A new baby

Our good friends, Carl and Michelle had their third baby. They are on their way overseas this summer so I wanted to give them something useful instead of something else to pack. I asked if they wanted baby thank you cards and they were thrilled. I did two, very simple designs to send to them. Here they are:

All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007 STAMPS: I'm Here, Much Appreciated, Crosshatch CARDSTOCK: Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa, Very Vanilla INK: Pretty in Pink, Close to Cocoa


All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007 STAMPS: Bundle of Joy CARDSTOCK: Cool Caribbean, Barely Banana, Watercolor paper INK: Stazon Black, Cool Caribbean, Barely Banana ACCESSORIES: SAMJ, aqua painters, watercolor wonder crayons, paper piercer, white signo gel pen

Then I also wanted to send the other two kids a card as well. The first is simple using Sporting Goods from Stampin' Up! and the second is using Alexa's Set from Missy B. I don't know what happend to the second photo. With the iphoto it turns my photographs automatically. Then when I go to post one, it comes up the wrong way. Any ideas?? Otherwise, I'll keep trying and we'll just have to turn our heads for awhile.

What I've been up to...

Some of the things I have been up to lately are:

50 little packages for a client to promote her business. They turned out so cute and she was thrilled.

I participated in a Stampin' Up! bootcamp to give myself a kick in the butt for my business. We had our windup the other night (hosted by Debbie) and this is the awesome card we made. I love the colors and doodles around the leaves. I sortof missed the stem matching up to the flowers, but I like it never the less.

Color Challege - Dandelion

So this weeks challenge was "dandelion". I thought of going out in the backyard and taking a photo of our grass as we have some "digging out" to do back there. Instead, I took a couple photos while at my parent's house tonight for dinner.

That's my mom wearing her "dandelion" (as labeled conveniently by me today) sweater and eyeballs.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there...and of course to my own! I got up nice and early (really early!) to drive my husband to the airport. He is away on conference and got to surprise his mom this morning as he had time to waste at the airport in Vancouver. I was so glad it worked out.

We had a lunch with our family to celebrate and headed over to my sister's house for a yummy raspberry upside down cake. My mom was *concerned* that she was getting the card on my blog that I already showed. I figured I would come up with a new one for her (and also used it at a Stampin' Up! workshop this week).

All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007. STAMPS: Doodle This, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Warm Words CARDSTOCK: Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise INK: Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Perfect Plum ACCESSORIES: Mat pack, turquoise grosgrain, blender pens, round tab punch

I wanted to try one of the little accordion books that Beate posted on Splitcoast Stampers, so I made one for my mom as well. Here are a couple pictures of it. I'm happy how it turned out for my first one!

All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007 STAMPS: None shown CARDSTOCK: Recollections Designer Series paper, Bravo Burgundy, Mellow Moss, Whisper White INK: None shown ACCESSORIES: Wine organdy ribbon, small corner rounder

Color Challenge - Robin Egg Blue

I was really thinking hard of what to photograph in this color and thinking maybe I'll just skip a week, LOL. I am in the midst of doing a project for my new company (I can't wait to officially announce it!!) and thought of the challenge. One of my colleagues at the school is a Beauti Control consultant and is doing little packages for new customers. She asked if I would help to make them and of course, I said yes - to all 50 of them! In each package is a little candle...a nice robin egg blue candle (well sort of, close to it I guess). I tried to get a picture of the bowl of candles:

Entertainment in Calgary

For Christmas, Mesh and I were given some gift certificates to two different theaters here in Calgary. We redeemed them and they happend to be in the same week! Both shows were excellent and I would recommend them if you are in the city.


At Stagewest we saw "Canadian Explosion" It was awesome to hear all the different songs that were written by Canadians! Very fun.


Then last night we went to Vertigo theater and saw "Shear Madness". There were some very funny parts and they have extended the show for 2 weeks. It was very funny - my parents have season tickets to this theather and they happened to have their night the same night we booked ours. So we enjoyed dinner and hitched a ride with them (with a parking pass to boot!). We scored big time!


Thanks to my aunt and my sister for the gift certificates so that we could enjoy something different!

Color Challenge - White

White - the color is all over, but capturing it in a unique way is the hard part! Here are my attempts.

This is our new computer - one of the selling features for me was it was white, so I knew it would be perfect for this color challenge! Plus my Starbucks coffee mug had to be in there too!


I hosted a Pampered Chef party awhile ago and one of my freebies was this awesome bowl. Filled up with fresh fruits and veggies really makes the white stand out.

Color Challenge - Chestnut

This color might have been a stretch for me. Chestnut (brown with a red tinge). The first thing that came to mind was our couches in our family room. They sortof fit the criteria. Sorry about the glare - the one window covering can't really be closed right now (which reminds me....mom we have to book another date to fix them!!). This is our favorite room in the house, we love that it is bright and were we host our company. The second photo is one of the places where either of us like to read. The walls look pink on my computer, but they aren't - they are a neutral color! Such good memories here on our "chestnut" couches.

A favorite picture

I was looking through some photos to find something somewhat interesting to share. I have to remember to take some photos of some cards tomorrow during the day so that they turn out better. This picture I took awhile ago, but really like it. We did a similar thing for the centerpieces at our wedding (using the coffee beans as our color was chocolate brown). A few of my favorite things in that picture - gerberas, coffee and simple!

I am trying to do things much more simply. For me, this means practical things, one of them being keeping a list. I'm finding that with all the little distractions that there can be, I'm not accomplishing as much as I want as quickly as I want. When I am in work at home mode, I try to write down the items I want to do. There is so much satisfaction in checking things off as they are done on the whiteboard in our office. In fact, I'm off to check one more off as I finish this blog entry.

Mother's Day Card

I have a customer who is hosting a stamp-a-stack coming up quickly. Basically she invites all her friends, we decide how many cards to make (and what kind) and I come up with a design, cut the supplies and show her friends how to make them for a small fee. I thought I would share some of the cards we are doing over the next little while. Here is the mother's day card. I got the idea of the mom with flower somewhere on the internet, but I can't find/ remember where. I have to get better at writing them down so that I can give proper credit - so I am sorry that I can't name you whoever you are. Please let me know if you know where I saw this idea with mom.

All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007 STAMPS: Doodle This, Doodle That, Doodle Alphabet, Happy Everything CARDSTOCK: Pale Plum, Mellow Moss, Very Vanilla INK: Basic Black, Pale Plum ACCESSORIES: Ticket corner punch, silver brad, stampin' write markers, stampin' dimensionals

Color Challenge - Black

Okay, so I think I figured out what I might have been doing wrong in terms of posting a photo. I am here to try again to post my color challenge pictures for black. I thought it would be an easy color to take, but it ended up being hard in terms of finding a photo that was interesting enough to capture.

We spent the weekend in Edmonton visiting some friends. One of our friends lives in this great loft and it is decorated with black and silver throughout. I thought I would take some pictures there for this challenge. Here they are.



Here is my friend Laura and I. We are nicknamed Laura North and Laura South, depending on where we leave. Helps keep things organized. The next time we see Laura and Jon it will be in their new house, so that's exciting.

Posting challenges

I was starting a post and adding some photos (finally...sorry its been so long). We just got a new mac computer and I am having some trouble uploading some pictures. I will work on it and see if I can figure it out. In the meantime, if you are a blogger (in blogspot) and a mac user - do you have any tips??? Please leave a comment if you do. Thanks.

Color Challenge Week 5 - Green

So this week is supposed to be "Granny Smith Apple" green. I've decided to keep my challenges simple, and really just do the general color - not really worried if it fits with the crayon name (maybe one day). This challenge is so fun and I encourage you to try it out (I don't think it matters if you join part way, just see Dee-Ann's blog or more information). It really makes you look at things around you in color and think about how that color relates to your life. I took a few green photos this week.

This is a key lime pie my mom made awhile back (when the challenge started). I liked the color, so took a picture anticipating the green week. It was for St. Patrick's day so she used food coloring to enhance the green.

The next photo is one of a plant that my old place of work gave me when my grandma passed away a couple years ago. I love the color with the red pot, I love how the plant is still doing well and growing quickly and I love how it is a little reminder of my grandma, whom I miss tons.

And the last photo is of kermit and a green flipper we have. I know it seems random, but the reason is an old student I used to work with loved kermit. I got to know the family pretty well and as a part of a shower gift, the mom gave me the flipper because it was kermit green and would remind me of them everytime I use it (which is totally does!). Mesh has a kermit in his car which I borrowed for the photo.

A Fan of Flan

So we had our friends Adam and Suzanne over last night for dessert and games. Our friend, Sharon, had made this great fruit flan awhile back while we were at their place and I decided to make it. It was delicious with some whipped cream and fresh strawberries and blackberries. Its really easy to make (only 1 bowl to mix) and 20 minutes to bake. A great summer dessert. Here is a picture of what it looked like.


Let me know if you are interested in the recipe - so light and yummy!

It's the thought that counts...

I did some stamping tonight, but not quite ready to post it yet. First, I want to take the pictures tomorrow during the day and second, I'm still thinking about them. Sometimes I put pressure on myself about what my cards should look like (especially if they are for a demo or event). One thing I am trying to do is stress less about that. Its funny - if I stamp totally for fun, no pressure, I really like the cards I do. When it is for something specific, I will hum and haw over the card several times before liking it or changing/ hucking it. I have a file of photos on my computer of what's I call "older cards". These are cards I did when I first was introduced to stamping (and Stampin' Up!) and thought I would share them. I need to remind myself where I was when I started and where I am now. Anyways, here they are. All images are Stampin' Up! (1990-2007), but since they are so old, I don't remember what colors they are...not that anyone would be trying to reproduce these!

Thanks for looking. I try to remind myself of what it says on the wall over my stamping desk, but sometimes I think it needs to say "less stress" instead.

Thank you from Quiltnut

The winner of my blog candy (see several posts below) was Quiltnut. She sent me this great card to say Thank you for her prize. I asked if I could share it with you and she said "yes". Here it is.

Her blog is http://quiltnutcreations.blogspot.com/ and she posts beautiful quilts as well, she has a blog candy contest going on right now. Anyone in Calgary know what Micheal's (if any) is carrying those clear stamps? The new Beacon Hill one isn't (at least not that I saw). Isn't the background of Rhonda's (quiltnut) card beautiful colors?!? She did it with the melted crayon technique and her iron. I love getting homemade cards! Thanks again Rhonda!

Color Challenge Week 4

I tried to incorporate Easter into my color of the week photo (see Dee-Ann's blog to the right). I was coloring easter eggs and Mesh came down to join me for a few minutes. Here is our bowl full of eggs.

Can you guess which ones Mesh did? It captures two of his most favorite things - His faith and his Vancouver Canucks. Please note: the Canucks are Mesh's favorites and not mine...so no mean comments. :)

And this is the photo that I tried to caputre this weeks color challenge of pink in. If only our bowl was pink too, then it would be great.

I also photographed a couple flowers to go with the pink theme. These ones were given to us from our friends Dawn and Mike and I took the pink ones from the bunch to take their photo.



And then lastly is a flower that has just _______ (insert word here that means came again in flower terms, I can't remember what it is!!). My grandma gave us that plant when we moved into our new house over a year ago.

Inspiration Sheet Challenge

Oh my, it's been much longer than I wanted between posts - sorry about that. I have been on spring break, but working somewhere else nannying during the day so they have been long days and not much time to do other things. Also, as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator I have been wanting to grow my business more. My up-up-line has organized this great bootcamp to get our business in shape. It has been great, and time consuming to accomplish the tasks, but I love doing it. So enough excuses, let me think what I have to share.

As a part of bootcamp, we do some stamping (naturally). This challenge was to take an Inspiration Sheet sample to case. Here is what I did:

All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007 STAMPS: Artfully Asian CARDSTOCK: Perfect Plum, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Very Vanilla INK: Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive ACCESSORIES: Hemp twine, Eggplant grosgrain, dimensional, blender pens, brad

Mesh (my husband) said this quote which I really like, "we have hope because Jesus looked death square in the face and into the eyes of the enemy and Jesus did not, blink, hesitate, stutter, look away, crack a smile, or take it lightly, we are soooo fortunate, live life like he is alive, because its true." May you all have a wonderful Easter weekend.

Birthdays

We celebrated my mom and sister's birthdays tonight as we were out of town for their real days. It was good to see my parents as they are going to be away for awhile. We gave them their gifts tonight, so that means I can share my mom's card (I've already posted my sister, Michelle's card). Here is my mom's:

All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007 STAMPS: Wild About You, Paisley Background, Tagger's Dozen (winter mini) CARDSTOCK: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla, Enchante Double Sided Designer Series (winter mini) INK: Pale Plum, Perfect Plum ACCESSORIES: Brads, Dimensions, Round Tab Punch (Spring mini), masking tape

Open House

I had my one year anniversary as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator Open House today (what a mouthful). Thanks to all the ladies who came out to celebrate with me. Everyone got to make a card using some supplies from the Spring Mini. Because of poor planning, I didn't have the card layout done before going to Vancouver. Upon coming home, I felt pressure to get one done...therefore couldn't come up with a card, of course. So I headed over to www.splitcoaststampers.com for inspiration. I saw this card http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=514557 by Joan Ness and thought it would work well for this Open house. I let the ladies pick from a green or a pick card. Here they are:

All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007 STAMPS: Polka Dots & Paisley, Happy Everything, Everyday Flexible Phrases CARDSTOCK: Pretty in Pink, Cool Caribbean, Petals & Paisley Double sided designers series paper, Whisper White, Certainly Celery, So Saffron INK: Pretty in Pink, Cool Carribean, Old Olive, So Saffron ACCESSORIES: White grosgrain ribbon, Round Tab Punch, Ticket Corner punch, glue dots

Color Challenge Week 3

Thankfully Dee-Ann brought the color challenge down a notch. Last weeks color was difficult, simply because nobody knew what the color was. (see the color challenge website at http://sparklythingsdee-ann.blogspot.com/). This week's color was orange - something more in my vocabulary. I took this photo while in visiting in-laws - its our little niece's hand holding her bowl of cheerios. She is so cute, but I didn't want to post her picture on the internet. You'll have to take my word for it. Thanks for the challenges Dee-Ann!

We are home

It was good to be away...and good to be home. I had a great time with my inlaws. Here's a funny story from our trip. My mother-in-law was asking what words I know in Hindi/ Fijian. I was naming off a bunch that I know (supper, water, white, some food names and a few others). I learnt a new word this week that means "spicy/ hot" (its tita - I have no idea how to spell it). They asked me to make a sentence with all the words I knew so I said, "This kaana (food) is tati". Mesh (my husband) couldn't believe what I said and they were laughing. His sweet mom was laughing too - apparently I pronounced it wrong. Instead of saying "spicy" I said "crap" - the words are so similar. It was an honest mistake, yet I can add another word to my list now.

Can't wait to see them next time.

Color Challenge Week 2

This week's color challenge from Dee-Ann (see it at http://sparklythingsdee-ann.blogspot.com/) was Indigo. When she posted the challenge, I was actually enjoying my protein shake and looked down at it to realize it is sortof indigo in color. So I tried to take a photo before I drank it all up and here is what I ended up with.

I know its not a great photo and I dont' even really think the color came out as indigo (as if I even know what that color is!), but I tried. I really do enjoy these color challenges - it makes you look at things different I think. At least when I am trying to find an object in that color.

Today is my sister Michelle's birthday. She is super busy (and I hardly see her anymore), so I'm hoping she won't see this post till after I give her the card so it doesn't ruin the surprise. We are leaving tomorrow for out trip, so we will celebrate her birthday (and my mom's whose is on Monday) next weekend. Happy Birthday Michelle! Here is the card I made for my sister.

All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007 STAMPS: Polka Dots & Paisley CARDSTOCK: Cool Caribbean, Petals & Paisleys Designer Series Double Sided Paper (spring mini) INK: Pretty In Pink Classic refill, Cool Caribbean ACCESSORIES: On Board Simon Lower, Cutter Kit, Pretty in Pink brads. Light pink grosgrain, white grosgrain, stampin' dimensions, sponge daubers

It was my first time actually using my On board simon lower chipboard and I think it was a sucess. My challenge is to use it before the end of this catalogue - 2 pieces done (I made the same card but said Birthday instead) 48 to go. Have a wonderful weekend!

Check out Michelle's blog

Go and see Michelle's blog candy to help her celebrate her hits on her blog. She has some great stuff to share - I always like checking her blog out. http://blog.michellescrapbooking.com/ (one day I'll learn how to actually link without putting the website - any tips?). And she's from Calgary too, so that's great!

Phew - they are done!

I had to take a few days off from blogging. I had a custom order of 200 invitations that had to get done, so I've been spending time doing that. I posted a couple cards a few posts below that I had given the client as options. This is the card I ended up getting sore hands over...

It is rather a simple card, but had to be for this quantity and timeframe. Here are the details.

All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007 STAMPS: Artfully Asian, Wonderful Words CARDSTOCK: Basic Black, Whisper White INK: Cranberry Crisp, Basic Black ACCESSORIES: Black narrow organdy ribbon

What else do I have to share with you?? We leave pretty quick to go and visit my inlaws. We are really looking forward to this trip as there are 8 nieces and nephews (and 2 have birthdays while we are there, so that's fun). It's been awhile since we have seen them last and since then 1 is talking and 2 are walking. And the older kids are also great to see. The oldest boy (he'll be turning 9 while we are there) just LOVES Mesh (my husband). It is so cute - he can't sleep days before he comes and is so sad days after. He just adores him (and vice versa). Its fun to see them hang out together.

One last card to share tonight. This is a card we mailed to our friend whose husband passed away a few weeks ago.

All supplies Stampin' Up! 1990-2007 STAMPS: Sincere Salutations, Happy Harmony (2007 SAB set) CARDSTOCK: Pale Plum, Very Vanilla, Enchante Double Sided Designers Paper (Winter Mini) INK: Pale Plum, Certainly Celery Stampin' Write Marker ACCESSORIES: Silver narrow organdy