Kiss A Frog!

I had fun today going through the Holiday Catalog (about a million times!) and picking out my $200 winnings!  I decided to get mostly holiday stamps since I just sold almost all my Christmas stamps.  Out with the old, in with the new!  I finally made up my mind and sent it away before I changed my mind (again!).  It's not easy trying to get the order to exactly $200 but I did it.  Then this afternoon, I put together another large order from my earnings of selling my old stamps.  I should be set for a while.  Now to be patient and wait for everything to arrive.

In the meantime, I played with a really cute stamp set from the annual catalog called "You're Sublime."  I love the cute little frog in this set as well as the other images which I will be sharing with you in the future.  But first, the froggies!

This first one is a CASE from a swap card I received at convention.  I sponged the sky with Marina Mist ink and sponged the grass with Cucumber Crush (my favorite green!)  I stamped the frog on a piece of scrap paper, cut him out and mounted him with dimensionals.  The line is hand drawn with a Black Marker.  I used the Brick Wall embossing folder for the background on the Whisper White piece.

For the next frog, I decided to make it a "her" and drew on the lips and added a little blue eyeshadow on her eyes!  What do you think?  Would you kiss her?

Ashley is finishing up her time in the Phillipines and will be headed to Viet Nam this weekend.  The end is in sight for her.  She has really loved this deployment but she will be happy to get back to the states and go to her favorite store, Target!

Big Winner!

Wow!  Didn't realize I had not posted on my blog in almost a week!  Guess that video that I posted last week did me in!  No - just life getting in the way.  Nothing big, just routine things.  Ashley has been able to get on Facebook every evening (for us - morning for her) since last Thursday so we end up "chatting" with her for about 30-40 minutes.

This past weekend, I discovered a site on Facebook where I could sell some of my used stamps.  So I was busy all weekend taking pictures, pricing and posting.  I ended up making almost $300 so not bad.  I have a lot of retired dies and punches that I want to sell now.  They will be a little trickier to try and figure out packaging and mailing though.

This morning I was being pretty lazy - laying in bed and reading.  Decided to check my email before I got out of bed and what I discovered caused me to jump right up!  I went to the Stampin' Up website to read their weekly update to demonstrators and saw this announcement:

We have selected 20 lucky winners of our Inspire. Create. Share. 2015 design contest! Winners will be contacted with instructions on how to redeem their $200 shopping spree. We loved seeing everyone's amazing samples on our display boards and thank all of our contest participants! 

Would you believe it??!!  I was one of those lucky winners!!  I still can't believe it!  I never win anything.  My friend told me it was probably because I was complaining about convention this year! But here is my name in black and white among the other winners:

Ann Monrovia Annie Johnson April Silvester Becky Liggin Cindy Brumbaugh Dawn Heffernan Delores Hertel Doretta Petlowany Jeanna Bohannon Jen Pitta Joy Borwege Karen Struve Kathy McDowell Kristin Williams Leslie Teague Lynn Kolcun Natalie Travis Sharon Maranich Shawn de Oliveira Terry Bolender

Now the fun begins!!  I'll be taking another long look at the Holiday Catalog since I just sold all my retired Christmas sets!  I can justify it to myself (and to Sonny) now.

I am not sure which of my cards Stampin' Up chose as the winner since I put two cards on the Display Boards.  Here is one of them:

It is the card in the lower corner using Flower Shop.

I am not sure which other card I put on the board.  I think it was THIS ONE from Wetlands.  Oh well!  Doesn't matter now!

Watercolor Wishes Kit & 1st Video!

OK - be kind!  I filmed my first video for my blog!  When I was at convention, one of the break-out classes had to do with video taping.  Katie Adams was one of the presenters and she showed us the video mount that she had made using PVC pipe.  Well, my engineer husband took one look at it and was off to Lowe's to buy some PVC!  Sometimes he is like a dog with a bone.  So since he had made it, I had to use it!  This video is a bit longer than I wanted it to be but I filmed 3 of them and this was the shortest!  The beginning is a bit slow but I get the hang of it after that!

I love the Watercolor Wishes Kit and so that is what I decided to feature on my first video.  Let me know what you think.

Here are the samples again:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Happy 50th Anniversary

I'm sure you are like me and receive so many e-mails each day that sometimes it is overwhelming.  I spend a lot of time just deleting the junk.  But once in a while, you receive something that stops you in your tracks and you take time to read it through.  This is the email I got yesterday!

1.   PRAYER IS NOT A "SPARE WHEEL" YOU PULL OUT WHEN IN TROUBLE, BUT IS A "STEERING WHEEL" THAT DIRECTS THE RIGHT PATH THROUGHOUT OUR JOURNEY.
  
2.  SO WHY IS A CAR'S WINDSHIELD SO LARGE AND THE REAR VIEW MIRROR SO SMALL? 
BECAUSE OUR PAST IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS OUR FUTURE.  SO, LOOK AHEAD AND MOVE ON.
 
3.  FRIENDSHIP IS LIKE A BOOK. IT TAKES YEARS TO WRITE BUT ONLY A FEW SECONDS TO BURN.
 
4.  ALL THINGS IN LIFE ARE TEMPORARY.  IF THEY'RE GOING WELL, ENJOY THEM... THEY WILL NOT LAST FOREVER.  IF THEY'RE GOING WRONG, DON'T WORRY.  THEY CAN'T LAST LONG EITHER.
  
5.  OLD FRIENDS ARE GOLD!  NEW FRIENDS ARE DIAMOND!  IF YOU GET A DIAMOND, DON'T FORGET THE GOLD!  BECAUSE TO HOLD A DIAMOND, YOU ALWAYS NEED A BASE OF GOLD!
 
6.  OFTEN WHEN WE LOSE HOPE AND THINK THIS IS THE END, GOD SMILES FROM ABOVE AND SAYS, "RELAX, FRIEND, IT'S JUST A BEND, NOT THE END!"  
7.  WHEN GOD SOLVES YOUR PROBLEMS, YOU HAVE FAITH IN HIS ABILITIES; WHEN GOD DOESN'T SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS HE HAS FAITH IN YOUR ABILITIES.
 
8.  A BLIND PERSON ASKED ST. ANTHONY:  "CAN THERE BE ANYTHING WORSE THAN LOSING EYE SIGHT?"  HE REPLIED, "YES, LOSING YOUR VISION!" 
9.  WHEN YOU PRAY FOR OTHERS, GOD LISTENS TO YOU AND BLESSES THEM, AND SOMETIMES, WHEN YOU ARE SAFE AND HAPPY, REMEMBER SOMEONE HAS PRAYED FOR YOU!
 
10.  WORRYING DOES NOT TAKE AWAY TOMORROW'S TROUBLES... IT TAKES AWAY TODAY'S PEACE.

So feel free to share!

I also want to share the card I made for the 50th anniversary party I went to.  I thought it turned out super.  I did have a little frustration though.  For some reason, Happy Anniversary is not a sentiment that is on many stamps.  Believe me when I tell you I have a LOT of stamps.  Well, I went through all of them and found Happy Anniversary on two - one was on Teeny Tiny Wishes so it was teeny tiny and wouldn't work.  Finally I found this retired stamp set that luckily I had not sold (and now won't) - A Word For You.  So, I decided that I really need a Happy Anniversary stamp.  I looked through the Stampin' Up catalog and only found one - Timeless Love (page 29).  Guess that will be next on my order!  There are several "Congrats" but I wanted something a little more elegant.  I couldn't even find Congratulations written out in a nice script!

Card Candy

Hope your weekend was a good one.  We went to a 50th anniversary party Saturday night for a friend.  What fun!  Wow!  50 years is a long time!  The cake they had was not only delicious but beautiful as well.  What do you think:

Sunday we went to the movies and saw Southpaw.  It was really good.  But I'll never understand why someone would want to be a boxer!!  So brutal.

I want to share the squares I got when I did the Card Candy swap at convention.  Some great ideas!

Tags & Labels Framelits

I love using thinlet dies and the Magnetic Platform makes it so easy!  This is a new die this year that has a lot of possibilities.  Check it out on page 173 - Tags & Labels Framelits.  You can do a lot of layering with these dies as you can see that I did below with Whisper White card stock.

In this card, I used a strip of DSP from Typeset Specialty Designer Paper which is really lightweight and a good deal since you get 24 sheets of paper in the pack for $13!  The card is Crumb Cake and I used the Gorgeous Grunge to spatter ink on the background.  The butterflies from Butterfly Basics were stamped with Blackberry Bliss, Mellow Moss and Night of Navy.  I punched a flower from the Itty BittyAccents Punch Pack and adhered a rhinestone in the center.  A very easy card to make.

Here are a few cards from convention that used these dies also:

This was one of the display boards - the sympathy card at the top right uses the framelit.

Isn't this gorgous?  This is the DSP found on page 143 called Timeless Elegance.  Unfortunately, looking at the DSP in the catalog, you would never know this beautiful piece is in it.  The creater used sponge dauber with pink ink to color the flower.  This DSP will be on my next order!

Sonny and I went out on the boat yesterday morning until shortly after lunch time.  It was miserably HOT and humid.  I think the humidity was the worse.  This has been the worse summer we have had since we moved back here for the heat and humidity.  Even getting in the lake was not enough to cool you off.  When we got home, I headed straight for a cold shower!

We got an email from Ashley yesterday as she is on her way to the Phillipines.  She said they have been doing a lot of busy work on the ship but the seas have not been too rough this time.  She has been teaching some of the medical staff the Helping Babies Breathe program so they can hopefully teach it on future missions.  They should be arriving in the Phillipines Sunday or Monday. Hopefully, she will have access to a phone there and will be able to call.  I am really missing our daily chats and am ready for her to come home!!

Koala Swaps and Birthdays

These are a few more swaps I made using the cute little Koala bear and the Go Wild Designer Paper stack.

Marianne, Angela and I took Mom out to dinner tonight for her birthday.  Her actual birthday was last Saturday and she turned 87.  I have had a hard time with her age this year!  I posted on Facebook Saturday birthday wishes to my mom who just turned 67!  Well that would be a little difficult since that is my age!  Then tonight I pulled out her birthday card that I made last month using the Thinlet Numbers and I had the wrong number .... again!  So I just took a Sharpie marker and wrote in "Plus 1" on the card!  I've never had a problem remembering her age since there is 20 years between her and I and another 30 between her and my son (who will be 37 in November).  Don't know where my brain was this year!  She got a couple of surprise phone calls on her birthday Saturday.  The first call was from Ashley right before they set sail for the Phillipines.  That really thrilled Mom.  Then a little later, my son, Jeff, called to wish her a happy birthday.

Card Candy Swaps

For the second year, I participated in a Card Candy swap headed up by Debbie McNeil and Amy Barnes.  In this swap, you make 2x2 card candy swaps using the new In Colors and/or Neutrals and current stamps.  You can make as many as you want from 1-50.  You just drop out of line when you have swapped all you brought.  I took 40 and Marianne took 50.  I still have my swaps from last year but I am making a promise to myself to make a collage frame with them this year!!

Here are my swaps using the DSP from Go Wild stack and the Heart punch (Watermelon Wonder.) The sentiment is from And Many More stamped in Tip Top Taupe and I added a rhinestone.

While I was at convention, I got an email from my good friend, Margaret, that her dad had died on Friday.  He has been doing poorly for a while so it was not totally unexpected but he was such a great guy, he will be missed by many.  Margaret and Graham had been there for a visit in April but when he went back in the hospital in early July, Margaret flew back to England so she was there when he passed away.  I'm thinking about you, Margaret!

As you can see, I did some maintenance on my blog today.  I have been wanting to change the blog header for a while and got some ideas while I was at convention.  Here is what the main stage looked like.  As you can see, I used it for my inspiration.

Below is one of the perks I received for celebrating my 10 years with Stampin' Up.  This was a booth set up with a soda fountain, popcorn and Dove chocolates!  Marianne and I made frequent stops here. I also received a Stampin' Up mini trash bag filled with a stamp set (one I already had), a package of buttons and twine.

We took this picture on our last day.  We looked for Debbie and my upline, Carol, to include them in the third window but could not find them at the time.

Roarin' 20s plus a Wild! Swap

There’s nothing more exciting than gathering with a couple thousand of your favorite people to celebrate the joys of card making, rejoice in our successes from the past year and plan for the future.  This past week’s Stampin’ Up! Annual Convention (called Inspire Create Share 2015) was just that – a lot of reuniting, a lot of celebrating and a lot of new stuff.  What a fun week!  But if I am totally honest, this was not the best Stampin' Up Convention I have attended (I have been to 5 total.)  We have always gotten at least 3 free stamp sets plus other "all attendee" give aways during the week.  This year, we received 1 stamp set and 3 all attendee gifts which did not amount to much (package of Holiday Catalogs, the new archival black stamp pad and a package of DSP.)  I really felt short changed this year.  Things were so very different than past years in many other ways too.

We all love to see new products and hear about new techniques for our businesses.   We love papercrafting and sharing wonderful ideas for new projects.  Still, at the heart of it all, Convention is all about the people.  I love the opportunity to gather with stampers from all over the U.S. and Canada as well as the members of Stampin' Up's staff.  What fun!

Thursday night was Awards Night and there was a party afterwards.  Awards Night was themed this year – we were challenged to dress in “The Roaring ’20’s” outfits.  Marianne and I turned out in our feather boas and jeweled headbands in our hair!  We found Debbie who looked great in her black and white 20s outfit too.

Here is one of the swap  cards I made.  I'll be sharing more swaps in the next several days.  This card was super easy to make using the Little Letters thinlets and the Go Wild DSP stack.

Convention Gifts

These are the convention gifts I made for my two downlines (Debbie and Marianne) and my upline, Carol.  I only see Carol at convention once a year since she lives all the way across the US from me - in Washington.

I got this idea from the very talented Becky Roberts.  Sonny bought the handles for me and drilled holes and screwed in the handles for me.  Then I just had to decorate and fill them.  Since I have more than enough retired DSP, that is what I used on them.

This one of course goes to Marianne who loves purple!

This one is for Carol.

And this one is for Debbie since she likes pink!

And of course, we have to have goodies inside!

These were really fun to make and very easy.  They were what I was trying to finish up when the electricity went out!