Stylish Blogger :)

Happy Friday Everyone!

  Imagine my delight when I received not one but TWO Stylish Blogger Awards and in the same week no less!!!  Thank you, so much, for choosing me!!  I have visited several ladies who have received these and thought, oh, how nice that their readers think that about her, and always thinking how much fun that would be to have someone send to you.  Well--watch out blog ladies and gentleman--these are coming your way.  Thank you again, Tonya and Sandy for choosing me (Click on their names and go check them out!)!  You made may day AND my week.  I'm so glad that those of you out there reading are enjoying the things I am creating.  It makes me want to create and share more.  My goal is to try and leave comments on the blogs that I'm reading, so thank you for this privilege :)

Part of the award is to do the following:
When you receive this award you are to:

1) thank the person who gave this award to me and link it back to their blog

2) share 8 things about myself

3) pass this award to 8 other individuals that I have recently discovered

4) leave a comment so that they can pass along the recognition:

So, with no further ado, 8 things about me:

1.) I'm the oldest.  I have one younger sister, Emily, who I love SO MUCH.  No one can make me laugh like my sister!  Growing up with 2 girls, I am now the mother of two boys--Alex and Jack, who I am totally blessed to call my sons.  You'll see them on the blog from time to time.  They are SO much fun and a delight every day.  (I'm also married to an oldest child, so as you can imagine, there are lots of strong opinions in our house :) You who are the oldest know what I mean)

2.) I am married to a man that I love dearly.   He's my best friend, and totally "the other half" of me.

3.) I love ice cream.  If I had to choose only one type of dessert for the rest of my life it would be ice cream.  Mint Chocolate Chip on a sugar cone is my favorite, but really almost any kind will do.

4.) I love to read.  If I'm not crafting to relax (in all my spare time HA!) I would choose to be reading.  I get most of my reading done on car trips going to visit our families in the Twin Cities and Chicago.  (My husband is driving of course)

5.) I have lived in Minnesota my whole life.  It's a great state, if you haven't been here, come visit!  In fact, I get to live in one of the Cities that people go to vacation, just a few blocks away from Lake Superior.

6.) A great vacation to me is a quiet place on the lake, up the North Shore.  

7.) I love to watch storms--I get this from my Dad.  If I can watch a storm brewing on a lake, even better.

8.) I am hoping that I can make my fun job (being a Stampin' Up Demonstrator) be my real job by the time my youngest son goes to school.  Wish me luck!!

Now, here are the 8 people I've chosen.  Please go check them out when you have time.  Thanks again for choosing me!  I hope you had fun learning a little about me.

Julie- http://www.kewlstamps-n-more.com/

Mandy- http://www.l-inkedtogether.com/

Jackie- http://jackiebarfield.blogspot.com/

Dina- http://www.dinaloves2stamp.anker.ca/

Mike- http://stampin-style.typepad.com/stampin-style/

Angie- http://schwooo.blogspot.com/

Diana- http://dianagibbs.typepad.com/

Carla- http://thesouthernstamper.blogspot.com/

Minneapolis Regionals

Hi Everyone,
   Today I am sharing a few of my Minneapolis Regional pictures with you.  Forgive me, they are on my cell phone, so they aren't the best quality, but you'll be able to get the overall idea.  Regionals were SO inspiring.  I encourage all of you, if you have a Regional coming to an area near you, GO!!
   Tomorrow it's Friday (YAY) and I'll be sharing my answers to the TWO Stylish blogger awards I got! Be watching!!

Happy Stampin!

Shelli doing a little stamping sharing with us what she made her daughters for Valentines Day

They gave us Nature Walk as our free stamp set, here's a couple samples they had with it

Nature Walk and Botanical Gazette Paper

A border made with the ribbon punch featuring the Build a Cupcake set

A cupcake made with strips of Sew Suite fabric and LOTS of hot glue--Did you know our fabric rips straight?

Clear Embossed button background in fun Spring colors

Adorable baby card made with an animal print background using rubber scraps (from when you punch out your sets) and your largest clear block :)

Sale-a-Bration Continued

Hooray! Wednesday--half way through the week!!  More importantly, one more day until my Stamp Camp.  :) I love that group of ladies.  We always have fun when we get together.  We have a potluck, so there's always good things to eat.  Usually someone brings wine, and there are always a lot of laughs.  

This week at Stamp Camp we are making this card.  It uses an elegant color palette of Very Vanilla, Basic Black, and just a pop of color from Marina Mist Satin Ribbon.  I used the Sale-a-Bration set Bliss. Have you gotten this one yet?  LOVE this one!  To add something to the background I used a sheet from First Edition Designer Series Paper (in the Occasions Mini), I also heat embossed the image and added a Basic Rhinestone.  What do you think?

Every time I see the Marina Mist Satin Ribbon I think "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue....."  Wouldn't this be a great blue for weddings?  That season is coming up.

Speaking of Sale-a-Bration, don't forget to check out our Design Team Challenge over at SUO Challenges.  It's all about the Sale-a-Bration sets, ink yours up and play along!

Happy Stampin!

PS....today is my baby's birthday.  He's the big 2 today.  Happy Birthday Jack!  We are so happy you are a part of our family.  I'll post pictures of Jack's birthday party on Monday.  :) Can't believe my "baby" is 2!!

SUO Challenge 13- SALE A BRATE and Punch Bunch

Happy Tuesday Everyone!!!

  Today I have another Design Team challenge for all of you.  This time around our theme is "Sale-a-Brate".  Get out those shiny new sets you've all earned during Stampin' Up's biggest sale of the year and play along!  Anyone out there not know what Sale-a-Bration is or how it works, send me an email, I'd be happy to share.

  On to today's card.  I used a standard size Whisper White card stock base.  Layered on that is a 4x 5 1/4" piece of Melon Mambo designer series paper.  I have added a piece of Going Grey cut with the Tasteful Trims Big Shot die, then I wrapped a piece of Basic Black Satin Ribbon around all of it and tied a piece of Whisper White Organza Ribbon in a bow.  I punched out a large scallop circle in Basic Black,  layered a Going Grey 1  3/4" circle and on that popped up, with a dimensional, a piece of Whisper White stamped with the "For You" stamp from Punch Bunch.  Overall, I'm happy with the way this turned out.   I like that it's kind of a fun and classy color pallet and it's a nice blend of finishes with the satin ribbon and shapes.

  We'd love to have you play along with our challenge.  Check out what the rest of the Design Team has to offer you over at SUO Challenges.  Don't forget to link up your creation!  

Share What You Love

Good Monday Morning Stamping Friends!!

   It's a blustery and cold day here in MN.  We don't have as much snow as my family does in the Twin Cities area, but we had 50+ mile an hour winds coming straight off Lake Superior.   BRRRR!!  I am READY FOR SPRING!

   I had a great weekend this past weekend--I signed up TWO new demonstrators to the Stampin' Up family--Welcome Amy and Patti!!!!  So, when you see them around on the Stampin' Connection, please make them feel welcome!

  The picture above is what I gave them as their welcome gift.  I took a plain white frame (that you can get at any big box store) added a piece of Melon Mambo textured card stock, a piece of Love Letter DSP, some Basic Black, and then stamped Tess from Totally Tess on a piece of Whisper White.  I colored her in with my markers (Soft Suede, Melon Mambo, Early Espresso, Blush Blossom, and Garden Green), added two Basic Pearls for her buttons, and stamped her bag on a sheet of the Greenhouse Gala DSP and cut it out.  Then, I took my 1 3/4 circle punch and punched out the "Love what you do, Share what you Love" stamp that we were able to purchase last year at Convention.  I finished the frame off with some Melon Mambo pom-pom trim and voila--a great welcome gift for my new recruits to have in their stamping space.  ;)  I may have to make one for myself!!

  This week is busy!  Tomorrow another design challenge from SUO only challenges, and I will share some of what I loved from the Minneapolis Regional, as well as my 6x6 page for the Fairy Princess Ball I am working at on Sunday.  Hope you guys have a great start to the week.  

Happy Stampin!

Amy

Hello Fellow Readers!!

Hello Fellow Readers!
  I had a busy week and didn't get to posting this week.  I will be back Monday with my regular posting schedule.  Today, I am going to sign up TWO new recruits to my team.  YAY!!!!!  Welcome Amy and Patti!!
  Monday I will be back with the gifts I have made for them, Tuesday with a new Stampin Up Only challenge, Wednesday through Friday some crafty things, and some shares from the Minneapolis Regional.
I hope you have had a great week!  I'll look forward to catching up on Monday.  :)  Until then....


Happy Stampin!!

Happy Friday!!

Friday Everyone!
  Tomorrow I will be attending Stampin' Up's Minneapolis Regional.  YAY!  I'm so excited.  I'll be ready to share all the fun and goodies when I get back.
  No crafty post today, but today is my sister's last day of nannying for us for our youngest son, Jack.  Em--thank you SO much for all you did for us since you came in September.  You were a great nanny, and you are a fantastic Auntie.  We will all miss you!!  Jack will be sure to send you updates from day care (especially when we get pictures sent to us) and he hopes you will come up every now and then for a day just you and him.  We wish you all the best as you head home to start the new adventures that are waiting for you.  Love you much!
  Happy Friday--and Happy Stampin!

A Birthday Card

Hi Everyone!

  Today I have a little birthday card I recently made for a co-worker's birthday.  I used the Party This Way.  I got this idea from a card Kimberly Van Diepen did on her blog.  I loved how she made the flags work, even though she did them in white.  This card is kind of putzy with the cutting, but it is SO worth it!  Stampin' Up---if you are listening, we would LOVE a pennant punch!!  I used designs from Play Date and Sew Suite papers, stamped the flag on them and cut them out, then layered them on the scalloped edge with a dimensional.  I took my Basic Black marker and free handed a line connecting them all.  Then, stamped the sentiment "Happy Birthday" from the same set, and voila--a finished card.  I think it turned out great--how about you?

Happy Stampin!

Thinking of You.....

Wednesday!! It's the half-way point everyone!  I am SO excited for the weekend--Saturday I will be attending the Stampin' Up Minneapolis Regional.  WHEEEE!!!!  I love Stampin' Up events, and I'm sure this one will not disappoint.  I am meeting up with some of the girls I met at Convention this past summer (Hi Ladies!!!) and I can't wait to see them, as well as see what Stampin' Up has in store for all of us.  I do know they will be featuring the Nature Walk set out of the new mini--I LOVE this set.

Today, I have another card I CASED (can't remember from where--but thank you!!) and changed just a slight bit.  I borrowed the color palette of Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, and Basic Black.  I also used the Aviary set.   I love this set--the little owls and birds and whimsical cages are so cute!  I changed it up by using the striped paper with my scallop border, and adding a Thinking of You sentiment instead of the plain border, and Hello that was used on the original card.  I am waiting for Spring and using these bright colors and fun set helped bring it around.  

Thanks for checking in!

Happy Stampin!

SUO Challenge #12-Wheelin' Around

Hey Everyone!!!

  Welcome to the 12th edition of Stampin' Up Only challenges.  Our challenge this time was to use a Stampin' Around wheel in our design.  Every time I dust off my wheels I wonder why I don't incorporate them in to my crafting more often.  They are SO easy to use and so much fun!!  

  For our challenge this time, I used the Neighborhood Jumbo Wheel.  I inked it in Basic Black and wheeled it along a Very Vanilla card strip.  The base of my card is a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 piece of Very Vanilla layered with a 4 x 5 1/4 piece of Real  Red.  On that I layered two pieces of Play Date Designer Series Paper, and put my strip with the wheeled images over the seam of those two papers.  You can't really see it here, but I popped up the blue and red house with a couple dimensionals and then added Enjoy (on another piece of Play Date paper) punched out with the small oval punch.  Enjoy is from the new Spring Mini set You're a Gem.

  This is going to go with a gift I'm putting together for a co-worker who just bought a house.  :)  He always appreciates the cards I make for office birthdays and different things, so I know he will like getting an "Enjoy Your New House" card.  

  Thanks for checking in with me today.  Lots more inspiration for all of you over at our site.  Come check it out and play along with us, I can't wait to see what you all create.  

Happy Stampin!

A Note of Thanks

Hello Readers!!

  Today this thank you card is appropriate!  I owe a big THANK YOU to my sister Emily for being my own personal shopping consultant yesterday.   I had not one but TWO special occasion outfits (complete with shoes and jewelry) to find and she helped me make some outstanding choices, and got me to try some things on I might otherwise not have.  I'm glad I did because I LOVE everything we came back with.  

  One of my husband's best friends from college is getting married in April.  It is going to be an evening wedding at a really nice hotel in North Carolina.  My husband is in the wedding, therefore will be wearing a tux, so I wanted to make sure I was dressed appropriately.  Not only will we have the wedding to go to, but also the groom's dinner the night before at a really nice Italian restaurant.  (He comes from an Italian family)  Anyway--my sister helped me choose two fabulous outfits, and that is no small feat.  Thanks Em!!

  For this card, I basically cased a card I saw out on the internet.  I changed it by using a different ribbon (Crumb Cake taffeta) and I stamped the Baja Breeze strip using the Fleur de Lis from the Bliss set available through Sale-a-Bration.  This is a set you will want to add to your collection!!  The sentiment I also changed, and is from Thank You Kindly (another set you can get for FREE from Sale-a-Bration--it's my "go to" Thank You set)  Just a basic, clean and simple, thank you, but I'm reallly happ with ho they turned out.  Very easy to mass produce--I made myself up a set of them so I had them on hand to send out as the occasions arose.  Em--coming soon to a mailbox near you!  

  Thanks for checking in with me today!  Hope you all had a great weekend.  :)

Happy Stampin!

A Book for Emily

Happy Friday!!!

  Today I have for all of you a book that I made as part of my sister, Emily's, birthday last week.  I posted about the card I made her here last week, and this is one of the other little handmade things I had for her on her special day.

For this book, I used Love Letter paper again--see, SO versitile!  Vintagey, classic, elegant style.   I used the spiral notebook punch to fit the paper to the bound edge, and Tombow glue to hold it down.  I used the largest of the scallop circle punches, layered a 1 3/8ths circle of Newsprint, an Designer Tag Punch of the Love Letter Paper, and a Very Vanilla 1 1/4 circle stamped with the E from Lovely Letters.  Along the spine of the book I tied pieces of Basic Black satin ribbon.  I don't know what she plans to use the book for, but she loved it :)  On the back I just used another piece of the houndstooth pattern and stamped my "Hand Stamped by Amy Fink" stamp on a Very Vanilla Designer Tag punch.

Hope you all have a great weekend!  Wish us luck as we weed through our basement.  :)  Our local Savers store is going to love us after this weekend!!!  Whatever you do with yours, enjoy, and I'll see you all back here on Monday.

Happy Stampin!

All About Me-Wedding

Good Thursday Morning Fellow Readers!

  Since most of you said you enjoyed my scrapbook layouts, I thought I'd show you a few this week.  This one is another page in my album I'm putting together, and it's going to feature pictures of our wedding.  I used the Love Letter paper.  Have you guys tried this one yet?  LOVE it.  So simple and elegant.  In the class I taught last weekend, one of the women was using it to do an album about her Dad who passed away recently.  It looked so classy with pictures from the early 1900's.  Later in the month my Grandma and I have a date to go through old pictures at her house, and this paper, along with the Newsprint paper are my top choices for the album I plan to make from the pictures I collect at her house :)  

Anyways--I chose this for our wedding because it's simple and elegant.  We got married in December, at a resort on the North Shore of Lake Superior.  It was an early evening wedding, and we were saying our vows just as the sun was setting looking out over Lake Superior.  Pastor Quello married us, and he has been a friend of our family's since I was a little kid.  In fact Pastor Quello and his wife, Sharon, are my sister's Godparents.  It was SO cold the week we got married.  Steam rose off the lake each morning.  My uncle took our pictures for us, he does photography as a side business, and we got some beautiful pictures.  My Mom did a great job ensuring that the room looked exactly how we wanted it, my mother-in-law hired a bagpiper to pipe us out of the ceremony and in to our reception, my sister and Mitch's brother stood up for us, Alex helped my Dad walk me down the aisle, my father-in-law and a friend set off fireworks for us, and my father/daughter dance with my Dad was one of my favorite memories of the day.  It was a wonderful weekend, I would do it all again!             

  I'll be sure to share pictures of this album when I have my photos in it, too.  Here's one of us as we walk up the aisle--Mr. and Mrs.   :)  Thanks for checking in with me today! 

Happy Stampin!

All About Me-Holidays

Wednesday already!!!  We're halfway through the work week everyone!!! :)  This weekend my Mom and Dad are coming up from the Twin Cities--their plan is to take our  Little Munchkins for us for the day so that Mitch and I can start cleaning/organizing our basement.  It's amazing how much more you can get done in a couple hours when your little "helpers" are out doing something else.  My parents are SUPER excited for some time with them, and the boys always love when Grandpa Dave and Grandma Linda are in town.

This is a picture of 1/2 of my holiday layout in my All About Me book.  This is the left hand side, the right hand side, is a mirror image of this one.  I used Crumb Cake as my background.  In fact, I used it in all of my pages--I like the background paper to be "quiet" so that the page itself can shine.  I also like to make my pages "mirror" each other--one of my quirks!  For this I used a traditional color scheme of Old Olive and Cherry Cobbler.  I added in a strip of Newsprint paper because I like the feel it adds.  

For this layout my plan is to do Christmas Past and Christmas Present.  Christmas Past will include pictures and favorite memories from my Christmases as a kid.  My Mom has given me a few pieces of Christmas Decor that were my favorites as a kid.  When I had Alex, I got our Santa Cookie Mouse.  This was a candle stick holder that has an adorable little mouse asleep in a sleeping bag waiting for Santa.  We used to leave our cookies for Santa on that plate as a kid and now my boys get to do that, too.  This year she gave me a set of three ceramic elves that used to watch over my sister and me during the holiday season.  I plan to include some pictures of those in my layout.  For Christmas Present, I am going to talk about how Christmas is different now that I have a family of my own.  

Thanks for stopping in today!  I'd love to hear what you think of today's layout, and any favorites you have from your holiday seasons, past or present.  :)

Happy Stampin!

You're Invited......

Hi Everyone!

  Here is the 2nd option I created for my Mom's co-worker.  I featured the first option in this post.  I don't know Kelly well, so I created two fairly different options in her requested colors of chocolate and pink.  This one is a much more clean and simple version using Early Espresso and Pretty in Pink as the colors.  I again used the hearts from I Heart Hearts--this is such a great set!  I used some of the polka dot pattern of the Pretty in Pink paper from the Brights DSP pack and this card came together pretty quickly with the help of some punches, too.   Here's a look at the inside.   Kelly liked both options she said, the invites are for her cousin's bridal shower, and her style was more the 1st option--that was my favorite, too.  :)  

I'll be back tomorrow with a couple peeks at the layouts I worked on in my Saturday's All About Me class.  Have any of you done an All About Me album?  If so--I'd love to see your layouts, or ideas for your pages.  Thanks for checking in with me!

Happy Stampin!