Mojo Monday Challenge Card

I made this card for my mother for Mother's Day.  It is also a Mojo Monday Challenge card.  I have been so busy making cards for swaps, classes, etc. that it felt good to do my own thing!  I made the tulips using the wonderful Bird Punch.  Do you have that punch yet?  What are you waiting for??  There's so much you can do with it! 

We are going to my mom's house on Saturday evening. Sonny and Greg are going to cook out on the grill .... what, we don't know yet! Something easy without a lot of clean up! I'm thinking tin-foil dinners for each person. I remember making those when our kids were little at home and when we went camping. They were so good. I put a hamburger patty, potatoes, onions, and green pepper in the packs and added a little Worcestershire sauce. Yummm!!  My sister, Angela, is preparing the dessert.

SU Retiring Colors and a treat for you!

With the retiring colors going out, there has been a rush on ordering them. SU! is going to do their best to keep backorders down, but they also are running out of certain colors. They will be replacing (as needed) textured cardstock with the smooth paper. There will be no increase in price. As for the re-inkers, they will allow you to order replacements the month of May, but once June arrives they will only be available while supplies last!! Don't wait to place your order!! Contact me or go to my SU! website to place your order!!

I got to hear my grandson's little voice today.  My mom shared a book (think it came from Hallmark) that my son had sent her called "I Love You Grandma" for Mother's Day.  It is a recordable book.  They recorded Jayce reading the book to my mom.  It was so sweet - he sounded so grown up.  I haven't seen him in 2 years.  He is 3 1/2 now.  Just a long sad story but I have hope that one day things will change.

A friend sent me this and it struck a chord with me.  Hope you enjoy it.

Life is too short to wake up with regrets.  
So love the people who treat you right.
Love the ones who don't just because you can.
Believe everything happens for a reason.
If you get a second chance, grab it with both hands.
If it changes your life, let it.
Kiss slowly.
Forgive quickly.
God never said life would be easy.

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning the devil says~~
"Oh Crap, She's up!" He just promised it would be worth it.
 
And a little chocolate for the tummy ... Chocolate-Covered Espresso Beans - Small bites packed with flavor, these sophisticated sweets are perfect on their own as a snack or dropped into a cup of coffee.

INGREDIENTS
Espresso beans
8 oz. chocolate of your choice

INSTRUCTIONS

• Lay espresso beans (available at your grocery store) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Create a double boiler by boiling a pot of hot water and placing a heat-safe bowl on top. Or, use your microwave to melt chocolate of your choice— recommend dark for this treat.
• Using a large spoon with straining holes, dip beans into melted chocolate, letting excess drip back into the bowl before setting beans on baking sheet.
• Once all are fully coated, place sheet in refrigerator until chocolate has hardened.  

  

American Idol Results

At the beginning of the show, Ryan pulls Lee front and center.  Without a lot of hoopla, he reveals that Lee is SAFE.  No surprise there  - he was great Tuesday night.

Then he makes two groups - Crystal and Casey and Mike and Aaron.  My thoughts are that Crystal and Casey are the bottom two which would be correct in my opinion.  But, NO - it's Mike and Aaron.  What's going on?  Casey should be in the bottom two instead of either Mike or Aaron!!  For some reason, Big Mike is just not getting the votes. As it turns out, Aaron is going home.  He should hold his head up high - he has a great voice and should have a secure future.

I enjoyed hearing Harry Connick Jr. perform.  Don't think I ever noticed how lop-sided his mouth is!  He's funny though - he was really cutting up with the contestants and with Ellen!

So we're down to four!  Hard to believe - seems like the season just got started.  I'm still betting on Lee and Crystal in the final two.  The way Lee has been performing lately, he could just beat Crystal.  What do you think?

Check out the Clearance Rack!

How do you like the my new blog background?  This is one of the papers available for download on My Digital Studio!  I am hoping it will be in the new catalog this summer.

Stampin' Up has just put a bunch of new items on the CLEARANCE RACK!  Check it out in my right side bar.  You can order directly there and get the Preferred Price since you will be ordering through my demo site or you can e-mail or call me with your order.  There are a lot of  Designer Papers listed as well as Hodgepodge Hardware, ribbons, rub-ons, corduroy buttons, card kits, chipboard, wheels and a lot of other goodies!!  What a deal!

I have some more cards from the Quarterly to share with you.

Isn't this vintage look great?  This card uses the Square Lattice Embossing Folder and Elements of Style which iare both in the new Summer Mini Catalog.

Janie demonstrated making the Fabric Flowers without using a sewing machine or hot blue.  We put a cardstock circle between each layer and then threaded the prong of the Corduroy Button through all the layers.  Another great tip I discovered is to go to the Thrift Store (Goodwill, etc) and look for old skirts, capris, etc. for cheap and cut them up for fabric!!  If you can find some of those broom skirts or square dancing skirts, there would be a lot of material in them.  See you at Goodwill.

Isn't this adorable?  I'll probably be doing this one at my club meeting soon.  The elephant is made using punches - his ears are the Heart Punch!  How clever. 

Karen Culler guided us through a Zindorf card!  Isn't it gorgeous?  It also uses the Elements of Style stamp set from the Summer Mini.

Final Five ... American idol

We are down to 5 contestants. One more leaves tomorrow. Tonight they are singing songs from the Frank Sinatra songbook with piano backup and mentoring by Harry Connick Jr.  Oooh ... he's such a cutie and that N'Orleans accent ain't bad!!

• Aaron Kelly sings "Fly Me to the Moon"  He's got such a big voice for a little kid.  It wasn't bad but not his best.  He should be safe though even though he got the dreaded first spot.
• Casey James sings "Blue Skies"  Ooooh ... not good at all.  Probably his worst performance.  He could be in trouble tonight.
• Crystal Bowersox sings "Summer Wind"  Probably her worst performance too.  What's going on???  I thought Sinatra songs would be great!  She should be ok but just not the song I would have expected her to sing.  I would have liked to have heard her sing Chicago.
• Mike Lynche sings "The Way You Look Tonight"   So far, the best of the night!  He was comfortable on stage and sounded great.  I'm glad he got the save a few weeks ago.
• Lee DeWyze sings "That's Life"  Wow!!  Loved it! Best song choice of the night.   It will come down to a Lee / Crystal finale in my opinion.

We’re trying to find the next big pop star, and Sinatra’s tunes just aren’t conducive to the search.  The only one who made Sinatra current was Lee.

Bottom 2:  Aaron & Casey with Casey going home I think
Will Crystal be in the bottom 3????  Maybe!

New Blog Banner thanks to MDS!

As you can probably see from my new Blog Banner, I have been using My Digital Studio.  I decided today that I would send myself to "self taught school."  I created the banner following an on-line tutorial that I "googled."  Following it step-by-step made it very easy to do.  My next big undertaking was to edit it in my photo-editing software.  I have Paint Shop Pro by Corel which I purchased a couple of years ago.  I have never been able to figure out how to use it.  So, today, I have been playing with it and following a bunch of tutorials I found on Corel (don't ask me how many hours!!) until I was semi-comfortable with editing, cropping, etc.  The pictures in my blog banner are what inspired me to learn all this!  I took them a few weeks ago when I went to the Botanical Gardens and I wanted to incorporate them into my blog. 

While I was playing around with MDS, I created this card.  It uses some new paper that I was able to download last month called Spring Shades.  If you have MDS, you can also download this paper.  I hope that it will be in the new catalog this summer because it is really beautiful!

More Shoebox Shares

We did 16 cards at the Shoebox Swap so I have a few more to share with you.

Marianne and I spent the better part of tonight trying to narrow down our class selections for CK Convention.  It will be held August 13-14 in Charlotte.  This will be my fourth year to go and Marianne's third.  Last year, we got a hotel and our Florida friend, Sharon, joined us.  We are going to book a hotel again this year too - so much easier than driving to Charlotte!   I was hoping my daughter would join us this year but she scheduled another event for that weekend.  I keep trying to talk Margaret into coming but so far, no luck!  There are soooo many class offerings that it makes it hard to choose!  We are eligible for early registration which starts tomorrow afternoon.  We have finally narrowed our classes down to 3 or 4 on Friday and 3 on Saturday.  That should still give us a few hours to SHOP!!

This card was designed by Gayle who lives in Statesville.  I think I will be CASE-ing this one for my club.  All four panels are embossed with a Embossing Folder run through the Big Shot.  Then we used the sanding block to rough it up and make it show up a little better.  The "happy birthday" has a portion of the Medallion stamped on it.  So simple but so nice.

This sympathy card is also embossed - with the Fifth Avenue Floral Die this time.  The leaves are ovals that we scored down the center, folded them in half and ran them through the crimper (at an angle).  We cut the flower out - from Fifth Avenue Floral.

Another die cut card - this time using the Daisy Die .... one of my favorites!   It also uses the Little Leaves Sizzlit die and the Top Note.

This card uses A Beautiful Thing.  We stamped the flowers in Orchid Opulence and Apricot Appeal to get the mosaic effect.

Another favorite!  Again ... so simple but fun.  We used Circle Circus - punching out the circles with various round punches.  The sentiment is from Crazy for Cupcakes.

This was a "two-fer" designed by Lisa Tedder.  The card on the left (with the bird) is actually a bookmark - it has magnets inside.  So it can just fit over the larger card to be mailed and you have a card and a gift!

I'll be sharing the remainder of the shoebox cards tomorrow.  Have a wonderful day!

Quarterly Shoebox Swaps - Part 1

As promised, I want to share some of the cards I made Friday night during the shoebox swap at Quarterly.

This card uses the bird punch to make the flowers and leaves and the Scallop Trim Punch.  I also love the pink ribbon!!

This palm tree is from Tropical Party stampset which you can find in the Summer Mini.  The DSP is also from the mini.

This stamp set is Dream Gardens (pg 104).  This is one of the things I love about these swaps - you can use stamps that you wouldn't normally buy.  This one is not my style but I love the card!

This was a fun technique that I had not done in a long time - marbles!  We put the marbles in a plastic box and dropped a little reinker in.  Then, tape the white cardstock to the top of the container and rock and roll the marbles!  I think my Stamp Club will love this!

Here is another stamp set I didn't even know was in the book!  But I just love the look of this card.  The stamp set is Extreme Elements (pg 81) and is one of the sets on sale during the Scrapbooking special this month. 

 This is probably my favorite card!  It uses the Bride DSP found on page 158.  The paper is white with embossed white squiggles on it.  We sponged black onto the white paper and the squgglies really pop.  The hearts are from the Hearts Embosslet Die from the Occasions Mini - hopefully, it will be in the new catalog and the Heart Punch.  Since I have a couple of wedding cards to make this month, I'll be placing an order for this paper!!

National Scrapbooking Free Items!!

May is National Scrapbooking Month  --  the perfect time for you to share your love of scrapbooking. To assist you with this adventure, Stampin'Up! is offering a Special Promotion for the month of May.  Purchase a qualifying scrapbooking stamp set OR the My Digital Studio software and receive a FREE package of Designer brads -- choose from four designs!  Take a look at the great qualifying products:

Qualifying Stamp sets : 

 Extreme Elements
Framed with Love** 
Certified** 
Circle Circus
Elements of Style*
Mementos*
Rough Type*
Sentimental Journey*
First Day *

* *From Summer Mini Catalog**Last Chance Stamp Set
 
FREE DESIGNER BRADS:
 
Flower Designer brads
Filigree Designer brads 
Circle Designer brads
Star Designer brads

To place an order, go to my demonstrator website HERE or send me an e-mail.

Summer Mini Catalog

Check out the new Summer Mini Catalog!  Click on the link on my right sidebar.  There are some great new items in there.  I've pre-ordered a couple of the sets and will be posting some cards soon.  To make your own creations with these items, contact me!!

Watch this VIDEO to see items featured in the Summer Mini Catalog.