Thinking About Christmas (Already)!!

Even though today is Halloween, I've been thinking about Christmas. The cards above were made using only four colors on whisper white with SU's Speciality Designer Series Paper "Candy Cane Christmas" from the 2010 Holiday Mini. The four colors are inspired from the Candy Cane paper and are: real red, garden green, baja breeze and blushing bride. I love this color combination for Christmas.

Stamp sets (left to right) "Big on Christmas", "Delightful Decorations" and "Season of Joy" used for both the cards on the right end. Notice the embossing on two of the cards above. This is created using the "Elegant Lines" embossing folder and the Big Shot.

Which card is my favorite? The red/white card on the right!

Aloha!

At the Luau on the beach at sunset

Keith and I took a vacation to Maui - just the two of us. It's a trip we promised ourselves years ago. We were there for seven wonderful days. We saw lots of scenery (my favorite thing to do), learned how to snorkel, did some shopping and spent a lot of time on the beach.

Below are some of my favorite photos from the trip!

Black Rock at our hotel - best spot on Maui to snorkel

South Maui - lava tube

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South Maui - great waves

South Maui sunset

Road to Hana - 52 miles of curves and one lane bridges

Road to Hana - Three Bears Falls

Road to Hana - black sand beach

Road to Hana - Banyan tree

Road to Hana - beautiful carved canyons

Road to Hana - shoreline cliffs. See the highway?

Last but not least, I did stop at two quilt shops and picked up enough fat quarters for a Crazy 9 Patch quilt.

Fat Quarters from Maui

Easy Scrapbook Page Design

8"x8" Scrapbook Page and Card

Do you struggle when designing scrapbook pages? Do you just stare at your sheet of white paper waiting for a creative idea to pop into your head?? Here's an easy way to overcome those times when you just can't get started.

The scrapbook page above (left) was designed after I created the coordinating card (right). For me, it is easier to design a card because it is smaller than a scrapbook page (all that space scares me!). Any card design can be turned into a scrapbook page - just blow it up!!

Where do you get great ideas for cards and scrapbook pages? From the 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalog. If you do not have yours, please contact me. Catalogs are only $9.95 if you purchase them or free if you host a qualifying workshop.

Happy stampin' and scrappin'! Carla

keith_carla@suddenlink.net

Girls Night Out - The Power of Punches

At girls night out last night, we focused on using punches. Here's the make 'n take project that we did. We used the Punched Posies set which is a hostess set out of the Summer mini catalog. All of the flowers and the butterfly were punched out. We used a total of 5 different punches to make this card. I love the way SU is making punches and stamp sets to coordinate. It makes creating a card a simple task.

This "lollipop" flower card is made just using circle punches. The one the left is the one my friend Carmen made. I made the one on the right. Which do you like best? I like Carmen's.

Thanks to all who came to girls night out. We'll hopefully do it again soon!

Summer Mini - Time is running out!

Need a little get away but no time left this summer to do it? Take a little vacation by using the stamps from the Tropical Party set available only in the Summer Mini. Or maybe you took a beach vacation this summer that you would like to remember in a scrapbook. The Tropical Party set is perfect for you along with the coordinating designer series paper. But hurry - they are not available in the 2010-2011 Idea Book and Catalog!

Sets and paper include:
Punched Posies - hostess set (card on the left)
In a Word - sentiments (card on left and right)
Tropical Party - (2 cards on the right)
Island Oasis designer series paper - (all cards)

Ink pads and card stock colors are:
Tempting Turquoise
Pumpkin Pie
So Saffron
Rose Red
Old Olive
Early Espresso

Call me soon!

Summer Mini - Bouquet Bunch

 

I love the Bouquet Bunch stamp set from the Summer Mini Catalog. It is so versatile. From this one set I stamped a topiary, a tree, and a flower pot. There is also a flower bunch, bird, squirrel and a vase to match. So much fun to use!

 

Just a reminder, the summer mini runs until August 31, 2010! Call me if you didn't get one.

Stampin' Night

Ashlan, Christie and I got together this week to stamp. Christie worked on her Cookbook Scrapbook. Ashlan and I made cards. Above is what we accomplished except Christie made more scrapbook pages than just the one pictured. Ashlan made the card in the lower left corner (So Saffron base). After she figured out how to do it (Thanks Ashlan!!), I made one like it - mine is the card with the Chocolate Chip base. I love Christie's scrapbook page - can't wait until she finishes this scrapbook!

Here's a list of stamp sets used above: Punched Posies (summer mini) and Great Friend.
Punches used: Scallop, Fancy Flower X-Large Flower, and 2-Step Bird X-Large, and circle.
Big Shot dies used: Top Note

I had fun girls!