Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

Hope your day is a good one - stay safe!  I also hope that your fireworks viewing is better than ours was.  The YMCA in Mooresville puts on a fireworks display every year.  This year they chose to do it on July 3.  Not sure why but .... they didn't ask me.  The weather has been pretty bad here all week - raining every day and Wednesday was no different.  It rained off and on all day.  We were going to enjoy watching the fireworks from my mom's church.  They were also planning on having an ice cream social.  But with the rain, they canceled the social.  The rain let up a little bit about 8 so we drove to Mooresville at 9 to watch the fireworks with Mom and Angela.  They were supposed to start at 9:30 but .... they started them early!  So we got to see about 10 minutes of the fireworks!  Oh well, better luck next year!

A template from MDS - easy peasy!!

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG,
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ,

AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS,
ONE NATION UNDER  GOD,
INDIVISIBLE, WITH  LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!


For all of our other military personnel, where ever they may be.
Please  support all of the troops defending our Country.

And God Bless our Military who are protecting our Country for our Freedom.
Thanks to them, and their sacrifices, we can celebrate the 4th of July.

We must never forget who gets the credit for the freedoms we have, and to them we should be eternally grateful.

I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform;
so young, so tall, so proud.
With hair cut square and eyes alert,
he'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil;
how many mothers' tears?

How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
NO, FREEDOM ISN'T FREE !

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
when everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant 'Amen.'
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
of the mothers and the wives,
of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

Paper Craft Crew Sketch

My card for Paper Craft Crew this week uses Neon Notes with My Digital Studio. 

Embellishments
    Crochet Trim Ribbon\Chantilly (re-colored)
    _Designer Kits\Neon Notes - embellishments\Neon Notes - flourish tag 4 (re-colored)
    _Designer Kits\Neon Notes - embellishments\Neon Notes - flourish tag 1
    _Designer Kits\Neon Notes - embellishments\Neon Notes - flower 1
    _Designer Kits\Neon Notes - embellishments\Neon Notes - flower 2
    _Designer Kits\Neon Notes - embellishments\Neon Notes - flower 2
    _Designer Kits\Neon Notes - embellishments\Neon Notes - flower 3
    _Designer Kits\Afternoon Tea - embellishments\Afternoon Tea - lovely
    Crochet Trim Ribbon\Chantilly - bow (re-colored)
    Antique Brads\Antique Brads - brad 4
    Basic Pearls and Rhinestones\Basic Pearls and Rhinestones - pearl large

Stamps
    _Designer Kits\Be Brave\Be Brave - love

Punches
    Basics\1.25 Square Punch,  Filled with: Designer Series Paper\_Designer Kits\Neon Notes - designer series paper\Neon Notes - 9
    Labels & Tags\Lots of Tags - shape 2

Make sure you check out what the other members of the crew have done for this challenge HERE.

More Swap Cards

I have more swap cards from Saturday to share.  They were all so good it would be hard to pick a favorite.  But while we were eating lunch, Allison had her neighbor come over and pick her favorite card.  It was fun even if mine didn't win.



The sentiment above comes from Hello Lovely (pg 22).  It is one that I will be gettingfree  at convention!  I love the color combo of this card.



This is a great new single stamp - Five Way Flower (pg 85) that coordinates with3 of the Scallop Circle Punches and the small flower punch in the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack.  But my favorite is the little strip on the side.  We made that by stamping the flower stamp onto a tiny strip of card stock - creating our own DSP!!  Cool, huh?



A bright and fun card.  This card used Create a Cupcake and the new set, Label Love (pg 33) along with the cupcake punch.  Another great color combo.



Update your Marker Collection

In the 2013-2014 annual catalog, Stampin' Up! offer the Stampin' Write Marker New Color Kit (item 130034, page 163) to help you update your Many Marvelous Marker pack.

Now, they've sweetened the deal.  For a limited time, from June 26 until October 31, you can buy
any of the new colors in the pack or on their own!

Go ahead, fill in the missing pieces in your collection or buy the whole lot.

ITEM PRICE DESCRIPTION

130034 $28.95 Stampin' Write Marker New Color Kit
Bermuda Bay, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Soft Sky, Wisteria Wonder

131899 $3.50 Bermuda Bay Stampin' Write Marker

131265 $3.50 Blushing Bride Stampin' Write Marker

131902 $3.50 Calypso Coral Stampin' Write Marker

131901 $3.50 Crushed Curry Stampin' Write Marker

131905 $3.50 Island Indigo Stampin' Write Marker

131266 $3.50 Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Write Marker

131904 $3.50 Pool Party Stampin' Write Marker

131898 $3.50 Smoky Slate Stampin' Write Marker

131900 $3.50 Soft Sky Stampin' Write Marker

131903 $3.50 Wisteria Wonder Stampin' Write Marker

Swap Cards

Another busy weekend for me.  We went to a 70th birthday party for our friends on Friday night.  It was a lot of fun and I had my dancing shoes on!!  I was kinda the official photographer - at least that's what everyone thought!  I took pictures the whole night of the party and I am going to make a scrapbook for them with MDS.  I decided that would the best gift I could come up with - what do you give people when they get to a certain age and don't want to collect anymore "stuff"!!??

On Saturday, I went to a shoebox swap over in the Kannapolis/Concord area - about an hour from my house.  We were to take three shoebox cards for everyone to make.  Well, I got my cards ready a couple of weeks ago and put sticky notes on the outside of the boxes to make sure I didn't forget to put all the supplies in since I was still using the ink, stamps, etc.  Well, guess my sticky note system was not the best!  I felt like an idiot and left 2 of the stamp sets out!  Luckily, Allison (whose home we were in) had Mosaic Madness so I borrowed hers.  Midway through doing the cards, I discovered that Karen and I had done almost the same card as the other one I'd forgotten so they were able to use her set to make my card also.  Guess we CASE'd the same person!!

This is my card in Basic Gray and Pool Party using Oh Hello with a clay button.  I used the Pool Party Core'dination card stock and sanded the embossing

This is Karen's card in Blushing Bride and Soft Sky.  I guess great minds think alike (or in this case, CASE alike!)

This is another one of my cards - I remembered all the parts for this one!  I made the Strawberry Slush circles by using a piece of the rubber that popped out of one of the stamps in Chalk Talk - a great recycling tip!  I used the Chalk Talk Framelits and stamp set for this card. 

Stay tuned - I'll be sharing some of the other great cards later in the week!

Washi Tape

 If you are like me, you're not too sure what all the hub-bub is about Washi Tape.  I have used it a few times (see my journal below) and I really like it but would like to know more.  Well, Stampin' Up to the rescue!

The gray striped tape & the coral tape (beside the gray one at the top) are all This & That Washi tape.  It goes on great and just adds a little something to your project.!

 

What to Washi!    

Stampin' Up!'s brand new online class - What to Washi - is now available. Offering seven different sections of Washi wisdom, this class includes everything you need to know to make the most of one of the hottest crafting trends out there, including written instructions, step-out photos, instructional videos, and supply lists for more than 30 projects.

All for just $14.95!The following topics are covered in the class:

. The Washi Basics
. Washi-The Next Step
. Above and Beyond
. Sharing Washi with Others
. Memory Keeping
. Storage
. Only the Beginning. . .
 
 

But wait, there's more! This class is also being offered as part of the What to Washi Bundle.

Bundle Includes:
* 7 PDF Documents
* 2 Instructional Videos
* 4 pkgs of Washi Tape (3 rolls per pkg)
* 20 Whisper White Note Cards & Envelopes

All this for only $36.95

The class features seven different sections, and takes a customer from the basics to incredibly creative and customized Washi Tape ideas. Customers receive more than 30 projects ideas, along with Stampin' Supplies and detailed instructions; in addition, there are step outs and two videos included with the class. When you order the What to Washi Bundle, you'll be the first to receive our Season of Style and Witches Brew Washi Tape packages; they aren't available to individual purchase until August 1!

If you want to order this class OR bundle, please use my July hostess code when ordering - Y4BBPUMB

You can order HERE.

And don't forget about the new CLEARANCE items.  Stampin' Up strongly recommends that customers order clearance items on online orders via a hostess code to guarantee availability. Customers may add clearance items to a workshop order, but because clearance items are only available while supplies last, it's possible that the item will not be available when the order is submitted.

Chalk Talk

 In the 2013-2014 annual catalog,  the Stampin' Write Marker New Color Kit (item 130034, page 163)  helps you update your Many Marvelous Marker pack. Now, SU has sweetened the deal. For a limited time, from June 26 until October 31, you can buy any of the new colors in the pack or on their own! Go ahead, fill in the missing pieces in your collection or buy the whole lot. 

ITEM	PRICE	DESCRIPTION
130034	$28.95	Stampin' Write Marker New Color Kit Bermuda Bay, Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry, Island Indigo, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party, Smoky Slate, Soft Sky, Wisteria Wonder
131899	$3.50	Bermuda Bay Stampin' Write Marker
131265	$3.50	Blushing Bride Stampin' Write Marker
131902	$3.50	Calypso Coral Stampin' Write Marker
131901	$3.50	Crushed Curry Stampin' Write Marker
131905	$3.50	Island Indigo Stampin' Write Marker
131266	$3.50	Pear Pizzazz Stampin' Write Marker
131904	$3.50	Pool Party Stampin' Write Marker
131898	$3.50	Smoky Slate Stampin' Write Marker
131900	$3.50	Soft Sky Stampin' Write Marker
131903	$3.50	Wisteria Wonder Stampin' Write Marker

I have been trying to work on a few swaps for convention.  I can't believe it is in three weeks!  Usually by now, I have a lot of them ready to swap out.  But I am not taking as many this year as I have in the past.  I love the swapping at convention but seriously, do I really need 100 more samples to find a home for in my craft room???!!   

One of favorite stamps is Chalk Talk with the matching framelits.  I'll have to admit the framelits had me stumped though.  They come with several frames and 3 odd looking pieces.  I couldn't figure out what they were until just yesterday.  You put those little pieces in the frames to cut a little opening in the tag!

This is the first card I made.  Don't you love red and black?  The DSP is from Modern Medley and I used Vanilla for the card and tag.  I love it but I am in a swap that is trying to use everything new in our swaps.

  

So, I went back to the drawing board and made this card using the new In Colors that I love!!  The DSP I used in this one is from Quatrefancy Specialty.  I particularly like the DSP piece that is on top of the Coastal Cabana flag piece.  It is a window sheet with the quatrefoil design on it in white.  So you can see the Coastal Cabana piece through it.  See the faux ribbon I used on the tag?  I cut a sliver of paper - some of them are DSP and some are from card stock.  I used my scissors to break down the fiber of the paper a little bit so it would be more flexible.  Then I carefully tied it into a little knot through the tag opening. I used the Fancy Fan embossing folder for both of the Crisp Cantaloupe flag pieces.

 

I had a helper today while I was making my cards!  Sammie tried hard to keep her eyes on me .... as well as the squirrel who was sitting on the roof outside the window but just couldn't do it for long!

 

 

See?  eyes are pretty much closed.  She didn't even wake up when I ran something through the printer!!

Hello Summer!

First off - Stampin' Up has put new items in the Clearance Bin so go check it out for some deals.  Order online using the hostess code Y4BBPUMB.

I have my card for the Paper Crew Challenge this week.  Just forgot to post it last night!!
 



I used this new kit that I downloaded yesterday to make the card.  It is called Summer Possibilities Kit and was released June 11.  I love the red, white and blue and all the elements in the kit.

Yesterday was also a digital release day and I purchased a few of the new ones too.  Also, there is a FREE download from yesterday so make sure you check it out.  Here is the new download - Get Going July Wallpaper -



I think I am going to play around with this one and make a new blog title - or maybe with the summer one.  Check back and be surprised!

I also like this pocket card download - Be Brave.

Well, I am still fighting about my cell phone!  Verizon and I are getting to be good pals!  I received my "new" phone on Monday and turns out, it was not NEW but a pre-owned phone.  I was really mad!  I called the number provided and he suggested I go to the store.  So, off I went.  I spoke with the manager who was really helpful.  She showed me a few things that she thought I was doing that could be making the phone lock up.  She also told me that the phone I received in the mail was not a refurbished phone but just extra inventory or one someone perhaps returned.  So, I returned the new phone and decided to give my old one another chance knowing the new tricks she showed me.  Would you believe, yesterday it locked up again!  So today, back to the store to talk with Casandra, the manager.  Again, she looked through the phone and made a few adjustments and we decided to give it one more try.  I left the store, stopped at the bank and stopped to get lunch.  Guess what?  The phone had locked up again and I had not even used it!!  So, after lunch, back to Verizon (I have lost count how many trips I have made to that store!)  She was as puzzled as I was but decided that it was time to send for another new phone.  I should have it tomorrow and then I get to reload everything once again!  Keep your fingers crossed that this one works!

Everything will be ok!

Another busy weekend for me.  Friday I met some gals for a birthday lunch.  It was three of the gals' birthdays this week so we had to celebrate!!  When I left the restaurant, I headed straight to the Verizon store.  This new smart phone of mine has been a real lemon.  In the past two weeks, it has turned itself off 12 times and won't come back on by just pushing the "on" button in!  I had a factory reset already a week after I had it.  That worked for a few days but then, back to it's old self.  Anyway, they are sending me a new phone this week.  Why they couldn't just give me one in the store, I don't know.  But it should be delivered today.  Friday night we met Marianne and Greg, Sharon and Bob and mom and Angela at the Rusty Rudder in Cornelius.  It was a nice night for sitting outside, listening to the band and looking at the lake.  When Sonny and I left the Rusty Rudder, we stopped off at the Galway Hooker where a band was playing outside to celebrate the first day of summer.  So, we had a couple of beers and enjoyed that band for a bit.  Saturday, Sonny and I went out on the lake for several hours.  It was pretty warm but the lake cooled us off.  That night we watched game 5 of the Stanley Cup between Boston and Chicago.  Sunday Mom and I went to see the Pajama Game at Davidson College.  It was very good.  It was the first time I had been to the Davidson Community Theatre and I was quite impressed.  I will be going back.  I was hoping something would be playing when Ashley comes to visit in August but no such luck.  After I dropped Mom off at home, I stopped at the grocery store.  Since it was so late, I decided to just get one of those rotiserrie chickens for dinner.  I got home with my groceries and discovered I'd left the chicken at the store!!  Oh I was mad!  I turned around and went back to the store to get it - not a short trip.  We are a good 15 minutes from the store so 30 minutes later, I was able to fix the rest of dinner and we ate about 8:00!!  The mind is a terrible thing to waste!!

A new card for you today!  I found a little bit of time this weekend to make this card.  I used my school colors to make this card - gold and purple - Go ECU Pirates!  The card is Elegant Eggplant with Crushed Curry that I embossed with the Dotted embossing folder.  I cut a small strip of Polka Dot DSP that I matted with the silver glitter paper.  I stamped the sentiment from Really Good Greetings using my Eggplant and Red markers and matted it with silver glitter paper also.  The glitter heart is punched out with the Hearts A Flutter Framelit.  And the finishing touch ..... the pretty clay flower!  I love this clay!  I used my dauber to daub a bit of Eggplant ink over it leaving a bit of the white showing.

Club Cards for June

This is Stamp Club week and I made several easy cards for the gals to complete this month.  I had a hard time deciding which new stamps to use!  So fun to have those options!!

I love this color combo - Pistachio Pudding, Cantalope and Smoky Slate.  I used the stamp set, Happy Day.

Isn't this one bright and cheery?  This DSP is from the Quatrafancy pack.  How do you like that doily that is tucked in?   I love the ribbon choices this year.  I used the pretty Strawberry Slush trim along with Natural Trim ribbon around an Island Indigo strip of cardstock.  The stamp set is Label Love.

This was the simplest to make!  The DSP is from Modern Medley and is gorgeous.  We stamped the tulip from Backyard Basics 5 times and then used the matching framelit to die cut.  Add a little glue, tie a ribbon and voila, an easy card for almost any occasion!

Another easy one.  Stamp a few mosaics directly on the card (from Mosaic Madness); add a strip of DSP and a strip of Washi Tape; stamp a sentiment and tie a piece of Bakers Twine around.  The Strawberry Slush mosaics was punched out and popped up.  How do you like that button?  It's molded from the clay!  I LOVE this clay!  The sentiment is from Really Good Greetings.

This was probably the most time consuming card because of all the parts.  The dress was cut out with the Dress Up framelit and taped onto the dress form.  For the Apothecary die, I cut 2 black ones and cut one horizontally and one vertically to mat the yellow Apothecary die.  The base card was cut out using the Pop n' Cut Card Base (see how it tucks in on the bottom).

I got my "mojo" back today and made 3 cards for an upcoming Shoe Box Swap I am attending!  So pumped!

Paper Craft Crew #47 - MDS Style

Today is our weekly Paper Craft Crew Challenge.  I forgot about it last week!  I was so intent last week on finishing my digital scrapbook from our trip to Ireland and England that I forgot a lot of stuff!  (Yes, I know - our trip was 2 years ago, but .....!!)  I'll be sharing a few pages from it with you later this week.  I worked up to the wire with it and got it sent off about 5 pm Saturday.  Sonny had been waiting patiently to go out on the boat and right as it was downloading, he said, "I'll just go and cover the boat up since it is getting so late."  But, I told him to wait just a few more minutes.  We were out the door at 5:30 and missed the heat of the day and had a nice catfish dinner and then rode around a little bit before we threw the anchor and relaxed and read our books for a couple of hours.

OK - off topic - back to my challenge card.  I really love the sketch this week and want to use it to create a few paper cards.

 

I used Pool Party for the base of the card and then just matched the colors in the DSP for the other colors.   The DSP comes from the kit Follow Your Bliss which has a lot of really cool papers in it as well as some great elements and chevrons.

 

The saying is actually from Happy Things Pocket Cards.  You don't have to make a pocket card with the kit.  I just cropped the saying and pasted it on my black circle. 

Here is the link for the other cards made using this sketch -  http://www.papercraftcrew.com/2013/06/19/pcccs-47-card-sketch/

Check them out!!

I haven't deserted you!

I haven't run away ... just been super busy lately.  But I am here now and have a few things to share today.  First I want to show off the great My Digital Studio project Ashley made for her Dad for Fathers Day.  I took it to Staples for her and had it printed on a piece of foam board (8 1/2" x 17") for under $10.  We had seen something similar that was on sale at an on line site and she knew she could make it using MDS.  She was so right!!  It really looks great hanging in his room.  Now my mind is going round and round trying to think of other things I can do and have similar things made up for different occasions .... birthdays, new baby, wedding, etc.  So many ideas!

Today I took a great tour with my Newcomer group.  Sixteen of us toured northern Iredell County and viewed quilt blocks painted on barns.  It was a lot of fun and we saw some beautiful country side.  Here are a few of my favorites.  We didn't even scratch the surface.  We were given a brochure with about 50 quilts / barns on it and we probaby went by about 20 of them.  We were told that a new brochure is being printed now and it has 90 quilts on it!  I want to go back in my own car so I can stop and get out and take more pictures.  Some of these I had to take the pictures through the glass in the bus and a few of them we actually got to stop and get out to get our pictures.

This was an actual fabric quilt hung on the side of this neat looking antique shop that unfortunately was not open.  I want to go back when it is!!

Another Mosaic

I made another Mosaic Madness card while I had the stamp set out.  Having the stamp set, punch and embossing folder makes this card a breeze to make!  The colors I used are Rich Razzleberry, Daffodil Delight and Not Quite Navy.  Looks pretty, huh?  And it could be a man's card!

I stayed up late watching the hockey game last night - Game 1 of the Stanley Cup against Boston and Chicago.  It went into 2 overtimes - almost 3!  That game wasn't over until 1 a.m.!!  Needless to say I didn't wake up until really late this morning.  I started a new volunteer gig today.  The Mooresville Soup Kitchen has started to prepare tv-like dinners for the veterans and those in the community who are in need of a good hot evening meal.  Volunteers meet at the Soup Kitchen and fix meals putting them in containers that we then seal.  So all that has to be done with it is to zap it in the microwave.  Todd, the local Soup Kitchen guru told me today that last month, they served over 3,000 meals at their own facility and over 5,000 of the tv dinners.  That is quite a big need out there in an area that you don't think there is that much poverty.  Sonny came in after doing his Red Cross drive and helped also.  We prepared chicken pie, spaghetti and meatballs and bar-b-que chicken.  I think we prepared about 75 meals today.  I was sure tired afterwards though!  So, I went to get my hair cut and that relaxed me a little!  Tomorrow I'm scheduled for a massage and a pedicure!  Can't wait!

Mosaic Madness in Pink and Green

Sorry I've been AOL lately!  Yesterday I had 12 ladies here for bridge and I was busy getting ready for that.  I made a delicious Raspberry Pecan Green Salad but the big hit was the Raspberry Dressing I made.  It came from a beautiful cookbook that my Texas girlfriend, Sharon gave me many years ago.  Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try:

1/3 C seedless raspberry jam
1/3 C raspberry vinegar
1 C veg. oil
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
Combine jam and vinegar in blender or food processor and blend for 15-20 seconds.  With blender on high, gradually add oil in a slow, steady stream.  Stir in poppy seeds.  Chill well before serving. Enjoy!!

Today I made chicken salad and a coconut cake to take to Bunco tonight.  And tomorrow we are going out on the boat with a group and I have to come up with something to take and share for that!  It may just be crackers and cheese this time!!

In my spare time from cooking, I have been playing around with my new goodies from Stampin' Up.  I used the Mosaic Madness stamp and punch to create this card:         

I love pink and green together!!  The card uses Pretty In Pink and Certainly Celery (boo-hoo - retired!).  I embossed the white piece with the Mosaic embossing folder and put the punched mosaics in the indentations.  I used the Itty Bitty Shapes punch for the little flowers in the center and used the Owl Punch for the tiny circles in the center of the flowers (with my tweezers!)  I embossed "happy birthday" in Melon on the green piece punched from the Modern Label Punch. 

Pop Up Flower Garden

What a busy weekend for me!  Friday started off with Judy picking me up to play Hand and Foot (which my team won, by the way!)  When she dropped me off at home, I discovered Sonny was not home and I had not brought my keys to get in the house.  He was running errands in Mooresville.  So Judy was kind enough to drive me to meet him.  She was headed in to Mooresville anyway to Subway so I didn't feel like I made her go too far out of her way.  Anyway .... thanks Judy!!  Sonny was at the grocery store.  By the time we finished there and got home, I only had a couple of hours before I needed to drive in to town again.  Newcomers annual fundraiser, Bingo, was Friday night.  We have a Bingo night with prizes and silent auction items every year and all the proceeds go towards our Literacy Program.  Our big silent auction item is the dinner that the Southern Living Lunch group auctions off.  This time we decided to also add a luncheon for 8 people along with the dinner for 10.  We serve the winners a gourmet dinner (and lunch this year) with wine.  We made $400 on the dinner and I think about $250-300 on the lunch!!  So, not too shabby!  There were so many great prizes this year - door prizes as well as bingo prizes.  The committee outdid itself.  I donated 4 boxes of hand made greeting cards with envelopes and was thrilled to see that they were on the silent auction table and were popular.  I think they sold for around $50!  Marianne, Angela and my mom went with me to the event.  Sonny stayed home this year!  I came home with a nice basket with wine, napkins, plastic wine glass (great for the boat!) and truffles and the plant centerpiece.  Marianne got a silent auction item of a game basket.  Mom got a gift certificate from Denny's and a nail spa.  Angela won a gift certificate to her favorite Mexican restaurant.   So, we all did pretty well.

Saturday morning I had to get up at 6:30!!  How AWFUL!  I went to a class at Verizon to learn how to use my "smarter than me" phone.  It was somewhat helpful but I did find out that I knew a lot more than the other people in the class!  After the class, I went to Concord to teach a group of ladies My Digital Studio.  I just love teaching others to use MDS.  It is so rewarding to hear the "ahhhh's" and "ohhhh's" as they learn the program.  It's such fun!  When I got home, I tried to take a quick siesta before leaving again to meet the family in Statesville for dinner at a new Mexican restaurant.  The food was good but it's hard for me to compare NC Mexican food after eating it in Texas!!   I was so tired when we got home but made it until 10:30 before going to bed.

Today I have been getting ready for bridge at my house.  I have 12 ladies coming to play.  I spent a lot of time working on my digital scrapbook from England and Ireland.  I am trying to finish it in time to take advantage of Stampin' Up's digital sale that ends at the end of the week.

Last Thursday I had time to finally play around with the Pop'n'Cuts Die and dress die.  I made this card using the die:

Front of card using Secret Garden stamp and framelits

Inside of card bottom from Feeling Goods stamp and Secret Garden

Card opened.  The flower pot is made using the dress die and cut it in half.  The flowers are from Secret Garden.

Close up of flower pot.

My New Love

I fell in love today ... with a new Stampin' Up product!!  I received my Pressed Clay this week along with the Buttons and Blossoms silicone molds.  Today I watched a few YouTube videos to learn a few tricks of the trade and then I started playing!  Not only can you make buttons and flower but you can flatten the clay and stamp onto it.  Stamp a butterfly, let it dry and cut it out!  Add color to the clay by kneading ink into it or coloring with markers after it dries for a more saturated look.  Air dry is all you need.  I made a bunch of white flowers and put them in a storage box.  That way any time I need a flower, I can just pick one out and color it with my markers, etc.  Google SU Pressed Clay and you will see a bunch of images as well as videos. 

I also used my Dress Form Framelit today.  I've had it for over a month and just never pulled it out.  But I love it too!  And I used one of my clay flowers - colored with Calypso Coral marker - to dress up the little dress.   I used SU Tea Time fabric (retired) to make the dress.  I've got a good friend who is celebrating her birthday this weekend and this card will be going to her.



Closeup of the flower - it also has a little glitter on it.

Buttons and Blossoms Simply Pressed Clay Molds 131272  ($7.95)