Kids, Cats, Stamps

Yay! I will be teaching a class at Hobby Lobby!

2010-11-11T03:37:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited! I'll be teaching a stamping class at the Columbia, Maryland, Hobby Lobby next Thursday, November 18th! The store manager like my designs and agreed to allow me to teach a class. I'd like to try to teach once a month and the manager is amenable, but he's got a contracted cake decorating class that he has to get on the schedule before he knows which evenings are open. I just checked the class schedule and there I am! Whoo-hoo!

I'll be prepping my Stamp-a-Stack cards today and I'll post the results. For now, I've gotta get the kids off to school.

I'm back!

2010-11-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

Wow! Has it really been a year since I last blogged? I can hardly believe it. As the old saying goes, "If at first you don't succeed...try, try again." So I'm going to try to be better at blogging more regularly.

Our family has been busy with sports (soccer, basketball and volleyball) and school (two new middle schoolers and a junior in high school). I've done some stamping, held some stamp camps and stamp-a-stacks, and I've stepped up my workshop schedule.

So, what's on the schedule for kkstamper in November 2010? Well, I'm going to be hosting a Christmas card and tag stamp-a-stack. Here's the flyer. Please let me know if you'd like to come!

A new Hobby Lobby has finally opened in the Columbia-Ellicott City, Maryland area!! (It's about time 'cause we're #2 on Money magazine's best places to live list!) So, I ~~stole~~ copied an idea from one of my stampin' heroes, Kelly Acheson, who teaches stamping classes at her local Hobby Lobby (in Wisconsin) and I have an appointment with the store manager on Tuesday evening. I'm hoping to teach my first class at Hobby Lobby on November 18. Here are the projects we'll make, if the store manager and Hobby Lobby approve.

I hope to have some more projects on line tomorrow or Monday. Stay tuned!

More Card Shares

2009-10-14T12:53:00.002-07:00

November is going to be a busy Stampin' Up month for me...I have a Christmas stamp-a-stack, a stamp camp, and two workshops to prepare for. And I still consider myself a "hobby demo"!! Fortunately, all 4 events will have few, if any, people who will overlap. That means I can use my creations at more than one event. That's a good thing.

I also had time over the 3-day weekend not only to create some cards, but to prep for the stamp-a-stack and stamp camp. That means that I've already cut and packaged the projects! Woo-hoo! I love it when I'm ahead of the game....'cause that sure doesn't happen often.

For the stamp-a-stack, I created this clean and simple card using one of my favorite "old"--but still current--sets: Lovely As A Tree. And I used the Peace on Earth sentiment from the Four For the Holidays set in the Holiday Mini Catalog. I love using Not Quite Navy and Very Vanilla together. The combination is very soothing. Once I had the main image and sentiment stamped, I knew the card needed a little something to make it POP so I added the Sleigh Bells cotton ribbon, which is also from the Holiday Mini. Since there is a bit of Real Red in the ribbon, a couple of Real Red brads completed the card. I think it turned out pretty well. What do you think?

As soon as I saw the Night & Day Specialty Papers, I knew I wanted to use them with the Big Shot Matchbox die. I love those little boxes, and making an elegant black and white box is right up my alley! I also love the black polka dots on the printed window sheets that come in this package of Specialty Papers, so I used them to create a coordinating card for the matchbox. And what better stamp to use than the Elegant Thank You stamp? This set reminds me of a tuxedo. I love the box and card together as a wonderful way to say thank you to someone who has made your day! I'm going to wrap some Hershey's Nuggets in Night & Day Specialty Paper to put in the boxes. I hope the campers like this project!

My final share for today is a card I originally designed for the kids in my Bible study group to make as a project. As soon as we SU demos were allowed to pre-order items from the Holiday Mini, I put the Sweet Centers set and Sweet Treats Cups at the top of my list. I don't usually make Halloween cards, but since I already had the Sweet Centers set....I had bought some bags of Halloween M&Ms at the store and I loved the colors. Hmm! They match Stampin' Up colors pretty well: Elegant Eggplant, Only Orange, Green Galore, Basic Black. Chocolate must inspire me! So I made up and example card and then got all the pieces cut so I'm ready for the kids when I have them the Sunday before Halloween.

But I remembered I had a care package to send to my BFF's son at college. I wanted to include a card in his package. So I punched up Jack's card just a notch. I added brads and dimensionals to the sentiment, and on the inside, I used the cute little doggie and skeleton from the Twick or Tweet set. That stamp just cracks me up! I know it will crack Jack up, too--particularly since that little doggie looks just like his dog, Ofi.

Before I just chucked the card into the box, I thought it needed an envelope, so I decided to try to punch a hole and to see if I could get the treat box to fit through the hole. Much to my amazement--it worked! The envelope looks a little battered in the picture, but I assure you that it looked like that before I jammed my ginormous punch into the envelope. I didn't want to use a "good" envelope if I couldn't get the hole lined up right. I'm not sure I could do that again, but I liked the way it turned out for Jack!

Thanks for reading my blog. My next entry is going to be cat-related!

New Creations--Inspired by Other Stamping Artists

2009-10-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Well, so much for my idea to blog every day. The blog is called KIDS, Cats, Stamps. Seems like we are busy with soccer just about every day of the week. The other days we're busy with church activities.

But this weekend I was able to carve out some time to create some cards. I think all artists (if you'll indulge me calling myself an "artist") are inspired by things around them. I know I'm inspired by other stampers. I'm a member of a couple of Yahoo groups dedicated to Stampin' Up and I love to see what other stampers create. I keep emails of my favorite cards and then, well, I copy them. The term for that is CASE--copy and steal everything. When I post my inspired creations on Splitcoaststampers, I try to give credit to the artist who inspired me. But sometimes I just print out a copy of the card and then I forget where my inspiration came from.

This first card was inspired by an unknown artist. When Stampin' Up first introduced their printed window sheets, I just had to have them. And then when I had them, I didn't know what to do with them. So I searched the web for inspiration. I really like the way the Basic Gray and Whisper White add a simple elegance to this card. I used the Whisper White satin ribbon to hide the tape that adheres the window sheet to the gray layer, but then I had the left side of the card flopping around. I hit on the idea of using glue spots behind the leaves to tack down the window sheet and, to my surprise, it worked!! So thank you to the artist who inspired this card, which I pretty much CASEd without much of my own inspiration.

This next card was inspired by Glenda Mallet. She posted her version either to Stampingwith Beate or SUCreations. Again, I pretty much CASEd this card as Glenda created it, but I did change the sentiment to "Happy Thanksgiving" from the Teeny Tiny Wishes Set. And I used the Modern Label and Word Window Punches--but other than those changes, this card is very much like Glenda's. Thanks, Glenda!!!

The last card for today was inspired by a card done by SandiMac. I'm pretty sure she used the red-flocked paper from Stampin' Up's Christmas Cocoa Speciality Series papers and cut her own trees from that. I used the Patterned Pines Hostess Set, stamped on Whisper White Cardstock, which I cut out and mounted. I loved Sandi's layout as soon as I saw it, so I just had to CASE it! And it gave me an opportunity to try out my new Petals-A-Plenty Textured Impressions Folder!

If I get a chance tomorrow--between work, soccer practice, and a PTA meeting--I'll post some of my own creations...or you can check them out now in my Splitcoaststampers gallery.

Lookie what I made with My Digital Studio!!

2009-10-03T19:10:00.000-07:00

So, I'm going to do a Christmas Stamp-a-Stack for one of my loyal hostesses and I asked whether she wanted me to design a flyer for her to hand out to her guests. She did. So, I thought, maybe I can use My Digital Studio to create one....it was super-duper easy. I am not kidding! I can't believe how wonderful this program is. Here's the flyer.

That was so much fun, I decided to do another flyer for a first-time hostess. She's hosting a "regular" workshop and I wanted to give her guests and idea of what a Stampin' Up workshop is and that they'll be taking home two make-and-takes! Here's the flyer I designed for this workshop.

The best part is that these flyers use digital Stampin' Up images, colors, embellishments--so I'm already showing how wonderful SU! products are. I'm so thrilled with this program....but my family thinks the laptop and I are permanently connected. I've been playing around all day!

Better get the kiddos in bed. Til next time!

Stampin' Up's New My Digital Studio!!!

2009-10-02T16:45:00.000-07:00

As a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I was able to order the new My Digital Studio software earlier than the customer launch (which was on October 1) and have been playing around with it. I've already created a digital scrapbook of our family's 2008 vacation to Minnesota and South Dakota. The software was super easy to use--and believe me, I've tried other digital scrapbooking programs only to be frustrated by them. And in no time at all I made a gorgeous digital scrapbook! The best part is that all the images, embellishments, papers and colors are digital images of Stampin' Up products.

With My Digital Studio, you can save your creations as videos, so if you want a sneak peek at my scrapbook, you can view it at the end of this blog entry.

I also sent it off to Stampin' Up's professional printer and in about 10 days I'm going to have a leather-bound digital scrapbook. I can't wait--and I know you will want to see it, too!

And I created some really nice sympathy cards with My Digital Studio, which I've also sent to the SU professional printer. I also used the program to work on layouts for some cards I'll be demonstrating at some upcoming stamp-a-stacks, stamp camps, and workshops. In other words, I was able to digitally design a card without wasting any of my "real" supplies. My Digital Studio helps you design your cards (and other creations) before you commit them to paper...and ribbon, and brads, and ink!

I can't wait to play around with the digital calendar. I know what Grandma Kartak and Grandma Brown will be getting for Christmas this year.

Watch this space for more creations made with My Digital Studio--and please email me if you're interested in learning more! I'm working through Stampin' Up's certification program, so by the end of October, I should be an MDS certified expert!

New blog...goin' fishin'

2009-08-16T16:10:00.000-07:00

So I finally get the momentum going to have my own blog. I've got a few items for inspiration challenges all ready to go, but duty calls and I'm going on a 3.5 week business trip. Yikes! So this will by my last blog posting until mid-September, but I will make a hearty effort to keep the blogging up when I return.

In the meantime, here are a couple inspirations to keep you going. .First, the Splitcoast Stampers Paper Chefs Virtual Stamp Night challenges are drawing to an end. I just choose the honors for best chef and most creative chef for my Dragon Fruit Salad challenge. You'll have to wait until later next week to find out the lucky winners. But in the meantime, take a look at the wonderful cards in the Dragon Fruit Salad gallery. There's loads of inspiration for you there!

Next, take a look at my sweet twins, Alex and Becky, who turned 10 yesterday. They were thrilled to get hand-stamped cards from their "Aunt" Lynn. Lynn is my BFF from waaay back when we were in junior high together and she is truly my inspiration for much of my life...she's an awsome Christian example and Bible class teacher, she's a great mom and wife, and she is an extraordinary stamper. Check out her SCS gallery and prepare to be wowed!!

Til next time...

How do you like my WONDERFUL blog??!!

2009-08-13T08:43:00.000-07:00

You know, the Google Blogger program is absolutely free and there are a bunch of widgets that make adding things pretty easy. But I wasn't satisfied with the limited template offerings and I wanted more customization. I'm also getting pretty impatient in my old age and I was frustrated by trying to do everything myself. So like just about everything else in my life, I decided it would be better to find an expert and pay for their services.

So I searched the blogs & blogging forum on splitcoast stampers to see if there was any help available and I found a wonderful web designer (who offers some templates and gadgets for FREE!) and asked her to help me with this blog.

I highly recommend The Good Blog Helpers! Elizabeth is so creative and very responsive. I emailed her in the morning and in a couple of email exchanges, Elizabeth created this wonderful blog for me--at a very reasonable price. She did all the work--including installation! Thanks, Elizabeth!

Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

2009-08-12T09:44:00.001-07:00

Stampin' Up! Demonstrator

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VSN Paper Chefs Challenge

2009-08-12T09:08:00.000-07:00

This is the card I created for the Splitcoast Stampers Virtual Stamp Night Paper Chefs Challenge. I hosted a challenge called "Dragon Fruit Salad" and the challenge was to create a card using the colors of dragon fruit: pink, green, black and white.

For my entry I wanted to use one of Stampin' Up's printed window sheets and I thought the polka dots worked well for this challenge. The cardstock colors are melon mambo, green galore, basic black, and whisper white. I used several punches: scallop edge, scallop oval, large oval and oval. I added whisper white satin ribbon and signo gel pen dots along the scallop edge. The sentiment--from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set--is stamped in basic black ink.

Welcome to my blog

2009-08-12T08:54:00.000-07:00

I've started blogs before and never followed through. Maybe this time I'll be more diligent to follow through. I plan to use this blog to post my entries to the various stamping challenges. Check back later!