Control Freaks - 2020 Preorder Preview!

We are BACK!!! Holy COW!!! The Control Freaks are here to show you what we all got in our DELICIOUS boxes of Stampin' Up's 2020-2021 Idea Book and Catalog!! I. CAN'T. EVEN! This is going to be SUCH a fun year!!! Touring through, you should just have come from the marvelous blog of Melissa Davies ... she is costing me $$$!!! (Because, of course, she used products that I did NOT preorder ... and now think I HAVE to HAVE!)

I have a friend with a daughter who is graduating from high school this year ... 2020 ... sigh ... what a CRAZY year those seniors are having!!! She has asked friends from different states to send grad cards to her daughter (in an attempt to get as MANY cards from as MANY states as possible)! I jumped on the chance to represent the good ol' State of Utah. I used the new Jar of Flowers Bundle to create this little "congrats" bouquet in a jar. I stamped the jar image in Smoky Slate onto some vellum. I continued with the Smoky Slate to make an outline of the bouquet itself ... colored using the Stampin' Blends listed below. And don't get me started with the Tasteful Textile Embossing Folder ... I LOOOOVE IT!

Stamps: Jar of Flowers, Beautiful World (Sentiment)
Paper: Whisper White, Vellum
Ink: Mango Melody, Old Olive, Flirty Flamingo, Bermuda Bay, Highland Heather, Balmy Blue, Smoky Slate
Accessories: Jar Punch, Lovely Labels Pick a Punch, Tasteful Textile 3D Embossing Folder, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Champagne Rhinestones, 3/16" Braided Linen Trim

This card came about when I was stamping via FaceTime with my bestie, Bree Renwick. She was inspired by a card made by another one of our good friends, Kaitlyn Zumbach (who just so happens to be a Concept Artist with SU). After having Bree show me Kaitlyn's card, I also found inspiration and created something ... Bree and I didn't show our cards to each other until we had both finished! I really enjoy making something from the inspiration I get from so many other talented stampers. We are DEFINITELY going to do this "experiment" again. Three cheers for the "World of Good" Suite for helping me create this fun card!

Stamps: Beautiful World
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Pacific Point
Ink: Real Red, Pacific Point, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Accessories: Trio Corner Punch, Tasteful Textile Embossing Folder, Flowers for Every Season Combo Pack, Lovely Labels Pick a Punch, Whisper White Embossing Powder

I played "Great British Baking Show" with my niece again today. We made Shichttore (which means "layer cake). NINETEEN little bitty layers baked one at a time ... one on top to the other. We need to try it again with WHITE flour (we used wheat flour because of what we could find in the store ... thank you COVID-19). It turned out SOOOOO fun!! Can't wait until we get together to do it again!

Next up??? Truly Terrific ... Tami Hewlett!! I didn't order the bundle she used, either ... and MAN ... I am RUINED!!

Babies & Grads ...

How fitting that the two layouts I am sharing today have something in common ... they BOTH feature my babies ... this first one is of my youngest "baby" on her graduation day this past June. Where in the WORLD did the time go??? I honestly have NO idea!!! It seems those years are oh-so fleeting (sometimes I really wish I could have a "do-over!" I truly enjoyed my kids as they were growing up).

Stamps: Just Perfect Alphabet and Sweet Shoppe Alphabet
Paper: Summer Smooches, Night & Day, Candy Cane Lane, Newsprint, Day in the Life
Punches: Scallop Circle, Star, Curly Label, Scallop Border
Embellishments: Kraft Button, Designer Brads - Star2, Kraft Grosgrain Ribbon; Font - Casmira.

And this second layout is of my oldest "baby" when he actually WAS one!! This is one of my most FAVORITE pictures of him ... ever!! The end!! It just makes me smile every stinkin' time I look at it ...

Stamps: Nursery Necessities
Paper: Celebrations DSP
Other: Scallop Circle Punch, Lauren's Letters Alphabet, Large Oval Punch, Round Buttons, Whisper White Grosgrain Ribbon; Font - CK Buddies.

It is now 12:35 a.m. and I have been sitting in the ER with my mom since a little before 8:00 p.m. ... we are just waiting-waiting-waiting for them to come and get her and take her up to her room (they ARE admitting her, but with a bit of medicine and a couple of days of observation she should be feeling MUCH better!!). Why does EVERYthing that goes on in a hospital take so stinkin' LONG??? At least it gave me time to type up a blog post!!

Passages ...

It almost seems as though you blink and whole chunks of time just pass you by. I honestly feel like the older I get, the more rapidly things go whizzing past ...

My youngest daughter graduated from high school yesterday. Can I have a do-over? I sooo miss the days when my kids were small (I thought at the time I had NO control over my life ... little did I know that the REAL "no control" zone was during the teen years!). It is such a bittersweet thing. While I am thrilled at her accomplishments and excited for the things she will experience the next few years as she heads off to college, I am sad for the passage of time and the things that I won't get to go back and do again ... sigh ...

I made her this card yesterday morning while she was getting ready to go. While it was REALLY fun to play with some of my new SU goodies, I couldn't help but reflect on so many of the events that had transpired to get her to this special day. No idea where the time went ...

Stamps: Stippled Blossoms, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant
Ink: Always Artichoke, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories: Whisper White Satin/Organza Ribbon, Delicate Designs Textured Impressions Folder, Word Window Punch

Here is my baby ... and I actually made her the lei with the flowers around her neck figured paper flowers would last longer than "real" ones ...

Now if I could just get the antibiotics to kick in so my sinus infection would go away ... sigh ... would LOVE for this to pass on by!!

Finally!!!

I got a bunch of stuff from the new Stampin' Up catalog via a preorder ... WEEKS ago!! My life has been so out-of-control busy since then that i haven't had time to really look it over and play with it!! Sad, sad, sad!!

So, today I FINALLY go the chance to play with it (should REALLY have been working on my daughter's graduation announcements, but I did this card instead ... gotta do those darn things ... SOON!)! This card is a big plain and simple, but I am really liking the colors and the images from this set. I used this card as the sample for the Free for All Challenge I hosted on SCS today. The challenge was to make a graduation/congratulatory card that DIDN"T have a cap, diploma or owl on it! (Which basically means that ANYthing goes!)

CanNOT believe that my "baby" is going to graduate from high school next week. I have NO idea where the past 18 years have gone ... and I am NOT old enough to have three grown children. Sigh ... I sure miss my little ones. (Not like they "left" ... they just grew up, dang it!!)

Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms, Itty Bitty Banners
Paper: Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Whisper White
Ink: Midnight Muse, Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Gumball Green
Accessories: Itty Bitty Banners Dies, Whisper White Grosgrain Stitched Ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Folder, Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Rhinestone Basics

Happy weekend, friends!

The Wells Fargo Wagon AKA the UPS TRUCK!!

Love, love, LOVE UPS!! That brown truck is just one of my favorite sites, especially when there's somein' special inside just for ME!! (Now I sound like Winthrop from "The Music Man" singing "Wells Fargo Wagon!!"). Monday I received my SU catalog perorder. WaHOOOOO!! I am totally LOVING all the new cardstock colors. They are just, well, YUMMY!! They all look so purdiful together ... AND I swear that Early Espresso goes with EVERYTHING!! ('cept maybe Chocolate Chip!) I am gonna be needing me more of EVERY color soon!! (I only ordered the packages of assorted colors, which only has four sheets of each new color, so I KNOW I'm gonna have to place another order really soon!)

I made these cards for "my" girls ... at church my "job" is being in charge of the teenage girls - age 12-18. I love them. They are the most wonderful, terrific bunch of young ladies .... a true blessing in my life. Each year as June approaches I start to get a bit sad as I realize that many of my group will be graduating and moving on to greener pastures. I wonder HOW we are going to survive with the huge hole that they leave when they go ... somehow we always manage, but I never stop feeling like the girls are still "mine" ... it's so fun to see them on occasion. It is as if no time has passed at all. Smiles, hugs, laughter, more hugs ... it's fun going to their weddings and hearing of their successes ...

This year I will be losing FIVE of my girls ... sigh ... and knowing how I feel about butterflies, you shouldn't be surprised that I made grad cards for them with butterflies on 'em (that "Beautiful Wings" embosslits die is pretty much my fave!). I bought them each a little sterling silver butterfly charm necklace and made these cards to go with. Don't all these colors look, well, YUMMY together??? I watch these girls grow from little caterpillars and emerge as beautiful butterflies by the time they graduate, so .... you get the idea.

Have a wonderful day!!

Stamps: Friends Never Fade, Happy Grad
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Early Espresso, Whisper White
Ink: Daffodil Delight, Marina, Mist, Blushing Bride, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Early Espresso
Accessories: Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die, Vintage Wallpaper Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, 1/8" Early Espresso Taffeta Ribbon, Photo Corners Punch

Thanks & Grads

You all have NO idea how your comments on my blog over the past several days have helped me through one of the most difficult weeks of my life! I have a Blackberry, you see, and as I was running around making funeral arrangements and picking up various family members at the airport and such, my Blackberry would ping me every single time another lovely comment was posted here. Those comments were such a HUGE lift . . . a true blessing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

As if my dad's passing and funeral weren't ENOUGH, my darling daughter had an appendicitis attack while we were at his viewing. I spent the entire night on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning in the Emergency Room at the children's hospital with her. As her symptoms were atypical, they were testing her ALL night long (after we had waited in the waiting room for over THREE hours!)! By the time they had actually determined that it WAS appendicitis, it was 5:30 a.m. (we got there at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday night). She didn't get into surgery until just after 9:00 a.m. By the time she got out of recovery it was approximately 10:30 a.m. My wonderful sister in law came and did the "mom fill in" for me while I rushed home, got cleaned up and drove out to my dad's funeral (I had been up for about 30 hours at this point). Did I mention that I was speaking at the funeral, too? By the time we had the funeral, drove to the graveside service, drove back to the church for a dinner provided by the church members then came home, changed clothes and went back to the hospital it was about 7:00 p.m. It took a while to get settled in . . . we had several visitors and the nurse had to hook my daughter up for the night. When did I get to bed? About 10:45 p.m. . . . a mere 41 hours since I had gotten up the day before!! I will NEVER use the term "exhausted" lightly again!!

Here is the graduation announcement I made for my son. Being cheap . . . I mean FRUGAL . . . I decided it would be better to make our OWN announcements instead of having to pay Jostens to make them for us! Here is what I came up with . . .

I did the "West High School - Class of 2009" medallion using WordArt in MS Word. The panther was something I scanned that is actually the icon that the school uses.

For the inside, I just created the photo panel and graduation info using Word Perfect (I don't usually use MS Word - actually, I kinda HATE the program, but I DO like the WordArt feature). I was pretty proud of this, too, because I took the photo on the left and the photo in the middle. LOVE how they turned out! I ended up making about 60 of these babies!! Watercolor paper is so much fun to work with. I'm just sad I couldn't run it through my printer. It is waaayyyy too thick!!

Stamps: None!
Paper: Watercolor, Whisper White, Basic Black, Real Red
Ink: Printer ink
Accessories: Spellbinders Small Classic Circle Nestabilities (S4-116) and Large Labels (S4-168), 1 3/8" circle punch

Again . . . thanks, dear friends! You have brightened my days and lightened my burdens . . . HUGS to you ALL!