Happy Birthday Card - Euphoria Alphabet and Number stamp set, VeraMark ink, Palette O'Prints Designer Series Paper (Rose Red and So Saffron), Notations Designer Series Paper, Winter White Detail Embossing powder, Flirty Ribbon Originals: Stampin' Up!; brads: American Crafts.

I'm so excited for the new papers SU! has planned for the upcoming catalog. And I'm even more excited that we get a "sneak peek." During the month of May, SU! is selling 6x6 pads of some of the new papers. Watch the main Stampin' Up! website for more info starting in May.

As a demonstrator, I get to try out the new paper a bit earlier than customers can buy it. And let me tell you, it's fantastic! I had so much fun playing with it last night.

HB Card - Palette O'Prints Designer Series Paper (Rose Red and So Saffron), Notations Designer Series Paper; chipboard letters: Scenic Route; ribbon and eyelets: American Crafts; Uni-ball Signo white gel pen

Happy Birthday Card - Palette O'Prints Designer Series Paper (Rose Red and So Saffron), Notations Designer Series Paper: Stampin' Up!; flower: Bazzill; brad: American Crafts.

U Rock Card - Card stock: Bazzill; chipboard letter: Scenic Route; stamps: Fontwerks; stamping ink, markers, ribbon, paper piercing template, and glitter: Stampin' Up!; brads and rubon: American Crafts.

So I'm still in my "glitter phase." Not that I use it all the time--I just want to use it all the time. It's a fine line between too much and just enough, right? ;)

I wanted to make some Scenic Route chipboard letters into glittery pieces of yumminess, so I sanded off the color on them already, painted over it with SU! craft ink, applied Heat & Stick Powder, heated it up, and then a glitter chipboard letter was born! So much fun!

BTW, I used the tip I got a while back and put my glitter in a little plastic Glad container. Much less messy! I keep it in there always. I also keep a plastic spoon in the box to scoop the glitter onto whatever project I'm working on. Then I shake it over the box and the unused glitter is saved for another time. :)

Thank U - Card stock: Bazzill; chipboard letter: Scenic Route; stamps: Fontwerks; stamping ink, markers, and glitter: Stampin' Up!; ribbon and brads: American Crafts.

Another great discovery... Bazzill Bling card stock. I got some from Cards magazine in a goodie box they sent me last February and finally had a chance to break it out. This stuff is awesome! It's great for markers and coloring in outlined images (as I did on both of these cards). The shimmery coating on the paper allows the ink from the markers (SU! Stampin' Write markers) to settle evenly on the surface of the card stock. No streaks!

I'm loving that look. It almost looks printed, ya know? You can't see it in the pictures, but the Bling card stock is seriously cool. Me likey.

I've also been tagged by a few different people recently. Unfortunately, the tagging will stop here, but I will leave the 7 random facts about me that it requires. :)

1. It took me 5 years to get my Bachelor of Fine Art in Graphic Design. Mostly because I spent the first two years not knowing what I wanted to do.

2. I am the youngest child of 4 and the middle of 9. Figure that one out. ;)

3. I love to send gifts to my friends and family out of state. Looking for a gift? Try:

Harry and David
Cheryl & Co. (best sugar cookies ever!)
Red Envelope
iTunes Gift Cards
1-800-Flowers.

4. I have an Amazon.com Prime membership and use it all the time. Free 2-day shipping? Hello? Gotta have that. I've bought everything from books to banana chips from Amazon.

5. I've had an obsession with cupcakes ever since I bought a Cupcake Courier.

6. I have a huge box of book-fold 12.5 x 12.5 x .5-1" boxes in my craft room. I got them to ship scrapbook pages and cards to magazines and bought them from centralpack.com. I never got a confirmation email from them, but the order did go through. I suggest before ordering, sign up for an account so you can track your order.

7. Favorite beverage? Figi Water. Yes, there is a difference. Figi water is so clear and yummy, I could drink it all day!

guess who just bought tickets for the Josh Groban concert? ;)

Hey, Jean D. (rickydog1), I still need your mailing address to send the idea book to you. :)

Thanks!

I finally finished designing the second book for my monthly stamp club. I cut it a bit close (club is tomorrow night), but I'm pleased with how it turned out. Once again, tutorial on creating the basic book is found here.

Me @ Twenty-Four Mini Pocket Book - All supplies from Stampin' Up!: Well Worn Alphabet, Rough Edges Alphabet, Stamp of Authenticity, Genuine Articles, and Background Sampler stamp sets; Cool Carribean, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, and Old Olive card stock; Cool Carribean, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, and Old Olive classic ink; various punches; silver brads; red gingham ribbon; clear button.

So, I have my five winners! I took the first five that came to my email. That means that some of them weren't showing in the comments immediately because I had to approve them first. Even so, I think it's only fair to give the books to the first five, no matter if they've ever commented before or not. :)

Anyway, I need the following people to email me their mailing addresses so I can get their books in the mail:

Jackie W. (paper addict)
Jane2
Mary Mel
HerryBerry (yes, I'll mail it to Australia!)
Jean D. (rickydog1)

Just email me with your address.

Thanks!

WOW! I got a huge box from Northridge Media today (Cards Idea Books and Scrapbook Trends Magazine). They are so generous! I opened the box to find SIX copies of Cards! I'll keep one for myself, but the other five are up for grabs. The first five people to comment to this post will get a copy. :)

Okay, so I have things in both magazines. Quite a few cards in Cards (plus the cover, ahhh!!), and then two pages in Scrapbook Trends. If you're a close watcher of my gallery over at SCS, you'll recognize both scrapbook pages.

I am just so overwhelmed! This is the month of publications that resulted from my Card Fest over Christmas break this year (pushed myself to make 15 "publishable" cards in the week between Christmas and New Year's). Not all cards that I submitted were accepted, but I did have a higher number requested just because I submitted more.

So, everyone out there in blog land, SUBMIT YOUR STUFF! There are so many talented scrapbookers and card makers out there! Just start submitting and you'll be amazed at the response.

Have a happy Tuesday!

New Harry Potter 5 Trailer.

Any Utah people out there who want to organize a midnight showing?

So now that I have CS3 installed and I'm basking in it gloriousness (is that a word?), I have to learn about all the new features.

The coolest thing I've found so far is the new Black and White Adjustment tool in Photoshop CS3. FREAKIN' AWESOME! This simplifies converting photos to black and white into one tool and gives me total control over the image.

Granted, I wouldn't want to edit every single photo from an hour long photo shoot this way, but it's an incredibly powerful tool when I want to make a really wonderful photo even that more special. :)

Check out how it works with this video from Photoshopsupport.com: Black and White Adjustment Tool.

Don't ya'll just love computer issues?! The one I'm experiencing currently was of my own making. :)

Just today, I downloaded the new Adobe Creative Suite 3 and tried to install it. Well, I already had Photoshop CS3 Beta installed, so I tried to uninstall it. Well, long story short, the uninstall didn't work and I was caught in an endless loop of the computer thinking I still had the program but when I went to uninstall it, it couldn't find where it was. ARGH!

So when I went to install CS3 it would install everything BUT Photoshop. HELLO! That's the program I use the most!

So, I'm reformatting my computer and reinstalling the operating system right now (I'm on my laptop--sitting in front of the desktop computer watching it install). Of course I backed up all my files first but I know there will be something that I forgot about. There always is. Once I forgot to back up my emails. YEARS of emails just gone. Gone! Oh, well. I suppose the world kept turning. :)

I hope CS3 is worth all this hassle. I imagine it will since the Photoshop CS3 beta was so much faster. I want to see how fast this Intel Mac can go!

I decided to make the mini pocket books for my monthly stamp club this month. I've given each person the option of the theme for their book: My Mom is the Best Because... or All About Me.

There are four journaling tags in the book so I've created a journaling prompts worksheet for them to use either before they come or while their making their books. Hopefully, that will enable them to go home with a completed book. See the worksheet here.

I made the mom book last night and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I just hope that it won't take too long to make. It wasn't too long when I made it, but I wasn't having to share supplies, ya know? I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes.

Also, how do all you SU! demonstrators feel about using retired product? There just isn't the right ribbon for this project unless I use the Flirty ribbon from the Winter Mini Catalog (which is no longer). I have enough for everyone to complete the project, but they will not be able to order it. Granted, nearly every one of them ordered it back during the sales period when it was available so they could go home and use it. But, how do you feel about that?

My Mom Mini Pocket Book - All supplies from Stampin' Up!: Big Blooms, Polka Dots & Paisleys, Typeset Alphabet, and Background Sample stamp sets; Regal Rose, So Saffron, Cool Carribean, and Raken with Teal classic ink; Old Olive and Naturals White card stock; Petals and Paisleys Designer Series Paper; Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker; Flirty Ribbon Originals; Corner Rounder and Ticket Corner Punches; silver brads; Coluzzle; Light Pink Stampin' Emboss Powder; clear button.

So, they haven't updated all the images at their site, but look what I found: click here!

Those are my cards on the cover! I was so excited to receive an email from Alisha back in January asking if I would make a coordinating card for the cover to go with the one Mother's Day card I already submitted. For the cover?! OF COURSE! Need she even ask!

So neat to see how they photographed them. And I can't wait to see the actual cover. I'm sure it will be even better in person. :)

Seeing the cover makes me so grateful for all the supportive people that steer me in the right direction.

Thanks, ya'll. :)

So, I've been tagged and this one is super fun! Just list 5 of your favorite blogs... (in no particular order)

1. Sentiments By Sophia - I love her so much! Every entry is well written and I enjoy hearing about her day. Rarely does a day go by without an update.

2. Confessions of a 20-Something Drama Queen - Not only is Sarah my lovely American Crafts friend, she's just awesome. So entertaining to read. :)

3. {A} - Who doesn't love Ali Edwards? I feel like I know her. I don't. But I feel like I do.

4. Audrey Woulard - SO LOVE her photography! Such cute kids and I love her style.

5. Loobylu - I've followed Claire's blog since it started in December 1999. Wow, that's been a long time! Anyway, I feel like I know her as well. She's like my Australian best friend. (Really, I don't know her. I just pretend I do). Hopefully she's return to blogging soon.

Yesterday at the SLC Regional Training, Carrie Cudney presented a pop culture book she made. This is my take on her album but in a smaller size. Instructions below.

Pop Culture Mini Pocket Book Supplies - Patterned paper and chipboard pieces (Scenic Route); stamps and stamping ink (Stampin' Up!); brads and pens (American Crafts); ribbon (Stampin' Up! and American Crafts).

INSTRUCTIONS - Mini Pocket book

Gather your supplies:

1 sheet 12x12 patterned paper
Alternate piece of patterned paper (6x 2-1/4)
Sticky Strip
1-1/4" circle punch
stapler
bone folder (for scoring)
brads

After making the basic shape of the mini book, make tags that fit inside each pocket. :)

I attended the Stampin' Up! Regional Training in Salt Lake yesterday. So much fun! I met some great people, inluding some SCS people (allenjeni and atomicbutterfly). Don't worry, girls, I won't post your pictures here! :)

It was so great to meet them and put faces with names!

We learned some awesome techniques and I just couldn't wait to try them out. This is my first card using some of them. It features heat embossing on buttons, fraying grosgrain ribbon, and using small circles to create a scalloped edge. LOVE it!

Happy Birthday Card Supplies - Card stock (Chocolate Chip, Cool Carrbbean, Old Olive), stamps, stamping ink (Whisper White, Old Olive and Cool Carribean), eyelets, ribbon, embossing powder: Stampin' Up!; buttons: American Crafts.

birthday cards. Here's another. This one was for a co-worker's birthday:

Remember this mommy? I had the chance to take pictures of the baby today! He's nearly a month old and the cutest little thing you've ever seen. So adorable!

And just 'cause I love daddy photos:

Patti: I can't remember what I was going to say. That probably means it was extremely profound.

Me: Well, ya know, 85% of the world's geniuses are called geniuses because they can remember what they were going to say.

(I love making up completely fake statistics).

Hard day at work today. Frustrated. Hitting a mental block. Writers get writer's block--designers just get crappy designs and have to keeping trying until they get it right.

First time really "journaling" (as in like a diary) on a scrapbook page. Oddly, I feel better now. Call it my mental pep talk. Whatever.

Supplies - Cardstock, stamping ink, brown lined pattered paper, embossing powder: Stampin' Up!; alpha stamps: Fontwerks; floral patterned paper: MME; brads, foam apostraphe, pen: American Crafts; circle stamp with lines: 7Gypsies.

And the winner is Nancy Kliewer! Nancy, send me an email and I'll get your iTunes gift certificate out to ya. :)

In other news, my brother-in-law surprised me and my mom tonight by showing up on our doorstep with flowers! Jon and my sister live in Minnesota, and Jon is just in Utah overnight on his way to Idaho visit his brother. My sister and him decided it was a prime opportunity to surprise my mom. :)

Aren't my sister and brother-in-law so cute? Surprise!

So I finally saw a copy of the April 2007 issue of Scrapbook Trends. :) My star book mini album is featured in it and it got 5 WHOLE PAGES! WOW! I was so surprised! I'm a bit dissappointed at how dark the photos are, but it still looks really good. Things just looks so different in person, ya know?

(see a glimpse of the album here)

Anyway, go out there are grab yourself a copy!

In celebration of my mini album being in a magazine, I am giving away a $10 iTunes gift certificate (via email). Leave a comment and I'll draw a name tomorrow night at 7:00 pm. Yeah!

NOTE for Mac users: For some reason the commenting is freaking out and saying that you're not signed in even when you are. If this happens, go to the web address at the top of the screen and take out the "www". Press enter and scroll down to the comments section. See if that works. :)

EDITED: I almost forgot! Two months after you have a card appear in Card Magazine, you can post it on the internet again. That means I can now share these two cards. Both were in the February 2007 issue...

So, I'm still sick. All groggy from Aleve Cold & Sinus (bless them!). But I also hate just laying in bed all day. I finally got out of bed and tried doing some things today. Not a whole lot since I can hardly breathe, but still something. :)

Here's one of the cards I made this afternoon. Pretty simple and no specific sentiment, but these are the cards I need most often. Just blank ones I can fit to any occasion.

Supplies - Card stock, stamps, stamping ink, glitter: Stampin' Up!; buttons: American Crafts.