A day of Grace

Today is February 29th.  It's the extra day of the year, so it's kind of like a bonus day.  An extra day of grace if you will.  With my "extra" day, I had to take my daughter to a neurologist.  We have been making the rounds of docs working to figure out a diagnosis.  When my daughter and I returned home, she wanted to rest, so I came to my crafting area to "chillax" (a new favorite word taken from the TV show Modern Family.  Love that show!).  I know I am a blessed person, but I decided to make something for myself, something that I can see on a daily basis that will remind me of God's Grace in my life.  I opened My Digital Studio (MDS) and made this project.

The frame is one that I had on hand, and I loved the way the page looks inside it.  MDS is becoming easier and easier for me to use.  This project took me no more than 10 minutes from inception to print.  Can you see the flourish from the brush set Baroque Motifs behind the words?  One of the things I like most about MDS is the capability to take an image and have your way with it -- make it bigger, smaller, or more transparent, like you stamped it in Versamark.  I printed onto Very Vanilla card stock.  It's very elegant looking IRL.  The color of the flourish and the text is Cherry Cobbler. 

Here's a closer look at the prayer.  It is a prayer written by Marjorie Holmes which I read today in a book entitled Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach.   When I read the prayer this morning, I knew I wanted to have it start more of my days.  What better way to remember the prayer than to put it in a frame on my dresser for use each morning?!  

Thanks for stopping in today.  I hope your "extra" day has been lightened by Grace.

Kristine

Sending love

This is a simple card that works for Valentine's Day, but also for any occasion in which you just want the receiver to know that you're thinking about her and sending some love.  We all need a little love now and then and to know that other's are thinking of us.  It does the soul good. 

I used blender pens for the coloring of the tree.  I wanted a soft look.  The hearts... are they not too cute!?  They are new.  They are the Embossilits Die: Fashionable Hearts found in the Occasions Mini catalog.  They are just the right size for cards, but would look cute on a scrapbook page too.  I've also used the new Pleated Satin Ribbon in Pear Pizzazz.  This is a CASE card of something I saw a while ago...around convention time.  But it is from memory, so I do not know who to credit or how close it is to what I originally saw.  With my memory, the card could actually be nothing near a CASE. :-)  Ah, the perks of a bad memory...meeting "new" people every day, finding money in a pocket, hiding your own gifts for Christmas and finding them the next spring and having no idea what's inside...Life is good.

Thanks for stopping in.  If you do not have a demonstrator and would like to purchase some Stampin' Up! merchandise, I'd love to be your demonstrator! Contact me if you have questions.

Kristine

Edgelit dies and matching embossing folders

A couple of the cool new items in the Occasions Mini Catalog are the Edgelit dies and the matching Adorning Accents Embossing folders. 

  

Some of you may be a bit unsure how to use these new tools.  Stampin' Up! has created a video to show you how to put these toys...oh, excuse me...tools to use in your paper crafting.  Just click on the picture below to see the items demonstrated by Brian from Stampin' Up!'s home office.

If you would like some of these cool things for yourself, and do not already have a demonstrator, I'd love to help you enjoy the fun.  You can order anytime on my website http://kristinechubb.stampinup.net.


Enjoy!

That's one big Rossette!

This is another project that I made using the new rossette die from the Occasions Mini catalog.  If you use the entire cutting surface of the die, you will need 2 whole sheets of 12x12 paper to complete the circle.  Here it is...

The finished rossette measures 1 foot across!  Wowza! I placed some dried flowers in the center in the shape of a heart and finished off the project with some Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon  I did use a piece of light cardboard on the back to sturdy the rossette.  This is a hostess gift that I made.  An easy decoration for Valentines!

Thanks for stopping in!

Kristine

Some rosettes to celebrate

The last couple of weeks have flown by in a haze--both literal and figurative.  I spent some time in Portland with my BFF mid month and had a wonderful time getting reacquainted with her almost 2 year old son.  My kids are 11 and 13.  I have forgotten how much energy is needed to keep up with a 2 year old! 

Then the day after I came home, a wildfire happens and we end up having to evacuate our home!  I know, wildfire in January?  Yup.  Anything is possible in Northern Nevada.  We did not have much time to get out, so all of my stamping things were left behind. Only what could fit in the back of my mini van and my husband's civic was taken.  Honestly, when I looked around to decide what to take, there was not a lot that I "needed."  We have a comfortable home, but I have never been a "big ticket item" kinda gal.  It was such an eerie, surreal feeling driving away from our home.  The smoke was so thick that I could not see the road well, but the orange glow of the fire was there.  A frightening experience.  Driving away knowing that there is a good likelihood that when you come back the home will be gone...well, that is hard.  My children were understandably upset, but the whole experience has been a good lesson in gratitude. Sometimes it is good to be reminded of the blessings. We have been blessed again, and for us, all has ended well and we are home.  The fire was very close, but no damage.  Some friends were not so lucky and lost everything.  It just breaks my heart.

So when the clamor of getting back in the house was over, and some tears of gratitude and exhaustion were shed, I had to sit with my stuff and create.  I bought the new Rosettes Die from the Occasions Mini catalog and decided to make myself a paper flower bouquet.  It is a celebration of life.

The die creates almost any size rosette you want.  I made all of the pictured rosettes using the one die.  The largest rosette you can make is 12" across.  It's huge!  I made another project with that rosette that I will share later. You could also cut off the edging of the rosette before you fold it and edge punch the paper with another design if you desired.

I used my paper shredder and shredded paper for the "grass."  You can see in the above picture one of the smaller rosettes.

Can you see the butterflies?  I punched out some butterflies with the Butterfly punch in Silver Glimmer Paper and then used Window Sheet strips to make them "float" above and around the bouquet.  It turned out just right.  It is happy and playful.  Olivia, my DD, did all of the folding of the rosettes as well as gave me embellishment ideas. 

Thanks for visiting my blog.  If you are of the mind, please include in your prayers the families in Northern Nevada who lost their homes in the fire.  Unfortuately, there are more than a few of them.

Stay safe.

Kristine

Designer Series Paper Sale

Today the power was out for four hours while "they" worked on "something" in the area.  So since there was no power, I pulled out all of my DSP and organized what I wanted to keep and what I want to sell.  As a result there is a HUGE amount of DSP for sale on Kristine's Selling Spot blog.  Just click on the lick to the right with the sale tag to see all of the goodies.  Prices are 10 to 50 cents a page!!  (Note: Not all paper is Stampin' Up)

Here is just a SAMPLING!!

  

   

All items on my Selling Blog are first come first get!

Thanks!
Kristine

Two shares

Long time no see!  So glad that you did not give up on me and came back for a visit.  Thanks!

Today I have two cards to share with you.  Both of them use the same color scheme, but have decidedly different feels--at least I think so.  The paper is a sneak peek at some of the DSP that you can receive FREE during the upcoming Sale-a-bration period, January 24th through March 31st.  I am telling you this...I LOVE this DSP. 

Here is the first card...

This card also uses the Enchantment Ribbon in Calypso Corral that you can receive free during Sale-abration.  I love the colors of Pool Party and Calypso Corral together.  Who'd a thunk?  Not my usual color combo.  But I was lead by the DSP.  See the Corral pearls?  Wanna know how I made those?  Simple!  Take our Basic Pearls and an orange Sharpie pen and color the pearls.  It is almost a perfect match for the Calypso Corral!  I was so excited when that happened. You, as a crafter, will understand the excitement.  My family, however, was non-plussed by the incredible luck of it.

There is something else I used that is pretty cool, but may not seem so at first glance.  The sentiment in this card is a retired set Friendly words.  But guess what! It is available in My Digital Studio (MDS) and can be made ANY size you want in that program.  Too cool.  So I used MDS to print out the sentiment in Calypso Corral (bigger than what it is in the real life stamp set) and then stamped the banner from the Occasions set Take it to Heart around the printed words. (Easy to do with a clear mount set.)  I cut the banner out and popped it up on dimentionals.  Take a look at the MDS.  The program is a wonderful tool for so many reasons. One of the coolest things about buying a download for MDS is that the brush sets, the DSP, the embellishments NEVER retire!  Never.  Nope, not even on December 21, 2012 when the Mayan calendar ends.  They will still be available. :-)  Finally, the heart is one of the images in the Take it to Heart set.  I wanted to highlight one of the images that might go unnoticed.  It is a very elegant little heart.

The second card...

Isn't this a simple layout?  This was my thank you card for December orders.  I had a bunch to make (Thank you again everyone who bought in December!) and these were the perfect answer.  I have used the same DSP as in the above card.  Guess I'm just drawn to this one, huh?  The stamp set is Funky Four and the sentiment from Trendy Trees. 

Thanks for looking at my creations.  You're the best!

Kristine