CKC Houston

I had the chance to attend CKC Houston this past weekend and what fun it was.  I took the class called "Newest and Coolest" and really scored a great product bag!

How do you not love a cache like this?  There was something from so many different companies and so many different styles.  I couldn't believe the Spectrum Noir markers included!  Washi. Tidbits. Sequins. Tickets. Tags. Buttons. Corrugated board. So much!  And we hadn't even started shopping yet!

Okay this is a little embarrassing!  I admit it, I went overboard but this year's CKC, and all those great products in one place!  Project Life got me, Heart of Texas Studios (my dear friend Pam Sivage and her husband!), Queen and Company had some fun freebies (I won't ruin it for you if you plan to attend, though you might spy them in the pic!) with purchase, and so much other deals made this years event great.  I wasn't at all disappointed!  (Which some had said that they had been getting smaller and smaller, disappointing a little more each year.)  I had a blast.  And so the next few weeks and months will be showcasing some of this fun! 

ICAD for some relaxing art fun.

I just finished a 60 day challenge to stretch my artistic wings.

This sparked a curiosity, could I really draw, could I control my hand in a way that would allow me to do lettering and calligraphy for my Project Life cards and journaling?

 

Zentangles became a good way to loosen the hand.

  I liked some more than others.  This was one of my favorites.  I did this myself, without looking at someone elses creation and the roots just became a natural extentiion after I put the think black line in there.  I had no idea what I was going to do and it created itself.

If all this interests you, follow this wonderful ICAD (Index card a day) challenge and the other websites that promote practicing art on something as simple as an index card.  It sure showed me what I had inside!

OOAK is the name of the game.....

So I got on this kick that I wanted to convert greeting cards to Project Life style cards and inserts.  Like the kind of inserts no one else would find.  

So you followed the me through to the empty box and now, wala!

A basket of cards....but do I need them?  NO!  I'm going on a cruise in 24 days so I need money and I've posted lots of them on Etsy!

Check them out!

All of these lots and more can be found in our Etsy shop!  Check it out....Goodness and Mercy !!!!

Can't stop creating....

Start with a box of old greeting cards....sift through the best sentiments and images....retro, vintage and more.  A treasure trove of Project Life style card inserts for almost any occasion and definitely worth the effort to cut and corner round, right?  We're talking FREE inserts, Smashbook embellishments and good old fashioned scrapbook extras that are stuffed in drawers, boxes and desks.  You want to keep them but years and years worth of love can add up. And who needs that kind of clutter when half of your FB groups are about Flylady and organization and decluttering (like me), right?  So....

Not even a quarter way through the box shown above and I have almost 100 cards varying from 3x4, 4x4 and 4x6.  FREE.  Did I remind you that you are using up things you already have but didn't know what to do with and things that memorialize the card itself with the event!  Or add to current events with graphics you can't find anywhere else.  This isn't a kit, there won't be tons of duplicates and well, they are yours.

Don't have a stash of cards?  You're one of those silly organized people that enjoy a card for a while then toss them in the trash (I don't understand you but I have your back just the same.)  You will find me loading several sets of All Year Long Baseline Kits in my Etsy Shop:  Goodness and Mercy!

Another really productive weekend....

My main goal this weekend at our five day retreat at Rockin' R in Temple, Texas was to get my Carnival Cruise Album done, then work on some traveling journals....moving on toward the several swaps in my Project Life Card Swaps from my Facebook groups. Ambitious? Yes, very. Done. Yes, very. Okay, okay, not every journal and swap but the cruise album is done and two of the swap cards completed along with two journals out to others and three left to go! Yes! So let's get some pictures up and share some of the creative love.

All retreats require feeties, and I managed to pack without some....but a friend got me covered, literally.

While a another friend got "Smurf'd"!

There was some Project Life organization going on as I worked. Just getting started but there are some great projects out there and making my own personalized cards with my Stampin' Up! supplies combines the best of both worlds!

Yes, the cruise album DID get done and just a sampling....I'll work on orienting the picture right....

So my first Project Life style card was made with Stampin' Up!s Take Care stamp set. Don't miss this great set. It's versatile for baby showers, sympathy cards, get well cards, thinking of you or in this case....a 3 x 4 card insert for a Heritage Family Album. What do you think?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Finally, the "lists" Project Life style card was made with a random polymer set I found in my stash. But it seems to be working.

Convention is over and the bonuses begin!

Many lucky SU demos spent the last few days at the home office and Stampin' Up!'s 25th Anniversary. As always, the posts were flying all over Facebook and Stampin' Connection keeping those of us at home up to date! Now it's our turn to spill the beans with YOU! First, let's all celebrate all the news with a recruiting bonus!

Is that not enough? Just not ready but still love Stampin' Up! Well, how about trying your hand at your own stamp carving? For the experienced stamper, take your skill to a whole new level. For the artistic, do what you do best, design and carve! For the beginner, heck, we did this in 9th grade art class, you can too! So don't be scared, we've put it all in a kit for you to get started!

Now I know you're waiting for the biggest news, our Holiday Mini starting in August!

Okay, that was a lot right? There's more....but we'll save that for later!

New Catalog is here!

Call or write today to receive your personal copy of our amazing new catalog! I know I'm biased but the customer reviews so far are outstanding! Just email me and I'll get one right over to you!

Remembering our cruise.........

It seems impossible it's already been about three months since our first ever cruise and I wish I was still laying on the beach in Cozumel... but alas, real life always creeps back in and here we are getting ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas and a child's wedding in just a few short weeks! So here's my Christmas card designed this weekend at a wonderful retreat; a few more to make but the hard part (designing it) is done.

Using Stampin'Up!'s Watercolor Winter and Christmas Deer stamp sets, clear mount I brought together the two elements to create something hopefully outside the box and in the sand. Using River Rock, Bashful Blue, and Baja Breeze ink pads, I smudged the background of a 3"x3" piece of Whisper White card stock. Stampin' Up!'s Whisper White is a wonderful card stock base for background art. It is not too heavy nor too thin so it makes a nice layering piece and takes on ink in a uniform, true to color way. Using the Watercolor Winter Pine Branch Stamp in Always Artichoke, and adding a Real Red Stamped Image of a decoration from Christmas Deer gave it a deserted beach look. Almost any 1" sentiment stamp would work. I chose one from another Christmas set (I honestly can't remember now...and used Real Red, Island Indigo and WW card stock (both for the picture and one layer mat). The underneath is a Sizzix embossing folder (shoot me, not from SU) but the ornament background fit so well with all the other SU elements, I had to go for it! Hubby liked it too!

My Digital Studio

Just curious, what do you think of my new blog banner? Like it? Hate it? Think I'm "that" creative?

I'm not you know. It's My Digital Studio by Stampin' Up! and it rocks!

But did you know that you can learn the ins and outs, tricks and trades at Getting to Know MDS without being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator?

How cool is that?

Everything available to me as a demonstrator, you too have access to on this site! Nothing mystical or magical here. Just good solid information from other MDS users and qualified, demonstrators, SU staff and certified Stampin' UP! Demos. That's a lot of a great information and you can view introductory videos or youtube "My Digital Studio" how to's to see if Digital Scrapbooking is for you!

I know what you're thinking. But I like traditional scrapbooking. I need the glitter and glue and ribbons and dazzling diamonds and pearls and rhinestones. I need to play and cut paper, sliding designer paper over and under card stock! I felt the same way.

But then, well...I saw the awesome things I could for my blog. Then I watched videos that taught me how to integrate digital work with traditional embellishments. And I saw how to make home decor items featuring special photos that speak for themselves and fit nicely into frames without the dimensional challenges that often limit a project to shadow boxes.

I worked on some other projects I'll share after Christmas, I can't spoil surprises here. But for now, just go take a peek.

If you thought digital scrapbooking and cardmaking just isn't for you; think again. The options are only limited by your imagination or your ability to google some really cool ideas. And if that's not enough....there's always Pinterest.

Todays the last day....

For Stampin' Up!s amazing Digital Download 50% off sale for MDS products! It's been a great run and we've gotten some great deals but you only have a few hours left to grab some of the best kits and stamps in digi form ever offered at such a great price!

SHOP HERE!