A Pocketful of...

Well, I stamped again yesterday... and the day before that and the day before...  You could say I'm on a roll!  It helps that there are so many card giving occasions in May and that I've scheduled a stampin' farewell party on May 24!  BTW, you're invited!  My house in Pensacola (email me for the addy) between 1-3pm!  The make-n-takes will be featuring some of the retiring Stampin' Up! products.  If you can't make it but would like to place an order, contact me or order online.

I'm not going to show you the make-n-take projects (yet), but I will show you the birthday card I made for my hubby...

Stamp Set: Delightful Dozen

Paper/Ink: Pocketful of Posies (RETIRING), Baja Breeze, Early Espresso, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Crumb Cake

Punches: 1 3/4" & 1 1/2" circle, Decorative Label

Accessories: Night of Navy 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (RETIRING), Mini Library Clips (RETIRING)

Big Shot Die: Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlits (RETIRING)

I didn't realize it while I was making it, but it's fitting that I used the paper I did on this card--Pocketful of Posies.  No, my hubby isn't a posy... what is a posy anyway?  No, because inside the card I made a POCKET!  See!

I needed to design the card around being able to fit an 8 1/2" x 11" folded piece of paper.  So I trimmed a 12" x 12" piece of cardstock down to 10" x 8 1/2" and scored it at 4 1/2" 8 1/2".  To create the window, I punched the Decorative Label punch twice, overlapping about 1/2" to create a longer opening.  The pocket edges are secured with eyelets (long retired), set with the Crop-A-Dile (RETIRING).  You could also use brads or staples.

Well, I hope you've been on a roll with stampin' lately too!  If not, come to my party next week and I'll do my best to inspire you!  I have a few other events scheduled for June & July too.  Check MY CALENDER for the details.

Happy Stampin!
Brenda

The Joys of Stamper with a Teenage Son...

So, what do you do when you have a son who's about to turn 17 and he feels he's too cool for a handstamped card?  Lately, when my son is getting ready to go to a friend's birthday party and I offer up my services to make a card, I get a "nooo, that's okay... you don't have to..."  I usually persist and say, "No, really! I want to!"  That usually proceeds with a rolling of the eyes and a "...whatever."  Perplexed, I head to my craft space and try to come up with a masterpiece that I hope will change his mind when he sees it.  Only, to get a "hmmm, thanks..."  Since I don't get to go to the parties with him, I have to trust that he actually gives the kid the card.  It's difficult to know, since when I ask him what his friend (or his friend's mom) thought of the card after the party, I get another rolling of the eyes and a "ugh!"  Oh, the joys of the teenage years!

Soooo, now that it's my son's 17th birthday tomorrow, I had to come up with some sort of card that will hopefully get a "cool" or "nice" or some other positive response.  Don't worry, I won't be passing out from holding my breath.  But I do hope it makes him at least a little bit happy, even though he may not show it on the outside. 

My goto teen card stamp set right now is Grunge Rock.  Here's what I came up with:

I dug through my designer series paper stash to find some "masculine" paper and found this retired pack from a couple minis ago.  Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie and Crumb Cake were all pulled out of the designs in the paper.  I just LOVE how everything matches with Stampin' Up! products--paper, ink, ribbon, etc!

Here's a peek at how the gate fold card looks:

The base of the card is a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of card stock, scored at 2 3/4" from each end with the sides folded in to meet in the middle.  I then built the front of the card on a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Crumb Cake card stock that is only attached on the left side.  Aside from the Grunge Rock stamp set, the U is from the Jayne's Type Alphabet set.

I don't think my son will be as impressed as I am with how this card turned out, but 20 years from now he won't be able to say I didn't care enough to make him a birthday card for his 17th birthday (or any other birthday for that matter)... yes, I am a stamper!!!

I hope you're Happy Stampin too!
Brenda

Basket of Crafts Galore!

My son's school held a fundraiser last month.  I volunteered to put together the raffle basket for my son's class.  Can you guess what theme I went with???  CRAFTS!  The whole class contributed to the basket and it was a general craft theme, so it included all sorts of fun items from various local craft stores, along with lots of Stampin' Up! products (of course!).  It was worth over $500! 

As you an see, I went with a taken with teal & chocolate chip color theme!  So, I dug through my retired paper stash and put together a cool banner.  Check it out:

I used the Broadsheet Alphabet stamp set to spell CREATE.  The base of the banner was made using the same technique as the magnetic bookmark in my last post.  Only, I made them much shorter by sliding the folded edge down a bit before running the Two Tags Die thru the Big Shot.  To get the long tail of the R to fit on the 1 3/8" circle, I cut it out and glued it onto the circle afterwards.  It's hard to see in this picture, but there are Basic Rhinestones stretigically placed on each letter to add some more bling to the basket.  

I was so happy with how the basket turned out that I even bought some tickets and tried to win it back!  But it wasn't my lucky night.  You should have seen how excited the woman who did win it was... WOW!  That made all the "strenuous" hours I spent shopping, crafting and putting it together totally worth it!

I'm sure she's HAPPY STAMPIN & CRAFTIN!

Brenda

A Quick Gift Idea: Personalized Stationery Gift Set!

Happy New Year, my crafty friends!

I want to share a last minute gift I created last month. As the hours were winding down before we were to leave on our Christmas vacation to visit family, I needed to come up with a gift for my husband’s grandma. Knowing she’s one of the few people who still enjoy sending and receiving handwritten letters, I thought what better gift than to create a set of personalized stationery for her!

Having just received my preorder for new stampin’ goodies from the Occasions Mini catalog, I wanted to use the Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Embossing Folder (Pg 28/121809/$7.95). It would add the perfect touch to a set of monogrammed note cards.

I suppose I could have just wrapped the note cards in some pretty ribbon and left it at that. But I decided to make a little something to hold the cards, envelopes and coordinating pen instead.

The base of the notecard folder was created out of a single 8 ½ x 11 sheet of card stock.

• Score at 2” and 2 ¼” along one of the long edges, then turn 90 degrees and score at 5” and 5 ½”.

• Cut out the 2 ¼” x ½” scored section to create the flaps inside the folder. Cut at a slight diagonal along the inside edges of the flaps (see picture below).

• Secure the outer edges of the flaps with eyelets (brads or staples could also be used).

• Decorate as desired.

The monogram is stamped using the Lovely Letter Alphabet set and then punched out using the 1" circle punch.  That is then layered with a 1 1/4" circle and 1 3/4" scallop circle.  I snipped in between each scallop for the monogram on the cover of the folder to add a bit more texture.
 

 
I hope this inspires you to create a quick gift for someone special.  Before you do, be sure to tell me what you think!  Your comments are what motivates me to continue blogging!  Thanks!

If you haven't already, be sure to check out the NEW Occasions Mini Catalog!  Click HERE to start shopping!

Happy Stampin!
Brenda

Sweet Baby Rag Quilt

Our extended Bromen family is growing by leaps and bounds.  The newest addition is my sweet baby niece, Elizabeth.  Here's the flannel rag quilt and tag I made for her.

The pieces of the quilt were cut out using the scallop square die and the Big Shot, which happens to be what I also cut the tag out with. The quilt is 10 x 10 rows and measures just under 36".

If you've never made a rag quilt, you basically sandwich a smaller piece of batting (3 1/2" square for this project) in between 2 layers of fabric and sew diagonally in both directions (creating an X).  Once you have all of your pieces X'd, sew them together into rows with a 1/2" seam allowance.  Then sew the rows together to create the final quilt.  You'll have one side that has the raw edges and the other side that is smooth.  So that the raw edges will fray and create the cool ragged look, you will then need to clip all the edges every 1/4", which works out to be in between each scallop and then in the middle of edge scallop.  After you've clipped all the edges (being careful not to clip through the seams) wash the quilt with some jeans (not towels or they'll end up with lots of fuzzies).  Be sure to check your dryer's lint trap because it gets quite full. 

In case you were wondering about the tag, I used Pick a Petal, Fabulous Phrases & Just Perfect Alphabet stamp sets.  The designer eyelet in the center of the flower is from a retired kit from awhile back.  You could definitely use one of the many designer brads in our current catalog to get a similar look.  And finally, the ribbon is tied around one of Stampin' Up!'s cool library clips. 

Another baby is expected to make his or her grand entrance into the world in the very near future.  I'll be back to share another handmade baby gift with you very soon! 

Not sure if you can tell, but I love crafting for babies!

Happy Stampin!

Brenda

Color Challenge--Give Those Unused Colors Some LOVE!

A fellow Stampin' Up! demo of mine, Ellie, put out a challenge to use a color that you rarely (if ever) use on a project.  I took her up on that challenge and chose the color Peach Parfait.  It's a new In-Color and a very vibrant color of orange.  Orange is not one of my go-to colors.  I eased into the challenge with my first card.  It was SUPER simple and actually a CASE'd layout from another fellow demo (can't recall her name). 

So, you might be asking... where is the Peach Parfait?!  Well, it's peeking out from behind the circle on the far right side.  Oh, yes, and at the top of the teeny tiny cupcake.  I also used my Peach Parfait marker on the sayings. 

Although this is a very cute card (if I do say so myself), I didn't feel quite right about putting this card out there with the color challenge.  So, I pulled out a different stamp set (Grunge Rock) and checked my new handy dandy Color Coach to help me come up with another color combination with Peach Parfait.  Right away I was drawn to the top combo suggestion: Not Quite Navy, Pear Pizzazz (another new In-Color) and Peach Parfait.  If you haven't noticed, blues and greens ARE my go-to colors!  I don't think that's cheating though, do you? 

It took me a whole day to put this card together.  I got so far with it yesterday and then got busy doing other stuff.  To tell you the truth, I sort of got stuck with the design process.  So I walked away.  They say that if you get stuck while creating something, it helps to walk away and take a nap.  Your mind supposedly does much of your creative thinking while you're sleeping.  I didn't actually take a nap, but I did eventually go to bed last night.  Well, that worked!  Here's what I came up with:

Along with Grunge Rock, I used the letter U from Jayne's Type Alphabet stamp set.  I think those sets work perfectly together!

Okay, now I'm going to challenge you to dig thru your card stock and ink pads and find a color that you haven't used in awhile.  And show it some LOVE!

Happy Stampin!
Brenda

Personalizing Birthday Cards

We were invited to a new neighbor's birthday party a couple weeks ago.  It was actually for a little boy turning one.  I sat down to make a birthday card and quickly came up with this fun monkey card:

But then I remembered the invitation we received had a sealife theme with a crab and decided to stash the monkey card away and make a new card with the crab from the Summer Mini hostess set, It's a Thought.  If you've seen this set, you might be wondering how a frowning crab with the saying "sorry i was crabby" could be useful on a birthday card.  Well, I used the marker to stamp technique to ink just his body (not his frown or the words).  Then I drew in a smile and cut him out.  Here's the card I came up with:

I also used the Tropical Party and Fabulous Phrases stamp sets.  Oh, yeah... and the Calendar Alphabet set to spell Eli's name.  Cute, huh!

Well, about 30 minutes before the party, I was putting the gift in a gift bag and got to thinking... this bag looks pretty boring.  It needs something!  So I came up with this cool crab tag:

The crab tag was made up of a lot of punches and attached to a scallop circle die.  His name was stamped using Just Perfect Alphabet set.  What do you think?  I think it turned out super cute! 

Okay, so fast-foward to a my workshop last week.  Eli's mom, Kristina, came to the party and was browsing my sample table.  When she came across the monkey card, she picked it up and just had to say how cute it was!  I laughed and told her how that was the original card I made for Eli.  She told me that she had been going back and forth between the crab theme and a monkey theme.  How funny is that?! 

Happy Stampin!

Brenda

Farewell to Friends

The hardest part of every move we've made throughout the years is saying good-bye to friends. It's hard leaving them behind! I considered myself lucky to some extent with this move. My best friend, Genean was moving too! Somehow it seemed better that I wasn't leaving her behind. Of course, I don't miss her any less. Here's a little gift I made for her, so she wouldn't forget me. (Yeah, right! Like that would ever happen!)

If you'd like to make your own little banner, cut two 4" x 12" strips of card stock, score strips every 3", accordion fold them and then overlap the 2 strips by a 3" section and adhere. To get the diagonal cuts at the top uniform, cut one corner and then create a template with a scrap piece of card stock. Use the template to cut the rest of the corners. Decorate as desired!

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I already had this little scallop envelope box made up and it worked perfectly as a gift box for the banner!

Sizzix Dies: Serif Essentials, Birds & Blooms, Scallop Envelope

Embellies: Fleurettes, Rhinestone Brads, various ribbon scraps, Bella Rose DSP (retired)

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Happy Stampin!

Brenda

Scrappin' Recipes

As I continue with the National Scrapbooking Month theme during May, I'll show you a fun way to organize your special family recipes. Unless you're a Bush (from the baked bean company), then you'll want to add a lock and key to this idea. :) Since my recipes are not secrets, I like the idea of creating a pretty book and scrapping mini recipe pages.

I started with a 6x6 ring bound scrapbook. This is one of Stampin' Up!'s albums and I'm predicting it will be soon retiring, since it's Mellow Moss--a retiring color. So, if you want this exact album for your own recipes, order it now (105391) through my website! I chose a ring bound album so that I can add and rearrange my recipes easily. A post bound album would make that more complicated.

The cover is decorated with Decor Elements. The flower is a Demo sample. If you were to host a workshop with me, I could start the process of decorating your recipe album with one of these. Give me a call! The title was cut out using the Timeless Type Junior Sizzlits Alphabet Dies (115951) and a roll of Chocolate Chip Decor Elements sheet (114337).

Now for the pages. I used the From the Kitchen of stamp set (114964) for the recipe cards. The rest of the pages are decorated with card stock, designer papers and stickers from a Simply Scrappin' Kit. There is really no wrong way to do this. Treat your recipe like a photo and SCRAP IT! Since they're small pages (6x6), they are fun and easy to create. It would also be a great way to use up scraps you have leftover from other projects.

I will say that this Recipe Book only contains my very special recipes. They may not be secret, but they are definitely tried and true recipes that my family loves. Who wants to spend all that time and energy scrappin' a crappy recipe?! NOT ME!

Happy Stampin & Scrappin!
Brenda

I'm Scrappin Again!

Since May is National Scrapbooking Month, I set a goal to get scrappin' again. Here's a simple page I recently completed:

It's hard to see in the picture, but I created a background paper with the Red, White & Blue Jumbo Wheel in the Summer Mini Catalog. I used an uninked cartridge filled with Versamark ink to create a subtle watermark look.

To create the title box, I used a combination of the Rough Type alphabet (Summer Mini), Calendar Alphabet & Numbers, Timeless Type Junior Alphabet Sizzlits Dies, Service & Sacrifice, Large Star & 1" Circle Punches and sponging around the edges.

I love using alphabet stamps on my scrapbook pages. There are so many styles to choose from! And, better yet, I never run out of letters!

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So, tell me, have you been scrappin?!

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Hope you're Happy Stampin & Scrappin!

Brenda

Happy Mother's Day!

This will be a relatively quick post because my family is making me breakfast this morning and I don't want to miss out on a nice hot meal... that I didn't have to make! :)


The boxes that come with the Simply Adorned charms & chains just scream to be decorated. They are like little chocolate chip colored blank canvases. Here are a couple that I decorated--one for Mother's Day and one for a birthday gift:

Supplies: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Flower Designer Brads, 1 1/4 & 1 1/2 Square Punches, Tag & Small Tag Punches, Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon, Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon and Pink Flamingo Designer Series Paper.


The belly bands were actually made to go around 2 boxes (one with the charm and one with the chain) side-by-side. The ribbon sort of hides that fact. Here's a peek at one of the charms:

The J is stamped with basic black craft ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I had to use tweezers to hold the small square while embossing it. I suppose it would have been a smarter idea to stamp and heat set it before cutting it into a 1" square. However, I did stamp & emboss a J on the opposite side which is a Tempting Turquoise pattern, so it's reversible.

Supplies: All Holidays, Simple Friendship, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die (from the Occasions Mini, which is still available to purchase), Big Shot, a retired designer paper that I had in my stash and the same punches as the other project.

I hope y'all have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Happy Stampin!

Brenda

Here's one for the Birds!

They're here, THEY'RE HERE! The OCCASIONS MINI CATALOG & SALE-A-BRATION ARE HERE!

I am having a NEW STAMPIN' STUFF PARTY to celebrate!

When: Tuesday, January 12 @ 7pm

Where: My House (in the San Antonio, Texas area)

Contact me to RSVP and to get directions

bbstampin@yahoo.com

I hope you can make it! We'll be getting our fingers inky while playing with some of the new clear-mount stamps! There will be class sign-ups, refreshments and DOOR PRIZES!

I'll even have some project samples to hopefully inspire you! Here's one you'll see:

This card features one of Stampin' Up!'s new punches... Two-Step Bird (117191/$15.95). I sponged some chocolate chip ink around the edges of the bashful blue bird to give him some depth. I also attached a small piece of a dimensional adhesive behind the tip of the wing and attached the shoulder of the wing with regular adhesive to give him even more dimension!

And here's a close-up:

Check out that epoxy brad! Isn't it too cool! It's new in the Occasions Mini!

To create the scalloped border around the 3" square, I simply pieced together several scallop square punches, overlapping the squares in the middle.


Hope to see you at my party! We'll be Happy Stampin!

Got My Creative Mojo Back!

Hello, my crafty friends!

You may not have realized (unless you're one of my Facebook friends) that I had lost my creative mojo. Well, thanks to a little (okay, A BIG) inspiration I found in a recent Papercrafts magazine I believe I have found my mojo! Take a look:

Not having any of the exact supplies that were used in the inspiration card, I had to get creative! I created the patterned paper using a stamp from the Circle Circus stamp set--isn't it amazingly similar to the inspiration paper? I was pretty impressed with myself for being able to eyeball stamp all of the circles! Nope, no stamp-a-ma-jig used here! To carry the tempting turquoise color throughout, I decided to color the centers of the circles.

As you can see, I decided to add some color on the butterflies too. The butterflies are 3 of the 5 diecuts that come from the Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die that is NEW in the Occasions Mini catalog (available on January 5!). They are cut out of whisper white card stock and then I used the embossed designs on the butterflies to add color to make them POP. I simply used a black stampin' write marker on the top and bottom butterflies. And I used a neat technique to add the pumpkin pie color to the middle one. Check out the close-up and you will see there's a shine to the spots on the butterfly along with the brad and centers of the circle stamps:

All I did, was add a drop of Pumpkin Pie re-inker to a bit of Crystal Effects, stirred it up and used the ball end of a straight pin to dot it on where I wanted it.

You may wonder why I created a mirror image of the inspiration card. Well, that happened out of a happy accident while I was putting the card together. I went to punch the corners of the various blocks before attaching them to the card front and, wouldn't you know, the very first corner I punched ended up being on the wrong corner! Thankfully it was an easy fix to flip the layout.

I'm excited to have my creative mojo back. There is another card I made this morning using more new products in the Occasions Mini that I will share with you next time. So be sure to check back soon!

Hope you'll be Happy Stampin' into a Happy New Year!

A Friendly Birthday Gift

Last weekend, my kids and I had made plans to go out to eat with another deployed family. Our date had been set for a couple weeks. Through the magic of Facebook, I discovered that it would be my friend's birthday the day before our dinner date. Knowing how she must feel without her hubby on her birthday, I decided to make her a special gift. Here it is!

I took a simple junior legal pad and an RSVP pen and decorated them!


If these stamped images look new to you, YOU'RE RIGHT! THEY ARE NEW! The set is called Vintage Vogue and it is a sneak peek from the upcoming Occasions Mini! This set happens to be clear-mount... a new option coming in January! The stamps are still made of our high quality, deeply etched rubber & foam... the additional option of the clear-mount sets just come with a repositionable backing that can be used with clear blocks (instead of wood), making it easier to see where you're stamping! It also cuts down on the space it takes to store the stamps. These sets come in a DVD style case. Oh, and another key advantage... they cost less! I can't wait for you to see them up close and personal, once the new mini catalog goes live on January 5!

Here's a close up of the card:

The 5/8" satin ribbon is new too! It comes in 9 colors!

Of course, you can't give a pretty gift without pretty packaging...

The bag was repeatedly stamped with a single 1" x 2" (approx) flower & vine image to create a climbing vine. I rotated the stamp to give it a meandering "vine-y" feel.

I hope y'all are finding time to relax and enjoy yourself during the holiday season. Sorry I've been lax in posting lately. Now that my Christmas cards are signed, sealed & delivered and most of my crafting projects are done or I've sent an IOU and am very close to completing them... I promise I'll be back to post some more projects before Christmas.

Happy Stampin!

Handcrafts + High Tech = Happy Birthday Boy!

My son, Nicholas turned 13 years old today. Thankfully he still enjoys receiving my handmade goodies... meaning, he doesn't think they're not cool... or sick... or whatever slang they use these days. Here are the party favors I made:

Stamp Set: Just Perfect Alphabet

Accessories: 1 3/4 Circle Punch, Crimper, Crop-A-Dile, brads (retired), large cello bags

and his birthday card...

Stamp Sets: Nature's Nest & Celebrate Everything

Accessories: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1/16" Circle Punch, Slit Punch, Designer Circle Brad, Large Polka Dot Texturz Plate, Big Shot, Clear Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Versamark Marker & Basic Black Craft Ink

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I was so excited that Stampin' Up! came out with a new turtle stamp in the 2009-10 catalog! Nick LOVES turtles! I didn't want to go with the traditional colors with this birthday turtle, so I decided to use some bright cheery colors. First, I stamped the turtle in black craft ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. Then I colored him in with our Stampin' Write Markers and let him dry a little... I got impatient, so I dabbed off the excess ink before I used a Versamark marker to color over the entire turtle to be able to emboss him with more clear powder. Had I not dabbed off the excess color from the markers, I would have smeared my work of art. Then I cut him out and attached him to the card front with dimensionals.

Here's a closer look:

As I said before, Nick LOVES TURTLES! So when he requested that the laptop he gets for his birthday be different from the rest of our laptops (yes, we're a laptop family), I immediately thought...

A DECOR ELEMENTS TURTLE!

What a fun day!

Happy Stampin!

Check Out My New Blog Header!

Check out my new blog header! It's the first from-scratch project using a mix of embellishments, papers, stamps, etc. that I've made with my new My Digital Studio software!

Happy Digital Stampin!

I'm On A Decor Elements Kick!

Okay, I have to share a project I just did while hanging some things in our new house.

As you may know, my hubby is deployed. I decided to hang 2 clocks so the boys and I can keep track of what time it is in Kuwait... and here, of course.

Well, I've had this roll of Chocolate Decor Elements sheets (114337) for quite some time now and have, for some reason, been afraid to use it. I think it's my hoarding complex kicking in. Whatever it was, I got over it. For those of you who may not understand what hoarding is all about, I'll explain how it works for me. I buy things because I think they're cute or a great idea or I JUST HAVE TO HAVE THEM. These things may or may not cost all that much, but they are very "rare" and "valuable" things to me, so they can only be used on a VERY SPECIAL project... if they ever get used at all. I figured this was a "Decor Elements sheet worthy" idea, so I finally cut into it! I have to tell you, this project took me all of 30 minutes. The most challenging part was lining up the letters, which wasn't too difficult (just don't look too closely).

The letters are cut out with the Big Shot (113439) and the Serif Essentials Alphabet (113464). Here's a look at the clocks where they hang over our desk and the elderly desktop computer that I try not to use much anymore since getting my laptop.


Now that I've cut into these sheets and find that it's actually kind of fun (and maybe even a bit liberating), I'm wondering what else I can label!

STARTER KIT SPECIAL REMINDER: While we're on the subject of time, don't forget that time is running out to take advantage of the awesome $85 starter kit special! It ends in less than a week on August 31. If you've ever thought about becoming a Stampin' Up! demo, now is perfect the time to take the plunge! Even if you're not interested in "selling stuff", you don't have to! Just think, you can hoard even more with your very own 20% demo discount! Not that I condone hoarding... I'm just saying... If you'd like more information or are interested in signing up, give me a call or send me an email. My contact info is on my website.

Happy Stampin & Decor Elements Applyin!

More from the Riverton Campus (Legacy Room): Day 1 cont.

As promised, I'm back with more from my trip to Utah.

Stampin' Up!'s Legacy Room is not a single "room", it's actually a collection of several rooms that is a wonderful museum of the company's history along with wonderful room displays that any crafter and non-crafter alike would LOVE to have in their home. Here are a few of my favorites:

I bet you can guess why this is tops on my list. (hint: yarn & knitting needles)


How cool is this border?!

That's are Decor Elements!

This Advent Calendar would be a wonderful family project that could be used for many years to come:


What kid (or mom) wouldn't love to have a room like this?

I know Amy would!

Happy Stampin!

Brag Book... this one's for a Grandma.

The daughter of a friend of mine (from one of my stitch groups) just recently had a baby. When she was asked if she had pictures to share, my friend gave all sorts of excuses as to why she didn't have any... even though her new grandson was several days old and she was actually at the birth! Knowing that I was going to be seeing her again at a luncheon a few days later, I quickly whipped up a clear envelope Grandma's Brag Book:

Boy, was she surprised! Coincidentally, she had actually just gotten pictures back from the printer before coming to lunch and there were just the right number of pictures for the pages I included in the book! So, instead of people fingering all of her precious grandson's pictures, she was able to pass around this book. I have to say, it was a proud moment for both of us. :)

Here's a closer look at the tag. Notice the new punch I used, it's called Modern Label. It's new in the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog and will be available for you to order on July 1! I also used the Billboard Decorative Strip Die (& the Big Shot) for the title on the book. It's not a new die, but I don't think I've shared a sample of a project I've used with that.

Happy Stampin!

While Supplies Last means While Supplies Last...

I have been a smidge busy this week. With a workshop scheduled on Tuesday, I thought I was all set with a 6x6 scrapbook page and card all designed and ready to go. Well, as I mentioned when the Last Chance lists came out, the retiring accessories are only available while supplies last. Unfortunately, as the workshop got closer, most of the accessories I had planned to use were sold out! Here's my original page:

The Baja Breeze striped ribbon and Baja Breeze card stock are both sold out. When I last checked, the Baja Breeze ink pad and Walk in the Park DSP were still available.

I had even come up with a 12x12 page to show at the workshop--so people could see how to incorporate the 6x6 page into a standard sized album

Also retiring, but still available is the Big Deal Alphabet set. The Great Friend stamp set from the Occasions Mini will be coming back in the 2009-2010 Idea Book & Catalog!

SO, on the morning of the workshop, I went about designing a new page for the make-n-take:

This time, I used regular colors & accessories that aren't going anywhere and planned the page around a retiring stamp set (Seaside), which will be available to order right up until the end (June 30). In the end, I think it turned out to be a better page for the group. One person at the workshop said she was going to use her page as a gift for her dad for Father's Day. They had just gone to the beach and she had the perfect picture to add to the layout!

I did create a 12x12 page to show with this page, but I'm having technical difficulties with uploading it with the correct orientation. So I will have to upload it separately through my backup, the photo sharing site Flickr.com.

Happy Stampin!