Happy 4th!

Well, I spent most of the day working on my new blog header.  Do you like it?  When I get into My Digital Studio, I just lose track of time.  I try so many different things until I get just the look I want.  But it's fun!

We are keeping our fingers crossed that the rain holds off for the 4th of July activities.  The YMCA is doing fireworks tonight (Thursday)  We are meeting Mom and Angela for dinner and then going to their church which is on a hill a few blocks from the Y and has a good viewing area for the fireworks.  Tomorrow night (Friday) there will be more fireworks put on at Queen's Landing on the lake.  Sonny and I plan on taking the boat out early and getting a good spot in a cove to view the fireworks.  So keep your fingers crossed for the weather.

While I was in My Digital Studio, I decided to make a card for the 4th.  I used a card template that was already there and just changed around some colors and inserted the 4th stamp set and stars.

Hope your 4th of July is a safe one!!

Paper Craft Challenge 10

It's time for another Paper Craft Crew Challenge .... #10 already!  I made this cute Christmas card using My Mittens stamp set in MDS2.   I also used the new feature that was just released yesterday to rip the edges of the paper.  This is done using the Freeform Tool.  I gave the sides of the DSP ripped edges and matted the DSP with red.  This really enhanced the torn edges.  I love this feature and will be playing with it a lot more.

Make sure to check out the other cards made by the design crew HERE.

What do you think of my new blog design?  I won't tell you how many hours it took me!  Not because it was hard, but I just kept adding different layers and overlays and recoloring the DSP to get just the right color.  In the end, I love it!  I was so in love with my previous blog design that I was worried I wouldn't come up with anything quite as good.  But I'm patting myself on the back because I like this one too!

I won't be posting tomorrow.  I am going to Forest City and Rutherfordton after my Newcomer's Coffee to visit with two of my ECU girlfriends.  Jackie still lives in Rutherfordton and Brenda's family is there although she lives on Baden Lake (west of me I think).  Brenda is going through some health issues which is hard for me to believe.  Of the three of us, she has the healthiest lifestyle.  She runs, plays golf, eats naturally, takes all kinds of vitamin supplements, etc.  Jackie and I ..... not so much!!  So it will be good to visit and find out what all is going on with both of them.  We usually always visit over a glass bottle of wine or a pitcher of frozen strawberry daiquiries and reminiscence about our college antics!  We've known each other for 46 years!  Wow - hard to believe.

Season of Friendship final hoorah

How do you like my new blog banner and background paper?  This is the Summer Smooch collection that will be in the new catalog.  I love the bright colors ...  I am a Brights kind of gal!

Things have been kind of crazy here. Yesterday I left the house at 9 a.m. and returned home at 7:30 pm!  I went to the "Y" and then out to lunch with Newcomers Out to Lunch Bunch at Firebirds at the mall.  So, of course I had to do some shopping while at the mall!  Plus, I had a $25 coupon for Coldwater Creek that I couldn't let expire.  But, I also went to Belk's and bought my mom's Mothers Day present.  After shopping, I met Marianne back in Mooresville and we went to the movies.  We saw "The Lucky One."  Zac Efron is sure dreamy!  We both enjoyed the movie.  My only complaint is that I thought he seemed a lot younger than Taylor Shilling (his love interest in the movie).  He is 24 and she is 27 but he seemed a lot younger than that.  But it was a great chick flick and I would recommend it. 

Sonny and I are on a new Red Cross National Disaster Team.  This is a pilot program for Lake Norman Red Cross.  There are about 18-20 people on the team from all over the Piedmont.  Sonny and I and the Team Leader are the only ones from the Mooresville office - the others are from Charlotte, Kings Mountain, Morganton, Gastonia, Salisbury, etc.  We will be doing all our training as a team and will be traveling to the various cities for our training.  Saturday we were in Charlotte for our first meeting; Monday night we had a Forms Class in Morganton and today we took an on-line (3 hours!) course on setting on and closing a shelter.  We have a class scheduled Saturday in Charlotte and over the next few weeks, we have 1-2 training classes a week.  The plan is when a disaster hits, we would be ready to deploy as a team of about 4-5 people within 24 hours. 

I have another card to share using a retiring stamp set, Season of Friendship.  I had to use it one last time before sending the stamp to a friend in Georgia who is buying it from me. (Cathy - it will be in the mail tomorrow!)  I actually saw a card similar to this one on Pinterest in pinks.  But I wanted to use Poppy Parade since it is retiring.

I stamped the tree in Soft Suede on Very Vanilla card stock and the leaves in Pear Pizazz.  Some of the leaves I stamped and cut out and mounted them to the tree with dimensionals.  The flowers are punched with the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch with a Pearl in the center of each one.  I stamped the sentiment on the side.  I really like this card!

How do you like the new blog banner?

How do you like my new blog banner?  Another great one using My Digital Studio.  The flower that I used is the new stamp that is in the Summer Mini Catalog - Fabulous Florets (pg 22-23).  I can't wait till next week to order it!!  I didn't preorder anything this time and I am dying to put my order in next Monday.  If you want to add to my order, give me a shout-out.  I love so many of the things in the Summer Mini.  I think my order will include Open Sea stamp and DSP, Baker's Twine, Sunny Fun, Fish Frenzy Wheel, Land of the Free, Fab Florets stamp and DSP, Flower Garden embossing folder, Strength & Hope ..... what else?  Maybe I shouldn't have gone shopping today!  I took my mom to JC Penney's but I only bought a pair of capris and a set of towels.  

I've been working on some cards for a lady in my Newcomers group.  She wants to buy an assortment from me and I will be taking them to her next week.  I'm also trying to use some stamps that have been neglected and not used recently.   Here is what I have so far:

 This is a retired set, Bodacious Bouquet.  The ovals are from my Nestabilities.  The DSP is also retired SU but it matches the Baja Blue and Soft Suede.

 Another retired set - Asian Artistry.  I sponged the white panel with Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake and did the sun in Daffodil Delight.  I cut the bird out and popped him up.  The card is Peach Parfait with Cajun Craze panels matted in Espresso and run through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice folder.  I love this card and it uses colors I don't usually use.

 This is the Asian Artistry stamp also - what a contrast to the other card I made with this set.  The card base is Cameo Coral - funny, I hardly used that color before it retired!  I colored the flowers with my Copics and then put a little Crystal Effects on the flowers.  The embossing folder is a paisley one.  The rhinestone brads are SU.

This is a simple card using the SU Butterfly die.  The stamp set is from Word Play - a very versatile set.  The DSP is from a retired Valentine package.

Well, my guys are headed home - should be here in an hour or so.  I think they had a good time.  They spent Sunday and Monday at Cooper Santee in South Carolina fishing.  Then they headed out Tuesday for the Outer Banks.  They stayed at Hatteras Island Tuesday night and did a little exploring in that area before they headed over to Kill Devil Hills where they spent Wednesday night.  I think they were going to visit the Wright Brothers Museum and Memorial today as well as some places on Roanoke Island.  Sonny wanted to get back home so they would have time to go out on our lake tomorrow and do more fishing!  Jack leaves on Saturday.  This is always such a treat for both of them .... and for me!