You're Just My Type

 It's been a while since I did any card challenges (other than the weekly Queen's sketches that I do).  So, I decided today to do one of my old stand-by challenges, Mojo Monday Challenge.  I know, I know .... it's not Monday!!  But I had until today (Sunday) to submit my card for their challenge.   I used a stamp set that at first did not appeal to me from the Occasions Mini.  I looked at it and said "nah - don't like it."  But, I have seen so many cute cards using this set and the more I looked at it, the better I like it.  Plus, typing is my "thing" - one thing I always knew I was good at.  I got good grades in typing in school (unlike Biology!!) and I've always been pretty fast with my typing.  My first real job after college was as a typist for Western Electric Corporation in Greensboro using (I think) an electric typewriter!  A big jump from the manual typewriters we used in school.  I quickly worked my way up (in about 3 months) to secretary for the department head and on up from there where I supervised and proof-read the work of the typists in my department.  When I worked for the school system in Texas, my job was Data Entry Secretary - this time on a computer instead of the IBM Selectric Typewriter that I had used at Western Electric.  We've come a long way, baby!!

I used a mixture of supplies for this card.

• Cardstock:  SU Vanilla, Bashful Blue, Soft Suede, Basic Black and First Edition DSP; Lasting Impressions Swim Dock and Elementary Notebook
• Accessories:  Brown Pearls (unknown source); SU Scalloped Envelope Die, Soft Suede Dotted Grosgrain Ribbon
• Stamp:  SU You're My Type

Stampin' Up News:

Stampin' Up! announced last month that starting this year, they have eliminated the Summer Mini Catalog.  The future Holiday and Spring Minis will be bigger and last longer (5 months vs. 4).  The annual catalo with new In Colors, stamps, designer series paper will starta month earlier (June 1, 2012) and the Holiday Mini will start a month earlier as well (August 1, 2012  - better timing for Halloween and fall projects).  The simplified schedule should be easier for everyone.

In addition, the Simply Adorned and Décor Elements lines will be discontinued when the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog retires.  IMPORTANT NOTE:  THE CURRENT IDEA BOOK AND CATALOG WILL EXPIRE ON MAY 31, 2012 NOT JUNE 30, 2012.  Details regarding the retiring stamp and accessories timing will be released at a future date.

Spice Cake Flower from Sale-a-Bration

How do you like my blog background and banner?  Just proves how much I love the DSP from the Sale-a-Bration catalog, Everyday Enchantment.   I used My Digital Studio to make both of them.

There are so many creative ways to make flowers.  For this card, I made the flower like the one that is in the Sale-a-Bration catalog on page 11.  I found a tutorial for the flower on Jackie Topia's blog.  You have to do a little sewing, but it is worth it for this great flower! 



I used fabric from Spice Cake.  It coordinates with the More Mustard, Pool Party and Soft Suede cardstock. 

Now I want to get the Flirtatious fabric from the Sale-a-Bration catalog - FREE - and make a Melon Mambo flower!! 

Hope you are having a good weekend. It was really cold here today.  I don't think it got out of the 30s and the wind went right through you.  I don't think tomorrow is going to be much warmer either.  But afterall, it is February!  Sonny and I went to the movies today to see Man On A Ledge.  It was pretty good - very suspenseful.  We had started out to see Safe House but we got the time wrong and arrived too late.  So, guess we'll try next week to see it.  Tomorrow we are going to see the Charlotte Checkers (hockey team) play in downtown Charlotte.  This will be our first hockey game of the season this year.

Mixed Bunch

I've been playing with the Mixed Bunch stamp and punch from the Occasions Mini Catalog.  I told myself I didn't need another flower stamp not to mention another punch.  Well, famous last words!!  I really love this set.   Look at the card below - you don't see a stamped flower, do you?  Well, I used the stamp and punch to make the butterfly!!

I used a technique called Reverse Stamping to make the butterfly. I stamped the flower on white cardstock using White Pigment ink. Then I put white embossing powder on the image and used my heat gun to melt the powder. Next I used sponge daubers with Baja Blue ink and Artichoke ink on the image. Then I used my scissors to cut away a couple of the petals to make the butterfly shape.

Other supplies used for this card are:

• Beyond the Garden DSP
• Chocolate Chip & Baja Blue cardstock
• Seam Binding Ribbon
• Stampin' Up Dimensionals

I had several of my club members over this afternoon for a tutorial on My Digital Studio.  I just hope I didn't overwhelm them!  I have found the best way to learn MDS is to play with it.  I have had the program for a couple of years and I am still learning.  Stampin' Up has a great website that has samples, video and a forum for questions and answers that is a great help.

Queen Sketch Challenge

My card for the Queen's Sketch Challenge this week uses a set that I have had for several years but is still a great "go to" set especially for masculine cards.  It is the Loads of Love set and the matching Accessories set.  I love to watercolor the pick-up truck and it can be used for so many different occasions - Christmas, birthday, Easter, Valentine, etc.  I love sets that are versatile and can be used for more than one purpose.

I watercolored the truck and the Valentines and used the Designer Labels Dies to cut it out.  I also used the Labels Die for the Real Red label. 

Limeade Sprinkled Expressions

This is one of the cards that I made yesterday.  I just love it!  This will be perfect for St. Patrick's Day, don't you think?  I CASE'd the idea from a display from Leadership. 

What is so great is that most of the items used to create this card you can get for FREE!  The stamp, ribbon, DSP, and Card Stock are all from the Sale-a-Bration Catalog !!  The stamp set I used is Sprinkled Expressions. I usually don't like solid stamp sets like this one because I have a hard time getting a good impression.  But so far, so good - this set has not given me a minute of trouble - great impression every time.

Supplies used:

• Stamp:  Sprinkled Expressions (Sale-a-Bration pg. 8)
• Cardstock:  Lucky Limeade and Pool Party cardstock (Sale-a-Bration pg 15), Whisper White, Everyday Enchantment DSP (Sale-a-Bration pg. 9)
• Accessories:  Stamp-a-ma-jig, Ticket Corner Punch, Everyday Enchantment Limeade Ribbon (Sale-a-Bration pg. 8)

So if you want to get the FREE items to make a card like mine, contact me today.

Super Sunday

I've been a busy girl!  I'm on a roll with making cards and trying to build up my stash while playing with my new goodies.  See all those cards above?  I've made all of them in the past 3-4 days!   I have several birthdays on my calendar for February plus I started the Monday Mailer program again so I need some cards.  I'll be sharing them with you over the next few days. 

You saw the baby card I made for my nephew yesterday in THIS post.  Well, I made another one for a friend whose grandson was born a few weeks ago - 3 1/2 months early. His weight has just gotten up to 2 pounds on Thursday.  Cathy was a good friend and in my Stamping Club until she moved to Georgia last month.  I got her started with card making and she was hooked from the very first class!  I miss her but she moved to be closer to her family and now with the new grandbaby, I'm happy for her.  Here is the card I made for her.

This one is a little different from the other one that I made.  I added a little placket down the front with Itty Bitty heart shaped buttons.  Either way, they are fun to make.

Most of the cards I have been making are CASE'd from some that I have seen on various websites from samples from SU's recent Leadership trip in San Antonio.  There were a lot of good ideas and I tweaked a few of them to come up with my own version.  Like this one:

 This card was made using the new Blossom Punch (pg 17 of mini catalog).  I punched the hole with the punch in the white cardstock and backed it with paper from Flirtatious DSP.  Next it was backed on Wisteria Wonder cardstock.  I punched a Melon Mambo circle (1") for the center and topped it with a button.  I punched a few flowers out with the Boho Blossoms Punch using Pretty in Pink and Wisteria.  The Wisteria circle at the top is from the Button Sizzix Die   The banner is from the Take It to Heart stamp set (pg 14, mini) an the saying is from Blessings from Heaven stamp set.  You can see a close up below.



close up of the flowers



Well, back to watching the Super Bowl. I'm pulling for the Giants.  No matter - at least it is a good game this year.  Nine minutes left - so anyone's game at this point with score 15-17.  I'm not a huge Madonna fan but thought the half time show was ok.  At least there wasn't any wardrobe malfunction - that I could tell anyway!  I much preferred Blake Shelton and Miranda at the beginning of the Super Bowl singing the National Anthem!  I'm enjoying most of the commercials though this year.  We were supposed to go to a Super Bowl party but ended up cancelling because Sonny was not feeling well.  He has had sinus "gunk" going on for several days.  I was disappointed but what can you do?  Hopefully he will be feeling good soon. 

Its A Boy!

It's a BOY!  Jack Wayland Frost IV was born at 12:15 AM Friday, Feb. 3.  He weighed 5 pounds, 9 ounces - not bad for being 5 1/2 weeks early!  He is my nephew, Jack, and his wife, Katrina's first child.  If you follow my blog, they were the couple who were married in May, 2010 with the carnival themed wedding (pictures  HERE!).  Jack & Kat live in Austin, Texas - about an hour away from my daughter.  Ashley drove up there this afternoon to meet the newest addition to the family and got to hold him.  I'll have to wait until March to see him.  I made a baby book for him a couple of weeks ago and thought I had plenty of time to get it in the mail.  Oops .... didn't know he was going to be so impatient!  Guess I better get it in the mail on Monday.  I made this cute card today to send to them.

 I found this piece of DSP cardstock in my stash and thought it would be great for little Jack's card.  The stamp set is Simply Scallops which is a retired set.  The materials I used for this card are:

non-SU DSP cut 4 1/4" x 11" folded in half

3/4" Circle Punch (for the neck

1 3/8" Circle Punch for legs

Small Oval Punch for bottom snap part

Scallop Punch , 1 1/4" Circle Punch

White Brads

Here is how I made the card: 

• fold the DSP cardstock in half
• Use the punches to punch the legs and neck holes (just half punches)
• For arms - measure 1 1/4" down from top fold and cut in from the sides 1"; cut from the underarm part you just cut to the outer corner of the leg portion.
• For the trim on the legs and neck, use the Circle Punches to punch out half circles.

Happy Birthday Sis!

I've been on a roll lately making cards and most of them have flowers of some type on them!  Guess the nice spring-type weather has me thinking of things coming to bloom, sunshine and flowers!   Yesterday was my sister, Angela's birthday.   I can remember when she was born.  I was 8 years old and went from being an only child to being a big sister.  Last night Mom, Marianne and I took her to dinner at her choice, Texas Steak House.  It was a nice girls night out for all of us.

 This is the birthday card I made for Angela.  I used a stamp set that we were given at SU Convention last summer, Best Friends Forever (BFF).  This is the first time I had used the stamp.  I really like the leaf stamp and the other stamps but don't have a lot of use for the BFF part.  The supplies I used are:

Cardstock:  Concord Crush, Melon Mambo, Cheerful Treat DSP (hostess item), Whisper White

Stamps:  Best Friends Forever, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Accessories:  Sale-a-Bration Brad, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch, sequins (non-SU), Memory Box die, Decorative Label Punch

I'm going to become a Great Aunt (again) any time now.  My nephew, Jack and his wife, Katrina are at the hospital in Austin, Texas welcoming Jack Frost IV into the world.  My brother in law called us several hours ago to tell us they were at the hospital and Katrina had been given the epidural.  The baby is early - Katrina wasn't due until March 11 but I guess he had his own agenda.  Say a prayer that everything is coming out ok.

FREE Test Drive for MDS Express!

 
Have you been wondering what My Digital Studio is all about when I have posted cards made with it?


Do you want to give it a test drive and see if you like it?  Of course you do - especially since it is FREE!.

Have you ever thought about digital software for cards, scrapbooking and more?  Would you like a chance to try it out with no cost to you whatsoever?  Too good to be true?  Not so!  Start designing with My Digital Studio (MDS) today FREE!  Stampin' Up! is offering a FREE 30-day trial of My Digital Studio Express!

What is My Digital Studio (MDS) Express?  It is a downloadable version, regularly $39.95, of our popular My Digital Studio digital design software.  You receive the same software and some digital content to get you started!

What comes in the MDS Express download?  Over $50 worth of content, which includes:

• 12 Designer Series paper patterns
• One 9-piece stamp brush set
• 81 embellishments
• 26 punches
• Five designer templates (24-page 11" x 8-1/2" photobook, 7" x 5" postcard, 5" x 7" postcard, 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" greeting card, 4" x 9-1/4" trifold card)
• AND since it downloads instantly, there's no shipping charge!
• Click here to view the full content of MDS Express

How Does My Digital Studio Express differ from My Digital Studio?  My Digital Studio (item 118108, $79.95) contains packaged DVDs and nearly 2,000 stamp brush sets, embellishments, designer templates, punches, Designer Series Papers, card stock and more.  That's a $500 value.  My Digital Studio Express does not contain the $500 worth of digital images.  OR you can watch a quick video HERE that explains the difference.

With the FREE 30 Day Trial, you get:

• Full access to the software at NO COST.
• Full design functionality.
• Exclusive artwork that comes with My Digital Studio Express.
• Opportunity to purchase additional downloads from designer templates to stamp brush sets–and everything in between.
• View MDS Catalog.
• Access to Stampin' Up! professional print services.
• Learn, get tips and see lots of samples at mydigitalstudio.net.

There is also a My Digital Studio Community Forum group that you can join to learn more and meet friends who share your love of Digital products – there is also a ton of free training on this site to get you up and running quickly.

Stampin' Up puts out NEW DOWNLOADS weekly

There are DIGITAL KITS you can download, just like buying one of Stampin' UP's regular kits, where everything matches!

 IT'S SIMPLE.   Download the My Digital Studio Express Free Trial (item 129600) from My Online Store HERE

Stamping Queens Sketch 24

My Stamping Queens Sketch Card this week is from the Party Animal kit in My Digital Studio.  This is a fun kit with forest friends partying.  It is from a Simply Scrappin' Kit that has turned digital.

Isn't this a bright fun card??

Check out the other cards and the sketch in case you want to make your own card using the sketch HERE.