Inspired by reading "The Happiness Project"

I did some major stamping yesterday and last night! It's amazing what some sun, 60 degrees, and spring break will do to your creative juices! They were a-flowing!!

I've been reading this really interesting book by Gretchin Rubin called The Happiness Project - and the card I'm posting today was inspired by that book. Did you know bluebirds are a symbol of happiness? I knew it, but I just didn't know I knew it until Rubin reminded me of it in her book. (does that make sense?) Anyway, once I read about the author deciding to collect bluebirds (which is a really cute idea, by the way... if I didn't already collect owls, I'd consider joining her!) I had the bird image from Season of Friendship stuck in my head! I had to scoot downstairs and stamp this cute card!

The Happy Card
Stamp Sets: Season of Friendship, Fundamental Phrases
Cardstock: Bashful Blue, Cameo Coral, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: None
Stampin' Pads (Classic): Close to Cocoa, Gable Green, Cameo Coral, Bashful Blue
Accessories/Tools: Masterpiece Ribbon Originals, Large Oval Punch, Scallop Oval Punch, Horizontal Slot Punch, Paper Snips, Dimensionals

Love this set as much as I do? Contact me today to order one - and you're almost 1/2 way there to a FREE Sale-a-Bration set!!!

And.... what makes you happy? For me, currently what is making me happy is the sun shining outside and things generally going my way for the past couple of days. Makes me feel so good!

Fall in St Paul

Out of nowhere Fall arrived. A week, 2 weeks ago, we had highs in the mid- to high-70s, unusually warm for this time of year. I remember saying while running "I wish it would cool down!" And cool down it sure did! This week has posted highs barely in the 50s and gusty winds to boot. It definitely feels cold - I even turned my furnace on! Next thing you know, I'll get digging out the old flannel p.j.s.

To celebrate Fall in St Paul, I dug out an old favorite of mine, Season of Friendship. I love how versatile this set it. It easily makes fall, winter, spring, summer, (yeah, all the SEASONS, like the name of the set says....) but you can also use the branch as a background, add some other tidbits to the trees, use the leaves, snowflakes, bird in other ways, and so on. Totally worth the investment! And, in my quest to utilize others' great design ideas, this card uses Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 37.

The tree looks like the big old maple in my front yard. I'm anticipating the dropping of leaves coming soon. Last year I filled 15 lawn bags with leaves while raking. Guess that's what you get when you live in a 60-year old house.

Fall Friendship
Stamp Sets: Season of Friendship, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Cardstock: Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Very Vanilla
Stamp Pads (Classic): Chocolate Chip, Real Red, Old Olive, More Mustard
Accessories/Tools: Paper Crimper, Sleigh Bells ribbon

Thanks for looking! And happy fall!!!

Thank You...

Thank YOU, readers, for being patient with me while I dawdled in my posting! I'm so sorry it's been a month. Eek! Lots has happened... I ran my 10K (6.2 miles) in 1 hour, 1 minute, 36 seconds (a 9:55 pace for those interested). This was well faster than my goal time of 1 hour 10 minutes! I also ran the Twin Cities Komen Race for the Cure on Mother's Day. I raised over $500 for Race for the Cure, so had to make some Thank You cards for the generous people who donated. Here's what I came up with:

Race for the Cure Thank You
Stamp Sets: Season of Friendship, Three Little Words
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Certainly Celery, Very Vanilla
Designer Series Paper: Candy Lane
Stamp Pads (Classic): Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette
Accessories/Tools: Big Shot, Top Note, Scallop Oval, Large Oval, Horizontal Slot, Certainly Celery ribbon from SAB bundles

It turned out just perfect, I think! I wanted something springy and pink (since it was the Race for the Cure). The crabapple trees are just blooming now in St Paul, so I thought these kinda look like them. I also LOVE this layout. I'm sure I saw it somewhere on SCS, but who knows where.... I spend hours browsing cards on there. :)

Thanks for looking! I promise not to to take so long before the next post. :)

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas!

Oh boy, it's been a while again. I can't seem to do more than one thing at a time.... Either I'm working a lot (which I did last week & the week before), or I'm sick (last week), or I'm stamping. I can't do all things at once. Today I was happily given a day off (no sub calls), so I can get caught up on some stuff. I have been making my Christmas cards like crazy for the past 2 weeks.... finally almost done! (Now to write on them all............)

I decided to make 8 each of 7 different designs. That way I don't get too bored doing one same design. AND, I get to use lots of my stamps, which makes it the most fun! Anyway, thought I'd share my creations with you! I know which one is my favorite (I'll tell ya later). Which one is yours???

#1Frosty Day Merry Christmas
I love the color combo of orange and green for Christmas - so nontraditional! The Frosty Day paper is just too cute to pass up. And of course, I used scallops: my new favorite tool. I used this card from Amy's blog as design inspiration.

Stamp Sets: Deer Friends, Season of Joy
Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Tangerine Tango, Close to Cocoa
Stamp Pads (Classic): Kiwi Kiss, Close to Cocoa
DSP: Frosty Day
Accessories/Tools: Scallop edge, scallop circle, dimensionals



#2 Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Holly Jolly Christmas (by Burl Ives) is my FAVORITE Christmas song! I love the part "Kiss 'er once for me!" So, when I saw this set, I had to have it. This santa is so cute and cheery! I think this is an underappreciated set in the catalog this year.

Stamp Set: Holly Jolly Christmas
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Real Red
Stamp Pads (Classic): Real Red, Stazon Black
DSP: Real Red DSP (hostess set)
Accessories/Tools: Baja Breeze Ribbon, Stickles Diamonds

#3 Celebrate the Season
This set is leftover from last year's cards... and I always seem to have trouble figuring out what to do with it. But, when I saw this card on SCS, I knew I could use it as inspiration to make it my own. These colors are so cute together!

Stamp Set: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red
Stamp Pads (Classic):Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze
DSP: Ski Slope
Accessories/Tools: 3/4" circle punch, dimensionals, silver brads

#4 Season of Christmas
A new favorite set of mine! I could stamp these little trees all day long. I knew I wanted to do something with this set for Christmas, then I found this card on SCS, and its "mother" card on Michelle's blog. I took those two ideas and came up with this card. I love it. I hope this set sticks around a long time.

Stamp Set: Season of Friendship
Cardstock: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Craft
Stamp Pads (Classic): Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze
Accessories/Tools: 1/8" circle punch, wide oval punch, dimensionals, Chocolate Chip 1/4" grosgrain ribbon


#5 Merry & Bright
This card makes me smile. The little snowman from Merry & Bright is the cutest one around. I can't believe he's retiring! I borrowed this set from my upline, so I better order mine - and at 10% off. Yay! This design is totally cased from Jenn D. at Stamp Your Heart Out. While she used my favorite set (Season of Joy) I thought the layout was perfect for Merry & Bright.

Stamp Sets: Merry & Bright, Best Yet (hostess)
Cardstock: Old Olive, Whisper White, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip
DSP: Holiday Traditions
Stamp Pads (Classic): Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red
Accessories/Tools: Scallop edge punch, circle scallop punch, 1/16" (or is it 1/8"? I can't remember...) circle punch, corner rounder, white ribbon, blender pens

#6 Big on Holidays
I didn't want to totally case one of my own cards from my card class, but I had some materials from said class left over. So I made a new creation. I like it... scallops, ribbon, DSP, blender pens. What more could a girl want?

Stamp Set: Big on Christmas
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Whisper White
DSP: Holiday Traditions
Stamp Pads (Classic): Stazon Black, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red, Old Olive, So Saffron
Accessories/Tools: Scallop edge punch, 1/4" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon, blender pens



Last, but not least, #7 Always Christmas
I made this card for a swap at SCS, but I liked it so much I decided to use it for my own Christmas cards! I love it when you can use a non-Christmas set and make it Christmasy. Versatility is good!

Stamp Sets: Always, Season of Joy
Cardstock: Whisper White, Real Red, Old Olive
Stamp Pads (Classic): Real Red, Old Olive, Basic Gray
Accessories/Tools: Sponge, antique brads


Whew! This post took an hour (I have a verrrrrrry slow computer). I hope you enjoy these cards. Please leave a comment of which one you like best! I will let you know my favorite soon. :)

I'm so thankful!

Thanksgiving is coming, and there are many things I am thankful for. But stamping related, I am especially thankful to the people who came to my Christmas card class last weekend. So, to show my appreciation to them, I am making Thank You cards. Here are a few:

Season of Friendship Thanks

I used:
- Sage Shadow, More Mustard, and Close to Cocoa cardstock
- Season of Friendship & Flight of Butterfly sets
- Autumn Vine DSP
- Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, More Mustard, and Really Rust stamp pads

I love this set. This is the first time I've used it. I think the card turned out great!!! But I cannot foresee myself making a lot of them, as cutting out that tree is a bear!

I think next time I make a card similar to this one, I will add some brads or some other element to dress it up a bit. It's pretty, but kind of lacking a bit.





Flight of the Butterfly Thanks

I used:
- Riding Hood Red, Pink Pirouette, So Saffron & Whisper White cardstock
- Flight of Butterfly set
- Pink Pirouette & Riding Hood Red stamp pads

Talk about simple! I guess I was in a very non-embellishment mood the other day. I like it; it's pretty. And not at all something I would have picked out to make. (I got this set free from the Sampler when I placed my big first demo order.... It wasn't my first choice of a WOW set.... but my mama didn't raise no dummy. I picked out the most expensive set in the Sampler for free! Why waste a free set on one that costs $12.95?)

I have a few more, but I guess I didn't take pictures of them yet. So, you'll have to wait. Besides, I need to get packing for my workshop tomorrow! Yipppppeeeeee!