I Made A Quilt!!

Well .... a Quilt Card!  My sister is the quilt maker in the family.  I followed a tutorial over on Splitcoast Stampers for making a quilted card and was quite pleased with the end result!

I used pieces of DSP from the Saleabration catalog and Tangerine Tango, Pink Passion (retired) and Tempting Turquoise cardstock.  The ribbon is also from Saleabration.  After putting the "quilt" together, I ran it through the Big Shot with the Finial Press embossing folder.

Here is a picture of my fishermen!  They went out on Lake Norman on our boat on Friday but didn't even get a bite so they didn't have any fish on their lines to show you!

I got a call yesterday from the Red Cross about going to Alabama  for two weeks to help out with the storm damage.  They need about 80 people to be case workers.  They wanted me to leave on Wednesday (today) for two weeks.  I have an obligation on Saturday at Stampers Alley so I was not able to leave that soon.  I told them I could be available on Sunday so we will see if they need me or not.  I would really love to be able to help.  There are so many people that were affected by those tornadoes.  Our Red Cross office here in Lake Norman was already deployed to the eastern part of NC from the tornadoes that we had here a couple of weeks ago.

A Beautiful Flower

Well, the news of the past few days has been terrific, don't you think?   My heartfelt thanks goes out to those US Navy Seals who stormed Bin Laden's compound and killed him.  I know everyone has a different opinion with regards to the morality of this killing - at least in our family there are differing opinions.  As a citizen of the US, I believe the killing was just but as a follower of Jesus, I'm torn but I believe the earth is safer today than it was a few days ago.  It's just too bad that our world is in a place where killing an enemy of the US is necessary.  I understand that violence does give rise to violence.  But then I think of all those innocent people who were killed on 9/11 and I rejoice that the mastermind of that horrific deed is gone.  Already the expectation exists that Al-Qaida will attempt attacks to retaliate.  The sooner that the United States leaves Afghanistan and Iraq and Libya, the closer we will all be to a time of peace.

OK - on to lighter issues!!   I made this flower a few days ago and tonight put a card together to put it on.  This will be a card that will need to be hand-delivered so as not to crush the flower.  Directions are below:

Start out by punching out 3 flowers with the XL Fancy Flower Punch.  

On one flower, you'll cut directly to the center. On the second flower, you'll cut to the center and completely remove one petal. On the third flower, you'll cut to the center and completely remove two petals.

You can sponge the edges which gives the flower some nice depth once you've put it all together.Then take your bone folder and gently work the pieces by rubbing them over the bone folder, forwards and backwards, to break down the fibers in the card stock. This step is essential because it makes the paper much easier to bend and work with while you're forming your rose.  
Take some Tombow adhesive and run a small glue line along the back of one side of the slits of each flower. You'll then move one petal completely over on top of the other petal and paper-clip them together until they dry. It doesn't take long. You'll end up with four petals, three petals, two petals, and then your extra little pieces.

Use a small dowel, paper piercer, etc. to roll the single petal into a cone as shown above and glue closed.

Snip off the bottom of the each petal piece and place Tombow adhesive all around the inside. Then place your bud piece into the hole and position it where it looks best. You'll need to hold it in place until it dries.

Look what you end up with! I know you're smiling and happy now even though you have glue all over your fingers and you've probably said a few choice words while making this! You'll have to snip off the bottom of the rose to make it flatter so that you can adhere it to a card.

But isn't it pretty??

And here is my finished card:

I actually put a little Crystal Effects inside each petal to make it stick a little better.  (As you can see, it wasn't quite dry when I took the picture!)

Retired Darling Dots

I've been making a few more cards to sell and using some of my retired SU stamp sets.  I love this stamp set - Darling Dots.  I think it was a Saleabration set from a few years ago but I have held on to it because I really like it!  It's really versatile with hearts, flowers, leaves, stars, etc.

 On this card, I used the Scallop Square punch along with the 1 1/4" Square Punch.  The card base is Crumb Cake and the Chocolate Chip ribbon is Stampin' Up.

 Just about everything on this card is retired!  The cardbase is Dusty Durango and the piece across the middle is Kiwi Kiss.  The DSP is also retired from SU.

I ran this card base through the Dotted Swiss embossing folder.  The DSP is from our recent Saleabration.  The rest of the cardstock is Daffodil and Pacific Point.  I should have used the Stampamajig for the sentiment!

Summer Mini Ready plus Other Great Deals!

It's that time .... time for a new mini and do we have a doozy this time!!  I LOVE the Summer Mini and I think you will too.

DOWNLOAD HERE









And if you want to do know what SU used on the various projects in the catalog, you can download the list of supplies  used HERE.


Stampin' Up also carried over some items from the previous mini catalogs.  You can find that list HERE.

Stampin' Up is also celebrating National Scrapbooking Month by passing along some deals to YOU!! You can get 30 percent off a wide selection of scrapbooking products including:

• Select stamp sets
• Select professional print products for My Digital Studio
• Special digital download bundles for My Digital Studio 

Click Here for the list of products that are on sale until  May 31. 

Here are a few of the images that are on sale:

WORD PLAY

Printed Petals

Grunge Rock

Party Hearty

Animal Stories

Simple Friendship

Sweet Shoppe Alphabet

 Contact me to place an order or place your order on-line HERE!!

The Royal Wedding

In honor of the Royal Wedding, I decided to scrapbook a couple of the pictures I have of Westminster Abbey.  Then I got carried away with watching the wedding.  It was soooo beautiful.  No, I am not one of those people who arose at 4 a.m. to watch it.  I recorded it on my DVR.  Luckily, I couldn't decide which station to record so I recorded two different ones because one of them didn't record.  I ended up watching the Meredith Viera and Matt Lauer version of the wedding.  I'm one of those people who just couldn't get enough of the royal couple.  They are just so cute.  And the hat that everyone wore!  Wow - I loved most of them .... not so much Princess Beatrice's pretzel shaped hat though!

It is going to be hard to break the habit of referring to William and Kate as Prince and Princess.  William received a dukedom from his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth. The prince will now be known as the Duke of Cambridge, and has also received the titles Earl of Strathearn and Baron Carrickfergus.  A duke is the highest rank below that of monarch in the British nobility.   Kate will be known as the Duchess of Cambridge. Kate will officially become Princess William of Wales, although this title will not be used.

So back to my pictures.  I left the pages pretty plain - Westminster Abbey speaks for itself.  After I did my pictures, I found a few images from the wedding and put them together with the help of My Digital Studio.  Enjoy! 

Idol Top 6 2011

Just realized I forgot to post this yesterday!!  I haven't watched the Results show yet so I am going to post this and then go watch it.

The Idol contestants celebrated the songs of Carol King .... songs I know this week!!

First up - Jacob - what an outfit!  He sang "Oh No, Not My Baby" and it was all right for me.  He started out rough but brought it home in the end.  Stephen told him "We all knew you could sing, it's just about time you shook your tailfeathers!"  I don't know about that!!

Lauren sang "Where You Lead"  They told her she needed to stop being safe and GO FOR IT!!  I give her credit - she did give it an E for effort.  She's just so young - it's hard to imagine doing this at 16.  Just don't know if she's ready to be America's next Idol.

To fill up the time, the contestants sang duets in addition to their solos.  I enjoyed them.  Haley and Casey sang "I Feel the Earth Move."  I love their pairing.  Their voices compliment each other.  Nice job!

Next up is Scotty singing "You've Got a Friend."  He did ok ... it just wasn't my favorite of his performances.  I wish he'd done just a little bit of his signature bass in the song somewhere.  But he should be safe this week.

James was next singing "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow."  He is starting to become my favorite.  He just does his own thing.  The mentors tell the other contestants what to do, but James tells them what he's going to do!  He is a true artist.  I think the judges are seeing that too since they predicted him to win the whole thing after his performance!   Loved it!!

Scotty and Lauren sang "Up On the Roof."  I just love this song by the Drifters!! 

Next was Casey doing his typical Casey style with "Hi De Ho."  Lots of growling.  He is beginning to grate on me.  The performance was entertaining but he's not showing anything new.

Haley was the last single and sang "Beautiful."  She nailed it!  She has really come a long way.   She will probably end up in the top 3.

Jacob and James finished off the night with a rendition of "I'm Into Something Good."  Steven summed it up when he said  “I’m not sure if that was the award-winning performance it should have been, but you guys were having fun and you can both sing great. But, man, where were you going with all that?!”

So, best of the night in my opinion was James.

Bottom 3 ....probably Jacob, Casey and maybe Scotty or Lauren.  I wouldn't be sad to see Casey go home but who knows???

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!

Life's Lyrics

Last year when I went to CK in Charlotte,  I took a class to make a scrapbook entitled "Life's Lyrics."  The premise is that you scrapbook using song lyrics for your journaling.  That is so much easier for me to do!  I was not sure what lyrics I wanted to use for my scrapbook so the project has been on hold for a while.  Well, I decided I wanted to do the book for Ashley and take it to her when we met her in Ireland.  It would be something she could look at during the rest of her deployment to remind her of home.  Now the hard part .... narrowing down my song choices!  Ashley is a music person - I think she knows the words to every song!  She used to drive her brother crazy when we would go on trips always singing the lyrics of the songs on the radio.  I decided not to use just one song, but to use different songs on each page.  Here's my finished product:  (REMEMBER - you can click on the pictures to make them larger - you just have to click on the back arrow to come back to the blog)

COVER

 This is the inside page of the book.  This song is by Zac Brown Band and I loved the second verse "I thank God for my life and for the Stars and Stripes"

Page One - a quote from Victor Hugo

 This picture was taken last summer when we took the tour of Charlotte on those motorized scooters.  The song is by Miley Cyrus - Time of Our Life.

 This is a picture of Ashley when she went to Kenya and was taken at the equator.  The song by Green Day says "Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go - Take the photographs and still frames in your mind"  So true!!

 Another picture taken in Kenya.  The song is Unwritten by Natasha Bedinfield, "Live your life with arms wide open - Today is where your book begins - The rest is still unwritten"

 A picture of Ashley and I at a winery!  I couldn't decide so I picked two songs for this page - You're My Best Friend by Queen and Popular from Wicked.   The Queen song is self explanatory - she is my best friend and I liked the Wicked song too ' "It's not about aptitude, it's the way you're viewed ...."

 This song was taken on a beautiful fall day in Gettysburg.  The son is "From a Distance" by Bette Midler.  My favorite line - "from a distance we all have enought and no one is in need.  And there are no guns, no bombs, and no disease, no hungry mouths to feed."

 This is a great picture of Marianne and Ashley taken last summer.  Another song by Miley Cyrus - Life's What You Make It.  And that sums up Ashley's philosophy on life I think - she is able to make life rock with a good attitude.

 This picture was taken last summer at my nephew's wedding with my niece's two boys.  I love this song by Rascal Flats, My Wish.  My wish for my daughter is "that this life becomes all that you want it to - Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small - Yo never need to carry more than you can hold"

I still had more songs I wanted to use so I put these lyrics on the back cover.  The song by Garth Brooks, The River" is a great one.  Don't you agree that "never knowing what's in store makes each day a constant battle just to stay between the shores?"  I sure do!!

So, I hope this has inspired you to think of your Life's Lyrics and make a scrapbook of them.  My Digital Studio would be a great help in doing it.

I've been busy!

I've been staying pretty busy while Sonny and Jack are gone fishing!  They called last night and told me they caught 6 pretty good sized catfish.  Guess what we'll be doing when they come home???  Yep, a good ole' fish fry with hush puppies and catfish!!   Yum!!  (Marianne - you better get home soon!)

In the meantime, I've been doing a little organizing.  Ashley told me she thinks I move my stamps around more than I stamp!  They were outgrowing their home .... again!  So, I just spread them out a little better.  Today I took out all my desk drawers and cleaned them out and tried to get them a little bit more organized.  All the excess junk that was in the drawers that I don't use much I am going to put into my storage area that is just off my stamp room.  (Right now, it is all sitting around me on the desk and floor - I got tired and had to take a rest!)  I was so industrious today that I even went for a 30 minute walk this morning after I ate my breakfast!!

Plus, I have been stamping.  One of the gals that signed up for Monday Mailers this month has not received any of her cards.  I have e-mailed the gal who is supposed to be sending them with no response.  So, since I am not participating in the Monday Mailers this month (since I was gone during sign-ups), I decided to make Beth some cards.  The theme this month was masculine and I wanted the challenge anyway.  So here are the cards I sent her yesterday:

 I hope this Loads of Love stamp set never retires.  It is such a good masculine one.  I used Crumb Cake, Red, and Night of Navy cardstock.  I watercolored the truck.  The "ribbon" is the twill tape and Hodgepodge Hardware.

 This Medallion stamp was sooo popular when it was first released and now everyone has forgotten about it.  But, I thought it met the masculine challenge stamped in Cajun Craze with the Jumbo Brad in the center.

 This is a another stamp set that I had to rescue from the back of the shelf.  I only seem to use it in the fall (maybe because it is called Autumn Days), but it makes a lovely card.  The DSP is Elegant Soiree with Espresso grosgrain ribbon and a little piece of Marina Mist satin ribbon tucked into the knot.

My Digital Studio came into play with this card with the "wish big hand".  I printed it onto white card stock in Night of Navy and used brads in the corner.  The DSP is from Celebrations.

I forgot to share the little Easter baskets I made to put at everyone's place for Easter dinner.  I put chocolates in them.  Jack and Sonny forgot to take them with them  .... good luck on having any left when they return!

Mom and Angela brought me this lily.

Stamp Club for April

I had my Stamp Club at my house last Thursday.  One of the gals had requested a baby card so we made the Baby Dresser card that I learned to do at Quarterly a few weeks ago.  A couple made the baby dresser card while a few more made an Easter dresser card and another couple did Mother's Day dresser cards.  It was one of the first times my club has used their own creativity on the cards so it was a good thing (as Martha would say!).

I just love these cards!  They are such fun to make.  If you are interested in making one, you can find the tutorial HERE.

The other two cards that we made are these:

 This card uses one of my favorite stamp sets, Awash With Flowers.  It also uses one of my favorite techniques - Two Step Stamping.  It also uses the Sneak Peak set, Four Frames.  You can purchase it now (until the end of April) with any $20 order.

  Another fun card!  The "pink button card" is from My Digital Studio.  The two buttons on the card are stamped with the Button, Button set (pg 34 of Occasions Mini) and popped up with dimensionals.  We also used the Button, Button set to stamp all over the white cardstock which we then matted onto the colored card stock pieces and ran through the Big Shot (using a lot of muscle power!).  Inside the card is the saying, "Sew Glad We Are Friends".  Cute, huh?  That saying is from the set, Puns From the Past (pg 130 in the big catty) but I bought it through My Digital Studio and just printed the saying out.