From Me 2 U: A Stamper's Journey

Quick Pumpkin Picking Page

2012-01-25T07:00:00.004-05:00

The catching up continues. These pages were quick and easy and feature a family tradition of pumpkin picking that maintain each year. On this particular year we got so busy that we didn't make it our usual pumpkin picking place so we found a place near home. It didn't have the whole hayride and walking through the field experience or the warm apple cider donuts we consume and enjoy each year but it was a way to still get some great pumpkins for carving and decorating. This place had fresh baked chocolate chip cookies so that was a plus for the kids. All and all it was still a great day of memories for my children.

Supplies:
Pick Your Poison Designer Series Paper
Pumpkin Pie card stock
Crumb Cake card stock
Whisper White card stock
Retired stamp set...I think..can't remember (If anyone really needs to know leave me a comment and I can find out for sure:-)

Thanks so much for stopping by...now go stamp something!

A Pick Your Poison Page

2012-01-24T07:00:00.002-05:00

More pages from the 15 hour crop. I had a hard time figuring out how I could use these papers but once I got started the page seemed to come together nicely. These feature my daughter when she was in 3rd grade. She is currently in 5th.....See how far behind I am ? Sad I know but I am working on getting close to caught up. Is anyone ever really caught up? If so...don't tell me. I have more pages to come and some cards too! I have a card class coming up and I will share those. If you'd like to get a group of 6 or more friends together I can customize a card class that is perfect for you. Email me at MLGOLD@comcast.net

Supplies
For these pages I also used a retired stamp set just to add a bit more interest.
Pick Your Poison Designer Series Paper
Basic Black card stock
Pumpkin Pie card stock
Whisper White card stock
Black Satin Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by... now go stamp something!

Halloween...Years Past

2012-01-23T07:00:00.002-05:00

My Batman boys. They both wanted to be Batman and so I say... "Why not?" They were so cute! A Flashback to Halloween. More pages I made at the 15 hour crop. Crops are a tricky thing, if you don't come prepared you can kind of waste the time trying to get focused. I decided I would bring lots of my Halloween photos and all of the Halloween paper I've accumulated over the years and try to get caught up. News Flash...I'm still NOT caught up. I still need to crop the mpst recent Halloween and then I can move onto Christmas past and past and past:-)
This page features my then 4 year old in his Pre-K class with his awesome teachers! That was a wonderful year. Two years later we were lucky enough to have another 4 year old in the very same class. Life repeating itself isn't always such a bad thing!

Supplies:
Pumpkin Pie card stock
Old Olive card stock
Basic Black card stock
Frightful Sight Designer Series Paper as well as Pick Your Poison Retired Designer Series Paper and another which I can't remember the correct name
Basic Black Satin Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Stampin' Card Keeper

2012-01-22T15:43:00.003-05:00

One of the benefits of attending Stampin' Up!'s convention is the fun Make n' Takes that are provided for us. I over scheduled (overlapped) my classes a tad bit so I didn't get to finish putting mine together until last night LOL! It was well worth the wait. My 10 yr old daughter helped me a bit by using her hot glue gun to attach the flower to lid of the card keeper. The lid is covered in the Timeless Portrait Designer Fabric. I think it turned out really cute and was less involved than I feared. I covered the dividers with the Timeless Portrait Designer Series Paper.
I'm so glad I was inspired to complete it last night. Now I just need to fill it with the many cards I have stored away.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

Pick A Pumpkin - Quick 6 x 6 Page

2012-01-21T10:46:00.005-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I attended a 15 hour scrap event called Scrapinpalooza. My friend Sue Shoup, a fellow SU! Demonstrator, is part of a group that hosts these fun scrapping events and I am so glad that I got to go. Most of the pages I made that day were 12 x 12 spreads. This page, however is a 6 x 6 page featuring me. I think it's the only page I made that's of only me. All the others are of my kids and their friends. This was the first scrap event I attended as a scrapper. I've attended others as a seller but this was my first one where I got to sit down and actually get some scrapbooking done! Who knew I was missing so much! I think I finished close to 20 pages!!!! Yes, 20 pages!!! I was and still am so proud of my efforts. It was a great day. 15 hours can go by so quickly and can be so tiring. I had to put my head down and take a quick nap to rejuvenate myself. What made the day even better, is that my sister came along to scrapbook AND I won a door prize. It was lots of fun. I am hoping to attend another one in the near future. There is a weekend scrap event coming up but I'm not sure my husband is up for that one:-) I think I may be pushing my luck with that one.

Supplies
Crumb Cake card stock
Pumpkin Pie card stock
Basic Black card stock
Retired Designer Series Paper
Satin Ribbon
Buttons

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Custom invitations

2012-01-18T07:00:00.001-05:00

December was a busy month in my house. Not just due to family events but also because I was super busy making invitations for two different birthday events. I love making invitations for people. It can be time consuming but very enjoyable and fulfilling. I love the feeling of accomplishment when I send them all out. I decided to keep the same layout for both invitations. I just changed out the color to the favorite color of the birthday person. Both birthday girls loved the end result. I took off the names and addresses but I am sure you will get the gist of how the finished invites looked.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

Look Who's Turning 8!

2012-01-17T07:00:00.003-05:00

One of my sons celebrated his 8th birthday in December. I saw this super cute card at Stampin Pretty and thought I'd copy it for his card. I changed out some of the colors but didn't change a thing... well not much! Why mess with a good thing right? I added an 8 for my boy and stamped Happy Birthday on the red strip in Real Red card stock but it didn't show up well. My son said it was his favorite card of all the cards he received, then 3 seconds later asked me to get an app for his ipod touch...hmmmm. Coincidence right?

Well, thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

An Easy Thank You

2012-01-15T07:00:00.001-05:00

I am loving the 2 - 1/2" circle punch! It is wonderful as part of a focal point on a card. And this one was super duper easy! I demonstrated this card at one of my workshops so I kept it extra simple. Once again, I used the Easy Events stamp set ... You know it's one of my faves...
For this card I used:
Calypso Coral card stock and ink
Wild Wasabi card stock and ink
Whisper White card stock
Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon
and Rhinestones

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

A Berry Blossom Birthday

2012-01-14T07:00:00.001-05:00

Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicity!
Here is a birthday card I recently made for a friend of mine. I used one of my favorite stamp sets, Easy Events. I love that I can use this set for so many different occasions. I had so much fun making this card that I made two! Now I have an extra for the next birthday that sneaks up on me:-)
I also used:
Berry Blossom Designer Series Paper
Wisteria Wonder card stock
Lucky Limeade card stock and ink
Whisper White card stock
Calypso Coral card stock and ink
Going Gray ink

Wisteria Wonder ruffled ribbon

Happy 2012!

2011-12-31T16:24:00.008-05:00

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season and are excited and hopeful for a healthy and safe New Year. I remember being in high school thinking about how old I would be once the year 2000 was upon us...thinking that would be quite old! Now here we are even 12 years later it is amazing how fast time flies. So many changes in my life from then to now. Marriage, children, Stampin' Up! and the fun goes on. It has been quite a while since I've posted. Life has been so busy. Good..but busy:-) The kids had a wonderful Christmas and I had some time for stamping which always makes this mommy very very happy. I made some gift tags for some very special people and I made new tags for our stockings that hang by the chimney with care:-) I got this idea and layout from my second level upline, Gail Murray. Each year she has a "Cookies and Tags," class that I attend faithfully. This year I copied one of her layouts to make holiday tags for my family. Of course I changed mine slightly with colors, papers, stamps, etc but the basic idea is hers.

These were fun to make. I used the Christmas Lane Simply Scrappin' Kit. Stampin' Up!'s kits are awesome and so easy to use because the paper is already coordinated which means less planning needed on my part and you know I LOVE that!
Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

Stampin' Up!'s Online Extravaganza!

2011-11-22T09:34:00.004-05:00

Stampin’ Up has started their Online Extravaganza, an annual sale to kick off the holiday shopping season!

It began Monday, November 21, 2011, and runs through Wednesday, November 30, 2011!

Shop in my Online Store now, to take advantage of the great deals.

Stampin' Up! s Online Extravaganza

Monday was the big day!

Deals like FREE digital downloads valued at $40 when you buy My Digital Studio Express, 60 percent off select Designer Fabrics, and 30 percent off an exclusive ribbon bundle are listed as some of the specials

ALSO

There will be two items on sale for 24 hours only

So make sure you don’t miss the first 24 hours of Online Extravaganza!

You can shop at my online store at -- HERE

A Holly Berry Christmas

2011-10-24T07:00:00.001-04:00

My first Christmas card of the year! I made this card as part of a shoebox share I recently attended. I decided to use the Holly Berry Bouquet Specialty Designer Series Paper. I love this paper. It reminds me of innocence and of being young, and feeling the excitement of Christmas in the air. I also used the red Glimmer paper.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Back To School

2011-10-20T07:00:00.002-04:00

It's long overdue but I have an MDS page that I want to share. This page has been in the making for weeks. It is the Back To School page that kept getting interrupted. Okay so I do realize that the kids have been back to school for over a month now but better late than never. Back to school is always an exciting and busy time in our household. This year we had a Kindergartner, A second grader, a fifth grader and a twelfth grader. Of course the twelfth grader is a bit too mature for these types of pictures but the others still oblige me and my camera.

I found these cute bag tags on a website and decided to print them out for my boys. They have Star Wars characters on them and my boys really LOVE them and proudly wear them! I made a different one for my daughter but I guess fifth graders don't put tags on their backpacks....go figure!

Hope you like my page. It was fun to make.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

19 and Done!

2011-09-25T07:00:00.002-04:00

These are the final pages for the album that I worked so hard on. These two pages are for sports. I was told that the student really likes all kinds of sports so I tried to put a great representation of lots of different sports and this page can either be used for team pictures or recreational fun. Whichever she chooses I think these pages will get the job done. I am really loving my Lace Ribbon Border punch. It really adds to a page.

Here is a close up of the last finished page in the album. On the back of this page, stuck in the sleeve, I included a variety of colors of cardstock and some punched shapes that can be used for additional matting for photos the student will add. I also added 12 X 12 sheets of cardstock for her to create a 20th page. This album was a lot of fun to make. I hope it brings her lots of fun and houses memories to last a lifetime!

Well, thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

19 Pages...Still Going...

2011-09-24T07:00:00.005-04:00

Here are pages 14, 15, 16, and 17 of the scrapbook that I made for an exchange student from Thailand. I tried to make these pages generic so I stamped Great Times as a heading. I had fun making the stars. I stuck holes in some and stuck a brad in them. On the other ones I tied some linen thread through a few black buttons and stuck them on the stars. I think of all the pages, these two are high up on my top pic list out of the 19 pages. I used the First Edition Specialty Designer Series Paper. For the heading I used the Just Perfect Alphabet. The pretty blue patterned paper comes from Pocketful of Posies Designer Series Paper. I used this paper for many of the pages in this album.
These are two more generic pages. In order for the student to make this her own we felt it was important for her to have a few pages for whatever she felt was important to add as a special memory. I love these two colors together. I put some extra elegant eggplant paper in the back of the album for matting photos. Again, I used the Just Perfect Alphabet stamp set. It's been awhile since I bought an alphabet stamp set and I am really happy with the size and look of this one. It really is just perfect (LOL)!

Well, thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

The 10 Year Old Is Stamping!

2011-09-23T07:00:00.001-04:00

My daughter is going to a sleep over tonight at a friend's house. I thought I'd be cranking out a card last night but instead my daughter volunteered to make the card herself. I recently showed her the crayon resist technique and it has become her favorite thing to do when stamping. I pulled out my birthday stamps for her to choose from and she got busy picking stamps, colors and embellishments. I helped with cutting the cardstock and layering the ribbon, but she did everything else. She felt so proud when she was done. Great Job Zoë!

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

19 Pages...and Still Counting!

2011-09-21T07:00:00.006-04:00

Today I am sharing pages 10, 11, 12, and 13 from my 19 and counting scrapbook album that I created for an exchange student from Thailand. For these four pages I decided to loosen the reins and let the student have the opportunity to personalize some of the pages. I used a retired Simply Scrappin' Kit.
I started the layout on these pages but left out some key elements so that she could include them where she wanted. I also didn't decide on a heading instead I included 3 sheets of the adhesive cardstock cutouts that she can choose from 5 different headings (Here are Some of My Fabulous Photos, Totally Sweet, friends, Love To See You Happy, and Me & You.)
These are the second set still using the retired Simply Scrappin' Kit. After making these pages I really wanted to keep them for myself.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

19 Pages and Counting...

2011-09-20T07:00:00.008-04:00

The countdown continues with pages 6, 7, 8, and 9. I am sharing more of the pages from the scrapbook I recently completed for a Thai exchange student. The students have Orientation Weekends so these pages can be filled with special memories from these events. I included two tags to provide space for journaling. I really love the colors on these pages. I picked them because they sort of have an Asian feel which made me think they would be a good choice for this book. These pretty papers are included in the Pocketful of Posies designer series paper pack. I added another bird to the branch so the cute little birdie could have a friend too!
Here are more pages using the pretty Pocketful of Posies designer series paper. The theme for these pages is "Friends." I used the Just Perfect alphabet and Petite Pennants Builder with some bakers twine for the heading. One of the first cool things I learned as a stamper was the torn paper technique so I thought I'd go back to my stamping roots and add that. What did you learn as a new stamper? Give it a try and you'll see that the thrill is still there.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

19 pages of Scrapbooking...

2011-09-19T07:00:00.009-04:00

19 pages of scrapbooking really sounds like a lot doesn't it? Well, for the last couple of weeks I've been working on just that. An album of 19 fun scrapbook pages for an exchange student from Thailand. I designed most of the pages and she will get to add her photos to them so she can record her memories of her year in America. Her host family has a seven year old that plays on the same soccer team as my seven year old. The mom of the host family and I brainstormed a variety of themes to include in the book. I will share a couple of the pages each day for the next several days until all are shared.

I always find it challenging to get things to stick on the linen album cover. How does one decorate it? Add some ribbon and then what? Please leave a comment if you have any ideas to make a cover a bit more interesting. I added ribbon some twine and a chipboard tag with the student's name. I also put a button on the tag and I covered the holes on the button with a couple of rhinestones just to give it some sparkle. (It is hard to see it in this photo.)
As far as the Thailand page I was going to add some chopsticks to the side of the page because I thought it would look cute, but then my husband asked, "Are you sure they use chopsticks in Thailand?" which then gave me pause so I didn't put them on. A picture could go nicely on this page to recognize and acknowledge the country she calls home.
This welcome layout was pretty much copied from a design made by my second level upline, Gail Murray. We made pages very much like these at one of her classes and I thought they would work perfectly for a Welcome to America layout. I made some very slight changes such as color, stamps, and paper for the purposes of this book and because of the availability of supplies but the idea is all Gail's.
One of the themes we decided on was a school page. I used her school colors, my Sizzlits Dies for the heading, and I even included the school mascot too! She can stick her pictures wherever she likes and get some journaling done on the white square. I hope she likes these pages because I sure do:-)

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

A Birthday for Him

2011-09-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

Creating masculine cards remains such a challenge for me. I decided to use the Open Sea stamp set and a sentiment from the Bring On the Cake stamp set and this is what I came up with. I kept it pretty simple because that's how I roll:-) I made a second one, which I forgot to take a picture of before sending it, and I used a blender pen and water colored a touch of blue under the ship and really liked that effect.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Best Time ever!!

2011-09-03T07:00:00.001-04:00

Okay, so I do know that Convention has come and gone but I still have this great MDS page to share. Convention is one of my most favorite times of year. I get to connect with my stamping friends for an extended amount of time. We get to stamp, see and use new product, and just have lots of plain old creative fun. This page highlights one of my favorite pictures from Convention. All of the ladies that I hung out with in Utah are featured here on this page. Such great memories!

This is a pretty simple page but it gets the job done.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Our Days With Copper

2011-09-02T09:06:00.003-04:00

Our dog for a week in MDS.

As summer comes to a close and school starts back I am hoping to be able to blog on a regular basis. I was doing really well there for awhile until a new little one came into our lives and totally took stamping and all creativity out of my life. My kids had been wanting a little puppy forever... I thought I would be a good little mommy and give it a try. I found this cute little red colored poodle on a website I'd been following for over a year. I really thought long and hard and then went for it. Well, cute little Copper came into our home. He was the perfect puppy. He was great with the kids and they love, love, loved him....I just had a hard time with all that it took to care for this little guy. I think I probably should have started earlier in the summer? I probably should have had a different set of expectations for what I could get done once he got here? I probably should have managed my time differently? I probably should have known I'd have less time for my kids? I probably should have known I'd get a lot less sleep? I don't know but whatever it was...it wasn't working for me.

So we found Copper a new home with a lovely couple who have had a dog before. They came over, he went to them right away and it seemed to be love at first sight. I am happy to say that our Copper is now living in Philadelphia and going by the name "Rudy." We will visit him in a couple of weeks once he gets adjusted to his new home.

As for my kids...they were sad when he left. Some more than others....we had tears for a day maybe...some how could you remarks for 2 days maybe...but now a week later... the kids are doing fine. The day after he left I took the kids for ice cream and to apologize for sending their dog away, and my youngest (the 5 yr old) says, "Oh, we forgot all about that didn't we?" Well, the older children didn't agree with his proclamation ... but I have to say today they are living as if they did forget all about it...to some degree.

I have to say that when I was about 10 yrs old. My mom got us a puppy and then 2 weeks later she gave him away. I never really understood why she did that to us... but now I totally can!

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

A Button Buddy Thank You

2011-08-30T06:28:00.001-04:00

This card features the Button Buddy stamp set.I've been wanting to play with this stamp set ever since they featured it at Convention. It is such a fun set. I am going to have to play a bit more. I made this card for a friend of mine to thank her for letting my kids and me come for a visit to her shore house. We love visiting her, her kids and her dog Piper. We have the BEST time!

Card Recipe:
Stamp set: Button Buddies and Easy Events
Card Stock: Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Crumb Cake, and Flirtatious Designer Series Paper.
Accessories: I found this retired ribbon and thought it fit perfectly.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Some Flirty Fun!

2011-08-21T10:44:00.003-04:00

It has been a busy few weeks and crazy last few days. I will fill you in on the details a bit later. For now I have a fun card to share with you. I made this card using the Easy Events stamp set and the fun new Flirtatious Designer Series Paper along with Melon Mambo and Whisper White Cardstock. The Flirtatious paper pack includes 2 doily sheets. I cut apart one of them and made it the focal point of my card. I used the small flower punch and a rhinestone for the little flower at the bottom. I added a bit of glitter because every girl needs some glitter in her life now and then. For me...it's time for some glitter!! I'll add the sentiment at the bottom once I know who it is going to.

Hope you love it.
Thanks for stopping by, now go stamp something!
Maureen

Scrapbooking Class...Want to Join Us?

2011-08-10T07:00:00.001-04:00

This layout was inspired by Stampin' Up!'s August Stampin' Success. I used the Gratitude stamp set. Ink colors used were Basic Black and More Mustard.
This layout uses the Big Top Birthday Designer Series Paper and the Broadsheet alphabet.

These two layouts are the two designs my Scrapbook class will be completing this Friday, August 12th. I will have two sessions, 1-3 pm and 7-9 pm at my house. I still have some spaces available. The cost for this class is just $20.00 and includes all needed supplies. If you live in the Philly/New Jersey area and you'd like to join us please RSVP by Thursday, August 11th at noon and I'll set up a space for you. Do you have a scrapbooking friend? Tell them about it. The more the merrier! Email your RSVP to MLGOLD@comcast.net.

Flashback...Nothing Crafty

2011-07-31T20:50:00.005-04:00

It seems like just yesterday.... I was the cool one LOL (referring to yesterdays' post...see below)
See the girl on the right in the gold outfit? That's me in 1986!!!

Today I am sharing a flashback in history. Years ago in my teenage years, I was a dancer on a local television show called, Dancin' On Air. I danced on this show regularly for 3 years. Most shows aired live at 4pm. A week ago one of our local stations replayed four episodes from the shows' history. I was lucky enough to be in a couple of the episodes that aired. In this episode I am wearing a gold outfit. Once the announcer finishes talking the camera zooms directly to me and then goes into a flashback. I am shown a couple more times dancing. These were some of the best years of my life. Kelly Ripa from "Live with Regis and Kelly was also on this show. You can find her clip on the website. Check it out...Such Fun!!

These were the days. Too bad there isn't something like this for todays' teenagers. I surely would let me kids to this.

Thanks for stopping by... now watch my clip and then stamp something LOL

A Harry Potter Moment

2011-07-31T07:00:00.003-04:00

A while back I shared some of my Disney pages with you. I have been quietly working on so many more but wanted to change things up a bit on my blog so as to not inundate you with so much Disney. I think it has been a sufficient enough of a break so here are two more pages to share that will go into our Disney book. I think I have 5 more to complete before I can get into the printing process. I am so excited about having a completed theme related scrapbook in such a short amount of time. This is definitely a first for me. "Yay me!"

The kids LOVE their wands...okay, okay.....truth be told...I love mine too! I haven't been able to get it to work though. I think I need to swish and concentrate a bit more. I'll keep you posted:-)

I interrupt this Harry Potter moment to remind you that today is the last day to take advantage of the $99.00 sign-up deal. It ends today! To take advantage of this great opportunity you can now only sign up online. You can quickly sign up here to join my team! Along with all of the amazing product included in your starter kit, I will also add any stamp set of your choice. I'd love to have you as a part of my group!

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

So Cool!

2011-07-30T07:00:00.001-04:00

This weekend is my family reunion. One of the things we do during this time is adorn a new lovely t-shirt. I actually chose this color and I really like it! I could see me wearing it again for more than just sleeping in...well maybe LOL! Anywho...as we were getting ourselves packed up for our reunion, my daughter asked if she could bring the fabric scissors so she could "cut," the t-shirt we would be getting. Well, I'm all for creativity so of course I let her. Well, once she was dressed I looked at her and looked at me and noticed a huge fashion difference which left me wondering...."When did she become the cool one?"

I'm lovin' her creativity...that use to be me!

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

All this, for Just 99.00

2011-07-29T17:16:00.003-04:00

Have you ever wanted to get a discount on your stamping supplies, well time is running out. Sign up today and you can get started for just 99.00!
Click here and go to "Join Now," and join this fun and fabulous community of stampers!! Pleople become demonstrators for a variety of reasons:

to get a 20% discount
to earn an extra income
to gain access to many online communities and a websites full of crafty information
to attend Stampin' Up!'s annual events
to make new friends with like interests
to add more FUN to your life

Join my team and I will also include a stamp set of your choice for becoming a part of my group. This offer ends on July 31st if you sign up online. Please email me if you have any questions. I'd love to get you started. (MLGOLD@comcast.net)

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

What's A Shoebox Share?

2011-07-29T07:00:00.002-04:00

Todays' card was created for a shoebox share I was in, while in Utah. A shoebox share is an event where each participant designs a card, then provides enough materials and pre-cut cardstock for each member in the shoebox share to recreate the card. The number of participants in the group determines how many cards you leave the event with. For our shoebox share we had 6 gals in it so we got together, created each others cards and each left with 6 fun cards. These get togethers are always lots of fun and above all else we walk away with many more great card ideas.
Supplies:
Stamp Set: Easy Events, It's Your Day
Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, and Nautical Expedition dsp
Ink: Early Espresso, Riding hood Red
Vintage Wallpaper Dry Embossing Folder, Basic Pearl Jewels

Thanks so much for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Missing...Teeth!

2011-07-27T07:00:00.004-04:00

My 7 year old son has had two loose front teeth for over a month. He really wanted it out but it just would not fall out. After a month we all had enough so just before I left for Convention, my husband gave them each a little tug and out they came. My son was thrilled. Look at that perfect smile! His new teeth have already broken through the gum and are ready to be front and center.

I made this page using MDS. I put my newly aligning skills to the test. I learned a few new things at the +FUN class at convention. As part of the class we got the cute new Spice Cake digital download early. My friend Trish helped me work out the colors. We had so much fun putting it all together.

Well, thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Where Do Swaps Go?

2011-07-26T07:00:00.002-04:00

Here is the final show of convention swaps that I was lucky to get from fellow demonstrators during convention. I am hoping to make better use of my swaps this year than I have in the past. In the past I'd look at them when I got them and then maybe once again once I got home but then not too much follow up. This time I am hoping to put them to better use...perhaps by sorting them by stamp set and sharing them at workshops and classes. Of course, I'll be casing some of them too! So, leave me a comment and share; How do you use your swaps?
This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Arlyne D'Agostino. I love the embossing on the hearts and the sentiment. Really cute!
This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Pam Joel. I love all of the attention to detail. The blue bird really pops on this card. Cute!
This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Jackie Topa. Who doesn't like ice cream? I could eat it every night. The ice cream on this card pulls out and you can write a message on the inside. Really clever!

This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Sharon Cline. Love the embossing. It looks so elegant!
This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator who didn't leave her name. I f you know who stamped this lovely card, please leave me a comment so I can give credit to the creative demonstrator who made this card. Lovely!
This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Teressa Carroll. This card makes me want this Lace Ribbon border punch more and more. Really cute!
This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Andrea Borries. I'm lovin' this owl coupled with the wood grain background stamp. It all works so well together!
This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Michelle Suit. Hey Mickey your so fine, your so fine, you blow my mind...hey Mickey...Hey Mickey. Need I say more?

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

More Convention Swaps

2011-07-25T07:00:00.002-04:00

I've been home from Convention for exactly a week now. I'm back to schedules and meals...all the fun stuff about being a wife and mother. Convention is truly my time to focus on creativity and take a break from the real world. I look forward to it every year. Today I am sharing more of the swaps from Convention. I got so many cute ones and I thought you'd like to see them too! I took these pictures at night in my hotel room so the lighting isn't that great but you can get the general idea.
Enjoy!

This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Millie Sakamoto. I love the colors. I never would have put blue with purple but it really works. Too cute!

This card was created by fellow demonstrator, Raedean Shibata. I love the simplicity of this card.

This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator but unfortunately they did not label it. Another cute card. If you know who stamped this lovely card please leave me a comment so I can give them credit.

This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Cassie Miller. Great colors. I love the sponge dauber coloring on this one.
This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Shilo Garland. I never get tired of this adorable reindeer. Great colors!

This card was stamped by fellow demonstrator, Kriss Huels. Really cute. This card makes me happy.
This card was stamped by another fellow demonstrator, but unfortunately they didn't put their name on the back. If you know who stamped this lovely card please leave me a comment so I can give them credit. I am sure I'll be casing this one so it would really be great if I could give credit where credit is due. I love this layout!

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

The Convention Experience

2011-07-19T00:32:00.006-04:00

Have you ever wondered what convention is really like? Well, here is a sneak peek at what really happens during convention. So much fun! Here are the highlights from convention 2011.
Hope you like it!

This swap is from fellow demonstrator, Heather Deshayes.
This swap is from fellow demonstrator, Sue Boyle.
This swap is from fellow demonstrator, Michele Richey.
This swap is from fellow demonstrator, Mary Lynn Riggs.
This swap is from fellow demonstrator, Susan Finn.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Convention Swaps

2011-07-18T07:00:00.001-04:00

One of the best things about convention is the swapping that goes on. Some demonstrators bring hundreds of swaps. I really like seeing the creativity of others and swapping ideas is a great way to do it. Todays' post consist of some of the swaps that I got from my fellow demonstrators.
Enjoy!!
This card was created by fellow demonstrator, Sue Heron
This card was created by a fellow demonstrator. Information was not provided. Please leave a comment if you made this card or know the demonstrator who did. I would love to give her credit. I love the gifts. so cute!
This card was created by fellow demonstrator,Jen Martin.

This card was created by fellow demonstrator, Susan Wohlfert.

I will post additional swaps for the next few days.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Way Too Quickly

2011-07-17T03:51:00.013-04:00

Once again Convention has come and gone way too quickly. Today was our last day together here in Utah. I have had so much fun spending time with old friends and making new ones. People at convention are always so friendly and full of fun. Well, who wouldn't be with all of the amazing things we've experienced these last several days. Convention has many advantages and I've been so thrilled to be a part of them all. We've had so many, "See it, hear it first," moments:

the veiling of the new Holiday mini
a free Holiday mini pack of 8
a beautiful catalog binder
2 free stamp sets (Workshop Words, Warmest of Wishes) in addition to the ones included with Convention
Free digital content (Noteworthy)
Unveiling of 2 new awesome products coming soon....that I can't yet mention but you will LOVE them both.
Announcement for the location of the next Leadership (San Antonio, Texas)
Announcement of the next Incentive trip, (Fiji in 2013)
Locations for some of the upcoming Regionals
Convention 2012.....July 18th - 21st (Gotta be there!)

Edited: (Free stuff I forgot to mention)

a free workshop in a bag (enough for product for 8 make n' takes) Wow!!!!
a free simply sent

Also, a first for me.....I finally one "Prize Patrol," Yay!!!!!.... I won the Hello Doily background stamp and some beautiful satin ribbon.
This was the BEST Convention evah!!!!! (Yeah, I know I spelled it wrong:-)
The Day in pictures......Enjoy!

Style watch...Loving Shelli's clothes! It was always a highlight to see what she was wearing. Sorry the image isn't clear, but you get the idea.

Holiday mini displays in the Gathering place.
More Holiday mini projects....can't wait to start making these! Can you see the pretty tags?
Shannon West demonstrated cute holiday projects using goodies found in the Holiday mini.
Cute stockings with an oblong box in between filled with candy. Yum!!!!

Carrie Cudney demonstrated cute projects featuring candy.

Cute candy stand.
Happy demonstrators receiving free product...what could be better than free stamps and free digital content?

A happy and tired me. Ready for dinner and a nice long nap before heading home on Sunday.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Another Day at Convention

2011-07-16T03:39:00.008-04:00

Look who's demonstrating on stage now! It's Shalae Brown, Shelli Gardner's daughter. She was awesome!

Today was another busy day at convention. I got a chance to take lots more pictures of the beautiful cards on display. Shalae, another one of Shelli's daughters demonstrated on stage for the first time with Shelli. It was fun to watch her with another daughter. She and her daughter's are so entertaining together.
They wore the same shoes today. Totally unplanned but exactly alike minus the color difference. Super cute!

Style Watch! Shelli's outfit for today. Love it! Check out these pretty shoes!

Enjoy the samples from the display boards!!!

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

First Full Day of Convention

2011-07-15T02:49:00.010-04:00

Today was the opening day for convention and what a wonderful day it was. We started the day at 6 am and it didn't stop until 10pm. It was both exhausting and exhilarating! I'll give you the highlights to keep it short.

a fun first General session with Shelli....loved her outfit!!!
a new Reggae/Techno type theme song with amazing dancers.
a new beautiful new Holiday mini with LOTS of exciting new product...I can't share it with you yet but you will LOVE it!!!
We got a set of 8 Holiday mini's for FREE!!
a super cute solo presentation by Sara Douglass ending with her daughter Sidney joining her on stage to give out FREE product. We love free product!!!
classes with a focus on growth both personal and professional...lots of great information
a shoebox share with our little stamping group (I'll share cards and projects from this another day
awards night....my second level upline, Gail, ranked 94th in Top Demonstrator of the Year...go Gail!!!

So much going on.....Check out the day in pictures:

Main Stage fun...dancing as we wait for the day to begin. This is one of the ladies I shared the dance floor with. She was LOTS of fun. A country song came on and she started doing a country dance. I watched once and caught on and before you know it there were at least 20 of us joining her. Afterwards I thanked her for teaching me a new dance and she said, "I just made it up!" we both laughed and kept dancing.
Isn't Shelli's outfit super cute? Check out the red shoes...I want them! Adorable!
Some of the amazing cards on one of the many displays.
More samples on display.
Each year demonstrators get to walk across the main stage in celebration of their milestones. This year two new walks were added to the repertoire, one of the walks was for demonstrators who recruited this past year. This photo shows my friend Sue, my second level upline, Gail and my first level upline Jacki. Way to go girls for recruiting this year....Woohoo!!
More cheers for the ladies.
Sara, Shelli's daughter presenting on stage alone for the first time. She was fantastic and funny as ever. I enjoy her sense of humor.
More displays in the Gathering Place. Can you see the display boards in the background? They are full of sample cards and scrapbook pages. I took this picture during lunch so what it is
usually a busy spot was pretty vacant. This is where demonstrators scourer the boards oohing and ahhing while taking pictures to remember the creative ideas from other demonstrators. Many of the cards we share come from the ideas of others. No need to reinvent the wheel.
More ways to showcase what can be created from Stampin' Up! product.

My second level upline, Gail, as she ranked 94th in the Top 100 Demonstrators of this year. We are so proud of her. She works really hard and is one of the most creative people I know. She is also a wonderful giving person.

This photo shows our group this year. Jacki, Jean, me, Christin (my downline), Gail, Isabel, Amy, and Sue. A fun group to spend time with in Utah and back home.

I'd love to know if you are enjoying this little piece of convention so leave me a comment and let me know what you like and what you'd like to see more of.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Convention Check-In Day

2011-07-13T14:49:00.015-04:00

Well, I arrived safe and sound here in Utah yesterday. I learned something very important for flying out at the Philadelphia airport...Don't wear cargo pants! It seems that the pockets for cargo pants are suspicious and need to be patted down...oh and remember to take off any belts too! The detectors don't like them. Other than that, I had a wonderful flight. I arrived at 10:00am, got in my hotel room by 11:30, then headed to lunch with my Harry Potter book (I'm rereading the second half of the last book in preparation for the movie) in hand then came back for a four hour nap.

New Convention Bag!!!!

Contents in the bag. We got a binder for our catalog. This will really help with organizing and sharing what Stampin' UP! has to offer with our customers. Stampin' Up! is so good to its' demonstrators!!!

Today was the start of everything exciting....It was check-in day which means "new convention bag," day!!! The day of the much coveted convention bag. This is probably the most exciting thing....well at least at the top of the list...of the things I look forward to at convention. After getting our new bags we went into Memento Mall where we could purchase our Stampin' Up! business goodies. One of the first things I saw was this super cute umbrella and decided to try it out.

My new goodies as I left Memento Mall. Too many great buys to pass up.
I got this super cute cardigan among LOTS of other stuff!!!
One of the wonderful displays in the Gathering Place.

Two of the ladies from our group; Jean and Sue, posing with cofounder and CEO of Stampin' Up! Shelli Gardner.
Another cute display at the Gathering Place.
This is just scratching the surface of all the fun stuff we've seen so far. Tomorrow I will share some card and scrapbooking samples on display. We had a very busy first day here and the fun is still yet to begin. Today I was one of the lucky winners for Prize Patrol. My first time ever during my six years of coming to convention...so exciting. I one a background stamp and some pretty ribbon. I love ribbon so it was truly the best way to end the pre- first day of convention. I'm off to a great start, so things can only get better....right?

If you want to see something particular, leave a comment and I'll post a photo and information regarding it.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Convention Swap Card

2011-07-13T07:00:00.002-04:00

Today is check-in day for Convention so needless to say my excitement level is on overload. If you could see me now you'd see one very happy girl:-) I am sharing my second swap card. This card uses The Open Sea stamp set. It is one of my favorites for creating that special masculine card. It also uses the Nautical Expedition designer series paper. They work well together! If you are regular on my blog you may be thinking "didn't she post this one before?" Well, you'd be right. I posted this card as one of the ones I created for Father's Day. I just changed the sentiment and decided it would work well for a swap:-)

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

It's Convention Time!

2011-07-12T07:00:00.002-04:00

Excitement is building! I'm off to Utah today for Stampin' Up!'s annual convention. It is high on my list of favorites! Today I am sharing one of the swaps I made for convention. I used all of the new In Colors (card stock and ink) and the Flower Fest stamp set. The sentiment comes from the On the Grow stamp set.

I'll do my best to post updates from the excitement that is Convention.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

The Wizarding World

2011-07-11T07:00:00.002-04:00

One of my all time favorite movies/books happens to be the Harry Potter series. I am the biggest Harry Potter geek there is. I love everything in and about Harry Potter and his world. I think J.K. Rowling is an amazing author and can't wait to read whatever she does next. While in Orlando my family and I went to Universal's Island's of Adventure park. There we experienced the magic that is Harry Potter. We walked through Hogsmeade, which was paved in cobblestone, went to Ollivander's Wands and bought our own personal wand, before heading over to the greatest ride ever...The Forbidden Journey which takes you inside Hogwarts castle. It is an awesome experience that I would highly recommend to anyone who has the slightest interest in the Harry Potter series.

The pages I am sharing today are additional pages for our Disney photobook. Everything was created using My Digital Studio. The background page is one of the new In Colors, Wisteria Wonder. One of my favorite new colors. Which one is yours?

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Coolin' Off!

2011-07-08T07:00:00.002-04:00

Another quick Disney page. This one features my one and only daughter. I guess you might call her my favorite daughter (hee hee). The days were so hot in Florida even despite all the rain we had while there. On one of the hot days my ten year old took refuge in an air conditioned store with a cool drink. These few minutes put her back on track to enjoy the rest of the day.

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The Littlest Winner

2011-07-07T07:00:00.001-04:00

The littlest (is that a word?) winner was the BIGGEST winner. The kids played a few games while we were at Animal Kingdom in Orlando. Out of everyone...our five year old came up as the BIG winner. He was so proud! It was totally by chance that his ball rolled into the right colored cup to win the biggest dragon.

I am having so much fun getting my Disney pages done so quickly. I still have quite a few more to go. I'll start mixing things up again and show some cards. I have a couple of projects that I am working on.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

When it Rains in Disney - MDS

2011-07-06T09:08:00.005-04:00

I bet you've always wondered what one does when it rains in Disney. Well of course it puts a little bit of a damper on things LOL!! But other than that people just poncho up and keep it moving. We were in Orlando for seven days and it rained and by rained I mean a thunderous downpour on at least four of the days for at least an hour or more on some days. Here are two more MDS pages for our Disney Book. I am so excited...I've completed 7 pages so far. This is the quickest I've ever scrapped pages from a vacation.

I need to get busy thinking about convention. Do you have your swaps done? Me...no, haven't even started. That is on the agenda as my next project. Wish me luck with that:-)

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Speedway Racers

2011-07-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

Happy July 4th! Hoping you are having a fabulous day! We are in South Carolina visiting family before heading back home from an exciting week. The kids wanted to add more days to our Disney adventures...but it's time to get back to reality!

Adding another page to our Disney book. This ride was a favorite by all. We didn't let the rain put a damper on the day(s). This is my fourth visit to Disney and my first encounter with rain and I don't mean a little rain here and a little rain there. I mean ride shut down kind of rain. I bet you wonder what we did on these rainy days. Well, if we were already at one of the parks our motto became, "Ain't no stopping us now...we're on the move..." We just put on some fabulous ponchos and went with it and carried on as if the sun were shining bright. (I'll share a page of this soon.)

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Tree of Life

2011-07-03T09:00:00.001-04:00

We are still in Disney. Here is a MDS page I finished on Saturday morning before heading out to Universal Studios theme park. I am trying to get this book completed before heading off to Stampin' Up!'s convention. This will be a first to have our memories documented so quickly. Hope your July 4th weekend is off to a great start.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Disney Album Cover

2011-07-02T07:00:00.003-04:00

I am working on the album cover for our family's Disney trip. I am having the hardest time find a stamp that I can use to create a realistic mouth. This was the best I could come up with. If you have any suggestions PLEASE share. I welcome all suggestions to help with the finished product. I used a variety of punches (circles and ovals) to create the features on Mickey's face. For the mouth, I used brackets.

One might ask when I found time to do this, well after walking around for few hot hours in the Florida sun, (which I love) we came back to our unit to decompress and I worked on this before heading to the pool. Tough life, I know. It is a break we all really needed. The kids are having a ball. They want to move here. Frankly, so do I. My husband, not so much. Too hot for him.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Brothers at Breakfast

2011-07-01T13:48:00.006-04:00

We are still in Disney. You may have noticed some pages are recent and some are from a few years ago. The best way to differentiate is the old ones are actual paper scrapbook pages and the new are all digital. The time frame is four years give or take 2 months. This page is recent. It is from the Character breakfast. You would think most kids would LOVE this experience. Our five year old said he was not going to take any pictures and really didn't want to sit on an "aisle" seat (so the characters could have easy access to him). In the end he did sit in the aisle seat. The funniest part was when Mickey started his musical parade, our five year old put his fingers in his ears as if to say "I'm trying to eat over here!" He did not get up and join the fun. Oh well, at least he stayed in his own seat. This was such a fun experience, well at least for me it was.

When Daisy Duck came around of course our 17 year old didn't want to get up and take a picture. I totally understood how this could underscore his cool factor but I think Daisy took it personally. She scooted on over to him and beckoned for me to take the picture there. Of course I listened and did it. The best part is I think she got the widest smile out of him. I haven't seen a smile that wide in a picture in a long time. Way to go Daisy.

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My Little Brother...

2011-07-01T12:20:00.003-04:00

Today is my little brother's 41st birthday. This picture was taken a year ago today when we helped my sister in-law give him a surprise party at my house. Hope they are having a great day in Costa Rico. Happy Birthday little brother!

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Fun at Epcot

2011-07-01T09:00:00.004-04:00

Epcot was one of the family favorites. They, in my opinion, have the best fireworks ever! Although come to think of it, I haven't seen fireworks in any of the other parks to really compare. All I know is that their fireworks always fill my spirit and leave me feeling good. I think this year I will have to give Magic Kingdom and evening stroll to see what I've been missing. I hear they are pretty good too? Which is your favorite? Where do you like to watch fireworks when you visit Disney World?

These are the last of my Disney scrap pages. Hope you've been enjoying the spread:-) Hopefully I will find time to use MDS and scrap some new pages while we are away. If not, I'll blog again once we return.

Thanks so much for stopping by...now go stamp something!

The Disney Experience

2011-06-30T09:00:00.003-04:00

We are still in Disney World so it seems appropriate to share more scrapbook pages from our last trip 4 years ago. Pages that I scrapped 3 days before heading out to Disney again. Had to make room to store some more photos in the Disney box. Didn't want to confuse one trip with another. One might say I was on a mission to get this accomplished and that one would be so RIGHT! The main goal was just to get our old pictures on paper so these pages show very minimal effort. Hope you are enjoying my express pages. Have a wonderful day!

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Disney Pages

2011-06-29T09:00:00.004-04:00

So, by now you've probably have seen ore than enough of our fun adventures at Disney. Well, I've got a few more Disney pages to share.

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Disney Character Breakfast (MDS)

2011-06-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

We've been in Disney for a few days. Today we went to a Character breakfast where the Disney characters come around for pictures while families dine. You can make reservations at various restaurants at each of the parks to take part in these. We had ours at Animal Kingdom in the Africa area at the Tusker House. The food was amazing!!!! The kids got to sit in the end seats to be more accessible as the characters make their way around from table to table. They even had a mini parade around the restaurant led by Mickey Mouse. Each kid was able to pick a musical instrument and follow Mickey's lead. It was pretty cool. A great experience for everyone. Our 17 year old was even happy because the food was more than satisfying. I'm so glad we got to squeeze this in.

For this page I used the Simple Punch letters and lots of circles for making my own Mickey.

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and even More Disney Pages

2011-06-28T09:00:00.001-04:00

More Disney pages to share.

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Disney Pages

2011-06-27T09:00:00.002-04:00

More (just getting pictures on paper) Disney Pages to share.

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Disney Pages

2011-06-26T09:00:00.002-04:00

Hi There, As promised, here are two more pages I completed before heading back to Disney World. Disclaimer: These pages are super quick with the main intention of getting them scrapped before going back to Disney....so no masterpieces here, but well documented preservation of memories.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Disney Pages

2011-06-25T09:00:00.002-04:00

Ok, so we are soon heading off to Disney World and the family is pretty excited. I am, however, having a bit of anxiety as a scrapbooker. The last time we went was almost four years ago and I haven't scrapped a single picture from the Disney pack! While we were there last time I took lots of beautiful pictures and they have been sitting in a Disney box anxiously awaiting my attention. Up until 3 days ago I only had 2 pages partially completed and those were done over a year ago! For 2 nights (I skipped one, couldn't keep my eyes open to be creative), I've been a busy girl and have since completed 16 pages. Yes, 16, not masterpieces, but none the less, 16, and I am sooo proud! I still have maybe 4 more pages to be totally done. I couldn't imagine truly relaxing (I mean that relatively) on vacation. My thoughts would constantly be on the fact that had so many unscrapped pictures at home. I am feeling much better about taking new pictures while there. While we are away I will be posting a couple of my pages each day.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

The Real JOB!

2011-06-24T09:00:00.003-04:00

Not long ago I was asked to talk about summer reading on a local news channel so I thought I'd share a peek at my real life, okay so no I am not usually on television but I am usually talking about reading to someone on a daily basis. So, go on, take a peek.
Click here

Thanks for stopping by...now pull out those books and read with your little ones.

Father's Day with Grandpa! in MDS

2011-06-23T09:00:00.005-04:00

Another quick and easy MDS page.

My kids are so lucky. They have grandparents that will drop everything when my kids need them. My kids know that they are truly loved and adored by their grandparents. We spent Father's Day with one of their Grandfathers...Grandpa Gold. We went out to dinner then back to their house where the kids hit balls on the lawn and played with other kids in the neighborhood. It is always hard to get them away from there, but that is a good problem to have, now isn't it?

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Our Little Golfer

2011-06-22T09:00:00.002-04:00

On Father's Day my little guy watched with envy while his biggest brother swung a golf club and hit a few balls on the lawn at my in-laws. Our oldest guy is a golfer. He takes lessons and plays on a league at school. My littlest guy enjoys miniature golf but never really experienced the real weight of an adult club. Once he got it in his hand and the club made contact with the ball he was sold on the idea of golf as a sport. For the next hour he swung and hit the ball across the lawn and back again. Surprisingly to all of us he did well. We might have another golfer on our hands...not the cheapest sport. I'll have to remind him of how much he likes basketball. Just kidding!

For The Graduate!

2011-06-21T09:00:00.002-04:00

Now that school is officially over, I am hoping to share more with you on a regular basis. Todays' card started from this card which was designed by my friend and fellow demonstrator, Donna. Donna shared this card a recent upline meeting we both attended. I liked it so much so, that I used the same layout when it came time to make a card in honor of my friend's daughter's graduation from college.
For this card I figured you can't mess with perfection so I kept everything the same and just changed out the papers. I used the retired Night and Day designer series paper that can be found here. I also used basic black, whisper white, basic gray, and certainly celery cardstock. I'll be sending this card on its way tomorrow.

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It's A Card Set!

2011-06-20T09:00:00.001-04:00

What did you give as a teacher gift? This is always the trickiest time of year. I want to thank my kids teachers for working so hard to make learning fun. My kids LOVE school and they absolutely LOVE their teachers. I am so grateful to them for how special they make everyday for my kids and I really want them to know that I appreciate them....but what is the perfect thing to give? I am a teacher and I get dumbfounded each year when this time rolls around. This year I had my kids tag along to help pick things out. We gave each of the teacher's a couple of things, a 4-card, card set, which I placed in a cellophane bag with a ribbon around it. I stuck it in a gift bag with a Vera Bradley organizer for two of them and then a Vera Bradley lunch bag for another one. Lastly my youngest son's teacher just got engaged so we gave her a wedding planner book. Hopefully they liked them. My kids said the teachers loved their gifts but what else would the teachers say (LOL)!

Any way thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T12:21:00.003-04:00

Hope you are enjoying your Father's Day! Here are two (style) cards I created for the men in my world. Hope you have a wonderful day with the men in your world.

Both cards were created using the Open Sea stamp set in the Summer Mini Catalog and the Nautical Expedition Designer series paper. Both were quick and easy.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

School's Out!

2011-06-16T01:44:00.004-04:00

School's out! WooHoo!!! I am so excited. I think teachers are even more excited than the kids. We started our countdown when there were 30 school days left. The students in my school got out yesterday. Today, the teachers were busy cleaning up their classrooms for the summer and we all had super wide smiles upon our faces. It's been a great day. Today's card is the card I created as a thank you for my kids teachers. It was a lot of fun to make, but really aren't all cards fun to make? Anyway, for this card I decided to get the butterfly punch out of the plastic it came in and give it a go. I used some rhinestones to perk up the butterflies a bit. I made six of these cards but I ran into a slight problem. I only had four buttons so then I remembered seeing these faux buttons on someone's blog and I just had to try it. I made them by using my circle punches and some crystal effects. Can you tell which one is sporting the faux button? I'm sure you guessed it. It's the shiny one on the left. Next time I'll put some linen thread through the holes to spruce it up a bit.

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Matching It Up!

2011-06-06T00:02:00.005-04:00

Do you ever dress like your kids? Do you dress them alike or am I the only one? Well, some days I feel like looking like my kids so this is what the end result turns out to be. My boys actually love to dress alike. I wonder if I had anything to do with it? Hmmm!

I started this page months ago and then became much too busy, with soccer practices, soccer games, swimming lessons, and school activities, to finish it. I downloaded these Ice Cream Parlor papers and accessories during Sale-A-Bration. I like the happy feelings the colors generate. This photo was taken over 4 years ago when my youngest was just 8 months old. So much has happened and time surely has flown by ever so quickly. We are each wearing matching sweaters that I found and thought I just had to have. Aren't they cute? Come on you know you want one too! The sad part is that I think we only wore them the one time because they were a bit too warm. My kids heat up ever so quickly.

New goal...get more pages done both digital and...hmmm...what does one call a scrap page that isn't digital...the old fashion way???

Well, thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

A Growing Thank You

2011-06-03T09:52:00.004-04:00

At the end of each school year there are always guest teachers (long-term substitutes), that we have to say goodbye to, who have been filling in for teachers who are out on maternity leave. This card is for one such teacher. She has been with us for 2 years and the teacher she has been filling in for is ready to return to work. For this card I used the On the Grow stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalog. I used blender pens to water color the image and then I added some buttons to make it extra special. This card truly took me only 15 minutes to put together. I am loving my embossing folders. One quick little step really adds to a card. I hope she likes it. This card uses River Rock, Basic Gray, and Confetti White card stock and some fabulous ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Scooting to Retirement

2011-06-01T21:09:00.003-04:00

One of my colleagues is retiring this year. I saw this image and thought it would be perfect for her. Can't you just imagine riding on a country road or through a quaint little town on this adorable little scooter? It makes me dream of a carefree life. Something I hope to have later in life. This stamp set is in the Summer mini and is called, On the Grow. I used the Curly Label-Extra punch to frame the image unit. I cut it in half and adhered one end to the top of the image unit and the other to the bottom. Then I added the buttons to give it a little umph! Hope she likes it.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Look Who's Celebrating 5 in MDS

2011-05-25T07:09:00.004-04:00

We had a fun birthday celebration earlier this month for my youngest son. My cuddle bug turned five years old on May 9th. He's my last bundle of joy. I am so grateful that he still lets me hug and kiss on him at will. I can't get enough of hugs and cuddles from him. May he always love his momma!
His card comes from the Extreme Skate Board stamp set and Celebrations dsp. How do you know if your life is a bit over scheduled? Well, I'll tell you how. You make a card for your son and then forget to give it to him until you come across it a week later. Yep, that's how it went in my household. He didn't even miss it! His gifts were plenty enough to keep him happy.
This page highlights the happiness he felt turning the big five. He could not wait for his day. In our house the birthday person gets to pick their dinner of choice. His request was that we went to a place that had Nachos, so off to Uno's we went. His other request was that I bake him a cake from scratch that was white and had red and blue on it. I am thrilled to say both request were granted leaving me with one very happy boy. We all enjoyed and basked in his happiness with him. A great day.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Strawberry Picking...another MDS page

2011-05-24T05:44:00.006-04:00

Last weekend my kids and I went strawberry picking. It is such a fun outing. There are many farms in our area to choose from but we like Johnson's Corner Farm. They have lots of fun events, such as bouncing areas, play yards, hay mazes, and a petting zoo just to name a few of the attractions to choose from. There was a live band and a barbeque going on. Okay, so yes it is a money pit but well worth it. We don't do all of the events, usually the hayride and one other thing. On this particular day our focus was strawberries, so the kids got to go on a hayride out to the fields where there are rows and rows of runners filled with juicy red strawberries. I love that the kids get to see how the strawberries grow, then choose the most ripest ones, and pick them right from the plant. They had fun being selective, knowing these would become part of that nights dessert - yummy strawberry shortcake.

For my pages I kept the same layout and just changed the pics. The little green bushes are from the scalloped circle. I lightened the color for two of them for variation. There is a story behind the bear my son had for the picture. That will be featured on an upcoming page.

I hope you like them.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something.

Blissful Bride in Night and Day

2011-05-19T10:00:00.002-04:00

The celebration is on once again at my work. We have another wedding coming up and I was elected the card maker. I decided to use the Blissful Bride stamp set again. I am lovin' the beautiful gown image included in this stamp set. I used a sponge to add some color to her gown to make it stand out. I traced the outline of the image with my Going Grey Stampin' Write marker. It is hard to tell from this picture, but I actually used the vanilla Smooch spray to add some sparkle to my card. It really looks cute and sparkly in person. The background paper is retired but can be purchased through Stampin' Up!'s online store. It's called, "Night and Day."

A couple of days ago my upline, Jacki, held a shoebox share and this is the card that I shared with the group. We had a great time stamping all of the beautiful cards that everyone brought and of course chit chatting

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!.

Kid Card Class

2011-05-18T00:28:00.004-04:00

I am having camera issues. The quality of my photos isn't the best so please bear with me.

Each year my school has an auction where parents can bid on special activities for their children to enjoy with their teachers. For the second year my colleague and friend, Samantha and I offered an afterschool kid card class for the parents to bid on. The two highest bidders were each able to choose some friends to join them for a stamping class. We wound up with four Kindergarteners and four First graders for a total o eight young stampers. I designed one card and one gift tag. My friend Sam designed one card and one gift tag. Unfortunately, I was so busy during the class that I did not get to take pictures of her card and tag but they were both adorable.

Living up to my usual M.O., both my card and gift tag were quick and easy. And believe me, quick and easy was definitely the order of the day. For both my card and gift tag I gave the students the opportunity to choose if they wanted to use the cupcake punch or the image of the Extreme Surfer. Most of our group consisted of boys and the Surfer was a very popular choice. The students had lots of fun and they did a great job stamping.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

Polka-Dots for Baby

2011-05-13T21:52:00.003-04:00

It seems that almost each Friday for the last few weeks we have been celebrating someone's special milestone at work. This week it was time for a baby shower. I decided to create my favorite little punched frame using the dotted scallop ribbon punch. I really like the look of these little frames and have been using them a lot. I used the recently retired Sale-A-Bration designer series paper to give the card a fun feeling.I used Crystal Effects to give the little onesie a bit of a puff. lastly, I added my trademark...a bit of ribbon and whalla a card was born.

Thanks for stopping by, now go stamp something.

Maureen

Blissful Bride in pink

2011-04-28T06:34:00.004-04:00

It's been awhile since I've been here. It seems whenever I add something I have to stop something. I started exercising on a regular basis and well that left little time for stamping. Not a good plan. I've got to figure out how to get both stamping and exercising in. Does getting up to pick out paper count? Probably not:-)

Anyway...enough with my problems...A co-worker of mine is getting married this summer. A group of us went in on a gift. One of us collected the money and purchased the gift, another bought the wrapping paper, and the last one of us (me) made the card and this is it. I was trying to think of something quick and cute. Cause that's how I do it. I used the Blissful Bride stamp set. I really like the gown image and decided to use my sponge daubers to give it some color. I finished it up with a bit of white smooch. That gave it the shimmer to make it a bit special. I hope the new bride likes it.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Just a Little Note...

2011-04-14T00:33:00.004-04:00

A couple of posts ago I used this same layout and same stamp set with a different color combination. I liked it so much I had to try it again. It's a quick, simple, and fun layout to duplicate for any occasion. This isn't my usual style of card but I like the softness of it. It's very interesting what one comes up with when you step out of your normal box.

Thanks so much for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Maureen

So Happy For You

2011-04-12T23:57:00.006-04:00

Okay, so I totally cased this card from Heather Summers. I saw this cute card on her blog and wanted to recreate it myself. So here it is. It was a lot of fun to make. I need to use my punches more often. I, of course added my own touch....some ribbon because I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE me some ribbon. The quality of this photo is pretty questionable, probably because I'm trying to take photos at midnight when ALL natural lighting is gone! I will try to retake it tomorrow and change the photo. I really wanted to get another post on so I am apologizing in advance.

Well, thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Happy Thoughts

2011-04-07T23:35:00.003-04:00

A quick and fun card using the Apple Blossom level 2 Hostess set. I believe this was my first time ever using it and I think I should pull it out more often. I mistakenly cut the card stock too short so I had to make some adjustments. I decided to add 2 scallop edges to even out the front and back of the csrd.
Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by...Now go stamp something!

Card Recipe:
Apple Blossom Level 2 Hostess Set
Card stock: Tango Tangerine, Whisper White, Early Espresso, Greenhouse Gala dsp
Ink: Tango tangerine, Old Olive, Early Espresso
Accessories: Ribbon

My Boys!

2011-03-31T22:50:00.003-04:00

It's another MDS page. Hope you like it! The photo isn't the best quality. This moment came and I picked up my iphone to snap the picture before the moment was gone.

I love being a mom! Especially when I get to witness moments like these! It's usually very busy in my house but every once in awhile, in between the running and jumping and flipping, this is what I find. My seven year old is beginning to love reading and he is becoming pretty fluent too! He is starting to initiate reading and when he does my little four year old curls up right along side him to listen. The seven year old sometimes gives the four year old parts on the repetitive phrasing and some parts they read in unison. What could be better than that?

(Side note: No, the four yr. old isn't reading he is just a good repeater with an excellent memory)

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp or scrap something!

Nine Innings - MDS

2011-03-28T20:44:00.004-04:00

More fun with My Digital Studio. I tried doing a challenge on MyDigitalStudio.net and this is what I came up with. I had fun with it. I pulled out some pictures from last spring when my middle son was playing baseball. I used one of the photos as the background paper. It feels great to do something with them.

Thanks for stopping by... now go stamp something!

The Aquarium in MDS

2011-03-27T08:02:00.004-04:00

My daughter is in a special program in her school called L.E.E.P. One of the benefits of this L.E.E.P. is special events, activities and even trips. I went with her and bus load of fourth graders and their parent (only one could attend). The trip was to the Baltimore Aquarium. We had to arrive at her school early to load the bus. This is the part I didn't think through well enough. I guess I imagined a luxury bus...but this was a school trip so what was I thinking....but a 2-1/2 hour ride, surely it would be a luxury coach...right???? I am a teacher so I guess I should have known better because 15 minutes after we arrived at her school the big YELLOW bus rolled up in front of the doors. Oh well.... So bumps and bumps later we got there safe and sound.

Years ago when I was still in single digits, this Aquarium and Harbor was my first experience to aquariums and harbors and it brought back fond memories. I am glad I got to visit it again and this time with my daughter. I've been back to the area lots of times but not with my daughter. She's been to the New Jersey Aquarium but had never been to this one. She enjoyed the Aquarium and Rain forest life and spending time with her friends.

I decided to create a page, using My Digital Studio, to remember the special day. I used the Sunny Day pages, some stitching, distressing, and circle photo boxes.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

More with A Slice of Life!

2011-03-21T15:45:00.000-04:00

My friend, Sarah, recently had a beautiful baby boy that I have yet to meet. I am going over there this week and can't wait to actually meet him....and smell him:-) I love and miss the smell of babies. His pictures are adorable. His siblings are super cute so how could he be anything less:-) Sarah has this awesome blog where you can see her beautiful family. Her middle son and my son are best buds. We count on each other a lot to help out with sporting events for the boys.If you can't tell by now, Sarah is someone I aspire to be like. You name it and she does it...okay well maybe not stamp but everything else...she does it. She is an awesome person and a great friend. Sad part...she and her family are heading west this spring/summer. They were here for five years while her husband did his residency in Philadelphia. I met her a few months after they arrived. Lucky me:-)

Anyway, I am sharing two cards with you that I created using the Slice of Life stamp set. I recently saw someone use the lace punch to create a frame so I tried it and I LOVE the way it turned out. You start out with a 3 X 3 square piece of cardstock. You center it on the punch, then punch it on each side of the square and the frame is the end result. Watch out because you will be seeing more cards to come with a variety of frames.

Card Recipe:
Stamp set: Slice of Life and a word stamp....
Card stock:
card one: Bashful Blue, Whisper White
card two: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Certainly Celery
Ink: Basic Black, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery
Accessories: Green Buttons, Linen Thread

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Just Believe

2011-03-20T13:39:00.005-04:00

I got this stamp set at convention 2010 and haven't used it much but am thinking that I ought to put it to use more often. I used it yesterday to create a birthday card for a friend of ours. After two attempts, this is what I came up with and it got my 10yr. old's approval so I guess it is good enough:-)

Our friend's wife invited a couple of couples out to dinner last night as a birthday surprise dinner for her husband. He was totally surprised and we had so much fun. We went to a nice Jamaican restaurant called, Scotch Bonnets in Medford, New Jersey. The food was awesome! I would definitely go back again. Have you ever had fried Plantains? Well, I sampled them last night and they were a very tasty snack. Not sure how healthy they are but they are truly an enjoyable treat. We followed dinner with a movie..it's been awhile since I've seen a non animated movie..other than Justin Beiber's movie of course:-) We saw The Adjustment Bureau...so GOOD!!! It was a nice evening of adult only company. We even dropped the kiddos off at my in-laws for an overnight. Best idea ever!!!!

Card Recipe:
Stamp set: Just Believe
Cardstock: Old Olive, Basic Grey, Very Vanilla
Ink: Old Olive, Basic Grey
Accessories: Striped Grey grosgrain, Old Olive button, Linen Thread

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

My Digital Studio...A Birthday Celebration

2011-03-17T23:34:00.003-04:00

Hope you all had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day! My kids were so excited this morning thinking about their upcoming special Leprechaun school activities. They went to school hoping to catch a Leprechaun. Such innocence:-)
Today I have another MDS scrap book page to share. This one focuses on my son's 7th birthday. When he was 5 months old I signed on as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator and now... that five month old is seven years old...boy does time fly when you are having fun!

Thanks so much for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Circles For a Six Year Old!

2011-03-13T14:19:00.004-04:00

As my boys are getting older the need continues to increase for a supply of little boy birthday cards. I made this one for a six year old friend of theirs. Lately I've been creating with the Celebrations dsp, which I absolutely LOVE but I thought I should give it a break and try something different for this one. This was my first time using the numbers stamp from the Bring On The Cake stamp set in the Occasions mini. I thought I'd add some sports things to add some interest to the card. Hopefully he will like...Little boys do enjoy looking at their cards...right?

Card Recipe:
Stamp set: All In the Family, Bring On the Cake
Card stock: Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Play Date dsp
Ink: Basic Black
Accessories: Buttons, Linen Thread

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Skater Boy's Birthday

2011-03-12T15:02:00.002-05:00

Here's another card using the Celebrations designer series paper and the Extreme Skateboard. These two together make the best cards for a little boys birthday. We are heading to a party for a seven year old's birthday in a few minutes and this is the card that will hold his gift card. Hope he likes it.
Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Zoe's Birthday in MDS

2011-03-10T00:11:00.005-05:00

It's been awhile since I've gotten the chance to dabble a bit with My Digital Studio. Today, I got that chance so I decided to quickly scrap a page from my daughter's 10th birthday. I used the Celebrations paper to create this page. It was fun and it reminded me to get back to scrapping. I also worked on another page for my son's 7th birthday. I need to finish it up and will share it soon.

Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Baby Shower Fun

2011-03-05T21:36:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was a beautiful day to celebrate a new life. My sister in-law is expecting her second child, due this April. Her shower was yesterday. I volunteered to make both the invites and the favors. Last month I shared the shower invites that I made for the special day. Today I am sharing these quick and easy candy bar covers that I made for the shower as favors and the card to go with my gift.

I used Stampin' Up!'s MDS (My Digital Studio) to create the design for the candy bar covers. It was pretty simple. I started with an 8- 1/2 X 11 inch blank sheet of paper. I then selected the square punch and elongated it to make it a long rectangle to reach across the sheet of paper. I filled it in with Daffodil Delight Designer Series paper. I then selected the square punch again and stretched it across the dsp making it thinner and thinner and centered it. I filled it in with Mellow Moss. I used the scallop edge punch and aligned it to the sides of the mellow moss elongated square. Next, I created a text box for the wording and selected white for the color. For the scallop circle on the top, I selected the scallop circle and filled in with the same dsp. Then I selected the small circle punch and centered it in the scallop circle and filled it in white. I selected the border and put it around the edge of the scallop circle and around the small circle. For the wording I selected the So Worth the Wait stamp from the Word Play stamp set and placed it in the center of my little circle resizing it to make it fit. I colored in the wording in Mellow Moss. Once, I cut out the wrapper I used my scallop edge punch to scallop the edges on the wrapper. I then used sticky tape to adhere it around a candy bar. I punched two holes in the scallop circle, pulled Daffodil Delight satin ribbon through the holes and tied it around the candy bar. It sounds like a lot, but it really wasn't and I LOVE the finished product. The Shower guests thought they were cute too!

For the card I got to play with my Textured Impressions folder and try out the Beveled Windowpanes. I used the sleeper image that I used on the invites. It is from A Slice of Life stamp set.

Hope you like them.
Thanks for stopping by...now go stamp something!

Stamping with Friends

2011-02-27T10:35:00.009-05:00

Last weekend I got together with five friends who love to stamp as much as I do. We each designed a card, cut enough for 5 others to make it, brought the needed supplies and got together at my friend, Sam's house. I guess one might say we had a "Shoebox Swap." Usually when I get together with this set of friends I design the cards and prepare for everyone so this was a nice change of pace. It was so much easier to just get together what I needed for one card. I left my house with ONE bag. Nice.....

When I got to Sam's house we had lunch. Any meal at Sam's is always a yummy experience for my mouth. She made a tasty salad, a delicious ham and pineapple quiche. Who knew those two ingredients worked so well together. She also made dessert!!!! Super soft brownies with walnuts mixed in and covered in chocolate icing!!!! Yum, yum, yum. I think I ate more than one...I'm actually pretty sure I did.

We started the afternoon with the host. My friend Sam hosted our get together and here is her adorable card. She made this cute trifold birthday card that we fell in love with instantly.

My card was up next. I shared the owl card that I used the weekend before at a kids party that I did. The difference here is that I didn't pre-punch everything like I did the kids.

This lovely card is from Lori. We were loving this butterfly. It was so much fun to make and reminded us of Spring.

Up next is Vanessa's sparkling card. She used one of my favorite stamp sets, Crazy for Cupcakes. Each year she designs a birthday card and it becomes her card of the year. Super cute right? So if your birthday is coming up this just may be the beautiful card you'll see in the mail. We LOVED her Stickles. Who doesn't love some sparkle?

We moved right along to Marie's fun and super cute card. I LOVE green and I LOVE ribbon...especially in brown. These are two of my favorite colors. Marie used Trendy Trees for her card. She taught us how to stamp the tops of the trees perfectly by stamping center first and then slightly moving the stamp to the right, stamp it, then move slightly to the left, stamp it and whalla you get a perfect tree. Since it is hard to center the trees without a stamp a majig this is sure fire way to get perfect trees every time. Thanks so much Marie. We had lots of "Wow"s" while stamping your card.

We ended the afternoon with Karen's fancy Father's Day card. This is usually the hardest occasion for me to create a card for and Karen did the hard work for all of us for this year. We all adored the the handsome tux on the cover...how cute is that?

We had such a wonderful time together having a yummy lunch, chatting, and stamping super cute cards to add to our stash. I can't wait to get together and do it again.

A Stylish Blogger Award!

2011-02-27T09:51:00.003-05:00

Thanks so much! What a nice surprise. I want to thank Kim Warne for this exciting award. Thanks for thinking enough of my blog to nominate me for this special treat.

Okay, so upon getting this award I am supposed to do a few things. I am suppose to share 8 things about myself....I can do that easily...I think :-)
1). I am a mom to four really smart, amazing and very busy kids ranging in age from 4 to 17. (Of course I'm not biased:-) Oh, and did I forget to mention cute too?
2). I have a wonderful husband who will do almost anything I "tell" him to do:-)
3).I am a teacher, have been for 20 years...did I just say that out loud? I've taught first and second grades for 6 years each, and now I am currently a Literacy Specialist for grades K-2 and loving it! (Most days).
4). I enjoy all sorts of music from Florence and the Machine, to Kenny Rogers, to Beyonce, Rihanna, John Legend, Katy Perry, The Black Eye Peas, Colbie Callat, Jennifer Hudson, Fantasia, to Jay-Z, Anna Nalick, and more.
5). I always have a book on hand to read...when the opportunity presents itself:-)
6). I LOVE watching Y&R. I DVR it to watch nightly. It's a great way to unwind from my busy day.
7). I LOVE Oprah....I am dying to go to a taping before she is off the air :-(
8). Of course I LOVE stamping and being a Stampin' Up demonstrator. Convention is my favorite time of year.

That was harder than I thought it would be...

Now, I am suppose to select 8 blogs to pass this award on to. This is the hardest part because there are soooo many wonderful blogs out there full of super duper talent. How can I judge art.....to put it simply, I can't.

So.... I nominate this award to all of the blogs out their in bloggersville. Keep stamping and keep blogging because I LOVE peeking in and being impressed EVERYDAY!!!!