Fireflies and Flutterbyes -- Stampin' Up! Projects

You Rock!!: A Farewell Post

2010-07-09T23:45:00.001-05:00

As you’ve probably noticed, I haven’t posted in quite awhile. Besides not doing alot of stamping, I’ve just needed a break from blogging here. Instead, I’ve been focusing on simplifying my life. While I’ve so enjoyed developing this blog over the years, it’s become more of a chore lately rather than a fun and relaxing endeavor. Plus, I’m trying to put my time & energy into my family and

10 Things We Love About You!

2010-06-20T19:13:00.001-05:00

Here is the card I made for Brian this Father’s Day. Though the main image is actually a large die-cut adhesive from a retired Simply Scrappin’ Kit, I felt it was perfect for a card. On it, I jotted 10 reasons why the kids are so happy to have Brian as their Dad…..mainly fun activities that we love to do together. I used the Clean and Simple Sketch Challenge (FTL #95) for my layout. Though I

My Newest Rubbah Venture

2010-06-15T23:08:00.001-05:00

If you’d like to follow me on my newest rubbah venture, head on over to my So Skinny on the Inside blog. No, it doesn’t have anything to do with rubber stamps…..but rather rubber soles in the form of running shoes. I’m attempting to become something of a runner using the couch-to-5K (c25K) plan. It’s challenging, but I’m LOVIN’ it! Even better, I’d love for you to join me (just start at Week

Sketch Whimsy #1 & #2 Winners

2010-06-14T07:02:00.003-05:00

So sorry for the delayed announcements, but better late than never right?!! Sketch Whimsy #1: The winner of my first challenge is Tina Joergens. Her scrapbook pages about her MS diagnosis were wonderful! It’s so easy to scrapbook about the things in our lives that are bright and shiny; so, it takes real courage to scrapbook the events that aren’t. I love that Tina chooses to address her

Sketch Whimsy #3

2010-06-13T22:20:00.001-05:00

I’m back with Sketch Whimsy #3. Because participation in the challenge was low to nil, I’ve decided to nix the challenge and give-aways altogether. I have a hard time doing scrapbook sketch challenges in one week myself! But many of you expressed interest in the sketches themselves; so instead, I’ll just offer Sketch Whimsy as I’d originally intended…..as inspiration for your future

A Girl and Her Swing 12x12 Layout

2010-06-12T19:56:00.001-05:00

I finally got a chance to play my friend Stacey’s Curtain Call Color Challenge again. It’s been a long time coming. What a beautiful inspiration piece and colors this week: Rather than a card, I opted to do a scrapbook layout. Because I know Stacey loves to sew on her cards, I added some zigzag stitching to my pages using my Janome sewing machine. I did use an extra color on my pages (

How NOT to Lose Your Clear-Mount Stamps

2010-06-11T21:40:00.001-05:00

I’ve seen this idea on several blogs including Julie Buhler’s Paper Pleasing Ideas; thus, I can’t take credit. However, it’s such a good idea that I wanted to share it with all of you. I LOVE Stampin’ Up’s new clear-mount stamps. I have more flexibility in how I use my stamps, plus the clear-mount stamp cases take up less room on my shelves than the wood-mount stamp cases. However, because

Pirate Time Birthday

2010-06-09T23:02:00.001-05:00

Seth got invited to a friend’s birthday party this weekend and I needed a card. I didn’t have alot of time to come up with my own idea, so I turned to the Pirate Time stamp set gallery over at SplitCoastStampers to get some inspiration. There were several coordinating cards by maryloves2stamp that I fell in love with, so I created my card in a similar manner. The skull & swords are embossed (

Back Tonight

2010-06-09T07:02:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. My beloved grandfather passed away on Friday and we had his visitation and funeral on Monday night. Grandpa was almost 91 and lived a full and happy life up until the last few years, when his health really declined. While I’m so sad that he will no longer be a part of my life, I’m glad that he is no longer suffering and that he is reunited with my grandma. In

Sketch Whimsy #2

2010-06-06T18:16:00.002-05:00

In case you missed the post, I started a new feature here on my blog…..Sketch Whimsy! Since I’m always looking for new scrapbook page layout ideas, I figured others might be too. So, each week I’ll post 2 scrapbook sketches for your inspiration. But rather than just providing a resource for scrapbookers, I’d love for my Sketch Whimsy to be more interactive….please play along if you’d like!

! Card

2010-06-05T21:47:00.001-05:00

I needed a good birthday card for my a male friend’s birthday. Since I don’t have many guy-friendly stamps (I’m hoping that the new catalog will offer more of these!), I used the Pick a Petal stamp set in a non-traditional way…..creating an exclamation point. Easy and to-the-point! Stamp sets: all holidays, pick a petal; Inks: not quite navy; Cardstock: chocolate chip, old olive, not quite

Teacher Notecard #4

2010-06-04T21:10:00.000-05:00

Here is the final teacher notecard design. It’s probably my least favorite of the bunch, but I was pressed for time to get them done before my daughter left for her last day of school. See my last 3 posts for additional designs.

Teacher Notecard #3

2010-06-03T21:08:00.000-05:00

Here is teacher notecard design #3. See my last 2 posts for additional designs.

Teacher Notecard #2

2010-06-02T20:28:00.001-05:00

If you saw yesterday’s post, then you know I put together some notecards in a tin for Mia’s teacher. Here is the 2nd notecard design with a simple strip of designer paper and a scalloped flower image embellishment.

Teacher Notes in a Tin

2010-06-01T22:17:00.001-05:00

Mia’s last day of 3rd grade was today. As a parting gift for her teacher, I put together 8 notecards (2 each of 4 styles) and packaged them in a decorated Stampin’ Up! metal tin. It was an easy-to-make, but appreciated gift as teachers always have a need to jot a note to a student or parent. I got the idea for the notes in a tin from Kristin Moore – you can see her post HERE. Here’s one

Sketch Whimsy #1

2010-05-30T00:05:00.001-05:00

Since May is National Scrapbooking Month, I thought it would be a great time to introduce my new blog feature…..Sketch Whimsy! I’m always on the lookout for new scrapbook page layout ideas and you probably are too. So, each week I’ll post 2 scrapbook sketches for your inspiration. But rather than just providing a resource for scrapbookers, I’d love for my Sketch Whimsy to be more interactive….

End of the Line 12x12 Layout

2010-05-26T19:35:00.001-05:00

While visiting the train museum last summer, we took a ride on an actual old time train. We rode until the tracks ended….then the front car was unhooked from the passenger cars, brought to the back of the train on an adjacent track, and re-hooked to the passenger cars to take us in reverse back to the station. It was a pretty cool trip, though the train was a little slow (I know - what can you

Scrapbooking 101: Fill a Page with Photos

2010-05-24T21:54:00.001-05:00

Whew – where does time go? It’s been a few days since my last post so I thought I’d better get something up before you all find greener pastures! Here’s a 2-page layout I did a few months ago. It features photos from the train museum near Baraboo, Wisconsin that we visited last summer on vacation. For this particular layout, I had a bunch of photos that needed to be included. After all,

New Blog Banner

2010-05-20T08:13:00.001-05:00

I’ve been itching to change my blog banner for awhile now, so I took a little time to work on it last night. Banners are so easy with My Digital Studio. This one took me less than 20 minutes to complete. What do you think of the new look?

Tutorial: Bargello Paper Technique

2010-05-19T21:03:00.001-05:00

Each month, Stampin’ Up! puts out Stampin’ Success, a magazine for demonstrators. The magazine features helpful business & stamping articles, featured demonstrators, company promotions, layout ideas and much, much more. One of my favorite features is the technique spotlight. In this months’ Stampin’ Success, the technique is Bargello. Here’s a bit of background taken straight from the mag: “

3x6 Bookworm Thank You Card

2010-05-17T21:14:00.001-05:00

Mia’s school will be wrapping up in the next few weeks, so I created this card to give to her 3rd grade teacher on the last day of school. Love this cute little bookworm from the new First Day stamp set! I cut my stamp so that the worm image & “bookworm” greeting (not used on this card) below it are separate, giving me more freedom to stamp them as I wish using an ink pad, instead of having to

3x6 Graduation Owl

2010-05-16T19:15:00.001-05:00

My youngest, Seth, is graduating from pre-K this coming Tuesday night, so I knew a card was in order. Plus, I couldn’t resist getting the cute, new Go, Graduate stamp set in the Summer mini catalog! I put this card together with Seth in mind….choosing bright, happy colors to fit his personality. Paper from the Pawsitively Prints DSP pack was perfect for the look I wanted, as was the new

Teacher Page #2

2010-05-15T21:30:00.001-05:00

If you recall from THIS POST, we asked the kids in my son’s daycare to create 8-1/2 x 11 scrapbook pages for their teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. I chose to design my own pages using part of a canned, xeroxed page that we provided everyone for simplicity. Here’s Page #2: Sorry this photo isn’t the best quality. I rushed to get the pages done the night before they were due

FREE Stamps!

2010-05-11T22:51:00.001-05:00

I have a goal this week of helping 5-10 people get ready for beach season and/or transform their health with Isagenix. So, I’m offering an incentive to you, my blog readers! If you, or someone you know, is looking for a way to easily lose some weight and get healthy, then leave your contact information at the bottom of my Isagenix Website! The first 5 people who actually SIGN UP (or refer

Teacher Page #1

2010-05-10T21:25:00.001-05:00

If you recall from THIS POST, we asked the kids in my son’s daycare to create 8-1/2 x 11 scrapbook pages for their teachers in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. We had canned, xeroxed pages for them; but of course, I couldn’t resist turning mine into an actual scrapbook page. Seth has 3 teachers so I had to make 3 pages. I kept the pages simple, using portions of the canned page on which he