Some of the supplies are retiring including the Season of Friendship stamp set.  I love that you can use this set for all the seasons so its good all year long.  And it works great in scrapbooking – I’ll have a layout later this week that uses it.  So here are the supplies (R=retiring product):

Stamp set – Season of Friendship (R), On Your Birthday (R)

Card stock – Cherry Cobbler, Night of Navy, Very Vanilla

Classic ink – Early Espresso, Night of Navy

Designer paper – First Edition, Regals Collection

Ribbon – Cherry Cobbler 1-1/4″ Striped Grosgrain (R), Linen Thread

Punches – Modern Label, Word Window, Itty Bitty Punch Pack, Small Oval

White Gel Pen

If you were wondering why I was missing all week, I wasn’t out of town, but I spent the whole week trying to finish all my entries for the Artisan Design Team Contest at Stampin’ Up!   As the deadline approached I was spending all my time on those projects – trying things, not liking them, trying other things, tweeking what I already made, and so on.  So I neglected my blog for the week.  Finally on Saturday morning I was able to take it all to the UPS store to ship it to Stampin’ Up!.  I hope I at least make it to the finalist stage.  We had to create 10 projects – 5 cards, 3 scrapbook pages, and 2 3D items – all new projects so you haven’t seen them before – I’ll share them later after the results of the contest are announced.

It was also the last week of school – with early release days for part of the week.  I had a scrapbook class on Friday – I’ll share those pages later. So this week I’m going to try to post two projects each day – I have a bunch of them using retired product – this is the end of our catalog so you only have a few more days to order before many things are gone for good.

Have a Happy Memorial Day!

Thanks to all who sacrifice for our freedoms.  Yesterday we went to Stone Mountain for their Memorial Day Laser Show celebration.  We haven’t been in several years to see the show and it was so good.  I love that they have some of the original classic portions of the show and then update it with new segments too.  It is always very patriotic no matter what day it is.  Greg, Tyler and Ryan and I headed to the mountain late in the afternoon and first hiked up the mountain – all the way up the granite mountain!

Tyler, Greg and Ryan on top of Stone Mountain

view of the skyline of Atlanta and perimeter area

After we got back down we unpacked the cooler for some sandwiches – boy those are good after that hike.  Once we were done we wanted to move and park the car closer to the lawn where we watch the laser show.  We made some strategic parking decisions (which turned out to be the best spot ever and easy to leave once the show was over).  Then walked to find a spot on the Memorial lawn.  It was much more crowded than we expected – it was still about 3 hours before the show.  We found some spots to layout our blankets and towels and settled in for some nap time, card playing, people watching, cloud watching, and relaxation – the laser show doesn’t start until 9:30.

View of the carving on Stone Mountain from our seats on the lawn.

If you come to Georgia one of the sites you need to see is Stone Mountain and if you can stay for the laser show during the summer months.  Since it is dark the pictures aren’t the best but the real life show is amazing and the changes over the years is amazing.  There was also a big fireworks celebration and lots of patriotic music and images were included in the show.

one of my favorite traditional parts of the show – the lasers trace the carvings and then finish the horses and then they start charging

This was new since I have seen the show they now use technology to “finish” the carving on the mountain and show the whole thing. This portion of the show was amazing – as you saw rock “falling” off to create the carving.

fireworks with the mountain and carving in the background

I just found this article about the show – click here – it looks like the new show was introduced last year – I think.

I’ll be back in a little while with a Stampin’ project and I’ll have projects all week too.  See you in a bit.

The World Traveler Photobook Template is a must have!  and the Soft Blooms – I got those too.  I ordered, downloaded, and installed both of those earlier today.  The photo book template I’m really excited about.  I have a bunch of pictures from a trip my parents took and I’m planning to make a book for them and this will be PERFECT!

But today I just wanted to play for a minute and test out the auto fill option – a whole book done in about 10 minutes – over 100 photos – seriously – these are some old pictures from a trip we took to Bryce Canyon (maybe this is the reason i never finishing scrapbooking this trip) -here is the cover and a couple of pages  – all i did was auto fill the photos and then I adjusted the crop on some of them.

How about that for quick – I can’t wait to work on the real album with this template.  The stamps in the kit include maps, markers, lines, words and images related to travel.  There are 8 designer papers and embellishments – tags, borders and more.

I hope you are having fun with My Digital Studio.  Come join me for a class – see my class schedule on my website for the next one in June.

You can see all the available Digital Downloads on my website – and get to my class schedule there too.

They feature Concord Crush – card stock to cut the Elegant Bird Big Shot die (the die will be in the new catalog), ink to stamp the Simply Soft flower image on the bird (that’s a hostess set that will be retiring too), Designer Series Paper (this In-Color stack is retiring) punched with the Scallop Circle punch (the punch is staying).  The tag uses the Three Little Words stamp set (it’s retiring) stamped in the Concord Crush ink and punched with the Modern Label punch (the punch is staying).  The tag is added to the center of the flower with one of the purple Rhinestone Brads found in the Ice Circle assortment (yes, those are retiring too).  Tie it on to a bag with some white Baker’s Twine.

The 5 In-Colors that are retiring are Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz, Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, and Blushing Bride.  And the other things I mentioned as retiring are only available for a little while longer.  Order soon if you want any of these.

Thanks,

Soft Suede and Very Vanilla.  Baroque Motifs and Sincere Salutations – both retiring.  Mocha Morning Designer Paper – also retiring.  Butterfly Punch – yep it’s retiring.  The Neutrals 5/16″ brads – I think those are staying.  Also the Simply Scored was used but you can’t see it much in this picture.   Card Style idea from Cindy – we used this style in our MDS club class and I have those to share too – I don’t think I already did it so those will be on another day since we made several designs.  Gotta go….

I tied a piece of Hemp twine around the card front and tied in a knot.  The Hemp Twine is also on the retirement list.  The the greeting is in the lower right hand corner.  I used “happy father’s day” from the Delightful Dozen stamp set (it is in the new catalog).  But this card could be used for any number of things – very versatile.  Switch out the designer paper and change the whole look of the card.

Just a quick little shout out to my boys – I’m so proud of all three of them.  We were all so impressed by Ryan’s performance at the Spring Band Concert last night – he played in the percussion ensemble and did so good with several key solo and duet parts.  Then Tyler went today for training at his new job – he has been gone most of the day – I can’t wait to hear all about it when he gets home.  I talked to Kyle – he started his internship job yesterday.  They are spoiling him out there – he said they gave him a laundry bag and they’ll do it for him, and they feed them 3 meals a day including any snacks they want – they just have to request it and they’ll stock.  A furnished apartment and a bike to ride the mile to work.

Have a wonderful day!

The basic layout of each book included a group photo of the seniors on the front cover.  The first page was an individual photo taken of the student on senior night with their parents – I also included all their bio information – instrument(s) played, awards, leadership,etc.  Then I had double page layouts – 4 pages for each year freshman through junior year and 6 pages for their senior year.  I included a 2 page spread for autographs and finished with another group photo as the last page and the band on the back cover. Here are a few more pages -

this is the autograph page

I was able to get some photos of the students from the parents and I also used photos that were taken throughout the years and added to our band website.  Each book is basically the same except I replaced some of the pictures that were of a specific student.  A few of the tricky books were the students who weren’t in the band all 4 years or the girls in the Guard that weren’t in concert band.  And a couple of parents didn’t send me any pictures of their student so I had to either find some on my own (which is hard when you don’t know the kids well and they are all dressed alike) or I replaced them with general band photos – like a trumpet player I may have used a picture of a group of trumpet players instead of that specific player since I didn’t know which one he was.    It was quite the undertaking but it is done and all the books were printed through Stampin’ Up!s professional print service and presented to the seniors at our band banquet on Thursday night.

Tonight is the final band concert of the year. Then the focus will be on next years Marching Band Show.  The percussion kids – which is Ryan – will have tryouts for the drumline and pit crew at the end of this month – Ryan is trying out for a snare drum spot – I’m crossing my fingers that he gets it – he has been practicing since last summer – he didn’t get it this past year because they only had room for a couple and the older boys got those spots.

And since it is Tuesday  – Stampin’ Up! has some new digital downloads – You can see them on my website – and view the May 15 digital downloads.

Also remember the Retiring Products – we are winding down to the end of this catalog – can you believe it?  So double check the list and see that you have everything you need.    Call or email me and I’ll place an order for you or place it online – you can add digital downloads and clearance items to an online order.

Have a great day!

This one uses the Summer Smooches Designer Series Paper and the Daffodil Delight Seam Binding – they will both be in the new catalog starting June 1st.  For my stamp club last week I created this version -

For this one I used the Cheerful Treat Designer Series Paper that is in our current catalog and Pear Pizzazz Seam Binding – both of these will be retired at the end of the month.  I also added a little tag – the “for you” is from the Clearly for You stamp set which is also retiring.

This quick and cute card idea would be easy to do with many designer papers and you could adapt it to use a star punch or some other shape. I think I’ll have to play some more with this design.  Thanks Heather for the great card idea!

Have a great Mother’s Day weekend – I may or may not post again over the weekend.  Tomorrow I’m taking Kyle to the airport – he is leaving for California and I’m a bit sad about that – I’m excited for him and the opportunity that he has, but sad that he’ll be so far away.  Sunday we are going to see my mom and dad for the day and I’m really looking forward to that.

Do you need a quick little gift for a teacher or mom?  Check out this project that we made at Stamper’s Club Friday night.  I think everyone really liked this one and it wasn’t hard to make.

Cut a piece of card stock – I used Basic Gray – to 10-3/4 x 5-1/2.  Put it on the Simply Scored and score at 4-1/4, 4-1/2 and 9-1/2.  On the end near the 9-1/2 score line punch with the scallop border punch.  I also sponged the scallops with Basic Gray ink to make them show up against the front.  Put an Antique Brad in the center of the folded flap to hold it down.  Then the front just tucks under the scalloped edge to close.  This is a matchbook style folder.

To decorate the front I used two stamp sets – Elizabeth and Clearly For You – both of these are on the retiring stamp set list.  Stamp Elizabeth in Basic Gray on the front.  Stamp the Clearly for You images on some Confetti White card stock (also retiring) – I used Sahara Sand ink and Basic Gray ink – punch with the large oval punch – add a bitty flower with a brad in the center and layer on a Baja Breeze scallop oval punch.  Add a strip of the Twitterpated Designer Series Paper (the gray print) to the front and layer the oval over the Elizabeth stamped image.  Tie a piece of Baja Breeze Seam Binding in a knot and add with a glue dot above the oval.

On the inside I added a notepad with some Sticky Strip – stamp the pages if you like.  I luckily found Baja Breeze pads at the dollar store!  I also added a pen – there is a strip of the Gray designer paper in the barrel so it matches the project and a piece of the ribbon is tied on the top – use a mini glue dot to hold the ribbon.

I hope you like this project!

The main photo is matted and at full strength.  There is some journaling, a title and a few accents.  There is not much to this page.

Now the story behind the photos – this was on our anniversary trip last summer.  Greg played golf and I rode along in the golf cart and took pictures.  That was my first time to go with him while he played golf so I haven’t really seen him play before. He was not happy to be in the sand trap but I thought the pictures were so much better – because you can see the sand spray in the photos which shows some action.  The other shots of him aren’t as interesting to me.  I guess I’m the only one that likes the sand traps.

And since it is Tuesday  – Stampin’ Up! has some new digital downloads and  a big announcement related to My Digital Studio – Click on the picture below to visit MyDigitalStudio.net and see the announcement.   And check out this quick video – http://mydigitalstudio.net/profiles/blogs/mds-2 – I’m super excited about the few things that are mentioned!

and today’s new digital download releases -

More stitches!  Yeah!  I do like the stitching – I want to add it on my traditional layouts to but I don’t – maybe one day I’ll try it.  But until then I can quickly and easily add it to my digital pages.  Now there are even more choices.

Enjoy the day!