Darth Sunshine

How I save money stamping!!

2012-02-21T20:15:00.001-06:00

BWHAAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!! I'm sorry....did you think I'd have real tips for you crafters out there on how to save money on your most favoritest hobby EVAH?!?! While I can say I'm not in debt over this fun pastime of mine...I must share my blog post title did make me giggle!!

When I first began stamping I justified to myself that I was saving SO MUCH MONEY because I would make my own cards instead of paying $120 for a beautiful card elsewhere. My fellow stampers will laugh out LOUD at that because honestly, the hobby part of my obsession with paper crafting means that I'm lucky if I save any money. When Stampin' Up comes out with a new catalog it is VERY hard to restrain myself because I LOVE IT ALL!! My stampy friends and I tweet and email each other "WHAT DID YOU GET?!" and then try not to tackle the UPS Man when he pulls in front of our home.

While I may not save a lot of money....I thoroughly enjoy making custom cards for my friends. Many times I'll make an extra set of cards from my class or club to have ready....but my amazing friend Stephanie loves the color yellow and I wanted to make a special card for her birthday. I don't stamp many yellow cards, but she is the person I think of when I see yellow. So, here is a pic of her birthday card I sent her:

Stamps: I {Heart} Hearts; Paper: Whisper White, Daffodil Delight, Silver Glimmer Paper (DSP); Ink: Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Summer Sun (retired); Accessories: Simply Scored score board, Small Heart Punch, Full Heart Punch, Fashionable Hearts embosslit

I should have taken a picture of the inside--I used a stamp I found at a stamp show last year:

"If you were a cow, you'd be a belt by now."

Since we're in our 40's now we can send cards like that to each other and laugh. Out loud.

Have any irreverent stamps? I only have a handful....I need more.

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Did I mention I'm a procrastinator?

2012-02-15T17:58:00.000-06:00

This is procrastination at its finest....I have 2...yes, TWO...Valentine's Day posts I saved here in blogger and W T Heck...I totally forgot about them. Pffffffth. So...let me share my cute Valentine Cards with you...AFTER VALENTINE'S DAY when no one cares! Oy!

My Big Shot was used significantly for this card...Dots Embossing Folder, Fashionable Hearts Embosslit...stinkin cute! Stamp is from the PS I love You from the Occasions Mini Catalog. Paper is Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White...and of course some of that awesome Silver Glimmer Paper punched with the small heart punch!
Thanks for looking at my late post!
XOXO

Clean and Simple Valentine.....

2012-02-07T19:58:00.000-06:00

I love clean and simple cards...I don't know why I don't make more of them. I guess I'm always trying to outdo myself when I start a card and add another layer...another embellishment...and then it starts to look too busy and then I scrap it and start over! So I was thinking of another card for my Stamp Club ladies to make and thought of this gorgeousness I saw at Stampin' Up Leadership Conference:

And thought the In Colors would look so good....so changed up the direction, colors and card base to this:

Stamp set: PS I love you; Ink: Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party; Paper: Whisper White; Accessories: Simply Scored, Full Heart Punch, Stampin' ma jig (good grief is that how you spell that? LOL)

and of course I used the amazing Simply Scored board to score the lines top and bottom.

Ok so Sale-A-Bration is going on until the end of March...for every $50 you order you receive a free item from the awesome Sale-A-Bration catalog! SQUEEEEE!!! Also, for new recruits that sign during this time, you receive $50 off the starter kit price (SQUEE!!!) and your choice of a Designer Series Paper or digital download for the rest of this year!! That is another $100+ in free product!! SQUEEEEEE!!!!! Go to my Stampin' Up website to shop or sign up! I'd love to have you on my team! www.darthsunshine.stampinup.net

Thanks for looking!

Valentines Peek! SQUEEE!!!

2012-02-03T11:24:00.001-06:00

Spring Stamp Club begins tomorrow and the ladies are making Valentine cards...this is a snippet of an iPhone picture so forgive me...I'll post better pictures later but couldn't wait to share!
I got the idea for these cards from some I saw at Stampin' Up Leadership Conference last week....and changed up colors and techniques!

Sale-A-Bration is HERE!!!

2012-01-23T22:15:00.000-06:00

Click HERE for catalog

Sale-A-Bration is here! Stampin' Up's best promotion of the year will run from January 24 until March 31! For every $50 you spend you get to chose any item from the Sale-A-Bration catalog for free! Hostesses with workshops of $150 or more receive additional free Hostess products....AND the Starter Kit is reduced to $125 (from $175) during this period! SQUEEEE!

The standard starter kit comes with everything you need to start your own Stampin' Up business...OR just stock up on some awesome stamping supplies then benefit from the discount!! You get to choose the color of ink pads and paper AND your stamp sets! It's such a good deal! Over $400 worth of products for $125!!

Another benefit during this time is new recruits will get to choose a free pack of Designer Series Paper (DSP) or a My Digital Studio download pack each month for the year of 2012!! An additional $120 in free products!)

Click HERE to access my website and sign up online!

Stampin' Up Leadership Conference...AND Spring Stamp Club is coming!!!

2012-01-21T19:58:00.000-06:00

I've had a wonderful week here in San Antonio at Stampin' Up's Leadership Conference and Regional event! I got some wonderful ideas for projects and cards for us to make! It was great to hang out with Lydia and Kim, and to meet my Twitterverse friends Sue and Linda who live in Canada!!!

Sue and I at Rosarita's Cantina...of course I had to take my Canadian friends for real Tex-Mex food!

Lydia, me and Melanie...so glad Mel came down to Texas!

Spring Stamp Club is beginning Saturday, February 4th at 10 am! Club will run for 5 months, through June....
What is Stamp Club? I provide all supplies for the projects and cards we make each month...and club members promise to order $30 each month for the next 5 months (a great way to build your stamping supplies). Hostess Benefits rotate each month so everyone will get ALL the Hostess Benefits for one month! On the month you're hostess you could take a catalog and get outside orders to build the monthly total for MORE free Stampin' Up! Product! SQUEEE! If the order is over $400 you get ANY ITEM in the catalog for HALF PRICE!!!! (like...the Big Shot!???!!)

Please RSVP before Jan. 29th to reserve your spot...space is limited!

Yay! Occasions Mini Catalog is here!!!!!

2012-01-04T11:31:00.001-06:00

CLICK HERE TO SEE!

This is the best catalog yet! LOVE everything inside!!!

Shop online at www.darthsunshine.stampinup.net

SQUEEEEE!!!!!!

These are the only snowflakes I'll see in Texas!

2011-12-26T12:34:00.000-06:00

Here's another card I put together for Splitcoaststamper's VSN challenges. The challenge was to use a snowflake on our card. I used many thanks to the fun Northern Frost deco strip die from Stampin' Up! I thought it would be fun to deviate from my usual blue card with snowflakes and went for a neutral theme. I like how it turned out!

And it'll be the only "snow" I see here in South Texas! We're enjoying our "warm" 45 degrees today! (as I am bundled up and avoiding going outside! HA!)

Stamp: Four the Holidays; Ink: Crumb Cake; Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla; Accessories: Northern Frost Decorative Strip die.

I was debating if we should brave the crowds and go shopping for the After Christmas Sales...but I think not. I'm going to try and finish organizing my stamp room....which I started weeks ago before I got involved with Christmas projects and now will try not to PLAY before it's done. We'll see how successful I am. HA!

Surfin' Santa

2011-12-25T15:48:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas y'all!

Blue Christmas

2011-12-17T18:14:00.000-06:00

Here's another card I made for Splitcoaststampers VSN challenge...a blue Christmas card. Of course I thought of Lydia (Understandblue)! I'm sure a lot of us did!

Stamps: Delightful Decorations; Paper: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Whisper White; Ink: Night of Navy, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze; Accessories: Ornament punch, Dots embossing folder, white gel pen

I'm still cutting my paper for my Christmas Cards...hoping to mail them on Monday...or Tuesday (which means I'll be assembing them on the road since we're visiting family next week.) But they WILL be mailed before Christmas THIS year. Right.

XOXO,

Your Procrastinating Stamper....procrastistamper!!! :D LOL

Thanks for stopping by!

Things that make you go SQUEEE!

2011-12-12T00:05:00.000-06:00

There's a fun website www.wimp.com full of family friendly videos...really the best videos available online...and my hubby always saves the cute little animals that make me SQUEEE :D Red Pandas make me SQUEEE quite a bit. Here is a video I LOVE....

Major cuteness! Did you squeee?

So I played this weekend in the Virtual Stamp Night over at Splitcoaststampers (SCS)! So excited that I was able to participate--for each challenge you have 45 minutes to complete your card. I swear I work better under these conditions....I come out with more original cards SUPERFAST instead of pouring over the SCS site for hours looking for ideas! The first challenge was from my friend Lydia (Understandblue)--we had to make a card with something that gives us a warm fuzzy feeling. So I stamped this little red panda and started watercoloring him and then realized he's a FOX! He's still cute though! I had to color his little present blue in honor of Lydia's challenge. I loved watercoloring him so much I decided to make my background paper by watercoloring Cherry Cobbler red and Garden Green. So fun!

Stamp set: Forest Festivites; Paper: Watercolor paper, Garden Green; Accessories: Very Vanilla ribbon, Modern Label Punch, LG Scallop punch, 2 3/8" Circle punch

Thanks for stopping by...hope you SQUEEE some today!

XOXO

Please stand by....

2011-12-06T09:00:00.001-06:00

My power supply on my computer died. It's been sick for awhile...deciding on a whim to shut down completely--usually in the middle of editing a photo...or a blog post...or trying to submit a Stampin' Up order. Yeah, fun times. So it's been a gamble to begin a blog post and wonder if I get to finish it. So I went to my laptop...which is just old enough and slow enough to make a 30 minute task take 2.5 hours. Frustrating.

I married well--besides my husband being patient, kind, funny, etc....he's also my in-house tech support. He doesn't consider himself "handy" at all (even though he's uninstalled and installed a dishwasher, among other things)...but he is our computer/tech guru and considering the time we live in he's incredibly "handy"!
It's awesome having full access to someone who builds computers (his day job is programming, he builds computers for "fun"). So...he's rebuilding my computer now.

So, bear with me (as I post this via email from my phone! LOL) Because I've had lots of stampy goodness to share!! Working on my Christmas card...plan...hahaha haven't cut paper yet (from the girl who sent "New Year's" cards one year!)!
XOXO
Dana

Please excuse any typos as this email was sent from my iPhone. :-)

I'll pardon THIS turkey!

2011-11-24T21:16:00.001-06:00

Last weekend I went to the biggest craft show EVAH...The "CHRISTMAS SHOWCASE" of crafts...which I have attended every year for the last several years. It's the kind of craft show where you must wear comfortable shoes, bring your own tote bags to carry the stuff you buy...and really should NOT bring small children to since they don't have the stamina to walk the 27 miles across the 3 huge buildings to see all the wonderful handmade goods. (Well, not ALL of them are handmade...there are many booths with bulk buy-made-in-China "crafts"...I just walk on by.) Anyway, while at the craft show I saw a booth with handmade kids clothes/dresses, baby burp cloths, etc...and saw the cutest little turkey on a shirt...made of ribbon. I wish I'd taken a photo of it...but I immediately typed myself a note in my iphone so I wouldn't forget...because it was my inspiration to make...

THIS!!

Stamps: Thankful for... (retired); Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Dots embossing folder, Grograin ribbon-Choc Chip, Real Red, Tangerine Tango polka dot (reitred), Crushed Curry polka dot (retired), Circle punches.

Isn't he cute!?!? I don't make a lot of punch art cards...but I just had to make this little guy!

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
XOXO

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-31T06:47:00.001-05:00

Hello all!!!
Sorry I've been out of the blogsasphere for awhile...been a little sick and a lot busy...I've missed a lot!!
I've put together these little test tube holders to give as goodies to my co-workers. The template for them is on Splitcoaststampers.com and I used the sets Warmest of Wishes ( which I got FREE at Convention!!) and Eat Drink Be Scary (retired).

Thinking of Tom Selleck....

2011-10-01T10:19:00.000-05:00

Tom Selleck. That man can WEAR a moustache. That is a nice moustache and I'm not a huge fan of facial hair on guys. Ok this post is already getting too weird... When Stampin' Up came out with these moustache stamps Tom Selleck was the first thing I thought of. That makes me giggle. A lot of people are "getting" the moustache thing. I don't really "get it" either. But I'm a mom of teenagers/tweeners and this stamp is COOL...according to my children. Bwahahahahaha!!!

So my youngest turned 12 on Sept 1st and she LOVES this moustache stamp. (She loves Stampin' Up's Out on a Limb set that has the jack o lanterns with moutstaches, too.) So I made her a little moustache card. (Are you sick of reading MOUSTACHE? Because I'm tired of typing it! LOL)

All supplies Stampin' Up! - Stamp: Many Mustaches; Ink: Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise; Cardstock: Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Blushing Bride (In Color);
Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, 1/2" Stitched Poly Ribbon in Blushing Bride

My corners are trimmed with the Decorative Label punch...a neat idea I learned at our Stampin' Up Convention this summer. Instead of inserting your paper as you would normally to punch the design....turn your punch upside down and insert just the corner of your paper into the punch and VOILA!!! I SQUEEEE'd when I saw this!

Thanks for stopping by! I'm going to go watch some Magnum P.I. now...

XOXO

Thou Shall Not Whine...yeah right.

2011-09-25T22:10:00.002-05:00

I have a sign in my home that says "Thou Shall Not Whine"...apropos since I have 3 girls and they can sometimes be whiny. (My hubby says I can get this way too...I choose to ignore this comment.) Bwahahaha. But bear with me while I rant for a moment...

I AM SICK OF BEING BUSY!!!

My kiddos aren't even in sports yet this year and I am dealing with major busyness. I'm tired of driving my kids everywhere. Sheesh. Even my busy weekends...which have been FUN...are not relaxing! I feel like I need a mental health day! GAH! Now, this weekend hubby and I decided to try and watch ALL SIX Star Wars films on blu-ray (because of course we had to own that set when it came out!! SQUEEE) We only got through Episode IV (the "original Star Wars from 1977 for all my non-geek readers) because I also had my Stamp Camp and a Thirty One Party this weekend (I know, I bring this on myself for scheduling so much on the weekend....I know)

....but here I am on Sunday night and even though I got to SIT and watch (or snooze, since I was so tired--I suffer from cinema narcolepsy LOL) I am lamenting that I didn't have time to organize my bathroom closet.

Wow. Am I SICK?!? Because that is just wrong. ORGANIZE MY BATHROOM CLOSET?!? Bwahahahaha.

Ok. Rant over. Sorry. Now on to our regularly scheduled progamming. HA!

So I'm overdue in sharing a card with you....my busyness has prevented me from participating in some of my favorite challenges...but this was a fun card to make. I would NOT have put these colors together originally, but aren't they fabulous?!? My Color Coach is my friend!

All Supplies from Stampin' Up! (SU) Stamps: Circle Circus; Paper: Lavender Lace (retired), Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant; Ink: More Mustard, Elegant Eggplant, Lavender Lace (retired), Summer Sun (retired); Sentiment: rub-on; Accessories: SU button, Circle punches

I hope you have a fabulous week! I have one more month of the current Stamp Club. The next Club will start up in January. I've also scheduled my Christmas Stamp A Stack of cards for November 5th! SQUEEE! Hope you can make it!
Thanks for stopping by!

Randomness...and ellipses....(and a winner!)

2011-09-14T23:16:00.000-05:00

So I never heard from my 1st winner-so I used random.org to choose another number. This time it was #10....and that comment belongs to "hanwayink" who is also one of my twitter homies!!! Congrats Michelle!! I'll message you on twitter and get your box of goodies together!!

Hubby and I are spending the weekend up in Dallas for his best friend's wedding. I'm looking forward to seeing old friends...but at the same time wondering when I'll have a weekend at home without anything on the agenda! I haven't stamped a card since the blog hop and I miss my stamp studio! Wahhhhhh!!!! LOL AND my Stampin' Up customers keep telling me they miss my classes...and I want to schedule a few this fall...GAH!!! I hate being busy.
I cannot read all the novels I want AND stamp hahaha I'm finishing the 3rd book in the Hunger Games series--Mockingjay--and REALLY want to finish it already....and I'd like to read The Help...sigh.

I hear there is going to be an iPad app for Blogger...I hope so because I can't even change the font when I post from my iPad! Annoying!!!

So, thank you for reading this far...through the randomness and ellipses!!

Come back...I'll have some Halloween and fall stuff to share very soon!!

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!

2011-09-12T19:33:00.001-05:00

Ha...it IS Friday isn't it?!? No....?? It's MONDAY?!? WTH!!! Such is my life....better late than NEVER!!!
Random.org generated the number 25....which makes sandjano the winner! Congrats! So...please contact me sandjano! SQUEEE!!! You have until 24 hours to reply to this blog (7:32 pm CST on 9/13/11)...or email me at darthsunshine@gmail.com

CONGRATS!!!

Biggest Blog Hop EVAHHH!

2011-09-05T07:45:00.068-05:00

Hello and welcome to the Fall Fun Blog Hop! A group of crafty friends from the Interwebs decided to put something on our calendar weeks ago and then procrastinate until the last possible moment to put this blog hop together. Ok, I can't speak for EVERYONE....but that's what I did! As always! hehe

So if you've arrived here and are just now reading about the Blog Hop...my blog is stop #12 on this Hop. There are crafters from all around the world and some amazing stuff!!
Also, some of us have goodies to give away (LIKE ME...so be sure to read to the bottom!) so make sure you see each blog on our Labor Day Hop!

There are 43 of us...so grab a nommy beverage and sit back and enjoy the ride!

Here's the full list of crafty goodness to see:

Lydia Fiedler my friend who put this all together! She is amazing!
Libby Hickson
Kim Williams
Michelle Single
Lee Murphy
Sara Henton
Yapha Mason
Lisa Adametz
Jimmi Mayo
Jeanne Streiff
Bev Gerard
Shannon
Dana Keith -YOU ARE HERE
Joan Ervin
Maren Benedict
Teresa Kline
Hannah Clark
Dina Kowal
Wanda Cullen
Korin Sutherland
Taylor Usry
Monika Davis
Harriet Skelly
Kim Schofield
Cathy McCauley
Mary Marsh
Julia Aston
Bridget Finlay
Alison Habetler
Leslie Hanna
Sue Farrant
Michelle Hanway
Misti Oblander
Judy Rozema
Jenna Barber
Tammy Hershberger
Eva Dobilas
Kerri Michaud
Cheryl Navarrete
Neva McMullen
Marianne
Samantha
Cindy

Now for my card...I used stamps from the new Stampin' Up Holiday Mini Catalog.
And, yes...I did SQUEEE a little bit when this card was finally put together!
Yes, those leaves are CUT OUT WITH SCISSORS (sorry for yelling)...and you all know how I hate to cut stuff out....but it just HAD to be done! And I really like how the layers turned out.

All from Stampin' Up!--Stamps: Gently Falling, Hand-Penned Holidays, Sanded (Background stamp); Ink: Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede; Cardstock: First Edition Specialty DSP, Soft Suede, Elegant Eggplant, More Mustard, Very Vanilla
Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, Concord Crush 1/2" stitched poly ribbon, Aqua Painter, Color Spritzer Tool

I stamped the leaves in Soft Suede on the First Edition DSP, then watercolored with my Aqua Painter in Elegant Eggplant and More Mustard inks...cut them out (GAH!) then adhered with with Stampin' Dimensionals. The background is stamped with Sanded in Crumb Cake, then spritzed with Elegant Eggplant. I used the Decorative Label Punch to give my sentiment piece a little trim (a trick I learned at Convention!) then used 2 punches of the label in Eggplant to cover the back of the sentiment.

Thanks so much for stopping by on this Blog Hop! As part of this fun day I'm giving away MORE BLOG CANDY!!! OMG this is my 3rd post in a row with Blog Candy!! Crazy! :D
So...leave a comment here on my blog--tell me your favorite Fall Holiday and why-- and your name will go in for a whole box of stampy goodness!!! I'll include some Unity Stamps, Stampin' Up Watercolor Crayons, some embellishments....I promise...this will be a huge goody box of goodness!! So please leave some comment love and let me know how you like this Hop we put together for you!!! :D

Comment by midnight CST on Thursday 9/8/11 and I'll post the winner on Friday!
Next on the Blog Hop is Joan Ervin...so please pay her a visit and see what she's made for you today!
Happy Labor Day!!
XOXO

Clean and simple...

2011-09-03T07:54:00.000-05:00

I love clean and simple (CAS) cards...my customers are loving them during our Stamp Club, too. I made this card several weeks ago for a Splitcoaststampers CAS challenge...and I think I got the idea from my friend Lydia (Understand Blue) to use punched DSP or embossed paper...how easy is THAT?!? I had scraps of it in and just punched out the squares and sponged it--I've used Wisteria Wonder, Tempting Turquoise and Melon Mambo (all Stampin' Up) here....sentiment is from Hope Happens.

You have to come back on Monday...my crafty twitter friends and I have put together a blog hop!

So be sure to see all the stampy goodness on Monday! ....and I'll have

BLOG CANDY again!!! SQUEEEE!!!!

And the winner....

2011-08-27T06:34:00.000-05:00

....is....via Random.org which generated the #6....Elizabeth W!!!!

I'm emailing you now for your address! Congrats!!!

Lots of stampy goodness going on this weekend....Stamp Club is meeting today and VSN is going on over at Splitcoaststampers.com! Check it out!

I'm posting this from my iPad and not very happy with my editing options, it makes me stabby. So I'll show you what I've been working on in another post...from a "real" computer...when I can type on my real keyboard! LOL

Have a great Saturday!!

Pennants...and MORE BLOG CANDY!!!!

2011-08-21T17:59:00.000-05:00

It's time for more blog candy!!! This week I'm giving away the background stamp Hello, Doily! Leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win!

This week's card I did for Splitcoaststamper's VSN flag/pennant challenge. I love VSN because part of the challenge is not working more than 45 minutes on a card. ISN'T THAT CRAZY!!! Believe me...that is a serious challege for me!

Stamps: Pennant Parade; Paper: Real Red, Pacific Point, Whisper White; Accessories: Petite Pennants Builder Punch, Big Shot, Dots Embossing Folder, White Satin Ribbon, Real Red grosgrain ribbon, Silver Brads, Baker's Twine in Cherry Cobbler

I've got my Stamp Club meeting this Saturday and I'm offering lots of stamps and accessories for SALE!!! SQUEEEEE!!! Once my club members have their chance to shop...I'll be listing what's left...so be sure to check my tab on the top of the blog page for what you can shop for!

Comment before midnight this THURSDAY August 25th for your chance to win Hello, Doily!!!
Thanks for stopping by!

And the winner is....

2011-08-14T16:57:00.001-05:00

Random.org generated the number 7 for me.... So.... CaMeaux is the lucky winner of the distressed dots background stamp since she was my 7th commenter!!! SQUEEEE!!!

Please email me your address so I can mail your stamp to you! Congrats!!!

I'm giving away more this week! Check back soon for details!!!

Balloons! And BLOG CANDY!!!!!

2011-08-08T18:55:00.001-05:00

I made a card for the Mini Virtual Stamp Night over on Splitcoaststampers last weekend and LOVED the challenge that said USE BRIGHT COLORS...absolutely NO problem for me whatsoever. I recently went through my box of ready-made cards and realized 90% of them are BRIGHT. Which fits my personality quite well since I'm kinda loud. hehe. I did throw in a little Pool Party (the teeny clouds) to tone it down a bit. Yeah....right.

I freaking LOVE THIS STAMP SET (Up Up and Away). I totally SQUEEEE'd out loud when I saw it in our new Catalog! I've seen hot air balloons for real once in my life....Abilene had a hot air balloon festival when we happened to be up there visiting my Brother in Law and his family. It's so amazing to see them in action. And the crazy people who are willing to stand in that teeny, tiny basket and fly HIGH in the sky!!! I'll watch safely from the ground thankyouverymuch!!!

Here's some pictures from the real thing....

Look at the TEENY TINY basket! GAH!!!

And my card...

All by Stampin' Up!--Stamps: Up Up and Away, Cardstock: Pear Pizzazz, Tempting Turqoise, Melon Mambo
Ink: Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Tangerine Tango, Daffodil Delight, Pear Pizzazz, Pool Party
Accessories: Scallop punch, circle punches, Corner Rounder punch, Stampin' Dimensionals

I used markers to color some of the balloons, and popped up some of them with dimensionals.

So...for the BLOG CANDY!!! I recently discovered I have ordered 2 different background stamps TWICE since our new catalog came out! That is how disorganized I am! (I also have flibbertigibbet tendencies...I know this. I also need an Organization Intervention in my Stamp Studio!!! GAH!!!) That also tells you how much I LOVE these particular stamps because I wanted to make sure I had them! BWAHAHAHAHA!!
So I'm going to have back-to-back blog posts with blog candy! CAN YOU STAND IT!!!
SO--to get your name in the hat for this week's stamp--the Stampin' Up! DISTRESSED DOTS background stamp--please leave a comment. You have until midnight CST, August 13th, 2011. I'll announce the winner on 8/14/2011! Good luck!

The Kitchen Cabinet Remodel!!!

2011-07-29T23:21:00.000-05:00

My kitchen is DONE! Well...actually I should say my cabinets are DONE--the "deglossing", painting, top coat....it all took 4 days longer than we expected...but they're DONE and we LOVE THEM!

SQUEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

The finished cabinets (they were honey oak, without hardware before)!

Now I do have a countertop refinishing kit...but I need to recover from this project...and we just finished painting my daughters bedrooms (pink AND green!) and I think I need some time to just relax. But that hunter green countertop is going to bother me a bit more and more and the weeks progress. But for now...I am VERY satisfied with my cabinets!

There's a MINI Virtual Stamp Night tonight and I've got cards to blog! Just wanted to get this photo up for you! :D

The best part of Salt Lake City.....

2011-07-26T08:21:00.001-05:00

I'm such a flibbertigibbet! I forgot my follow-up post from Stampin' Up Convention! (I KNOW you're all waiting to see the cabinets....the doors and hardware are going on TODAY and I'll be posting pictures of that crazy enormous project tonight....but I HAD to share some fun pictures from SLC!!!)

Truly, the best part of that insanely fun convention week of running around is spending time with friends you don't normally get to see!

Lydia, Cheryl and I got to walk the stage for recruiting this year in Stampin' Up!

The last day in Salt Lake, my friend Melanie, picked me up from my hotel, took me to dinner at Cafe Rio (omg NOM NOM NOM WE SERIOUSLY NEED ONE IN SAN ANTONIO!!!!) and then we drove up to Snowbird Ski Resort!! GORGEOUS!!! My camera absolutely doesn't do it justice (and I let my husband know this so he knows what to get me for upcoming b'day or Christmas!)

Now... the drive UP to the resort made me a little nervous....they don't have guardrails on all the turns up the mountain (!!!!!!!!!!! WTH !!!!!!!!!!!) but since I didn't see a lot of fiery car wreckage in the ravines or tire tracks going off the side of the roads as we were driving up I felt a little better. Sheesh.
The scenery was so beautiful driving up (and back) I kept trying to take pictures out of the moving vehicle. Right. Those pics didn't turn out so well. Hahahahhahahaha.

But these did:

Here's a close up of those mountains you see back there.....

OMG

The resort was PACKED with people....understandably since it was so beautiful and the air was DIVINE. There was still some snow you could see....

I basically walked around with my mouth gaping open saying stupid things like "OMG the chair lifts are so HIGH OFF THE GROUND!! I would NEVER ride that!" To which Melanie said "Well, when there's snow on the ground, it's not so high then." Bwahahahaha!!!

I looked up at the side of the mountain and then at the rushing river of melted snow (hint Dana....THINK.....but no.....instead I said) "Wow, so you ski down the mountain, and how do you avoid skiing into the river?" As soon as those words were out of my mouth I started to BWAHAHAHA because they were all telling me "well the river is FROZEN silly and covered with snow" BWAHAHAHAHA truly a dumb blonde moment. I still giggle thinking about that! DUH!

My sweet friend Melanie!

Thank you again Melanie! XOXOXOX

Cabinet makeover

2011-07-23T11:46:00.001-05:00

Since I returned from convention....THIS has been my enormous project (forgive the grainy, low-light, iPad photo!).... My kitchen cabinet makeover!! They were a honey oak with no hardware and I'm painting them black/espresso and adding brushed nickel hardware!!! SQUEEEEEEE!!!! I can't wait to show the before/after photos!!! Just a few days more.....

Look what was made....

2011-07-14T13:43:00.000-05:00

....with the upcoming Stampin' Up! Score Board!! There are features on this board that are so much better than other boards out there--can't wait to share with you when the Holiday Mini comes out!!

2011-07-14T11:44:00.002-05:00

The Holiday Mini is going to be amazing!! New dies, 1" square punch! New fabrics and a cookie press AND A SCORE BOARD!

Convention Swap-Double Embossing!!

2011-07-14T07:39:00.001-05:00

So here is what I was working on until 1 am before I had to leave for SLC. my WOW swap for our dinner last night--I actually had several variations of this swap since I had several colors I was working with from the Beyond the Garden DSP. Stamps are Fabulous Florets and Grateful Greetings...

Double Embossing--use an embossing folder AND embossing powder! Isn't it awesome! I totally SQUEEE'd!!!

You'll notice the bottom card looks a little "over sprayed" ...it was my husband's favorite. He said "that one is awesome, it looks like it was shot with a shotgun." Bwahahahahaa!!! I thought it would be the last to get chosen last night...but the ladies loved it! I have more pics on my camera I need to upload on my laptop (archaic...I know! HA!)

xoxo
Dana

On my way to Convention!!!! SQUEEEE!!!!

2011-07-13T07:23:00.000-05:00

I was up until 1 am finishing swaps and packing for today! Gah! I'm at the airport now and I'll have updates for you....(and actually learning a bit from Lydia who is LIVE STREAMING from Convention this year!)

Stay tuned!!! SQUEEEEEE!!!!

My little Firecracker

2011-07-04T13:56:00.000-05:00

Today isn't only a day to celebrate our Nation's birth....it's also my oldest girl's birthday!

Isn't she GORGEOUS!?!? OMG!!!

Stamps: July Fourth, (sentiment-retired); Smooch spritz in blue and red; Circle Punch

Happy Birthday Madison Paige!!!! We love you!!!

Lots to SQUEEE about!!

2011-07-04T10:52:00.001-05:00

The new Stampin' Up catalog is here and it is the best catalog EVAH in my opinion....I love it! In my 9 years with Stampin' Up it is by far the prettiest and most creative catalog yet!

Shop online 24/7 on my website www.darthsunshine.stampinup.net

AND for the month of July, you can sign up for only $99!! This is a special kit for customers who may have been stamping who have the basics and want to get started as a Demonstrator. Click HERE for more details...

The added bonus if you sign up in July is you and I both will receive this special Christmas Keepsake project kit...a $40 value!

How about a card?! I HAVE been stamping!

I did direct to paper technique with the NEW IN COLOR stamp pads--Calypso Coral, Pool Party and Lucky Limeade...then stamped the surfboards from Summer Splash (Summer Mini catalog) and the sentiment is from Sunny Fun (Summer Mini catalog).

Stampin' Up's convention is next week! Lydia and I fly out next Wednesday for 4 days of fun and inspiration and NOM NOM NOMs! I can't wait!!! SQUEEEEE!!

Multitasking...

2011-06-19T18:54:00.002-05:00

I'm finally feeling like things are getting back to normal around here--I had stamp class last Saturday, we have Stamp Club beginning this Satuday and it will run through October! YAY! I'm walking without a limp and my knee is feeling really good! YAYAYAYA!!! and...

The stitches are FINALLY coming out of my KNEE!!! SQUEEE! Some of my friends have said "Dana, seriously, you can take out those stitches, can't you?" (don't forget I'm an RN and I do own a suture removal kit)....however, I used to work at the hospital where I had surgery and take care of my doctor's patients and he would NOT appreciate it if I go into my appointment tomorrow morning and my sutures are already out. Nope. So...since I have to go in and pay a co-pay anyway (grumble grumble) I'm going to let my awesome doctor go ahead and follow through on his care for me.

Anyway...on to the FUN STUFF! I decided to multitask this week! (HA! That's a joke right? Who can really say they multitask?! Because my attention really has to be 100% on one thing at a time....but I digress....)

I'm participating in TWO challenges! I like sketch challenges, and the MOJO Monday one is great, and thankfully I never forget WHEN that challenge begins...ON MONDAY! So here's the sketch:

Also, Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger totally made me SQUEEEE when I saw it!!! LOVE THOSE COLORS!!!

And here's my card:

Stamps: Stampin' Up Delicate Doilies, Word Play
Paper: SU Lucky Limeade, Tempting Turquoise, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: SU Lucky Limeade, Island Indigo, Melon Mambo, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White
Accessories: SU Boho Blossom Punch, Fancy Label Punch, MFT Doily Die, Pumpkin Pie grosgrain ribbon, Corner Chomper, SU Mini Glue Dots, SU Stampin' Dimensionals, Silver brads, Wild Wasabi embossing powder

See those green brads? I don't have green brads, or pink, or blue. I couldn't believe it when I got to this step in my card because I have probably EVERY OTHER ACCESSORY AVAILABLE in the stamping world. No joke. I didn't even have SMALL white brads...I had BIG ones but I needed small....so I decided to heat emboss green embossing powder on silver brads. Pretty cool. Use tweezers to hold your brad and it takes about 3 "dips" in the powder while your brad is hot and then embossed for the desired result. I totally SQUEEEE'd when I was doing it.

Today is also Father's Day...I have an awesome dad and an amazing hubby who are so both incredible! I should really time my blog posts better and include the Father's Day stuff I have...but I do have this for you:

hehe!

I'm making The Pioneer Woman's Burgundy Mushrooms and grilling filet mignons for hubby for dinner. I'm taking my dad out to lunch this week to a Brazilian Steakhouse...nom nom nom!

Recuperating...

2011-06-12T21:07:00.000-05:00

Knee surgery went very well--no complications and thankfully I wasn't intubated, which means I didn't wake up with that horrendous sore throat! Yay!

Now that I'm in recuperation mode I can say it is TERRIBLY hard for me to just sit still. And I can't just sit. I have had to elevate my left leg because it has been swelling terribly. Pfffth. So this means it has made even stamping difficult for me. It's made me a little grumpy, actually. Stamping withdrawal. Now that it's been a full week I'm hoping I'll be able to tolerate sitting up longer. I'm dying to get back into my stamp room now that summer has begun. It's not all a waste--I'm a huge movie watcher--so have been able to watch the foreign films and "chick flicks" my husband doesn't care to watch....and still love watching the Sci-Fi and Action ones, too! (I'm about to watch the new Star Trek "reboot" from 2009!)

A couple of weeks ago Lydia and I met up with Libby and Lisa and went to the Renegade Craft Fair in Austin...and I've had pictures from that day since then I promised I would email to them. Have I mentioned I put the PRO in procrastination? HA! I am just now emailing those pictures!! Here's my favorite!

I'll be playing with several challenges this summer--like Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger--so my next post will have a card for you. PROMISE!
What are some of your favorite challenges?

The countdown begins...

2011-06-04T00:27:00.003-05:00

Summer is here! Finally! I'm so glad...so ready for the time off! And my summer begins with KNEE SURGERY! Yay! Pfffth. Thankfully it's not major and I'll only be on crutches for 3 days. Summer also means it's time for a new Stampin' Up catalog! And Convention! SQUEEEE!!! But before that, we must have the LAST CHANCE LIST....the stamps and accessories that will be retiring in the current catalog when the new catalog is released July 1st.
And I've got the new catalog....and it is BY FAR the best Stampin' Up catalog I have EVER seen! EVAH!!!!! SQUEEEEE!!!

My next stamp class is June 11th (providing that surgery goes well on the 6th!)

Glimmery gauze....

2011-05-15T21:48:00.002-05:00

I loooove challenges--they help me focus when I'm trying to create a card--and the "gamer chick" in me loves the teeny bit of competition involved....even if the competition is myself against the clock. *cough*
So...I've known all week about Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger Challenge ...and even had the idea for my card ALL WEEK...but when did I make the card? Tonight...mere hours ahead of the deadline. At least I still have hours. Whatever, I digress...on with the card! Here was our inspiration:

I used "ancient" fabric gauze roll...the kind nurses from the "dark ages" (HA! probably the early 80's...when I was a tweener!) used to dress wounds (I found some in the school clinic I took over last year (I'm pretty sure the prior nurse didn't actually USE it... I hope!) and thought "I could get crafty with this!" and promptly stowed it in my studio!) with the Big Shot Fun Flowers Die. I took the gauze flowers and spritzed them with glimmer mists--Stampin' Up's Gold Glow, one I made with Stampin' Up's Wild Wasabi and Shimmer Paint (white) with water in a spray bottle (the awesome Mel McCarthy outlines on her blog HERE), Tattered Angels' mists in Key Lime Pie and Tiger Lily (the coral color you see), then layered with Wild Wasabi, So Saffron and Very Vanilla cardstock before placing on the card. My original plan was do ALL gauze flowers, but the gauze was so transparent, the colors began to wash out a bit. I can begin to overthink a card too much, too, so I decided to just GO with it and used the very vanilla brads to keep the layers in place.

Sentiment: Stampin' Up's Touch of Kindness

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron

Ink: Wild Wasabi

Accessories: Big Shot Fun Flowers Die, Glimmer Mists, gauze, very vanilla brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

Happy Mother's Day! and the winner....

2011-05-08T22:33:00.001-05:00

First of all....congrats to Babe O'Mara for winning my blog candy in my previous post!
Random.org generated the number 35....and she was the lucky winner! She'll be receiving an email from me shortly!

Hope all of you who have loved a creature had a wonderful day today. My girls made me breakfast in bed (which included BACON! nom nom nom!), created a foot bath of sea salts and green tea, and made me a HUGE card that included this awesome phrase "You are our wise Yoda, awesome Wonder Woman and will Live Long and Prosper"...now have I raised my (geeky) children right or WHAT?!? SO CUTE!
We then saw Thor at IMAX in 3D!

Here's a faux fabric card for today...

All cardstock was run through my Big Shot with embossing folders. That stamp is from Stampin' Up! Easter Blossoms. :)

Have a fabulous week! Hubby and I are celebrating our wedding anniversary later this week (the 13th...best number EVAH!) and I've got to make some Star Wars cards!

The card that went around the world....BLOG HOP!!

2011-05-04T06:06:00.000-05:00

Well....not quite around the world....more like around the Northern Hemisphere. Literally...as in all over the US AND Canada....BOOYA!!!

I know you're confused....So, my blog is just one stop among many on our BLOG HOP for our Sweet Sue....and it all begins with Lydia who will explain it all on her blog which is also Stop Number ONE....so if you started on my blog, back up one to Lydia and see how this began....then come back here and see how our Progressive Card for our wonderful friend Sue made its way across the globe...errrr....Northern Hemisphere.

Here was my contribution to our Progressive Card...I added the dictionary page that included "Ireland"...since Sue is Irish....and was actually celebrating her mother's life in Ireland while we were making this card for her.

In celebration of Sue FINALLY opening her mail (LOVE YOU SUE!!!) I'm giving away BLOG CANDY!!! SQUEEEE!!! This is major for me...first time for a giveaway! So here's a little picture of just SOME of the goodies I'm giving away....stamp sets, Sizzix dies, ribbon, a carryall...and I'll throwing in some ink and paper and BLING (which isn't pictured)!! SQUEEE!!!

How to win? Leave some comment love here before Sunday, May 8th at 9 pm CST and I'll randomly draw a winner! SQUEEE!!!

Here are the rest of my friends (the majority of I know through Twitter) I who participated in this awesome idea of our Progressive Card for Sue:

1. Lydia (understandblue, my BFF (Bwahahaha-Friend-Forever!) she has the backstory...be sure to start at her blog first), Texas

2. Dana (darthsunshine)...YOU'RE HERE :D, Texas

3. Mary Dawn (mypinkmexico), Kentucky

4. Leslie (crookedstamper), Maryland

5. Lisa A. (papergrace), California

6. Michelle (hanwayink), Nova Scotia, Canada

7. Dreena (prairiepaperie), Alberta, Canada

9. Tara L. , British Columbia, Canada

and then to Sue....in Vancouver, BC, Canada :D

Best. Blog. Hop. EVAH! xoxo

Seriously LOVE.....

2011-05-02T13:35:00.000-05:00

Now THIS is the way I like to use cleaning products....bleach specifically.

I SQUEEEE'd quite a bit when I finished this card. Love love love LOVE it!!!

I specifically LOVE this stamp set--Fabulous Florets-- and it's from Stampin' Up's new Summer Mini Catalog!! SQUEEEE!!! Click on the link in my side bar -->> to see the full catalog if you haven't received one in the mail from me. (or email /contact me ASAP to get your own copy of this into your hands!)

After I stamped my flowers, I painted with bleach (undiluted, I figured out the hard way HAHAHA) and allowed to dry (or you can use a heat tool/gun to expedite that process if you're impatient like me!)
I colored with pencils, and softened the color with Stampin' Up! Blender Pen

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Fabulous Florets
Paper: Stampin' Up! Crumb Cake
all products can be purchased through my website www.darthsunshine.stampinup.net

I'm attending a class taught by Fred Mullet tonight at Stamp Antonio Arts and I am SERIOUSLY excited!
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Lemme know what you think...I don't hate comments you know!
hehe
XOXO

A Kiss for Easter...

2011-04-24T15:54:00.000-05:00

Last night at our Church's Easter service, we saw a really neat video...a modern retelling of the story of Jesus.

Since I spend time in the twitterverse--I enjoyed this version. Hope you like it!

Now, for my Easter card...

Weeks ago I saw Lydia (Understand Blue) and Leslie (Crooked Stamper) play with the Kissing Technique and completely SQUEEEE'd when I saw it and knew I'd have to try! I spent an hour trying many different color combonations/contrasts to see what would look best...and I decided on this:

All supplies Stampin' Up! Stamps: Ornate Blossom, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper/Ink: Certainly Celery, Melon Mambo
Stampin' Up! 3" and 3.5" Bigz dies, dots embossing folders, window punch, corner chomper

Happy Easter!

Bliss

2011-04-09T21:34:00.000-05:00

Here's a cute card using the Bliss Stamp set from the Sale-A-Bration (SAB) catalog...which is now retired. Sorry. :( It's my favorite set from this year's SAB. I grumbled a bit cutting out the butterflies and flowers hahaha....and used direct ink to paper on the edges of the butterflies to have them stand out a little bit.

Stamp set: SU! Bliss, Sale-A-Bration 2011
Ink: SU! Crumb Cake, Melon Mambo, Early Espresso, Certainly Celery, Basic Black, Bermuda Bay
Cardstock: SU! Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Crumb Cake, Whisper White scrap
Accessories: Paper piercing kit

Manly card and major abdominal workout...

2011-04-02T00:06:00.000-05:00

My daughter requested a get well card for one of her teachers who was going to have surgery. I literally made this at the last minute...using the scallop punches and the super cute whale stamp. No bling...it was for a man hahaha.

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Pun Fun, Dot Dot Dot, Solid Stripes, Checkerboard background stamp (retired)

Ink: Stampin' Up! Brilliant Blue (retired), Pacific Point, Baja Breeze

Paper: SU! Crumb Cake, Temping Turquoise, Brilliant Blue, Baja Breeze

Accessories: XL Scallop Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, XL Circle Punch

My brother, Skip, spent the week with us for Spring Break....and I encouraged Lydia to break away from her day job to come meet us at The Salt Lick for some amazing BBQ and laughs. Good times!

Two of the funniest people I know. My abs got a good workout!!

This weekend is the San Antonio Highland Games....all things Scottish! SQUEEE!! I just realized I don't have a proper celtic or Scottish stamp...I'll have to remedy that promptly!

Butterflies....

2011-03-13T09:54:00.000-05:00

My wonderful grandmother collected butterflies. Anything that had a butterfly on it she would enjoy as a gift. That made it easy to shop for her. This involved REAL butterflies, too. She had glass cases with butterflies mounted inside--this one particular tray she had mesmorized me with how beautiful they are, and when she passed away I asked to have that tray as a memory of her. My kids were HORRIFIED when they saw it. We all see beauty in different things (as I not think about how those butterflies were sacrificed for decoration...) GAH!!!

Ok...ok...this blog post is going downhill fast....lets get to why I'm talking about butterflies! Eva Dobilas is having a Butterfly Blog Linky Party today (and I'm fashionably late to the party HAHA!)

Here is my creation for her linky party...

I used Stampin' Up's Beautiful Wings Embosslit to make my kaleidoscope of butterflies

Cardstock used: SU! Craft, Ruby Red, Thoroughly Modern DSP

Stamps: SU! En Francais, Flight of the Butterfly

Thanks for stopping by! Check out Eva's other participants...like my friend Lydia's! I LOVE HER CARD!

A personal challenge

2011-03-06T18:34:00.000-06:00

I have spent the last several weeknights going to bed at an INSANELY early hour--before 9 pm. I don't even know what happened to last week. Not sure if it was allergies, my body fighting a virus or what...but my body revolted and decided I needed REST. I hate that. When I'm so busy/tired I can't even enjoy my evenings. I didn't even STAMP. Quelle Horreur!! I am SO. READY. for Spring Break! 5 more days...

For a few weeks now I've been following the umpteen million Stamper Challenges out in the bloggersphere thinking I would combine a few challenges and submit them....but it's overwhelming how many I enjoy and would like to do....so I don't do any of them! HAHAHAAAA!! (It didn't help I also slept during such time as I would stamp! GAH!) I have decided I would do my own personal challenge this week--to use a stamp set that is on my shelf I haven't used yet AND an accessory that I haven't played with. Maybe I'll make this a regular thing....
I discovered today I have a plethora of buttons....but I mention this and didn't even use buttons on my card!! Yeah, so I have a LOT of accessories. Tons. Loads. I used some ribbon I've been hoarding. Hadn't even opened it since they're my FAVORITE colors EVAH--Stampin' Up's Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango. These colors, combined with Baja Breeze, make me seriously happy.

(One of the hospitals I worked at in Labor and Delivery had surgical scrubs that were Baja Breeze with a Tangerine Tango drawstring tie--I loved those scrubs. You couldn't really see the pretty tangerine tie...but I knew it was there! When Stampin' Up came out with Tangerine Tango and Baja Breeze colors (In Colors) I SQUEEEEE'd so loudly!!! Ahhh...I digress...)

I also realized after I made this card that my last blogged card included the same colors! (Have I mentioned how tired I was this week?)

I used Build A Blossom stamp set with the Blossom Petals XL Punch ...this Peach Parfait and Tangerine Tango flower makes me so happy! The sentiment is from Perfect Punches stamp set and colored with a Pacific Point and Tangerine Tango Marker. The Baja Breeze layer is stamped with the palms from Tropical Party Stamp Set (which is now only available as a My Digital Studio Download) but I have the stamp set which was not used prior to today. The ribbon I finally opened and used for this card is the Pacific Point striped grosgrain and Tangerine Tango polka dot ribbon which is no longer available (GAH!).

Next week for Spring Break my brother, Skip, is flying out from San Diego to spend the week with us---SO. EXCITED!!! My girls are almost as excited as I am. He is one of the funniest people I know so I'll be getting an excellent abdominal workout all week! Can't wait!

Thanks for stopping by! What will you be doing for Spring Break? Leave a comment and share what your favorite colors are to work with...

Have a great day!

XOXO

Why stamping keeps me sane....

2011-02-24T23:52:00.000-06:00

I have 3 children. Three daughters. (My mom jokes that is PAYBACK. ahem.) Most of the time they are the greatest joy EVAH. But, let me be more specific. They are 16, 12 and 11 years old. All in puberty. Yeah. That means Hormones. Attitude. I MUST have the IQ of a walnut most days. They are good girls. Loving and a LOT of fun. I've taught them how to BWAHAHAA like their momma. And they're also die-hard Star Wars fans. Yes, I know how to raise my children correctly. I know my priorities.

Kayci (11), Madison (16), and Delaney (12)

Oh...back to being the biggest joy...well, sometimes. Like today. My 16 year old, who is kind of dragging her feet on learning how to drive calls me today to come pick her up from her tennis tournament because she's done playing and she doesn't have to take the bus back to school. Ok, so I drive 40 minutes out of town to pick her up. When I get there, however, she discovers that NO she cannot leave...she has another round to play. I turn around to drive home because she doesn't know when she'll be on the court and I have a stamping class to prep for. GAH! I proceed to call my hubby and leave him a loooong voicemail spewing my frustration. We decide to punish her--her choice--of either taking away her phone/computer for 24 hours OR she can choose to sit in the car for 80 minutes (my round trip time wasted) without radio, ipod, book or phone. Just. Sit. There. To hopefully learn a lesson about NOT ASSUMING ANYTHING.

So what did I do while she sat in my car (in the garage) for 80 minutes...???

I made a card!!! And I was soooo happy when I was done. Yes, stamping keeps me sane. I don't need blood pressure medication. I just need time to stamp!

And...It's that time again....FRIENDS WITH FLAIR blog hop!
What? You don't know what I'm talkin' about? Unity Stamp Company recruits 50 volunteers to stamp a card with Unity or Ippity stamps and we all share and SQUEEEEE over one anothers cards.

I have a hard time designing cards on my own....but I am WAY excited about this week's card because I didn't CASE (Copy And Steal Everything) this from someone else. When I was finished I had to SQUEEE a little bit.

Stamp set: Ippity Music Of My Heart Paper: Stampin' Up! Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Naturals White

Ink: SU! Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Basic Black, Real Red

Accessories: SU! Full Heart Punch

I had a lot of fun "mutilating" errr.... distressing my paper for this card. The Pacific Point layer behind the white is pulled apart for a sueded look. I used my Stampin' Up! bone folder to curl the corners of the white layer. I stamped scraps of white with the larger background sheet music stamp in Tangerine Tango and punched hearts then softened the paper with my bone folder and sponged the edges. The background is stamped in Pacific Point with the same sheet music stamp and sponged (I used a scrap piece of paper torn to mask off the middle of paper). The sentiment stamp was colored with SU! markers in Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Real Red for the heart and Basic Black.

So. Much. Fun! Be sure to check out the other "hoppers" on this Blog Hop! Thanks for stopping by and please leave some comment love!

Oh...and did Maddie learn her lesson? We think so. After she vented on Facebook about her punishment, she did say she will "never assume anything again." Yes, my job here is done.

Have a fabulous weekend!
XOXO

Stamp A Stack of Cards on Feb. 26th!

2011-02-21T00:31:00.000-06:00

Spring Break is 15 school days away and I could not be more excited! My brother, Skip, is flying in for the week and my girls cannot wait to see him. I'll be getting my laugh on for sure, he is the funniest person I know and he'll have me laughing pretty much nonstop when he's here. Can. Not. Wait!

Anyway, with Spring Break on the brain, I really can't get away from using pink in my cards lately. I was laughing at myself when I'd finally decided on the 3 cards we'll make this coming Saturday. They all have a form of pink in them. Well, lemme just show them to you:

Stamp set: Teahouse Background stamp, Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White

Ink: Versamark, Pink Pirouette, Regal Rose

Accessories: Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder

This card design is CASE'd from a Thank You card I received from my friend, Lydia

Stamp sets: Artistic Etchings, Define Your Life, Elements of Style, Sanded Background Stamp

Build a Blossom stamp set and Blossom Petals XL Punch. En Francais background stamp

Ink: Crumb Cake, Regal Rose, Pink Pirouette

All supplies are Stampin' Up

Details for Saturday, 2/26:

Spring Stamp A Stack of Cards,

10 am to 12 pm

You'll make 2 each of 3 designs (above), price includes envelopes

Cost: $15.00, unless you place a $40 order then class cost is waived.

It's SALE-A-BRATION so for every $50 you purchase you choose a free item from the Sale-A-Bration Catalog! WHOO HOOO!

Please RSVP by Wednesday, 2/23...which is also my OPEN HOUSE NIGHT!!!

Come and go anytime between 5-7 pm to pick up the Occasions Mini Catalog, Sale-A-Bration Catalog and shop my retired stamps and accessories!

Check out my Stampin' Up website for details on all upcoming events and get project idea and SHOP ONLINE!

http://www.darthsunshine.stampinup.net/

We interrupt this busy week to bring you....The Flu.

2011-02-15T21:49:00.000-06:00

Just an FYI--my Debut Open House scheduled for tomorrow night has been bumped back a week to 2/23 because my hubby has the flu! Boo!!! :(

Any questions or comments please don't hesitate to call or email me! Details are also on my Stampin' Up website: www.darthsunshine.stampinup.net

Trying to stay flu-free over here,

Working on the studio...

2011-02-13T22:52:00.000-06:00

My 2 biggest faults (these are self-proclaimed...we're not talking to my hubby!) are lack or organization and time management (otherwise known as Procrastination). The organization issue I have stumps me because when I'm at work I'm borderline OCD. Well....a little MORE than borderline. I think this is from my days when I worked as a bank teller. All currency HAS to face the same way in the drawer, and the entire job is about detail. You have to be organized when handling thousands of dollars of cash every day...or you may spend hours looking for an outage because you can't balance your drawer. Of course this didn't happen to me because I was sooo meticulous. :D hehe

Anyway, I digress. And who doesn't have issues with procrastination?

This weekend was dedicated to organizing the stamp studio. Especially after I saw this post by the Stampy Goddess Lisa Spangler. I mean, really?!?! I'm sorry Lisa, but that is not "messy". Lemme show you "messy" mkay?

This is the table to the left of my main desk. This pile in front of my ink pad storage is mostly class layouts I've printed and "stacked" there. They will eventually be bound and filed on the bookshelf above this table. Key word is EVENTUALLY.

Here's the table in the center of my studio. Um...yeah. The plastic bag is full of the irreverant stamps I bought at the stamp show I went to in Dallas a few weeks ago. (see?!? Procrastination!) Also, there are several UNFINISHED projects in piles on this table. My goal this weekend was to sort and/or finish those cards and file them away to eventually give to someone. But instead, I worked on the following:

I FINALLY organized my Nestabilities!!! YAY ME!!!!! Lydia gave me the idea to take magnetic vent covers, trim them to mount on chipboard, then file your dies. This is SOOOO much easier than sorting through a big pile of them! And fortunately I already had a file box ready to go to put these in! SQUEEEE!!!

I spent the rest of the weekend cracking the whip getting my offspring to clean their rooms and OHMUGUH I understand why some species eat their young. (JUST KIDDING!!!)

I have my Sale-A-Bration Open House this week! Wednesday from 5-7 pm and it's come-and-go if you want to shop some of my retired/duplicate items/stamps/punches and pick up a catalog. Email or call me to let me know you're coming by! Of course...this means I'll be cleaning up!!! :D

Stampin' Up!, Cupcakes and valentines

2011-02-06T22:17:00.000-06:00

First off I need to share I am a STAMPIN' UP DEMONSTRATOR again!! SQUEEEEEEE!!!! Again I'll be holding classes and will start my Stamp Club back up beginning in March!! SQUEEEE!!! You can shop online, get project ideas and view my calendar at my Stampin' Up Website 24/7!!

My oldest daughter (age 16) has been nagging (haha) me for weeks to stamp some cards with her....so finally this weekend we got to hang out together in the studio!! She is totally hooked. (WIN!)
My youngest "daughter" decided she wanted to help as well:

HA! This is Chibi, my Bichon Frise, who has to be wherever I am. Soooo cute!!

One of my best friends has a birthday this week and for ONCE I'm actually sending a birthday card BEFORE the actual birthday.

I got to play with Stampin' Up's Create a Cupcake stamp set and the Build A Cupcake punch. I love cupcakes. I mean LOOOOVE cupcakes. Lydia and I both frequent Sugar Mamas in Austin...serious NOM NOM NOMs. Here in San Antonio the closest version of them is Saweet Cupcakes....but alas they're not very convenient...but we did get to pick up some Strawberry Mango, PB Chocolate and Coconut nom noms yesterday. YAY Stamping AND CUPCAKES in the same weekend!!!

Maddie made some cute cards for her boyfriend using Lawnfawn stamps and some Stampin' Up, too. She worked completely independently of me and designed her own cards. These cards are seriously better than anything I did my first year of stamping!

I'm so proud! Look:

Maddie used Lawnfawn's My Silly Valentine clear stamp sets for both of these cards. Soooo cute!!

Thanks for stopping by!

I love a challenge!

2011-01-24T21:06:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite websites is Splitcoaststampers (SCS)...they have tutorials, galleries of gorgeous cards, forums to talk about anything stamping...and well, anything at all really. I could spend HOURS there. Another fun fact is their Community Manager is my dear friend Lydia.
This past Friday was a Mini Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) on Splitcoaststampers! There is a new challenge every hour and you usually have a time limit in which to work. I have a love/hate relationship with parameters like that...but honestly I get more done when I'm trying to rush through it in 45 minutes. SO FUN!!! So I played this weekend, but only really liked 2 of my finished products and wanted to share them with you.

This first card required quite a bit... it was a sketch challenge (meaning we follow the original design/sketch of the card), needed to have a punched flower, the only stamped item could be the sentiment and we had to use the following colors: Red, Pink, Green (I used Stampin' Up's Cherry Cobbler, Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss).

My flower is made from using a Sizzix Bigz die-- Beauty Bloom (made from a retired SU Designer Series Paper that has GLITTER on it! SQUEEE!) and anchored with a very vanilla brad. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up! In A Word set. That awesome wavy punch is an EK Success border punch. Me likey!

This card was for the Entwined Hearts Challenge...at least 2 images had to "entwine" and they should be hearts if we had them. Here I used Stampin' Up! sets SweatHeart and I{Heart} Hearts in the following SU colors: So Saffron, Melon Mambo, Bermuda Bay, Pumpkin Pie and Real Red.

I've been out of the Stampin' Up realm for a few months...took a little time "off" to work on other things, but plan to pick that part of my business back up in February--along with Stamp Club (SQUEEEEE) and classes again! YAY!!! Very excited!

Hope you're surviving the Cedar Pollen storm we're experiencing here. I'm STILL not 100% Pfffth. Allergies.

Thanks for stopping my and seeing my stampy goodness!

a true friend....

2011-01-20T23:33:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I got to spend some time with my bestest friend from high school EVAH! Stephanie and I hadn't seen each other in 13 years and it was like no time whatsoever had passed....the minute I walked in the door of her GORGEOUS home (at 11 pm!) we just started catching up....until almost 4 am!

She and I met way back in 1984..... my family moved from San Diego, California to Waco, Texas. I began my freshman year in high school in Waco, Texas after living several years in California. I was a girl with short-short hair, did NOT carry a purse, didn't wear jeans, or ropers or listen to country music. In Central Texas. Freshman Year. Yeah, it was awkward. Culture shock.

I share all this to say...awkward, weirdo me then met Stephanie...who made my few years in Central Texas the best EVAH. We consistently had more fun than should be allowed--getting in trouble for laughing in Physical Science, and volleyball practice...and youth group lunches....(until I moved to Corpus Christi halfway through my junior year in high school.) And we've stayed good friends all this time.

She's one of the funniest people I know. So, knowing me and my crazy laugh....I laugh a LOT when I'm with her.

So much fun. And I'm so grateful to have had last weekend with her! THANK YOU STEPH!!

One of the things I got to do last weekend was attend the Stamp, Scrap and Art Tour in Mesquite--and Steph came with me so I could show her a bit of my obession--stamping! I bought some new Nestabilities, and irreverant stamps that I'll show off in future stampy goodness. But for now...here are a couple of cards...

First, from one of Stampin' Up's Simply Sent Card Kits:

I love that glitter...and these kits are great when you just want a quick card...all the elements are there, you don't really have to think about it and the kits even include a stampin' spot (mini stamp pad) along with all the embellishments! Awesomeness.

This card was fun to make. Well....I can say that now that it's done and super cute....but WHILE I was making it I was thinking "another step? more cutting? ugh" because this card takes some time...embossing the background, softening and wrinkling cardstock so you can peel apart the layers for the "suede" look, cutting by hand tiny flowers, brads, ribbon etc etc etc...you get the picture. However, once it's all in place it totally made me SQUEEEE!!!!

(All supplies from Stampin' Up)

Thanks for stopping by...come back again soon!

XOXO

Something to think about.

2011-01-10T21:22:00.000-06:00

I received this as an email today. And it is too good NOT to share via my blog! Stampy goodness is coming, I promise....so in the meantime...enjoy this. I did!!!!

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE
1930s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s!!
First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then, after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets, And, when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps, not helmets, on our heads.
As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes..
Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren't overweight.

WHY?

Because we were always outside playing...that's why!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day.
--And, we were OKAY..
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes..
After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth...and there were no lawsuits from those accidents.
We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.
We ate worms, and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and -although we were told it would happen- we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.
Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers, and inventors ever.
The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of those born between 1925-1975, CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Toning it down just a bit...

2011-01-06T12:50:00.000-06:00

Do you notice that you don't have an instant migraine when you look at my blog page now? Yeah, me too. I'm suffering from the worst Cedar allergy/sinus headache EVAH and thought I'd begin 2011 by toning things down a bit. The white still complements my awesome blog header that Lydia designed for me...and now I don't feel the need to wear sunglasses when reading my blog page.

Enjoy...and I hope the chemical wonders of this world are keeping your Cedar Fever at bay....they are for me!

And rounding out 2010.....with a Blog Hop!!

2010-12-31T02:17:00.000-06:00

Friends With Flair Blog Hop!!! SQUEEEE!!!
I've begun to acquire so many amazing Unity and Ippity Stamp sets that creating a card....just one card to share for today's blog hop was rather difficult!
Love that.
Seriously. It's like when you pack for vacation and you're not sure what you want to wear when so you overpack....but you're prepared for ANYTHING on vacation. My stamp collection is like that. However I can spend a VERY LONG time trying to decide what to wear/what to stamp.
C'est la vie--I'd rather have too much than not enough. This is how hoarders are made, right? HAHAHA :D

Here's my card this week:

Stamps used: Unity Birdie Duet; Ippity Bit of Burlap (spring 2010 collection)

Paper: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake; Basic Grey Basics Manilla and Curio Paper pads

Ink: Stampin' Up Early Espresso; Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tea Dye

Accessories: Martha Stewart Scoring Board; Stampin' Up ribbon; adhesive pearls.

Unity is having a sale right now through Jan. 3rd so be sure to check it out!

Be sure to check out all the other blogs on the hop!

Thanks for stopping by! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Happy New Year!!!!

xoxo

Dana

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T12:51:00.000-06:00

For 2011 I decided I'm going to make 10 Christmas cards a month. At least that is my PLAN (bwahaha! Remember ....this from the woman who puts the PRO in procrastination!) because again I was scrambling to get a Christmas card together in November. I decided on 2 different cards and completely CASE'd (copy & steal everything LOL) from 2 amazing artists-- Lydia and Makiko.

Remember the moon Kitchen Sink Stamp set I mentioned in my earlier post...I used it to CASE a card of Makiko's but I used Stampin' Up's Wandering Words, colored with a Real Red marker and stamped over that amazing moon :)

SQUEEEEEE! Isn't that gorgeous!!

Also used: Hero Arts tree stamp, SU Designer label punch, all cardstock-ribbon-ink is Stampin' Up!

And here's Lydia's GORGEOUS card from last year. I changed up the embossing design...

Lydia, pure genius....and I could only send this card to non-stamping friends since we got this card from her last year heehee :D (Hence needing the 2 card designs!)

Merry Christmas friends, thanks for looking here. :) Hope you have a wonderful Holiday and fabulous New Year! XOXO

Best time of year (and busiest!!!)

2010-12-24T16:45:00.000-06:00

The last few weeks have been soooo busy! A few weekends ago I got to participate in a Splitcoaststampers Shoebox Swap....(you saw my card in my previous post)...and here are a couple of the different cards we made (we got to make 22 cards that day!)

Look at this amazing poinsettia! This set is from Kitchen Sink Stamps--a multi-step set. I loove KSS! I used the KSS multi-step moon for one of my Christmas Cards...which you'll see in my next post!

Here's another cute card we made :) I wish I could post all of them...but seriously...the photo editing alone would drive me crazy. I just don't have the patience for photo editing! Pffth.

I'm off from work for 2 weeks (SQUEEEE!) and at the 11th hour (literally) the night before our last Friday I decided to make goodies for my coworkers....which of course wasn't something simple....it involved die-cutting many, many favor boxes and bagging up my version of homemade candy--tiny pretzels topped with a Rolo (chocolate caramel candy that is nearly IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND!!! GAH!) baked in a low oven until soft then topped with a pecan half. NOM NOM NOM! (and super easy--a requirement for me!) I finished this monstrous project around 2 am and got up for work at 6 am. Insanity, I know.

I was able to mail a handful of my Christmas cards BEFORE Christmas this year! As in...today. Bwahaha! Still working on a bunch of them...and will share with my next post (after I edit more photos Pfffth!)

Hope you are having a peaceful Christmas Eve. I'm enjoying every minute of my vacation so far!

Are you ready to SQUEEE?!??!!!

2010-12-10T18:13:00.000-06:00

This post really should occur on Sunday...AFTER this amazing swap (22 stampers getting together and each making the card with the supplies we bring--so I'll come home with 21 new cards I made there! SQUEE!) I'll be sure to share all the stampy goodness with you in the next couple of days! However, it's been a MONTH since I blogged and I'm so stinkin excited about my card that I HAD to post about it now!

I got this design/idea from Gretchen Barron...an UBER talented Stampin' Up demonstrator who makes the MOST amazing stuff with paper. (Who got the Poinsettia idea from Connie Babbert, another Stampin' Up Demo in Ohio). Once I saw this idea in my Google Reader I could NOT stop thinking about it! Once I got in my studio and started making the cards I was SQUEEEEEing like crazy!!! Making these made me soooo happy!

First off--I have to show you my view from my stamping table: my super cute Bichon Frise CHIBI :D She makes me SQUEEE whenever I see her...she is so cute and fun. Except today she was a little mad at me because I made her go to the groomer. I took this pic shortly after we got home and it wasn't until now I realize she's not "smiling" in this photo. She looks kinda mad. Bwahaha!

She props herself up on the back of the sofa that backs up against my IKEA hack desk. I love having her company when I stamp! I do have to make her stop trying to walk onto my desk though! :)

Ok...are you ready to SQUEEEE?!?!?! Here's the RED version of the card--The Poinsettia is made by stamping the leaf from FRENCH FOLIAGE with Stampin' Up Bravo Burgandy ink onto Regal Rose cardstock. I stamped 13 leaves then cut them out (the worst part...I hate cutting stuff out! But the results are always worth it so I should just stop whining!) The card base is Always Artichoke. I know...I really thought I hated that color...but with Bravo Burgandy it's gorgeous! I then used the Gold Smooch Spritz on the poinsetta for a subtle shimmer. That stuff is AMAZING! More SQUEEEEing ensued!!

Then I thought I'd play with white and gold (with the white shimmer Smooch Spritz)....here's the result!! SQUEEEEEE x 10!!!!! OMG OMG OMG!!!!

So tomorrow I am driving up to Austin (at the Crack of Cranky!!) to have breakfast with my friends Lydia and Kim at Baguette et Chocolat (NOM NOM NOM!!!) then Kim and I are heading up to Georgetown for our Splitcoaststampers Christmas Card Swap! Lydia will be meeting us a little later and then the 3 of us are having dinner before I have to drive home to San Antonio. So. Much. Fun. Can't wait! I'll post again and share all the amazing things I made!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

XOXO
Dana

Time for Friends with Flair again! SQUEEEE!!

2010-11-11T23:54:00.000-06:00

I am really loving my Unity Stamps....I'm loving the Kit Of the Month Club....in the last 2 months I've acquired so many Unity Stamps I wonder how I'll find the time to play with all of them!!! Last month I HAD to order this super cute set UNDENIABLE YOU set! I SQUEEE'd inside when I saw it! I love this sentiment...I do try to be classy...and I'm ALWAYS FABULOUS!!! hee hee :) Isn't that party dress on the dress form fab? I've been trying to use more embellishments on my cards...oh my to look back at my earlier creations when I thought just ribbon was the fo'shizzle (is that how that word is used? BWAHAHA I can just hear my 16 year old now "srsly mom? Fo'SHIZZLE? You're not even saying it right!)

I made this card for FRIENDS WITH FLAIR Friday!!! SQUEEEE!!!!

Check out all the crafty participants over at the Unity Stamp blog!

Supplies: Paper-Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze & Kiwi Kiss, Stampin' Up!; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Crumb Cake ink; Decorative paper, ribbon, paper flower, brad and stickies from Unity's "Welcome to the KOM" kit!

Thanks for stopping by!!

XOXO

Friends With Flair Blog Hop!!!

2010-10-22T00:41:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it takes a friend to gently nudge...errrr PUSH you out of your comfort zone and today is one of those days. I vasilated between justatinybitof fear and SQUEEEEing to have agreed to participate in today's Friends With Flair Blog Hop sponsored by Unity Stamp Company ...my FIRST blog hop!!! SQUEEEEE!!!!

I have a plethora of Unity Stamps--which my stamp/foodie/SQUEEE buddy Lydia knows well when she tweeted me about today's blog hop and encouraged me to JUST DO IT. I've been dying to get into my studio and create and I'd already decided I needed an excuse to do so because my children's extra-curricular activities are majorly messing with my ability to stamp!! Pfffth!

(Holy crap this was a long intro to just show my card! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!)

I used Unity Stamp's Hauntingly Sweet set and embossed with black embossing powder before coloring those lil' punkins and candy corn. The background is white cardstock dry embossed with the spiderweb embossing folder from Stampin' Up!, I then spritzed it with Tattered Angels sparkly spray then sponged some black ink to highlight the web a little better. The picture doesn't show them very well but there are 3 black rhinestones in the top left corner...had to add a little bling! Sooooo fun!!!! I might have used just a tad too much of that fun spritz. I freakin' love purple, can you tell?

There are over 50 of us participating in today's hop...so be sure to go to the Unity Stamp Blog to see all the entries for today!

Thanks for stopping by!

XOXO

Stamps: Unity Stamp Co. Hauntingly Sweet

Paper: Stampin' Up! and Tim Holtz designer papers

Ink: Versamark, Stampin' Up Basic Black (sponged on web)

Accessories: SU! Spider Web dry embossing folder, Tattered Angels spritz, Corner Chomper, distressing tool, black embossing powder, Copic markers, SU! 1/8" ribbon, SU! black rhinestone accents.

It's all about the Pie....

2010-10-03T17:44:00.000-05:00

This weekend I met up with my BFF Lauren and Tracy in Round Top, Texas for some antique and craft shopping. I've never been and WOW, I'm pretty sure all of Texas showed up...except maybe a few husbands out there. My hubby would have been tortured to "endure" such a day....but I LOVED IT!!!

We began our weekend by eating dinner at Royer's Round Top Cafe--where they are famous for their pies. And lemme tell you....oooohhhheemmmmgeeeee FREAKIN' GOOOOOD. I knew I was going to take home a whole Chocolate Chip Pie (OMGx6!!!) so decided to eat a slice of Buttermilk Deluxe Pie--which has coconut and chocolate chips in it. All their pies are served with a scoop of AMY'S ICE CREAM which OMG is the BESTEST ICE CREAM ON THE PLANET (sorry, Blue Bell, you're a close 2nd). Royer's actually CHARGES you 50 cents if you want your pie WITHOUT ice cream! BWAHAHAHAHA!!!! Their online menu is hilarious, go read it. It'll make you laugh, and then you'll want to drive however far it is to eat their amazing food. Soooo glad we began our trip on this high note. Here's a pic of my pie....Lauren ate Butterscotch Chip and Tracy had Apple. All were AHHHHmazing.

Saturday we spent in Warrenton shopping....I can't even begin to describe the scene...imagine tent after tent after tent along both side of the road for MILES and 3-19 tents DEEP on each side of vendors selling their antiques, crafts, furniture...you name it. Thousands of vendors across Warrenton, Round Top and between Round Top and Brenham....it's amazing. I did find a few Pelicans! (SQUEEE--I collect Pelicans FYI) and a birthday present for my mom. YAY!

Tracy convinced us we should get an Old Time Photo done and we're so glad she had the idea because this is the result:

We're like the Charlie's Angels! Except we are dressed like hookers...and I'm sure neither of us could hit a target! BWAHAHAHA!!!

Such a fun weekend! Looking forward to the next one!

I'm reorganizing my stamp area--can decide how to store my sizzix dies and nestabilities! If you have an idea, please share it! I need help!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll have stampy goodness this week! Also, Lydia and I are going to a Kitchen Sink Stamps event in Houston next Saturday!! SQUEEEEEEE!!!! Can't wait!!!

XOXOXO :D

Things that start with the letter "B"....

2010-09-15T00:43:00.000-05:00

Today is my daughter's boyfriend's birthday....Happy Birthday Colin!
Last night my daughter had a tennis match after school and then a TON of homework so she asked me to PUHleez wrap Colin's presents for her....oh, and could I make him a card...but then she found a card (in my box of "ready-made") she wanted to give him.
I wanted to make another card because ALL the b'day cards I had were either girly, or....well, girly. She took the last "manly" card I had--which had robots and binary code on it! I saw my need to make another couple of BOY cards.
Colin's favorite color is Blue, and it's for a Birthday...and he's a Boy...
ok enough with that silliness!
Here's the card.

My favoritest thing in the world right now is Smooch Spritz--LOVE IT--and my camera does NOT do it justice...but it's gorgeous. Oops, maybe I shouldn't use that word describing a BOY card! Oh well.

This card was brought to you by the Letter B and the Number 15!

Supplies--all from Stampin' Up! Except that gorgeous Blue Smooch Spritz!
5/8" Satin Ribbon-Real Red, Big Shot, Dots embossing folder.

Old Fart....

2010-09-13T22:22:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, my hubby celebrated his 40th birthday on Saturday by jumping out of a perfectly good plane. I really didn't think about making him a skydiving card....he's really more goofy than that.
When we talked about the type of card I would make him he joked with me "will it have farts?" BWAHAHA!!! The man really has a odd/funny sense of humour when it comes to things like that.

So....I decided to deliver:

Looky at the first little monster...he just pooted!!
Happy Birthday Old Fart!!

Supplies: Stamps, Paper, Ink=Stampin' Up
Accessories: punch and buttons=Stampin' Up
Colored with Copics...which should have been done with Memento Ink, but I couldn't find mine! WAH! Hence the lil' bit 'o bleed on the edges.
C'est la vie...I still had fun making this card.

I will never EVAH do this....

2010-09-13T00:09:00.000-05:00

My hubby turned 40 on Saturday and celebrated by jumping out of a perfectly good plane!!! Yes, he decided to SKYDIVE!!! omgomgomgomgomg!!!! I was SQUEEEEEEEEing from the ground while he was coming down. (You can hear me yelling in the background when he touches the ground! LOL)

(I'm going to post his birthday card tomorrow--my light wasn't very good for the pictures.)

I've got CKC Scrapbooking Convention this Saturday with Understandblue ! SQUEEEEEE!! I'm taking few classes and planning to post some stuff from that this weekend as well.

Happy Birthday Lydia!!! XOXOXOX

2010-08-23T23:10:00.000-05:00

Today is my dear friend Lydia's birfday! We got to celebrate on Saturday with a nom nom lunch and adult bevvie.....but I should have had cupcakes for our little 'bration! We missed out on a Random Act of Cupcake for Saturday. So here's a cupcake for you Lydia!

NOM NOM NOM

Thank you for being such a wonderfully supportive friend and one of the funniest people I know. So glad you were born--to make me BWAHAHAHA on a regular basis!

XOXO
Dana

Yes, I'm a "gamer"

2010-08-21T00:29:00.000-05:00

We got back from our cruise 2 weeks ago (never EVAH again will I plan it so we have to drive home for 8 hours AFTER a cruise. Galveston all the way baby!!), had 3 days at home before hubby and I drove up to Dallas for Quakecon--4 days of Peace, Love & Rockets--a gaming convention sponsored by id Software. Hubby and I bring up our desktop computers, and play video games with about 3000 other gamers in a huge room at the Anatole Hotel. So. Freakin. Fun.

This is called the BYOC=Bring Your Own Computer

While I was playing, a news crew came and interviewed me! If you don't know my laugh, after this interview you will know why I say BWAHAHAHAHAHA on my blog!

I just realized I don't have any gamer stamps! Must remedy that!

I started back to work this week--preparing the school clinic for the new school year. I'm wiped out, and so glad I have a weekend to recoup! I'm going up to Austin to see my friend Lydia tomorrow and looking forward to our NOM NOM NOMs and BWAHAHAHAing! Watch out Austin, TX!!

Dear Louisiana, please let me rant....

2010-07-30T00:35:00.000-05:00

Dear State of Louisiana,

Our family is driving to New Orleans to board a cruise ship on Saturday. I have a few issues I'd like to vent about.

Before I do that, let me just say there are a few things I LOVE about your beautiful state:

The Pelican as your State Bird--freakin' awesome. I love pelicans, they are my favorite bird and I've collected various pelican "trinkets" over the years. I wish my Texas license plate could have a pelican on it like your state license plates do.
French language--I took 5 years of French and became fluent, all while living in states that border Mexico. It was my little "statement" so-to-speak....and I love the language. While I am no longer fluent I enjoy trying to show off my pseudo-french accent while speaking various streets, lakes, etc in front of my children.
Beignets...... 'nuff said.
Chicory coffee--I astound my friends by being able to drink a Venti drip coffee from Starbucks and not have an MI or look like I have Parkinson's Disease. Best. Coffee. Evah.
Raising Cane's Chicken strips and Texas Toast. As my friend Kim would say "it's like they squeezed angels and whatever comes out of them is what they used to make this stuff"! Best. Chicken. EVAH!!!

Ok--those are just a few positive things I'll give kudos for. Now for the rant(s).

Who makes your roads?!?!? OMG from the second we crossed the state line our ride in the car went from smooth to FAH-THUMP FAH-THUMP FAH-THUMP repeatedly. Unnerving. Very much like Chinese Water Torture. For no reason I started snapping at my children and it was brought on by the ridiculous FAH-THUMPing of the road.
Your State Troopers need to learn a few things about how to CLOSE DOWN A HIGHWAY AND DIVERT TRAFFIC!!! We spent 2.5 hours creeping (if I can call it that....) across 12 miles on I-10 over a swamp...so, ON A BRIDGE with no escape whatsoever because you closed BOTH SIDES of I-10 near Raham today. After 2 hours and we finally reached the exit to detour around the closed section, your troopers at each intersection had NO IDEA how to move the traffic and it still took us another 30 minutes to get back to the open section of I-10 Were you overwhelmed? If this same situation were in TEXAS I assure you we'd have been through our detour in 45 minutes TOPS. I have NEVER had to endure such a long detour. It was maddening. I still can't believe I didn't have a stroke. I'm sure it drove more than a few people to "go postal"....the whole time I was wishing I was back on Prozac. My sweet husband kept saying "this is terrible" and believe me...it is a big deal that he said it more than 3 times! (Major kudos to our children who didn't really complain. I'm still amazed.)
I have never in my life come across more tire carnage than in your state. I didn't have to worry about the teenagers texting while they were driving....I had to swerve to miss all the tire pieces in the highway. Seriously? Does your road sweeper avoid these deadly pieces of black rubber? Please fix this now.

We stopped at Raising Cane's for dinner after the detour from H-E-doublehockeysticks because I needed MAJOR comfort food. I basically told my in-laws that's where we were eating because...well, too bad....I needed NOM NOM NOMs!!!

We finally reached our destination at 10:30 pm. I couldn't sleep until I blogged about it--that's how much my driving experience has affected me BWAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!! (If you follow this blog you know I'm not that serious.)

Tomorrow we are going to the National WWII Museum and taking a bus tour of New Orleans. I'm sure to be the youngest person on the bus (besides my children, of course.) Saturday we board our cruise to Belize, Honduras and Cozumel....I'll update more later.

Looking forward to more comfort food tomorrow---Cafe du Monde's Chicory Coffee and Beignets....NOM NOM NOM!!!

XOXO
Dana

Convention!!!! SQUEEEEE!!!!

2010-07-23T00:29:00.000-05:00

I had the most fun evening EVAH!!! Fantastic dinner with good friends at Takashi--an amazing sushi restaurant within walking distance from our hotel, and then an unexpected FUN tour of SLC! Lydia's (and my) friend, Melanie, met us for dinner and had a wonderful surprise for us. First of all--she is EXTREMELY talented--she sews, quilts, knits...you name it, she can do it....and she works in Concept Design for Stampin' Up!! Anywho....she knitted socks for Lydia and myself!!! LOOKY!!! SQUEEEEEE!!!

They are "pedicure socks"...perfect to have my little piggies painted while wearing them...AND....they have PURPLE in them (my favoritest color EVAH). What a sweetie to have taken the time to kni these for us!!! Amazing!

After dinner, Melanie showed us some of the beautiful LDS Temples in the area....OHEMMMMGEEEE talk about breathtaking!

I loved having the time to visit with girlfriends and see the gorgeous sites of SLC.

Now, I promised I'd share some stampy goodness with you.....these are all from the displays here at Convention.

Check out these cupcakes....WAIT!!! Are they made from PAPER?!?!?! OMG yes they are!!! That is cardstock decorated with Stampin' Up's adhesive pearls!!

I don't usually share scrapbook pages...but this little cutie was too cute to pass up. I love the flower in the upper corner!

Tomorrow I will get to help out with the Make & Take session (see previous post) and I'm SO EXCITED!!!

XOXO

Convention 2010 in Salt Lake City

2010-07-22T18:30:00.000-05:00

I have to thank my good friend, Lydia, for forcing me to update my blog. She has been the most awesomest giver of all info regarding Convention 2010 and she shared a VERRRRY flattering picture of me today that I must share with you....so go check out her blog and you can see me playing Twister (scroll to the bottom). I'm kinda into the game at the point she took the photo...but all I can say is I'm glad you aren't looking at my behind and I'm not flashing you any cleavage or my bra BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Here's a more flattering picture...of both of us. Stampin' Up had a FLOWER POWER PARTY last night and had a face painting booth...so that is what is on my left cheek. It was a very 70's Retro type party...pretty fun!

This is just PART ONE of my post! I'm sharing all the good stampy goodness later this evening. This year at Convention I'm a MAKE AND TAKE HELPER!!! SQUEEEEEEE!!!!!
Basically I get to help all the attendees when they are making they stampy goodness goodies during "MAKE AND TAKES". So needless to say I'm VERY EXCITED!!!!
Thanks for stopping by--and come back--there's more to see later!!
XOXO

I'm taking a class! SQUEEEEE!

2010-06-24T15:37:00.000-05:00

Hellllooooooooo there! I've been enjoying my SUMMER--yes, I work a job now that gives me my SUMMER OFF!! WHOOO HOOOO!!!!
Ok, enough gloating...

As you know, I'm on Twitter (see my twitter feed along the right side of my blog...scroll down....see?) and a few weeks ago heard a little twitter-chatter about a class that Claudine Hellmuth was teaching online through Big Picture Scrapbooking OMG so excited!!!! So, a few of my friends like Lydia (aka Understandblue) and I are going to take Claudine's 12 week art class! I'm scrambling to get my supplies (our supply list was 2 pages long! SQUEEEEEEE!!!) and excited about our first assignment (HA to use that word...because it's going to be ALL FUN!!!) which begins July 1st. My only dilemma is I'll be working next week at the camp nurse at Camp Capers and will either start my first project while up at camp (most likely NOT since that job is pretty much 24/7 "on call") or just wait a few days and get messy at home.

My summer is flying by, I have camp next week, then working the Arts and Crafts for VBS, then STAMPIN' UP CONVENTION in Salt Lake City (SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!!!) and a cruise, Quakecon then my summer is over. Sigh. I think this will be the last summer that I JAM PACK it with fun stuff. BWAHAHAHA that sounds crazy!

Hope you're enjoying your summer! I've been stamping, I will post some pics soon, been having camera issues. My iphone doesn't take the best pics, you know HAHAHA

XOXO
Dana

Lots to share!!!

2010-05-13T23:56:00.000-05:00

I cannot even begin to tell you how busy I've been. Flyin' by the seat of my pants kinda busy...I'm tired of being busy...but enough whining. Lemme show you a couple of things I've been able to eek out the last 2 weeks!

First--my brother graduated from college 2 weeks ago! SQUEEE! So excited for him--and I got to go spend the weekend with him! Fantastic weekend. Here's a picture of him at his graduation in San Diego.

(He looks happy there, right? He is the funniest guy on the planet, just so you know. I got the best ab workout that weekend from laughing!!)

Ok, so I needed a card for his graduation. A couple of weeks ago my friend Libby Hickson made THIS super cute card. I obsessed over that stamp set from The Greeting Farm, but it's currently discontinued! I was able to find a brand new set in Australia thanks to eBay, though!!! SQUEEE

So...using some inspiration from Libby...here's what I did:

Stamps: The Greeting Farm--Fly Away

Papers and ribbon: Stampin' Up

Ink: Memento and Copic Markers

Tools: Martha Stewart Fringe Scissors , Big Shot and Swirls Embossing Folder

Isn't Piggy super cute? My 10 year old saw me coloring him and she HAD to have a Piggy to color too! He makes me smile!! He made my brother laugh when he saw him. A very non-traditional Graduation card!!

This weeked I'm traveling to Houston to visit my BFF of many, many years and the sister I never had...this woman and I have laughed so much over the years I'm sure it's extended our lives by at least a decade. Since I knew I was seeing her this weekend I neglected to mail her a card for her birthday last month...I wanted to give it to her in person.

This is a stencil!! I love this idea! I saw THIS card from my friend Dreena, and modified it just a bit.

Stencil: Stampin' Up

Paper & Ink: all Stampin' Up

Accessories: ribbon, Hodgepodge Hardware-Stampin' Up, Shimmer Spritz

This weekend we're going to Pinot's Palette--a studio where you learn to paint a masterpiece, and you bring your own wine! We'll be painting Van Gogh's Cafe at Night and I'll be VERRRRY interested to see how well my replica is after a couple of glasses of wine!!! I'll keep you posted!!

Big Changes!

2010-04-26T23:25:00.000-05:00

Stampin' Up has had 48 colors of ink and paper for as long as long as I can remember. While the color "families" they've had seemed to work, there were MANY colors I never EVAH used. Well...Stampin' Up has spent the last 3 years doing some research and focus groups and decided to mix it all up and do a complete COLOR RENOVATION. Literally--a complete renovation! Of the current 48 colors, 25 of them will be retired the end of June 2010. The new catalog, which debuts July 1, will have 40 colors....some of the original 48, some returning In Colors and 5 brand new colors added. Stampin' Up will still have In Colors each year, but each collection will now linger for 2 years instead of only one!! SQUEEEEE!!! There are 25 current colors that are retiring...but Stampin' Up did a lot of research and determined these are the least popular of the current 48 colors. Obviously this was a general concensus, because there are a few colors I thought "WHA???!! They're retiring THAT?!" But overall I am excited about the Renovation and looking forward to reorganzing my stamp studio with the new colors!
So...wanna see what all the excitement is about?!!?

I plan to offer the retired cardstock and ink as goodies to my current club members--I'll be putting together packets of paper and ink and will offer packets of paper for sale as well. I'll post here on my blog to let you know when I'll have my big sale before the new catalog comes out, too!!

I'm off to San Diego this weekend...my brother is graduating from college with his Bachelor's of Science in Business and Marketing! I'm so excited for him! I'm really looking forward to celebrating with him all weekend....now to make him a card...!!!

Finally a new class is coming!!!

2010-03-28T18:15:00.000-05:00

Wow has this been a crazy year! Our trip to Scotland was fantabulous (I realize now I haven't even updated my blog with the fantastic pictures we took--I'll do that soon.)
Finally had a chance to look at my schedule for April and realize I can squeeze in a class! YAY!
Saturday, April 17th we'll make an awesome set of cards with the Eastern Blooms stamp set! Looky!!!

So for now--details are

Saturday, April 17th

10 am-12 pm

Class cost: $18.00 and includes the cards, all supplies, and a gussetted envelope

we'll decorate to hold them in!

Please RSVP to me by Saturday, April 10th!

darthsunshine@gmail.com

210.216.4301

I love stuff like this...

2010-03-11T00:01:00.000-06:00

Hubby found a terrific website today www.says-it.com where you can make any type of sign, notice, advertisement, church sign etc etc etc. So....I had a little fun....

Oh yeah. That's geeky.

And if you don't get it--it's Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (Episode 6 in the grand scheme of it all) and his famous line in that movie is "It's a Trap!"

Need a visual? Looky HERE

It's almost my Spring Break--SQUEEEEE!!!

This monkey won't hurt you...and other true stories...

2010-03-10T23:43:00.000-06:00

We're having a baby shower for one of the teachers at my school and I volunteered to make the card to go with the gift certificate we're getting her. She's having a boy--and the nursery has a Jungle Theme--so I decided to use my Fox & Friends stamp set to create this card. My least favorite thing to do in crafting is cutting out stuff--I really have so little patience--but this card would not be the same without cutting out each individual animal. Even the Monkey and Lion I cut out an extra head. The Lion even has an EXTRA mane cut out and layered on there--craziness!!! These are REEAAAALLLLY tiny heads, too. But it looks soooo cute...that lion does. And that monkey is so cute...he's got a little smirk on his face doesn't he? He's ready to scream and pull someone's hair. HAHAHA

Actually that happened to me. I'm talking about a monkey pulling my hair. No joke. I was on a 3rd grade Field Trip to the Oklahoma City Zoo and there was a cage full of Spider Monkeys. I got right up to the cage and was "communicating" with one of the monkeys who was so cute and soooo close --when suddenly he SCREAMED and reached through the bars, grabbed my bangs and pulled me forward and banged my head into the cage!!! TWICE!!! OMG talk about trauma for an 8 year old!!! GAH!! My kids LOOOOVE that story.

This post was my first time playing with Picasa--Google's photo editing software...I think me likey.

Anway--onto other things--we leave for Scotland in TWO DAYS!!! WHOOO HOOOO!!! So excited!!! I plan to drain my camera battery every day we're there!!!

Lamentations of a Southpaw

2010-03-08T00:39:00.000-06:00

I'm a lefty, southpaw, goofy....whatever. I'm a messy lefty, too. I don't write like MOST left-handed people do by contorting their hands over what they write and pull their pen in the opposite direction. I smear my hand directly across what I'm writing--pushing my pen essentially--and get ink all over the side of my left hand. That's what I mean by messy.

Being a crafty goddess (yeah, why NOT call myself that!!) I've discovered a few tools that HINDER the left-hander. I discovered just how frustrating it can be to have tools that are very specifically designed for RIGHT HANDED PEOPLE when I was creating my Christmas Cards last year. Here's a picture I took of the 3 products that made me want to pull my hair out.

First....the gel pen. The ROLLER BALL gel ink pen. GAH!! Since I push my pen, roller balls won't work for me. Roller ball pens are designed to be pulled across the paper. They pull the little ball away from the casing and the ink flows smoothly. But pen PUSHERS like myself make that little ball go inside the casing and the ink comes out uneven. Grrrrr. I don't buy roller ball pens for this reason...except that to have WHITE INK ...usually only comes in gel ink roller ball (or paint pens). OY!

Next, that bazooka of a tape runner--the ATG by Scotch Tape. I'll never EVAH run out of tape for my crafting with that thing....except it's like trying to handle a baby goat with 2 fingers. Good grief. To make it worse is if you're holding it in your left hand it's impossible to see the tape placement since the tape runner is left justified on the rubber roller. I kind of have to wing it on the tape placement. Again....grrrr.

Finally...Stampin' Up's Ribbon Scissors. These fantastic shears are ONLY for right-handers. See the molded plastic handles? Yeah. Not too comfy for us leftys. These shears are expensive. I paid good money for scissors that do NOT fit me properly. I didn't even realize until after I'd used them a couple of times because I'm so used to adapting to right-handed items like can openers, etc. But REALLY?!? Stampin' Up?!?! You couldn't sell a universal scissor? Oh well...

On a more positive note...here's a card I stamped using the Medallion background stamp and the Vintage Labels stamp set.

Stamp sets: Medallion and Vintage Labels

Ink: Soft Suede, Crushed Curry

Paper: Sahara Sand, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla

Accessories: Vintage brads, Scallop circle punch

Have a great week. I leave for Scotland in 5 days!!! SQUEEEE!!!

Valentine's Day Cards

2010-02-07T19:32:00.000-06:00

This post took me long enough, doncha think? Geez. So I had a class last Saturday and we made Valentine's Day cards. The idea for these cards came from Andrea Walford - a Canadian Stampin' Up demonstrator who offers workshops and classes where she has worked out every single detail....cost, supplies, the whole gambit...it's very handy. I'll sometimes do a variation if I don't particulaly like every card design--but when I'm rushing to get my monthly class together, I sometimes like that all the details are worked out for me. So here are a few of them:

These cards use the Happy Heart stamp set from Stampin' Up. I used a Pretty in Pink epoxy brad. Colors are Pretty in Pink and Ruby Red.

Supplies: Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Ruby Red, Pretty in Pink

Ink: Soft Suede, Ruby Red, Pretty in Pink

Accessories: Dot embossing folder, corduroy button, scallop edge punch, corner rounder

Here's a variation on this card using the Pinking Hearts border punch and a filigree brad instead.

Still haven't decided on what Valentine goody I'm going to stamp for my co-workers...or my kiddos for that matter. We have a HUGE surprise for them for Valentine's Day--I'll be sure to blog about it next weekend. SO FUN!!!

35 days until I leave for the UK!!! :)

She deserves her own post!!!

2010-02-01T20:12:00.000-06:00

Today is my friend Lisa's birthday--you may know her as @papergrace on Twitter. For her birfday she is giving away BLOG CANDY!!! You can see the details in her post at Papergrace Designs which I think is soooo generous because all I can think about on MY birthday is what pressies I'm getting. Just kidding, I'm not THAT selfish. Not really. :)

Mmmmmmm.....cake......

Spring Break is going to be in SCOTLAND!!! SQUEEEE!!!

2010-01-30T00:22:00.000-06:00

I cannot believe it!!! Hubby and I were JUST talking about how I was not PLANNING ANYTHING for our Spring Break "off". No weekend trips to Vegas or anywhere....then hubby's brother and sis-in-law have to SPOIL IT *snort* by offering boarding in the UK since they were going ANYWAY...would we want to come along, too? What?!?!? I almost spontaneously combusted I tell you!!! You have never seen a quicker 180 done EVAH. Within SECONDS I was begging Hubby to pleaseohpleaseohplease can we GO TO SCOTLAND!!! SQUEEEE!!! We'll get to see Keith Castle in Scotland! Which is called Dunnottar Castle and was one of the pit stops on The Amazing Race season 3 (the best show EVAH!!)

Gorgeous!!

The man loves to save money. It's a hobby for him. He had to change gears from "we're saving soooo much money NOT going anywhere" to us flying across an ocean in a very big plane and transportation and food and and and.....
God Bless him....he's so wonderful. BECAUSE WE'RE GOING!!! And he's told me he's happy to see me so excited. That is just so stinkin' sweet. I love that man...*sigh*

I'm stamping Valentine's tomorrow--I'll post some pictures of that fun stuff...I promise!

Most awesomest blog header EVAH!!!!

2010-01-19T16:27:00.000-06:00

Thank you thank you thank you to my awesome friend @understandblue for doing such an AMAZING JOB!!!
Best header EVAH!!!

Lydia also designed my header on my "old" blog http://www.fanstampulous.blogspot.com/ and now that you've seen both you know I LOVE LOVE LOVE Hibiscus flowers! BWAHAHA!

Hubby and I tried designing an avatar for my gaming persona years ago and just couldn't decide on anything great...without it being too cheesy.
When I told Lydia I was going to simplify my "branding" and stick with Darth Sunshine even in my stamping/blogging world she said "I've already got an idea!" which I didn't think about until today. I messaged her and asked if she was going to have time to think about it and she replied with "Didn't you check your email? We must be on the same wavelength" and sure enough...waiting for me in my inbox was this GEM of a design. I giggle every time I see it.
I love it...and if you know me you know it fits me perfectly!! :D

You did good Lydia. I owe you a steak! :D

Confused yet?

2010-01-17T22:07:00.000-06:00

So if you came from my OTHER blog www.fanstampulous.blogspot.com you know I'm trying to streamline my "branding". Most artists I know use their name as their brand--well I started a few years ago with Darth Sunshine--the nickname my brother gave me that has ultimately stuck because I'm such the Star Wars fan and I LAUGH AT EVERYTHING. (I'll explain the history in a moment). Anyway--in looking at the big picture of "branding" myself--Darth Sunshine fits me better than Fanstampulous. Fanastampblahblah is a great "name"--but labels me only as a stamper, methinks. My artistic realm extends beyond the stamping borders--so I didn't like the idea of being put in a box. Actually...I put myself in that box. HAHA!

SO--I already "owned" the darthsunshine.blogspot.com and decided I was going to use it. Now my Twitter ( @darthsunshine ) and gaming nickname and basically every username I have everywhere is darthsunshine. That's who I am. (Well...that and "Wonder Woman" if I'm on a wait list at a restaurant! Bwahaha)
So how did I get this name? My brother has the BEST sense of humor EVAH. He makes me laugh continuously--I'm not kidding. Here is me and my brother, Skip, at our favorite roller coaster ride EVAH--Space Mountain at Disneyland in California!

(Yes, that is me and hubby in the front making our "signature" roller coaster ride face. Skip is right behind me MOCKING US! BWHAHAHAHAHA!!! I laugh SO HARD when I see the picture!)

We are both Star Wars fans. HUGE fans. Not kidding you there. A few years ago he was telling me that anyone that ticked him off he was calling them Sith Lords (for those of you in the dark...a Sith Lord is Darth Vader, or Darth Maul, Darth Sidious, Darth Grievous, etc.) Later that day I was teasing him about something (neither of us remember) and he looked at me and said "That's it...you're a Sith Lord!" and I retorted with "WhatEVAH, I'm the Epitome of Love and Kindness!!!" and his reponse was "That makes you Darth SUNSHINE!". OMG I laughed SO HARD...we were both gasping for air at the time. So stinking funny. The best nickname EVAH.

So...now that the history is blogged....I'm working on transferring all my links from my old blog to this one. Most of my links are up. I'm going to persuade my BWAHAHA-sista Lydia to maybe do a new Blog Header for me...with cash of course :D

I've got some stamping classes coming up--I'll be posting again soon!
Thanks for sticking around!

SQUEEEEE!!! New Products!!!! And Leadership Conference!!! SQUEEE!

2010-01-05T00:21:00.000-06:00

The Occasions Mini Catalog lauches tomorrow January 5th!

AND SALE-A-BRATION!!! If you're new to the Stampin' Up world--Sale-A-Bration (SAB) is an annual mini-catalog where with every $50 you spend in product you choose one free item from the SAB catalog! SO FUN! This year SAB has not just stamps, but paper and even PUNCHES!

Just scroll through the catalogs....giddiness abounds! I looove new toys to get my fingers inky with! The new clear block stamps are AWESOME...and storage in the DVD cases is just brilliant! LOVE IT!

Wednesday I fly out to Phoenix, AZ for Stampin' Up's Leadership Conference! Soooo excited! We'll have classes and info on new products and possibly sneak-peeks into what's coming up later this year...SO EXCITED!!! And even more exciting than that is girlfriend time! I'll get to meet up again with my friend Lydia--who only lives in not-so-far-away-Austin--but who I get to communicate with often via Twitter.

I also get to finally meet one of my Twitter friends in real life (IRL)-- @Moeneeke--Monique, from California!

I finally finished my New Year's Cards. I'm mailing them out tomorrow to the rest of my friends and Twitter Friends (or...Tweeple hehe). Wow...

OH MY GOSH. I just realized I posted TWO BLOG POSTS IN TWO DAYS!!!!

Let me go take my temperature.

Peruse the catalogs--and if there's anything you want, need or just MUST HAVE please go to my website and SHOP AWAY!!! :D You can order online through my website and have your order shipped directly to your house! Fantastic!

http://www.danakeith.stampinup.net/

(and click on the "SHOP NOW" button in the top right corner)

I'll post an update or two while in Phoenix (shocker, I know!!!)

Have a great week!

Dana