Favorite photos from our camping trip

We went to the coast this past weekend and all the cousins had so much fun playing together on the beach. I'm so glad they are all close in age...all within a year of eachother.

Here is my little Hayden. He will be 2 next month and boy does he love trucks!

Best Friends Page

I just finished this layout and had to post it. Look...it even has journaling! Super cute background paper and glittery butterfly stickers are from K and Company. Solid cardstock is Stampin' Up!

Not sure if I like the caption on the right side of the page... I may remove this or re-work it somehow. Any thoughts?

Okay, here it is without that caption. I think I like it like this, but it would be nice to include a little more info. hmmm...

Tami's Workshop

Last night was my first workshop from the new Stampin' Up! Fall/Winter Catalog. It was kind of tricky coming up with cards to demo as 80% of my stamp sets were discontinued in June. I did manage to place an order for some of our new accessories, but haven't bought many new stamp sets yet. Anyway, this is what I came up with:

Hostess Gift Candy Jar

This uses our new wasabi double stitched ribbon, new designer series paper and new Sweet Sampler stamp set. I filled the jar with Jelly Bellies.

Easy Make and Take card

This card uses On board accents chip board circles, new designer series paper and new wasabi double stitched ribbon. Everyone got to see how easy the Crop-a-dile punches through chip board...like butta!

Wild Rose Birthday Card

Tami wanted to learn some distressing/aging techniques, so I came up with this card. The only new product I used is the designer series background paper (and the crop-a-dile for setting eyelets).

Here is my prototype, showing the pull out.

Build-a-Flower

This card uses the new Accents and Elements Build a Flower stickers...love those, so cute. I used the double stitched ribbon for the stem, a rhinestone brad for the center and scalloped the grass with the slit punch. I found this idea right in the new catalog. So fast and easy...even a caveman could do it!

Vintage Brocade/ Thinking of You Card

This card uses the new...and very elegant Brocade Background paper. I got this idea from one of the talented ladies on Split Coast Stampers. Also used the scallop technique here along with some holes punched with the Crop-a-dile. Used the new 1" circle punch which is the perfect size for our clear buttons. Stamped motif is from the Sweet Sampler set.

Alyssa is excited because tomorrow:

A. Ikea will be open in Portland
B. She will be demo-ing tons of cool new SU! stuff at Tami's house tomorrow night
C. Her new camera is scheduled to arrive
D. All of the above!

If you guessed D, you are correct!!!

"Mom, why is it the afternoon and you are still in your pajamas?"

...well Natalie, I've been Scrapbooking!!!

This is the conversation we had over lunch today. She thought it was pretty weird that I was still in my pj's, but who has time to get dressed when there is so much scrapbooking to catch up on!

I spent the majority of my day Sunday organizing all those piles of scrapbooking stuff that seem to sprout up all over the house. I made some huge strides, but once I put the kids in bed it was time to get down to business. I hadn't scrapbooked for a couple months and it was driving me crazy. I did manage to get quite a few pages done (except for journaling, of course) and stayed up until I dropped at 1 am. I'll be sure to post them as soon as my new camera arrives.

You'll be happy to know that I did shower and get dressed after finishing my lunch!

My New Camera

As many of you know, my camera bit the dust last week...so my husband researched cameras on-line and came up with another highly recommended camera by Canon. My other camera was a Canon too and I can't say enough good things about it. I am so excited to finally get it, but it won't come in the mail (from Costco) until next week. Until then, I am totally going through camera withdrawals. Seriously, it's like an extension of my hand. Those who know me well, are probably nodding their heads right now!

Anyway here are a list of the new camera's features for those who are interested:

Features and Benefits:

• Affordable digital camera with 8.0 Megapixel resolution and powerful Canon 4x Optical Zoom
• Large 2.5 inch Vari-Angle LCD monitor with wide viewing angle for easier on-camera viewing and optical viewfinder
• A high-performance camera with 21 shooting modes, 9-point AiAF, ISO 800 and High ISO Auto to reduce image blur and expand low-light shooting capability
• DIGIC II Image Processor and iSAPS Technology for superior image quality, fast operation and low power consumption
• Movie Mode recording with sound at 30 fps VGA (640x480)
• Compatible with Secure Digital/SDHC memory cards

I would love to have a digital SLR someday, but it is not even in our budget right now. Considering how much I use my camera, I could have probably pushed for one, but there are so many other expenses these days...I'm just glad to know a new camera is on it's way!

Out with the Old, In with the New

My Stampin' Up! goodies from the new catalog are scheduled for delivery today and I need to make some room...so I am selling some of the sets I don't use anymore. Some of the sets have never been used and are still unmounted, so you will be getting a brand new set at a nice discount. All those that aren't sold by next week will be offered at my Open House.

These are retired sets that are no longer available in the Catalog. If you wish to purchase a set or more, please leave a note in the comment section. I will charge $4.60 for priority shipping for those who can't pick them up locally.

Please note that my camera is broken and the photos below are not mine, but are good representations of the sets I am offering...with a few exceptions which I will explain below.

As the sets are spoken for, I will highlight in purple the names of those who claimed them. Thanks for your help with my serious stamp addiction!

Unmounted Stamps:

Sold to Tina
The Art of Life: New, Unmounted set of 4 — $5

Limited Edition- Garden Collage: New, Unmounted set of 3 — $5

Tami bought one set.
Too Terrific Tags: New, Unmounted set of 6 — $5
This set works great with Stampin Up's tag punch. I have 2 of these sets left.

Oh, My Word: New, Unmounted set of 6 — $5

Sold to Barb
Best Blossoms: New, Unmounted set of 6 — $5

Tami bought one set.
Barb bought one set.
Joy bought one set.
Noteworthy: New, Unmounted set of 9 — $5
I have 1 of these sets left.

Figures of Speech: Almost new. 6 stamps unmounted, 2 are mounted.
Set of 8 — $5

Mounted Stamps:

Sold to Tami
Fanciful Flowers: Lightly Used set of 13 — $7

Fabulous Flourishes: Used set of 11 — $7

Simple Shapes: Used once set of 10 — $7

Sold to Joy.
Smorgasborders: New, Mounted, never used set of 9 — $5

Wee Watercolor: New, Mounted, never used set of 6 — $5

Cuddles and Tickles: Used Foam Mounted set of 7 — $2
Note this set is not wood mounted as shown in the photo, it's foam mounted.
saying reads: "A baby is cuddles and tickles on toes, The sweet scent of powder, a kiss on the nose!"

Pregnancy card

Two of my girlfriends are due anytime now and I just found out that another friend of mine is also pregnant, so this morning I made a bunch of these cards:

You can see the sparkly (dazzling diamonds) glitter on the dress when you click to enlarge the photo. I wish I looked this cute when I was preggers, but alas, I was a tad swollen everywhere...you name it, ankles, hands, face! Not a good look for me. I swear, by the last month, there wasn't an inch of my body that wasn't pregnant!
Everything is Stampin' Up! except the Prima Flowers.

Going Bananas for Johanna!

Tonight my daughter is going to a friend's birthday party who loves monkeys...so I dug out my Monkey Business set and created this card for her. It has been months since I have made any cards and I have really been itchin' to get some made. Dimensions are 4x12. Everything is Stampin' Up! except the Prima flowers and beads for the center of the flower.

I Finally got my Catalog Today!!!

There are a lot of really great stamp sets and accessories on my wish list, but for some reason, I keep coming back to the set shown below. It is so stinkin' cute! It is definitely on my first order, along with the scalloped circle punch, lots of cute new background paper, some cute new chipboard items, a flourish wheel, an embellishment organizer (I'm also addicted to buying organizational paraphernalia!)...and a bunch of other great new stamps...I need to start having workshops so I can justify my purchases again!

Style Watch

After looking through the new online catalog, I just want to say that I am in trouble...again. It seems that after collecting stamps as long as I have, enough would really be enough, but alas...I WANT MORE! Stampin' Up is really good about keeping up with the current styles and from what I have seen at our local scrapbook stores, it looks like they hit the mark with all the new offerings in the Fall and Winter catalog.

Here are the current trends represented this season:

Tapestry:

Uses lots of Baroque flourishes and Damask floral patterns.
It has a French flair that is whimsical yet elegant.

Boho West:

Combines rustic western motifs with feminine swirls and accents.
A very bohemian style.

Corner Office:

This trend uses lots of elements from a pre-computer era when everything was done by hand.
File tabs, book plates, brackets, forms and other ephemera.

Today's the day

Today at noon (mountain time), Stampin' Up! will be revealing their new Fall and Winter catalog. This year, instead of having a big catalog covering a full year's holidays, they have decided to break it up into 2 catalogs. From July to December you can purchase from the Fall and Winter catalog, then in January, the Spring and Summer catalog will be available.

Several demonstrators on the east coast have already received their complimentary copy, but for now, this is the only sneak peek I have:

Every year in July I wait, anticipating all the new sets and accessories. I stalk the mail man in hopes that he has my catalog. Fortunately a couple years ago Stampin' Up! started releasing the new catalog on-line. So for those of you, like me in the Pacific Northwest, you can view it at 11 am our time by clicking on this link.