Today is My Birthday!!!!

Hi Everyone. Just a quick note to say hello and many, many, thanks to all the great gals from around the world (UStamp, Swap Sisters, Just Say Ink, Family, Friends, Colleagues) who have called, sent cards and emails today wishing me a Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!  Wow what great friends I have!  You know who you are and you've all absolutely made my day.   

I've reached the point where there are too many candles on the cake........the big 60!  Never really thought I'd make it to this age, but now that I'm here I'm looking forward to what life has in store for me.

I spent some time today looking back at my blog and my goals that I stated in my very first blog post one year ago and mulling over what I have achieved and thinking about what further goals I want to add.  So here's the list.

My Original Goals:

• Get out there and grasp life, try new things and stop procrastinating about everything.  Bring about some positive changes and help usher me into a new life style.
• One of my goals was to start a blog that I could share with my friends who love cardmaking, stamping and paper engineering ...... a fun place I could showoff some of my creations and thoughts.
• Post regularly

Things I've achieved and I'm proud of:

• Helping out a friend with cancer who needed assistance and care in her final months;
• Helping my mom with her physical care and organizing and helping with her move to a new home following her fall and recovery from breaking her hip;
• Going back to work providing vacation coverage........... just enough to keep me happy and keep my hand in;
• Learning to play shuffle board and play golf - even though I'm not good at either, I'm enjoying the participation and the outings;
• Surviving my kitchen reno in Palm Springs..... living for 2 months off a two-burner hot plate and without a kitchen sink.......... who knew it would take that long!!!
• Making new friends in Palm Springs and joining these gals for outings to restaurants and plays, and not worrying about taking time out to do those things;
• Joining Ustamp with Dawn and Friends and finding new friends around the world to share my love of stamping and paper designs
• Becoming a Guest Demo on UStamp with Dawn and Friends twice this year............ yeah what fun!
• Attempting card making challenges and swaps and feeling like what I make "is okay".........I'm always my worst critic. 
• Getting in touch with old friends who I haven't been in touch with for a long time and making the connection again.............. very important in some cases to let go and in other cases to get going again!
• Doing my blog posts and taking pictures of my work to share with others.
• Having fun making projects and doing what I love and not feeling totally guilty about not doing the housework, or errands or whatever life deals out while I'm having fun.
• Meeting all of you and having you as new friends!

Well that just about sums it up for today.  I'm off to watch Super Bowl with 30 friends in our park.  We'll be making bets, eating, laughing and having fun for sure! Oh yeah, we'll be sharing my birthday cake and having more fun.  Hope your day is as good as mine................. it's my birthday and my anniversary of my blog!!!!

Origami Heart Card

Maria Pane a Guest Designer on UStamp with Dawn and Friends "With Love 2010" session, shared her awesome tutorial for an Origami Heart Card. 

This card would be equally beautiful for Valentines Day, a wedding, anniversary or other special occasion.Maria's instructions were easy to follow and in no time I made my version of her wonderful card. 

 I'm using retired DSP paper from Stampin Up, in Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink and Taken with Teal color pallette.  For my sentiment inside the card I used matching markers.  To hold the card closed I made a belly band from Pink Pirouette 1/4" grosgrain ribbon and added a heart rhinestone to give it some bling. 

If you're interested in having this tutorial you can get it by signing up with UStamp With Dawn and Friends "With Love 2010".... just click here.  There are so many awesome tutorials this time around............ it's well worth joining even if there is only one week left in this session.   Once it closes on February 14th this tutorial will no longer be available. 

Some More Valentines Projects

Hi everyone.  What a great week it's been, and it's sped by so quickly..... absolutely can't believe it's Friday again.  I had a chance to play with a couple more of the great tutorials on UStamp with Dawn and Friends "With Love 2010" this week and wanted to share the results with you. 

This first project was based on Jenny Moors Love Card in a Box tutorial.  Jenny is one of the most talented designers I've seen and I absolutley love everything she does.  This little box which measures 2 x 2 is certainly no exception.  Quick and fun to make it  could be used for any occasion.   Here are a couple of other views of it ... one from the top and the other looking at the treasures inside the box.  The unique thing about this box is the lid is completely built in so you're only working with one piece of cardstock.  If you're interested in this tutorial you still have time to sign up on Dawn's blogspot just click here for more information:

My second project was designed by another fabulous Design Team Member, our only Canadian member I might add............... Jennifer Picard.  Jennifer's style is so wonderful.  Her tutorials are always so easy to follow and she always completes projects that are clean and easy to complete.  I just love all that she does and can't wait to stamp with her when I get home this month.   So here's what I made using Jenn's tutorial for a "Love You Fun Fold Out" picture folder album:

The really cool thing about this album is that at first it just looks like a card, but it's really a card and album combined. How clever!   The front cover which is held in place with a button or brad opens up to reveal your message.  The inside holds two photos.

What a great little card/album........ I loved making this with the new Sweet Pea DSP paper pack paper from the Mini Occasions cattie.  I can see using it for so many occasions including Valentines Day, Mother's Day, to name a few.

Let me know what you think...................enjoy!

Stationary Box Gift Set

What a full and exciting day this has been.  Today I played golf for the first time since before Christmas.  My back held up and I had a great game......... for me!  I so love walking the course and soaking in all the wonderful sights....... truly beautiful.  Bob and I invited over all the other players from our group for appies and drinks following the golf game and we had a wonderful couple of hours entertaining in our back yard.  Such great folks.  The last of our guests left around 3:30 and we quickly tidied up and then headed off for a wonderful roast beef dinner at Margie and John's place.......... what wonderful hosts and such an awesome meal!
And, as if that wasn't enough fun and excitement for one day I turned on the computer and discovered that my Stationary Box Tutorial had been posted on UStamp with Dawn and Friends "With Love 2010" series.   There's still time to join the "With Love 2010" series so if you're interested pop on over to Dawn's website to check it out.  All the fabulous comments and encouragement I received from the members of UStamp just sent me over the moon!...............here's some pictures of my project. Hope you enjoy.

Here's a view of the outside of the Stationary Box.  I used Rich Razzleberry and Old Olive Card Stock and Cottage Wall Designer Paper (115671) in this project. 

I used one of my favourite all time stamp sets Great Friend (113792) to do all the stamping for sentiments and design elements.  I love how feminine and sweet the images are.

Here's a view of the inside of the stationary box and stationary. 

The stationary has been hand stamped withe a flower and sentiment and is held together with a little band of DSP.  For a little bling I have used clear rhinestones both on the butterfly and the band. 

And finally, here is a picture of the finished project, which included a 3 x 3 gift card and a little notebook.  This set would make a great gift for Mother's Day or as a Teacher's Gift.

Hope you enjoyed these pictures of my latest project.  I'd love to hear from you if you did!

Valentines Workshop

Yesterday I had a wonderful day attending Cheryl Lefore's Valentines Day Workshop. I always enjoy Cheryl's events.  Not only is she such a great Stampin' Up Demonstrator but she's a superb hostess.   She made the most awesome Red Velvet Cupcakes for the occasion and they were simply awesome!  A good time was had by all.   

As you can see from this picture we made four awesome projects, based on Cheryl's recent involvement in Regionals and Leadership in Phoenix.  Here are some pictures of the projects we made.

Don't you love receiving those little heart boxes at Valentine's with the chocolates in them?  I always have, and now thanks to Cheryl I can make my own!  Isn't this just adorable.  It was a little time consuming to make, but really rewarding when completed.  How do you like the shabby chic flowers made using the new Extra Large Fancy Flower punch (118073), corderoy buttons and felt flowers?  Here's a look at the interior of the box.

The next project, a Heart Card, was really a card within a card.  Very fun and easy to make and the kind of card that really delivers the WOW factor.  This card utilized one 12 x 12 sheet of regal rose cardstock for the exterior card.  The inner card was made using

Old Olive textured cardstock for the base, pretty in pink for the layer and awesome Old Olive Striped 1/2 in Grosgrain Ribbon.  I {Heart} Hearts Stamp set was featured on the inside.  The A to Z Stamp (115711) pg. 41 Mini Occasions Catalogue, was used with Chocolate Chip Ink on  the Heart cutout on the front of the card as well as on the bottom of the Old Olive interior card.  I really liked this stamp as it added just a bit different look for a background.  I also had a chance to work with the Stampin' Up Embosslits Die - Scalloped Heart of Hearts (117332) pg. 15 of Mini Occasions Catalogue, and I've immediately added it to my "Wish List".  Wow is it nice to work with.   Here's an interior view of the Heart Card so you can see the full effect.

The green heart is embellished with Certainly Celery Chunky Sprinkles Stampin Glitter  (11343) and a small Chocolate Chip button from the Button Latte (114333) Designer Buttons featured on pg 180 and 181 of the IB&C.  A small piece of velcro was used on the back of the cover heart to hold the card envelope closed.  So there you have it, a card in a card.  I think this was an awesome project!

The 3rd project was a scrapbooking page that was very quick to make but had several elements that were new to me.  A 12 x 12 sheet of Real Red Cardstock was used as the base and a piece of the Sending Love Specialty DSP (117153) was torn and mounted on the base.  Prior to mounting the DSP we used the jumbo roller I {Love} Love (117084) pg. 15 Mini Occasions cattie, with Real Red ink cartridge on the Real Red base.   The LOVE letters were cut on the big shot using the Serif Essentials die cut (113464) pg. 199 IB&C.  Another Big Shot first for me was cutting out the felt flowers using the Stampin Up Flower Folds die cut (115970) pg. 201 of the IB&C.  I couldn't believe how simple it and fast it was to make these flowers...........another "must have" on my wish list!!!  The rest of the embellisments on this card were layers of Chocolate Chip, Real Red and Very Vanilla Cardstock and some hearts made again from the I {Heart} Hearts stamp set and the Scalloped Heart of Hearts Sizzlit.  Another new item to me was the Glassine Small Square Envelope (117226) pg. 19 of the Mini Occasions.  This housed a number of little hearts punched out with the Heart to Heart punch.  The final touch is a picture of Murphy my little bichon cross dog and me at Christmas enjoying a moment of pure "Love"! 

The final card was made with the Sweet Treats Heart Cups filled with deliscious pink, brown and red M&M's............ one of my favourite snacks.  A layer of Pretty in Pink was added to the Real Read cardstock base and the stamped image was on Very Vanilla.  Once again strips of the Specialty Designer Series paper were used and strips of Chocolate Chip cards stock were punched with the new Pinking Hearts Border punch (117649) pg. 11 of the Mini.  A beautiful 5/8" Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon was added as a finishing touch.  This is just a beautiful card and very fast and easy to make.

So thanks Cheryl for a great day and for all the inspiration you give me.  You are a fabulous demonstrator and I will be sad when I go home to miss any of your coming events.............. oh well next year! 

Matchbox Frame

Matchboxes seem to be all the rage these days and can be used in many ways.  Betty Traciak one of the very talented Guest Designers on UStamp with Dawn and Friends "With Love 2010", designed a really great "Matchbox Frame" using the "Love Bandit" stamp set 117086 from the Occasions Mini Catalogue.   Betty's version used the Matchbox Die cut. Since I don't have my Big Shot here in Southern California, I made my matchboxes from a template I found on SCS.

Recipe:


Cardstock:  Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Old Olive and Soft Suede
Stamps:  Vintage Vogue 117690, Very Vintage Wheel 117693 and Three Little Words
Ink:  Rich Razzelberry
Accessories:  Scalloped Heart Punch, Heart to Heart Punch and Heart Punch, Rhinestones and Ribbon non-SU

Just Add Ink Challenge - Just Add Hearts

Tonight while I was blog hopping I came across a wonderful new challenge blog from the land down under called Just Add Ink.    The design team have made some fantastic creations to get you inspired.   Anyone can participate!
This week's challenge ends on February 3rd, so there's lots of time for you to join in if you feel inspired and want to play along.
So, to that end, I am including a post of a card I made for my UStamp photo gallery, as it meets the criteria. for this week's challenge #JAI2

Kirsty Brown a Dream Team Member for UStamp With Dawn and Friends designed a fabulous Valentine Card and Matchbox set for her project for "With Love 2010".  I really loved Kirsty's version which used Kraft Cardstock, and an unusual ribbon detail.  I decided to incorporate "ribbon on ribbon" for my version and chose to add the new Stampin' Up designer series paper called "Sending Love Specialty" 117153.   It's a bit more expensive but certainly worth purchasing as you get 2 each of 6 double-sided 12x12 sheets of paper in beautiful patterns with glittery designs on one side.  These papers are truly gorgeous and so if you love working with Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla and Pretty in Pink this DSP is for you. I love it so much, that I'm going to order more so I don't run out, before the Occasions Mini Catalogue expires on April 30, 2010.

So here is my Heart Valentine Card and the matching Matchbox.  I used the "Heart" and "Heart to Heart" punches for the hearts which I mounted on chocolate chip and then cut free hand to get the little border.  I really loved the feminine look achieved by combining Pirouette Pink (PP)  from last year's In Colour selection and Chocolate Chip cardstock and so I decided to use the PP for the box lid and the first layer on my card.  To jazz it up a bit I scored in 1/2 inch increments across the face of the cardstock. The inside of the card is also done in Pirouette Pink. 

If you enlarge the picture you can see the beautiful glitter on this card and the scoring.  The ribbon and buttons are non Stampin' Up.  Leave me a comment if you enjoyed this card and matchbox gift set.