Personalized Brag Book

I've been wanting to create one of these photo albums for a while and finally got around to it (Granddaughters will inspire you to do things like that).
This is so easy you could whip one up on short notice, give it as a little gift or fill it with photos for a lovely keepsake.
I used Regal Rose card stock and Georgia Peach DSP, along with the Sweet Celebrations stamp set, and Regal Rose ribbon. I stamped the 'Rebecca' with the Defining Alphabet set. (Gotta practice that angular lettering some more!)
Inside are five of our clear translucent envelopes (page 167 in the IB&C, 50 for $5.95), each will hold two photos so ten in all. The envelopes are attached by their flaps to the covers with the ribbon.

Tailored baby card

I'm not totally smitten by any of our baby stamp sets right now so I've used a layout challenge to create a baby card. And, for some reason, it's taken two years for Sage Shadow to come to my attention - what a gorgeous colour! I used it, along with Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, Basic Gray, and a Pretty in Pink patterned paper. Pretty in Pink Brads, and Pretty in Pink Ribbon - both the 5/8" grosgrain and the gingham were used to embellish. The stamp set is Sweet Celebrations.

Happy Birthday Stampin' Up!

Twenty years ago this October Stampin' Up! was officially born. To celebrate this special time SU is offering a birthday special from October 1-31, 2008.
Spend $20 in regular catalogue merchandise and qualify to purchase any preselected birthday stamp sets at 20 percent off. Click on the cupcakes above to see the sets on special.

Here she is!

Mommy, Rebecca Jane, Daddy, and sister Isabella

Rebecca Jane at one day old. She is simply perfect! (at least from her grandmother's point of view!) There's lots of hair under that hat, and some of it has auburn highlights (we hope they're permanent!)

But now I'm back home and she is three thousand miles away. Since I can't hold her or her sister, I'll keep my hands busy with paper crafts - so look for new posts soon.

Thanks to all of you kind stampers that sent congratulations - I hope you have the joy of your own grandchildren, if not now then in the future!

New Granddaughter!

Things have been quiet lately on my blog because I have been looking after our 3 1/2 year old granddaughter while our daughter waits for our newest addition to the family. She arrived yesterday!

Rebecca Jane was born at 10:01 am on her grandparents' (me and my husband's) 36th wedding anniversary. She weighs 8 lbs and is soooo beautiful and healthy. Our daughter Julie is also doing fine. We have pictures of big sister Isabella holding and kissing little sister Rebecca (Bella and Becca) which are totally adorable. I'll tuck one on my blog when I return home.

Here's wishing everyone who reads this as much love and joy and contentment as I am experiencing with this new birth!

Hugs to all
Carol

Button Tree

I have been envisioning this card ever since I first saw the stamp set - "Season of Friendship" in the Holiday mini catalogue. I used the buttons from the 'Button Bouquet', Designer Paper from 'Maine Blueberry', and the new 'Curly Label Punch Bundle' for the sentiment. Cardstock is 'Old Olive'.
Now this is a very simple card to make, and I just had to get it out of my system!! Thanks for stopping by.

Using Designer Paper with Boxes

I must confess, this is a sneak peek of some of the new items in the Holiday mini catalogue which is available October 1st. I like all of the new Designer Paper in the big catalogue this year, but I especially like this gorgeous package and colour combination called 'Ski Slope'. And, those adorable snowflakes are available in the new mini catalogue too. They are so intricate and versatile, you're gonna love them!

To give you an idea of the size of the boxes, the largest one on the right holds cards sized 5 1/2 x4 1/4, the middle box does as well, and the little blue box on the left would hold a silk scarf, a watch or other jewellry, or perhaps some homemade fudge!

Christmas is my favourite time of year because of the family visits, the Christmas music, and the wonderful decorations. You'll be seeing lots of Christmas cards and decorations on my blog in the next few months (and in case you haven't noticed yet, there's a countdown to Christmas if you scroll down and look on the right hand column!)

Thanks for stopping by - I hope to have the directions for these boxes posted in the next couple of days.

Middlest Daughter's Birthday

This design I found on 'ChristineCreations' gallery and fell in love with it. So I recreated it (with a few variations) for my second daughter, Jacqueline, who will be 26 the end of September. Because our first daughter is the oldest, and our third daughter is the youngest, Jaie always called herself the middlest. She's now studying law in Ohio with her new husband who is a university professor at OSU. (Am I proud? You bet!) Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Christmas Tags

These were so much fun to do!

The first two folding tags use the Level Two Hostess Set 'Deer Friends', Christmas Treasure DSP, and Old Olive, Very Vanilla, and Real Red cardstock. Inks are Chocolate Chip and Old Olive. Plus the scallop and circle punches.

The third folding tag uses the 'To You and Yours' stamp set - one of my favourites! The cardstock is Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, and Bravo Burgundy. Ink is Always Artichoke, and the image is punched out with the new wide oval punch.

Although the photos make the folding cards appear to be different sizes, they are all 2 inches x 3 inches.

The first long tag uses this same 'To You and Yours' stamp set, using the dove stamp. I embossed it in silver on Brilliant Blue cardstock and then mounted it on Bashful Blue. The sentiment is from the 'All Holidays' stamp set, and the silver cord is from our holiday mini catalogue.

The last tag uses Brocade Blue mounted on Whisper White cardstock , white 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon, and white craft ink. The snowflakes are from the 'Snow Burst' set. The sentiment is from the 'To You & Yours' set.

Layered Christmas Cardinal

I have a passion for Cardinals. When we lived in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, we had two pair of Cardinals at our feeders all winter. Then in the spring the male would sit at the top of the fir tree at the bottom of our property and sing me awake every morning. (I know - he wasn't really doing it for me). So now that we have moved we haven't seen a cardinal at our feeders for six years and I really miss them.

I cased this card from a demo who goes by 'sleepyinseattle', and I love the layering. I chose to colour a male cardinal and tried to make it look like a real one (they almost glow in the sunlight). The cardstock is Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White. The designer paper is Holiday Treasure, I used my Stampin' Up! markers in Real Red, Garden Green, Close to Cocoa, and Creamy Caramel. I overlaid the cardinal's breast with Summer Sun hoping that it would give it some more 'glow'. The snowflake is from our holiday mini catalogue, and I used Garden Green pastel sponged around the cardinal.

This is my first card with the Happy Blessings stamp set, which I adore! At least the cards other people have made with it, and there are many gorgeous ones. I like this one, but next time there are several things I would do differently - more 3-D, I double stamped the overalls and the corn stalks, cut them out, and put them on dimensionals. I would do a couple of the pumpkins too and one of the crows. I would also do more background colours using the pastels. This one is watercoloured and next time I would use both mediums. But I do like the Chocolate Chip designer paper that frames it!

My Husband's Birthday Card

This is the card I made for my husband's birthday today. He's not a hunter, but he loves the outdoors and seeing wild animals and birds, so he really liked it. I used So Saffron cardstock for the card and some of the framing, along with Chocolate Chip, and the Chocolate Chip Designer Paper which I really like! Plus the vanilla bulk pack to frame the 'for you' from the All Occassions stamp set. Of course the main stamp set is Nature Silhouettes. The sunset/sunrise background is done with pastels - Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie, and Summer Sun.

Fixed the Blurry, Big Bird

So, I had to replace the blurry photo (finally), and since Big Bird & Friends didn't fit anywhere else, I thought I'd include it as well.

The Sympathy card uses Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla, and Chocolate Chip cardstock, Mellow Moss ink, and Chocolate Chip ribbon. And of course the Upsy Daisy Stamp Set (I think it's almost everyone's favourite, it certainly is easy to use!) with the sentiment from Sincere Salutations. This stamp set is so versatile, the same design could be used for almost anything, although I'd change the colour combo.

Big Bird & Friends were all made with our punches, and the card itself was cased from another card (sorry I don't have the creator's name!) This is a great way to create a child's card without having a child centered stamp set. Our punches can be used to make lions and tigers and bears too (oh my!)

Another Benefit from Stampin' Up!

Now you can order your SU products on-line, directly from my website (click on the square on the right to go there), any time of day or night, holidays, while you're on vacation, whenever you want! It's just another convenience from SU.

But don't let that stop you form ordering through me personally if you like. And I'm always here to answer your questions or help with any problems you may have. Plus you're always welcome to attend my classes and workshops.

Now take a minute and check out the on-line ordering. I think you'll find it very easy and convenient, and finding things in the catalogue is a breeze because of the way the products are grouped.

Let me know what you think!

Upsy Daisy Birthday

September 2nd was my Mom's 83rd birthday. I made this card because she loves pink (that's where I got it!) and flowers, and her name is Pearl so I added the embellishment of pearls from the Pretties Kit. The cardstock is Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose, and Whisper White. Ink is Regal Rose, ribbon is Regal Rose. The stamp set is the new Upsy Daisy (so easy to use for so many events, scrapbooking too!), and I used the new scallop border punch.