Hello!

Sorry I haven’t posted the last couple days. Easter flanked by my nephew’s 16th birthday and my birthday got in the way of my postings! So, in order for you to forgive me–I’m bribing you with some blog candy! Read on:

Thursday night, I started with the cute idea to make a box to put some small items in for my fabulous nephew’s 16th birthday. My sister and brother-in-law were surprising him with a truck for his BIG PRESENT and he had no clue. After some configuring and snipping and re-configuring, here’s what I came up with:

As you can see, once I was done with the box it was too small to fit any presents in (I had purchased him some small things like a SUNPASS for the Expressway tolls, car freshners to hang and a key ring with some tool gadgets on it.) so it became a focal decoration for the top of his present stack from Aunt Amanda and Uncle Patrick.  He’s not loved very much! (Not only is he well-mannered and handsome, but he also carries a 4.7 GPA in advanced classes as a sophmore in high school, sings like an angel in the school choir AND is in a fabulously talented high school singing and dancing troupe called Entourage! Okay…I’ll stop bragging..ha ha ha!)

Here’s a close up of the paper crafted truck (photos of the real truck and the nephew are coming up!):

Isn’t it ADORABLE? Can you guess what die cut box I used to make this? If you can, I’ll give you some chipboard, retired Flower Fusion felt pieces and brad bling Blog Candy!  I’ll post the answer and winner on Tues.!

Now keep in mind that my sister said the truck was blue. I asked her if it was light blue, dark blue, what kind of blue? She said, "It’s just blue!" (Can you tell she’s not a stamper? Love ya sis!)  So, I figured I’d be safe going with Brilliant Blue and come to find out it’s Night of Navy!…sigh… )  

Here are some photos of the birthday boy (I should say "handsome young man) and his REAL truck:

 That’s a good looking truck, but he’s better looking, don’cha think?

Okay, enough bragging by a proud auntie! Look forward to the posted guesses on which die was used to make the paper-crafted truck!

More pictures from Easter and my birthday tomorrow! Adios, amigas! (y amigos)

 When I saw this stamp set in the Occasions Mini, it immediately reminded me of my mom. I specifically bought it to do some watercolor art with and frame it for her for Mother’s Day, which will be here before you know it so I’d better get on it! It’s quite lovely and I’m looking forward to the Tote-Ally Awesome Tote class I have coming up that features it.

One of the projects we’ll be doing at the class is this lovely card:

Here’s a close up:

 I love that white scallop edge against that orchid paper. It looks so dainty.

Here’s a view of the card’s pull-out:

Hope you’ll be signing up for this class! The last day to sign up is Easter Sunday!

And…before I forget, yesterday I meant to provide Diana Gibb’s blog link where I got the Punchy Bee idea and forgot: dianagibbs.typepad.com/stampin_with_di/2010/02/punch-fun.html She was great about sharing how I inspired her so I wanted to make sure I did the same. We swap often at SU! events and I really admire her work! Thanks Di!

 
Ran across this cute punched bee on a cute card by Diana Gibbs and I just knew I’d be adding this lil’ fella to my April Get Punchy! class. He’s a little smaller than the one I saw on her card because I used smaller circle punches so he’d fit on my pull-out book mark made from the Two Tags Die!

Yes, I was a little light on stamping my greeting so I’m going to have to go back and fix it. I thought it was good enough for now. I needed to put a quick advertisement out for my quickly approaching class so it just had to do.

Card Stock colors here are Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal..one of my very favorite combos of all time! If you’d like to sign up for my April Get Punchy class go to http://getpunchyapril.eventbrite.com  . The deadline to sign up is this Sunday, April 4!!

Have a wonderful day!

Ahhh…Finished my last Eggscellent Eggs Eggcoutrements class today — so much fun! Now, I can finally post the step-by-step instructions for the Easter Egg Basket I’d posted here.

Step 1:

Cut out two Milk Cartons from the Big Shot with the Milk Carton die.

Step 2:

Cut the tops of the milk cartons above the score line as shown.

Step 3:

Cut off one of the end bottom flaps of ONE of the boxes.

Cut off one of the skinny side flaps on ONE of the boxes. 

Step 5

Apply Sticky Strip piece to the 2nd box’s skinny slide flap.

Step 6:

Apply two Sticky Strip pieces to the box that you didn’t cut a bottom flap off.

Step 7:

 Overlap the box with no bottom flap on the box in which you applied the two sticky strip pieces to create one long complete piece.

Step 8:

Bring the one end of the connected boxes around to meet the other skinny flap end to adhere to the applied Sticky Strip

Step 9:

 Fold down every other flap on the bottom of the basket until you have two left next to each other as shown and adhere the flaps so they’ll lie flat.

Step 10:

 Glue the remaining flaps down to complete the bottom. Wa..la! A Complete basket bottom. Add a 1" x 8 1/2" strip of card stoc, to each side of the basket to create the handle and you’re done!

Here’s my orginally created one. Here I ran the cut out milk carton dies through the Big Shot Texture plate and burnished it with ink. Decorate as desired!

That’s it…easy, right? Thanks for stopping by! I’d love to see what your basket turns out like! Be sure to share! Have a wonderful day!

In a couple weeks, I have a class that includes a tote, a couple cards and a beautiful envelope photo book. All of them use the gorgeous Shades of Spring Designer paper. I just love the color scheme of that paper!

Here’s the envelope photo book: 

Isn’t it gorgeous! The class will include the step-by-step instructions to make the tote. And you’ll get all the suppllies, including the silk flowers, hat pin & beads, ribbon and flat pearl to make this project along with a 1/2 pack of the Shades of Spring paper and the Garden from the Heart stamp set (unmounted) for only $35! It is a stunning ensemble that would make a fabulous gift for mom, a teacher or loved one!

This project has six pull outs for photos topped with tabs to make it easy to pull out and view your photographic creations.

Registration for this class ends Sunday, April 4! To register, go to http://springtoteclass.eventbrite.com

Want to hear a funny story about the shenanigans surrounding the development of this class?

Around convention time (early July) last year, my friend Amy Celona, said "Do you want to be in my WOW swaps again this year? I said, "Sure!" Her swaps are the bomb! She was particularly excited about one of the swaps in which we were going to swap a whole planned out class with an elite group of stampers. So, the time came up on me VERY fast and she signed me up for a GAZILLION (can you hear the dripping sarcasm here? I love to tease Amy!)  swaps and I was stamping until I was cramping so I could get them all done.

This particular swap of a WHOLE class was a daunting one. I kept searching for ideas until I remembered one I hadn’t tried yet. I  had purchased a pattern for this really cool tote about a year before and thought, "THIS IS IT!" So I used the instructions to create this gorgeous tote  along with the card (that was part of the instructions) and I added in the above envelope album creation for good measure.

I couldn’t wait to tell my friend Amy all about it! So, a few days before leaving for convention, Amy & I were talking (or Amy was talking and I was just listening…ha ha ha! Love you Amy!) and she was looking forward to this swap and proceeded too rattle off the names of the swap participants and how we were going to get such AWESOME swaps back. And one name caught my ear IMMEDIATELY….and I said…"Wait…who did you just say was in this swap?"

She said, "Becky Roberts, Why?"

My mouth dropped to the floor.

A few curse words may have slipped out. )

Becky Roberts is the girl I purchased the pattern from over a year ago!! SHE WAS GETTING HER OWN SWAP BACK!! I was mortified. But it was way too late to change it and I went through a lot of work to do all of them.

So, the day of swap came and I sheepishly approached Becky and told her the story and said that I was so sorry that I didn’t know she was in the swap or i would have created something different. She was so sweet and understanding about it. I mean, I was actually nervous talking to her as she is the GODDESS of paper crafting. And, a few weeks ago, she even posted my Tote project on her blog here. Wow…what an honor! And she didn’t even mention my embarrassing story. A true class act! Now..I’m even more of a fan! I’d be president of her fan club if she’d let me!

Then, she actually CASE’d one of my projects and posted it recently! Wow! Holy snikey…Talk about flattered! Here’s her version of my Milk Carton Watering Can without using the Eggscellent Eggs kit.

So, Becky…thanks for being so sweet. And..for linking to my site. I think all your traffic drove mine over the bandwidth. ) Thanks bunches!

Gotta run and finish my prep for the final Eggscellent Eggs class that’s tomorrow. Look for a post on how to create the cute Milk Carton Easter basket  tomorrow! Hasta manana!

….how my wonderful friend, Lisa Curcio, spoiled me ROTTEN at our joint group meeting with Pam Morgan (may she rock on forever or ) MSROF for short) last weekend! Lisa is one talented lady! She’s always got the best 3D projects to share. Here’s a photo of us from the meeting with Pam Morgan (MSROF) last Saturday:

Lisa is the sweetest most loving person. For the first time ever, even though we met on the SU! cruise 10 years ago, this year, for the very first time, we’ll be dining together the whole week on the SU! incentive cruise to the Southern Caribbean. Only 28 more days left — WAHOO!!

So, we were wrapping up the absolutely fabulous meeting with Pam (MSROF ), Lisa turned to me and said, " I brought these for you."  HOLY CANNOLI — here’s what she brought me:

Did I hit the mother lode, or what? Oh, yea…count them, babeeeee… SEVEN FABULOSO GIFTEES!! See…I told you she was mega-talented, didn’t I? Am I spoiled or what!

Here’s some close ups:

So, stinkin’ cute!

ADORABLE!

Gorgeous–just gorgeous!

And she made all of these candy bar favors for the meeting. All attendees got one when they registered at the door! At that point, the meeting was darn perfect …since chocolate cures ALL!

Is that green-eyed monster out-of-control with envy yet? Sorry…I warned you to keep him under control! Lisa — thank you so much for the gifts, for sharing your talents with all of us at the meeting and for just being you!

SO, this is the last post on that meeting with Pam (MSROF!) . If I could shower her with roses, send her buckets of chocolate peanut butter candy  every month and rent her a massage therapist every day for lunchtime massge, I would. But, since I can’t, I just hope my enthusiastic 3-day blog tribute will do! Thanks again, Pam, (MSROF) — YOU DA BOMB!!

Back to our regularly scheduled creative posts tomorow! TA!

 As promised, heres more photos from the meeting. I had one of my customers e-mail me (hi Monica) and say:
"Where are you in the pictures? How do we know that you were REALLY there?" Crazy woman–here’s proof:

Here I am with Pam and Lisa Curcio — SO THERE! (Don’t we look like the psychedelic sisters?  ) I wasn’t in very many of the pictures because I was TAKING them and keeping the meeting running. So take that Ms. Monica! ha ha ha!

Here’s a picture of the whole gang that came to the meeting. Now that took some coordinating to get people to stand on chairs, stand in rows, sit and squat (my knees were screaming! ) Can you tell by my facial expression? ha ha!)

I also forgot to show you the photo of Pam getting her basket of goodies as a thank you for speaking at our meeting. Lisa stamped up some wonderful cards, a notepad and gift card holder with a Starbucks card in it and I threw in cute stamped snack pack for her airplane ride home.

 I also promised I’d share photos of the swap winners along with the swaps. Congrats to Carolyn Sharkas (1st place – $25 gift certificate), Susan Saunders (3rd place – $15 gift certificate) and Janet Casto (2nd place – $20 gift certificate) as voted by their stampin’ peers !

Here’s some of the swaps:

I wish I could give credit to all the stamp art I’m going to share; however, not all the cards were marked as to who made them. Card to the left was Carolyn’s first place entry.

 This cute carrot box was created by 2nd place winner, Janet Casto.

The card to left was created by 3rd place winner, Susan Saunders.

We also had quite a few talented ladies bring projects to share! I wish I could have caught photos of all of them but there were many and we had to make it quick to stay on time with our meeting agenda.

Several folks shared their Big Shot Fabric bag and pin projects. This is Pat Nelson’s cow themed one. SO cute!

Jennifer Thomas shared thhis adorable Big Shot Easter chick box.

Be sure to check in tomorrow where I’ll share all the wonderful goodies my friend Lisa gave me for inviting her talented self and downline to the meeting. Have a wonderful day!

 I LOVE having group meetings! It’s just so much fun to get together with other demonstrators to giggle, swap stories and ideas and enjoy friendships! These are the things that make being a demonstrator so much fun! Check out the fabulous photos below if you ever wondered what one of these meetings was like. If you’d like to join us as a demonstrator, I’d love share the information with you, too! Our discounted Demonstrator Starter kit special for Sale-A-Bration ends in less than a week, so let’s talk!

I’ve had several inquiries on how the big meeting with Pam Morgan, (Stampin’ Up! VP of Demonstrator Services) went so I thought I’d share our fabulous day along with some photos. My group, the Tampa Stamp Vamps, Lisa Curcio’s group, Hawaii Ink, and local Susy Miller Suzy’s Doozies demos, all got together Sat., March 20, for our March Into Spring meeting to share, learn and laugh with Pam.

The day started with the usual registration formalities (1st photo is Carolyn Sharkas registering for the evening of fun with Michelle Kernodle — thanks for your bang up job Michelle. And Lisa, watch out–I’m still going to try and steal her  ) During registration, attendees could check out the array of samples we had on display. Many demonstrators brought projects to share. Thanks so much gals!

We then moved on to one of the favorite parts of any stamping event, SWAPPING!!!

We even had a swap contest! Lisa Curcio set up a display board to post all the swaps. Later in the meeting we voted to determine the winners!

After registration, swapping and introduction. We ate dinner while sharing ideas. Camaraderie was everywhere!

Finally, the moment we were all waiting for, Pam Morgan’s presentation!

She had a funny M&M analogy story that equated M&Ms to guests at a workshop vs. club members. Workshop M&Ms multiplied faster than club member M&Ms in her hilarious story of a Tale of Two Demonstrators. It really hit home how important a workshop is to our business.

Pam demonstrated our Simply Adorned line of charms and jewerly and enthralled the crowd with her creativity. She even gave a lesson to Linda Jones on using the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig for perfect Monogram letter placement for the charm inserts.

From here we moved on to the five station rotation between three make & takes, displays and swap voting and a chat with Pam! Attendees rotated in small groups to spend 10 minutes at each station.

The favorite station was a cozy chat with Pam Morgan.

Stay tuned to tomorrow when I’ll share some of the project shares, swaps, the contest winners and more photos of the meeting with Pam! It’s almost as fun walking down memory lane as it was being there! Wish you could have been there, too!

Until tomorrow!

 You’ve hit the creative mother lode if you purchase this set! Not only is it just absolutely gorgeous, it’’s got tons ove versatility. Here we’ve worked with Mellow Moss, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum and Crushed Curry to create a beautiful background for the card and scrapbook strip.

This card and layout is the 2nd out of three that I designed for my Crop ‘n Cards class–a big customer favorite! Come a little closer to the screen and I’ll let you in on a little secret….

I still haven’t designed the third one yet and the class is Tues. ….aaaaakkkkkk!

I’m hoping to get some stampin’ time in Sunday to post on Monday. No rest for the weary!

 This page offers room for lots of journaling and a 5×7 photo. While the layout below allows more photos.

Here’s a close up of the cool accent made with the 1 3/8" circle and Scallop circle punches.

Hope you’ll forgive me for making this short tonight. I’m beat! The day was full and the meeting was INCREDIBLE! So many lovely ladies to share with, lots of smiling faces and oodles of talent in one room can be overwhelming in a happy way! We all enjoyed ourselves tremendously and have great photos to share as soon as we can dowload them  off our cameras. We’ll share the glory of it all soon, promise!

Off to a well-deserved sleep! Take care and stamp something this weekend!