This card was for last week's SCS Sketch Challenge#186. I used a color combo from the new 2008/2009 Stampin' Up! In color combos. You can check it out on the right hand side of my blog under Stampin' Up! links.

Recipe:
Stamps: Doodle This(or is it Doodle That?), Sincere Salutations
Ink: Basic Black, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Baja Breeze, Bella Rose Designer Paper, Pirouette Pink, Chocolate Chip
Other: Pretty in Pink Brads, Scallop Edge Punch, chocolate chip ribbon

Cupcake Box Bag

Isn't this the cutest thing? This is a box bag. You can find the tutorial for it here. I have seen these around on other blogs and finally got to try it myself. These are so much fun. I wanted to make mine with a cupcake theme. The designer paper is from Heidi Grace. The trim and base is chocolate chip cardstock. The cupcakes are from the stamp set, Holiday Blitz. I just got this stamp set. I am really loving this cupcake! This would make great gift packaging for a special little treat. I'm thinking of coming up with a whole cupcake ensemble for a class. What do you think?

This is the registration day for convention. By now I have received the new Stampin' Up! Fall/Winter catalog. I'm sure I'm drooling heavily over it. I'll be sure to post some hightlights at the end of the week. I'll be back tomorrow with another card.

Poetic Artistry Sketch

I based this card off a sketch on the Poetic Artistry blog.
I loved the sketch and used some of the new In Colors. I got this color combo from the new Stampin' Up! In Color combo. You can click on it on the right hand side of my blog under Stampin' Up! links.

Recipe:
Stamps: A Beautiful Thing
Ink: Pacific Point, Tango Tangerine, Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip
Paper: So Saffron, Whisper White textured cardstock, Chocolate Chip, Pacific Point, Tango Tangerine
Other: Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain ribbon, oval punches, corner rounder, stampin' dimensionals

I am flying out to SLC today for the Stampin' Up! convention. Whoohoo! I don't want you to miss me too much while I'm gone so I have scheduled a post each day with new projects for you to see. I will have more to share when I get back on Sunday. Have a great week!

Quick Fresh Cuts card

This was a quick and cute 3 x 3 card I did at my up-up-upline's house, Karen Titus. I think it gives the Fresh Cuts stamp set a whole new look when done in these fun bright colors.

Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Ink: Old Olive, More Mustard, Ruby Red
Paper: Whisper White
Other: Earth Elements buttons

New Catalog Open House!!!

Join me on Sunday, August 10 or Monday, August 11 for my New Catalogue Open House. I will be giving away the new catalogue for FREE to anyone who has purchased $25 from me in the last 6 months and who RSVP’s by Friday, August 8!(regularly sells for $9.95). For those who haven’t purchased $25 in the last 6 months I will be selling catalogs for $5 with a $5 gift certificate towards a purchase in the Fall/Winter catalog. These are my special open house prices. I will also be selling my retired stamp sets and accessories, hand-stamped cards, and other goodies. You can get a look at some new stamps, papers, and accessories. I will have a make-n-take or two as well. I will be displaying the goodies I made at convention too! Fun stuff!!! You can order from this new catalogue starting August 11.

Date and Time: Sunday, August 10 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Or
Monday, August 11 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Stop in anytime between the stated times above.

Please RSVP to Kathleen at 952-226-2190 or krhopperstad@juno.com to let me know if you are coming.

Great Swaps Girls challenge card

There was a challenge on the GreatSwapsGirls website to CASE(copy and share everything) card from the featured stamper, arinstamps. I opened her gallery and was immediately drawn to the first card in her gallery here.

The rules are that you are supposed to change a few things about the card. I used a different stamp set, colors and paper. I don't think you can see very well but I stitched around the kiwi background paper. I actually got out my real sewing machine for this one! It was kind of fun. Stamping the Celebrate at top was kind of a leap of faith. I was almost done with the card so if it stamped crooked I would have had to redo a big chunk of it. Fortunately, for me it stamped straight. It's really not hard to line up that Celebrate. That's one of the things I love about this greeting set. The "your day" smeared when I stamped it directly on the designer paper. I decided to fix it by stamping and then punching out with the word window punch. I cut off one edge and adhered a ruby red brad. I like the way this turned out better so it was a happy accident!

Recipe:
Stamps: Stemming From, Celebrate Everything
Ink: Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Bella Rose designer paper, Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White
Other: Oval punches, chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, stampin' dimensionals, uniball white gel pen, 1/2" circle punch, ruby red brad, word window punch

Challenge Card

I combined two challenges for this card. One was the Dare to Get Dirty Challenge from Julia on SCS. Her challenge was to use stitching on a card. The other was a sketch challenge from Tamara's blog. It was a circle card.

I cut the circle out with my Coluzzle circle cutter. I folded the cardstock in half and then cut it on the fold. I added a strip of Bella Rose designer paper and the layered flower.

Recipe:
Stamps: Short and Sweet
Ink: Craft White
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Bella Rose designer paper
Other: Winter White embossing powder, 5-petal flower punch, circle scallop punch, 1/2" circle punch

Sam's page

This is the final interview page I completed at my Scrapbooking weekend. This is for my youngest, Sam. His pictures reflect his personality. He likes to be the center of attention and do silly things. I used a transparency over the page. The overlay had the black circle with the words, "Look at me". Certainly appropriate for my Sam. The base of the page is Old Olive. Sam's favorite color is green. Sam's name and age were done with whatever die cut system the retreat place had on hand. The toughest part was getting the photos to fit right and look good inside the circle. I attached the overlay with basic black brads in the corners.

I'm still plugging away at convention swaps. I have been doing a little shopping for some new things to wear at convention. It's always fun to have new things to wear when you're enjoying a fun stamping vacation with the girls!

Nick at 9

This was another page I completed at my scrapbooking weekend. I don't know what that strange beam of light on his head is. lol. It must be the flash on my camera. It's not there on the actual page I promise! The letters are from whatever diecut system the retreat had on hand. I picked up the designer paper at Hobby Lobby on the way to the retreat. Part of the fun of getting away is shopping along the way, right? The cardstock base Chocolate Chip with Kraft cardstock behind the dp. I spiral punched one edge of the kraft cardstock and the journaling block. I put chocolate chip satin ribbon along the bottom edge of the dp too.

I'm caught up with last year's interview pages of my children. Now I can start on their current ages.

I leave for Stampin' Up!'s convention on Tuesday. Can you believe it? It's coming so fast! It's the 20 year anniversary for Stampin' Up! so it ought to be extra special. I'm rooming with two of my downline, Kelly and Nancy. I'm finishing up swaps. Packing happens the night before or even the day of. I just can't seem to pack any earlier than that.

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a good one!

Scrapbook Weekend

I got to go away for a free scrapbook weekend this past weekend. My friend, Kristina, won a weekend for four at this new place in the little town of Granada, MN. The place was a converted church and it was beautiful. It was spacious and had all of the amenities you could hope for. I didn't get near the amount of things done that I wanted to but do we ever?

This is one of the pages I completed this weekend. I have a boatload of prima flowers that I left at home. I had to get creative with what was at hand. I created the layered flowers using a combination of punches, diecuts, bling and brads. I was pleased with how they turned out. The second picture is a close up of the layered flowers. The green piece is a cardstock overlay by Creative Imaginations. The lettering is from whatever diecut system the scrapbook retreat had on hand. The ribbon is this yummy grosgrain ribbon from a set called Sassy tubular ribbon from the Coconut Scrapbook shop. The journaling piece has the edge punched with the new Stampin' Up! scallop edge punch.

Retiring Accessories List

The retiring accessory list just came out from Stampin' Up! today. Items on the list are while supplies last and they go fast! If there are some things you want on this list contact me or your local demonstrator ASAP. There are a select number of these items that are 25 percent off while supplies last. They are the ones with the * after the product description.




Item# Product Description
109200 Accents & Elements Build A Flower

110718 Accents & Elements Lucky Star

110719 Accents & Elements Messenger
103158 Acrylic Graph & Grid

108638 Card Stock 12 X 12 In Color

108642 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Blue Bayou

108643 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Groovy Guava
108637 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 In Color
108640 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 River Rock
108639 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Soft Sky
108641 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Wild Wasabi
108644 Card Stock 8-1/2 X 11 Purely Pomegranate
103975 Card Stock Brushed Copper
108694 Card Stock Textured 12 X 12 In Color
107312 Cards & Envelopes Gift Whisper White
107292 Cards & Envelopes Greeting Whisper White
109116 Notes & Envelopes Long Notes
109118 Notes & Envelopes Love Notes
109117 Notes & Envelopes Pocket Notes*
110729 Notes & Envelopes Scallop Notes
109119 Notes & Envelopes Gift Notes
109018 Classic Stampin' Ink Blue Bayou
109019 Classic Stampin' Ink Groovy Guava
109017 Classic Stampin' Ink Purely Pomegranate
109016 Classic Stampin' Ink River Rock
109015 Classic Stampin' Ink Soft Sky
109020 Classic Stampin' Ink Wild Wasabi
109013 Classic Stampin' Pad Blue Bayou
109012 Classic Stampin' Pad Groovy Guava
109011 Classic Stampin' Pad Purely Pomegranate
109010 Classic Stampin' Pad River Rock
109009 Classic Stampin' Pad Soft Sky
109014 Classic Stampin' Pad Wild Wasabi
110751 Designer Series Paper Azure*
110749 Designer Series Paper Berry Bliss
109154 Designer Series Paper Cutie Pie
110699 Designer Series Paper East Coast Prep*
109160 Designer Series Paper Fall Flowers
109159 Designer Series Paper Flowers For You*
110697 Designer Series Paper Ginger Blossom
110479 Designer Series Paper Jersey Shore*
109151 Designer Series Paper Le Jardin
110748 Designer Series Paper Notebook*
110750 Designer Series Paper Olive Press
109153 Designer Series Paper Porcelain Prints*
109175 Designer Series Paper Prints Almost Amethyst*
109177 Designer Series Paper Prints Always Artichoke
110696 Designer Series Paper Prints Bali Breeze
109173 Designer Series Paper Prints Blue Bayou
109174 Designer Series Paper Prints Brilliant Blue
109178 Designer Series Paper Prints Certainly Celery
109169 Designer Series Paper Prints Close to Cocoa*
109168 Designer Series Paper Prints Groovy Guava*
109171 Designer Series Paper Prints Lovely Lilac
109172 Designer Series Paper Prints More Mustard
109176 Designer Series Paper Prints Old Olive
109170 Designer Series Paper Prints Pumpkin Pie
109164 Designer Series Paper Prints River Rock*
109167 Designer Series Paper Prints Rose Red
109166 Designer Series Paper Prints So Saffron
109165 Designer Series Paper Prints Soft Sky
109163 Designer Series Paper Prints Tempting Turquoise
110698 Designer Series Paper Prints Spring Break
110273 Designer Series Paper Prints Spring Fling*
110271 Designer Series Paper Prints Spring Silhouettes
110272 Designer Series Paper Prints Western Sky
107299 Envelope Confetti Cream Medium
105320 Eyelets Basic
100375 Eyelets Bold Brights
100381 Eyelets Earth Elements
107233 Eyelets Fresh Favorites I
107234 Eyelets Fresh Favorites II
105316 Eyelets Rich Regals
100378 Eyelets Soft Subtles
105515 Hodgepodge Hardware Pewter
105531 Hodgepodge Hardware Antique Brass
105532 Hodgepodge Hardware Aged Copper
101120 Metallic Art Pencils
107307 On Board Accents
109181 On Board Blossoms & Basic
109179 On Board Ginormous Pieces
107306 On Board Simon Lower
102678 Paper Mulberry White
109227 Punch Box Three For You
102686 Punch Handheld Rectangle
100271 Pure Color Pencils
109060 Ribbon Double-Stitched Blue Bayou Not Available
109063 Ribbon Double-Stitched Groovy Guava
109061 Ribbon Double-Stitched Purely Pomegranate Not Available
109062 Ribbon Double-Stitched River Rock*
109059 Ribbon Double-Stitched Soft Sky
109058 Ribbon Double-Stitched Wild Wasabi
109189 Ribbon Originals Beachfront*
109187 Ribbon Originals District*
109188 Ribbon Originals Fairy Tale
109185 Ribbon Originals Jersey*
109184 Ribbon Originals Sherbert
109186 Ribbon Originals Theater
110716 Ribbon Striped Grosgrain Wild Wasabi*
110281 Rub-Ons Cherished Memories*
110284 Rub-Ons Eastern Elegance*
110285 Rub-Ons Urban West*
110557 Simply Scrappin' Boho Blend
109610 Simply Scrappin' Confetti
110572 Simply Scrappin' Crew Kids Boy
110567 Simply Scrappin' Crew Kids Girl
109597 Simply Scrappin' Home Again
110562 Simply Scrappin' Rose Cottage
109648 Simply Scrappin' Special Delivery Boy
109627 Simply Scrappin' Special Delivery Girl
110587 Simply Scrappin' Summer Days
110577 Simply Scrappin' Tie The Knot
111184 Simply Sent Friendly Notes
109228 Simply Sent Simple Delights
109229 Simply Sent Three Thoughts
106662 Stampin'Around Wheel Daisy Field
107561 Stampin'Around Wheel Garden Annuals
109681 Stampin'Around Wheel Good Dog
109678 Stampin'Around Wheel Kisses
107482 Stampin'Around Wheel Lily Pad
109680 Stampin'Around Wheel Meow
109677 Stampin'Around Wheel Mistletoe
106610 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Basics Outline
107467 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Birthday
109571 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Dilly Dally Baby
109570 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Dilly Dally Friends
109569 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Dilly Dally Party
108423 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Leaves A La Carte
107468 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Nature Hike
108980 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Petals
107464 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Rough Texture
111261 Jumbo Stampin' Around Wheel Spunky Spots
109554 Stampin' Color Index Labels
109553 Stampin' Color Index Labels (French)
106694 Stampin' Kids Markers
101399 Stipple Brushes
102673 Zig Painty

*Items are 25% off and part of our discounted retiring accessories promotion.

10 minute card

This was a card we made at my 10/10 card class last week. The idea behind the class is to make 10 different cards that take about 10 minutes or so each. Simpler cards but still cute! Well, I precut all of the paper so it makes it easier for my customers to make them in 10 minutes - lol! I saw the idea for the flower on SCS. You punch out the circle scallop punch, then cut slits in it and fluff it a little bit to look like petals. The middle of the flower is stamped with the polka dot circle from Polka Dots and Petals. This set makes great backgrounds and middles of flowers and sadly, it is retiring from the spring/summer catalog. You only have a couple of weeks to order it so hurry!

Recipe:
Stamps: Polka dots and Petals, Sincere Saluations
Ink: Taken with Teal craft ink
Paper: Old Olive, Apricot Appeal, Bali Breeze designer paper, pumpkin pie
Other: Circle scallop punch, 3/4" circle punch, irridescent ice embossing powder

Wow card swap

Another card swap I joined for convention is a Wow card swap organized by my friend, Chris Fuhs. I love how she says you can sign up for it, show up to swap, and you can do as many or as few as you want. These were the best cards I received at convention last year. This is one of the cards I'm going to make for this year's wow card swap. Hopefully, it's wow enough.

Stamps: Stemming From, Hugs and Wishes
Ink: Robin Hood Red, Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Taken with Teal
Paper: Bella Rose designer paper, Robin Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Other: Photo corner punch, scallop edge punch, boho blossom punch, silver brad, stampin' dimensionals, dazzling diamonds glitter

What was I thinking?!

This card is for the SCS dinner card swap at convention. I made one card and was pleased with it. Then I started in on making 46 of them for the swap and realized just how putzy this card is. This will be my 5th convention and I have done many, many swaps over the years. You would think I would learn but apparently I haven't. Good thing I had the time while the family was camping last weekend. I finished them all and even typed out the recipes for them and put them each in a clear envelope so these are good to go!

Recipe:
Stamps: Big Bold Birthday, Polka dot background
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Taken with Teal, Basic Black, Tango Tangerine
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Taken with Teal, Basic Black, Whisper White, Tango Tangerine
Other: Boho blossom punch, 1/4" circle punch, silver brads, key tag punch, black gingham ribbon

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back tomorrow with more.

Teen/Male convention swap

It always seems like the hardest cards to make are the ones for men and teen boys. I joined a swap at convention specifically for these types of cards. This is my swap for it. I'm excited to see what I will get back! The star spins. I found this idea on Dawn's blog. Such a fun twist!

Recipe:
Stamps: Wanted, Celebrate Everything
Ink: Baha Breeze, Robin Hood Red, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Kraft, Baha Breeze, Whisper White, chocolate chip
Other: Small and large star punch, stampin' dimensionals

I find myself using this greeting set, Celebrate Everything, on all of my cards lately. I love the big clear font on the celebrate and then the smaller words you can use with it. Check in tomorrow for more convention swaps!

Convention swaps

I have been really busy lately working on convention swaps. It's now less than two weeks away so it's crunch time - yikes! I'm actually in pretty good shape with my swaps. This card is for a swap I joined for baby/child. I was inspired by this card by Valerie. I made it in to an invitation size card, changed the colors, and added the cupcake on the bug instead of the party hat.

Recipe:
Stamps: Bugs and Kisses, Celebrate Everything
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Robin Hood Red, Pacific Blue, Tango Tangerine, Basic Black
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Basic Black, Pacific Blue
Other: spiral punch, stampin' dimensionals, Real red striped grosgrain ribbon

I am off to a scrapbook weekend with some friends. My friend, Kristina, won a free weekend for 4! You can't beat a free scrapbooking weekend! I'll probably work on some convention swaps but plan on scrapbooking too.

I will be posting more convention swaps over the weekend. I love it when I can set up my posts to post when I'm not here. teehee!

Mother's day page

This was the page I made for the 12 x 12 page swap at the MN SCS Summer Stamp Fest this past weekend. I stamped the background with the Fabulous Flowers stamp set. The flower on the side of the photo mat is stamped 3 times, cut out in layers and then crystal effects on it. I used the new Tango Tangerine and Kiwi Kiss teamed with Taken with Teal. Taken with Teal goes great with the new In colors! I also used the new scallop edge punch under the photo mat. I don't usually make pages with just one photo because I have a lot more photos to scrap than that. I'm going to put a 5 x 7 photo of me and my kids on mother's day. I'm going to do a second facing page that will have shots of me with individual pictures of each of my children. With this bright page I printed them in black and white. I'm waiting for them to come in the mail. I think it's going to look great!

cupcake shoebox swap

This was my shoebox swap card for the Minnesota SCS Summer Stamp Fest this past weekend. We had a Stampin' Up! only shoebox swap and an Anything Goes shoebox swap. We were a little short in the Anything Goes swap so I joined it. It gave me a chance to play with my non-Stampin' Up! goodies. The stamps are *gasp* acrylic stamps. I'm not a big fan of acrylics but the cupcake images were so cute I made an exception and bought them. What was the most fun was to play with my cuttlebug. I haven't used it in so long.

Tomorrow I'll show you the 12 x 12 page I made for the 12 x 12 swap. It's using some of the new Stampin' Up! in colors. I'm loving those!

My family gets back from camping today. They have been gone since Sunday and I have been home alone. I have hardly left the house. I have been stamping my convention swaps. I have made great progress there.

I had a scare yesterday while I was home alone. The house was all locked and I was down the basement stamping, talking on the phone and watching tv. All of a sudden I heard footsteps upstairs. I told my girlfriend to stay on the line. I had a moment of panic. I decided to call up the stairs ' "Hellooooooo". It turns out it was my nephew, Michael. He stopped in for a fan to bring to my dh. They were camping just an hour away and Michael was driving there for the day. I guess he rang the doorbell but I can't hear it down the basement. My husband gave him the garage code and that is how he got in. Whew! There was some heart pounding moments.

Cupcake Ensemble

Yesterday was the MN SCS Summer Stamp Fest. Twenty-five ladies from around Minnesota came to gather for some stamping, demos, doorprizes, and socializing. It was a fun day but it went way too fast! I brought my camera but do you know I forgot to take one photo? I organized the get together and I guess I was too busy announcing door prizes, and making sure things were running smoothly.

One of the optional things to sign up for was a gift exchange. You bring a gift and then your name goes into the drawing to receive someone else's gift. This is what I created for the exchange. Surprise, surprise, it's a cupcake ensemble! I used designer paper from a set of papers I received for my birthday from my friend Kristina. I have been saving these papers for awhile and finally decided to cut into them. There's a tin decorated with the papers a cupcake purse with M&M's in them, a post-it note keychain, covered notebad, a tictac holder, and a jumbo clothespin. It was a lot of fun to put together.

Over the next couple of days I'll post my 12 x 12 page swap and the shoebox card swap I made for the event. Right now I have to get busy cranking out a bunch of swaps for the Stampin' Up! convention coming up in a few short weeks!

Stationary Boxes

I made these stationary boxes for the non-card gift exchange I'm in at our MN SCS Summer Stamp Fest on Saturday. There are 10 of us swapping so I made 9 of these up. The original measurements I had were for a box that holds full-sized cards. The finished box was pretty big. I decided I wanted to make a box that would hold 3 x 3 cards so I adjusted this to be a 3x3 card holder. Here are the directions for making it. Just a little caveat before I get started. I'm not a techie so I don't know how to make my directions line up with the pictures of the steps. If anyone has some tips on this I would appreciate it. I hope this all comes out making sense even if my words don't line up with the pictures.

Supplies: 3 sheets of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock
1 sheet of designer paper
4 pieces of ribbon measuring 15" in length each
score blade
cropadile
adhesive

Cut 4 pieces of cardstock 4 x 8. Score each of these pieces along the long edge at 4". Adhere 2 pieces together overlapping one square of each(see second photo). Keep overlapping and adhering the cardstock until your final piece looks like a "t".

Cut 4 pieces of designer paper 3 3/4 x 3 3/4. Adhere the designer paper pieces to the outside of each section of the t except the middle section.

Turn the piece over and measure 2" up from the middle fold on each side section. Make a pencil mark on each side of each section. Punch holes on each side of each section with the cropadile.

Thread of piece of ribbon from the front to the back and over the middle of the section through the second hole to the front(see photo). Do this for each of the 4 sections. This is where the 3x3 cards with envelopes will be held. You should be able to fit a few 3x3's with envelopes on each section. Fold up the flaps and tie bows in the ribbon on the outside of each section.

Next we are going to make a lid for our stationary box. Measure a piece of cardstock 6 1/8 x 6 1/8. Score 1" along each edge. On a fiskars cutter 1" is the right edge of the cutter. Cut a slit from the edge to the score line forming a flap. Fold along the score lines and adhere the flap to the edge forming our lid. This should fit over the top of your stationary box.

Let me know if you have any questions on how to make these. They are really pretty quick and easy. Of course you can dress them up and embellish them any way you want.

Mel inspired flower

The big flower on this card was stamped three times and then I cut out 3 different sections of the flower. I then coated the petals with crystal effects and mounted the layers of the flower with the dimensionals. The crystal effects on the flower was inspired by my SBS2 sis, Mel. She does some fabulous stuff with crytal effects!(and other things too)

I'm still having fun with my new In Colors! This is my favorite color combo so far. I can't stop using it!

Recipe: Fabulous Flowers
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Taken with Teal, Whisper White, Bella Rose designer paper
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Tango Orange, Taken with Teal
Other: Crystal effects, stampin' dimensionals

To do lists

I've had these to do lists on my to do list for awhile. hehehe. I made these for my 3 kids. The idea is that I will write their chores on their notepads and they will check them off as they do them. They will hang on each of their doorknobs. I wanted to make these at the beginning of summer but I couldn't find the doorknob holders at Michaels when I looked. I went back last week and I found them this time. The kids are excited about them. I hope by having something to check off it will give them a sense of accomplishment and I wont have to nag them so much to get their stuff done. Here's hoping. My youngest, Sam, has a hard time remembering to turn off lights when he leaves a room. That will definitely be one of the things on his to do list!

I had a very successful stamping day yesterday. Mojo was oozing out of my pores! It's a good thing too because I needed to get some swaps figured out for the upcoming MN SCS Summer Fest event I'm planning for next Saturday. Some of it I can't show you until the event is over but I'm super psyched by what I came up with! I will be showing some other projects throughout the week.

Forget the fireworks....

I just wanna stamp! LOL. Just kidding. We are going to go to a bbq and then fireworks today but it is tempting to stay home and stamp. teehee. I'm hoping to do a whole lot more of this this weekend. I just wanna play! Wah!

I LOVE the new In Colors more than the other two years' worth! The first card is the Bugs and Kisses stamp set using all of the new In Colors. It's fun to stamp the bugs in new colors.

The second card is using the new Level 2 hostess stamp set, Deer Friends. I knew I was going to love this set as soon as I saw it! It's in the same style as the Halloween one and I love that one. I used the new Bella Rose designer paper for the gingham background paper. Here is the recipe for the rest:

Stamps: Deer Friends, Warm Words
Ink: Robin Hood Red, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Robin Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Bella Rose dp
Other: 1" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, circle scallop punch, scallop edge punch, paper piercer, stampin' dimensionals, blender pen, crystal effects

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Playing with New Stuff!!!

Woohoo! Stampin' Up! demos could preorder some sneak peek stuff from the new catty on July 1. I placed my order right away in the morning and had it two day expressed so I could get it before the weekend to play. I have all of the new In Colors, new dp, button bouquet, scallop edge punch, and a new hostess set. I quick made these two cards up with the new papers and inks.

1st card recipe:
Stamps: Embrace Life
Ink: Jet black stazon, kiwi kiss, robin hood red, taken with teal, more mustard
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Taken with Teal, Robin Hood Red, Bella Rose designer paper
Other: Stampin' dimensionals, blender pen, horizontal slot punch, ribbon

2nd card recipe:
Stamps: A Little Birdie Told Me
Ink: Jet Black Stazon, kiwi kiss, robin hood red, baja breeze
Paper: Baja Breeze, whisper white, robin hood red, kiwi kiss, bella rose designer paper
Other: Scallop edge punch, stampin' dimensionals

It's so fun to play with the new colors! They are gorgeous! I'll be back soon with more new stuff!

Hodge Podge Hardware 25 percent off!!!

All Hodgepodge Hardware is being offered at a special 25 percent discount from July 1 through August 10(or while supplies last-so order now!)

You can find the Hodgepodge Hardware on page 188 of the Stampin' Up! catalog. Regular price if $27.95. The discounted price is only $20.96! A FANTASTIC deal! Contact me at krhopperstad@juno.com to order yours today!

Heartfelt

I made these cards as an ensemble. I used one of my go to layouts on these. Very simple. The designer paper is the Afternoon Tea paper. This paper is no longer available. I chose my colors from the dp. The flowers in the full sized cards are in soft sky with a wild wasabi stem. We don't have markers in the In Colors so I brushed my blender pen on my ink pad and then colored the stem with it. It worked out great. I used the Heartfelt Greetings stamp set. This is an oldie but a goodie. It has seen some recent use. I think it goes well with this patterned paper.

For the 3 x 3 cards I used the same Afternoon Tea paper but the stamp set is embrace life. The flower in front has tiny beads glued to the middle of the flower.

We have had another beautiful week of weather this week. For the 4th of July we have ordered up a beautiful 80 degree day! We are going to go bbqing at a friend's house and then on to catch some fireworks at one of the local displays. We have so many to choose from in this area. To all of my US readers, I hope you have a wonderful 4th!