It's a beautiful day!

This layout is for my Life Well Crafted class taught by Kolette Hall at Big Picture Scrapbooking. The album we are creating is called Life Tunes and each month we create a layout that includes lyrics from an uplifting song. The song for March is by U2 (one of my most favorite bands) and the song is Beautiful Day. I'll have to compile a CD of all the songs to listen to.

I've been using Heidi Grace Winifred Street papers and embellishments throughout this album. I love the soft color palette. I just hope that I have enough of it to finish the album since it's not available anymore.

The bird is handcut out of a transparency and painted with Making Memories paint and his eye is gem from KI. The arrow is Tim Holtz grunge board also painted. I also used the gems on the vellum strips. They hold my journaling.

The strip along the middle says "if I had my life to live over..." and my reponses were:

• ... I would think things through
• ... I would take things slowly
• ... I would value every minute more

Those are my lessons learned and I hope I can keep them in mind throughout the rest of my life.

Thanks for joining me this morning! I hope you have a creative day!

Desiree

Life's too short

Here's another card we'll be making at my Funky Folds class on April 7. This is the first "Spring Card" (instructions on SCS) that I've made. I actually think of it as a "Frog Card" though!!! I inked up my Branch Out set from SU! and it is a great set. I loved Season of Friendship so much that I wasn't sure how I would feel about this set and when I finally ordered it I realized that I like it just as much.

The base is Really Rust and I layered Kiwi Kiss and Very Vanilla on that. The tree is stamped in Chocolate Chip, with Certainly Celery, Kiwi Kiss and Always Artichoke leaves. The tire swing is Basic Grey, bird is Baja Breeze and butterflies are Pumpkin Pie.

I added a saying from Many Happy Returns plus some vintage brads. A simple card but I really like how it turned out.

Thanks for visiting! I need to get back to my own blurfing now... heeheehee

Desiree

Little yellow birdie

Isn't this little bird just a cutie??? I am so in love with the coordinating stamps, designer paper and chipboard that Stampin' Up! put together. The chipboard set is called So Tweet, the dsp is Sunshine Garden and the stamp sets are Cheep Talk and Good Friend. I made this card using Jen del Muro's sketch and for Jen Tapler's challenge. In a nutshell, Jen Tapler is celebrating her blogaversary by challenging people to create a card that she can auction to raise money for a cure for Alzhiemer's. Well, my dad was recently diagnosed so this challenge is something that I wanted to participate in. It's very reminiscent of the challenge that Cammie had a few months ago on her blog.

This card uses Kiwi Kiss, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla cardstock. I covered a chipboard birdie with Sunshine Morning dsp. That was glued on with my favorite PVA glue, available at Arts and Scraps - the BEST local scrapbooking store around! - and sprinkled with a tiny bit of glitter. You can see that better in the second photo. His beak is Only Orange and feet are Chocolate Chip. His eye is a blue rhinestone brad. Next I cut out the leafy branch from the reverse side of the same dsp and adhered it to a piece of Always Artichoke cardstock that I punched with the scallop edge punch. Along the bottom I added three pears. The sentiment is from the Cheep Talk set. I think I'll be using these stamps for a long time!

You can just barely see the glitter in this detail shot. I wanted just a bit so that it wasn't too glittery. So now this card is off in the mail to Jen Tapler. I hope she raises ALOT of money - we need a cure now!

I'll be back after a while with more cards. I actually have more to post!

Have a great weekend!!! And thanks for stopping by!

Desiree

Sweet raspberry!

I just love this Raspberry Tart DSP from Stampin' Up! Isn't it sweet? This is a double fold pocket card. I haven't made one before and I wanted to include this in my Funky Folds class coming up in April. The colors included here are Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Rose Red and Kiwi Kiss. The front is adorned with the Sweetest Stem Sizzlet ( a SU exclusive).

These are the cute tags that go in the pockets. The coordinating stamp set is called Sweet Stems and I used it on the large tag. The bottom of the tag is sponged with Kiwi Kiss and I watercolored the petals with Pink Pirouette reinkers. The center is Rose Red. Then I used Pink Pirouette striped ribbon. The smaller tag was stamped with Yummy and Warm Words. I decided to cut the Yummy stamp apart so the curly brackets are separate from the words that were inside. Yummy is a Sale-a-Bration set.

That's it for me tonight1 I gotta go to bed and read. I am almost done with the fourth Twilight book, the movie is playing in the background....

Summer Sun

I was in the mood for some summer sun! Unfortunately I don't have that ink color yet... Weird, because I keep thinking that I do have it and then I go look for it and alas... find that I really don't. Next order!!!

So instead I picked up Tempting Turquoise and Pumpkin Pie. After a visit to SCS, I found the instructions to make this cute card... It's called a Pop Up Card. When you pull the pumpkin tag out then the middle section of the card folds up and reveals a message inside. I thought this was very clever. The dark blue fish are stamped in Pacific Point with Whisper White bubbles. For the inside, I also used Cameo Coral (shells) and Chocolate Chip (sentiment and sunglasses). I also sponged a little to make it look like sand, sortof. The ribbon is Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon and you can't really see it but I tied that with linen thread.

The first photo is the card closed, and the second photo is open.

This is the last week for Sale-a-Bration. If you haven't placed a $50 order to get free stamps, dsp or ribbon, don't delay! You can easily order online at www.desiree.stampinup.net!

I am almost finished with the fourth book in the Twilight series. I can't decide if I like them or not. I am having issues and questions.... What are your thoughts?

Well, that's it for me today. I'm on my lunch hour so I better head back to the office.

Little birdie, birdie

I came up with these cute projects this evening for a class I am having next week. The Good Friend card is a CASE of this card by Dig This Stamper on SCS and the card with the bird on it is a CASE of this card by juls716 on SCS. The tea bag holder was based on one I saw on SCS by paperball. The fourth project is an owl magnet. I have a few more ideas to make him even cuter!

If you'd like to join me for class on March 17 at 5:30pm in Vancouver, WA, drop me an email. I might have some St. Patrick's luck for you!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Desiree

I {heart} life

In February we created heart albums for our Life Well Crafted class. Here are a few photos of mine. I used a clear acrylic album by 7 Gypsies, paper from Basic Grey, and embellishments from here and there. The idea behind it was to see hearts where they occur naturally or accidently. At first it seemed like I lived in a heartless world, it took awhile to see them and I really didn't see very many.

This was only about half the pages. I really enjoyed making it. Our next project looks really fun too!

This weekend I am joining my best friends Jennifer, Susan and Donna for a girl's weekend. We have a suite in town and we'll be spending our days at the Creating Keepsakes expo at the Portland Convention Center. We've signed up for several classes and the Friday Night Crop Party. That will be loads of fun.

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your weekend and find some time to get creative!!!

Desiree

Embrace life!

Wow! I can't believe how long it's been since my last post... So much has been going on! Most notably is that Lillianna has come home after being at her dad's for 3 months! I am so glad that she is back home. I've also been helping Emily repaint her room. That has been taking longer then it should have... I have been finding bits of time here and there to craft, I just haven't had time to get to the computer.

I made this card for the Sketch For You To Try over at Jen's blog. This week she is also giving away some goodies! I started out with a Very Vanilla base then I pulled out my Sizzix Big Shot and Top Note die for a Ruby Red and Blush Blossom layer. I used the Embrace Life stamp set and Cameo Coral ink for the blossoms then I used Barely Banana pastels to color in the littl buds. The ribbon is Very Vanilla 5/8 grosgrain and the strip of DSP is really old, so I can't remember the pack it came from. The main flower was created in three levels. I stamped it twice in Timber Brown Stazon and watercolored with Ruby Red. After they dried I cut the flowers out. The first one I left whole and the second one I cut into separate petals and then using stampin' dimensionals I layered them. You can't really see it but I added yellow glitter on the stamens. Lastly, I stamped the sentiment in the inside.

I have more to share this week... a heart album and another progressive page layout. Thanks for visiting and happy stamping!!!

Desiree