An ode to "sweet sorbet"

With only 5 days left in Sale-a-bration, I must admit that the Sweet Sorbet designer paper is going to be my most missed! 

 So, here's to you, Sweet Sorbet....

These cards were made super quick thanks to my upline, Denise Sullivan. She had all our supplies ready and cut out for us! 

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Don't miss out on these final days of Sale-a-bration! 
Click HERE to view the catalog.
Order at my online store or contact me!

Until next time.....

 

Stamp with Stampin' UP!

Stampin' UP! recently made an EXCITING announcement! I am ready to have some stampin' fun in the comfort of my own home! Their announcement below:

Have you ever wished you could stamp with the folks at Stampin' Up!'s home office? Your wish is granted--and your opportunity is coming soon! Here's the basic rundown.

Who: You! And feel free to invite anyone who wants to play along.

What: This is a live, streaming event where we will stamp with the All Wrapped Up Bundle on page 6 of the Sale-A-Bration brochure. Order the bundle (one for each person who will be attending) in time to have it at the event. Our projects will also feature the Sweet Sorbet Designer Series Paper, so you may want to order that as the free Sale-A-Bration product. Then choose your preferred device--computer, tablet, smart phone, or even hook up your computer to your TV*--and tune in to learn some fun new things to do with the bundle!

When: March 26, 2014, at 5:30 PM, 7:30 PM, and 11:00 PM (all times MT). We'll demonstrate the same projects each time, so choose the one that's best for you.

Where: You don't even have to leave home. Come to www.youtube.com/stampinupvideo at your chosen time, and be prepared to stamp! We'll also award door prizes to random participants.

Why: So many occasions are coming--Easter, Mother's Day, graduations, and more--and we want to help you be ready.
Hope you can make it. We'd love to have you join us!

*Never hooked up your computer to a TV before? Do a search on YouTube and you'll find loads of instructional videos. Make sure to do a practice run before March 26 so you don't miss out on any of the party.

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Get started by ordering your "All wrapped UP" bundle with your FREE sale-a-bration item before 3/18/14 to be ready to stamp! 
 
Place your order with your local Stampin' UP! demonstrator OR if you don't have one, you may order from my ONLINE STORE. You may also e-mail me at jretana06@gmail.com to place an order.



 

Stampin' UP! spring cards

Hello everyone! The weather has been up and down and all over the place here in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and most of us around here are ready for the SPRING time to get here!!!

To get you started in the Spring mood, I would like to show you my top 5 picks (in no particular order) for a spring-card swap I recently participated in.

The "Happy day" card above strikes me with all of its geometric shapes. I love the ivory cardstock used as the card base.

 

The "Thank you" card above is stunning with the large flowers and patterns used to create them.

The "Thank you" card above has a vellum overlay making the wood grain background look subtle and makes the beautiful flowers stand out!

The "You make me happy" card above is altogether beautiful. The layout and colors really do make me feel happy!

 The "Life.." card above is stunning with the bright and cheery colors. This one definitely gets me looking forward to springtime flower blooms.

The card above is my swap. The colors of this card really did get me excited about spring. I enjoy the simplicity of this card. The following are some tips to create this card.


My tips:

• use the dots in the Happy watercolor stamp set to create your own subtle background. These colors match the colors of the sweet sorbet designer paper (from sale-a-bration catalog)..
• I stamped the dots beginning near my flagged sentiment then continued stamping randomly on the card front without re-inking.

Supplies used:

• cardstock: whisper white, crisp canteloupe
• designer paper (DSP): sweet sorbet (sale-a-bration catalog)
• ink: crisp cantaloupe, summer starfruit, pool party, black stazon, sahara sand
• stamps: happy watercolor
• punches: boho blossoms
• ribbon: gold sequin trim
• basic pearls

Sale-a-Bration is still going strong! You can receive a FREE item from the catalog for every $50 purchase! See the catalog under my "Catalogs" tab at the top of this page.

Giveaway!
All new "LIKEs" on my  Scrap Sprinkle Crop facebook page will entered to receive the Hip Hip Hooray Card Kit. Offer ends 2/28/14.

Thank you for stopping by! Until next time.....

Stampin' UP! Monster Hugs

Valentines Day is hours away and I would like to share with you my latest creation.

I created these adorable Monster Hug valentines for my co-workers. I am sure both the guys and gals will enjoy them!

My tips:

• I used the Cootie Shot card template from My Digital Studio (MDS).

•  I changed the project size of the card template to 8.5x11 then changed the background to white and the fonts to crumb cake; made room for two in one sheet of paper. I then printed it on regular printer paper and trimmed it to size (5.25x6.25 to be exact).

screen shot of My Digital Studio

•  Once the paper was trimmed to size, I wrapped it around my Hershey bar then adhered my little Monster.

Supplies Used:

• My Digital Studio - Cootie Shot card template
• Monster Hugs - BOY
• real red marker
• Hershey's chocolate bar (your local store) 

Have a fun & loving Valentine's Day! Thanks for coming over!

 Until next time...

a chocolatey birthday...Stampin' UP! style

The love and best friend of my life is going to have his 35th birthday coming up very soon! Naturally, I had to put together a thoughtful gift for him.

My husband is a simple man. He doesn't want much and would be content with nothing for his birthday, but I would like to give him at least a little something to let him know that I'm thinking of him.

One thing that I know that will always make my husband happy is chocolate.......but then again, who doesn't get happy with chocolate?! This little box is stuffed FULL of chocolates.......

 Anywho, I decided to create this...

It's a 4" square box with a matching 3"x3" card. 

If you haven't guessed where I got my color inspirations from already, then let me show you...

 YES! my husband is going to LOVE it, I just know it!

My tips:

• sometimes you need to look at the gift you are giving your birthday boy/girl for color inspirations! In my case, it was a Hershey's chocolate bar: smoky slate, early espresso, and very vanilla.
• the 4" square box was actually made with a non-SU! punch board. The punch board is from We R memory keepers; gift box punch board. 
•  the circle window in the front of the box was cut by hand which created a not-so-pretty edge. I covered up the edge with a 3" circle and punched out 2 1/2" from the center with my circle punch.
• the ticket punch was shorter than the sentiment (yippee-skippe) I wanted to use so I, 1) cropped the width of the paper to fit slightly smaller than the width of the ticket  2) stamped the sentiment onto the cardstock 2) punched 1 edge of the ticket at a time by slipping it in as shown below then punching.

• for the 3"x3" card: the banner is actually a belly band! I thought this was pretty clever...lol. All you do is create a belly band like you normally would (make sure it's slightly smaller than the banner), then attach the banner to the front with some adhesive.
• trim very thin pieces of cardstock to create the vertical stripes on the right side of the card.

Supplies used:

• carstock: early espresso, smoky slate, very vanilla
• ink: early espresso smoky slate, versamark (for polka-dot background)
• stamps: yippee skippee, designer typeset (photopolymer), happy watercolor (polka-dot for background)
•  punches: ticket duo, 2 1/2" circle

 Thanks for stopping by! If you every have any questions or comments, I am always available!

Until next time...

Stampin' UP! personalized name stamp

Being able to customize a stamp to fit your style and give it a personal touch ALWAYS gets a 3-thumbs-up from me! I'm sure you would agree too!

 The brand spankin' new Personalized name stamp from Stampin' UP! is now available! 

  
A few things you should know:

• you can create a cool address label or even use it for everything from marking your territory on books or other belongings to having a fun way to give a personal touch to gifts and goodies.
• the stamp coordinates with the 1 3/8" circle punch (item 119860)
• this stamp is available in photopolymer only.
• use clear block B (item 117147) 
• you can see a preview of your customized stamp as your creating it in your order window !!! (I LOVE THIS PART!)

Here are a few customization ideas for you:

• Address stamp
• Thank you
• From the classroom of (for a teacher gift)
• From the kitchen of
• Made with love
• This book belongs to
• From the desk of
• Just married
• Save the date
• Promote your business (add your name, website, and contact info)

  Examples I created :

There are too many ways to do this! 

My tips:

• I created a personalized stamp for my husband and I (top left). This will look very good in the back of a mailed envelope! (I partially erased the numbers for our address for security)
• for my spanish speakers..... the top-middle and top-right stamp has both spanish and english! Now you have a whole other set of ideas for the bilingual speakers. 
• you can create your own symbols using keyboard shortcuts. The bottom left and middle stamp uses the degree symbol  to separate the top from the bottom. I found keyboard shortcuts on Pinterest: here

I hope that you are just as excited as I am about customizing and getting that personalized and fun stamp as I am!

• To order yours go to my online store

• You can also view the flyer ! (located under the promotions column on the right side of this page)

Thanks for stopping by today!!!! Until next time...

milk & cookies punch art card

I find myself making alot of masculine cards and don't have very many options. I'm sure you don't have this problem ;o) As an Engineer, the males outnumber the females so that's why I have so many masculine cards that I have to come up with...

This time around, I have two birthdays coming up soon: my little brother and a co-worker.

As I browsed my pinterest board for ideas and inspiration, I couldn't pinpoint any one that I felt would fit them. So, I googled for some more inspiration and ideas and finally ran into Dawn Griffith's cookies and milk card.

 
Dawn really nailed it with this card (as she does with all of her cards) and when I saw it, I knew I had to case it!

 Here's my version of Dawn's card:

My Tips:

•  don't waste good SU! paper, use regular copy/printer paper for the white behind the vellum.
• I used the 1 3/4" circle punch for my cookies then used the medium circles on the owl punch for the chocolate chips.
• to create the long sentiment, stamp the "you can never have....." the way you normally would on white CS, then trim each line as close to the words as you can. Combine the 1st two lines with some adhesive then flag the ends and sponge some ink on all the edges.
• use a sticky note to cover the 1st two lines of the stamp so you can just stamp the word "happy" directly onto the card front below the banner.
• use the gorgeous grunge stamp set to create the "cookie crumbs"for a simple yet fun touch to the inside of the card.

•  I used the fine tip of my pool party marker to create a slight shadow on the word "happy". 

Supplies used:

• cardstock/paper: early espresso, whisper white, pool party, baked brown sugar, vellum
• inks: early espresso, baked brown sugar, pool party (marker)
•  stamps: yippee skippee, gorgeous grunge
• punches: 1 3/4" circle (cookie), owl builder (choc chips), 1/2" circle (corners), 1 3/4" scallop circle ("bite" on cookie)
•  other: sponge dauber, paper piercing tool with template and piercing mat (for the strips of pool party)

I love the satisfaction of being able to look at a card I made and say, "yes, this is what I want!". I honestly don't get to say that alot. But, this time, I'm sure my birthday card recipients will get a kick out of this one. 

Let me know how I did. I would love to hear your comments.

Don't forget about Sale-a-bration! See THIS POST to know more.

until next time.....

Sale-a-bration 2014 is HERE!

A very HAPPY tuesday it is! Stampin' UP's (SU!) biggest sales event of the year has finally arrived! 

This event gives you the opportunity to:

• SHOP: Choose exclusive SU products provided in the brochure below with each $50 purchase. View all the current catalogs under the "Stampin' UP! catalogs" tab at the top of this page.
• HOST:  if you host a party/workshop, you earn $30 more in hostess rewards.
• JOIN: if you decide to join the SU! family, receive $150 worth of products for ONLY $99.

 

Click HERE to view the brochure

To begin earning your FREE exclusive products, shop at my online store by clicking on the icon to your left.

Oh baby baby

I finally got some "me time" in this weekend and had to put together a baby card for our adopted son's birthmother. She had another baby last week and she and her husband decided to parent this child. We are super happy and excited for them as they begin a new chapter in their lives! 

Isn't he so sweet?!

A happy and healthy baby Boy: Caleb born on January 8, 2014; 7lb 9oz; 20" long

To get my creative juices flowing, I recently pinned a cute card sketch that I've been wanting to use on Pinterest so I took advantage of it!

I pretty much stuck to the whole layout of the card sketch because I like the layers. 

Here's a slightly stepped up version...I simply added a border with the fine tip of my crumb cake marker and a ruler. 

 My tips:

• I used MDS (my digital studio) to print the "oh baby baby" sentiment on a 2.5" circle from the Hello World digital kit. I colored the words with crumb cake and pumpkin pie.
• use a small safety pin to attach onto the circle next to the sentiment to give it some dimension.
• I cut the baja breeze and island indigo rectangles to 3"x 1.75" then rounded the opposite corners with the corner rounder punch.

Supplies Used:

• cardstock: crumb cake, island indigo, *baja breeze, pumpkin pie, whisper white
• ink: crumb cake, versamark (for the bottle)
• stamps: *baby bundle, "oh baby baby" digital stamp
• punches: 2 1/2" circle, corner rounder
• embellishments: *trinkets
• ribbon: *baja breeze seam binding
• paper piercing tool and circle template
• polka dot embossing folder

NOTE: * indicates items are retired


I am looking forward to one day meeting this sweet little boy and I'm sure that our son would be happy to meet his little brother as well! 

Thank you for stopping by and don't be shy to comment about my latest creation! Until next time...

A baby shower invite using MDS

My Digital Studio (MDS) is one of the most amazing inventions when it comes to creating papercrafts!!!

I know I don't talk about MDS much, but seriously, you MUST try it. Although I don't create alot of digital papercrafts, there are times when digital is the way to go when you have a TON of invites to send out!

Take for example, the baby shower invitation that I have put together for my friend. 

This invitation was pretty much made for me once I downloaded it. All I did was change some colors with the HANDY stamp coloring tool,add some text, and change the project size to be postcard type. VOILA!!! Pure cuteness done in 10 minutes. I love,love, love the pops of color on the chalkboard design!!!


I downloaded this kit (and you can too) from HERE and it has everything you need for baby shower decorations! The kit is called Hello World.

Don't have MDS? You can download it for FREE for 30 days. Click HERE to begin.

Thanks for joining me! Until next time....