Christmas Cheer or Bah-Humbug??

HELLOOOOO!!!  Wow, I hadn't realized that I hadn't blogged in over two months - INSANE!  It's been a very busy time for me, as I have been working toward my teaching credential, working, loving my 2 babies, AND trying to dedicate more time to my love for crafting.  NOT easy, and incredibly tiring, but I'm sure you didn't come here to read about how tired I am.  As I type this, I'm taken back to Bonnie Thurber's presentation at Convention and how she talked about "the doldrums" and how it's a cycle.  Well guess what, I'VE BEEN THERE!  I'm hoping to be in the "getting out" of them stage and get back to cheer instead of bah-humbug!  Because really, who needs a Scrooge in their home for Christmas??  NOT I...

I've been trying to cram as much as I can into the little free time that I've had, including sleep time (cuz seriously, who needs sleep, right?!  It's so overrated!).  The last 2 weekends I've gone to my first ever holiday boutiques, where I had a table with some of my things.  I've met some really nice people and I'm hoping that next year, with all the BEAUTIFUL things slated to come in the Occasions catalog for Sale-A-Bration, I'll be busy with workshops and spreading my love for Stampin' Up!  These are just some of the things I've been working on... 

 

Gotta love a cute red-nosed reindeer.  Like his antlers?  They're made with the Autumn Accents die (you're welcome!) and the Curvy Keepsake Ornament Thinlit.

 

 

My display table...  It looks so OFFICIAL!

 

 

Joy card using the beautiful Filigree frame embossing folder and the Wonderful Wreath Framelits both from the 2014 Holiday catalog.

 

 

I love this stamp set! It's the White Christmas Photopolymer stamp set.  The sentiment is from the oh-so-popular Endless Wishes Photopolymer stamp set and I framed it using my fave, Dazzling Diamonds glimmer paper cut using the Deco Labels framelits.

 

 

Lastly, one of my great friends from work asked me to create a card for someone leaving as a "congrats for a new job" gift.  I immediately thought about this stamp set, Banner Blessings.  It is one of SU!'s newest sets and it is fast becoming one of my favorite stamp sets.  Who wouldn't love to be told to shine as bright as the stars?!  Love the gold glimmer paper banner peeking out from underneath!  My friend loved it and so did the recipient! 

 

As you can see, I've managed to squeeze in some stampin' time for myself.  It is what keeps me sane and centered....

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope I inspired you to take a break from your busy life to just create some pretty paper things...

 

Until next time (promise it won't be two months)!

Love Story: The start of my journey

When it was announced earlier this year that Stampin' Up! was partnering up with Becky Higgins and her Project Life, it was as if I was hearing about Albert Einstein's theory of E=MC squared - it was revolutionary and apparently life altering, but I had no clue what it meant.  I have always liked the idea of scrapbooking (which I now know to call memory-keeping) and I have put some together, some only halfway, and I just NEVER had the time to complete them.  That and each little sheet of stickers and cute letters could sometimes cost me up to $3 and $5 so supplies could get costly... I have been trying to complete scrapbooks from when we got married, for my daughter, and my son...  that's a total of FIVE long years of memory keeping to catch up on.  Can you say "holy crap that's a lot of pictures and stickers and just STUFF"?? 

So, being the person that I am, I researched what this whole "Project Life" was all about.  I watched Katina Martinez' youtube videos on the subject and OH MY GOD, I could not believe she had 3 kids and made an album for each - PLUS one for the whole family.  And I can't even do 1.. yup, ONE...  I knew I had to at least try it out...

When I attended the catalog premiere and I saw the new Project Life products, I immediately fell in love and was convinced that I had to try... I knew I wanted to use the Love Story kit because that is where I need to start - at the beginning.  Once I have that done, I know I will be able to tackle the massive projects that will be my children's albums.

So, three whole months later, the opportunity to join in a Project Life blog hop with Katina came up and I decided to share my story with you... Just in case you find yourself in the same situation, because I refuse to believe I am the only with a drawer like this in their kitchen (or craft room, garage, bedroom, etc..):

Full of photos and art projects and trinkets that they want to hold onto.

Or photos just stuck in an album with in no real order because you swear you will make time to get back to it and actually make it look pretty (I have too many of these)...

So I am here, holding a beautiful Love Story kit sharing my story just in case you would like to start on your journey to begin or even continue with your memory keeping projects but you just don't know where to start.  I am putting my project to document my life with Project Life (I swear this just came out without thinking!) out here in blogland to hold myself accountable to you..  and I invite you to take on that beast!!  You can find the Love Story journaling kit here and the accessory pack here... 

I will bring you an update next week to see how far along I got.. wish me luck!

And if you are in a different spot in your memory keeping, I encourage you to look at the other stops on our blog hop...

Loving Life's Little Blessing - Katina Martinez

Elmer Stamper - Kristin Kortonick

Stampin' Cita - Carmelita Wasson

Stamping Susan - Susan Wong

Stamping with Karlie - Karlie Yardy

Kelsey Is - Kelsey Noble

Earthy Scrap - Jennie Garcia

Have a great weekend!  Happy memory keeping!

~Maria 

Lots of Birthdays in August

Hello everyone, although we're only halfway through August, I've been a busy, sleep-deprived little momma bee.  There have been three birthdays just in the first part of the month and my son will be 2 at the end of the month, so you know mommy's going to be busy making some fun birthday party projects.

I wanted to share with you the birthday cards I've made so far for some pretty special people.

The first is the card I made for my beautiful goddaughter for her 16th birthday.  She's bright, colorful, she's a teenager and she's just growing too fast.

 

I used the Kinda Eclectic stamp set, Dictionary background stamp, and the Ray of Sunshine stamp set in bright colors on whisper white cardstock.  I mounted it on the colorful sweet taffy DSP.

 

For my sister-in-law, whose birthday comes one week after and loves the color red, I made this card:

 



I used the cherry cobbler and daffodil delight blendabilities markers.  I even colored the rhinestones with them!  The lower part of the red cardstock was lightly embossed with our large polka dot embossing folder.  The ribbon is retired (shhhh!!).

I also used the blendies markers on this card for one of my co-workers:

I absolutely loved how all of these cards came out, and I hope the recipients did, too!

Happy Stampin'!!

Fun with Dies!

Wow, I hadn't realized how long I'd been away from blogland until I logged in today...

WELL, let me tell you, the break was amazing.  First of all, I went to the mecca of creativity and inspiration - the Stampin' Up! Inspire. Create. Share. 2014 Convention...  I was like a kid in a candy store...  Like a bookworm in a library...  Like an ant in a bag of sugar...  I think you get the picture, I was in papercrafter heaven.  Saw some beautiful things, learned a TON of new techniques, shared some laughs, and overall had a great time.  I will be sharing some of those new techniques here in the posts ahead.  It was the first time in 4 years that I've been without either my husband or one of my babies, so it was a huge sacrifice, but well worth the time away... THIS is all for them...

Here are some pics..

The check-in lines were soooooo long.. (funny enough the line for those with their last names starting with V was like, 2 people! SCORE!)

So, after convention, it took a while to get back into my regular schedule of work and being mommy, but I was able to start a card class with a few ladies from work!  YAY!  We made some pretty awesome cards and we decided to make it a monthly class...  The more excuses for stampin', the better!  I have also been busy playing with the new hamburger and fry box dies that debuted in this year's catalog!  This is what I've been making....

My son LOVES the movie Cars...  And I got creative with the Hamburger Box Die (133724) 

Mater and McQueen

Can't forget his towing gear!

 

And then I just kept going....

 

And these are for a co-workers' niece's upcoming birthday party inspired by Monsters, Inc.!

 

 

I made Boo using the Fry Box die (132966), some cello bags, ribbon, and chocolates...

 

I've been having a blast with these new products.  And with Stampin' Up! having the Big Shot promo (buy a Big Shot, get an awesome stamp set and framelit bundle FREE), now is a great time to add these dies to your paper crafting tool box! 

Happy papercrafting! 

Creative Challenge Club 03: It's a butterfly kind of day!

It's Thursday, my fun-day!  We're on a modified schedule at work and we have 3 day weekends during most of the summer, so today is my Friday!!  And of course last night I did something I should never do. Never.  I stayed up late... stampin'...  So today I feel like I'm walking around in a fog. with bags under my eyes. SO WORTH IT!! 

I love the sketches that are being thought up over at the Creative Challenge Club!  Every Monday there's a new sketch to inspire, but it usually takes me a couple of days to get inspired and find the time to make what pops up in my head.  This was the sketch for the week:

I immediately thought of making a flip card, but I just couldn't find the time to make it work (insert sad face).  However, I did come up with this:

I absolutely love the Ray of Sunshine stamp set.  I have found myself using it in a lot of the cards that I've been making lately.  AND I L-O-V-E the new Park Lane DSP!  I used it for the panel and the three "labels" behind the butterflies.  Oh the butterflies...  I love them more now than before because I saw how they look colored in with the blendies!!!  The great thing about this card is that if you are inspired to create anything with any of the supplies I used, Stampin' Up! is having a buy 3, get 1 free sale on the Designer Series Paper (Park Lane is one of them) until the end of July - AND the blendabilities (blendies) markers are now available for purchase (certain color families only).  The colors I used are available, so you can at least start with those!  I used the Cherry Cobbler set and the bronze tone from the skin tone assortment on the larger of the 3 butterflies, and the Pumpkin Pie and Daffodil Delight sets on the smaller ones. 

TIP: Here's something I absolutely love about the blendies and you might, too.  As I was coloring in the smaller butterflies, I realized I hadn't left enough "light" areas where I wanted to add the lighter shade of the Daffodil Delight marker.  But I went over that area anyway, and it was still able to add the brightness I wanted... without mixing colors (it's because they're alcohol-based, so don't try these with your other water-based markers or you'll end up with a completely different color you might not like)... I LOVE these markers...

I stamped the sentiment using the new 2014-16 In Color markers. 

 

It's not the flip card I envisioned, but I 'm super happy with the way it came out!

 

Hope you enjoyed today's share, happy stampin'!

'Til next time,

Toodles (you're going to start thinking that's my name....)

 

 

Shop online anytime at my online store!

 

Creative Challenge Club: Life is Wonderful

As I mentioned in one of my first posts, I'm a mommy of 2 toddlers, work full time, am a student, and as if that wasn't enough, I became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator because I love creating new things.  One of the perks to being a demo is that I love the interaction in our Luv 2 Stamp group, a group of wildly talented people who love to share and inspire others.  So much so that the Creative Challenge Club was formed to inspire and challenge others to create. 

I didn't have time to participate in the first challenge, but I managed to squeeze in some time to create this card for the second. 

I used Strawberry Slush (which is starting to become a favorite color) and Pistachio Pudding inks and cardstock, the All Abloom designer series paper stack, the Perfect Pennants, Mixed Bunch, and the Work of Art stamp sets.  No card of mine would be complete without some bling!  Just in case you're wondering what stamp the second circle is from, it's the center of one of the flowers in the Mixed Bunch stamp set, punch out with the 1 1/4" circle punch!

I stamped the background of the sentiment with the circle from the Work of Art stamp set.  Wondering what framelit I used?  It's the two larger Deco Labels framelits with the round parts cut off!


I also chose to participate in the Tic Tac Toe Challenge that Patty Bennett (yes, THE Patty Bennett) posted for our group.  I used the All Abloom designer series paper stack, the Beautiful Wings embosslits die, Whisper White ribbon and cardstock, and Daffodil Delight cardstock.  The sentiment is from the Ray of Sunshine stamp set cut out using the Chalk Talks framelits die and sponged and stamped with Hello Honey ink.

I know it was a long post today, but I hope you enjoyed the projects I wanted to share with you!  

Have a great weekend, and remember, if you'd like to purchase any of the items used in today's projects scroll down and please don't forget to add me as your demo!

Until next time - 
Toodles!

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$8.50

2013-2015 In Color 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock & Classic Stampin' Pads Kit

$29.95

Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments

$4.95

All Abloom Designer Series Paper Stack

$6.95

Work Of Art Wood-Mount Stamp Set

$29.95

Perfect Pennants Clear Stamp Set

$21.95

Mixed Bunch Clear Stamp Set

$21.95

Stampin' Dimensionals

$3.95

Whisper White 5/8" Organza Ribbon

$5.95

1-1/4" Circle Punch

$15.95

Paper Snips Scissors

$9.95

Stampin' Blendabilities™ Markers Daffodil Delight Assortment

$11.95

Deco Labels Framelits Die

$24.95

2014-2016 In Color 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock And Classic Ink Pads Kit

$29.95

Chalk Talk Framelits Die

$24.95

Ray Of Sunshine Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$19.95

Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die

$11.95

Pistachio Pudding 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$6.95

Sponge Daubers

$4.95

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