On the Road Again

Well, the first leg of the journey to Salt Lake City complete, we hunkered down in our Seattle motel room for the night.  Today we fly to Salt Lake City and meet our friends and get settled.  Wednesday we plan to do some sight-seeing and shopping, then the Conference begins on Thursday.

The trip has been a blast, so far, and by far the funniest time was had at our favourite restaurant, the Olive Garden, near Bellis Fair Mall in Bellingham.

If you do end up there one day, make sure you ask for Will to be your server, because he is too funny.  He entertained us from appetizer to dessert and I'm sure we drove him crazy with our banter and laughter, but he was such a good sport and we left him with a nice tip and a beautiful thank you card that Jill Buehler made.


Today, I want to share my first swap card with you.  It is one that I shared before here, except I hadn't decided which embellishment I wanted to add to finish it all off.  I tried ribbons, buttons, brads, but finally settled on the Natural trim and Very Vintage Button you see here:

• This is for a WOW Vintage Swap - right up my alley so to speak.  I just love the new Tea Party stamp set for its Vintage feel.
• Don't you just love the way the Ruffle Stretch Trim goes around circles and ovals perfectly.  And since we now have the Ovals and Circles Collections Framelits, it's a match made in heaven!

• You can see here that the Very Vintage Button is sewed onto the Naturals Trim Bow with some Wisteria Wonder thread I just happened to have!
• I also used my machine to to a little sewing on the Afternoon Picnic DSP panel.

More tomorrow from Salt Lake City!  Ta, Ta for now! 

Stamps:  Tea Party (w129135; c129138)

Paper: Afternoon Picnic Designer Series Paper (131390); Wisteria Wonder (122922), Soft Suede (115318) and Very Vanilla (101650) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pad in Soft Suede (126978); VersaMark (102283)

Accessories:  3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim in Coastal Cabana (130024); Very Vintage Buttons (129327); Tea Lace Doily (129399); Delicate Designs Lace Tape (130966), 3/8" Naturals Trim

Tools: Ovals Collection Framelits (129381); Stamping Sponges (101610)

Never-Ending Story!

Do you remember this movie? The NeverEnding Story!  My kids loved it.  My oldest daughter dressed as the Childlike Empress for Halloween once!  In a costume I had to sew for her. There are rumours that there will be a remake released in 2014, with some involvement by Leonardo DiCaprio.  Time will tell if the story will truly be "NeverEnding"



I have my own NeverEnding Story, right in my craft room.  It is the unending quest to keep it tidy and organized.  I spent Sunday cleaning it up because I wanted organization to work on my swap cards during the last week before Convention.  Then came the creation of a couple of cards for challenges, and a huge order delivery, which needs to be sorted and delivered, and by Monday night, we're right back where we started Sunday morning!  But, at least I have some results to show you.  The two challenges I entered with this one are MOJO Monday Challenge #301 and Dynamic Duos Challenge #60:

The MOJO Challenge was a lovely layout sketch.  I really love the balance of it and it's central focal point.  

The Dynamics Duo Challenge was a little more ..."challenging"!  Bright yellow and green has got to be my least favourite colour combo!

I wasn't sure I wanted to even do a card for this challenge, until I looked at the Design Teams samples and saw the way they made it work.  Summer Starfruit is a really nice yellow/green and not the usual primary yellow, so it allows the alliance to win.

• I used the teapot flower vase stamp from Tea Party Stamp Set with VersaMark ink with White Embossing Powder to create the central image on Basic Black cardstock.  
• The sentiment is from Express Yourself, again embossed in white.
• The DSP you see behind the teapot is from the Soho Subway collection, and the one on the Summer Starfruit panel is from the Epic Day collection.
• The Fancy Fan Embossing Folder creates some texture on the Gumball Green flag.
• I decided to use Basic Black as my neutral colour, matting all the panels and forming the focal point as well.
• The Boho Blossoms Punch and Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack created the little flowers you see above.

So the clock is ticking and I'm hoping I get my orders sorted and product shares ready quickly tomorrow, so I can clean up and get back to doing my swaps.  But likely, some other circumstance will require the room to be recleaned soon!  A Stampers work is never done!

Stamps:  Tea Party (w129135; c129138); Express Yourself (w130336; c130339)

Paper:  Epic Day DSP (130814); Soho Subway DSP (130140); Summer Starfruit (126839), Gumball Green (126840) and Basic Black (121045) cardstock

Ink:  Versamark Ink (102283)

Accessories:  White Stampin' Emboss Powder (109132); Rhinestone Basic Jewels (119246)

Tools:  Boho Blossoms Punch (119858); Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (118309); Ovals Collection Framelits (129381), Fancy Fan Embossing Folder (127751); Heat Tool (129053)                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Tea Party Stamp Set                                                              

Express Yourself Stamp Set

Boho Blossoms Punch

Epic Day DSP

Soho Subway DSP

Fancy Fan Embossing Folder

Heat Tool

Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack

Goals and the Good Life!

Happy Canada Day, everyone! I'm so glad to be Canadian when I think of so many other countries in strife or unsafe in other ways.  I used to wonder, when I was a kid, how come I got so lucky to be born in a safe place, with caring parents and enough food and proper shelter.  I know that's not true for everyone in Canada, but it's more often true than not.




We will be spending the day in lovely Vancouver and celebrating with my daughter and son-in-law and new grandson, Wyatt!  I feel so blessed!!

Isn't he adorable?  Well, I am a little biased, I admit, but who can resist a newborn??

For those of you following my goal to make Rising Star - a Stampin' Up Award given to first year demonstrators, you will be happy to hear that I was, thanks to all you amazing customers and my wonderful downline, able to achieve that goal!  I don't know how to thank all of you, but I certainly will be trying!

Here's a little card I whipped up with what few supplies I had here in Vancouver and it's for the Dynamic Duos Challenge #59, which is Basic Gray and ???.  We are supposed to choose a second colour, and I chose Crushed Curry.

Here's my clean and simple (for me) card:

• I used the new Tea Party stamp set on this card as well, and I especially love this teapot with the flowers in it.
• The Delicate Designs Lace Tape makes another appearance!  It's so versatile!
• The sentiment is from Bring on the Cake, another well used set that I have found well worth the price.
• The Smoky Slate cardstock makes a great matte for the Crushed Curry.

Happy Canada Day to you all, and wave the flag, eh?

Stamps:  Tea Party (w129135; c129138); Bring On the Cake (w128490; c121958)
Paper:  Basic Gray (121044), Crushed Curry (131199) and Smoky Slate (131202) cardstock
Ink: Classic Stampin' Pad in Basic Gray (126981)
Accessories:  Delicate Details Lace Tape (130966)

Tea Party Stamp Set

Bring on the Cake Stamp Set

Delicate Details Lace Tape

It's a Boy!!

I am pleased and proud to announce that my third grandson, Wyatt Drysdale Poettcker, was born at 9:12 am on Wednesday, June 26, weighing in at 8 lbs. 6 oz.  His mom and dad are doing well!  We left at 10 pm for the four hour journey to Vancouver, and arrived just as Erin was heading to the hospital.

Wyatt is such a contented little guy, SO FAR!  And he is a natural at nursing, his career choice at this point! lol


Just before we left, I designed a vintage-style card, which I am thinking of using as one of my Convention Swaps.  It's missing some embellishments, because my order didn't arrive before we had to go, but I'll show it to you again, once I've got them.  Here it is:

• Do you ever find that when you look at a photograph of your cards, that you can tell right away if it's one of your better creations or not?  Not sure about this one.
• I think that I would use less sponging in Soft Suede.  I was doing an emboss resist technique for the newsprint panel, but all the other panels and elements just cover it up, so there's no point, and therefore no need for such heavy sponging with the Soft Suede.
• What other embellishments would you use with the Very Vintage Button?  It needs more to balance it.
• How do you like the new stamp set: Tea Party?  Just made for a vintage card, I think.

• Here's another example of how the 3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim is ideal for curves and ovals, due to the stretch and the gathered ruffle.  Here, I'm using Coastal Cabana, which is one of the colours in the Afternoon Picnic Designer Series Paper.
• The Delicate Details Lace Tape is so easy to use and adds a pretty element to the card.
• I did a little stitching with my sewing machine down the right side of the polka dot panel.

Just a reminder that today is the last day to submit orders for the Mystery Hostess Contest and the $50 Shopping Spree as well as for Product Shares.  Product Shares are going ahead, so you might want to take advantage of the opportunity to get more variety of paper and embellishments, without having to buy full amounts of each colour or style.  The orders have really been pouring in, so I know the rewards are going to be BIG!!  Don't miss out on the opportunity to win lots of free product from Stampin' Up!!

Stamps:  Tea Party (w129135; c129138)

Paper: Afternoon Picnic Designer Series Paper (131390); Wisteria Wonder (122922), Soft Suede (115318) and Very Vanilla (101650) cardstock

Ink:  Classic Stampin' Pad in Soft Suede (126978); VersaMark (102283)

Accessories:  3/8" Ruffle Stretch Trim in Coastal Cabana (130024); Very Vintage Buttons (129327); Tea Lace Doily (129399); Delicate Designs Lace Tape (130966)

Tools: Ovals Collection Framelits (129381); Stamping Sponges (101610)

Afternoon Picnic DSP

Tea Party Stamp Set

Very Vintage Buttons