Great Friend 4x4 Card

I don't always get to, but I try to stamp a little every day. Sometimes it's just a quick card -- and some weeks (like last week), it's not at all, but it is a stress reliever for me, so even just 10 minutes at my table makes my day a little brighter.

Here's a quick card I whipped up while the kids played a game on the computer earlier this week. I just pulled from the scraps on the table to make this display card for Saturday's meeting. I might make up some more like this to swap. We'll see how much time I have...

Supplies: Great Friend, Cameo Coral ink/marker & cardstock, Basic Black marker, Whisper White cardstock, Walk in the Park DSP, Matchbox die for the Big Shot (tag), Eyelet Border Punch, Baja Breeze Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Raspberry Tart Matchbox

Wowzers! I just heard about a new Stampin' Up! special that starts on Friday. I can't wait to tell you all about it , but I have to...wait. Sorry! So make sure to check back first thing on Friday morning for all the fabulous details. Oooh! My stomach is just swimming with butterflies! I'm so excited!

Well, I've been busy this week prepping for our big demonstrator meeting on Saturday. It's going to be an awesome meeting -- we have some great presentations planned and the make and takes turned out really cute (if I do say so myself!) I'll be posting them this weekend and early next week, so keep watching. Thanks for everyone who has sent in Great Friend samples for my Card Contest. Deadline is Friday, so maybe if you mail it today, you can still enter. I'll post the winner on Saturday.

Today's project is the last of our April Stamp Club projects. We used the Matchbox die from the Occasions Mini catalog to create this easy breezy Raspberry Tart matchbox. We used different patterns of the DSP with the coordinating Rose Red or Cameo Coral cardstock so everyone's box looked unique and different.

Supplies: Sweet Stems, Fundamental Phrases, Rose Red ink & cardstock, Cameo Coral ink, Whisper White cardstock, Raspberry Tart DSP, Matchbox die for the Big Shot, Stampin' Dimensionals, Rose Red 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon

Retro Tropic Card

I have to say, some of the new Designer Series Papers have really given new life to Summer Sun. When I saw Kristina's Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge #50, it reminded me of the Pink Flamingo DSP and I think using a strip of it at the bottom of this card really ties the card together. It feels very retro to me -- and also very tropical. So I'm calling it Retro Tropic.

I've been working on this card for the last couple days...I was really debating about using the Pretties Kit flower. After all, I've used the same flower in 2 of the last 3 challenges (CI47 and CI49). I hate to over-do it with the flower. But maybe it's like my lucky socks or something because the last two cards with this flower were picked for the Round-Up! That and I really wanted to mirror that aspect of the inspiration piece. So, I'm going with it! What do you think? Will it be another top 10 pick?

I have to show you this close-up. I used the 1/8" hole punch to punch little bitty circles that I glued on the yellow flower to cover up the Cameo Coral color that was originally part of the DSP. Kristina was very clear that we weren't supposed to use ANY other colors for this challenge, so I wanted to make sure I followed the rules!

The finished card is 5" x 5".

Supplies: Garden Greetings, Real Red cardstock, Chocolate Chip cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Pink Flamingo DSP, Tempting Turquoise 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Summer Sun Corduroy Buttons, Texturz Plates for the Big Shot, Circle Scissors Plus, Pretties Kit, 1/8" Hole Punch

"Guess Whoo" Card

Here's another project from Stamp Club this month. I was easy on the gang and ran their cardstock through the Big Shot with the SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plate, though I did make them trace and cut it out to glue on the chipboard... We used the Circle Scissors Plus to cut the circle for the "moon" from the Good Morning Sunshine DSP. Overall, a pretty "clean" and simple card. The finished size is 5-1/4" x 5-1/4" and it will fit in the Medium Square envelopes.

Supplies: Owl Together Now (greeting), Chocolate Chip ink & cardstock, Pumpkin Pie marker, Real Red marker, Kiwi Kiss Textured cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Good Morning Sunshine DSP, SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates for the Big Shot, Circle Scissors Plus, Dotto Adhesive, 3/4" Circle Punch, Gold Brads, Crafter's Tool Kit

Egg Hunt Scrapbook Pages

I had so much fun scrapbooking with the kids back in October. I don't know why it took me so long to do it again. I decided we're going to do this more regularly and I'll let them make pages to go in a 2009 book that they create. With a little help, of course. But I'm beginning to think the only way to get it done is to make it an activity we can do together. So we'll have to back-track a little to catch up on the first couple months, but here are some 6x6 pages we made last night for Easter.

Thomas (age 5-1/4)

Claire (age 3-3/4)

We used the Wide Oval punch to make eggs and they stamped designs from the Good Egg stamp set. (Thomas later added some pencil detail on his eggs -- drawing different weather conditions...sunny, stormy clouds, etc.) Thomas helped me stamp the title on his page with the Taffy Alphabet and I did Claire's with the Short Order Alphabet. Thomas wrote "Easter 2009" on his pages and then I helped both kids with the journaling -- asking them to tell me about the pictures.

Soft Sky Revisited

I almost packaged up last year's In Colors to sell, but I just couldn't bring myself to sell them yet. And I'm glad I didn't because I wouldn't have been able to do Jaron Windor's very first Color Combination Creative Challenge! Jaron may not be working for Stampin' Up! anymore, but he is still keeping demonstrators and stampers inspired with his blog, Jaron's Junk Drawer. His first color combo is Old Olive, Soft Sky, and Taken with Teal. What a great combination! If you don't have Soft Sky, try Bashful Blue with these colors.

I inked the image in Taken with Teal and used the blender pen to remove the ink on the outermost tear drop shapes. I then colored those with an Old Olive marker and stamped the image. Then I used the blender pen with Soft Sky ink to color in different parts of the image.

The finished card size is 3-1/2" x 5" and will fit in the small notecard envelopes.

Supplies: True Friend, Garden Greeting, Soft Sky textured CS & ink pad, Taken with Teal ink, Old Olive marker, Blender Pen, Crafter's Tool Kit, Earth Elements Brads, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, retired DSP

Birthday Cake Card

I made up this 4" x 4" birthday card for Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration #33. I was looking for an image that I could color in to use all the challenge colors and I found that I don't have a lot of options in my cabinet. Hmmm...time to buy new stamps, I guess! ((wink!))

Here's a close up of the cake so you can see how I worked all the colors in:

Supplies: Fun & Fast Notes, Jet Black Stazon Ink, So Saffron marker & cardstock, Regal Rose marker & cardstock, Real Red marker, Blush Blossom marker, Whisper White cardstock, Parisian Breeze DSP, 5/8" Regal Rose grosgrain ribbon, Bold Brights Brads, 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

Flower Pot Card

I Love, Love, Love, LOVE this flower pot card!! I've seen them all over cyber stamping world, but this one I CASEd from Lorri Heiling and used the link on her blog to find the directions over on Stephanie Luman's blog. This was one of my stamp club projects this month and it was a big hit! Thanks for the inspiration, ladies!!

Supplies: All Holidays (greeting), Cherry Blossom embosslit, 5-Petal Flower Punch, Eyelet Border Punch, Kraft cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Pretty in Pink marker & cardstock, Certainly Celery cardstock, Apricot Appeal cardstock, Almost Amethyst cardstock, 5/8" Very Vanilla grosgrain ribbon

Anniversary Cards

I have to say, I haven't felt this overwhelmed since last spring when we moved. Not even when Elise was born...I just feel so behind on everything and I'm struggling to catch up. I never did send an April newsletter -- sorry if you've been waiting for it! And my "arsenal" of projects to post when times get busy is...empty. I hope to pick up the pace again soon. Hang in there with me. I am getting caught up and will have some new stuff to post soon!

I do have two new cards to share. I didn't have much time (and I think you can tell when you see them!) -- I whipped these up for my parents and grandparents who celebrated their anniversary on the same day: April 19.

This first one was for my parents. I saw someone else do a play on words with this pear chipboard from the So Tweet set, so I thought I'd try it.

I felt like something was "off", so I added some pieces of the Good Morning Sunshine DSP with the pears to the center. I still feel like it's missing something and wish I had added some ribbon. Sorry for the blurry pic -- I took pictures and sent the card, so I couldn't retake the picture.
I stamped the greeting on a tag from the Matchbox die (Occasions Mini) using the Short Order Alphabet and then hand-writing "perfect".

And for my grandparents, I finally used my new Manhattan Flower Textured Impressions Die with the Big Shot. I cut out one of the flowers and adhered it to this 4 - 1/4" x 4-1/4" card. I kept it really simple and just added some (retired) Light Pink Organdy Ribbon and a greeting (from the Hugs & Wishes set).

Orlando Regional Make & Take #2

I've been busy, busy, busy. Between taxes, designing meeting projects and stamp club projects, Easter, and the whole family being sick...I just feel like I can't catch up! Stay tuned for some new stuff to be posted soon, I promise. In the meantime, here's another make and take from the Orlando regional seminar this past January. The stamp set is called "Soft Summer" -- you'll find it in the Occasions Mini Catalog.

"Great Friend" Card Contest

Sorry for the lack of new projects over the last couple days, I've been busy designing the make and takes for our upcoming demonstrator "Spring into Stamping" seminar. We're using the "Great Friend" stamp set for the make and takes and I'd like to put together a display board with more samples using this stamp set. To help populate that display board, I'm holding a card contest!

"Great Friend" Card Contest

Send me card fronts or 6x6 scrapbook pages made using the "Great Friend" stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog. (Sorry, cards will not be returned.) I'll have my husband pick his favorite and the winner will get the Summer Love Rub-Ons (an $11.95 value) from the Occasions Mini Catalog. There is no limit to the number of cards that you may submit.

Deadline: All cards must be received no later than Friday, May 1.

The winner will be announced and posted on my blog on Saturday, May 2.

Please mail cards to

Julie Davison

2905 Maplewood Drive

Champaign, IL 61821

I look forward to seeing your fabulous cards!

Hawaii Vacation Photos

We've been home for 3 weeks and I just now finally got a chance to finishing uploading my pictures from Hawaii so that I could order prints and share with you. It was truly paradise and we enjoyed it so very much -- even with a baby in tow! Thank you Stampin' Up! And thank you to all my customers and downline for helping me to earn such a fabulous trip!

Click here to view the photos from our Hawaii Vacation.

Toy Story Card

My taxes are done!!! Woo hoo! I finished just after midnight on Wednesday. I guess technically that would be Thursday, wouldn't it? But I e-filed and it was going by Pacific Time, so I am counting it as "on time"! The whole house is fighting a nasty little cold, so I took yesterday "off" and went to bed early. But I am back to stamping today! I snuck in some time here and there and finally finished a card tonight for Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration Challenge #32. I loved these fun, bright colors!

The sentiment on this card reminds me of the movie Toy Story. Whenever I read it, I start singing: "You've Got a Friend In Me"!

Supplies: Cheep Talk, Tempting Turquoise marker & cardstock, Green Galore ink, Tangerine Tango ink & cardstock, Yo Yo Yellow ink, Basic Black ink, Whisper White cardstock, Rainbow Sherbet DSP, Blender Pen, Scallop Edge Punch, Stampin Dimensionals

Quick Birthday Catch Up

Last week, I used up some scraps from the Sunshine Garden Simply Scrappin Kit and made up some quick birthday cards to catch up on all the March birthdays I missed. Can you tell I haven't been great with deadlines lately? I'm still finishing up my tax return. I hope to e-file by midnight and get back to STAMPING! :)

Finished card size is 3" x 5-1/2".

Supplies: Think Happy Thoughts, Sunshine Garden Simply Scrappin Kit, Baja Breeze ink & cardstock, Old Olive ink , Earth Elements Brads, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch

A Note of Thanks

Still plugging away at my tax return...here's a quick card I made up to swap at a recent demonstrator meeting. I love that the pear stem is multi-purpose and also works as a flower stem! I used up some scraps from cutting for other projects. The card size is 3" x 5-1/2".

Supplies: Cheep Talk, Kind Thanks, Kiwi Kiss ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Chocolate Chip ink & Patterns DSP, Scallop Cirlce Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Kiwi Kiss ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals

Three R's Card

I'm looking forward to these 3 R's when I finish my taxes...until then, I'm feeling a little stressed. That said, I've gotta keep it short today. Here's one of the cards I made for our group Occasions Mini swap last month.

Supplies: And Many Mower, Sahara Sand cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Jet Black Staz-On ink, Kiwi Kiss ink & cardstock, Tangerine Tango ink & cardstock, Blender Pen, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Tangerine Tango ribbon, Chocolate Chip Patterns DSP, Mini Glue Dots

Birthday Bloom Card

I am loving all the bright color challenges this week! Here's Stacey's latest Jewelry Color Inspiration Challenge (#31). I was excited to break out my new Summer Sun Corduroy Buttons (a prize from my Hawaii trip playing "Spin the Wheel" at the Hospitality Desk) for this 3-1/2" x 5-1/2" card. And I used that Happy Birthday to You stamp again! I paid full price for it in January, but you can get it for FREE this month! Click here to find out how.

I used the Cherry Blossom embosslit (to cut the flower). Have you seen these things? They cut and emboss at the same time when you run them through the Big Shot. Could it be any easier?!

Supplies: Happy Birthday to You, Rose Red ink & cardstock, Sage Shadow cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Summer Sun cardstock, Chocolate Chip Patterns DSP, Cherry Blossom embosslit for the Big Shot, 5-Petal Flower Punch, Summer Sun Corduroy Buttons, Scallop Edge Punch

KWerner Color Challenge #49

Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge #49 is nice and bright for this dreary and rainy Good Friday. I whipped this up during morning nap time and now we're headed to the pool! Yeah, I know it's 45 degrees outside, but it won't matter inside. Hooray for indoor pools and happy stamping Fridays!

By the way, the one and only stamp I used on this 4-1/4" x 4-1/4" card is "Happy Birthday To You" and is available for FREE this month! Check out all the details on the April promotion by clicking here.

Supplies: Happy Birthday to You, Basic Black marker, Kiwi Kiss textured cardstock, Basic Black cardstock, Taken with Teal cardstock, Raspberry Tart DSP, 1" Circle Punch, Clear Buttons, Vintage Brads, Scallop Edge Punch, Rose Red 1" Double Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Pretties Kit

Soft Summer Thanks So Much Card

While I'm posting Make & Takes...here's one from the Orlando regional this past January. We got a sneak peek at the Soft Summer when we made this card. This two-step stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalog is perfect for watercoloring!

Supplies: Soft Summer, Chocolate Chip ink & cardstock, Old Olive ink & cardstock, Naturals White cardstock, Bashful Blue cardstock, Urban Oasis DSP, Eyelet Border Punch, Library Clips, Soft Subtles Watercolor Crayons, Aquapainter

Hawaii Make & Takes, Part 3

Here's the final project from the Hawaii Incentive Trip Make & Take session. This one is an accordion fold card. The ribbon slides off or unties to open the rest of the card.

It may be hard to see in the picture, but the white cardstock is textured and I asked one of the staff, "oh, is that new?" Nope! I just forgot that we had textured WHITE cardstock. I've only used the textured cardstock that comes in the Simply Scrappin' Kits or color family assortments. The white comes in an assortment of Neutral colors (#108693, $11.95 for 24 sheets). It's a nice change from the regular white cardstock, so I'm adding it on to my next order!

100K Blog Candy Winner

Thanks for all the great comments! I enjoyed hearing about your favorite products from the Occasions Mini Catalog. It's one of my favorite minis. I know I say a lot, but they do keep getting better and better!

I used Random.org to generate a random number to choose a winner for my 100K Blog Candy.

Here are your random numbers: 68
Timestamp: 2009-04-07 15:31:38 UTC

And the lucky stamper is

• for2nately said...
  Hi there! My favorite from the new mini is Great Friend-that butterfly is just gorgeous! thanks for the chance to win!Hugs,Elizabeth
  April 6, 2009 10:33 AM

Congratulations, Elizabeth! I'll send you an email to get your mailing address!

The "Great Friend" stamp set (#113792, $17.95) was a popular choice for many of you. I like it too, especially because it coordinates with the Walk in the Park DSP (#115123, $9.95) and the Summer Love Rub-Ons (#114620, $11.95). I'm such a sucker for coordinating products!

Hawaii Make & Takes, Part 2

Here are a couple more projects from the Hawaii Incentive Trip Make & Take session -- and sneak peek of some of the stamps in the new "For All You Do" stamp set that will be released July 1.

This next card was one of my favorites. We inked the flower block in Certainly Celery and stamped off on scrap paper. Then we inked the butterfly in Old Olive and stamped off on scrap paper. Finally, we "kissed" the butterfly on the flower block stamp and then stamped on the cardtsock. It took me three tries to get it right. I think they anticipated that because we each had an extra piece of cardstock in our packets! (wink!)

Hawaii Make & Takes, Part 1

I had to double-check with the home office and I got the okay to share these projects with you. Normally, make and takes are held during an "at sea" day on incentive trip cruises, but since we weren't cruising this year, they had an "open house" style make & take session and we could go when it fit our schedule of other excursions and activities. It worked out nicely and I went while Jim was golfing. I was hoping Elise would fall asleep in the stroller while I walked over to the convention center (onsite), but she was a little restless. Angela, Brent Steele's wife, was such an angel and strolled with Elise while I was stamping! Brent took a turn bouncing with Elise too, but I had sent the camera with Jim to the golf course, so I didn't get pictures of Elise with either one.

I'm rambling...sorry! On to the make and takes! We got a super cute new stamp set called "For All You Do" which will be in the Fall-Winter Idea Book & Catalog. It came in this little box with 5 brand new ink pads (Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, So Saffron, Old Olive, and Certainly Celery), an Old Olive marker, and a package of sticky strip which we needed to complete the projects. I sat at a table with 5 other stampers, so we each opened one ink pad and shared our supplies.

My favorite project was this purse! We used the small chipboard book covers for the front and back.

Inside was a series of pockets attached to the accordion fold side -- perfect for storing cards and envelopes. Wouldn't this make a cute gift!? I'll be designing another one for a class this spring...maybe Early May for Mother's Day...

Stay tuned for more Hawaii Make & Take projects to be posted tomorrow! And I still haven't uploaded all of my Hawaii pictures...I promise to get on that this week!

Burgundy Oval All Cards

Whew! I can't believe it's Saturday already! I stamped up these cards for Stacey's Jewelry Color Inspiration #30 last Sunday night, but didn't get a chance to upload them until today. It's been a hectic first week home! I made 45 onesie baby shower invites and finished pulling together the Sunshine Garden project kits for everyone that ordered one (they were mailed yesterday!) and now I'm designing projects for the upcoming Spring Into Stamping meeting for our local demonstrators. Oh yeah, and I have to start and finish my tax return sometime in the next 10 days.

Stacey sure picked a challenging combination this week! That darn Yo Yo Yellow again! I made two cards using the new Oval All and Scalloped Oval Punch combo from the Occasions Mini Catalog. From your comments, it sounds like that is a favorite for many of you!

Supplies: Oval All, Bravo Burgundy ink & cardstock; Yo Yo Yellow ink & cardstock, Going Gray cardstock, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Trio Flower Punch, Blender Pen, Silver Brads, Clear Rhinestone Brads, Urban Garden DSP, Parisian Summer DSP, Bravo Burgundy Grosgrain Ribbon

Swap Wannabe

I designed this to be one of my swaps for our group Occasions Mini swap, but I loaned out my Big Shot before I left for Hawaii forgetting that I needed it to do the textured cardstock on this card. I wasn't completely happy with it anyway, so I decided something else for the swap. (By the way, if you got my Par-fect Day swap, sorry it was missing the golf ball! I had do something different since I didn't have the Big Shot...)

Supplies: And Many Mower, Going Gray marker & cardstock, Riding Hood Red ink & cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Basic Black ink & cardstock, Blender Pens, Silver Brads, SU Backgrounds 1 Texturz Plates for Big Shot, Word Window Punch

Occasions Mini Catalog & Free Stamp Offer

As if our wish lists weren't long enough, Stampin' Up! comes out with another great mini catalog to make them grow even more! If you haven't seen the new mini yet, click here to view it online. (Springfield Stamp Club -- your copy is coming with your orders on Monday!)

The Occasions Mini Catalog is good from April 1 through June 30. But if you order from it in April, Stampin' Up! will give you a free stamp! Here's the details:

Customers: Spend $40 on Occasions Mini Catalog products and choose any one item from the "Under $10" page in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog for free.

Check out the "Under $10" page in your catalog -- it's the very last page, #208 or click here to view it.

Ready to order? Go to my website at http://juliedavison.stampinup.net and click "Shop Now". You'll also get a free Idea Book & Catalog for ordering online!

Hostesses: Hold a workshop of $150 or more in April and choose any one item from the "Under $10" page in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog for free.

In addition to this April bonus, you'll get regular hostess benefits (free exclusive hostess-only stamp sets and $15 or more in free product of your choice!). Don't have time for an in-home party? Whether you live near or far, you can enjoy the same benefits by collecting orders and hosting a "catalog party". Ask me for details!

100K Blog Candy

Thank you for visiting my blog while I was in Hawaii last week. While I was gone, you surpassed the 100,000 hits mark! That means, it's time for some blog candy!!

To be entered in the drawing for this blog candy, please leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite Occasions Mini catalog product or stamp set. (Haven't seen the Mini yet? Check out the link on the left sidebar!) Please include your email address with your comment so I can contact you if you win! I'll use Random.org to select one winner on Monday, April 6 at 9:00 pm (Central Time).

This 100K Blog Candy includes a taste of products from the Retro Fresh Style Watch (see page 10 of the Spring-Summer Catalog) including: 4 blank Pacific Point cards, Good Morning Sunshine DSP, So Tweet Chipboard pieces, Hooray Designer Hardware, Kiwi Kiss Ribbon, Rose Red Ribbon, and Summer Sun Corduroy Buttons.

I'm always looking at the "numbers", so for those of you who are also interested, here are some more blog stats, as of today, 4-2-09:

• Days Blogging: 308
• # of Posts: 308
• # of Hits: 102,308
• Stamping Top 500 Rank: 133

It's hard to believe I've been at this less than a year. I feel like I've been blogging forever! Thanks for "following" and for sharing a little bit of your day with me!