Fab Friday 34

Hi stampers and happy Friday!!!!!  I'm so excited that Fab Friday is back for 2014!  I know the DT enjoyed the little break and honestly as the one who does all the posting I was too :-)  And I couldn't have planned it better as I was pretty wiped out for the first trimester!  Anyway, my energy is back (somewhat) and so is Fab Friday, yay!

So this week we have a fun color challenge pulled straight from the cute DSP stack in the occasions mini!

Sadly, I still haven't been able to stamp much between hanging out with my mom and house hunting and all kinds of other stuff....oh and trying to catch the mouse that's currently wreaking havoc in my kitchen....blech!  But, I sat down to work on this challenge and it felt good and I REALLY ended up liking the card...which hasn't happened much lately :-)

What do you think?????

Stampin' Supplies:
I'll try to come back and update...my energy has been MIA for a few days lately and after teaching THREE classes at the Y today I'm not getting up and grabbing my catalogs to double check the info, ha!!!!!!

Stamps: Oh, goodie (this is a carry over from the holiday catalog)
Paper:  Crumb cake, real red, fresh prints DSP stack
Ink:  Whisper white
Accessories:  Naturals buttons, whisper white baker's twine, on film framelits, neutral candy dots


Eek!  That was fun!!! I'm going to have to do it again soon :-)  Now, head on over to Fab Friday to see what everyone else came up with and PLAY ALONG!!!  We'd love to see some new faces for 2014 along with all our fab regulars!

Happy stamping!

Information Overload!

Hi stampers!  So, Tuesday was a big day at Stampin' Up!  And I'm a little slow on the draw here because I ended up traveling to my mom's to pick up the dog, go out to dinner with my parents, and stay the night).  I was going to blog all about it there but the internet in the middle of nowhere was not cooperating and then I had like the busiest day ever (for someone who's not working, ha) and felt like CRAP!  The weather that flip flops from 50 to barely 0 is wreaking havoc on my head and sinuses so unless I HAD to do it yesterday I was napping on the couch.  Anyway, maybe I can get around to sharing all the fun stuff today!

First off, SU has released the Texture Boutique Embossing Machine again!

This little thing is cool!  It's only $29.95 so if the Big Shot is a little more than you want but would still like to emboss you NEED this!!!  I might get one so that when I do more classes (if we ever find a house and move) there won't be a line at the big shot!  And since it's SAB now (more about that later) if you purchase it and the three folders in the occasions mini (or any three folders) you qualify for a FREE Sale A Bration item!!!!

They have also released a fun new card kit!

The Hip Hip Hooray card kit is super cute and for only $19.95 (which is a great start to earning a SAB item by the way) you will get the supplies to make 20 cards!  Now, you do need to note these are not A2 (4.25 x 5.5 ) cards but slightly smaller note cards.  Personally, I love the smaller note cards, they are so cute!

And finally, the main star:  SALE A BRATION!!!!!!!!

For every $50 you spend (before shipping and taxes) with me or in my online store you earn a FREE item from the SAB flyer!  As always, there is some super cute stuff!  Hopefully I'll have some samples to show you soon too!  And there's no limit!  So earn one, a few, or ALL of them!!!! But don't delay!  It's only around until March 31st!

Please contact me today should you want to order or have any questions about any of the FUN things going on right now!  It's super cool that they released the new items just in time for SAB so you can earn your FREE items!!!!

Make sure to check back tomorrow too for the first Fab Friday challenge of 2014!

Happy stamping!

HSS 178

Hi stampers!  Happy Tuesday!  I hope you can forgive my short hiatus last week.  I was busy hanging out with my mom who came to stay with me for like 4 days so I didn't get much done but have fun with her and then we were house hunting over the weekend.  I suppose I could have stamped yesterday but after a 5 hour drive that should have taken 3 in such crappy weather (from which I went from single digit temps and SNOW to 50 degree weather at home, so weird) I was done for the day!  I barely got off the couch!!!!

Anyway, at least it's time for a fun new sketch at Hand Stamped Sentiments today!

I took a slight liberty with the arrow as it wouldn't fit on my card as in the sketch but I kind of like the way it turned out :-)

I stamped on the wooden arrow...you can see it if you click on the picture.

Now I'm off to get all the stuff done I didn't get done with momma here and while we were house hunting (which I don't want to talk about, ugh)!!!!  Make sure to check out all the other awesome projects from the design team!

Happy stamping!

I Freakin' Love You

Hi stampers!  It's that time of the month!  Time to get freaky with the Control Freaks Blog Hop!

This month's theme is all about love and Valentine's day and Sale A Bration, which of course is like Christmas for stampers!!!!!!! You probably just came from the fabulous Cindy's blog!!!!  Wasn't her stuff awesomesauce????!!!  But no worries if you happened upon here on your own....we make an endless loop so just keep clicking and you can see all the awesome!

The first card uses my favorite SAB stamp set, see ya later!  My mom and her parents sang You Are My Sunshine all the time and said see ya later alligator a lot too so I LOVE this set!!!!  And while I didn't use either one of those sayings, the one I did use is perfect for a V-day card!  I wanted something not overly girly looking for my hubby.  I guess the ruffles are a little feminine but it just needed something!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  See ya later
Paper:  Whisper white, smokey slate, coastal cabana, red glimmer
Ink:  (Markers)  Basic gray, real red, coastal cabana
Accessories:  Hearts collection and apothecary accents framelits, argyle embossing folder, coastal cabana ruffled ribbon, brights glimmer brads, basic pearls

Next up is a Valentine and I guess I cheated at bit because it's not with SAB stuff but it's still a Valentine card nonetheless.  The arrow I have to say, is soft sky because I already had it cut out :-)  And there is white ink sponged on the popped up layer.  It looks better in person!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Off the grid, hip notes, peachy keen
Paper:  Whisper white, crumb cake, fresh prints DSP stack
Ink:  Whisper white craft, crumb cake, real red, soft sky
Accessories:  Circle punch, heart punch, on film and word bubble framelits, retro fresh DSP

And finally a super CAS card using the SAB banner stamp set and matching punch.  I hope you don't think I took the easy way out by going too simple but I saw a sketch like this and just thought this stamp would be super cute with the set in a monotone color combo!

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Banner blast
Paper:  Whisper white, melon mambo
Ink:  (In order from left to right)  Pink pirouette, blushing bride, primrose petals, strawberry slush, melon mambo

And there ya have it!  Next up is the awesome Wendy, my fellow runner, shortie, and stampy BFF!!!!!!

Happy stamping!!!!!!

Oh snap!

Hi stampers!  Oh snap, it's Friday!  Ok, so I don't really use this sentiment much (if at all) but I still think it's cute!  I have heard some of my kiddos at the school (my old job) say it though and it pretty much means "no way" or "sweet/cool" or they say it when someone "burns" someone :-)  I think the only other time I've heard it is in the movie Freaky Friday, the one with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan BEFORE she went kind of nuts (which is too bad because I always liked her and thought she was really pretty).  That's one of those movies I can watch over and over and have on in the background when I'm doing stuff.  I have a number of those and it drives my DH nuts as he doesn't like to watch things more than once.  Anyone else like me?

Anyway, I came up with this super simple card the other day using the hip notes set from the new occasions mini.  I love the cute little sayings in this set plus the fun fonts!  I'm a sucker for the fonts!!!!

So while the saying may not have a ton of uses it pairs up super well with the peachy keen set since it has a camera and with the on film framelits as they do too.  Now, it's important to note (and it's not readily evident in the catalog) that the camera stamp and the die don't match up.  Now, while that's not ideal, I just used the die on it's own. Since it embosses while it cuts it's cute all on it's own.  To make the embossing stand out just a bit more I sponged the edges and ran my sponge lightly over the whole thing for a bit of contrast.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Hip notes
Paper:  Whisper white, sahara sand, crisp cantaloupe, coastal cabana
Ink:  Crisp cantaloupe, coastal cabana
Accessories:  On film framelits, chevron border punch, basic rhinestones

You could totally make this one mailable without the rhinestone too but I wanted something a little glitzy and I thought it looked like the camera lens.  One more tip is to use some wax paper in the filmstrip die.  Just place it over the paper then place the die.  I forgot to do this the first time around and basically destroyed the cutout when trying to pry it out, duh!  A little wax paper and it just pops out!

Happy stamping!

HSS 177

Hi stampers and happy Tuesday!  It's time for a new challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments!  This week is a fun color challenge.

Obviously, with baby on the brain this challenge screamed baby girl to me :-)  But I did take it in a different direction by making a gift tag instead of the usual card.  And no, I'm not giving you hints here as it's way to early to know if the jelly bean is a boy or girl.  The color challenge just fit for a girl :-)

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Zoo babies
Paper: Whisper white
Ink: Wisteria wonder, coastal cabana, strawberry slush
Accessories:  Wisteria wonder ruffled ribbon (retired), scalloped tag topper punch, whisper white bakers twine, subtles collection buttons

I was excited to pull out one of the new tag topper punches!  Those things are really cool!  Just cut your paper to 2 inches wide and punch any length tag you want!!!  And it's hard to see but there's a wisteria wonder button on the elephant behind :-)  I wanted just a little something 3D and to jazz her up a bit!

Ok, make sure to check out all the inspiration and play along!!!!

Happy stamping!

The Return of Mailable Monday

Hi stampers and happy Monday!!!!!  I'm happy to finally try to get back to stamping and blogging!  I made TWO whole cards this weekend, lol!!!!   How sad is that, coming from someone who could crank out 10+ in a weekend.  Oh well, progress I suppose!  I had to CLEAN my stamp room (and still have a bit more to go....I left all my bills and non-fun stuff over in a pile in the corner, lol) because...well honestly because we finally had someone look at our house Saturday but honestly I needed to do it as my new cameo needed a home....oh yeah so now my printer is on the floor, lol!  Baby steps.....

Anyway, I'm hoping to be able to stamp some during the days this week since my hubby is now busy working so I need to leave him alone :-)  But, I've also got a to-do list a mile long because I was saving stuff up to keep myself busy so we'll see how that goes.  I really need to get a routine going!  It was much easier to budget my time when working because I knew I only had that little amount of time to stamp!    Now, it's kind of like, eh, I'll do it later...then later then later...you get the point, lol!   But it felt good to get organized, get out my occasions and SAB stuff, and make some things!  I had forgot I hadn't even put up my holiday things let ALONE got out the new stuff!!!!  Who AM I????

Ok, so the idea for this card came from a sample in the mini that used a different set but the same embossing folder.  I did use the retired shimmer paint to make the splatters.  I think that they used the silver ink pad on the sample but I wanted splatters instead of the look they got with the pad.  The card didn't turn out quite as "stunning" as it did in my head but it's still cute and kind of a very different look for me. And it's prettier in person although I think I should have used the green or blue for a card base....

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Banner blast (SAB)
Paper:  Whisper white, basic black, sahara sand, crisp cantaloupe
Ink:  Pool party, crisp cantaloupe, pistachio pudding
Accessories:  Cameo, silver shimmer paint, arrows embossing folder

So, are you wondering where the big hello came from???  Do we have a new die???  Nope, I used that cameo e-cutter I got for Christmas to take an element from MDS and cut it out.  I enlarged it to the size I wanted and ta-da!  Very cool!

The little banners use a SAB set and a punch exclusive to SAB!!!  And the colors are pulled from the gorgeous SAB DSP.  By the way, the colors are totally not ones that I would put together but I LOVE them.  They are a bit retro but fresh and fun and cute!!!!!  SAB is coming right up and I need to get to work using more of the neat stuff!  I hope to show you more of that this week!  If you need catalogs, please let me know!

Happy stamping!

Occasions Mini 2014

Hi stampers!  Ok, I'm a little late as usual but better late than never, right?  So as of a few days ago the 2014 Occasions Seasonal Catalog was live!  It's AM-AH-ZING!  I mean I think so anyway.  It's fresh and trendy and cute!  I'll try to get a link up on my sidebar soon and if you need a copy please contact me and I'll get one out to you!  I need to get all my holiday stuff moved over to make room and focus for all this cute new stuff!!!!!

Today's card is a direct case from the catalog itself!  I have managed to stamp a little bit here and there over the past few months but they are few and far between but this card looked quick and easy enough to handle.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Just sayin'
Paper:  Whisper white, coastal cabana
Ink:  Tangerine tango
Accessories:  Retro fresh washi tape, word bubble framelits

I just love the word bubble framelits!  I wish I had them for the fox card yesterday as I'm not good at freehanding them lol!  And they are trendy right now!  So cute!  And the really super news is that you can buy a bundle with the Just Sayin' set and the framelits and save 15%!!!!

And thank you all for your kind words about my exciting news yesterday.  I appreciate all of them!

Happy stamping!

What Does The Fox Say?

Hi stampers!  So I know what the fox says...all too well thanks to my hubby loving to sing the song but I have something to say.......

So what does Mindy say?  We're having a baby!  That's what :-)  Baby Bada-Bing Backes is due July 30th.  That means I'll be missing out on Stampin' Up's convention but that's A-ok with me this time!  And it's probably one of the VERY FEW reasons I'd miss convention!!!!   It was pretty funny when the Mr. asked me WHY I couldn't go, bwhahahaha.  Well I COULD go if you were ok with the baby being born without you in SLC dear :-)  Which with him being a bit queasy regarding medical stuff I'm not quite certain that he didn't consider it for a split second ;-)

So now you may be understanding my blogging and stamping hiatus.  I have been exhausted most of the day and honestly I've had a hard time focusing on stamping because I'm so excited :-)  And since we started the treatments we did I was just unfocused stamping wise.  Hoping to change that now that I'll be out of the first trimester soon and that I've let the cat out of the bag.  I've kind of been avoiding blogging because it was so hard to keep quiet, lol!  You know, I'm SO good at keeping a secret, bwhahahaha!

And speaking of our struggle, I want to thank YOU my friends and readers for your prayers, thoughts, and words of support.  They and you mean more to me that you will EVER know.  When we started all this I felt so alone because it's kind of a taboo subject but I'm so glad I started talking about it because support came out of the woodwork!  I wish it wasn't such a taboo topic because learning so many people are struggling or have struggled right along with you makes all the difference!  If you are reading and are struggling with infertility PLEASE feel free to reach out to me!  It helped me so much to hear other people's stories and that people knew how I was feeling because while you may think you know how it feels you truly can only understand it if you've lived it!  I would be happy to answer questions, or just talk and pray for you!  I may have a few posts related to our struggles in the next few months so I apologize now if infertility talk freaks you out.  You can just skip those, ok? :-)

Ok, enough of the mush, right? :-)  So onto the card and YES, sorry I had to make a "What does the fox say" card.  Why?   Well because me and Mr. Baby Backes love to drive each other nuts with annoying things and that song fits the bill quite well, lol!  So when his birthday came up I figured what better card to make than the fox!  I googled fox punch art and used a tutorial I found with various punches (too bad I didn't have the word bubble framelits yet) and ta-da! (Edited to add:  Please see the comments for a link to the tutorial from Avery Murphy, it's a wonderful breakdown!!!!!  Thanks Avery!)

I used the alphabet photopolymer set to make the greeting and various punches for the fox which like I said, I googled fox punch art.  Thanks to whoever had the cute little tutorial!  It was a bit of trial and error so don't give up if you try and it doesn't look right on the first try!

Now, the funniest part was the inside....instead of the normal rubbish from the song lyrics it said something about "hap-hap-hap.....you get the idea here....hap-hap-happy birthday!  LOL!  I crack myself up ya know!  You can see I took a photo AFTER I gave it to him...try not to read my mushy writing inside, lol!

Ok, time to get up off the couch and out in the cold (although at 30 something degrees today instead of negatives it's like a heat wave!!!!!) and to spin class!!!!  I'll try to get back to regular blogging with supplies and everything and NEW occasions and SAB products!

Happy stamping!

Resolutions

Hi stampers and happy 2014!  So I kind of unofficially took the holidays off from stamping and blogging and I'm not sorry :-)  Sometimes you just need a break, right?  And I know I've said it a million times but life is kind of nuts right now with eventually moving.

I'm a planner and I HATE not really having a plan or knowing when things are going to happen.  That's probably the biggest reason I haven't stamped or blogged.  I tend to feel overwhelmed when I'm not sure what's going on and I kind of just don't do anything, lol!  But I'm going to work on getting over that....because really it makes no sense right?  I should do SOMETHING just to do something.  Anyone else like that?  It's like I can't focus on the task at hand because I'm distracted thinking about how I hate not having a plan, lol!

I had plans to stamp yesterday but after hauling my behind to the gym where I spent a lot of extra time chatting with an old friend from school (which is a big deal for me because I'm a get in, get my workout done, get out kinda girl in the gym....drives me nuts when people just chat it up there, lol....whoops) and then I had some shopping to take care of.  All was going well until I sat down for a minute and saw The Lord of the Rings movies were on.  Ugh!  I've seen them a jillion times but I love them!  Not sure why but they suck me in!  Every.  Time.  So I couch surfed for the rest of the day....again, lol!

So, I don't usually make resolutions because let's face it, I never keep them, lol!  BUT this year I think I'll try to have a few goals.  The first which I posted to facebook is one I KNOW I can keep....I vow to wear sweatpants more (as if that were possible, lol)!  Pretty sure I can keep that one until it gets warm ;-)  But in all seriousness, I'm going to try to make myself stamp and blog at least a few times a week if not more and I really need to get getter about SENDING cards.  What's the point of the thousands I have if I don't send them.  I still owe my stamping bestie a birthday card!!!!!  I really need to try to grow my business as well but that might have to wait until the move with things up in the air!  Ok, enough of my ramblings right?

Anyway, how about a card?  I've had this one made for a while with the another thank you photopolymer set.

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamps:  Another thank you photopolymer
Paper:  Whisper white, basic black, coastal cabana, strawberry slush
Ink:  Whisper white craft
Accessories:  Whisper white embossing powder, itty bitty punch pack (I think), chalk marker, dazzling details

It's hard to see but there's some sparkle on the heart.  I'm kind of obsessed with the chalkboard technique.  I really should shoot a video.  It's really pretty easy as I just sponge craft ink on the black cardstock.  I'm not sure how others do it but that's how I do it!  I want to make my own real chalkboard for the new house too!

Ok, time to go teach at the gym if I can get out of my drive with the snow!!!

Happy new year and happy stamping!