Card Class

Hello!

I just sent an email to all my ladies on my Card Class list and thought I'd post the photos here just in case they get stuck in e-mail limbo.

Enjoy!

P.S.  I am SOOOO loving the new Stampin' Up! ink pad formulation.  Especially the black.  Such a nice solid black impression now!!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

Card #1

Card #2

Card #3

Card #4

My Day at Doodlebug

Hello!

National Scrapbooking Day was so fun for me!  Of course, the biggest highlight was going to the Day at Doodlebug event.  Talk about a happy place!

I have to be honest,  I haven't really been a big fan of Doodlebug over the years.  Their product was just too cutesy looking for my taste so I only picked up one or two things here and there.  BUT.  After spending 3 hours surrounded by the colorful atmosphere, working with the product, and interacting with Cynthea Sandoval (owner) and the employees, my mind is changed.  Yes, their products are still cutesy, which still really isn't my style, but I know I'll definitely find a use for Doodlebug products in the future.

So let me just tell you a little about my morning there and the amazing talented women I met.

I  dragged my daughter with me because that's what moms do, right?  She didn't really complain but she's not as into the whole scrapbooking/cardmaking thing as I am.  In fact, she teased me during our time there by saying "I'm going to keep track of how many times you say the word CUTE".  Yes.  I said it. A. LOT. You can't help it when you're there.

So anyway, the first thing to welcome you when you walk into Doodlebug headquarters is this cute ;) pink couch.

Thanks to Lori Allred for snapping this photo!

Each office is painted a different bright color (represented by the pillows +purple).

We were given an opportunity to "shop" their showroom.  Lots of fun eye candy.  I bought stuff to make my niece a graduation card (which I forgot to take to her later that day. Duh).

While in the showroom, we got to make a darling button bracelet.  One of my scrapping/cardmaking idols is Wendy Sue Anderson.  I knew she was going to be there but didn't realize she would be helping with the Make & Take.  I was so excited to meet her in person.  She is just as sweet and genuine in real life as she seems on her blog.  I embarrassed my daughter by asking Wendy Sue if I could take a picture with her.  Wendy seemed a little hesitant.  Maybe I took her off guard, maybe I weirded her out.  But she was so gracious and humored me anyway.

Thanks, Wendy Sue!

Next, we got to eat a catered lunch in the Doodlebug lunchroom.  Just look how cute everything is.  We kept hearing over and over that Cynthea never does anything half way.  I can see that's true!

Next up was a layout class taught by Wendy Smedley and Cynthea.  I've met Wendy before and we've been able to chat a bit about things we have in common.  I enjoy talking to her.  She is friendly and down to earth.  I love her simple style of scrapbooking.  I introduced her to my daughter as my 'friend Wendy' before I even realized I was calling her 'friend'.  I hope that's okay, Wendy! I consider you my friend! :)  So here are Juli, me, and my friend Wendy:

Here's the layout Wendy taught us to make:

Isn't it ADORABLE?!  So fun and happy.  You know I love banners so this was just my style.

Here's the layout taught by Cynthea:

L.O.V.E. this tree

I really liked the use of twine to grid out the page.  So FUN! One side of both layouts used a divided page protector.  I love that because sometimes it makes it easier to create if everything has a specific "home".

Last but not least, was Stacy Julian's class.  I always love hearing her talk about scrapbooking and life in general.  I have learned so much from her over the last several years.  I love her philosophy that we scrapbook memories, stories, and people, not photos or events.  I love that I never feel behind anymore in my scrapbooking.  I love the idea that I do what I can and that's enough.  I just feel so much calmer after I listen to her insights.  After she gave us her presentation and we danced (yes, we danced), we made these darling cards:

Super cute, right?!

She's starting a new Happy Mail campaign that sounds like it could be a very wonderful thing for our chaotic world.  Keep checking her blog for updates.  It sounds very cool.

And of course, I couldn't leave without having a picture taken with her as well!

Ladies I chatted briefly with but didn't have a photo op with were: Darci Dowdle (Stacy's sister and BPC teacher), Stacy Croninger (formerly of Paper Crafts magazine) and Lori Allred.

So by the end of our fun time there Juli said to me "Mom, you're star struck, aren't you?"  Yep.  I pretty much was.

Thank you Doodlebug and BPC!

And thank YOU for joining me at the (very long) Table today!

Happy Cinco De Scrapbook Day!

Good Morning!

It's Cinco De Mayo today!  Did you know that Cinco De Mayo means National Scrapbook Day in English?  Just kidding. :)  But it is National Scrapbook Day as well!  Are you celebrating?

If you are itching to do some scrapbooking, you'll want to participate in this super fun, stay home in your PJs, free kind of crop at Big Picture Classes today!  Stacy Julian and her friends always put on a great party with challenges, free downloads and tons of inspiration.  This is an all day event so if you can only check their website a couple of times during the day, you'll still get plenty of inspiration!  I'm excited to see what's in store!

But, this year, I'm taking it one step further.

Super talented Stacy and and more of her super talented friends will be at Doodlebug headquarters right here in my home town and they're hosting A Day at Doodlebug. Two 3-hour class sessions.  My daughter and I get to go to the morning session (eek! I better hurry and jump in the shower!) and learn in person from some of the best!  I can't wait!  I'll share photos next week of the super colorful offices and the projects we make but in the meantime here's a  photo that caught my eye and made me even more giddy that we actually get to be there! A perfect foil for this overcast day!

Later on, we get to go be with my niece as we celebrate her graduation from college!  Yay Kelsey!!

Today is going to be SOOO much better than last Saturday, which was spent without water in the house (for 24 hours) and rushing my Dad to the hospital (he's home now and getting better every day).

I'd love to hear how you're celebrating either Cinco De Mayo or National Scrapbooking Day or both!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

Retiring...

Just thought I'd do a quick post to let you know that Stampin' Up! recently posted the stamp sets that will be retiring.   If you see something on there you've been wanting, grab it quick!  Once they're gone, they're gone!

Just go to my shop, click SHOP NOW.  Off to the left (right under the word HOME) you'll see RETIRING PRODUCTS.

Happy Shopping!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today! :)

70s Reject or Current Hit? (Warning: Long post)

Good morning! (Make sure you go all the way to the bottom of this post to see the link I promised yesterday)

A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law's craft room was finished.  She's so lucky and it's so beautiful.  I'm so happy for her!  When my niece forwarded pictures of her mom's room to me, I knew I wanted to make her something fun to hang in her new space.

I love all the projects I'm seeing on the web that start with thrift store finds.  So my project follows suit.

I also LOVE befores and afters.  Fat to thin, ratty yard to beautiful paradise, old house to wow house.

But if I were reading this post, I might feel a little jipped.  Because in my excitement and haste to create this project, I forgot to take a true before picture.  So sorry!

So here's the best "before" I have:

Okay.  If you look really close, you can see an unpainted raccoon peeking out of an old tree.  See it?  Imagine that brown you see pretty much made up the entire project.  A 70s paint by number that never got finished.  I'm not slamming paint by number.  I mean, I did my fair share of paint by number projects when I was a girl in the 70s, but seeing that body-less raccoon head kinda gave me the creeps.  But I did like the shape and structure of the frame so I snagged it.

First, I painted it using Krylon Green Apple spray paint. Such a pretty green!

After the frame was completely covered and dry, I went over it with Valspar Antiquing Glaze.  LOVE that stuff.

The frame had some awesome gouges and nicks that the glaze emphasized, giving it great character and interest.

After the frame was all ready to go, it was time to paper craft.  My favorite part!

Now.  At this point, I was pretty sure of the design of the project, but I wasn't sure what papers to use.  I had a scrapbook store trip planned, then as serendipity would have it, I got a call from cute Jenny at We R Memory Keepers!

She asked if I would be willing to do a non-baby project using their Baby Mine lines.  Of course, I said yes!  I just wasn't sure how I was going to take blue and pink baby products to create a craft room inspiration piece.

I think flowers belong in every craft room so I decided to go with that and make a little "scene".  I used different Big Shot dies and EK Success and Stampin' Up! punches and even was able to incorporate some of the Baby Mine chipboard elements to make these flowers super 3D.  Finally, I added a phrase with the Baby Mine chipboard letter stickers.  I really like that font.

So with all that said, here's the "after"! All the paper and chipboard you see is from the We R Baby Mine line.

See that blue chipboard piece?  In the center is a blue baby elephant.  I just covered it up and you'd never know it was meant for baby!

When I make a project for someone, I put my heart and soul into it and am crushed if they don't like it.  Fortunately, my SIL seemed to really like it and now it's hanging proudly in her new space!!!

We R seemed to really like it too, because it's on their FB page today!  I'd love for you to go check it out and if you like it, you could "LIKE" it! :)

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

OOPS! and a No-Sentiment Card

First the OOPS!  I was relying on my brain instead of my calendar for the date my project would post.  That's usually never a good idea.  Sorry.  My project will actually go live tomorrow.  I'll try to post the link in the morning.  Come back then. :)

Second, I was asked to make several cards that had no sentiments so that they could be used for any type of occasion.  Sadly, I relied on my brain again instead of writing myself a reminder to photograph them before delivering them to my customer.  But, I did make an extra of one of the designs.

Making cards without a sentiment was definitely a challenge for me.  But it was a fun challenge.  I actually got the layout idea for this card from one of my recent Paper Crafts magazines.  The artist had used a paper doily like you can get at the dollar store but I didn't have any of those.

What I did have was my Hello, Doily stamp from Stampin' Up!  I heat embossed it on vellum using white embossing powder and then cut it out.  Tedious, yes, but I think worth it.  It's so pretty!  The felt flower is from the Sweet Pea offering from Sale-a-Bration a year or two ago.  I only bought one package so I've been clinging to these {my precious ;)} and using them sparingly. I knew they would make a perfect centerpiece to this doily.

What I love about this card is it's versatility.  It can be used for weddings, bridal showers, birthday, sympathy, mother's day (which I will be doing this year), thinking of you, and the list goes on.

Try making a non-sentiment card, if you haven't already.  It's a fun challenge!

See you tomorrow!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

Cards Not Chosen and Another Announcement!

These two cards weren't chosen for the Stamping Royalty contest, but that's okay, because they will be forwarded to folks in the military (or their families) to use.  That makes me happy.

Also, I'm hoping you'll come back tomorrow!  I was invited to do a project for a fabulous scrapbook/crafting company and it will go live on their FB page sometime during the day.

I don't have a FB page anymore, but as soon as I get the link, I'll post it here and tell you all about it!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!