What have I been doing?

This is a card I made for a "true friend" who led me down the stamping path. It was actually a thank you card. You see many years ago, when she became a demonstrator, I booked the first demo with her. I was a brand new stamper and mistakenly didn't order the Lovely as a Tree set when it was HALF OFF! What was I thinking? So, later on I realized I missed out on that "tree"mendous deal (pun intended) and have never been able to justify buying it (since I could have gotten it for half off). I always figured that when it retired, I would spring for it, and I have been surprised that it has stayed off the retired list for so long. Anyway, it just so happened that she ended up with 2 of that set, and knowing that I've always wanted it but could never justify paying full price for it, she gave her spare to me. Now, THAT is what I call a true friend. She could have easily sold it on EBAY, but chose to enable my addiction (which I have of course already indulged in, and am eternally grateful ) rather than make a personal profit. So anyway, that's the story of this card....

So, Christmas is coming sooner than you (I) think!!! It always seems to creep up on me, so I try to be ready at least with cards. Every year, from at least July through October, I try to make 10 Christmas cards a month. Then in November, I finish the task. Usually during July, I have a some stampin' friends come over and make cards with me. This year, since I am now a Stampin' Up demonstrator, I am going to offer a Christmas card class to a few of my friends. So, I have been trying to come up with a some ideas for the class and this is what I came up with so far. The snowman is from a retired set (but of course you could use one that is current), and the rest of the stamps are from the Season of Joy set.

Yes, I actually like the Bermuda Bay. I saw this layout and color combination somewhere, and I really like it.

I lked it so much I used it again!

As always, this season is chock full of graduation parties. Normally, I make a different card for all the parties we go to, but this year, it seems that the parties we were able to attend, all graduated from Howell High School. So, I made the same card for all of them. This picture shows the minute changes in the card (only differing in the image in the lower right hand corner).

I have another project I've been working on that I can't share right now, so next time I'll be sure to post that as well.

Enjoy your weekend!

A few more

This first card is a total case from someone on SCS. I'm so bad at giving credit to the exact person, I need to get better at that! I had to use my Echoes of Kindness set, because I got it as a hostess set just as the old catalog was ending. and never used it. I love these colors together. I'm so going to miss Ridinghood red.

A very simple masculine card..

And finally another very simple masculine card. CASED from darhm on SCS (wrote that one down ;) I love that Autumn days set. It's very versatile. I can see where I will be able to use it as a christmas set as well as a fall set.

Thanks for looking :)

The last couple weeks

I've been kind of busy for the past couple of weeks, so I haven't posted anything, but that doesn't mean I haven't been doing anything. The best news: my brother-in-law and sister-in-law had a baby! Alexi Sheridan Veilleux is the most adorable little girl I've ever seen. That little girl is definitely going to be spoiled!
During the last couple weeks, my mother-in-law was also in the hospital, so we've been a little busy. However, I'm never too busy to be working on something. The first card I've been working on is a multiple purpose card.

Obviously a masculine birthday card....

And another masculine birthday. I'm a little unhappy with how light the ink looks on the sentiment. I thought really rust would have been perfect. I should have gone with chocolate chip....

Generic birthday....

Another generic birthday...

I love the simplicity of the next three cards.

Finally, the trendy tree card. I love this set, but have hardly used it.

Well, that's all I have to share for now. I still haven't come up with any creativity for the Red Line cards yet. I just have a very basic card not worth sharing. I'm now thinking of doing a postcard that I can scan and have the post office mail out. (more economical)

enjoy your day~

Just Parfect....

I only have a couple things to share today. First, my uncle had heart surgery recently, and he's really big into golfing, so I thought this card would be "parfect" for him. Inside it says "wishing you a parfect recovery."

I'm still working on the Red Line grand opening cards, so I don't have those ready to share, but I did make a checkbook cover.

Well, the clouds have all gone away and it's going to be another beautiful day here in Howell. I feel the need to get outside and enjoy it, since the weather man is predicting that it's going to be only in the upper 60's next week.

Buh-bye!

Birthday Cards

Yep, I got some birthday cards done. I CASE'd this first one from Sam.2001 on SCS who CASE'd it from Jplapcfos. The others just evolved from little snippets that I've seen.

These can be used for anything, not just birthdays.

That's all I have to share for now. I'm working on some "Grand Opening" cards for Red Line. We've got a busy schedule on our hands for the next few days, so I don't think they'll be ready to share for a while.

Getting down to business...

June is one of my favorite months. It's filled with birthdays and best of all, school ends for a few months. It's a time for me to do some scrapping or stamping and kick back and relax-usually.

This year it seems that I have had no time for the relaxing part. Since my husband recently lost his job at GM, we have decided to start a business of our own; Red Line Performance, LLC. This has consumed nearly all my spare time (of course I put aside a little time for browsing the new catalog). Jerry is the brains behind the garage, and it turns out that I need to be the brains behind all the "other stuff." I didn't realize how much "other stuff" there is, nor did I realize this would consume as much of my time as it does. I'm a teacher by trade, and have never even begun to (or wanted to begin to) sink my teeth into the business or financial aspects of life, but it looks like I will be. To top it off, since we are starting the business at our home, Jerry is here everyday instead of off at work. This means that he can monitor my deliveries from Stampin Up! He hasn't said much so far since I only had one delivery, but who knows what the future may hold....
Anyway, I have made some time over the past few weeks to make some birthday cards (all work and no play makes Rach a dull girl). Since I had some birthday cards to send and I plan to do a birthday card class in a few weeks, I thought this would be a good start. Hopefully I'll get a few more cards done later on this week when I visit my friend, Lynn (http://lwdesigns.blogspot.com/). She gives me great inspiration.

So, here is what I've done so far. The first is a card and little gift bag for Lynn. Her birthday was June 6. The rest are cards for other people and a cute little box.

The little tag slides out from the pocket...

This box is just the right size for all that mail and "other stuff" that keeps stacking up on my desk. I'm still trying to decide what to put in the circle.... I'm planning to squeeze in some card time later, so hopefully I'll have more to share tomorrow.

Cute Little Flip Book

If this isn't the easiest, cutest thing to make, I don't know what is. I don't know what got into me on Sunday night. After dinner I went into my little room for a while to surf Splitcoast for some ideas, and I came across a flip book. The one I saw was very simple, but it gave me some inspiration. So, I decided to try one out. I used some old scrapbook paper that I've had sitting around here for about 4 years now (just in case it didn't turn out I didn't want to waste any of my beloved SU! paper), and, not to toot my own horn, but, the little book turned out super cute. The best thing was it was super fast and easy to do. This is what it looks like from the front.

This is the center back cover (it's open, so the ribbon you see is normally wrapped around the book).

This is what it looks like when you open the cover. It's a tri-fold book, so this is the left side of the book when it's open and the other back cover (the back of the right side).

Next is the view of the whole book open (with all the flips closed).

This is the left side with just the gate fold flips open.

This is the next flip on the left side (where you flip the center up).

This is the right side with the gate folds open.

And the right side center flip up.

This first center flip open. (Sorry, I forgot to crop the picture first).

And finally, this is the second center flip open.

Well, like I said, it was pretty fast so do. I started Sunday night around 7:00, worked until about midnight and finished in the morning. All in all I think it took about 7 hours, but that was designing the pages and deciding on flips and stuff. The most time consuming part was deciding on the layouts for the pages. Now that I have it figured out, I'll bet the next one will only take about 4 hours. pretty cute little gift, ay? I can't wait to do another one now that I know I won't be wasting the beloved paper!

Well, that's all I can share for now. I have a couple birthday cards that I've been dying to post, but can't until the recipients see them. Maybe next week.