Bration.....and speaking of Sale-A-Bration......here's some other BIG news!!!!!

Tomorrow, January 5th begins Stampin' Up!'s SALE-A-BRATION.....this is the biggest promotion of the year!! This year's FREE stamps and accessories are the BEST that I can remember them ever offering.....in fact, this year they are offering a border punch for the first time. Another amazing thing SU is offering this time is selected stamp sets from the current catalog for FREE!! For those of you not familiar with Sale-A-Bration (SAB) here's how it works.....For every $50 you spend (before shipping & tax) you get to choose a FREE item from the SAB catalog....it's that easy!! Who can resist FREE stuff!! SAB goes from January 5th to March 30th.....so you have 3 months to stock up on these free goodies.

On top of SAB......the OCCASIONS MINI CATALOG also goes live tomorrow!!! This is also an incredible catalog this year. What is cool in this catalog is for the FIRST TIME Stampin' Up! is offering acrylic blocks and clear mount stamps!!! I used these for the first time the other day at my friend Karen's home.....and I think that I'm sold!!! I had NEVER stamped with anything other than wood mounted stamps and so I was a bit leery, but not any more!!! So, I think that I will be taking the plunge into clear mounts when I get back from San Francisco. The Occasions Mini catalog is effective from January 5th all the way through April 30th.

LOTS of exciting stuff.....to download a copy of either the Sale-A-Bration catalog or the Occasions Mini catalog, just click on the pictures that are on the right side of my blog. Also, contact me if you would like a copy of either of these catalogs or if you would like to place an order.

Well, I had better get going......it's getting late and I need to be up at the crack of dawn.

Until next time, find some time for stamping.

Blessings............Cindy

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy New Year stampers!!! Hope you all had a fun New Year's.....we had a very quiet one!! I can hardly believe that a year has come and gone.....and that I have been blogging all that time....not very good at times, but I haven't quit!

With the new year....comes a time for hind sight......So......Here's a look back over some of the projects I posted in 2009.....

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

This is the month that my camera had gotten broken......so I didn't have any stamping projects posted at all this month.

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

Hopefully my stamping has improved over this past year.....I know that I have a tendency to get into ruts and do the same thing over and over. This next year, I would like to become a better and more detailed stamper.....like trying new techniques and actually using my embellishments instead of "saving" them.....because isn't that why I buy them in the first place ....duh!!!!

Finally, a big THANK YOU to all of you who take the time out of your busy day to read my little blog......I have appreciated your comments and getting to know a few of you who consistently keep coming back for more "punishment". I will try and make it worth your valuable time!!!

I pray that this year brings many blessings and wonderful opportunities your way......and because God is faithful in all things, I am looking forward to this new year with much hope!!!

Until next time.....find some time for stamping!

Blessings to you...............Cindy