Happy Birthday Kit

Ashley's birthday is Dec. 22.  I made a darling Birthday Book for her and took it to San Antonio when we were there.  It was a kit I got from The Button Farm.  They have some great kits!!

I love working with kits sometimes.  This weekend I did a mini baby book also from The Button Farm.  It turned out sooo cute!  I am making it for my nephew and his wife who are having a baby boy in March.

SALE-A-BRATION starts Jan. 24 - Tuesday!!  I will be posting information about Sale-a-bration soon as well as a few samples.

Elementary Elegance .... Again!

Once again, I used Elementary Elegance to create a card.  Don't forget - this is one of the sets available for FREE during Sale-a-bration!

close up of the stamp and daisy flower

It is hard to see in the picture, but I stamped the frame from Elementary Elegance in white and embossed it in white on a Vanilla square.   I punched the middle piece with Curly Label punch and stamped "Hello".  The little bird is stamped in Marina Mist and cut out .... very carefully!  I used the Daisy Die and punched out the daisy in Vanilla, folded it over and adhered it to the corner of the square.  Then I put a Vanilla Rosette on top of it.  The card base is Sahara Sand and I used a sponge dauber on the edges.  There are two strips of Crumb Cake Seam Binding glued down.  In the middle of them is a piece of Marina Mist Satin Ribbon that I pleated.

Vargas Calendar

I want to share with you the 1946 calendar that I mentioned in my post yesterday.  The calendar sketches are by Alberto Vargas.  I must admit, I was not familiar with him so I "googled" him and learned that he is the most famous and prolific pin-up artist of all time.  He was from Peru and came to America in 1916.  His first encounter with America happened about noon at Broadway and Fourteenth Street (New York), when he was suddenly surrounded by a lunchtime crowd of smartly dressed office workers. Mesmerized by their grace, sophistication, and beauty, the artist decided he would spend his life glorifying the American Girl.  He did illustrations for Butterick (patterns) and Adelson Hat Company.  He also did paintings of all the Ziegfield Follies girls, for Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Hellmans Mayonnaise,Warner Bros, MGM, and Esquire Magazine.  While working with Esquire, he started doing the yearly pin-up girl calendars until 1946 when he left the magazine.  By 1950, Esquire had a law suit against him doing any of the calendars using his name.  Well, when he went to work for Esquire, they shortened his name dropping the "s" from the end.  Esquire had copyrighted his name, Varga.  So, the court ruled that in the future he would have to sign his full name to his work.  In the 1950s and 60s, he started doing work for Playboy Magazine.  I am guessing this calendar may have been a give-away or gift to my great-aunt when she had her own hat store in downtown Charlotte.  Anyway, I was curious about it and wondering what it's worth would be.  When I "googled" that, I came up with a few calendars on e-bay - going for $100-$250!!  Wow!  You never know what you have in your treasures!

I think they are so pretty.  I am sure in their time, they were pretty shocking to many.  We've come a long way, baby!!

The cover

Take a Tour!

Sonny painted the last room yesterday .... unless I can convince him to paint my stamp room.  I just don't know if I want to move everything - again - to paint!  He's not real anxious to paint anymore either.  Maybe I'll just wait a few months!!   The pink bedrooms turned out really pretty.  Here are a few pictures of one of the guest rooms.  It is my vintage room.  I have a lot of things from my grandmother's house - really old stuff!

This dressing table was my grandmother's.  Around the mirror and on the old hat stand are old hats from my Great Aunt Love.  She owned her own hat shop in Charlotte back in the 40s.  On the dressing table are long kid gloves, a comb and mirror set, an old camera, pictures of my mom as a baby and my grandmother when she was young.  On the right side is a pin-up calendar from 1946.  I will be posting pictures from it soon.

This is a baby gown that my grandmother made for me.  I hung it on the wall.  The trim on it matches the pink walls.

Me painting the saying on the wall.  It was a Decorative sticker that I had applied to the wall a few years ago.  When we painted, it got covered up, so I had to paint over it.

An old mirror from a dressing table - not sure who's it was.  Hanging on one side is a mink collar from a coat of my Great Aunts.  On the other side is an old fan from a funeral home - back in the day.   The beds were in my grandmother's room.  In between them is an old trunk that I use for a table between the beds. 

The lamp is new.  But do you notice the pink ribbon trim?  It is the pleated ribbon from the Stampin' Up Mini Catalog!  It is not just for card making!  Love it!

These are two pictures that I found at M's - I thought they added that vintage look to the room!

Hope you enjoyed the tour of my guest room!  Now Sonny & I are off to the movies.  Enjoy your weekend!

January Club Cards

My Stamp Clubs met this week.  I had fun designing Valentines and a couple of birthday cards for them to work on.  One of the gals requested a birthday card for a friend who has a Leap Year birthday.  Wouldn't that be weird - to have a real birthday every four years?   If you are born on a Leap Year, do you get your driver's license on February 28th or March 1st?  I found out that it is decided by each state.  Anyway, I looked through my stamps trying to decide what would be an appropriate card for a Leap Year person.  I found the retired set that has clocks I could stamp for the background.  I made the card real vintage-y and distressed the edges.

This uses a set from Saleabration (starts next Tuesday!)  and was really easy and quick to make.  We embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder.  The scalloped edge uses the Edgelits Dies from the Occasions Mini (pg. 7).  The red ribbon is retired but I love it on this card.

This was a Shaker Valentine.  I used the Peekaboo Die and the Big Shot to make the shaker part.  When it is closed, there are two hearts on top. 



More new products!  The stamp set is found on pg. 14 of the Occasions Mini, Take It to Heart.  A great set!  the "Love" is from a retired set as is the strawberries (Tart & Tangy).  There is a new set in the mini catalog with a chocolate strawberry (pg. 8, P.S.I Love You) but I don't have that set an still had Tart & Tangy.  We used Crystal Effects and a brown marker to make the chocolate.  Also the hearts can be punched out either with the Heart Punch OR the new Hearts Framelits Die.

 

This is my favorite because of the DSP from Saleabration!  Love it!  The stamp set is Build A Cupcake and I used the Cupcake Punch to make it easy.  The frames that the cupcakes are on are the new Labels Framelits Die.  The card is Calyso Coral which I don't think I have ever used! 



Sketch Challenge 22

Every Tuesday I get excited to check the Stampin' Up website to see what the latest My Digital Studio releases are.  They usually don't disappoint me. Yesterday's selection included "Sweet Shop" design kit and the "Labels Collection" punches.  The punches coordinate with one of Stampin' Up's new Framelits collection of dies and I love them.   So of course, I had to download the new releases and while I was at it, looked back for a few weeks and found some other goodies that I had to have!  Of course, all this was done last night around 11 pm.  Then I set about to make my card for the Stamping Queens Challenge using some of my newest "toys".  I had the card done and was in bed by midnight!  That is how quick and easy My Digital Studio is!

This card uses the Designer Paper from the Saleabration catalog - Everyday Enchantment.  This is one of my favorite papers and I know I will be ordering several packets!   The stamp set is from the Mini Catalog - Tea Shoppe.  Don't you just love that saying by Louisa May Alcott???  Even though I created this card using MDS, you can easily recreate it yourself using paper and stamps.  Give it a try or come up with your own creation using this week's sketch.

Organization

How do you like my new Blog Header?  I did it in My Digital Studio using pictures I've taken during the year.  The first picture of Sonny and I was taken when we were in San Antonio in December at Christmas.  The next picture is Ashley and I in Ireland at one of the many pubs we visited.  Next is Marianne (sister) and I in our Steelers gear - I think it was during Super Bowl 2 years ago in Pittsburgh.  The next one is Sonny, Ashley and I in Ireland at Powerscourt Waterfalls between Dublin and Killkenny.  Next is Ashley and I at Ft. Hood when she returned from Iraq.  Not a great picture of me but remember, I had been sitting out in the 100+ temperature for about 3 hours!!!  The last one is the three of us at the Smithwick Brewery where we discovered our new favorite pint to enjoy.

I have been busy this weekend.  I finished cleaning my stamp room and moved furniture around.  I think I am going to like it.  I just hope I haven't organized my things to the point that I can't find them!!   I'm so excited about my ribbon holder!!  Here are a few pictures of the finished project:

This is my desk.  I didn't move it because I get such good light from the window.  Plus I can watch the birds and squirrels scamper around on the roof.  It won't stay this clean for long!  I love this desk with the great pull out baskets.  It is one that Ashley bought for herself when she was in high school.  It was used by her, Jeff (her brother) when she went to college, back to her for a brief time and then to me! 

This is the desk that I moved against the wall.  It previously was turned 90 degrees and I swiveled around to either desk.  It was sticking out in the middle of the room and this way gives me more floor space.  Under the desk are two Iris Carts which I have labeled each drawer so I know what is in there.  Note my Stamp Pad rack - it sits on the desk and holds all my SU stamp pads and refills.  Sonny made it for me several years ago and I love it!  The punches are held up with Ikea racks.  I need more!!!

This is my ribbon rack (on the right) which holds all my SU ribbon that is current in the 2011-12 catalog except for the wide striped grosgrain.  There are clips at the bottom to hold scraps of ribbon.   The ribbon shelf on the left is one I picked up a couple of years ago at an antique store - it is for a kitchen or bathroom and is supposed to hold a roll of paper towels. I added a dowel rod through the decorative iron scrolling on the side so I could add more ribbon to it.   I have 6 SU Ribbon Boxes on the shelf and the two dowels that hold all my non-SU or retired ribbon.

These are my shelves that hold my SU stamps.  I put all my non-SU stamps in the attic room which is accessible through my closet.  The shelf unit on the right holds all retired stamps!  On top are plastic jars (that used to hold nuts) with bits and pieces of ribbon in them.  I have them labeled as to colors.  I would like to start taking my wooden stamps apart and than I would have much more room.  The shelf on the left was made by my wonderful hubby!  (He's so handy.)  I have my current SU stamps, my Sizzix dies and other odds and ends.   My Big Shot sits next to the shelving unit so it is easily accessible.

I also organized my SU Designer Paper to some extent.  I used to keep it in a one of the Iris Cart drawers and would pull it out and have to go through eachall of it to see what I had.  Then I would get out the catalog to see what was current and which pieces went together and to see what colors coordinated with the DSP.  So, I took a 12x12 plastic holder - looks like a magazine holder and has plastic dividers.  I put the DSP in there and separated each pack that I had - Flirtatious, Twitterpated, Beyond the Garden, etc. behind the plastic dividers.  I labeled the name of the DSP on the top and wrote on a label the coordinating colors that matched the DSP and stuck that on the divider too.  That has sure made life easier trying to figure out what cardstock matched the DSP!

One more organization tip for you.  I have the new Framelits Dies from the Occasions Mini Catalog (and love them!.)  They come in a nice plastic envelope so what I did for storage was to tape some magnet strips to the cardboard that the dies are stuck on and then just slide them back in the envelope.

I hope you get some inspiration from some of my organization tips.  You know, you're never through getting things organized.  As soon as you think you are, you buy more stuff and have to figure out a way to organize it!!  If you have any tips to share, please leave me a comment.

Calendar Pages June - September

Almost finished with my room!  I moved furniture around today and cleaned out drawers.  I found some things in one drawer that I got when I first started with Stampin' Up - 6 years ago - that had not been opened!  Oh my - that is bad!  I found about 10-12 12"x12" tag sheets in various colors from my earlier days.  So, tonight while watching tv, I punched all the tags out and put them in a container.  You just might see me using tags in some of my cards in the future!!  Maybe if I'd punched them out 6 years ago, I would have used them!  I filled up a couple more garbage bags today too.  I have a friend who recently moved to Georgia.  She got interested in stamping while attending my classes.  I am putting together a goody bag for her to keep her going.  I'm trying to convince her to sign up as a SU demonstrator.  She would make a good one.  Sonny is going to hang my Clip Up Ribbon Organizer tomorrow so I will get my ribbons organized in it when I return from playing Mahjongg.  I bought it for myself for Christmas present and bought one for my sister, Marianne.  I don't know if she has found a spot for hers yet or not.

Here are a few more months of my calendars for you:

The wind has really been howling all night.  We have a lot of tall pine trees behind our house and they have just been swaying.  I think the wind is blowing in a cold front.  It is supposed to get really cold here tomorrow and stay that way for at least a week - with temps only getting in the mid-40s.  I wouldn't mind some snow falling!!  After all, it is January!!

More Calendar Pages

I worked all day getting my room organized today and finally am making progress!  I can actually see the top of my desk.  I hope to finish up tomorrow and sit down and put some ink to paper and be creative!  I've got some Occasions Mini Catalog items as well as Saleabration things to play with!! 

Sonny resumed his painting today.  He only has 2 rooms and he will be finished.  They are both our guest bedrooms and we are painting both of them pink.  I have never had a pink room before so it is very different for me. 

I have a few more calendar pages to share with you today.  I hope this gives you inspiration to make your own calendar.  They are so much fun to make.

And here is the calendar stand that Sonny made for it.  You just slip the 6x6 pages into 6 page protectors, use a jump ring to hang them from and sit on your desk.  Each month you just flip the pages over.  You only need 6 page protectors - the end of June, you just turn the calendar around for the other 6 months.  If you are interested in purchasing one, let me know.  They are $10 plus shipping.