Summer Learning 2013

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Hand stamped metal

Gotta love Pinterest! I'm a huge fan of personalizing gifts and got this idea from a pin. I just couldn't resist making them. Sewmanyways.blogspot.com has a great basic and easy to follow tutorial. Now, if i can only find the time to make them as presents for Christmas!

Charlette's Creative Corner: White Christmas Wreath

OK, so I'm pretty bad about remembering to take pictures of my stuff. But my good friend Charlette took one of a wreath I made during a Wreath-Making party. She even featured it on her blog today. What a great friend. I'm just reposting her post! Thanks Charlette!  Checkout my White Wreath at her link below...

Charlette's Creative Corner: White Christmas Wreath: Hey everyone! Here is another beautiful wreath from last week's wreath making party. My friend Marita created this oh so elegant wreath. Isn...

Cheers!

It's been so long, I can't decide where to begin! I figured I better start posting again or I'll forget I have a blog! I decided to start using my trusty iPhone app to help me- I should really have no excuses now! While I haven't been great about posting, I have managed to craft at least weekly to get my fix. I've made a few cards and banners, which I will start posting again.
This post is a card I made for a good friend at work. She turned 60- but honestly she looks awesome! I could only be so lucky to look like she does when I'm 45-50!
Happy Hour is one of my favorite stamp sets because it is not like any of my other sets. It's perfect for the adult who has already received a ton of balloons and flowers through the years.
Cheers to you, Lynne for looking great all through the years!

Pinwheels!

Over the weekend, we celebrated my godson's baptism. Isn't he lucky to have such a creative Mommy and God-mommy? Michelle and I made over a hundred pinwheels and bought these HUGE 3' balloons. We had a great time planning it all. I also ordered cakepops from a co-worker whose teen daughter makes them; not only do they look good - they taste great too. The candy bar was also a huge hit, with several apothecary jars and all-blue candy.  Yes, everyone's tongue was blue by the end of the party. Lastly, I do need to mention SU was present in every detail because all the little labels were designed in MDS2.  Get your free 30 day free trial now through this link! It's really a must-have when you're throwing a party.

Baby Owls

Welcome Baby Banner

I ran into this photo and decided I needed to write about it. This was made with my Cricut Expression, which I really love to play with. I made this banner for my sister-in-law's baby shower. She loves owls and has the most adorable nursery.  Stay tuned for more owl themed crafts!

Flirtatious burp cloths

Last night, I got the itch to sew. We're throwing a baby shower for my co-worker and I couldn't just give him what I bought at the store! It needed something else...so I looked at my most-favorite SU Flirtatious design fabric and got to sewing. Doesn't the fabric just make a big difference? Now the little princess can spit up in style!

Congratulations Cheryl!

Friday night was a HOOT (Husbands Out Of Town) night.  My husband (Best Man #2) spent the week on a "Hangover Part 3 week," so of course, us wives decided to take the bride out!

As a small gift, I made the ladies a frame and "key" straps (to remember the night). I used the MDS program with the matching Love & Laughter rubber stamp set. This was the first time I was able to use the two together, and I think I'm addicted because it was so easy.  I stamped the frame using white Staz-On ink, giving it the embossed look.  The other pieces (heart and circle labels) are all digital prints and cut out with punches.

It was a great night. We didn't get completely crazy, but it still got wild. Let's just say, if you have a hands-free car kit, be careful of dirty prank callers while your parents are in the car... Thanks for a great night ladies! 

Baby baptism

Saturday was a very special little girl's baptism day- my great niece and God-daughter, Averi. This was quite a day for our little girl to have a BIG party. It was the perfect day to bring together two (very) extended and very loving families. I'd say, altogether about 200+ guests attended this special day.  I helped with designing the invitations (with a MDS "hybrid", of course) and matching party favors. I'm also showing the card that I made for her. Grandmas, aunts, cousins and friends pulled together to make everything look awesome.  Congratulations to a much loved and very blessed little girl. We love you so much!

June class- Sour Cream treats

I know I'm so overdue on posts! So sorry, but thanks for keeping up with me!
For our June class, I decided to create easy favors and cards. These are simple, yet sweet. Today I'm featuring the sour cream treat. Really, it's super easy to do! All designs were inspired by my fabulous family of Stampin Up Demonstrators! One of the great perks of being a demonstrator is the 24 hour access to Stampin Connection, a website full of ideas and tips from other demonstrators. Another perk is the monthly magazine SU sends with several more. Thanks ladies, for coming up with great ideas and openly sharing them with us.
The party treats are made with my favorite variety of DSP; the Summer Smooches and Brights Specialty Design Papers. I added the greetings using layered punches, that I can never get enough of. These punches really make it easy to add the right touch to any piece. Please be sure and checkout my colleagues' blogs (links to your left) for even more awesome ideas!

Summer Learning

So I'm trying to figure out a way to keep my kids from forgetting what they just learned! I've been looking for an online site with them and I found this. It seems great, so I thought I'd try it out. This is part of the reason why I haven't had time to blog about crafting! Soon, I promise!

I've been invited to try Time4Learning for one month in exchange for a candid review. My opinion will be entirely my own, so be sure to come back and read about my experience. Time4Learning can be used as a homeschool curriculum, for afterschool enrichment and for summer skill sharpening. Find out how to write your own curriculum review for Time4Learning.

Aloha!

     Today, we are having our first downline meeting with our Stampin' Up family.  I was almost unable to attend because my friend Jamie is visiting from Hawaii and I had plans to spend the day with her.  Fortunately, we were able to move things around a bit and made it possible! Anyhow - that was the inspiration for my swap card! 
     This card is my version of the delicate Plumeria tropical flower, which used to grow right outside our apartment when we lived on Oahu. This flower holds such great memories for me, as it always reminds me of the great friends I made back on the island. As the tradition, a lei was given to celebrate any special occasion; So with that, we were receiving and passing out leis for birthdays, congratulations, welcoming, good-byes, sometimes just because it was Friday! There was always someone wearing a lei during any given day of the week. Such a great tradition - wish it were the same on the mainland.
   I made this flower using the large oval punch and Daffodil Delight ink (onWhisper White paper). The leaves are Wild Wasabi paper.  If you look at the close-up, I also used the "direct to paper" technique to bring out the lines of the leaves. I finised it off with the effect of dew drops using Dazzling Details.

April Class - Family Summer Smooches

 

Hi everyone! Today I want to show off some great projects we made during the April class held last weekend.  Our theme was Family Summer Smooches. Charlette and I designed a couple different varieties of banners and shadowbox designs. The pictures above are made by Frankie and Mel.  Aren't they cute?! I especially love Mel's Ohana box, showing her "Ohana" pic in Hawaii.  Thank you ladies for coming out! I hope you had just as much fun as I did preparing the kit!  Look how pretty the Summer Smooches colors are; from fabric to paper and ribbon to brads - all the colors match perfectly. If you'd like a kit -they are still available for both the shadowbox ($15) and the banner ($10). Shipping charges may apply.  Stay tuned for our next class which will be held on Fri, June 1 and Sat, June 2. More details to come!

Big Shot Ring

Hello all! I'm posting again because I feel I have some lost time to make up.  Above, I've featured one of the many items I made with the Big Shot.  I actually made this ring using the Delicate Doilies Stamp set and shrink plastic- remember those (you may know them as Shrinky Dinks)?!  I've made a few of these, and have personalized them for my closest friends. I especially wanted to show this because it shows how versatile this little machine can be. It's not just for paper - it can cut aluminum, chipboard, plastic and probably many more that I haven't even figured out yet. I even won a Stampin Up contest with this ring!  How do you get one of these, you ask? I received my Big Shot by hosting a party, where I became eligible to earn it! Contact me and I can tell you how you can earn free product too!  Happy Crafting!

     Hi everyone, welcome to my place to Create and Share. You’ll have to bear with me through this site as I’m not quite familiar yet with this bloggin' business.  In fact, I already made a dork move by placing it under the wrong blog address. So sorry if you've attempted to check in the last few days and found NOTHING.  Anyhow, I will update fairly regularly; probably not daily but at least weekly.  So please subscribe if you'd like to receive updates!
     So for my first post, I figured I should start with our first class! It was held on Saturday, March 31. We made 5 projects; 4 cards and 1 scrapbook page. It was a lot of fun -a little overwhelming too, because we may have been over-anxious about the first class. We wanted to do everything! But it was well worth it because look at what we made! All of the projects were made using the same Stampin Up stamp set - Send Me Soaring. I’m using a picture of the cards made by my sister-in-law Michelle, who was 38 weeks into her pregnancy. Is that loyal and committed or what?! And this is just the beginning - I haven't completely introduced her to the Sizzix Big Shot's full potential!  But I know she'll love it, especially when the new baby comes - this will be the perfect outlet to relieve that stress! Thanks for coming out Michelle! Baby Deacon will be showered with handmade creations forever!
     If you would like to create your own of the above items, I still have a few kits left, (5 cards, 1 scrapbook page). They are $20 (please add $3 for shipping, if needed). If you don't have the stamp set, I can pre-stamp them and all you'll need to do is put them together!

Some information on our next class:

Family Banner Class

Friday, April 20, 2012 6:30-8:30 PM or

Saturday, April 21, 2012 3:00 PM to 5:30 PM

Cost of class is $25

Email me for the location

Please RSVP as soon as possible 

so I can make sure to have 

space and supplies for you.

   If you'd like to see more projects and ideas - please checkout the Stampin Up! Website and the blogs of my super-experienced counterparts, Charlette's Creative Corner  and Stampin with Niki.  Now, back to Creating!