How "Sweet" is This!

Who doesn’t like an occasional bouquet of flowers? It’s that thoughtful gift that makes someone feel extra special. This project adds a little extra sweetness to the idea...a truly edible bouquet.

Supplies: an old can, chipboard alphabet container or other cylinder pkg.; a sheet of patterned paper; floral brads; See-D’s Starter Package (stamped flowers); 4 ink pads (to coordinate with paper and CS); 3 solid colored sheets of cardstock; Sizzix Bigz™ Build-A-Flower die; Sizzix Big Kick;Glue Arts™ High-Tack Micro Adhesive Squares; Stampin’ Dimensionals™ (double sided foam adhesive); scissors; crinkle confetti; coordinating ribbon and pixie sticks.

Use the sizzix diecutter to cut the outer shapes, stamp the floral shapes on patterned paper and build these flowers using a dimensional adhesive to raise up the center circles with brad centers. Sandwich the pixie stick between the flowers using high-tack micro adhesive squares from Glue Arts.

Stamp and decorate the container, add flowers and crinkle paper filler to complete. This makes a cheery get well wish or surprise birthday bouquet. 

Against All Odds

I am blessed to live in the Space Coast area of Florida, where the beaches and dunes are preserved for Turtle Nesting. This little hatchling was battling both the waves and the odds to survive his return to the sea. He was turned around and getting pounded by waves near the shore, when he encountered some little rescuers who scooted him out further beyond the crashing waves. If you have ever watched a mother turtle nesting, it is an amazing experience, and one I will never forget. Out of hundreds of eggs, only a couple of hatchlings actually survive to adulthood. Many don’t make it past the first few days of life. There are some days that I can relate to the hatchling where the odds seemed so stacked against me and the obstacles seem too large to overcome. Ever had a day like that?

Within the first few months of living in Florida, we experienced four hurricanes, ironically, the first one starting on Friday the 13th, August 2004. Was that a message? Many friends asked if we regretted our move here, but we pointed to the many upsides of living where we do...and we still love it here. Recently, we were impacted by Tropical Storm Fay. Entering from the west coast, who would have thought she would have left such an impact on our tiny east coast town...flooding, tornado warnings and almost 30" of rain — half of our yearly amount in just 3 days, and miraculously we remained dry and with power! (We're hoping it stays that way!) Who would have expected Fay to cancel 4 of the first 5 days of school; she was merely a Tropical Storm who parked herself over Melbourne, FL. So if you never knew where I lived before, I am sure from the news, you have now at least heard of Melbourne.

Although our hurricane season doesn’t end until November, nothing compares to watching a turtle nesting, seeing the shuttle launch on the Fourth of July, taking a walk on the beach whenever time allows, not being confined all winter long, spontaneous shell hunting and feeling even closer to God while watching another beautiful sunrise. So the next time you feel like that little hatchling, embrace all the good that surrounds you, and you too, will survive the worst.

Get ready for Back to School in style!

Send your favorite student back to school in style. This "Hip Clipboard" project is a great way to organize papers, fill out forms and look stylish while working on homework. I used the See-D’s Echat mini and Funky Flowers stamp set from Inque Boutique. The ribbons are all from Walmart...the really thin ones. Takes a little bit of patience to tie these onto the clip, but it really adds color and texture! The colors and stamps can be changed out to appeal to boys, too. Think robots or spaceships! I found this clipboard at Walmart during last year's back to school season, ready to decorate.

Never A Better Time to Sign Up!

There are many new and exciting things happening at Stampin’ Up! Whether you are an avid scrapbooker or stamper and would simply like to receive discounts on your supplies or maybe now that the kids are returning to school, you are looking to earn extra income, there has never been a more affordable way to sign up to be Stampin’ Up demonstrator. For only $99, you can choose from 3 focused starter kits: stamping, scrapbooking or home decor. Or if you want the larger, standard starter kit for $199, you get to chose an additional free stamp set from the brand new catlog valued up to $41.95! Wow! With lots of fun, new products to offer, including a new spanish catalog, there has never been a better time to sign up. And it is so easy. You can do it online from my demonstrator website. Click on this link!

Be sure to check out my special promotions going on now through September 30th!

Not So Clear Skies Ahead!

In light of the fact that a Tropical Storm (soon to be "Hurricane Fay") is looming in the Keys and is on its way here, I thought that it would be appropriate to post this card called Butterfly Skies. It features one of the recently discontinued Stampin' Up In Colors, Soft Sky, with Basic Black ink on Whisper White Cardstock. This spotlighting technique was done by stamping the entire background with bold silhouette flowers and butterflies. Next I used a square punch to remove a section of the background and matted the square in a rounded off black frame before layering on card front. To create the faux wide ribbon effect, glue a strip of b&w gingham ribbon around a strip of black cardstock . Tie white taffeta ribbon around strip, mount "thinking of you" verse on top of layers and adhere to card front. Mount all layers to soft sky card stock to finish.  This was created with one of my favorite new stamp sets, the Essence of Love set from Stampin' Up!

Here's to seeing clear skies again in Florida and for everyone to safely weather this oncoming storm. What a way to start off the new school year.

Anniversary 22 - Love You, Always!

Today is our 22nd Anniversary, and we got married right before I turned 22! Who would have thought then that those next 22 yrs. would be filled with so many memories. 

If someone were to ask me what it takes to keep a marriage together, I would have to say it is a recipe of supporting each other's passions, love and respect, meeting somewhere in the middle on those things that you don't agree on, doing random acts of kindness for one another and making each other laugh.

This is the card I made for my sweetie, Dan, for our anniversary. I tried one cool idea with my trimmer, using the scoring blade to fold the pink accent card stock as well as to make the patterned lines. I was able to tuck my flourish inside the small pocket that I created. The beaded heart was done with chipboard, tombow adhesive and pink & white seed beads from Stampin' Up! I also used the four flower border from A Beautiful Thing set along with dbl-sided Berry Bliss designer paper in the background. The Always clip is from Making Memories. 

Finding Daily Doses of Inspiration - news stand alert!

Finding creative inspiration doesn't mean having to change your daily routine. In my new article published in the October issue of Scrap & Stamp Arts magazine, I will reveal where you can find inspiration in your daily life. It is all around you, if you take time to look for it! The monochromatic color scheme of this “Dream of Being 13” layout features my favorite color, lavender, a super cool outline marker from Pentel Arts, stamps from Inque Boutique, velvety flowers from Bazzill and rhinestone brads from Stampin’ Up. It is a sneak peek of one of the project samples featured in the article entitled, A Daily Dose of Inspiration.

How to Create a Frosted Flower

I stamped the background of the inside fold with floral scatters from the Sprinkles set from Stampin’ Up. In my opinion, pretty in pink and chocolate chip look so yummy together. I used markers to colorize the inside verse that is from the One of A Kind set. 

I stamped all the flower layers (from the One of a Kind set) in chocolate chip and used a circle punch for the center. 

For dimension, I raised the  layers with Dimensionals. To create the frosted flower, I used Crystal Effects on top of the stamped pink cardstock with Dazzling Diamonds glitter on top. Such a simple way to create some shimmer and interest to a card. Before attaching the overhang panel to the card, I punched a hole and ran taffeta ribbon. Wrap ribbon around back and tie a bow in front to secure the card closed.

“Tray” Elegance

This summer I have definitely stepped out of my scrap & stamp comfort zone into uncharted territories trying new projects and techniques that I have never tried before and even coming up with a few new ones of my own...which I will share in some upcoming posts.

If you are looking for a gift idea for the holidays, now is a great time to get started on some projects. This is a b&w wooden tray that I made for my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day. I primed, painted and sanded it. Then I embossed stamps from Inque Boutique’s Arabesque stamp set, designed by my friend Susan Stringfellow. The corner elements and medallion where just perfect for this project. I handcut the elements out and arranged them on the tray and used Modge Podge to adhere them. I used a couple coats of varnish on top to seal it.  I tied some ribbons to the handles for a finishing touch. For additional photos, you can check out my Inque gallery. If I can do this, so can you!

I’m Wild About Paper Bag Albums

If you haven't ever made a paper bag album before, then you are not alone. This was the first one I ever did, and boy are they fun! This is a mega make-n-take that was done with my Stampin’ Up stamper's club group. It was a fun way to say goodbye to a retiring wheel, In Color and the Bali designer papers and some other favorite ink pads. I used Stampin’ Up’s One of a Kind and Wild About You sets as well as some assorted punches. By using the stamp omission technique, you can make this album totally customizable to whatever you are Wild About. Whether it is a person, event or your favorite foods, this cute and colorful mini album has 10 inside pages, some flaps and pockets for you to store memorabilia, pictures, journaling and more. You can view a slideshow of this album below. To view at a larger size, click on the slideshow to go directly to Picasa. Or visit my Stampin’ Up gallery or website for pictures and information about the supplies used.

Totally Tubular Day!

Living in Florida has its many perks...like visits from family and friends throughout the summer, along with fun days at the beach. 

Yesterday, the Jones family came to visit and we went to Indialantic beach. Although we only had a few hours of fun in the sun, the girls had a blast horsing around on these inner tubes in the ocean.The grown ups did, too, but we made sure no one took pictures of that! Since it was low tide, the waves were crashing close to the shoreline and were pretty brutal. The cousins drank mouthfuls of sea water, got pummeled by the waves, yet we all had a totally tubular day!

Embracing Life...the good and the bad

It is important to embrace life...all the highs, lows and curves in the road. If I could have one card that has been my anthem for this year, it would be this Embrace Life card I designed for a Stampin’ Up Stamp-A-Stack workshop. The clean lines of this oriental inspired stamp set help me find peacefulness. I love the hibiscus flower because it reminds me of my Florida surroundings and the ginger blossom papers used on the flower and patterned card element have colors that make me happy...something we all like to feel.

This year has been a challenging one filled with lots of illness among family and friends, a declining economy and other changes. It has been a year of soul searching, renewed spirituality and a time for me to “embrace life” and appreciate the simple gifts each day brings. 

This card uses the Embrace Life stamp set and some soon-to-be-retired In Color papers, inks and ribbon from the Stampin’ Up Spring/Summer ’08 catalog. If you are a fan of Stampin' Up products, check out my new Stampin' Up demonstrator’s website by clicking on the link under my websites or clicking on this link. The new Fall/Winter Catalog will be coming out in August so these products will only be available for a few more weeks.