Random Weekend Photos

It was a great family weekend.  Out of town guest, kids all home, and a family wedding.  Congrats to Jamie and Dave.

It was a beautiful wedding and a fun family time.   Jamie and her sister-in-law put together a little photo album with pictures of Jamie and Dave throughout their childhood.  They did a great job and there were so many similar photos but.....

this was the cutest!  They had matching pajamas!   Love it!   And we had to have some family craziness too.

The cousins doing their trademark "Eee-aww!"  with their donkey ears.  The photographer took one of the whole family (well, almost the whole family) doing that - some were not able to make it to the wedding and some choose not to participate in the silliness.     We just enjoy life!

My part of the family - daughters Katie and Bekah, son-in-law Jake and hubby Tom.

We clean up pretty good.

Other weekend fun included meeting Katie and Jake's new puppy, Trip.  He is a red heeler mix and quite the puppy.  Buddy did not care too much for him but the rest of us loved him. Glad he is their puppy though - they can have the whining during the night and the 'oops' on the floor.

And remember this photo of the fuchsia from last week - all the buds waiting to bloom.

Well......

This is how it looks this week.  Beautiful!

Today, back to normal.  Tom and Bekah go back to work. (I go back to work tomorrow.)  My sister is at the airport waiting to board her flight home and I have tons to do to get ready for my Stampin Up Open House this weekend.  Hope to see some of you there.  Friday June 1 - 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. - no purchase necessary - just some enjoy the fun.  RSVP that you are coming and get a second chance at the attendance prizes.

Back to Cards

Someone asked me to stop with the recipes and get back to the cards - so here I am posting some of my latest creations.
A friend asked me to design some bridal shower invitations - these are what I came up with. The stamp set is retired but one of my favorite bridal sets. The cards all use Wild Wasabi, Perfect Plum, Baja Breeze and So Saffron. They are all spritzed with the Vanilla Smooch. They are all colored using the Watercolor Crayons.


This one uses one of the new embossing folders - the rows of hearts at the bottom.


This card uses one of the frame embossing folders. The large oval punch fits perfectly in the frame.


Here a variety of circles and scallop circles were used. It is embossed with Elegant Lines embossing folder.


And here I used strips of card stock as the background for the image. This would be a great way to use up some scraps.


This was the 'winner'. She liked this layout but originally I had used the polka dot embossing folder and she wanted the Elegant Lines. No problem! I decorated the envelopes to coordinate with the invitations.


Here you can see more of the envelope. They did turn out nicely. Congrats to the bride and groom - many years of happiness!

Wedding or shower favors

I was playing with an idea for a small project for the January clubs - and came up with some cute wedding or shower favors. These could also be used for a Valentine's treat so I probably will do something similar to these for the clubs.


This was my first idea. You could slip a miniature candy bar, gift card or a love note inside.
I used two of the Scalloped Envelopes and glued them together.
Card Stock - Whisper White, Real Red, Pretty in Pink
Ink - Real Red
Tools - Heart to Heart punch, Scallop oval punch, Small oval punch, Crop-a-dile
Embellishments - Real Red 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon, Real Red flower brad
Stamp set - Tiny Tags


This one also uses two of the Scalloped Envelopes but is adhered to make a narrow box. This one would hold a couple of the square Ghardelli chocolates (or similar candies)
Card Stock - Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight
Ink - Basic Gray, Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade marker
Stamp Set - Ain't Love Grand
Ribbon - Daffodil Delight 3/8 inch taffeta


Here is a side angle shot to show the dimensions.


And for a little different look I added a piece of Whisper White trimmed down to look like a liner inside the box.

Another OMG album

Another of the OMG albums. This one was a little challenging. The wedding colors are black and white with a little pewter. The person requesting this said I could add a color if I needed but I think I did pretty well with just Basic Black, Basic Gray and Whisper White (and a little bit of Wild Wasabi for leaves).

The dotted piece along the bottom is from the wedding invitations. The stamped images are non-SU stamp sets I had from before SU days.

This is the back of the album. The image is from the new hostess set, Ain't Love Grand. I would put a photo of the couple in their 'getaway' car here.

This is inside the front cover - Basic Black DSP and a set of bride and groom hearts look pretty nice here. If you would like to see how I make the bride and groom hearts, I have a tutorial here. The large open area above the intialed hearts could house one large photo of the couple or a collage of smaller photos.

The center spotlights the wedding invitation. I intend the narrow areas on the side to be individual photos of the bride and groom coordinated with the bride and groom hearts (of course, they can do whatever they want - I do offer to add their photos for a separate fee).

This is one of the side sections that flank the invitation. This could hold photos of the bridesmaids in one section and groomsmen in the other. The circular areas could also hold photos.

This is inside the back cover. The flower is all white but the 5 petal flower is sponged with Basic Gray to make it more visible against the white background. This provides another large areas to place a single photo or several smaller ones.

The section with the three hearts is one side of the open back display. I imagine the bottom section here with the grooms family and maybe the smaller one the groom and parents or grandparents. The opposite side would be for the bride's family.

The inside back has a frame with a window sheet. The sentiment is from a retired stamp set. I imagine a photo of the bride and groom in the circular frame - probably kissing :-)

And here it the little gift card and envelope I made to go along with the album. My customers seem to like that extra little touch.

So, I don't think I did to badly using just black, white and gray. My husband asked if it was for a black tie event - so guess it looks pretty classy. I hope the couple likes it.

Bride and Groom Hearts

I have been having fun today making bride and groom hearts. This is one of my favorite ways to dress up wedding scrapbook pages or the OMG albums. So while I was working on these I made a tutorial so you all can make some for yourselves.

Tutorial HERE
Here is a happy couple. This is for a scrapbook page for a couple married in January and they had snowflakes for part of the decorations. The snowburst embossingfolder came in handy here. He wore a white tie so I make the groom to match.

Here are several styles of bride hearts. From left to right they are the snowburst, vintage wallpaper, and elegant lines embossing folders. I rubbed some Frost White shimmer paint on them before adding the pearls.

This is for a May wedding. He wore a black bow tie so I used that style. I have used the tiny rhinestone jewels on these. These are for a little gift to the bride for her scrapbooking.

And - these don't have to be just for wedding scrapbooking. What about proms? or any formal occassion. Here I used Real Red card stock and ribbon. So easy to personalize to fit the occassion.

Have you tried these? Do you have other ideas for customizing them? I'd love to hear from you!

Ain't Love Grand

Ain't Love Grand is one of the new hostess sets from Stampin' Up. I broke mine out this weekend and grabbed a handful of ribbon from my scrap jar - here are some of the cards I made.

Congrats - Bashful Blue, So Saffron and Crumb Cake. I used the square lattice embossing folder on the piece of Crumb Cake.

Sending love your way - what a cute hot air balloon stamp! I used the new lace punch and wove a scrap piece of Certainly Celery 1/4 inch grosgrain through the holes. The card stock is So Saffron, Certainly Celery and Soft Suede.

Ain't Love Grand - simple but elegant. The oval is embossed with one of the new frame embossing folders. This is in Basic Gray and Basic Black. I thought I would add a modern label sentiment to it but am not sure if it will be a wedding or anniversary card.

I miss you - the new stripes embossing folder works well with the ribbon stripes. Basic Gray and Real Red are a great combo.

Heard it's your birthday - more of my ribbon scraps combined with Real Red, Pacific Point and Daffodil Delight.

Get well - one of my favorites! This uses the other frame in the embossing folder set. The background is Cajun Craze embossed with the square lattice inked with Night of Navy. I used the eyelet ribbon punch for the trim - and the button is made from Night of Navy card stock! So much fun.

This stamp set is only available to hostesses - and you get a great discount on the price! Contact me to schedule a workshop so you can earn free merchandise!

Scrapbook Guest Book

For my daughter's wedding I am making a scrapbook that will serve as the guest book. Pages in the plastic sleeves will decorate the tables along with die cuts on which people can sign their name and add a few words of wisdom. It has been fun designing the pages so thought I would share a few of my favorites here.
This one is Ballet Blue and So Saffron - the wedding colors.


For this one I used a rub-on to decorate one of the circles and added a felt flower and leaf. The page is covered with circles in two sizes using Regal Rose. The background is designer series paper with Rose Red.


More rub-ons with some Sahara Sand and Soft Suede papers. I crimped the Soft Suede.


Stars are always fun. This is Summer Sun and Ballet Blue.


An elegant one - hearts in Whisper White on a Tempting Turquoise background. And another rub-on. The dove is made using the Big Shot with Bride paper.


Another one with Rose Red and Regal Rose. This one uses a couple butterly dies and a rub on that says You are so sweet


For this one, various heart shapes in So Saffron and Pretty in Pink on a Regal Rose background.


This one uses Close to Cocoa background with Chocolate Chip ribbon. The buckles are made from Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron and Pretty in Pink to match the flower brads.

Blissful Bride

Today is DD#1's bridal shower with all her college friends so I just had to experiment with the new stamp set Blissful Bride. Her colors are Cornflower Blue and Buttercup.

I saw some cards online that gave me the ideas for this one. The corner punch and the little bit of foiled Bride paper were from those cards. I used the heart corner border punch and word window punch. Ballet Blue ink, Bashful Blue card stock, So Saffron brad and ribbon. DD#2 chose this one to use for her gift for her sister.

This shows some of the other images in the stamp set. I used Ballet Blue and So Saffron card stock, Bashful Blue, Basic Brown and So Saffron ink pads, blender pens and the piercing tool and mat. I don't have the little tool for fraying the edges but I just ran my thumbnail along the edges to give then a little 'fraying'. Both of these are odd sized cards so they will just be placed in the gift bags as they are.
I think I will be using this stamp set a lot in the next 2 months :-)