I'm so glad that I have such a great hobby to help me unwind! (And today was a day that needed unwinding!!)

Not much to say tonight, just enjoy the cards!

Ah, a whole evening to just play! My hubby is away on a fishing trip, so I had all night to get some cards made. I've been so excited to finally get a few minutes to myself to "case" some of the card ideas out of the new Stampin' Up! catalogue. I hope you enjoy looking as much as I have enjoyed making them!! Thanks for looking!

How wonderful it was today to finally see some sunshine!! (and oh how wonderful that my children could enjoy it too!)

I had a little time to play tonight. I love, love, love the new Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. I distressed some paper first and then ran it through the Bigshot. It turned out beautifully.

The new colors are great! They are so rich and vibrant. I used Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Dafodil Delight and Crumb Cake. I had a little fun with the accessory, check it out!

Thanks for looking :)

We met for our Marker Club on Monday night and although we were missing quite a few ladies, we still had a fun night. Thanks to everyone who could make it out! (I myself almost got sidetracked on my way down my sidewalk, I thought it might be fun to do a little gardening ;) )

Our next club will mark the beginning of the new catalogue! How exciting will that be to actually order from it!!?? The ladies seemed to really enjoy their sneak peek. I don't blame them, I love it! Thanks again ladies for a great night!

The card we made for our make and take was using the Elements of Style set that is carrying over into the new catty from the current mini. It's a nice set. We did a little emboss resist using the Log Cabin Smooch Spritzer. I love seeing the variations of my demo card. It's so cool to see what other people pull from one card.

I'll be at a Trade Show/Garage sale on Saturday, otherwise I would have expected a wet weekend indoors maybe working on a few projects. Follow that with a birthday party (that reminds me, I need to go make a card!) and then Sunday is Father's Day!!!! It's awesome fun for me to watch the boys shower their Daddy with love on Father's Day. They get so very excited. And they are getting better at keeping secrets too, which helps! Have a great rest of the week!!

Ah another rainy day!! We have had so many household projects on the go, that I haven't had much time to stamp! We have refinished (well, almost done) our front door, built a picnic table top (still needs legs), made a new house address board for our house (no more number in the window!!), done some plumbing and moving of things in the laundry room....... the list goes on. Not to mention the yardwork and keeping up with three wonderfully busy little boys! Son #2 has taken to scaling the fence and bolting down the street, so my ears are constantly open for the sound of the gate opening!

This card was made a few weekends ago, I used the shimmer paint, gave it a faux stitch and popped a stamp in the center. The stamp used is from the "Elements of Style" set in the current mini. The "Thanks so Much

" is from the same mini's set "Watercolor Trio". A few strips of paper and a couple of brads, and voila!!

Lately I've discovered a wonderful use for paper! It can get very frustrating when you need that one color of ribbon that you just don't have! Use paper!!

You can work it and manipulate it to look so very close to ribbon, and you end up being able to use so many colors.

I received my new Stampin' Up! Catty in the mail on Tuesday!! Hoooorrrraaaayyyyy! I'm still finding new things inside! And then my preorder goodies arrived yesterday. All of my sets are mounted already, now I just need to find the time to get creating! Finger

s crossed that tonight may work! Stampin' Up! has outdone themselves with such a beautiful catalogue. It is so incredibly friendly to both new and veteran stampers. The card ideas inside are amazing and the new getting started collection for new stampers is such a great idea. That's one of the things that I had wished for when I started. Way to go SU! There are much needed storage solutions for punches and Big Shot dies. And the colors...... I love them. They

really thought of their customers when they made this one! Because of the color renovation they are awesome in offering add on kits to complete certain collections such as the markers,

crayons and pastels. This is so great because you don't have to replace your whole set! Just add on the new color kit. Awesome. I can't wait to share this new catty with all of my customers! (The lucky ones will get a sneak peek at our Marker Club on Monday)

Have a great Friday!! Thanks for Reading!

Here is your sneak peek of my new goodies!!

I spent so much time outside today gardening!! What a great day partly spent with a good friend and hopefully some card time tonight.

I placed my pre-order last night for some of the new catalogue items! Now I just have to wait..... :) (I'm not very good at waiting)

This card was fun to make. It did not start out well, but I love clean lines so this one hits the favorite list.

The base is Regal Rose and the Good Morning Sunshine DSP (retired) is inked around the edges with Pacific Point ink, and then the corners punched out using a 1/2" circle punch. Two strips of Pumpkin Pie Card stock make the top and bottom of the whisper white strip.

I used a Sneak Peek set from the upcoming Idea Book and Catalogue, Awash with Flowers. The flowers and stems are stamped in Pacific Point, Regal Rose, and Old Olive Classic inks. The quote on the tag is also stamped in Pacific Point. The corduroy button is a retired item off of Stampin' Up!'s clearance rack, but I will use them up quickly considering that Pacific Point makes it's return in less than a month!! I tied it up with the silver elastic cord that was in the last Christmas mini, and then stuck it on using Crystal Effects. Crystal Effects hardens clear and works as a glue or makes a great glaze.

I made this one on Saturday at A's house. I had made the flower the night before at R's. I used Regal Rose for the base of the card with Whisper white as the top piece. The flower is made from striped paper from the Sweet Pea Paper pack that was featured in the Spring Mini Catalogue. I used the Bargello Needlepoint technique to build the flower and the the Extra Large Flower Punch to punch out the shape. Then used Stampin' Dimensionals to pop up the flower.

The Whisper White cardstock is textured using the Bigshot and the texturz plates "Texture Plates Kit #4".

Using the Build a Brads, I made a Pumpkin Pie 1/2" circle and punched out a dot coordinating with my striped paper. I like to use a little Crystal Effects to set the Brad together.

In Regal Rose Classic Ink, I used the Happy Birthday from the Watercolor Trio out of the new Summer Mini.

This card is so very simple to make!! Give it a try!

1st Blog.... Ever

Well, that was painless! Blog set up and ready to go. Now just time to upload some pictures of cards!

Let me tell you a little bit about myself.... I am a Wife of 10 years, a busy Mother to three equally busy boys. They are aged 5, 3 and 17 months. If you have kids at all and especially kids that age, you will likely share the opinion that a hobby is a great thing to keep your mind running smoothly.

I have found the joy of stamping! I love to make cards!! When my kids go to bed at night, (and some nights, the sooner the better) I haul out ALL my supplies and have a little fun. I'm looking forward to sharing my creations with you! I enjoy all things handmade, so you may see a few other thins pop up now and again. Thanks for reading and I hope you like what you see!