Groovy Wasabi Baroque to Cherish

 
This card reminds me of a summer garden, and I'm again surprised by how much I like the new In Colors. This one features Wild Wasabi--the green--and Groovy Guava. The little spot of ribbon is certainly celery grosgrain. This is going to be one of the cards in the August Stamp-A-Stack, so if you like it and want to reserve your spot now, please leave me a message in the comments! The charge for 15 cards is going to increase, due to an increase the company has made in the price of paper and ink pads, to $18 for 15 cards and coordinating envelopes from $15.

Thanks for stopping by!

Needing a Notepad...

I'm forever searching through my purse, the glove box of the car, above the visor, or even underneath the seats to try to find something to write on when an idea strikes me. I see a color combination I don't want to forget (I once wrote down the colors in the pattern of a woman's pants as I followed her through the parking lot after church), or I hear a good song on the radio (yes, I still listen to broadcast radio and I do not own an iPod!). Inevitably, I end up losing that piece of paper, and I'm frustrated later when I want to recall what I wrote down and can't.

Well, the problem has been solved!! Awhile ago, I found a tutorial for this nifty little notepad holder on Amy Celona's website, Ustamp4fun.com. It wasn't until we had this convenient rainy afternoon (after I'd found the little notepads at the Dollar Tree this morning)that I took care of my annoying problem once and for all!


This is super easy to do, and Amy's tutorial includes pictures. (Why should I reinvent the wheel?) I used the new In Color Blue Bayou and the new Level 2 Hostess Set Garden Silhouettes for this.

Hope this little "good thing" will make your day like it has mine! Now if I could only find a pen...

Let me know if you'd like to learn how to make this at an upcoming class or have me teach a group of your friends how to make it at your house!

Quiet Sunday...good day for a BOOK!

It's a weird weather day here in GA--cloudy, so the temperature is low, but the humidity percentage almost matches the Fahrenheit. You can imagine what that means! We're indoors this afternoon, napping, playing a computer game, and blogging!

I mentioned 2 books that I might write about later, and later is now! The first is by Elizabeth Berg, a wonderful author from Chicago, and her latest is called Dream When You're Feeling Blue. It's set in Chicago during WWII, and centers around the lives of the sisters of the Heaney sisters. The 2 older sisters have beaus who leave them for service overseas, and each responds differently to the separation. It's a great, quick, escapist read.

The second book is by Ann Brashares (would love to know how to pronounce her last name!), author of the popular teen novel series Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The Last Summer (of You and Me)is her first adult novel, and in it she tells the story of three friends--2 sisters and the boy next door--who grow up together each summer at Fire Island off Long Island in NY. This is set in present day, and explores the tension that exists when the threesome try to keep things the way they were when they were kids, even though times and feelings have changed. This too is an engrossing read, and I found myself picturing the beach, the houses, and feeling the pull of the past against the present and the possible future right along with the characters.

Now that I've shared 2 of my recent favs, what about you? What are you reading this summer, fleeting though it is?

Cute, cute, cute!

This post is for all those out there who are engrossed in a good book right now! (I have 2 that I may have to blog about in a future post, as they were great vacation reads while I was away a few weeks ago. But that's another subject...)

Fellow blogger Amy over at http://gone-inkognito.blogspot.com posted a wonderful tutorial today for making this unique bookmark that holds your place by slipping over a page corner. This is what I came up with when I played around with her design.

The images are from a winter mini catalog set called Love Matters. I had a few scraps of the new In Colors Purely Pomegranate and Groovy Guava and had been inspired by a few other posts today that combined these colors. (Check out Taylor VanBruggen's http://tayloredexpressions.blogspot.com and Jenn Balcer's http://jbalcer.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com work.) The sentiment says "the best is yet to be", which I think any reader would love to believe as she's reading a favorite book. I accomplished this by simply masking the words I didn't want inked and then removing the tape (crucial detail!) before stamping the words where I wanted them.

This will be part of an upcoming class somewhere down the road, but you can head over to Amy's blog if you want to give this a try on your own. It's easy, as long as you make yourself slow down enough to do the math and follow the directions. Happy weekend!!

New Stampin' Friend!

Tonight I met Berna, a recent transplant from CA. She was a hobby demonstrator in CA and hadn't had any stampin' fun with someone who understands the exhilarating mix of creating and connecting through paper crafting since she arrived in March. So, last week she went to the SU! website and clicked on "find a demonstrator in your area" and my name came up! She contacted me, and tonight we got together at my house (she only lives about 10 min. from me!) and stamped and shared our opinions on the things in the new catalog.

Her husband was concerned about her going to the house of someone she didn't know. She told him, "How scary can she be? She stamps!" We hit it off right away, and I'm thankful she had the courage to seek out someone to share what she loves. I'm glad she found me! I hope she could tell how much she encouraged me.

Tomorrow will be more of the same with my regular monthly Stamp-A-Stack gals--I love hanging out with girlfriends! If you're interested in coming, get in the car and come on over...the more the merrier! I'll be here from 10a-12:30p.

Beautiful New Sets!

I promised I'd share card samples using some of the new sets from the Fall-Winter Collection, and here they are! I have been very surprised by how much I like the new In Color collection, which will be available from now through next July 2008 only.

The first card is made with a Level 2 Hostess set called Garden Silhouettes. A gorgeous set with different floral patterns and 2 little words: "lovely" and "charm." I'm not quite as sold on the words, but these stamps help you create stunning cards! For this one, I challenged myself to use Groovy Guava. It may be hard to tell from the picture, but I'd describe it most like a terracotta. It's paired with Blush Blossom, another color I've never used before, since I'm not much of a Soft Subtles kind of gal!

The BB base is stamped with BB ink to create a background, designer paper sort of look. The whisper white is stamped first with BB and then with GG. You should see the envelope! Those who are attending my open house tomorrow night and Saturday will get to make this card. After the open house, it will be in the mail to my great aunt who just had knee replacement surgery at the age of 83! She's a great woman, and I hope it will brighten her day before I can get over to see her.

This card is made with another new set--although not one only hostesses have access to--called Baroque Motifs. It is very difficult to make an ugly card with this set! I love the large swirl, and there are 3 other pieces and the words "cherish" and "kind" included. I chose Purely Pomegranate as the next color to experiment with. Love the fruit, so why did I think I wouldn't like the paper? It's RICH and made this card quite elegant.

The swirl is stamped first with PP, and then overlaid with craft white ink. It creates a great shadow effect, which I hope to perfect as I get more chances to work with it. This card style is one I found from another demonstrator at her blog, and you can get 3 cards out of 1 piece of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock. This also fits in the medium sized envelopes, but it also slides in nicely in the short end envelopes SU! sells.

Well, I hope those attending the open house enjoy making these samples. Now I need to go order more paper and a few other goodies for upcoming workshops this month and next month's Stamp-A-Stack!

FINALLY!

OK, so I went on vacation and thought I'd have wireless internet access to post while I was away. You guessed it--I didn't! Some of you may think I'm pretty pathetic to be lamenting about something like this, but this is who I am, and I'm an internet junkie! Then, I return from vacation and can't get to my blog to post! But, thanks to my wonderful tech savvy husband, I'm BACK!!

Obviously, the latest stamping news is that Stampin' Up!'s new Fall-Winter Collection catalog has arrived. I was conservative in what I chose, and now I'm sorry I didn't purchase more of the In Colors paper! With names like Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, and River Rock, it's hard to not enjoy just saying them. I'm not trying new things because I don't want to run through my stock too fast! Lesson learned...

For those who haven't made up their minds yet about what their weekend's plans are, let me reiterate my invitation to come to my open house and check this new catalog out!!! This Friday evening, July 13, from 6:30-9p, and Saturday morning, July 14, from 10a-12:30p, there will be
free cards to make with new sets using the new In Colors, and have plenty of time to pore over the pages of the new catalog!

Hope to see you then! Look for samples in the coming days. Thanks for sticking around during the hiatus!