My First Official Splitcoast RAK

I officially joined the RAK (random act of kindness) club on Splitcoast Stampers recently. I never understood when everyone was posting RAK cards. It is a group you can join that gives you addresses of other stampers who frequent Splitcoast. Then you can send each other cards. It was such a great suprise to get this beautiful card in the mail from CMF1214! Isn't it cute?

Uptown

I have been doing a little more stamping this week. Matt has been out of town so I have had some time on my hands. My mom is staying with me while he is gone to keep me company. I have been noticing that since school has been out I have been stamping less? How is that possible? I have, however, been having a TON of fun playing with the new catalog stamps, papers, and ribbons!

This is a card I made on my way to making some swap cards. It is a new catalog swap. I like swaps because it pushes me to come up with original designs and helps me get a variety of different styles of cards for my customers to look at. If it were up to me I would make flower cards pretty much all the time! This card is no exception!

Supplies:

Paper: SU Uptown dp, almost amethyst, whisper white

Stamps: Sidekick Sayings hostess set from SU

Ribbon: apricot appeal, wild wasabi double stitched ribbon

Ink: wild wasabi classic ink, so saffron marker, almost amethyst marker

More cards

Special Delivery Boy

So, I felt like I was making far too many girl baby cards so I ordered the Special Delivery: Boy simply scrappin' kit. They are colors I would have never put together, but I really like them.

I also got a new box thingy to take pictures of my cards with and this is the first card I am posting with this new tool. I don't know what to think of it. **Update* I decided I didn't like the photo box thing any better than the photos I have been taking myself at home.

The kit goes on

So I am still playing with this Special Delivery kit. It is good to use when you don't feel very creative and want to play, but don't feel like really digging into alot of tools and stuff. It has been sitting on my desk in the craft room and I just play with it here and there. I ordered the baby boy kit and also the kit that has the western theme to it. I can't wait for the order to come on Tuesday!

I had my second class on Tuesday night. My friend, Cheri hostessed for me and we sure had a full house. It was alot of fun and we got alot of crafting done. I can't wait to do another one. It seems to be addictive to share this great love for stamping I have. My husband has reminded me that I am supposed to be resting for the summer and relaxing while school is out, so I will try to focus on that for the next couple of weeks.

Here is my latest Special Delivery creation and for anyone who doesn't have this kit yet you better add it to the list. You won't be disappointed, I swear!

I won blog treats: sort of................

One day one of my blog readers emailed me and asked the name of a book that was on my blog, but had been taken off. I emailed her back and told her that I was done with the book and that I would send her the book. Since then I have exchanged emails with her and yesterday she sent me a package very much resembling blog candy! It was so sweet! Her name is Shannon and she lives in Texas with TRIPLETS and another child and her husband. She is very busy! I am posting her cards that she sent because they are sooooooooo cute! She doesn't have a blog and I told her that she should because her cards are really really cute! In my package she sent a book, some brads, a pen that she somehow stamped on, a candle, ribbon, chocolate, and the list goes on and on...........Thanks so much Shannon! These are the first cards I have ever received from a blog friend so this has been sooooooooooooooooo much fun for me!!!!!

More Special Delivery

I should probably pace myself with this kit so I don't get burned out, but that is not the way I roll! That is for sure. I am just having so much fun! I think the best thing about the "in" colors is to see how they mix with the current colors. It really revitalizes what you already have at minimum expense!

I am really happy right now because my husband has completed hanging my new shelving and ribbon holder. He is now hanging up my stamp pad racks and such. I am going to be in 7th heaven in the stamp room. I have really tackled the organization of the room this summer and it has been worth the effort. Everything is much easier to grab and less trips back and forth to the closet. I will post pictures when it is more presentable!

We will be going to our city's block party tonight and seeing Sister Hazel. Remember them? I was a big fan in the nineties!

I will be fun to get out with our friends and enjoy a few cocktails. Tomorrow I will have to do some cleaning around the house. I have put it off for long enough!

Special Delivery

Hello everyone! Today is a beautiful sunny day in Minnesota. This is the first Saturday I haven't had something to do in a very long time. I actually got up and stamped for fun this morning. I haven't done that in a while either. I got a new package from Stampin' up last night and I couldn't wait to tear into it!

Today's cards are from the new Special Delivery Girl Simply Scrappin' Kit. I know I have raved on and on about these kits before but this is my ALL-TIME FAVORITE! I absolutely love these colors. The colors are almost apricot, groovy guava, certainly celery, and mellow moss. These colors are very very very yummy together and I can assure you all that you will be seeing more cards with this color combo. It is right up my alley. Matt is again working on my new shelving system for my stamp room this morning. What more could I girl ask for? The first card I made was the more simple card. I showed it to Matt and asked him if he liked it and he said, "yes, less is more." Sometimes I like to make "less is more cards". This is an example of one of them.

I got something else in my package last night that is really really really cool. It is the stampamajig. I had read someone's blog a few weeks ago and she said, "what did I do before the stampamajig?" Well, I didn't even really know what this thing was so I figured I had better try it out. Well, come to find out it is a stamp positioning system that helps insure you get the stamped image where you want it. This is an excellent product for all of us more anal stampers out there. That certainly applies to me. It costs 11.95, but I think this will end up paying for itself many times over because of all the paper you would save trying to get the stamp in the right place. I am just tickled with it. Well, I don't know too much more today. I hope you all have a fun and relaxing Saturday! Thanks for stopping by!

I got tagged!

I got tagged twice by two different bloggers and I was just thrilled. I haven't had time to post my responses to 7 random things about myself. I was tagged by Lynda Benden at Stampact and also by Ida. I am having some technical difficulties with my blog lately and I am not sure of the name of Ida's blog right now. Drop me a note, Ida, if you can. I am having trouble viewing my comments and it is making me CRAZY! If anyone knows how to deal with this problem PLEASE HELP the technologically challenged.

Okay, back to being TAGGED! Seven random things about me, hmmmmmmmmm.................this could be scary!

1) I went back to school at the age of 29 to pursue my dream of becoming a therapist for individuals and families dealing with emotional and mental health challenges. I am half way
through and so excited to finish school and move on to working at this job I am so excited to do.

2) I grew up in South Dakota and moved away to go to college when I was eighteen. After college hopping for a few years I ended up at Arizona State University where I got my undergrad degree and also met my husband there shortly after I graduated from school. He grew up only about 2.5 hours from where I grew up and we found each other hundreds of miles from where we grew up! After dating for a year or so we moved back to the Midwest together to get back to our roots and have been in Minnesota ever since!

3). I love coffee!!!!!! Always have and probably always will!

4). As is evidenced by this lengthy post, I have the gift of gab! I have rarely met anyone who can go toe to toe with me on this gift. I can out talk just about anyone. This gift began showing itself when I was ten months old and it never stopped!

5). I also love to read as some of you may be able to tell by the books I post on my blog. I started a book club in my home town a couple of years ago.

6) I have never been tagged before now!

7) Before a couple of months ago and I had always cased cards I found on Splitcoast and NEVER designed my own. I was totally intimidated! On a whim I decided to start a blog and figured I had better get over my fear of designing real quick if the blog was going to work out. Now I have started leading classes to share my love of stamping!

Checkin' in

Hello everyone! Yes, I am alive and well. It certainly doesn't seem so accord to my blog, but I have been a busy busy girl. I had my first Stampin' up class on Tuesday evening. I offered my friends a chance to make 8 cards I designed. I had a very good turnout and really enjoyed it. I now am giving the same class next week because we couldn't fit everyone in on the same night!
So, my efforts have been going into my prep. for the classes rather than blogging! I have the next three days off so I am planning on doing some stamping for fun in addition to my class preparations. I hope you are all doing well and check back soon to see what I come up with!
Happy stamping!

My last class design

This is the last design that I am using for my class coming up in the next couple of weeks.

I am not quite sure of it. I think it might need some different ribbon or something. I have endedup liking these animal stamps after all. They are fun for kid and baby cards, I think.

DH and I are home today because we are visiting family last weekend and this weekend this year. DH had alot going on at work this year so we couldn't actually travel today, but it is nice to just be home. He is building me an organizational system for the ever evolving craft room right now as we speak! I am pretty excited. I need places to put everything I have and will be ordering from the new catalog!

Supplies:

Stamps: Zoofari, It's Your Birthday

Paper: Petals and Paisleys, whisper white, tempting turquoise, water color paper

Ink: choc. chip, so saffron, old olive, tempting turquoise

Assessories: circle punches, temping turquoise grosgrain ribbon, aquapaper

3rd class design

Well, I am home this week and I am supposed to be stamping away, but for some reason I don't seem to be able to get much done. I did pull this card together this morning for the class I am having next week. I am excited to be able to share the new catalog with my friends. There are so many cool new things! This is one of my all time favorite sets. I just love lilacs!

I started with an eggplant square card and stamped pale plum, and eggplant and celery lilacs from the Blossoms Abound set. Then I stamped the happiness with basic black with Warm Words. I used celery ribbon (retired) and eggplant again for the strip across the card. The verse stamp is from Its Your Birthday. I love square cards and I hope the class attendees will like this one too!

Sorry I have been so remiss about posting. There has been much chaos with some redecorating and some summer traveling plans so I haven't stamped as much as I would like. We are going to visit Matt's family this weekend in Omaha. We are excited to see the family and Matt's gorgeous baby niece, Syndey! She is going to be two so she really isn't a baby, but to us she is.

Happy Fourth all!!