Founder's Circle Swap Card

Well, here it is! This is the card that I designed over a month ago for my swap card for Founder's Circle. I decided to make use of something that many people don't have alot of experience with, stencils! These are the gorgeous Vintage Ornament Stencils from the current Decor Elements catty! I've got some tutorial photos all set to go for tomorrow so check back! Contact me today to add these to your order or get them free when you sign up to join my West Coast Creators team by September 20th!! Remember that my password to sign up is "scrapaholic"



Inks:Bermuda Bay, Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Encore Metallic Silver
Paper:Kraft, Soft Suede
Accessories:Circle Rhinestone Brads, In Colour Markers, Vintage Ornament Stencils I, II
Stamps: Berry Christmas, Christmas Greetings

Founder's Circle Celebration!

In celebration of Founder's Circle this week I am offering a special little prize that goes along with the theme! To all of you out there, if you join my Followers List while I'm away, you'll be entered for a chance to win a package of Cottage Wall DSP... for those of you who are already following make sure to leave a comment and I'll add you to the draw as well! Put a link up to my blog via your blog and I'll enter you an extra time, just make sure to let me know that you've linked by leaving a comment:) I can't wait to share with you this week!

I'm Here!

I can't believe that I'm actually here! Founder's Circle is off to an amazing start! I had to be up at 3am this morning to make my 5:40am flight from Vancouver. Although I feel tired, I never realized how tired I looked until I saw the photo of myself at the door of my room... YIKES! As you walk down the halls of the Marriott, everyone has their name done in Decor Elements on the wall and it is in the Cottage Wall theme as is everything we've received for Founder's Circle. My favourite Cottage Wall item hands down were these adorable throw pillows on the couch in the Gathering Place! Even the windows of the Marriott have been done in Decor Elements to coordinate with the theme! This shot is of one of the many candy tables that are out. Not only can you fill up the little terra cotta pot bottoms with your treats of choice, but we also received adorable butterfly nets that work wonderfully too! (not that I'd know;) My room is absolutely beautiful and looks out over the pool. I've even photographed the room in its clean and tidy state to share with you, but I'll save that post for later along with others of the some upcoming products! (one of the prizes we received this afternoon for completing a little challenge was a stamp set from the Mini that will be coming out in January! (Gardeners beware!)

Convention 2009

Playing with Stamps

I had so much fun creating this page tonight while sitting on the couch with my hubby. I love the fact that I was able to pull some of the colours (Dusty Durango) out of Lucas' swim shirt and turn it into a page. I don't feel obligated to use the Designer Pages (pre-designed pages that you just slide your photos into) although I'm sure that there will be many occasions for those too. I've got plans to take many photos this Christmas for one:) I was able to crop all of my photos once they were on the page in a matter of seconds. The layering is a breeze and you can easily move a piece of DSP either back or forward as many layers as you want. I was able to add the stitching on the right hand side by just ckicking on embellishments... and I didn't even need to thread the sewing machine! (now if only hemming my pants were that easy:) The matting that I had to figure out the other night had a much simpler way than I first realized. I didn't notice the little "mat" icon and I was trying to create pieces of cardstock that were just slightly larger than my photos. I LOVE THIS, and can't wait to see the finished product when my first book (or twenty:) arrive!

Okay Seriously... Stretching Hodgepodge Hardware!

You know things are way too cool when you can stretch the Hodgepodge Hardware to fit your Define Your Life Definitions! I am SOOOOOOOOOOO in love with this program. As a demo we get a fabulous discount on having our books/ pages printed before Sept. 30th so I am madly working on my pages (22 minimum in a book) so that I can get it in! I remember thinking, "are they crazy, who has time to complete 22 pages before Sept 30th?" but this is so easy that I am well on my way! I'm almost tempted to do a few different books as it would be nice to remove some items off of my "to be scrapbooked" list which now seems to be more like a novel after years of neglect! I have an order going in on October 1st so if you'd like your copy ASAP call/ email me and have your name added to the order! Better yet, if you'd like to join my team of fabulous West Coast Creators, contact me today and we can preorder your MDS so it is shipped immediately and get you in on the fabulous offer to print your books at a great discount!


Even better... the first three people to join my team between now and October 1st will also get the New In Colour Markers for FREE! ($25.95 value... if you've already got them go ahead and pick something else of the same value!)

August Stamp Set Give-a-way Winner!

Well, better late than never! Here's the winner of the August Stamp Set Give-a-Way:

Congratulations to Lisa Gregson! I did a little happy dance when Joe pulled her name as Lisa is my school secretary and I've never seen anyone work as hard as she does in the first two weeks of school, or at any time for that matter!

Mojo Monday 103 Contest

If you've taken the time to look at the new Holiday Mini, you've probably noticed that Stampin' Up has branched out into a whole new line... jewelery. I can't wait to get mine, but in the meantime, I'm playing with one of the stamp sets that was designed with the Simply Adorned Charms in mind! This particular stamp set is called Charming and I will admit that after using it tonight I am a little bit smitten! Don't be surprised if you see more with this set in the future.

The Mojo Monday sketch was easy for me to play with tonight as it is symmetrical; let's just say that me and symmetry are great friends! The card was definitely naked without the scallop circle at the bottom so I added it in for the balance I needed.

Ink: Versamark, Not Quite Navy Paper: Bella Bleu DSP, Very Vanilla, Kraft, Not Quite Navy Stamps: Charming Accessories: Ice Rhinestone Circle Brads, Kraft Taffeta Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack Punches: Scallop Border, Scallop Circle, 1 3/8 circle, 1 1/4 in circle
TO ORDER STAMPIN' UP PRODUCTS ON-LINE ANY TIME OF DAY GO HERE

You Can Make These Too!

I made these great Christmas decorations a few weekends ago while away in the Okanagan... I even had my five year old paint the blocks! These are the new Decor Elements Blocks available in the Holiday Mini which everyone can finally order from! They show a great sample in the Mini, but the more I looked at it, the more I wanted to change it. I loved the idea, but wanted it to be something a bit more interactive than was shown. I purchased one of each colour package of the new Holiday Mix Decor Elements and decided to use my blocks more like dice. By flipping the blocks you can make three words: JOY, NOEL, and SNOW, as well as a number of holiday themed images. I gave each word a theme so that it would be obvious when the right letters were put together.

I'll be offering this class in November... watch for details to come!

An Added Bonus

I just realized why I am so relaxed while playing with My Digital Studio. When I play with scrapbook pages at home I get uptight as I hate wasting DSP and cutting it to go on a page when I'm still not sure if it will actually work. When it comes to creating it digitally there are NO limitations. I can try it and then just erase it if I'm not happy. I think that in the future, even if I'm going to create the page in a traditional method that I'll use My Digital Studio to "test drive" my layout and colours. This was just another page that I made while playing around with some photos taken last spring. This was the just before we took off Lucas' training wheels.. back in the day when I could keep up with him while he rode... now I sprint at top speed beside him:) You can finally order your copy of this amazing program on October 1st (if you'd like it at 50% call/ email me to book your workshop date!) Can't wait? Join my West Coast Creators team now and you can preorder immediately! Drop me a line if this interests you and I can give you all the details!