You need to Check out Diana's New Website!

While living in Kansas, I had the pleasure of meeting a very talented lady by the name of Diana Foster. Diana’s work had been featured in Stamper’s Sampler and I admired her great stamping talents, but never knew her other hidden talents until recently. Diana recently launched her new website featuring her cards and photography. Be sure to check out her site and spread the word to your family and friends. Click on this link the photo in the sidebar to link to her site. From one fellow crafter to another, it is always wonderful to support one another’s creative efforts and applaud each other’s accomplishments. Kudos, Diana! And much success with your new online store. 

The Final Countdown!

Hello, Stamping/Scrapbooking Friends,

I type this post with news that is bittersweet. After almost 8 years of demonstrating for Stampin' Up!®, I am hosting my final workshop on Sept. 18, 2009. Recently, SU has revised their independent demonstrator agreement in ways that make it impossible for me to continue as a demonstrator for the company. I would no longer be able to be on design teams, design for the crafting industry or even mention any other craft products on my blog that could be perceived as promoting or marketing those products. Nor can I inlcude links to any friends blogs who sell or promote "the competition" (which includes the whole crafting industry) on their blogs. I simply find this new policy too restricting both professionally and personally, and although I still love their products, I am not willing to shut the door on other areas of creativity that I enjoy. 

So what does this mean for you? I will be hosting one last workshop on Friday, Sept. 18th, as previously mentioned and can take orders up until Sept. 30th when I will officially end my demonstratorship. I will continue to promote creativity and host events and classes, only they will also include the use of products other than Stampin' Up. I still believe strongly in their products and will switch gears to now being a customer, but I will continue to share with you the many wonderful products and manufacturers that exist in the crafting industry.

So how can you continue to be inspired and get Stampin' Up products? As many of you know, Ree Nathan has signed up as a Stampin' Up demonstrator and her wonderful talents and enthusiasm have flourished after her retirement from teaching. Ree will be your new SU demonstrator, and this will be a great thing for all. Due to my time restrictions, I wasn't able to give my SU business the full attention it deserved, however, Ree is so motivated and dedicated to sharing lots of great ideas with you. And I will be supporting her as both a mentor as well as becoming one of her customers. Bittersweet, indeed.

Please let me know if you will make it to the Final Workshop on the 18th from 6:30 - 10 pm. Also, I will be doing a Large rummage sale with a group of other crafting enthusiasts at the Indian Harbor Beach Recreation center at 1233 Yacht Club Blvd., Indian Harbor Beach, FL 32937 (located in Gleason Park) on Sturday, Sept. 12 from 9 am to noon. Spread the word to all your crafting friends. There should be some awesome deals. All of my retired merchandise will be marked at highly discounted prices

The Birthday Blog Candy Winner is...

FVA!!! Congratulations, FVA, you mystery blog visitor! 

Thanks to all who posted comments, became followers and commented on the blog candy or birthday baby picture posts.  Your comments brought huge grins to my face and added to an already wonderful birthday. So glad to be able to be able to do some gift giving right back. FVA, be sure to send an email to cheri@cheriwengerdesign.com with your mailing information so I can send you your prizes. Keep spreading the word and checking back for new techniques, project inspirations and contests!

Win Birthday “Blog Candy”

Get ready to win some fun scrap and stamp goodies  in my first ever "Blog Candy" giveaway!!! In honor of my birthday, I want to give my blog followers a gift, too!

Here is what you need to do to win:

Post a comment under this blog candy post to be entered in the drawing and tell me how you are telling your friends about my blog. Don't forget to sign up as a follower to my blog and check out my project galleries! (All in the right hand column).

If you have a blog, post a link on your blog to this post & share the news about the giveaway!

What do you win? The Darling Dots set from Stampin’ Up!® Ribbon Adhesive and Adhesive Squares from Glue Arts (you're going to love these!), Flower Chipboard from Around the Block (so adorable!), a 3 pk. of Gelly Roll Pens (in my favorite summer colors of purple, fuschia and aqua) from Sakura and an assortment of my favorite colored ribbons (all from Stampin’ Up!)

I will do the drawing on Friday at 6 pm EST so that gives you a chance to spread the word. Be sure to post by 5 pm so you don't miss out. You will need to check back on Friday to see if you are the winner so I can get your information to ship the products to you. Good Luck and have a happy, happy day...like me!

45 Years Ago...

... a dark haired baby was born. Yes, I had lots and lots of hair and chubby cheeks ready for pinching. As you can see in this baby picture, I was a dreamer from the get go...always wondering what great things awaited in the distance. To this day, I still have that same hopefulness and continue to chase my dreams, living my life creatively and feeling blessed by the experiences God has provided me with so far.

In honor of my birthday, I will be posting my first blog candy later today. So check back for more details and to see what goodies you can win. 

Hope you have a HAPPY day, too! Mine will be spent creating and cheering on my lil' Wildcat volley girls at their first game of the season.

An 80th Birthday Celebration

Last weekend we were invited to celebrate the 80th birthday of a friend of mine. I pulled out one of my old SeeD’s sets that is a favorite for momentous birthdays. I used a natural/black color combination to create a matching card, envelope, gift tag and gift wrapping. Here are some pictures of those for inspiration.  The card is an uneven gatefold with a tag attached with a mini brad that helps hold it closed. Tip: to keep the ribbon in position, I used a small piece of Glue Arts’ Ribbon Adhesive along front left panel to hold ribbon in position, and simply tied the bow to the right of tag. This makes for easy opening and retying.

For the envelope I used the Happy Birthday stamp from Stampin’ Up’s retired It’s Your Birthday set. The inside verse is from the same set, and one of my favorites!

Here is just the gift wrap where I stamped on the wrapped package, added ribbon, tag and scalloped seals on sides. For the seals I used a circle and scalloped circle punch from SU. 

Note:I used the tag punch for the inner tag and matted in tan to create tag. I used a wired pale gold ribbon along with a thinner black satin ribbon. To give the card, tag and seals a more vintage look, I used a stamping sponge to distress. 

Nate certainly doesn’t look his age and I feel sure that he will show us all how to live well beyond 100! 

The celebration was at his son and daughter-in-law’s house with a spectacular canal view. We enjoyed watching the manatees in the Indian River along with other poolside fun...a very Happy 80th Birthday, indeed.

A PEEK INSIDE THE CHA SUMMER SHOW ’09

Well, I have been back from the CHA Craft & Hobby Association tradeshow & CHA Consumer SuperShow for a little over a week, and I am finally getting together a slideshow to show you some of the goodies that grabbed my attention. All of the manufacturers that I spoke with were so nice and I have to say how impressed I was with the quality of design work that was represented. The papers are some of the best selections I have seen in years! Kudos to all the awesome designers that made that happen. From cute snowmen and bright colors for Christmas to fun halloween designs that will make you howl and some of the most beautiful petal and pearl embellishments a girl could want, the summer show was full of eye candy! You will see a mix of products, project samples (some blurry, sorry, but at times I was cruising faster than my shutter speed and pulling my case and juggling my camera). But hopefully, these will give you an idea of some of the wonderful products that will be available this fall at your favorite online or local retailer. I put the photos in alphabetical order by manufacturer. If you want to view individual photos, go to my Picasa gallery.

Catch the LOVE bug!

Sunday will be mine & Dan’s 23rd anniversary. I can't figure out how this can possibly be, since I only feel like I am 23! I guess that my harsh reminder of my age. Here is a card I did a while ago using some papers from Around the block & adhesives from Glue Arts. The micro adhesive squares come in real handy for those tiny rhinestones! I used paper piercing for the floral stems...a quick and easy idea to use in combination with your diecuts. Just remember to do this prior to mounting the layer on your card and don't forget to use a matt underneath so you don't damage your furniture!

The anniversary verse is from Stampin’ Up!’s Hugs & Wishes set....such a great verses set that Ifind myself using all the time. I selectively inked the word Anniversary using a brown marker. It also use the scallop border punch from SU, too.

Hope you catch the love bug and stamp a fun card for someone you love today! I plan to do some stamping today, so hopefully I will have some new projects to post. Hopefully, I will get the girls to take a photo of Dan and I this weekend to post, too!

Days Like This!

Yesterday gave reason to why we love living in Florida. It was a hot summer day that was perfection by my beach standards. The breeze was blowing off the ocean, the water was refreshing, but not too chilly, and the waves made it fun to play and pretend that we were 15 again! Dan played volleyball with the kids and their friends while I soaked up the words in a fresh issue of O magazine along with some rays. I promised to never takes days like this for granted ever!

Now, we were refreshed and energized for the first day of school today...well, almost everyone....

Bella is a bit sad to see the girls leave and go back to the school routine again. For my youngest, it marks the first day of high school. Oh my, it just can't be true when I remember those days just like they were yesterday. And did I mention that Ashley, our junior, was driving her sister and friend Courtney to school? There they go!  

Our new routine will be full of volleyball practices and games for the next few months. I am already counting the minutes until they get home ’cause no matter how old they are, I still can't wait to hear all about their first day of school!

A Touch of Vintage

I promised to share with you some variations on my Flip, Flap Purse mini album. I just love these great papers from K&Company. I combined them with a brown embossed cardstock from American crafts to give a vintage look to this fun scrapbooking concept. I added a touch of beaded ribbon to the top flap for an added shimmer of gold. The center “button” embellishment was created from punched paper and a gold rhinestone brad from Stampin’ Up!®

Have fun making variations of these using square and pointed flap envelopes. Glue Arts website will soon feature a video and instructions for creating the flip flap purse. You can add your own creativity to make a wall full of fun, decorative mini albums.

These also make wonderful gifts.

Experimenting with the New “In Colors”

In this Floral Streak card, I used my Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry reinkers in some shaving cream to create the background that shows through the 5 petal flower punch image. I am just loving having the markers to match and used them to create the 2-tone look on the verse, which I repeat stamped 3 times. The stamp set is Fresh Cuts. The colors are more vibrant in person.

In this second card, I showed how you can create your own patterned background by layering your stamps and inks. The Circle Circus set was used with Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry and Sahara Sand to create an elegant Sympathy card. Add a clip, eyelet border, some taffeta ribbon and a verse (from a previous hostess set, Warmest Regards) to finish the card off.

Have fun mixing and matching the new Stampin’ Up!® In Colors to see what great combinations you can create! 

Join me at CHA!

The countdown has begun and I am preparing the class kits for the Flip, Flap Purse class that I will be teaching this Saturday, Aug. 1 from 9-11 am at the CHA Craft SuperShow being held at the Orlando Convention Center. 

You have seen some other peeks at this fun purse, but I would love to see some friendly faces in the class room. Go to the show link for more information on admission and class sign up fees.

Also, on Friday, I will be working at the Glue Arts booth so be sure and stop by to say hi and do a fun make-n-take project.

I  promise to give you a report on all the great new products unveiled at the Craft and Hobby Association summer trade show. Soon, I will also be posting some fun variations of the flip flap purse project soon.