On Again Off Again...

I really don't know if anyone ever visits me here but I do know that it has been a very long time since I have. I am hoping to change my on again off again ways with this blog and make a commitment to visit at least once a week.  I have lots of things to share, and those things, mainly my love of papercrafting and Stampin' Up! are not doing any good to myself or anyone else stuck up in my head.  I am learning things about social media and I really want to start using the tools that are available to me to share what I love and what I am passionate about...PAPER and INK, well there are lots of other things also but this blog was created to share what you can do with a piece of paper and some ink so without babbling on further here is what I worked on last week:  

This card was inspired by Teneale Williams a very talented Australian Stampin' Up! artist.  I love her work!  I use mostly the Naturals White cardstock for my base.  It just seems sturdier to me.  I feel Whisper White is fine for layering and great to stamp on.  So here's the recipe:

Base: Naturals White (cut 2" down and 2" in on the corners)

Layer 1: Blushing Bride (so happy it's coming back because I mistakenly bought 3 packs of it before it retired last year and I was so mad at myself for not paying attention to my cardstock inventory)

Layer 2:  Tea For Two Designer Series Paper (DSP)

Stamping: French Foliage, Doily Background Stamp, and Papillon Potpourri stamp set. 

Inks: Early Esspresso, Melon Mambo, Versamark, Soft Suede for the edge inking.

Embellishments: White Embossing powder (Doily), Clear Embossing powder (butterfly) Very Vanilla seam tape ribbon, pearls.

I hope you like my card and I will definitely be here more often.  When opportunity knocks you still have to get up off your seat and open the door.  I wonder how many opportunities I have lost by not even being home to answer that darned door...and that's what it's all about today my friends.

Happy Birthday to me!!! PCC #4

My Birthday week is officially over and as all good intentions go, I had intended to post this card on my Birthday last Wednesday but the time just kept ticking away and I never got it posted.  I did get my card made though and that was an accomplishment.  As the saying goes better late than never...right?  The week was so busy as we have 3 Birthdays in a row starting from August 21st to the 23rd.  Mine is in the middle right before my son's and well I spent my birthday getting ready for his as it has been since the day he was born.  So let me show you my card I really think it turned out quite lovely.  I CASEd the elements and colors from Joanna Munster here I really loved her card, I just changed it to use the layout for Paper Craft Crew Challenge #4 

I love how it turned out.  I even got out my machine and did some sewing on the card.  I haven't done that in a long time.  I love the look of machine stitching on cards!  I'm going to have to do it more often.  Here is what I used:

Create a Cupcake stamp set and Builder Punch

Base is Naturals White

Layer Crumb Cake

Layer First Edition

Subtles DSP

Blue from the Festival of Print Holiday Catalog

Ink Early Espresso and Pink Pirouette

The ribbon on the cupcake is embossed with Melon Mambo EP

Pearls

Linen Thread

Lace Ribbon

Tag Punch (just stuck the end in so it would be a tad longer)

 

Create a Cupcake is one of those sets you will want to keep forever.  I might put it away for awhile but I always come back to it for a cute card in a pinch.  This card would have worked just as well without the machine stitching but I think it adds that extra touch that will set it apart and make the recipient want to keep it forever.  I hope you like my Birthday card!!  until next time, that's what it's all about...

 

 

You're Amazing! PCC #3

I'm so excited about my new venture as Design Team for Paper Craft Crew .  I am getting a late start though.  I had a little learning curve with the postings but now I think I have it all down.  Here is my second card for PCC.  I still don't have the picture thing down but I will get there.  I love how my card turned out.  I used the stamp set from Stampin' Up! You're Amazing along with the Fanfair DSP.  The base is Island Indigo with a layer of Crumb Cake the sentiment is stamped on Very Vanilla. 

Just so you know I will be doing this once a week.  Every Wednesday I will have a new design for the challenge, you should stop in and play along...for now that's what it's all about!

Moving On to PCC #1

Hello, I've decided that it's time to start participating in some online challenges.  My Friend Pam Staples over at Sunnygirl Scraps took over the Stampin' Queens Sketch Challenge and renamed it to Paper Craft Crew Challenges so I am making a commitment to myself to participate.  Who knows I might get hooked and want to enter all the challenges...haha probably not.  But I am going to give this one o go for now. 
Here's the sketch:


Here's my card.

I used the Ronald McDonald House set that I received at Convention.  The base is Gumball Green, layered with the Baja Breeze paper from Floral District DSP, layered on top of that is Whisper White and another piece of GG with the frogs stamped with one inking so they would get lighter with each stamp.  The sentiment is Petite Pairs.  I just love this set it is the best one since I became a demonstrator.  $3 from every set purchased goes to the Ronald McDonald House what a great charity.

 

Moving Forward
Wood Mount 126320 Clear Mount 126322
Whimsy and fun combine to make this seven-piece set the perfect choice for outside-the-box best wishes and greetings. Wonderful for friendship and birthday projects for young and old. Try embossing the images for a look that really stands out! Set Quantity: 7

Contact me if you would like to purchase this set...and that's what it's all about!

2012 Convention Better Late than Never...

Ok so it's been 3 weeks since convention and I am just getting around to posting about it.  This was my second Stampin' Up! Convention and I was not dissapointed in the least.  Again this year I rented a house and invited 7 strangers and one returnee to share the cost.  It was a great time and I met some great friends from Oregon to Florida and a few states in between.  This year's experience was all I had expected it to be.  We stamped the night away, every night...well mostly because I didn't finish my swaps and the girls pitched in to help me out.    I was so grateful for my new friends help I was able to finish all 120 of them on time, and got to swap to my hearts content.  Here is one of the swap cards that I created for convention.  I wish I could take better pictures of them though...

This card was made using Fabulous You. The card base is Basic Black.  The shoe is stamped on the yellow paper from Floral District DSP and layered on Whisper White with scalloped layers of So Saffron, Daffodil Delight, Basic Grey, and Basic Black.  I cut the sentiment in half and used the first part for the outside and the rest for the inside.  I faux bowed it with Whisper Whit satin organza ribbon and blinged up the shoe with some jewels.  I love how the card turned out. 

Here are some other pics from convention...

Sara, Shelli's daughter.  Love her!

Shannon West dressed for Halloween!  My favorite holiday!The cute little bag she demonstrated!

My housemates Angela and Nicole with Shelli!  Nicole won the Twitter contest for an opportunity to go backstage during the last general session.  Here she is getting a pic with Shelli to tweet.  She was so good at it even the Utah newspaper started following her tweets!

Finally a picture of me in front of the stage.  Great Stage props!

Oh I almost forgot the great card samples and inspiration...Amazing Stampin' Up! talent!

So there's a peek into my convention experience.  I am definately going next year for Stampin' Up! 25th Anniversary!  Can't wait to share that one for sure...and that's what it's all about. 

Good Bye Frame it!

I love this stamp set Frame It from the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog.  I am sorry to say good bye since it was new last year.  I purchased it on my first order of the catalog last year.  I LOVED it!  Well as happens alot with me as soon as I got it in my hot hands I put it on the shelf and never looked at it again until it hit the Retiring List in March.  So I started playing with it and here is what I came up with.

I used Early Espresso for the base, Crumb Cake for the layer.  I stamped the Crumb Cake with the Wood Background stamp and then stamped the frames from Frame it in Soft Suede, Always Artichoke, and Not Quite Navy randomly over the wood BG stamp.  I cut out the frame from Designer Frames Folders and layered that with Crumb Cake.  I used the sentiment from Happiest Birthday Wishes-Hostess set (also retiring).  I hope that this card has inspired you to want this set as much as I did.  You can order it and other retiring Stampin' Up! products here.  And that's what it's all about...

Count Down!

So I'm officially counting down to the new catalog!  The release date for the 2012-2013 Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog is June 1st.  Demonstrators get to see it early and I have thumbed through it and made an enormous wish list already.  I have to say there are some great changes to this years product line up and to the new catalog.  The first and best improvement is that the catalog is full of great new designs and some new tools that I can't wait for all of you to see and use.  This year Stampin' Up! has introduced some new ink pads that give your stamping a crisp very spectacular image.  I LOVE the new pads!  I didn't want, to want to ( I know that is too many wants, but "sigh") replace my old ink pads but eventually I will replace them all!  So for now just letting you know that there are only 10 more days to purchase any of the retiring items from the current 2011-2012 selection.  Here is a link to where you can order.  And that's what it's all about...

It's Raining Flowers!!

I have to admit when I saw this set in the catalog I just passed it by.  When I found out it would be a convention set I was less than excited about this one.  I have to say that now that I have used it on a few projects it is really growing on me. 

I used it on the make and takes from convention on the first two cards here.  Then the other night I was playing with it in totally different colors and viola!  Different look.  Softer more delicate.  I really love this look, so summer looking.  I stamped all of the flowers separately, cut them out, and arranged them on my embossed card front.  First I embossed with the Stripes embossing folder then I ran it through with the Tulip Border folder.  I have a few other ideas in my head just haven't had time to get them on paper yet. 

Everyone of these cards has a different look.  Just goes to show how Stampin' Up! stamps are versatile and Raining flowers is on my list of must have flower sets.  

 Click Here to order your very own Raining Flowers set. 

And that's what it's all about... 

Stampin Up Convention 2011

I feel so blessed to have been a part of this amazing week's festivities.  It has inspired me to start blogging again.  I love Stampin' Up!  I love everything about it!  I had an amazing time at convention a few weeks ago.   This year it was July 13-16th.  Wednesday I had an opportunity to visit Riverton where the SU headquarters are.  It is a beautiful place.  I couldn't believe it when I saw the waterfall in the middle of the lobby. 

This is the driveway view.  I wanted to stay forever!

I do have to say that it was a very happy and calming place to be.  ALL of the Stampin' Up! employees were so nice and every time I asked someone if they loved their job the answer was a YES with a huge smile to go with it!   Here is a picture of the distribution center where Stampin' Up! has the country flags of where all the employees are from. Here is the Mexican flag representing my raza! Loved that! 

The first morning we were greeted by all of the SU employees.  Shelli had all of the employees from Riverton bussed in to greet us on Thursday morning.  They were all lined up on each side of the entrance and high fived us as we made our way into the event.  That was a wonderful moment, I even teared up a bit.

I bonded with a fellow demonstrator Charlene, she is so sweet you can visit her here.  We shared a lot at convention, we even shared the ride home!  We have decided to motivate each other and work together to go grow in the Stampin' Up! family.  Here she is hard at work on her make n' takes at convention.

The stage was gorgeous and I even got to walk my way across twice.  Once for first time convention attendee and then for recruiting at least one person in the previous year.  I was fortunate to have two recruits this past year.

View from the line to walk across and get recognized.  I think almost everyone that went to convention got to walk across the stage at one point or another, LOL. 

I also got to meet Shelli Gardner.  She is one of the sweetest, most genuine people I have ever met.  I believe getting a picture with her after the awards ceremony was awesome.  We caught her in the hall and there was no line waiting to take pictures.  She was so gracious, I am still in awe of that moment.  Here's my picture.  Don't I look happy?

I just love her!!!

I swapped a few cards, next year I will be more prepared for that, it was crazy swapping.  Here's the card I made to swap.  I will post some of the swaps I received in a later post. 

I am so happy I went to my first convention.  I haven't even mentioned all the great stuff I got for "free".  6 stamp sets, a MDS content CD, the great bag and catalog in a binder.  I spent way too much at Memento Mall.  It was all worth it, all of it.  It will be a yearly event from now on and I'd better start saving now.  Oh and making swaps!  I am going to try and figure out a card that I can easily adapt when the next years catty comes out. 

and that's what it's all about...

For Everyone Who Thinks Wii is Just a GAME!!!

This is just not so...I bought my kids (and myself) the Wii for Christmas this past year.  My package included the Fit Plus addition.  I hadn't touched it or been interested in even getting to know it until this week.  My office started a Lose to Win program each person pays $10 to be in the program and it goes into a pot, at the end of 12 weeks the person and team to lose the most wins the $$$.  Well I have some extra poundage, so I was instantly in.  I have a team of 3 coworkers and we call ourselves Team Slim Possible.  Over 200 people signed up to be in the program. Whoah, that's a lot of cash!!! Well I have to split it with my team, but that is still enough to buy me some new clothes when we win!!!  Power of positive thinking.  Well back to the Wii.  I finally got into it and I'm telling you it kicked my butt.  My kids were laughing at me chase the little Wii character around on an aerobic running workout.  They were ROFLing watching me do the Hula Hoop excercise.  I do have to admit that I probably would have laughed at myself too.  Seriously though, it really is a great workout, I did different things strength training, aerobic, YOGA (I have to say I was impressed with this, and I have never done real yoga) for about 45 minutes.  I have set up a routine to do different things on different days now.  This is going to be fun and I don't usually exercise at all.  Unless you concider using an ATG tape gun or a paper trimmer excercise, yea well that's usually as good as it gets for me.  I will have to keep you updated with my progress, BTW, when I was weighed in at the start of my program my reaction was OMG!!!  I need to change that, so it's Wii, Wii, Wii all the way home baby!

So let me show you what I did last year for Mother's day for my girls (who are both mothers themselves).  I'm trying to come up with something for this year, maybe you have some ideas.  Hope you like it...and that's what it's all about for today anyway. 

Really Late, Can't Sleep so I'll Post

Hey there, I'm tired of flipping channels and have been spending some time watching Youtube  videos on Scrapbooking tips & techniques.  I am so glad the internet exsists now.  It's instant gratificaation for me on ideas for my craft.  I used to have to wait for my monthly magazine subscription to arrive to get all this information and then it was just a little bit at a time.  Now I could probably spend an entire day surfing  and not see everything there is by far.  You have choices on the internet also.  If you don't like it you turn the page and you never have to see it again if you don't want to.  It's a beautiful thing.  So here I am sharing some work that I did last week.  I made this card for a friend of mine to give to her Honey for Valentine's Day.  Why didn't I make it for myself you ask?  I don't know why, I make one every year to give to my special someone and this year I don't know I just didn't do it.  Oh well maybe next year I will improve on that.  So here's my card

I'm learning to take better pictures, tip though if you take a picture on your bed you should make it first, LOL.  And that's what it's all about...

Name Change and an Arrow to some Blog Candy.

Ok so today started out on the right foot.  I decided to clean my S{crap} area trying to fit this (first pic) into this (second pic) and this (third pic) and make it look nice and not like I just crammed it in there.  This is in my bedroom the only place this armoire will fit.  I just can't believe how much S{crap} stuff I have.  As usual I got distracted, UGH!  I got the computer out to start up some music and ended up at "The Beach" just looking around there was a post up there for some Blog Candy HERE from Tanya in North Carolina.  It's for a Pink Cropadile Big Bite.   So I am posting here as that is what the rules say to spread the word on our own blogs.  Then when I started posting I looked at the name on my blog and although I really LOVE leopard print (in tasteful measure, of course) I'm really not Wild and Krazy.  Those days are long gone for me.  Fun while they lasted and no I am not sad about it, being on the wild side took alot of work and of course a lot easier back in the day.  My idea of a good time has also changed.  I had a wonderful weekend scrapping away and to me that was a good time.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not boring at least I don't think so.  Anyhoo, I changed the name of my blog to what it is now.  So take from here what you will, because that's really what it's all about.

By the way I want one of these things so bad, it would solve all my space problems.  Wondering if I could make one similar myself. 

Furlough Friday and a Unity Challenge

Today was again Furlough Friday, for those of you who are wondering what that is here is the Reader's Digest version. Basically I work for the State of California and our Boss the Gov thought giving his employees a paycut would solve the state budget problems, well with that pay cut circa 15% I might add, we get the first 3 Friday's of each month off ZERO pay. There it is for you in a nutshell. I was already getting paid peanuts now well, lets just say it hasn't stopped me from enjoying my hobby, and now I have more time to dedicate to doing what I love. Now I can appreciate all my years of collecting supplies and stamps and every gadget available for this hobby that I love. Oh did I mention stamps. I have lots of those.

Well today I am going to share a card that I made TODAY, Furlough Friday for the new Unity Bachelor Broman Challenge Contest. The challenge this week is to create an invitation for a date with a guy I love or Bro...which ever I wanted. Well since the guy I love department is kind of ify in my life right now. This card is for Broman. His favorite colors are: red, black and green. He works at Unity, the resident bachelor, and he will pick a winning card each week and the winner get's some 25 stamps and some paper to play with, if you are the runner up you get some stamps to ink up as well is then in the finals for like $750 in UNITY loot of course. It sure was a tricky combo, but I think I pulled it off. It is a square petal card from Greengrocer's Brown Bag Collection. I'm not sure where you can buy these, and don't remember where I got them, they have been in my stash for over a year. I was just waiting for the right project to use them. The first picture shows it open. I used UNITY August KOTM , for the sentiment on the outside of the card and the flying heart (I love, love, love this stamp) the designer paper is also from my stash. K & Company, Christmas Cheer pad that I didn't use last Christmas. I really like the way it came out. Not Xmasy at all. I also used the Mojo 104 sketch. The second picture is the closed view of the card. The stamped part where it closes is like a puzzle. You have to close it the same everytime. My daughter was upset that I took a picture with my hand in it. I didn't want to tape the card shut so I had to close it flat with my hand. Anyhoo, that is my hand in the way there. And here is a third picture, hopefully you can see some more detail, cause it's a closer shot. I think I'm getting better in the picture taking department. I even have a cool leopardy print for my backdrop. Did you all notice that? Well I am going to keep practicing in that department, I'll be a pro in no time. Just so you know I was so busy creating this card today and posting it to SCS, I had to make sure it was here before I fell asleep. It is 1:30 in the morning and I am still fussing over this card. I will have to get my system down so I can have everything posted by a decent time, like when it is still light outside, LOL anyway until then love your wild side!

Trini

Better Late than never Mojo Card

Here is a card I made for this week's Mojo Challenge. Like the saying goes better late than never. Since I have never played the challenge before this is a good week to start. It's a contest, Yea! I used a card blank from K & Company, I bought a pack at Ross for $1.49 great buy. I really liked using it too less work for me, just rip it out fold it up, they are prescored for you. Sorry got excited all over again! Anyhoo, I had a scrap of teal Bazzil Swiss Dot CS just dying to be used I don't know if you can see the detail in the picture, I also used some light blue shimmery card stock for the accent. I thought it would be enough bling, but I was wrong so I added some teal jems to it. I love that part now. Finally I used UNITY STAMP Bevy of Butterflies the large butterfly stamped on some coordinating paper also K&C. I think the butterfly matched my paper nicely. I popped it up with some dimentional tape. The sentiment is also from the kit. I am so in love with Unity Stamp Co. I am a member of the Kit of the Month and am currently and impatiently waiting for the September KOTM. I have been drooling over the finished projects all over the net. I love how this card turned out I have to say that the challenge is a great way to get things going I think this is one of the best cards I have made to date. Now I just have to learn how to take some great pictures of my work. That's another story. For now love your wild side.

Trini

Furlough Friday and a Card!

So I am getting in the groove. I made this card last month for my daughter's birthday and since I haven't made anything since then this will have to do. I really like how it turned out except for the numbers in the pocket. I should have used chipboard or something. I used Unity KOTM July, the pocket is stamped on red Core'dinations cardstock. I love the way the pocket turned out. The background paper is Basic Grey and the number paper is DCWV that I crumpled up and spritzed with some Ranger Walnut ink. I like that part of the card too. I did som sewing on the edge of the number paper and the bg paper ended up a little crooked but well, I'm probably the only one who noticed. The words are all computer generated. The other picture is the inside of the card where I again used UNITY KOTM and framed my words with Basic Grey again. I am a dork and forgot to take a picture before I dedicated it to my daughter. So that is why it is written on. This is how I plan on spending my Furlough Fridays from now on. STAMPING the day away. No kids all day, I can play the music I want to. Anyway I am off to make a new card, well I hope to anyway. In the mean time Love YOUR Wild Side!

Trini

Ok, so I started this...

Today I woke up and did my usual blog hop and it got me thinking about why I don't do more on my own. I started this blog thing, and I guess I just don't really know what to do with it now. I am creative, well I like to think so anyway. I am also a big time procrastinator. Not a good combination. I get so inspired from other ladies in their blogs then I sit down and always draw a blank and end up moving on to the next unfinished thing in my life.

So anyhoo, I have made a decision that I am going to do this at least twice a week. Not that anyone really cares what I have to say, but I probably have more to share and write than I think I do. So here goes...


Today I am starting my Christmas wish list and these boot definately make it on there. I don't know if I could pull off wearing them in public, but they are so cool I could hang them on my wall in a funky frame and call it wall art. They are Anne Kleins of course, I never choose anything within my means. But it is a WISH list afterall. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I do.

Love your wild side,



Trini

This is a Cool Recycling Project

This morning I woke up, not really in the mood to do anything so I answered some emails, finally put filters on my email account to make the inpour (is that a word...) of emails more manageable. I hardly ever delete anything so I have some 50,000 emails in my inbox. I tried to delete them once but felt I had to go through each one as to not throw one out that I might actually need for future reference. That's a lot like my life. It's pretty cluttered up with crap. Anyway that's a different story for a different kind of blog. So I started surfing looking for a tutorial for a mini book I want to try out and I found this really cool site Photojojo.
There is a really cool project on there, well I thought it was cool anyway. I think I will put a few in my cubicle since I work for a save the environment agency. Anyway here it is the how to.

I thought is was simple genius. I am going to try it. Love your wild side, see you later. I'm in a sharing mood so maybe I'll be back later today with some other nifty thing I stumble upon.

Time to MOJO!

Well I made a card today. I have been wanting to try the Mojo Monday Challenge for some time. This is my first time, about time too it's already week 88. I really like this stamp from M's dollar bin. The paper is from DCWV All Dressed up Collection. See you later and love your wild side!

My First Post and a Card to Share!!

Hello Card Making world, it's me Trini! This is my very first post in my old new blog. I opened this blogger account last year with every intention to start blogging. I enjoy looking at other card maker's work only to think why don't I do that. I have things and talent to share. "Why not me?" So finally here I am blog blog bah, blog blog!!!! I was just motivated today by a really nice bunch of ladies from a new yahoo group I joined to figure this out. I am still learning to blog so bear with me. I hope anyone who stumbles on my blog enjoys my work and lets me know.

This is the first card it actually dawned on me to take a picture of. I made it last year and I think I still have it. I couldn't bring myself to send it to anyone yet. I love Bella Stamps, they are just the cutest bunch of girls. I have quite a few and will be sharing more with all of you very soon. So until next time, Love your wild side!!