Pinch me to see if I'm dreaming...

I woke up this morning and made oatmeal cookie pancakes for my family, and then I popped by our computer desk to check email before we headed outside to finish painting the fence (yes, I know the fun never ends around here, eh?!) only to find that my card was chosen as part of Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Top 10 this week! My card was chosen among so many beautiful ones, I just can't believe it and I feel so, well, honoured - especially since I admire Kristina's talent so much! I was also tickled to see Kadee's card on the list too! I visit Kadee's blog several times a week. She sometimes even has videos, so if you've never visited her site, why don't you pop over there now and take a look - her stuff is always top 10 in my books!

(BTW - if you're curious which card I'm referring to above, it's right here.)

New Catalog Workshop!

Last night I attended Nicole Kelly's SU new catalog workshop, and it was a blast! There were like 20 ladies there, and she hosted it in this large boardroom so we had lots of space. Nicole is a brand new demonstrator, but you wouldn't know it, she presented everything last night like a pro - and she's an absolute angel of a person! The pictures I've posted to the left are the projects we made with new product from the new catalog last night (the first one was my favourite!) Nicole also had tonnes of giveaways - and I won the stamp set shown at the bottom of this post! There also were great treats and lots of visiting! It was a fun night and Nicole has all sorts of fun things planned for the coming year - like:

- Marker Monday's - one Monday a month for $5 she'll be teaching techniques/projects using markers and you'll get to take a new SU marker home with you for the night - plus she'll have 10% off orders of markers and the like that night!
- Toonie Tuesday's - one Tuesday a month she'll have a small project night for a Toonie - these will be less formal nights and you'll be able to by ribbon by the yard and paper by the sheet that night plus other 'garage sale' items from her stash.
- Wishlist Wednesday - one Wednesday a month Nicole will be hosting a SU club. There is no cost, but you do committ to the full term of these as a minimu purchase of $30 a month. She'll teach a new technique at each club night and we'll get to do some 'wow' projects. Also each month a different member will be considered the hostess and get the hostess benefits!!
- Theme Thursday - one Thurday a month Nicole will host a themed project night for a cost of $5, but you get a $5 credit on any orders of $30 that night. Her first one is coming up soon and they are making fantasy boxes!

So if any of these things interest you, be sure to check out Nicole's site and contact her. And even if not, go check out her site she's got some great projects there!! Or if you're shy, just let me know and I'll try to go along with you:) I'm already signed up for this year's Wishlist Wednesday club and I hope to see lots of friends there!

Backpack

Here's a better view of the backpack project I posted here. In the original pictures the lighting wasn't right and so you couldn't see the detail in the pink (when in doubt...take the picture in the window sill in the morning - the colour is sometimes a bit light, but usually you get the best pictures!) Since several people have asked me about making it I thought I'd post a clearer picture. The tutorial for this is here.

Color Inspiration # 20 (or #3 if you're me:)

I loved the colors Kristina chose for this week's challenge. I made this card for a co-worker who is moving into a new house she and her husband just built. I used the new Bella Rose DP from SU for the first time on this project. I have a few scraps of it from a stamping angel!!

Back to School

It's hard to believe, but it's that time of year again. Wednesday I register Amanda for the school year and Thursday is her first full day.... And, as is our tradition, I have taken registration day off so that I can take Amanda. She's growing up so fast! I remember when she would hold my hand or hover under my arm on registration day when she was like 7 - now there's no 'huggy-feely' stuff once we're out of the house. How fast they grow! I think some people at work didn't really 'get' why I need tomorrow off, but I need to relish it with her because all too soon this phase of her life will be over, and I'm going to miss this! (That reminds me of a country tune that I'm liking these days - I don't usually listen to Trace Atkins, but the song 'You're gonna miss this' really captures my heart right now...

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish that these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times - so take a good look around
You may not see it now
But you're going to miss this...

There is a second tradition in our house as well when Amanda goes back to school for a new year. Every year on the first day of school I write Amanda a letter and place it in her breakfast spot so it's the first thing she sees on that morning. And this year, I made the backpack project pictured on the left of this entry to place my letter in (I think I might put some chocolate in the extra pouch too, don'tcha think?!) I first saw this little backpack idea on Stamp Your Heart Out (a.k.a Jenn D's site) and I also saw a tutorial on this site (Stamp Happens - cute name eh?!), and there's even a template there that really helps! Thanks to both of these ladies for sharing such creative ideas! I love finding new projects and tutorials on the blogs I visit!! So if ever someone posts a new idea or tutorial, feel free to leave a comment so I can come visit your blog to see!

(BTW - the DP on the backpack is pretty in pink from the Berry Bliss line - for some reason it doesn't look as pink as it is and the flowers hardly show on the computer screen?!)

Happy Bday Bro ...and a happy storage solution!

This is the card I made this evening for my brother's bday (which is coming up shortly - my sister and he were born one week apart - or rather, my sister was born 11 months and 3 weeks to the day after he was!). The colour inspiration came from his gift. He's been going to the gym more lately and so we got him this great track-suit from the Adidas store and it's black, white and red... (no argyle though, but I'm allowed some creative license - aren't I?!!:)

The second picture is of the Ikea rails that we picked up on our trip and that my loving hubby has already installed! Thanks to Shawna for the idea!! I'm not sure I have things exactly how I'll keep them yet, but my hubby likes them so well that he's already mentioned that we'll pick up another next time we're in Alberta! (I guess that means I can buy more punches if the need strikes?!!)

Sunday nights are sometimes hard for me... I want to milk the weekend for all it's worth, but Sunday evenings a bit of that Monday morning 'dread' seems to set in... I'm finding, though, that taking a few minutes to create something really helps:)

Back from Vacation

So we just got back from a week of vacation last night... We headed to Alberta - Edmonton and Red Deer mainly and had a great time! I didn't get to craft a lot on this trip, but my hubby was so sweet and took me to several scrapbooking places, and so I did get a bit of a craft fix... particularly on Wednesday when we popped into the Scrapbooker's Paradise in Red Deer. That's where I made this little 'joy' project! I love make and takes - quick and cheerful, but enough to get my creative juices running! I also loved that they gave me a discount coupon as a visitor for the day (definitely 3*s). Other cute crafting spots I visited in Edmonton included Treasured Memories (this place is just beautiful - definitely 3 *'s - they had a lot of stuff that I've read about but never seen - and I bought my first ever Thickers there!), Scrap-a-lot (2*'s) and Creative Scrapbooks (right across from West Edmonton Mall - got the cutest Me & My Big Idea's kit there - 2 1/2 *'s).

We did get to do a lot of shopping on this trip - and I got the cutest pair of Geox's (that's Italian leather shoes - a real first for me), some cute tops (my hubby even bought me some argyle!)...and then back to that crafting theme, I got some of those rails from Ikea for my craft supplies and punches (I'll post a picture on another day once I get it all set up). Oh, and we had a lot of Starbucks stops along the way, of course!

Money-holder Gift Card

I made this little card for when you give someone money as a gift with this little tutorial from Dawn. It was super easy, but does use a lot more paper than you would think!

Post-it-note Keychain

These are so easy-peasy to make! So I made one for Amanda for her purse and one for me. The tutorial can be found here.

On another note, I'm loving what I've seen of the new SU catalog. Here's the Canadian link and the U.S. link. My favourite things in the catalog are all 'sweet bella' style! My friend and demonstrator, Nicole, will be having a catalog launch party on August 27th - let me know if you'd like to come... Nicole is super creative and here is a link to her new site! Nicole is one of the people who really got me interested in stamping. It was through her that I met Shawna, another amazingly creative person, and for the past year we have been in Shawna's stamping club. Oh and today you'll want to check out Shawna's blog because she has this great tutorial for how to make a flower out of a scallop punch!

An Apple Birthday

So I am fortunate enough to work a particularly wonderful woman (and friend) for the second time in my life... and it just so happens that yesterday was her birthday - so a card was definitely in order. I picked the apple DP for this one because she wears an apple pendant from time to time and it's her special/happy charm... There's a longer story behind that, but you get the picture:) Oh, and did I mention, she gave me heck for giving her a bday card - can you imagine?!!

The tutorial for this particular post-it-note holder can be found here at this link.

A Walk in the Gardens

Remember when I said that I was working on a mini album earlier this week, well, this is it. It is made out of a DVD tin (the kind that they package boxed sets in). I got the kit (DVD tin and patterned paper) from the lovely Julie over at Paper Pleasing Ideas. Here's a link to Julie's album that she made. I think that one of the cleverest things about this album is the pages - they are made out of clear envelopes -- they open on the left edge rather than the top so you can link them together and voila a photo album! I can't take any credit for that discover, it was Julie's not mine! (BTW - you can get the clear envelopes through Stampin' Up).

This was a fun album to make:) The pictures I used inside are of my family on a recent trip to Regina when we went for a walk through the Legislative Gardens. We were such a silly bunch that day so the pictures are pretty fun- and the flowers were pretty pretty. Oh, and it was super windy that day, so there's no such thing as good-hair in these pictures;) I also used some of my SU rubons in this album (finally! - another thing that I seemed to be saving and never getting around to using).

Color Inspiration #18...

I decided to try another one of Kristina's Color Inspirations. On her blog this is #18...on my blog this is #2 - as it's only the second time I've played along:) I enjoyed working with such vivid colors as I made this card this morning for my sister's birthday.












Recipe:
Paper -- Cardstock SU wild wasabi, black, rose red; DP SU Cutie Pie & Summer Days
Ink - Versamark & SU black embossing powder
Stamps - SU - Make a Wish
Accessories - Misc Primas & brads; sheer polka dotted ribbon; SU scallop & circle punches

Creekside

We have this quaint home decor store not too far from where we live. It has lots of vintage feeling pieces (some antique, some new) and a lot of charm...and it also has it's share of shiny new things. One half of the store if full of windows and is usually set with light and sometimes shiny things, and the other side of the store is more woody and cosy. In the middle there is a beautiful bed that is dressed differently everytime I go in, but always with some sort of quilt set. It's beautiful - and that was the inspiration for this card! You see, that store's name is Creekside and they are celebrating their 1st Anniversary in about a week. We have been getting to know the owners and wanted to celebrate with them, so I had to make a card!

Masculine Notepad

So here's a masculine version of the notepads I posted yesterday. This one I had made for my husband and I guess he likes it because he keeps it on the computer desk to jot things down:)

A Few More Notebooks

Here are some more notebooks I've made last month or so with this tutorial. The first is the the one I have on my desk at work as a reminder of something I'm working on. The other two were gifts I gave. I'll post some masculine versions another day...

Notepads

I made this notepad and post-it note holder for the friend who treated me to the Just Scrap It membership. She's a TA, so she probably loves office/school supplies as much as I do. I don't think I've posted one of these notepads before so here's the tutorial - and I'll try to post another one I made soon. As for the post-it-note holder - here's the link from the last one I made. (The stamps in these projects are Huggybellas and SU Priceless.

Today we went on a road trip to Hague with a friend to visit Prairie Chicks (their webpage is down or else I'd give you a link...) It's this quaint little scrapbooking/quilting store - definitely worth the 40 minute drive! I got some new flowers for a project I'm working on (a mini-album of our recent walk in the Legislative Gardens - I mean, you need flowers for an album like that, right?!). Overall though, I think I showed amazing restraint in my purchases considering what I was surrounded by. I think I'm in a place where I want to use my stuff up rather than just stockpile it, you know... Also, I'm getting pretty excited for the new SU catalog which I've seen peaks of through people at their convention this week...and there are some buttons and ribbons that I simply must have (oh and there are new felt fusion flowers in browns/pinks/blues), so I have to save room in my budget for that!

Ice Cream Cone Card

I made this simple card for my daughter, Amanda... Ice cream is one of her favourite things and she, of course, is one of my favourite things:) The ice cream scoops are made out of scallop punches and the top one is embossed with glitter because Amanda likes all things glittery!