Easter Wishes Paper Crafters Sampler {Blog Hop}!

Hi all!  If you've come across my blog from the Paper Crafters Sampler blog hop, you must have just visited

Vicki Burdick's blog and saw her gorgeous project.  If you've just come for a visit, I definitely encourage you to hop on and check out what the Design Team has created and you can also check out some sneak peek's of February's issue.  We're using this beautiful Easter Cross template in this blog hop, designed by the talented Melanie Schulenberg, and the cool thing is, you'll have the template available to you as part of the issue if you'd like to subscribe.  Now here's a look at the cross I made:

I used the pretty daisies from the Blossom Party Originals die to decorate my cross and then used the sentiment from the Something to Celebrate Hostess stamp set from the Occasions Mini.  Here's a close up look at the flowers for you: 

Before you go, here's a sneak peek of my Easter Wishes project in the February issue:

Let's say it's very egg-citing! {hee!}  You can visit the Paper Crafters Sampler site to subscribe to this month's issue!  It's chockful of wonderful Easter Ideas for you.

I hope you've enjoyed my Easter Cross Box and sneak peek.  If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out Vicki’s blog just before me or head on over to visit the next stop on the hop – Kelly Campbell’s!

Thanks for popping by! 

January Final Friday Winner!!

Hi all!  Sorry for being so absent on the bloggie blog this week....such a crazy busy time!  Anyway, I have not forgotten about January's Winner...as a matter of fact....are you ready to find out who it is?  Drumroll please....the lucky winner is:

Lucky number 17, who happens to be Steph D. sweet craf-tea chick!!!  A BIG congrats to you, dear Steph!!!

Thanks so much to you all for playing!! I will be posting later today, but for now, gotta run.  Have a fantastic Saturday!!!

It's time for Sale-a-bration!!

Hi blog friends!  I have to say that today is the start of my favorite annual Stampin'Up! promotion - Sale-a-bration!! This is the time of year where you can earn free Sale-a-bration products (like stamp sets, papers, and digital images) for every $50 in merchandise you buy.  Doesn't that sound cool?  This promotion kicks off today, January 25th and goes thru March 31, 2011. 

Wanna check out the Sale-a-bration catalog? 

It has all the excluse Sale-a-bration products you can choose from, plus lots of other options from the main Idea Book and Catalog, too!  So many cool things!  You can shop anytime on my Online Store from the comfort of your computer, or you can send me an email if you'd like to go that route, too. 

Oh - and how do you like my little digital Sale-a-bration owl graphic I created?  I used My Digital Studio (MDS) to create it, and most of the graphics are from the brand spankin' new Sale-a-bration Digital Content CD {all the exclusive images from the Sale-a-bration catty..which happens to be one of the free items you can earn}.  If you're an avid digital scrapbooker or digital designer, it's an awesome supplement to MDS and definitely worth getting...I love all the images and embellies!

Enjoy, dear friends!  It's a fabbie time to be stamping and crafting, or, for you newbies out there, take this opportunity to start your crafting arsenal!!  Have a great day!  Thanks for dropping in for a visit. :)

perfectly punched cupcakes!

Hi all!  Did you guys have a nice weekend?  I have to say we had a great weekend!  We had beautiful weather and we also got to hang out with my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and nieces for the weekend.  They came down for a visit and we had lots of fun.  We went down to see the tidepools by my house and then we even had some time for crafting, which is always a bonus.  I just wish we had an extra day!  Oh well...we did have fun.  Now it's time to kick off the new week.  Remember the other day when I mentioned I'd share the tip on how to to be more paper efficient with the new Build a Cupcake Punch (and can also be applied to the Blossom Petals Punch, too!).  Applying this handy technique ensures you make perfectly punched cupcakes!  Here's what you need to do:

Here's a picture of how the stamped images align with your punch:

Isn't that cool?  Now here's another look at the cards I created with my cupcakes.  I made a stepped up version with the ribbon, as well as a simpler, easy to mail version without ribbon...Either way, I don't think you can go wrong!:

What do you think?  Aren't these fun?  I love this sweet color palette - so girly and preppy, too!  Here's the recipe for you:

{Punchy Cupcakes!}

*Stamp Set: Something to Celebrate {Occasions Mini Catalog Hostess Level 2 Set}, Create a Cupcake

*Cardstock: Pretty In Pink, Filled With Love DSP Bundle, Whisper White

*Inks: Rose Red, Pear Pizzazz

*Accessories: Build a Cupcake Punch, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, Certainly Celery Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Springtime Vintage Buttons, Hemp Twine

It's your turn to give it a try!  I think you'll have fun making these perfect cupcakes - I know I did.  Hope you have a fantastic week.  Oh...don't forget...Sale-a-bration starts tomorrow!  WooHoo! 

sweet Butterfly Birthday

Hi there bloggie friends!  Yay - It's Friday!  Hope you had a good week.  As usual, time is just flying faster and faster for me.  Work has kicked it up a notch, but I've got so much crafting energy from last week's Leadership Conference that I had to squeeze this card in for the Cards Blog Challenge for the week!  As soon as I saw that the challenge was to use butterflies, I HAD to play!  I've been dying to use the Sweet Stitches paper so this was my chance.  Are you ready for the big reveal.....

I was so excited about how the card turned out - the color scheme, papers and pretty butterfly just make me smile.  I mean, this card practically made itself!  How do you like the fun embellies - from the fabric button to the pompom trim....so yummy!  I do love that Birthday font, too.  It's just so cute and shabby - perfect for the card.  Here's some more pics for ya...

Love the textured cardstock - it makes the stamped sentiment look aged and vintage-y.

One last look.  Are you in love with that paper?!  I know I am!  So, so fun!  Here's the card recipe for you:

{Sweet Butterfly Birthday}

All Supplies Stampin'Up! except where noted

*Stamp Set: Bring on the Cake {SU! Occasions Mini Catalog}

*Cardstock: Textured Very Vanilla, Pink Pirouette, Sweet Stitches DSP

*Inks: Melon Mambo, Crumb Cake {sponged on the edges}

*Accessories: Sweet Stitches Fabric Designer Brads, Melon Mambo Pompom trim, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die; Boxy Banners Die {PTI}

Hope you like it!  Have a fantastic Friday! Ciao, for now.

filled with {LOVE}!

Happy Thursday!  Today, I'm sharing a super cute Valentine Card that was totally inspired by a Thank You card I received from my cousin, Grace.  As soon as I saw her card, I knew I wanted to case it and I had this Filled With Love stamp set in mind.  It's from the Filled with Love promotion, which comes with these pretty DSP papers, too.  I am also really digging the red glimmer paper - so, so CUTE!  Wanna see the full card?  Here you go:

There are a lot of fun elements to this little Valentine.  For the card cover, I used the Scallop from the Scallop Circles #2 die, and for the inner circle, I used the 3" Circle Originals die that's from the Occasions Mini catalog. It is the perfect size to use with the scallop circle as a mat!  Love that!  I also used the Embosslit Heart with the red glimmer paper, which has such a pretty effect.  I stamped then punched the Filled With Love heart with the heart punch.  To add interest to the edge, I used the scallop border punch with the glimmer paper to give it a little bling factor.

The design is soo much fun!  I love the tab closure.  It adds the total cute factor, I think.  You'll have to scroll down to the end to check out my cousin's card and you'll see why I was so inspired!  Here are a few more views of this valentine card.

I finished off the tab closure by rounding the edges with the corner rounder.

Inside, I stamped the "Be My Valentine" and added a couple heart flowers.  The little heart punch goes perfect with this set, too!  Now....here's my cousin's card.  So cute!!

Love how she used the Owl punch!!  This is such a great card design, I'm gonna have to make more cards like this.  Hope you got some good ideas!  Here's the recipe for the Valentine card:

{We're Good Together}

*Stamp Set: Filled With Love

*Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Love Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack (from Filled With Love Bundle), Whisper White, Glimmer Paper

*Inks: Real Red

*Accessories: Scallop Circles #2 Bigz Die, 3" Circle originals die, small heart punch, Full Heart punch, Scalloped Heart of Hearts embosslit, 1/8" Real Red Taffeta Ribbon, Scallop Border punch

Here's the Filled With Love Bundle deets:

You have until January 24th to order this adorable bundle, but make sure you don't miss out - order it today!

You'll love it.  Thanks for coming by! :)

my {cupcake} swap

Hello and happy Tuesday!  Time to go back to work today.  I was fortunate enough to have the day off yesterday for MLK, so that gave me time to catch up on some much needed sleep after leadership.  I can't believe how jet lagged I felt coming back to Pacific time!  Anyway, here we are at the start of the work week. Before I head on in, my quick share today is my Leadership Card Swap.  I'll tell you up front that my card is very basic.  Not a whole lot of fancy techniques, but rather, something that's pretty easy to assemble, which was key for me since I finished these up in Nashville.  Yup - I barely eeked these cards out in the nick of time to get any swaps!  Thankfully, people still did swap with me and I got a lot of fun cards!  I actually added the flower and pearl to this card to dress it up a bit {post swap}.  You see, I had cut the pieces of my swaps at home and transported them to Nashville for assembly.  Only to find out, I cut 28 base cards and 32 of the cupcake/DSP pieces.  Oh well - let's just say my math skills were a little lagging the night before leadership!  Wanna see the rest of the card?  Here you go:

 I made 28 of these little cupcake swaps.  Simple and sweet. At least, I hope the people I traded with think so!  Don't recognize that DSP?  Aha!!...it's a little bit of a sneaky peeky for you.  It's called Ice Cream Parlor and it's one of the free products you can earn during Sale-a-bration.  Mark your calendars! It's literally right around the corner {January 25th is the first day, as a matter of fact...more deets coming soon}. How about the cute punched out cupcake?  I love the set and coordinating punch.  Absolutely adorable!  It's the Create a Cupcake stamp set and the Build a cupcake punch. 

We learned a little trick at leadership on how to be more paper efficient with the punches and the matching stamps...so stay tuned for that.  It's pretty clever, yet simple.  I think you guys will like it.  In the meantime, here's the card recipe for you:

{Cupcake Birthday}

*Stamp Sets: Create a Cupcake

*Cardstock: Old Olive, Whisper White, Ice Cream Parlor DSP

*Accessories: Build a Cupcake punch, Framed Tulips Embossing Folder, Itty Bitty Shapes punch, Basic Pearl, Blushing Bride Poly Ribbon, dimensionals, Snail adhesive

Hope you all have a fab day.  Thanks for coming by!

forever {fabulous}

Hi there bloggie friends.  Today's post is a little nostalgic for me - the fabulous duo of 2S4Y - Laura Davis and Kazan Clark - have announced that this week's post will be the final post at 2Sketches 4 You, as they will be pursuing new opportunities both in and out of the craft world.  It's a very exciting time for the both of them.  And very well deserved, because I just think these 2 ladies are so awesome!  They gave me my first opportunity to be on a design team, and for that, I will be forever grateful!  I encourage you guys to check out the site and play in this final challenge one last time.

I created this card using the Framed Tulips embossing folder and that pretty bloom is from the Fun Flowers Bigz L die.  I've always been fond of the yellow/brown combo {in SU! terms, that would be So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, and Early Espresso}, and it's been on my brain lately because of this charming Cafe that I discovered just recently by my house called Yellow Vase.  It's in such a quaint and charming little spot, I'll have to take pictures of it the next time I go!  Here's one last look of the card:

What do you think?  I love how the embossing folder creates such a pretty frame - it's a quick and easy way to dress up a card, that's for sure!  Hope you like it.  Here are the deets:

{Forever Fabulous}

*Stamp Set: Fabulous Phrases

*Cardstock: Early Espresso, Dafodil Delight, Whisper White, Sweet Stitches DSP

*Inks: Early Espresso

*Accessories: Fun Flower Bigz L die, Framed Tulips embossing folder, Daffodil Delight 1/8" ribbon, dotted scallop border punch, corner rounder, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Basic Pearls

Now, don't forget to hop on over to 2S4Y and take a peek at the challenges.  Hope you'll play along on this final farewell sketch!  Have a great day!

a little trip recap

Hey bloggie friends!  I'm back from Nashville and am still trying to process all the ideas I got from the Stampin'Up! Leadership Conference!  All in all, it was an AMAZING first trip.  Seriously, I got so much inspiration and motivation, I can't wait to get crafting and sharing with you all.  I was going through my pictures last night and this morning, and came up with a collage of photos from the trip.  I took hundreds of photos, so you can imagine it was tough for me to pare it down to these few.  I'll probably be posting more ideas and projects on the blog once I get all settled in {for example, the awesome make and takes are worthy of their own posts, so stay tuned for those!}, but for now, I thought this was a good representation - there's a smattering of photos from the idea boards, make and takes, and fun with fellow demos {tip: click on the picture to see a bigger version}. My main take away is that it's definitely an event I want to attend every year :) 

I'll catch up with you guys in a bit.  For now, there's some laundry and general household duties that I need to attend to ;)  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.  Thanks for visiting!

Greetings from Nashville!

Hi all, boy has it been a jam packed session so far. I'm blogging in between breaks here, but since time is of the essence, I think I'll just post a few picks that can give you a brief glimpse of what we've been up to. Lots of good stuff - great info and inspiration! I even got to chat briefly with Shelli Gardner! Woohoo! Talk about inspiration. I also got to see a handful of blogging friends, too, and meet a few folks that have stopped by for a visit, so that's always fun. Anyway, for now, I'm gonna let the pics tell the story...



Gaylord Opryland Hotel




Photo opp with Shelli!



Yay a free giveaways!



Card I made for the Ronald McDonald house charities - we had to do stuff with limited supplies.



Here's the card we made as a group - a total collaborative effort with our limited supplies!







That's it for now. More to come later. Thanks for popping by! Ciao!

blog updates and leadership bound!

Hey there friends!  You may have noticed I've changed a couple of  things up a bit on the bloggie blog.  I was playing with some new My Digital Studio {MDS} downloads from the Occasions Mini and created my new little header graphic and I've also changed my background, trading in the blue and white polka dots with these multi-color ones.  I think it's fun to change it up every once in a while - it's like getting a new outfit! ;)

Anyway, on other news, I'm headed to Nashville today to attend my very first ever Stampin'Up! Leadership conference.  Boy is it going to be chilly there!  But besides the weather, many of you are probably thinking - what?  It took you 10 yrs to go to leadership?  Well, truthfully, the reason I became a demonstrator was because of my instant love for the craft.  I really was hooked on stamping from the very beginning!  Sure, I do the occcasional workshops here and there, and I do enjoy doing them.  {I hope to do them more regularly this year, as a matter of fact.}  Ultimately though, I consider myself a hobby demonstrator at heart and haven't really pushed hard on the selling side.  For me, it's not about that.  I do it because I LOVE to create and show people how cool stamping and papercrafting can be.  My blog is a testament to that piece.  I am thankful to have 2 awesome downline gals{yay Kris and Norma!} who happened to find me online. WooHoo! I'm happy to support them both in their venture as Stampin'Up demos.  No goal is too big or too small - it's really whatever you want to make it!  So, I welcome anyone else that would like to be a  part of my team - know that you'll get support and guidance from me. :)  My philosophy is that I a papercraft enthusiast and I want to promote stamping and papercrafting in any way I can, using whatever vehicles - blogging, workshops, newsletters, etc.  Stampin'Up! has allowed me to do that.  It's contagious!  Inspire.  Create.  Share.  That's what I hope to do with the crafting side of this blog :)

Well, I've clearly rambled on for way too long now!  I look forward to the whole leadership experience and finding out what's in store.  I can't wait to hear about where Stampin'Up! is headed and can't wait to check out all the cool new products and great ideas that will be unveiled.  I'm hoping to post live from Nashville, so stay tuned! I know I got a little soap box-y on this post, so hope you humored me for a sec.  ;) 

Look forward to sharing with you soon!

Ready for January's Final Friday Giveaway?

Hi all!  I tell you this year is just too fast for me already!  I can't believe it's already the 11th!  Are you ready to see what this month's giveaway is?  Without further adieu, here it is...

I'm going international with these stamps!  This set is in French and it's one of the current Stampin'Up! Hostess sets called Afterthoughts.  I love that we have the option to order hostess sets in French and Spanish.  There are additional sets throughout the catalog that are available in these languages, too.  For this month, you guys get an opportunity to win this beatiful French one. 

So what do you have to do?  Here are the rules:

1. Leave me a comment on this post by midnight Pacific Time, Wed, January 26, 2010.

2. On your comment, please make sure to include a valid email address or a blog URL (where I can leave a comment or have a way of contacting you), and your first name and last initial. For those of you that are uncomfortable with leaving an email in a post, you can write your info like this: yourname at emailaccount dot com.
3. One comment per person please. :)
4. Anyone can play - international visitors welcome!

You can comment on anything, but one thing I would love to find out is where you're commenting from!  So, if you like to, feel free to share your city and state in your comment.  I'll be picking the winner using random.org and will announce who this lucky person is on my blog on Friday, January 28th!  Good luck!

Heart Strings

Hi all - hope you had a great weekend!  As usual, it felt like it flew by for me.  I'm still trying to get into a groove with being back to work and scheduling time to craft, plus it's a little bit tricky with so many things going on this month with my work projects and life in general, so I hope you bear with me. :)  Anyways, as for this project, I have to admit it took me a little while to come up with what to make.  I might be going through some creative block!   Hope you like the card though - this is simple, yet fun...and also requires no stamping!   Don't get me wrong, I wanted to stamp, but for this card, I didn't think it required it :)  Hope you like it!

The finished card measures 3"x6."  The paper pretty much dresses up the card, don't you think?  It's from the Love Impressions Specialty DSP in the Occasions Mini.  This particular piece of DSP is of a heavy weight cardstock, so it would also be great to use with a favor type of die cut too!  Back to the card - I added a little border of whisper white cardstock with the Pinking Hearts trim - so cute and dainty! I also added a smidge of real red taffeta ribbon and of course, the heart strings!  I used baker's twine and then the Heart Small punch for the glittery hearts.  Here's one last look for you:

Enjoy!  Hope you guys ave a great Monday and I'll catch up with you guys soon!  It's getting late for me so I'm gonna say ciao for now :)

Build a Blossom Bag

Hi bloggie friends!  Hope your week is going well so far.  I meant to post this yesterday, but after several attempts, the blogger app was not cooperating and wouldn't let me create a new post for some reason.  Anyone have that issue yesterday?  Well, in any case, I'm glad it resolved this morning so I can share this Blossom Bag!  What do you think?  It's chockfull of new goodies from the Occasions Mini!  I just love these happy spring colors, too.  I used Melon Mambo, for the flower and Old Olive for the leaves.  Here's a look at the bag side view:

This bag is super easy to make, too.  I started with a 10"x12" piece of Sweet Stitches DSP.  You'll want to score the 10" side at 1 3/4" and 9", then score the 12" side at 1/2", 4 1/2" 6 1/4", and 10 1/4".  For the 10" side, you're going to fold over the 1" crease for the top edge of the bag.  The 1 3/4" crease is for the bottoom of the bag.  Cut the scorelines on the 12" side up to this crease to create the flaps for the bottom of the bag.  Assemble the bag and use the Tombow Multi Purpose Glue to adhere the side seam and the bottom flaps.  For the ribbon holes at the top of the bag, I used the Crop-a-dile to punch the 2 holes.  You can also ceate handles instead of just securing the ribbon at the top - that would be cute, too!  The finished product measures 7 1/4" x 1 3/4".  Here's one last look of the finished bag:

Hope you like it!  It makes an adorable handmade gift bag, don't you think? AND isn't that Build a Blossom Stamp awesome?! I LOVE this bloom!!  Here's the bag recipe for you:

{Build a Blossom Bag}

All supplies Stampin'Up!

*Stamp Sets: Build a Blossom

*Cardstock: Sweet Stitches DSP, Whisper White, Old Olive

*Inks: Old Olive, Melon Mambo

*Accessories: Blossom Petals Punch, Sweet Stitches Designer Series Buttons, Basic Pearls, Melon Mambo Pompom Trim, Old Olive Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Crop-a-dile, dimensionals, Tombow Multi-Purpose Glue

Enjoy and have a fab day!  Thanks for peeking in! ;)

I {xoxo} the Occasions Mini!

Hi all!  The Occasions Mini is available today!  Yay!!  And, I'm sharing my first Valentine's card of the year with some of the fun goodies from this awesome mini catty.  For starters, how about those yummy glitter hearts?!  I punched them out from the pretty Glimmer Paper that comes in a 2 pack of 12" x12" paper.  I love the effect it has - it's even prettier in person, I think!  Here's a look at the full card for you.

Isn't the "Love You" image in the bottom right corner so cute?  That's from the Rub On sheets called "Love Impressions" which coordinates with the DSP {also called the same name}.  So fun.  As for the big heart, I punched and layered it on the Heart of Hearts Embosslit, which gives it that dainty little scalloped edge. Can you believe this card has no stamping?   Here's the recipe for you.

{xoxo Love You}

All supplies Stampin'Up!

*Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White, Love Impressions, Glimmer Paper

*Accessories: Full Heart Punch, Heart Small Punch, Heart of Heart Embosslit, Love Impressions Rub Ons, Corner Rounder, dimensionals, Snail

Hope you like it!  You can also check out the Occasions Mini catalog here.

Have a great day!! Toodles for now.

New Year and back to work {already?!}...

Hi all!  How are you?  Hope you all had a nice holiday season.  I can't believe it's already time to go back to work.  It's a bit of a dreary day here in Southern California.  We've got a winter storm at the moment that's dropping inches of rain and snow across the southland.  YES - SNOW.  Here.  In Southern California.  Not here where I live, but we certainly drove through it yesterday on our way back home from San Francisco.  Yup - 10 hours of travel (which normally takes about 6) to get home.  Crazy, huh?!  Thankfully, we got home safely...just a little more tired and worn down from a long day's journey.

Anyway, fast forward to today - I've got a couple of fun things to share with you guys.  First, I wanted to share the brand new January issue of the Paper Crafters Sampler, which will be available on January 11th!  This month's theme focuses on Valentine's projects "With Love." Here's a sneak peek for you:

This is my first issue as a designer and I have to say, I LOVED getting to preview all the projects from the rest of the DT!  I think you guys will love it too!  If you're interested in purchasing the issue, you can head over to the Paper Crafters Sampler site, and use promocode PCSRD or mention me ;) 

The second thing I wanted to share was Stampin'Up!'s Filled With Love promotion.  It's a great little bundle to get you ready for Valentine's Day!

Here's what you get with the bundle, plus a free pack of bitty buttons, too!

You can order this bundle by clicking here.

Hope you guys have a great first week in the New Year!  Have a fantastic day.  Thanks for coming by.  Ciao for now :)