Sharon's Inkie Fingers

You're Just My Type

2012-02-12T11:30:00.004-05:00

It's been a while since I did any card challenges (other than the weekly Queen's sketches that I do). So, I decided today to do one of my old stand-by challenges, Mojo Monday Challenge. I know, I know .... it's not Monday!! But I had until today (Sunday) to submit my card for their challenge. I used a stamp set that at first did not appeal to me from the Occasions Mini. I looked at it and said "nah - don't like it." But, I have seen so many cute cards using this set and the more I looked at it, the better I like it. Plus, typing is my "thing" - one thing I always knew I was good at. I got good grades in typing in school (unlike Biology!!) and I've always been pretty fast with my typing. My first real job after college was as a typist for Western Electric Corporation in Greensboro using (I think) an electric typewriter! A big jump from the manual typewriters we used in school. I quickly worked my way up (in about 3 months) to secretary for the department head and on up from there where I supervised and proof-read the work of the typists in my department. When I worked for the school system in Texas, my job was Data Entry Secretary - this time on a computer instead of the IBM Selectric Typewriter that I had used at Western Electric. We've come a long way, baby!!

I used a mixture of supplies for this card.

Cardstock: SU Vanilla, Bashful Blue, Soft Suede, Basic Black and First Edition DSP; Lasting Impressions Swim Dock and Elementary Notebook
Accessories: Brown Pearls (unknown source); SU Scalloped Envelope Die, Soft Suede Dotted Grosgrain Ribbon
Stamp: SU You're My Type

Stampin' Up News:

Stampin' Up! announced last month that starting this year, they have eliminated the Summer Mini Catalog. The future Holiday and Spring Minis will be bigger and last longer (5 months vs. 4). The annual catalo with new In Colors, stamps, designer series paper will starta month earlier (June 1, 2012) and the Holiday Mini will start a month earlier as well (August 1, 2012 - better timing for Halloween and fall projects). The simplified schedule should be easier for everyone.

In addition, the Simply Adorned and Décor Elements lines will be discontinued when the 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog retires. IMPORTANT NOTE: THE CURRENT IDEA BOOK AND CATALOG WILL EXPIRE ON MAY 31, 2012 NOT JUNE 30, 2012. Details regarding the retiring stamp and accessories timing will be released at a future date.

Spice Cake Flower from Sale-a-Bration

2012-02-11T21:05:00.001-05:00

How do you like my blog background and banner? Just proves how much I love the DSP from the Sale-a-Bration catalog, Everyday Enchantment. I used My Digital Studio to make both of them.

There are so many creative ways to make flowers. For this card, I made the flower like the one that is in the Sale-a-Bration catalog on page 11. I found a tutorial for the flower on Jackie Topia's blog. You have to do a little sewing, but it is worth it for this great flower!

I used fabric from Spice Cake. It coordinates with the More Mustard, Pool Party and Soft Suede cardstock.

Now I want to get the Flirtatious fabric from the Sale-a-Bration catalog - FREE - and make a Melon Mambo flower!!

Hope you are having a good weekend. It was really cold here today. I don't think it got out of the 30s and the wind went right through you. I don't think tomorrow is going to be much warmer either. But afterall, it is February! Sonny and I went to the movies today to see Man On A Ledge. It was pretty good - very suspenseful. We had started out to see Safe House but we got the time wrong and arrived too late. So, guess we'll try next week to see it. Tomorrow we are going to see the Charlotte Checkers (hockey team) play in downtown Charlotte. This will be our first hockey game of the season this year.

Mixed Bunch

2012-02-09T23:33:00.000-05:00

I've been playing with the Mixed Bunch stamp and punch from the Occasions Mini Catalog. I told myself I didn't need another flower stamp not to mention another punch. Well, famous last words!! I really love this set. Look at the card below - you don't see a stamped flower, do you? Well, I used the stamp and punch to make the butterfly!!

I used a technique called Reverse Stamping to make the butterfly. I stamped the flower on white cardstock using White Pigment ink. Then I put white embossing powder on the image and used my heat gun to melt the powder. Next I used sponge daubers with Baja Blue ink and Artichoke ink on the image. Then I used my scissors to cut away a couple of the petals to make the butterfly shape.

Other supplies used for this card are:

Beyond the Garden DSP
Chocolate Chip & Baja Blue cardstock
Seam Binding Ribbon
Stampin' Up Dimensionals

I had several of my club members over this afternoon for a tutorial on My Digital Studio. I just hope I didn't overwhelm them! I have found the best way to learn MDS is to play with it. I have had the program for a couple of years and I am still learning. Stampin' Up has a great website that has samples, video and a forum for questions and answers that is a great help.

Queen Sketch Challenge

2012-02-07T23:28:00.001-05:00

My card for the Queen's Sketch Challenge this week uses a set that I have had for several years but is still a great "go to" set especially for masculine cards. It is the Loads of Love set and the matching Accessories set. I love to watercolor the pick-up truck and it can be used for so many different occasions - Christmas, birthday, Easter, Valentine, etc. I love sets that are versatile and can be used for more than one purpose.

I watercolored the truck and the Valentines and used the Designer Labels Dies to cut it out. I also used the Labels Die for the Real Red label.

Limeade Sprinkled Expressions

2012-02-06T22:24:00.003-05:00

This is one of the cards that I made yesterday. I just love it! This will be perfect for St. Patrick's Day, don't you think? I CASE'd the idea from a display from Leadership.

What is so great is that most of the items used to create this card you can get for FREE! The stamp, ribbon, DSP, and Card Stock are all from the Sale-a-Bration Catalog !! The stamp set I used is Sprinkled Expressions. I usually don't like solid stamp sets like this one because I have a hard time getting a good impression. But so far, so good - this set has not given me a minute of trouble - great impression every time.

Supplies used:

Stamp: Sprinkled Expressions (Sale-a-Bration pg. 8)
Cardstock: Lucky Limeade and Pool Party cardstock (Sale-a-Bration pg 15), Whisper White, Everyday Enchantment DSP (Sale-a-Bration pg. 9)
Accessories: Stamp-a-ma-jig, Ticket Corner Punch, Everyday Enchantment Limeade Ribbon (Sale-a-Bration pg. 8)

So if you want to get the FREE items to make a card like mine, contact me today.

Super Sunday

2012-02-05T21:24:00.000-05:00

I've been a busy girl! I'm on a roll with making cards and trying to build up my stash while playing with my new goodies. See all those cards above? I've made all of them in the past 3-4 days! I have several birthdays on my calendar for February plus I started the Monday Mailer program again so I need some cards. I'll be sharing them with you over the next few days.

You saw the baby card I made for my nephew yesterday in THIS post. Well, I made another one for a friend whose grandson was born a few weeks ago - 3 1/2 months early. His weight has just gotten up to 2 pounds on Thursday. Cathy was a good friend and in my Stamping Club until she moved to Georgia last month. I got her started with card making and she was hooked from the very first class! I miss her but she moved to be closer to her family and now with the new grandbaby, I'm happy for her. Here is the card I made for her.

This one is a little different from the other one that I made. I added a little placket down the front with Itty Bitty heart shaped buttons. Either way, they are fun to make.

Most of the cards I have been making are CASE'd from some that I have seen on various websites from samples from SU's recent Leadership trip in San Antonio. There were a lot of good ideas and I tweaked a few of them to come up with my own version. Like this one:

This card was made using the new Blossom Punch (pg 17 of mini catalog). I punched the hole with the punch in the white cardstock and backed it with paper from Flirtatious DSP. Next it was backed on Wisteria Wonder cardstock. I punched a Melon Mambo circle (1") for the center and topped it with a button. I punched a few flowers out with the Boho Blossoms Punch using Pretty in Pink and Wisteria. The Wisteria circle at the top is from the Button Sizzix Die The banner is from the Take It to Heart stamp set (pg 14, mini) an the saying is from Blessings from Heaven stamp set. You can see a close up below.

close up of the flowers

Well, back to watching the Super Bowl. I'm pulling for the Giants. No matter - at least it is a good game this year. Nine minutes left - so anyone's game at this point with score 15-17. I'm not a huge Madonna fan but thought the half time show was ok. At least there wasn't any wardrobe malfunction - that I could tell anyway! I much preferred Blake Shelton and Miranda at the beginning of the Super Bowl singing the National Anthem! I'm enjoying most of the commercials though this year. We were supposed to go to a Super Bowl party but ended up cancelling because Sonny was not feeling well. He has had sinus "gunk" going on for several days. I was disappointed but what can you do? Hopefully he will be feeling good soon.

Its A Boy!

2012-02-04T21:15:00.000-05:00

It's a BOY! Jack Wayland Frost IV was born at 12:15 AM Friday, Feb. 3. He weighed 5 pounds, 9 ounces - not bad for being 5 1/2 weeks early! He is my nephew, Jack, and his wife, Katrina's first child. If you follow my blog, they were the couple who were married in May, 2010 with the carnival themed wedding (pictures HERE!). Jack & Kat live in Austin, Texas - about an hour away from my daughter. Ashley drove up there this afternoon to meet the newest addition to the family and got to hold him. I'll have to wait until March to see him. I made a baby book for him a couple of weeks ago and thought I had plenty of time to get it in the mail. Oops .... didn't know he was going to be so impatient! Guess I better get it in the mail on Monday. I made this cute card today to send to them.

I found this piece of DSP cardstock in my stash and thought it would be great for little Jack's card. The stamp set is Simply Scallops which is a retired set. The materials I used for this card are:

non-SU DSP cut 4 1/4" x 11" folded in half

3/4" Circle Punch (for the neck

1 3/8" Circle Punch for legs

Small Oval Punch for bottom snap part

Scallop Punch , 1 1/4" Circle Punch

White Brads

Here is how I made the card:

fold the DSP cardstock in half
Use the punches to punch the legs and neck holes (just half punches)
For arms - measure 1 1/4" down from top fold and cut in from the sides 1"; cut from the underarm part you just cut to the outer corner of the leg portion.
For the trim on the legs and neck, use the Circle Punches to punch out half circles.

Happy Birthday Sis!

2012-02-02T23:32:00.000-05:00

I've been on a roll lately making cards and most of them have flowers of some type on them! Guess the nice spring-type weather has me thinking of things coming to bloom, sunshine and flowers! Yesterday was my sister, Angela's birthday. I can remember when she was born. I was 8 years old and went from being an only child to being a big sister. Last night Mom, Marianne and I took her to dinner at her choice, Texas Steak House. It was a nice girls night out for all of us.

This is the birthday card I made for Angela. I used a stamp set that we were given at SU Convention last summer, Best Friends Forever (BFF). This is the first time I had used the stamp. I really like the leaf stamp and the other stamps but don't have a lot of use for the BFF part. The supplies I used are:

Cardstock: Concord Crush, Melon Mambo, Cheerful Treat DSP (hostess item), Whisper White

Stamps: Best Friends Forever, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Accessories: Sale-a-Bration Brad, Itty Bitty Shapes Punch, sequins (non-SU), Memory Box die, Decorative Label Punch

I'm going to become a Great Aunt (again) any time now. My nephew, Jack and his wife, Katrina are at the hospital in Austin, Texas welcoming Jack Frost IV into the world. My brother in law called us several hours ago to tell us they were at the hospital and Katrina had been given the epidural. The baby is early - Katrina wasn't due until March 11 but I guess he had his own agenda. Say a prayer that everything is coming out ok.

FREE Test Drive for MDS Express!

2012-02-01T13:15:00.001-05:00

Have you been wondering what My Digital Studio is all about when I have posted cards made with it?

Do you want to give it a test drive and see if you like it? Of course you do - especially since it is FREE!.

Have you ever thought about digital software for cards, scrapbooking and more? Would you like a chance to try it out with no cost to you whatsoever? Too good to be true? Not so! Start designing with My Digital Studio (MDS) today FREE! Stampin' Up! is offering a FREE 30-day trial of My Digital Studio Express!

What is My Digital Studio (MDS) Express? It is a downloadable version, regularly $39.95, of our popular My Digital Studio digital design software. You receive the same software and some digital content to get you started!

What comes in the MDS Express download? Over $50 worth of content, which includes:

12 Designer Series paper patterns
One 9-piece stamp brush set
81 embellishments
26 punches
Five designer templates (24-page 11" x 8-1/2" photobook, 7" x 5" postcard, 5" x 7" postcard, 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" greeting card, 4" x 9-1/4" trifold card)
AND since it downloads instantly, there's no shipping charge!
Click here to view the full content of MDS Express

How Does My Digital Studio Express differ from My Digital Studio? My Digital Studio (item 118108, $79.95) contains packaged DVDs and nearly 2,000 stamp brush sets, embellishments, designer templates, punches, Designer Series Papers, card stock and more. That's a $500 value. My Digital Studio Express does not contain the $500 worth of digital images. OR you can watch a quick video HERE that explains the difference.

With the FREE 30 Day Trial, you get:

Full access to the software at NO COST.
Full design functionality.
Exclusive artwork that comes with My Digital Studio Express.
Opportunity to purchase additional downloads from designer templates to stamp brush sets–and everything in between.
View MDS Catalog.
Access to Stampin' Up! professional print services.
Learn, get tips and see lots of samples at mydigitalstudio.net.

There is also a My Digital Studio Community Forum group that you can join to learn more and meet friends who share your love of Digital products – there is also a ton of free training on this site to get you up and running quickly.

Stampin' Up puts out NEW DOWNLOADS weekly

There are DIGITAL KITS you can download, just like buying one of Stampin' UP's regular kits, where everything matches!

IT'S SIMPLE. Download the My Digital Studio Express Free Trial (item 129600) from My Online Store HERE

Stamping Queens Sketch 24

2012-02-01T03:00:00.000-05:00

My Stamping Queens Sketch Card this week is from the Party Animal kit in My Digital Studio. This is a fun kit with forest friends partying. It is from a Simply Scrappin' Kit that has turned digital.

Isn't this a bright fun card??

Check out the other cards and the sketch in case you want to make your own card using the sketch HERE.

Take A Guess!

2012-01-30T23:53:00.001-05:00

Posting three days in a row! Don't know what's gotten in to me other than I've been stamping a little more than before! I have been making flowers lately with different materials. I've made them out of fabric, paper and ... can you guess what this one is made of???

Here are the flowers all by themselves to give you a little closer look. Leave a comment with your guess. The first correct answer will receive the card above!

Supplies used to make the card: Pink Pirouette and Old Olive cardstock, Retired DSP, SU Adorning Accents Edgelits, Adorning Accents Embossing Folder, rick-rack, Little Leaves die, Big Shot, Glimmer Brad and the mystery matter!

I went to the "Y" today and did a swim class. I really felt like I got a work out! When we first joined the "Y", Sonny and I did water exercise 2-3 times a week but I probably haven't done the water exercise in over a year. I never really felt like I had worked out. Don't know what was different today - either I put more "oomph" into it, it was a different instructor, or I'm just getting older and we know that's not the case!!

Enjoy your Tuesday!

More Mocha Morning

2012-01-29T23:56:00.000-05:00

Here's another card I made Saturday using the Mocha Morning DSP .... love it!! I also used one of the stamps that you can get for FREE from Sale-a-bration - Elementary Elegance.

I started with a vanilla card and adhered a 3" x 4 1/4" strip of DSP across it. On the top and bottom of the DSP, I used the Lace Ribbon Border punch in black to peek out. I also did the border punch in black across the middle of the DSP and adhered a small strip of another piece of Mocha Morning DSP in the middle of it. I stamped the frame from Elementary Elegance and embossed it in gold. I used the coordinating punch, Curly Label to punch a piece of vanilla for inside the frame. I used my Bow Maker to tie a pretty little black satin bow and adhered it in the corner of the frame. The flower is the "piece de resistance"! For Christmas Marianne gave me a Cuttlebug Quilled Daisy Kit. That is what I used to make the flower, using the Mocha Morning DSP. Wish you could see in in real life ... it is so cool!

Craft Project Central Sketch #7

2012-01-28T21:51:00.002-05:00

I had fun today creating several cards using the Sale-a-Bration stamps. To create this card, I used the sketch found at Craft Project Central. One of my fellow NC demos (Regina) posted her card this morning in an e-mail so I decided to check out the site. I love this sketch - very easy. Most of the time, if you have a sketch, the rest of the card just falls into place. I also wanted to use some of the Mocha Morning DSP. The piece I used is flocked and so pretty up close. It is such a rich, gorgeous paper and worked great for this card. What do you think?

A close up of the flower - I stamped the flower twice, cut them out and layered them.

I used the new Labels Framelits (from SU mini Catalog) and the Big Shot for the black label. I put Versamark ink around the edges and then poured gold embossing powder on them and heated it with the heat gun. Love the effect! The flower is also embossed with gold. I stamped the flower twice and cut it out - layering the 2 pieces with dimensionals.

Stampin' Up products used for this card are:

Very Vanilla, Basic Black cardstock; Mocha Morning DSP
Creative Elements stamp
Black grosgrain ribbon, Lace Ribbon Border Punch, Gold Embossing Powder, Heat Gun, Labels Framelets (from mini catty)
Versamark Ink
Rhinestone (in center of flower), Dimensionals

Have a great weekend!

Stamping Queens Sketch 23

2012-01-25T03:00:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday and time for the Stamping Queens Sketch Challenge. Again I made my card using My Digital Studio because it is so quick and easy ... and it looks pretty good too!

This card uses Pool Party cardstock and a stamp overlay on top of the Pool Party. I used the stamp set found in the Sale-a-Bration Catalog on page 15 - Elementary Elegance. I love this stamp - so elegant looking.

Check out what the rest of the Queens made HERE

SALE-A-BRATION TIME!

2012-01-24T11:26:00.000-05:00

TODAY ... SALE-A-BRATION starts!! For every $50 you order (before tax and shipping) you get to choose one free item from the Sale-a-bration brochure .....and there's no limits.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CATALOG.

If your order reaches $150 you get a darling tote bag and if your order reaches $400 you get an awesome bundle. Check it out on page 3 of the Sale-a-bration Brochure. When ordering, please make sure you go through my website to get to my Stampin Up site ...so that you get the hostess benefits too.

If you're thinking about joining my team and becoming a Stampin UP Demonstrator ....the Starter Kit is $125 and you get a FREE Paper Pack or a Digital Download every month for the rest of the year.

This is my favorite paper: It is on page 7 of the Sale-a-bration catalog

Happy Birthday Kit

2012-01-23T23:07:00.002-05:00

Ashley's birthday is Dec. 22. I made a darling Birthday Book for her and took it to San Antonio when we were there. It was a kit I got from The Button Farm. They have some great kits!!

I love working with kits sometimes. This weekend I did a mini baby book also from The Button Farm. It turned out sooo cute! I am making it for my nephew and his wife who are having a baby boy in March.

SALE-A-BRATION starts Jan. 24 - Tuesday!! I will be posting information about Sale-a-bration soon as well as a few samples.

Elementary Elegance .... Again!

2012-01-23T23:00:00.000-05:00

Once again, I used Elementary Elegance to create a card. Don't forget - this is one of the sets available for FREE during Sale-a-bration!

close up of the stamp and daisy flower

It is hard to see in the picture, but I stamped the frame from Elementary Elegance in white and embossed it in white on a Vanilla square. I punched the middle piece with Curly Label punch and stamped "Hello". The little bird is stamped in Marina Mist and cut out .... very carefully! I used the Daisy Die and punched out the daisy in Vanilla, folded it over and adhered it to the corner of the square. Then I put a Vanilla Rosette on top of it. The card base is Sahara Sand and I used a sponge dauber on the edges. There are two strips of Crumb Cake Seam Binding glued down. In the middle of them is a piece of Marina Mist Satin Ribbon that I pleated.

Vargas Calendar

2012-01-21T12:19:00.000-05:00

I want to share with you the 1946 calendar that I mentioned in my post yesterday. The calendar sketches are by Alberto Vargas. I must admit, I was not familiar with him so I "googled" him and learned that he is the most famous and prolific pin-up artist of all time. He was from Peru and came to America in 1916. His first encounter with America happened about noon at Broadway and Fourteenth Street (New York), when he was suddenly surrounded by a lunchtime crowd of smartly dressed office workers. Mesmerized by their grace, sophistication, and beauty, the artist decided he would spend his life glorifying the American Girl. He did illustrations for Butterick (patterns) and Adelson Hat Company. He also did paintings of all the Ziegfield Follies girls, for Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Hellmans Mayonnaise,Warner Bros, MGM, and Esquire Magazine. While working with Esquire, he started doing the yearly pin-up girl calendars until 1946 when he left the magazine. By 1950, Esquire had a law suit against him doing any of the calendars using his name. Well, when he went to work for Esquire, they shortened his name dropping the "s" from the end. Esquire had copyrighted his name, Varga. So, the court ruled that in the future he would have to sign his full name to his work. In the 1950s and 60s, he started doing work for Playboy Magazine. I am guessing this calendar may have been a give-away or gift to my great-aunt when she had her own hat store in downtown Charlotte. Anyway, I was curious about it and wondering what it's worth would be. When I "googled" that, I came up with a few calendars on e-bay - going for $100-$250!! Wow! You never know what you have in your treasures!

I think they are so pretty. I am sure in their time, they were pretty shocking to many. We've come a long way, baby!!

The cover

Take a Tour!

2012-01-20T11:49:00.000-05:00

Sonny painted the last room yesterday .... unless I can convince him to paint my stamp room. I just don't know if I want to move everything - again - to paint! He's not real anxious to paint anymore either. Maybe I'll just wait a few months!! The pink bedrooms turned out really pretty. Here are a few pictures of one of the guest rooms. It is my vintage room. I have a lot of things from my grandmother's house - really old stuff!


This dressing table was my grandmother's. Around the mirror and on the old hat stand are old hats from my Great Aunt Love. She owned her own hat shop in Charlotte back in the 40s. On the dressing table are long kid gloves, a comb and mirror set, an old camera, pictures of my mom as a baby and my grandmother when she was young. On the right side is a pin-up calendar from 1946. I will be posting pictures from it soon.


This is a baby gown that my grandmother made for me. I hung it on the wall. The trim on it matches the pink walls.


Me painting the saying on the wall. It was a Decorative sticker that I had applied to the wall a few years ago. When we painted, it got covered up, so I had to paint over it.

An old mirror from a dressing table - not sure who's it was. Hanging on one side is a mink collar from a coat of my Great Aunts. On the other side is an old fan from a funeral home - back in the day. The beds were in my grandmother's room. In between them is an old trunk that I use for a table between the beds.

The lamp is new. But do you notice the pink ribbon trim? It is the pleated ribbon from the Stampin' Up Mini Catalog! It is not just for card making! Love it!

These are two pictures that I found at M's - I thought they added that vintage look to the room!

Hope you enjoyed the tour of my guest room! Now Sonny & I are off to the movies. Enjoy your weekend!

January Club Cards

2012-01-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

My Stamp Clubs met this week. I had fun designing Valentines and a couple of birthday cards for them to work on. One of the gals requested a birthday card for a friend who has a Leap Year birthday. Wouldn't that be weird - to have a real birthday every four years? If you are born on a Leap Year, do you get your driver's license on February 28th or March 1st? I found out that it is decided by each state. Anyway, I looked through my stamps trying to decide what would be an appropriate card for a Leap Year person. I found the retired set that has clocks I could stamp for the background. I made the card real vintage-y and distressed the edges.

This uses a set from Saleabration (starts next Tuesday!) and was really easy and quick to make. We embossed the sentiment with white embossing powder. The scalloped edge uses the Edgelits Dies from the Occasions Mini (pg. 7). The red ribbon is retired but I love it on this card.

This was a Shaker Valentine. I used the Peekaboo Die and the Big Shot to make the shaker part. When it is closed, there are two hearts on top.

More new products! The stamp set is found on pg. 14 of the Occasions Mini, Take It to Heart. A great set! the "Love" is from a retired set as is the strawberries (Tart & Tangy). There is a new set in the mini catalog with a chocolate strawberry (pg. 8, P.S.I Love You) but I don't have that set an still had Tart & Tangy. We used Crystal Effects and a brown marker to make the chocolate. Also the hearts can be punched out either with the Heart Punch OR the new Hearts Framelits Die.

This is my favorite because of the DSP from Saleabration! Love it! The stamp set is Build A Cupcake and I used the Cupcake Punch to make it easy. The frames that the cupcakes are on are the new Labels Framelits Die. The card is Calyso Coral which I don't think I have ever used!

Sketch Challenge 22

2012-01-18T15:12:00.000-05:00

Every Tuesday I get excited to check the Stampin' Up website to see what the latest My Digital Studio releases are. They usually don't disappoint me. Yesterday's selection included "Sweet Shop" design kit and the "Labels Collection" punches. The punches coordinate with one of Stampin' Up's new Framelits collection of dies and I love them. So of course, I had to download the new releases and while I was at it, looked back for a few weeks and found some other goodies that I had to have! Of course, all this was done last night around 11 pm. Then I set about to make my card for the Stamping Queens Challenge using some of my newest "toys". I had the card done and was in bed by midnight! That is how quick and easy My Digital Studio is!

This card uses the Designer Paper from the Saleabration catalog - Everyday Enchantment. This is one of my favorite papers and I know I will be ordering several packets! The stamp set is from the Mini Catalog - Tea Shoppe. Don't you just love that saying by Louisa May Alcott??? Even though I created this card using MDS, you can easily recreate it yourself using paper and stamps. Give it a try or come up with your own creation using this week's sketch.

Organization

2012-01-15T17:54:00.001-05:00

How do you like my new Blog Header? I did it in My Digital Studio using pictures I've taken during the year. The first picture of Sonny and I was taken when we were in San Antonio in December at Christmas. The next picture is Ashley and I in Ireland at one of the many pubs we visited. Next is Marianne (sister) and I in our Steelers gear - I think it was during Super Bowl 2 years ago in Pittsburgh. The next one is Sonny, Ashley and I in Ireland at Powerscourt Waterfalls between Dublin and Killkenny. Next is Ashley and I at Ft. Hood when she returned from Iraq. Not a great picture of me but remember, I had been sitting out in the 100+ temperature for about 3 hours!!! The last one is the three of us at the Smithwick Brewery where we discovered our new favorite pint to enjoy.

I have been busy this weekend. I finished cleaning my stamp room and moved furniture around. I think I am going to like it. I just hope I haven't organized my things to the point that I can't find them!! I'm so excited about my ribbon holder!! Here are a few pictures of the finished project:

This is my desk. I didn't move it because I get such good light from the window. Plus I can watch the birds and squirrels scamper around on the roof. It won't stay this clean for long! I love this desk with the great pull out baskets. It is one that Ashley bought for herself when she was in high school. It was used by her, Jeff (her brother) when she went to college, back to her for a brief time and then to me!

This is the desk that I moved against the wall. It previously was turned 90 degrees and I swiveled around to either desk. It was sticking out in the middle of the room and this way gives me more floor space. Under the desk are two Iris Carts which I have labeled each drawer so I know what is in there. Note my Stamp Pad rack - it sits on the desk and holds all my SU stamp pads and refills. Sonny made it for me several years ago and I love it! The punches are held up with Ikea racks. I need more!!!

This is my ribbon rack (on the right) which holds all my SU ribbon that is current in the 2011-12 catalog except for the wide striped grosgrain. There are clips at the bottom to hold scraps of ribbon. The ribbon shelf on the left is one I picked up a couple of years ago at an antique store - it is for a kitchen or bathroom and is supposed to hold a roll of paper towels. I added a dowel rod through the decorative iron scrolling on the side so I could add more ribbon to it. I have 6 SU Ribbon Boxes on the shelf and the two dowels that hold all my non-SU or retired ribbon.

These are my shelves that hold my SU stamps. I put all my non-SU stamps in the attic room which is accessible through my closet. The shelf unit on the right holds all retired stamps! On top are plastic jars (that used to hold nuts) with bits and pieces of ribbon in them. I have them labeled as to colors. I would like to start taking my wooden stamps apart and than I would have much more room. The shelf on the left was made by my wonderful hubby! (He's so handy.) I have my current SU stamps, my Sizzix dies and other odds and ends. My Big Shot sits next to the shelving unit so it is easily accessible.

I also organized my SU Designer Paper to some extent. I used to keep it in a one of the Iris Cart drawers and would pull it out and have to go through eachall of it to see what I had. Then I would get out the catalog to see what was current and which pieces went together and to see what colors coordinated with the DSP. So, I took a 12x12 plastic holder - looks like a magazine holder and has plastic dividers. I put the DSP in there and separated each pack that I had - Flirtatious, Twitterpated, Beyond the Garden, etc. behind the plastic dividers. I labeled the name of the DSP on the top and wrote on a label the coordinating colors that matched the DSP and stuck that on the divider too. That has sure made life easier trying to figure out what cardstock matched the DSP!

One more organization tip for you. I have the new Framelits Dies from the Occasions Mini Catalog (and love them!.) They come in a nice plastic envelope so what I did for storage was to tape some magnet strips to the cardboard that the dies are stuck on and then just slide them back in the envelope.

I hope you get some inspiration from some of my organization tips. You know, you're never through getting things organized. As soon as you think you are, you buy more stuff and have to figure out a way to organize it!! If you have any tips to share, please leave me a comment.

Calendar Pages June - September

2012-01-12T23:59:00.000-05:00

Almost finished with my room! I moved furniture around today and cleaned out drawers. I found some things in one drawer that I got when I first started with Stampin' Up - 6 years ago - that had not been opened! Oh my - that is bad! I found about 10-12 12"x12" tag sheets in various colors from my earlier days. So, tonight while watching tv, I punched all the tags out and put them in a container. You just might see me using tags in some of my cards in the future!! Maybe if I'd punched them out 6 years ago, I would have used them! I filled up a couple more garbage bags today too. I have a friend who recently moved to Georgia. She got interested in stamping while attending my classes. I am putting together a goody bag for her to keep her going. I'm trying to convince her to sign up as a SU demonstrator. She would make a good one. Sonny is going to hang my Clip Up Ribbon Organizer tomorrow so I will get my ribbons organized in it when I return from playing Mahjongg. I bought it for myself for Christmas present and bought one for my sister, Marianne. I don't know if she has found a spot for hers yet or not.

Here are a few more months of my calendars for you:

The wind has really been howling all night. We have a lot of tall pine trees behind our house and they have just been swaying. I think the wind is blowing in a cold front. It is supposed to get really cold here tomorrow and stay that way for at least a week - with temps only getting in the mid-40s. I wouldn't mind some snow falling!! After all, it is January!!

More Calendar Pages

2012-01-11T21:08:00.000-05:00

I worked all day getting my room organized today and finally am making progress! I can actually see the top of my desk. I hope to finish up tomorrow and sit down and put some ink to paper and be creative! I've got some Occasions Mini Catalog items as well as Saleabration things to play with!!

Sonny resumed his painting today. He only has 2 rooms and he will be finished. They are both our guest bedrooms and we are painting both of them pink. I have never had a pink room before so it is very different for me.

I have a few more calendar pages to share with you today. I hope this gives you inspiration to make your own calendar. They are so much fun to make.

And here is the calendar stand that Sonny made for it. You just slip the 6x6 pages into 6 page protectors, use a jump ring to hang them from and sit on your desk. Each month you just flip the pages over. You only need 6 page protectors - the end of June, you just turn the calendar around for the other 6 months. If you are interested in purchasing one, let me know. They are $10 plus shipping.

Queen's Sketch Challenge

2012-01-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

Today is the sketch challenge for the Stamping Queens. I really thought I would make the card this week instead of doing it in My Digital Studio, but I am still trying to sort out my craft room and it is still a MESS! I had planned on working on it uninterrupted all day today but that didn't happen. After donny left early this morning to go shooting with the guys, I fell back into a deep sleep. The phone woke me up (at 9 am!) with a plea that I was needed at the Soup Kitchen. So I went into overdrive and got dressed, grabbed some tea and coffee and headed to the Mooresville Soup Kitchen to work.

I think this card goes along with everyone's resolutions for 2012 - or at least mine. Get organized, stay that way and take it Day by Day .... 24 hours, 52 weeks and 365 days!! Think you can do it? I hope I can. This card uses a new FREE download offered to Facebook friends of Stampin' Up called Day in the Life

Check out the other Stamping Queens creations HERE.

Every year, I make calendars for my friends and family. Sonny makes calendar stands for me to hang the calendars on. I'll post a picture of the stands later in the week. If you are interested in buying one, I have a few extras. Here are a couple of months I made using My Digital Studio. It made making them so easy!!