LASSIE Retreat

Thought I'd give you a little teaser since I haven't had time to post the pics from the scrapbooking retreat as yet. This is a pic of all the stuff I brought along! It probably looks like a lot, but compared to some people, this was hardly anything. From now on, I'll refer to this as the LASSIE retreat (Ladies Auxillary of Sisters Scrapbooking In Ecstacy). The LASSIEs are a group of local women who regularly get together and scrapbook, and this was their annual retreat and my first LASSIE event. I'm sure I'll be attending more as they come along!

More pics from the LASSIE retreat coming soon!

I'm back! (and some blog candy)

The scrapbooking retreat was so much fun! I'm way glad that I went - lots of fun time with my friends Jeannie and Kim, plus I got to meet lots of other fun ladies. Scrapbooking is so great because there seems to be no magic age group - some young ladies and some older ladies, with one mission in common - making really cool scrapbook pages!!!

So over the weekend, I accomplished 14 scrapbook pages, used a Cricut for the first time (super simple tool that makes really cool stuff), made a few cards, and got tons of ideas for things to make in the future and new little tools to get. I ordered the Stampin Up cutting mat from Jeannie, and it arrived just in time for this weekend - I'm completely happy with that purchase! I have no other comparisons from other brands, but it's a great size and self healing....a very useful tool!

Tuesday night I'm going to Ellen's first stamping party! Should be lots of fun, and I'm excited order a couple new stamp sets.

BLOG CANDY - a few weeks ago, I won a little contest on Jennifer's blog and she made me this card for blog candy.....so, here's my little contest. Leave a comment telling me your guess as to which stamp set(s) I will order at Ellen's party. I'll randomly select a winner from the correct guesses and make a card for that person plus a little something to get your creative juices flowing! Leave your comments by Tuesday night at 10pm central time. (You must include your name and/or email somewhere in the comment so I can contact you to send the card!)

Here's a hint - look back at some previous posts...I've made a few comments about things on my wishlist and other general things that I'm interested in - all could be a clue to a new stamp set! You can view the Stampin Up online catalog here.

Stay tuned this week for pics from the retreat!

More from Jeannie's Stamp Camp - Day 5

Happy Friday!

Here's the last card! This is the "Fresh Cuts" stamp set and cardstock.

Jeannie and I will be spending 48 hours at an all day/all night stamping/scrapbooking retreat this weekend! I've never been to one of these events before, but I'm very excited! I've been stocking up on all my supplies over the last few weeks, so I should have lots to keep me busy. I'm also going to get started on my first scrapbook - should be interesting to see how that goes!

I'm sure I'll have lots of things to share next week!

More from Jeannie's Stamp Camp - Day 4

This is a look I've been wanting to try for a while! I have this patterned paper in a few more colors, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more variations of this card in the near future!

More from Jeannie's Stamp Camp - Day 3

Another card with the stitched exotics set - could it be on my wish list ?!?!

More from Jeannie's Stamp Camp - Day 2

I really like the colors in this card, and the curvy design from the Stitched Exotics stamp set on the side. Very summer!

More from Jeannie's Stamp Camp - Day 1

Jennifer displayed a few cards we made at Jeannie's stamp camp last Saturday, and I'm going to show you the remaining 5 - one each day this week.

Don't ya just love this little purse? We used the Spring Fling paper (that I LOVE!), and the top part opens up for a gift card, or picture, or anything else you want to write in the inside. How cool!

A New Puppy!

Here's my sister and the newest member of our furr family! Neo is a 2 months old Maltese. Sounds like she is having lots of fun with her new furry friend. Neo is only 2.5 lbs and will be about 6 lbs when fully grown. What a cutie!

Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #25

Check out the other entires in Taylor's Cupcake Challenge #25. (No cupcake stamps required, just use the layout shown above.) This was a lot of fun!

New Background!

Rochelle inspired me to find a more exciting background...what do you think? :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday! I made the card and little note pad at Jennifer's stamp camp a couple weeks ago, and I gave them to my mom. I'm sure the note pad will come in handy for her - she's always writing notes about things she needs to buy, or movies to rent, or things my sister or I mention that we would like (and she saves those little notes for Christmas time).

Brock and I were lucky enough to find a weekend flight special so we spent Sunday - Tuesday with her to celebrate! Since we live 1000 miles away, we don't get to spend birthdays together too often, so when we do, it's lots of fun.

Jeannie's Stamp Camp

Jennifer and I went to Jeannie's stamp camp on Saturday. We had so much fun! She posted a few pics of the items we made, and you'll see a few more of them coming on my blog in the near future, too. I just love stamp camp - it's so fun to get new and fresh ideas, and Jeannie's cards are always great. I also found out that I am IN LOVE with the Spring Fling designer paper. Who would have known from those little swatches in the catalog? The striped paper on the first card on Jennifer's blog is from Spring Fling. You can also check it out on page 169 of the current catalog, but like I said, that pic does not do it justice. Stay tuned for more cards from Jeannie's Stamp camp. (I also haven't posted all of the cards from Jennifer's camp, so you'll be seeing those every now and then too!)

Sprinkles!

This past weekend, I visited our "local" Sprinkles for the first time (no, it wasn't in Beverly Hills). I've had this "thing" for cupcakes recently, and a former co-worker, Rochelle, has visited the Beverly Hills store and has told me about these wonderful cupcakes! I managed to contain myself to one while we were there, but it was pretty tempting to buy a dozen. Unfortunately, we had a full day of traveling so they wouldn't have held up in the car ride and summer heat. I'm seen below with 4 different cupcakes (the other three for my travel companions). I had the peanut butter chocolate cupcake. Quite tasty!

Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge #15

Here's my first entry in Kristina's Color Challenge!

Onesie Cards

Seems to be lots of new babies around, so here's a few more onesie cards.

Red, White, and Blue

The inspiration for these cards came from Chic n' Scratch. They are not as perfect as hers by any means, but I like the simplicity of the white and single color. This would have been a geat card to make with a Stamp-a-ma-jig. Check out Kristina's video on how to use one! (I don't have one, but it's on my wish list!)

Happy 4th of July!

Here's a card I made at Jennifer's Stamp Camp last Saturday. The cards were her creations, and we just copied the sample, but that's just as fun as designing your own and a great way to get new ideas!

New Paper Trimmer!

Just like many "first-time stampers," I started off with Fiskars paper trimmer. I've used this good ol' trimmer for about a year now, and it's done me well. Now that I'm spending a lot more time stamping, I've discovered that I'm just not satisfied with how straight I'm able to cut with this trimmer. It could very well just be me and my paper cutting skills, but I decided it's time to invest in something a little more durable and sturdy....so.....I did a little research this weekend, and am now the proud owner of the Making Memories paper trimmer. (check out the video demo!) It appears from the research that the two most popular options are this model or a Tonic trimmer. The tonic trimmer is guillotine style, which could also be great.

But, here's why I picked the Making Memories trimmer:

- reliable grid lines for straight cuts
- a plastic piece next to the blade helps to hold your paper in place when cutting
- magnetic surface and a magnetic ruler to help hold paper in place
- blade is hidden so less chance of accidentally cutting something other than the paper!
- the trimmer folds in half making it more portable
- when the trimmer is open, you can use the center seam for scoring the paper.
- in stock at Michael's! AND I had a 50% off coupon! Yeah! (with the coupon, it wasn't a lot more than the Fiskars trimmer and a pack of replacement blades)

I used this trimmer the other night to make the Dot cards I posted below, and was definitely pleased with my purchase. I'm looking forward to many more days of straight cuts and no more paper fringes!

So...what did you do with your Michael's coupon? There's only 2 more days before it expires! Leave a comment and let me know! If you didn't get the coupon, leave your email address and I'll send it. (Sign up for the Michael's emails...seriously!)