Bleached Flowers

This week at our class, I introduced my ladies to bleach stamping. Just using the bleach poured onto a paper towel as our stamp pad. It is yet another easy peasy technique that brings such
WOW results. Here is the card we made:



What do you think? Really pretty, huh, and depending on how long you leave the bleach before heating it, you would get even starker results. I just love it, AND no one got bleach on their clothes, so that is another BIG plus.

If you haven't tried this technique, give it a try. Colors used are Pretty in Pink, Real Red, Basic Black and the set is the fabulous Stampin' Up! set called Fifth Avenue Floral

Swap Post #2

Well here we are again, another Tuesday, how wonderful. I know that you are all here to see some more of the beautiful swaps made by the awesome demonstrators at our big meeting. So without further ado, here is the first one by Pat Nelson :



and another, this one by Susan Saunders :



and the last one for today didn't have a name on it,
so ladies, if this one is yours, please let me know so
that I can give you credit:



The theme of this swap was "Spring" don't you think they did a wonderful job with these swaps? The just scream Spring. Absolutely beautimous cards.

Ok there is still more to come. Thanks for stopping by today. See you again soon.

Gratuitous Cute Picture of the Week

Well, it's the Monday, and even though I could have given you some Stampin' Up! eye candy first today, I am going to start off with introducing you to my sister's new family member. Her name is Coco.



She is a Teacup Pomeranian and weighs less than 1 pound. She is about 3 months old, and had
just had a bath, so not as fluffy as she would have been, but isn't she adorable? I saw this little ball looking up at me when I came in and just laughed out loud. Geez! Too cute.



this is my daugher, Gabrielle, who had just gave her a bath, and who's pocket she was sticking out of in the first picture. Isn't she beautiful? I may be a little prejudice, but I think so, lol.

Now, for a Stampin' Up! project. This card was made for my class this week, and the ladies really enjoyed making it. It used the Faux Denim technique taught at VC Rocks a couple of years ago by Ellen Kemper (yes, she does lots of things, not just punch art, but she is the Queen of punch art).



What a cute card. I used the Stampin' Up! Sale A Bration set called for this card, along with the Scallop Border Punch, also a Sale A Bration freebie with $50 order.Bashful Blue, Night of Navy and Whisper White Card stocks, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, YoYo Yellow, Certainly Celery and Stazon Black Inks.

If you haven't gotten in on Sale A Bration this year, what are you waiting for? Only one week left to partake, so contact me today.

Thanks for stopping by. See you again soon.

Swap Post #1

All righty then, Welcome! How about some eye candy today? I have a few cards from our swap this past Saturday to share with you.

First up here is one by Michelle Kernodle :



and none other than Lisa Curcio:



and yet another by Robin Satterwhite:



All I can say is WOW! There were some seriously talented demonstrators in the meeting. Aren't these just GAW-JUS?

More to come, so leave a comment, then come back and see me again and again, lol. You never know what you will see. Thanks for looking today.

Beautiful Island Flower

Ok, so I was skipping through some blogs the other day looking for inspiration, I had made it through several dozen when I came across a blog where the Demonstrator had made a beautiful
flower with the Stampin' Up! XL Bird Punch from the Occasions Mini Catalog. Her name is Ann Fitzgerald and this is one gorgeous flower. Evidently it is called a Heliconia. It stopped me in my tracks, and I HAD to make this flower. Mine is not
nearly as beautiful as hers, her sponging was perfect, but I love it just the same. Here is my
version:



She was nice enough to provide a tutorial for those of us who need that type of thing....like me.
You can find it here at her blog Ann's Creative Moments. Leave her some love, if you will and
let her know you appreciate her. We bloggers do love comments.

Now the next thing I gotta do is make that adorable little Chickadee she has a tutorial on. Will post it as soon as I get it made.

Thanks for looking today. See ya again soon.

Thanks for stopping by again today. I do appreciate you.

Stampin' Up! Meeting with Pam Morgan

Hello, everyone and Happy Friday! It's been a long week, so I am definitely ready for the weekend. Lucky for me, I had posts scheduled ahead so you would have something to look at
while I was scrambling around trying to get everything done this week.

Last Saturday, my upline, Amanda Couglin and another Tampa Bay area Demo, Lisa Curcio, hosted a meeting with Pam Morgan, Vice President of Demonstrator Relations at Stampin' Up!
as the guest speaker. What a wonderful time we had! Pam is such a special lady and all of us
laughed, stamped, and shared what we love. Here is a picture of Pam and I at the meeting:



and here is one of the projects we made:



Beautimous, don't you think? Of course, the ribbon didn't go on this way in the card we made, but I fudged a little. Each of us also made one of these to share with the Ronald McDonald House in Tampa.

Here is another project we made, a 6X6 page that was designed by my Stampin' Up! grandmother (my uplines, upline) the Fantastic Susy Miller, who was unable to attend.



I just loved this one, too, but sure wish Susy could have been there. Our last project for the
evening was this cute little treat package demonstrated and designed by Lisa Curcio, what a
cute project, and such a sweet lady, too.



We also had a swap, so I will be sharing those pictures in the next few days. Don't forget to come back to see all the wonderful art these ladies produced. It is amazing.

Lastly, I would love to thank Amanda and Lisa for setting up this meeting and bringing us all
together. I met some wonderful new friends, and got to see some old ones again. I appreciate
all you do for us, your downlines. We couldn't do it without you.

Hugs to everyone today, it's just been one of those days, I'm just a little sappy today, lol.
Don't forget to leave a comment and thanks for dropping in.

Punch Art Swap #4

Today is the last of the four Punch Art Pages I made for a swap. I really enjoyed this swap and I
think my customers will, too. Who knew you could make so many things with only punches and lots of imagination? Ellen Kemper, that's who. Check out her blog here. She is the Queen of Stampin' Up! punch art. NO JOKE!

I originally signed up for 3 slots in the swap, but when they opened another group, I asked Ellen
if I could use this little beauty for the 4th slot and she graciously said yes. So here she is:




Isn't she adorable? Thanks so much, Ellen, for letting me babysit her for awhile. She was easy to make and cute as a bug.

I hope you have enjoyed my Punch Art pages. More swaps are coming soon when VC Rocks! starts for the summer, so be looking forward to that, I know I am. See you again soon.

Daisy Punch Art

Another simple punched card. A daisy. It doesn't get any simpler than this and it's in my fav color, Chocolate Chip, and a retired Stampin' Up! background stamp called Print Pattern.



Punch art doesn't have to be hard to be pretty. This just uses the Small and Large Ovals and 1-3/8 Circle punches. Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla are the colors.

Have a great day!

Punch Art Swap #3

Hello, hope you are having a fantastic day! I have another Punch Art page for you today. I love
punch art and if you do too, check out Ellen Kemper's blog here. She is the Queen, and she is my
inspiration for punch art. She has taught me everything I know, and enabled me numerous times to buy Stampin' Up! punches that I didn't own, lol.

I got the idea for this little guy again from the Stampin' Up! set called Animal Crackers. I was
stamping him for a card and thought "I can make him from punches" so I stopped what I was doing and made him. You can see the card I made with him here. I think he turned out as cute as the little guy on the card from the stamp set, don't you?



Well, there is one more to Punch Art page to go, and it is an original by none other than Ellen Kemper, cased by permission. You don't want to miss her, she is adorable. Keep checking back
to see who she is.

Thanks for looking today.

Abundant Hope

Hello? Is anyone out there? I sure hope so.... Am I all alone here? Hello?


I love flowers. Tulips are my favorite, daffodils, roses, daisies, I love them all. I have been known to slide down the side of a mountain (oops! scared my wonderful Mother half to death) just trying to get a good picture of a wildflower growing there. So when I saw the flowers in this set, I just had to have them. Although my coloring leaves a lot to be desired, here is today's card, cased from another demo.



I changed it up slightly with the colors I had available. The cardstocks are Whisper White and Always Artichoke. Inks are Black Stazon, Always Artichoke, Mellow Moss, So Saffron and Apricot Appeal. I used the Eyelet Border punch along the back of the Whisper White card, The Modern Label punch for the sentiment from this Abundant Hope set, and lastly, I used my crimper to crimp part of the front of the card. It adds a nice touch, don't you think? Not sure how I managed to get the smudge beside the sentiment, but it happened long after the card was finished. Typical, lol.

Abundant Hope is available through April 30 in the Stampin' Up! Occasions Mini Catalog. You
can check out here in my left sidebar.

Thanks for stopping in today. Don't forget to leave a comment.

Punch Art Swap #2

Today's share is another of my Punch Art Swap pages. I still don't have the swap back yet, so once again, if you are in the swap and don't want to get a spoiler. DO NOT scroll any further, lol.

I was flipping through tv channels and came across a cartoon with an ostrich. I kept going then thought, that ostrich's head looked like the butterfly punch. So I went back and took a closer look. Lucky for me, my friend Ellen had recently sent me a baggie full of Stampin' Up! butterfly punches, since I didn't own that one. And low and behold, she sent gray, so this little birdie was born. Thanks again, Ellen, for the punched butterflies, and for once again enabling me since shortly after that I purchased this punch, lol. Gee, guess that's what friends are for.




It is my little Ostrich. I really love him. I was sent the punch art fairy for a short stint awhile back from my friend Ellen the punchart QUEEN! Then he (the fairy) went home, and I have been suffering ever since, lol. I have to go to Ellen's blog to get my fix.

Two more to go. Keep checking in, not sure when I will post them. Thanks for stopping in today.
Please leave a comment if you are able. They make my day.

Fancy Flowers

Thanks for stopping in today. I finally ordered Stampin' Up!'s new Fancy Flowers punch from the Ocassions Mini Catalog and boy am I glad I did. Here is today's card:



Don't you just love these flowers? So pretty. I have seen lots of other things made with this punch, but I wanted to start out simply. I cased this card from another demo, changing the colors slightly.

I used Kraft, Pretty in Pink, and Bashful Blue Inks and card stock for this card, the Scallop Border Punch and the Vintage Label Stamp set which are both offered as free Sale A Bration choices until March 31 with a $50 order. Don't miss out on this opportunity. You will regret it!
I also added some Whisper White grosgrain ribbon. Other punches used are the Wide Oval and
the 1/2" circle.

Hope you enjoyed today's card. See you again soon.

Punch Art Swap #1

I recently participated in a Punch Art Swap,using only Stampin' Up! punches and materials, so recently, in fact that I haven't received them yet, so if you are in the swap and don't want to see, better click off quickly, lol. Here is my little penguin. I got the idea for him from the Stampin' Up! set Animal Crackers.



I think he is a cutie. Just sitting there trying to stay out of trouble. I realize that penguins
have flippers, not wings, but since they "fly" through the water, for this page....they have
wings, lol. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

I have 3 more pages coming soon, be sure to stop back and see who is next.

Spotlighting Technique

Hello again. Today I would love to share a technique I taught at my class this week. It is called
spotlighting and it is an oldie but goodie. The goal of this technique is to highlight a portion of the stamped image by stamping your image, then using a punch, punch out the portion you would like to highlight. Color that portion in, then mount it on a slightly bigger punched out contrasting
piece, and put them back together with image lined up. Like this:



Not really sure what's up with this picture, I apologize for the blurriness.

Here is the technique page that the ladies made to take home:



This one was slightly different as we stamped the image twice, one with black and one with Taken With Teal, then put them back together with images lined up.

Our card today used Whisper White, Basic Black and Regal Rose Inks and card stock. Stamp
set is Fresh Cuts by Stampin' Up!

Our technique card used Taken With Teal and Basic Black Inks and Taken With Teal and Whisper White card stock. The stamp set for this one is Forest Friends, still available as a
free set with $50 order through March 31, the end of Sale A Bration.

Thanks for stopping in. Please leave a comment if you can. I do appreciate them.

Garden Whimsey

Well, it's been a great week and the weekend is almost here. Tomorrow I will get a chance to see
my friends in the Auburndale and Kissimmee area. I haven't seen them in a month, and haven't really had the chance to chat except by email, so it should be a great day.

Today I would like to share a card made with the Garden Whimsey set by Stampin' Up! I love the
simple flowers and butterflies in this set. You just can't make a bad card with this set. Hope you enjoy this simple card.



Have a great Friday, and an even greater weekend. Visit again soon.

Fifth Avenue Floral

Howdy! I have a short and quick post for you today. Sorry, but I have lots to do.

My card is made with the Stampin' Up! set called Fifth Avenue Floral. It is one of my favorite flower sets, cuz you can do so much with it. If you don't have this one, you should probably get it.



pretty, huh? It is a gorgeous set. You can't go wrong with this one, and right now, you still have time to take advantage of Sale-A-Bration, so call or email me today.

See you again soon. thanks for stopping in.

Peacocks!

My neighbor has peacocks, they are very pretty, and nice to have around most of the time. Plus, they give our dog, Beau, something to chase when he's outside. I don't think he would actually hurt one if he ever caught one, which is unlikely, but he enjoys it just the same. Here is a picture of Beau:



And here is a picture of the young male peacock he chased into a tree, sorry about the picture, it
isn't very clear.



And here is today's card.



Made with the Stampin' Up! set Autumn Days, I got this idea from another demonstrator. Isn't he gorgeous? I just used some of the botanical stamps in the set for
his tail. I used the In Colors and Dazzling Diamonds to make him sparkle. It is amazing what you can get when you think outside the box. Hope you enjoyed today's card.

Have a great day and thanks for dropping in.

Mini Milk Carton

Well, hope everyone is having a great Sunday. Thanks for spending part of it with me.

I had a great time yesterday at our Paper Pauper meeting. We had lots of fun and laughs, and
made some great projects. Here is another one. It is using the Stampin' Up! exclusive Mini Milk
Carton die for the Big Shot and it is so easy to use and put together, especially for the cute factor you get when you're done. Check it out!



What do you think? Cute, huh? I can see so many possibilities for this little cutie. If you don't have it, you should probably buy it. soon. I also used the XL Bird and Branch Punch. Let me tell you, you NEED this one. So while your ordering the Milk Carton, you can add this to the order. Just give me a call.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. See you again soon.

Easter Progressive Scrapbooking Page

Awww, the weekend is finally here! Today I am off to visit my Paper Paupers in Kissimmee, Florida. Should be a great day! This is one fun group of ladies.

Here is the 6x6 page we will be making today. I used the Chocolate Bunny Stamp for this one.



Here is the 8-1/2x11:



And here is the 12x12:



I also added a punched Round Tab punch Easter Basket, I used the Small and Large oval punches for the handle and the new Small Heart punch for the eggs. I also added some of
the Wonderful Wings, and used the square and Scalloped Square Punches to layer under the
Stampin' Up! Alphabet for the Big Shot. A Rhinestone Brad is added to the center of the Pretty in Pink Circle punched flower. Other colors are Gable Green, Bashful Blue and So Saffron.

Thanks for looking. Have a great weekend!

Butterfly Trellis

Hey there! Glad you stopped by today!

I want to share a card we will be making at the Paper Paupers meeting on Saturday. I am loving
this Trellis die for the Big Shot. It is a Stampin' Up! exclusive and it is awesome. Here is today's card:



I also used the Wonderful Wings embosslit, also for the Big Shot, the Modern Label and Word Window Punches, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Barely Banana, Pretty in Pink, and Lavender
Lace Cardstocks. The sentiment is from Really Retro, I believe.

See you again soon.

Lovely as an Oak Tree

Masculine cards come hard for me. Not sure why. That is one of the great things about the Stampin' Up! set called Lovely as a Tree. You can use it for masculine cards, heck, you can use it for any kind of card, it's just that kind of set. Gorgeous! What's not to like about trees?



Not sure what's up with the color on this one, it is in Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, and Creamy Caramel. A little distressing there on the bottom of the card, getting out my frustrations, wadding it up, spraying it with water, etc. and Voila! you have a masculine card.

Have a great day! See you soon!

Bronco Bustin'

We were out this weekend in the pasture quite a bit and of course, our horse, was milling around getting her nose in things. Today's card made me think of her.
I don't ride anymore since I got pretty busted up several years ago, will probably never ride again. I'm pretty sure I didn't look as good as the cowboy on this card when the horse I was on started bucking. Long story made short, I spent several days in the hospital and had surgery on my shoulder and collarbone and am now the proud owner of several pieces of plastic and metal that will be with me forever. I still love horses, though so here is todays card, from a retired Stampin' Up! set called (I believe) Bronc Buster.



It's a girly card all in pink and brown. My favorites.

Thanks for coming by again today. I appreciate you.

Punched Cup of Tea

Here is some oldie but goodie punch art for you. Easy peasy punch art, but cute all the same. I have spent the last couple of days working on a punch art swap, I will share when I finish, but it consists of 6x6 pages with punch art and instructions. I am making my original ostrich, penguin, and duck, and one of Ellen Kemper's punch art babies. In the mean while, you get a teacup to
look at, lol.



Have a great day and thanks for visiting.

If you are a Paper Pauper, I'm looking forward to seeing you all this weekend.

Animal Crackers

Good Morning, did you have a great weekend? I know I did.

Today is a good day. It's Strawberry Festival time here in Plant City, and for the first time in years, I am going to watch the parade. For the past five years I have marched in it with my childrens high school band. It should be a fun day. So, in honor
of a fun day, I give you an Animal Cracker:



Lots of In Colors used on this one, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay. I'm sure gonna miss these when they leave us in July.

Hope you have a great day, too. Thanks for stopping by.

Stampin' Up! Convention with Late Night Stampers

Plan to attend Stampin Up Convention 2010 with us on July 21-24, 2010

OUR LNS events start on Monday July 19th and end on Saturday July 24th with Patsy's WOW

event after convention is over.

$180 gives you the "I want it all package"

or you can pick from the events below

Send your payment to istmpnv@aol.com using pay pal

or mail a check to

Sherrill Graff

605 Kendrick Place

Boulder City NV 89005

if you are sending a check e-mail me and let me know so I can hold your spot.

Monday July 19th will be a 8:30 AM stamp camp 8 great projects $90 OPEN

we supply everything except adhesive

Monday Stamp Camp projects are the same on both days

Monday 2 PM shoe box swap $35 OPEN

please bring a project to share with 6 people and a finished project to enter into the contest

Monday Night 7 PM WOWevent by Tami $10 OPEN

bring your camera and a note pad

the WOW demonstrations are different on both days.

all at the Radisson

Tuesday July 20th will be a 8:30 AM stamp camp 8 great projects $90 OPEN

followed by a Tuesday 2 PM shoe box swap $35 OPEN

please bring a project to share with 6 people and a finished project to enter into the contest

then the Tuesday Night 7 PMReunion party 3 fun projects$35OPEN

we supply everything except adhesive all at the Radisson

Wednesday July 21 Anything New Swap 75+1 at the Radisson behind Convention on sign in day

Wednesday Sign In Day 2pm-4pm Shoe Box Swap Hosted by Mary and Brenda $35 OPEN

please bring a project to share with 6 people and a finished project to enter into the contest

at the Radisson

then a Saturday July 24th 6 PM WOWevent by Patsy $10 OPEN

bring your camera and a note pad

at the Radisson

the WOW demonstrations are different on both days.

All events have prizes and give-a-ways.

May God bless you and your family,
Sherrill Graff istmpnv@aol.com

Book Of Me

Well, here goes. My wonderful friend Ellen Kemper has inspired me to start a book of me. As all scrapbookers know, most of the time we are behind the camera and thus we have few pictures of ourselves. A Book of Me is about YOU. Pictures or no, it is a look into your heart, your life, your mind (scary as it is).
Now, mind you, I am 50 years behind in my scrapbooking, and actually, since I have some heritage stuff I need to do, longer than that, but I wanted to at least start on this journey, so here is my first page. I sent my name out and back came these words to describe me. Not sure about the rest, but the NUTS is pretty accurate.



Of course, I had to use the Love Bandit set with the little owl, and then the squirrel, because,
as it says...I'm Nuts. I also made a paper flower to add, cuz I like them. Whisper White, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip of course are my colors and the strip on the side is retired Stampin' UP! DSP (I hoard my DSP cuz it's so pretty) not sure which one.

Thanks for looking. See you soon.

Easter Bunny

Happy Thursday! Hope your week is going well. I had a chance to play a little this week and I finally tried out the Polished Stone Technique. I used Bashful Blue and Yo Yo Yellow reinkers for this technique and when I finished, I decided it looked like an Easter egg, so I punched it out with Stampin' Up's Wide Oval punch. Then I needed a bunny. I looked through my handy dandy punch art folder and found this little guy, made completely from the Large Heart punch. I knew I had found the perfect bunny for my card. I finished it off with the Eyelet Border Punch and the sentiment from the Occasions Mini.



Too cute! Have a great day! Thanks for visiting.

Bookish Aliens

I know that you all have noticed that along with the other things I like (birds, critters, etc) I also make lots of bookmarks. Today is another example of a card with a removable bookmark. I wanted to have a few on hand for nieces, nephews, etc. I used the Stampin' Up! set Greetings, Earthling for this one.



The colors used are Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Kraft and Confetti White. The Summer
Sun bookmark just pulls out from behind the Kraft strip.

A bookmark is always a good idea for kids. If they develop a love of reading, everything else just comes so much easier.

As for me, I am reading the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I had a few of these, but not the whole set. My roomie in the VC Rocks! hotel last year gave me several more, but I am still missing 4. I decided last week to start reading them and I am on the sixth one in the series.
I would highly recommend this series, I had to leave mine in the car tonight so I could get something else done, lol. Check them out if you haven't already. Have a great day.

Thanks for dropping in.

Lattice Die

Hi, All.

I have had this Lattice Die for quite awhile now, and decided it was high time I actually used it.
Today's card was cased from another Stampin' Up! demo, I changed it slightly, to add my own
touch. Here you go:



and here is the inside of the card:



What do you think? Pretty, huh? Not alot of stamping, but pretty just the same. Colors are Whisper White and Orchid Opulence.

Thanks for dropping by, see you again soon.

Mini Glassine Envie Scrapbook

Hello! Hope your Tuesday is going well. Today I would like to share a little mini scrapbook that we made at my uplines monthly meeting. It is too cute and so easily put together.


And here is the inside:



Isn't it adorable? Amanda always has fun things for us to do. If you would like to join in on
the fun, you can become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, and come with me to the meetings.
Sale-A-Bration is a wonderful time to join my team. Stampin' Up! is offering a 15% discount,
bringing the price to join down to only $169, plus along with the kit which is valued at well over
$300, you also get another set, any set in the book that you choose, up to a $47.95 value. WOW!
If you are interested, call or email me soon.

Thanks, see ya again soon,

Tote-ally Tess

Good Morning! Happy Monday! No, I'm not that cheerful, I am just trying to convince myself.
Today's post is a card using Tess. She is such a cute little Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. Unfortunately, I don't look at all like this, but hey, we can wish, I did, maybe when I was younger, but who can remember that far back? Anyway, Tess has everything a good SU Demo needs. Scissors, A Stamp,Wheel, Markers, a Catalog, an Apron, and of course a flower and "I heart STAMPS" logo.



I stepped outside my safe zone today and used Passion Pink, Basic Black, Summer Sun, Going Gray, and Whisper White for this card. I paper pieced Tess' blouse, pants and shoes, and the Stampin' Up! Logo you see on her tote is from the sticker sheet that comes with our new clear mounted stamps. Isn't she too cute?

Hope to see you again soon, thanks for stopping by, have a great Monday.