Blog Hop - Last Day!

I'm so bad! I totally forgot to leave you all the link to the blog hop and now it will be over at the end of today. So sorry! Go to my friend Holly's blog to start (because she has some great ideas!) You can follow along the blog hop from there and you will circle back to Holly's blog. Hope you have a great time checking out the projects!

Christmas Card Challenge

Hurray! Finally! The computer decided to download the pictures in a different place with the exact same file name ... but I finally figured it out. Whew!

My blogging buddy Georgeann and I have challenged each other to create two Christmas cards each week, one a simpler card and the other, more involved. This is my simpler card. No, not one I would mass-produce, but I wanted to use my ribbon roses. The frame of the flowers is a leftover piece from my lattice die. I just couldn't throw away a perfectly good frame, so this is the other element that I was designing around. The background of the flowers is a baby wipe, folded in 1/4's and dripped on with two colors of reinkers. Just pick up the baby wipe and daub it on glossy white cardstock for this fun background. The flowers are from Close as a Memory and the greeting is from Heard From the Heart.
This second card uses the same frame, but I went to town with the ribbon roses. I wanted to try the roses as a focal point, instead of just an accent. I made the vase out of an oval punch. Does it look like a vase full of flowers? The same greeting from the first card, it has rhinestone brads as accents and popped up on dimensionals.

I can hear you now..."How did you make those wonderful ribbon roses, Julie?" Well, thanks to a bit of blog hopping, I found the instructions online. Can I find them now, to give to you? Well, of course not! I guess I'll try to post a tutorial in the next day or two...now that I know where the pictures are uploading to!

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

New Stampin' Up! Mini Catalog Blog Hop!

Some friends of mine are participating in a blog hop this weekend. August 29 - 31, you can catch the action. Hope you enjoy it! I know I'm planning on doing some serious hopping...don't know what a blog hop is? It's a circle of blogs with links to the previous site and next site, with a deadline of how long the links will be there. So, if you want to see projects featuring the wonderful new products in the new mini catalog, hop along! :-D I'll get a link on for tomorrow so that you'll be able to find stop #1.

Blessings,
Julie

p.s. yes, I'm STILL having computer issues!

Ack! Stinkin' Computers....

I have a couple of cards ready to share, but my computer apparently doesn't want me to share them with you.

Here's the deal. My blogging buddy Georgeann and I have a deal that we're going to be making two Christmas cards each week to try to get a head start on Christmas. (That way I can send my 80 handmade cards out before Dec 24th!) Our challenge is to make a simple Christmas card and one that's stepped up a couple of steps.

Georgeann has these wonderful Christmas cards #1 and #2 that she posted on her blog for our challenge this week and I HAVE NONE!!! Grrrr...so, please stay tuned. As soon as my computer starts cooperating, I'll get them posted.

In the meantime, go check out her cards. They're great!

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station. Wish I had more to show you than computer glitches!

Blessings,
Julie

more of my favorite things....

More wonderful swaps to show you today. This first card is from my new friend Tonya Odum. Isn't it fun? A totally simple design, but so pleasing to the eye. The colors make me happy. :-D I'm really lovin' that daisy die. It's up high on my wish list after I buy almost everything from the upcoming mini catalog.
Tammy Smith made this fun card. I just love it that the DSP and punches really are the main part of the card. I also love these colors together. I might have to try that color combo soon!
This adorable card is from my convention pal Natalie Kennedy. I love this fence that she made from the Modern Label Punch and a couple of strips of white. Isn't that clever? And punching the bat out so that it looks like it's flying past the moon...too cute!
This card uses one of my favorite sets. I just love this Classy and Fabulous gal. Lynda Jaggers made this one and I'm just lovin' the glitter on the headband and belt. Adorable!

Well, there's a bit more of my convention swapping for you. What a wonderful experience! I'll be looking forward to sharing even more of it with you soon. In the meantime, be prepared to have your socks knocked off with the new Mini Catalog coming out September 1st! Let's just say that no child will be able to resist and no adult with a bit of kid in them will be able to resist, either!

Blessings,
Julie

these are a few of my favorite things....

Today's the day! I'm starting my favorite swaps posts from convention and these are from my first bag. This pink card was made by new friend, Julie Ujano. She used the SU! Elegant Bouquet texture folder and then colored the centers of the flowers with a white gel pen. A bit of ribbon, a couple of punches later, and an instant card! Love it! Those of you who attend my workshops just might find yourself making one of these beauties at a coming event!
How about this one? Isn't it gorgeously simple? My new friend Julie Millard made it. The punched snowflake has iridescent ice EP on it. That's it! A piece of ribbon and a stamped greeting and it's done. Totally gorgeous!
This is a swap from Christine Cowie Lehmann from AB Cananda. I love how she pulled a middle thread in the grosgrain to gather it. Isn't this DSP beautiful? She finished it off with a stamped image and some punches.
This card uses the SU! Finial Press texture folder. The top note is stamped and sponged. The vase is made out of an embossed image, which was sent through the crimper and then had the top and bottom cut off. I love the textures on this card!

So, that's just the tip of the iceberg! I have so many more wonderful swaps to show you! So please stay tuned to the Stamping Station and see what shows up next!

Blessings,
Julie

Jewelry with Stampin' Up Products

How cool are these? These are some of my goodies from convention! The top piece is a bracelet made out of shrinky dinks and the Lattice Bigz Die. This was a gift from my wonderful friend Comeka. She's such a sweetie! Unfortunately, it didn't like the airplane ride, so two of them broke a bit. Guess I'll just have to go have some fun and make a couple more to replace them, right? ;-) I also saw some earrings at convention, made out of these. They look stunning in black with a rhinestone brad in the center, too.
The earrings on the left are a gift from my friend Cheryl. She made these from Filigree brads and Rhinestone brads. Aren't they beautiful?
The pair of earrings on the right are from a swap. Again, they're shrinky dinks in a leaf shape. Before they were shrunk, they were stamped with the Bella Toile stamp, inked up with a spectrum pad. Cool!
So now I'm stylin'! I might just be wearing one of these at the next workshop. And let me know if you'd like to purchase the SU! supplies to make these beauties.

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

convention cards

Hello! I'm taking advantage of our quiet Sunday afternoon to show you some more cards. FINALLY! This first Medallion card is similar to the Curry swap that I made. I was going to make some of these for swapping, but I ran out of Basic Black. Yes! I really did! I'm waiting on my next shipment so that I have more. I'm down to a 1/2 sheet. The Medallion is stamped in Rich Razzleberry. The Oval All stamps are stamped in Basic Black. The butterfly is colored in with my Razzleberry marker and the white gel pen helps the dots on the frame stand out. The finial folder, one Rhinestone and a bit of Black Gingham ribbon finish off this simple card.
This card is a CASE of a swap that my friend Cheryl received. Nope, I didn't get one of these beauties, so I had to take a pic and then make one myself. Isn't it gorgeous???!!! And so simple! I stamped the Wedding Sweet stamps in Soft Suede. Since I didn't have the coordinating wheel for this stamp set, I used my Illuminated wheel, which I think goes quite well with these stamps. I punched out the greeting with the Curly Label punch. The mat behind it was punched with my Movers & Shapers Die. The ribbon is the polka dot suede flipped over. (can't have white dots with vanilla cardstock!) CS is Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, and Soft Suede.
This card is a CASE of one that I saw on the display boards at convention. Isn't that cute? Since I didn't have the stamp that the stamper used for the cake stand, I decided to make a scalloped stand out of the Scallop Edge Punch and the Crop-A-Dile. The base of the cake stand is from the Scribbles Swirls sizzlit. The background is the new texturz plate. The cupcakes were stamped with Party Hearty in Melon Mambo and Bermuda Bay and the Fine Cosmo Glitter was adhered with a 2-Way Glue Pen.

So, what do you think? Can you tell that I had fun at convention? Stay tuned for convention swaps. They're really incredible!!!

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station.

Blessings,
Julie

One of the funniest things.....!

At convention, on the last day of general session, SU! plays commercials that were sent in by demos. They were so funny, we laughed so hard, and my stomach ached from laughing! Here's a link to the winning commercial from this year's convention. BIG SHOT HERO set to the music of Juke Box Hero. And you should have seen the runners up!

I promise to get some of the swaps I received up soon. I need to take care of some home things first. Catching up after convention is a real drag!

Blessings,
Julie

And the winner is.......

Hurray for 10,000 hits! Thanks to those of you who participated. I did learn something about giving away blog candy this time. I can't give it away while I have important posts (like convention swaps) to show.

So, as promised, I used random.org to pull the winning number.

And the winner is.......







Drumroll please...............











True Random Number
Generator Min:
Max:

Result: 4


Julie Temple! :-D Julie, please email me your address so that I can send you these items.

The cool thing about this draw is that Julie sent me some blog awards a few months ago and I was so astonished that someone would appreciate my blog so much! You know how you always doubt your own creations? Well, it's nice to be appreciated once in awhile. I felt totally honored that she thought enough of my almost brand new blog to send those to me. So, enjoy Julie!

I'll be working on getting some of my swaps uploaded so that you can see some of the wonderful things that I came back with from convention. Oh, and I lost my voice while I was there, and it's still recovering. Too much squealing and excitement? Maybe! Anyone want to join me there in 2 yrs? (That's when I'm planning on going back.) I'd love to sign you up on my team.

Blessings,
Julie

Wow Technique Swaps

...sigh...yes, another swap for convention. This is for two swaps, actually! I killed two birds with one stone because I was out of time and just couldn't come up with another design. This is called the Watercolor Crayon Wash technique. Scribble some Watercolor Crayon on the lid of a plastic stamp set holder. Spritz your stampin' sponge with water and then pick up the color with the wet sponge. Swipe it across your shimmery white cardstock. Repeat with other colors if desired. That's how I got the background for the flower spray. And again, I used the Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. Isn't it pretty? I really like it. I dyed the white taffeta ribbon Rich Razzleberry with a sponge dauber and the classic ink pad. A bit of linen thread, clear embossing, and a latte button finish it off.

What??? You don't have the Watercolor Wonder Crayons????? Well, see that button up on the right? You can click on the Idea Book & Catalog picture and that will take you directly to the online catalog, where you can order them up. Don't know what else to do with the Watercolor Wonder Crayons? How about signing up to host a workshop so that I can show you the wonderful ways to use this great product! Oh, and don't forget to select me as your demonstrator when you place that order. :-D

Thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station!

Blessings,
Julie

Fun Folds in Tri-Fold Style

Here's another swap that I entered. It was called a fun folds swap. Everyone had a different special-fold card to make. I chose the tri-fold card. It's a pocket card with the inside that pulls out. These both were made with Razzleberry Lemonade DSP. Isn't that some pretty paper???!!! And I love how the white jumbo grommet and eyelet punch sets off the fold and the papers.
Well, that's it for today. I'm off to more convention fun. I hope you're finding some stamping/crafting time.

Blessings,
Julie

Ready for Christmas?

This is my swap for the Cards That Move swap. I had the Christmas holiday (no, I'm not quite ready for Christmas yet, but it's fun to use your new stamps! :-D) I used the large snowflake Bigz die for the Big Shot andd my Wide Oval punch to create this front. Oh, and a little bit of white Organza ribbon finishes it off nicely, though I might have to add a bow, right above the oval.
This is the inside. I know it's hard to see, but inside the lattice window is a picture of the holy family from the Holy Triptych stamp set, colored in SU! markers. If you click on the photo, it should show up larger so that you can see the detail. So, what do you think of my lattice from my new SU! Lattice Bigz Die? Isn't that pretty? As you can tell, I'm really loving my Big Shot and all of the wonderful things that I can do with it!

Well, thanks for stopping by the Stamping Station. I wish for you lots of stamping and crafting time!

Blessings,
Julie

Bananarama

Ooooooo, sorry, couldn't resist the reference to a 80's band. I'll try not to let it happen again.
This is a swap for my upline and sidelines while at convention. I stamped the beautiful Medallion stamp on the corner of the white in Barely Banana. Oval All was used for the sentiment in Crushed Curry and colored in with Barely Banana. The background white was run through the Big Shot with the Finial Press folder. Isn't that gorgeous????!!!! I just love that folder! A rhinestone brad and white gel pen finish off this easy card. So....I hope everyone likes my swap. Don't know if this is their style, but I guess that doesn't matter. :-D

Thanks for stopping by the stamping station once again!

Blessings,
Julie

Thanks for Voting!

Thank you for voting for my convention swaps! It was a great help. (And I'm really glad that no one voted for the "neither" option!) Since the voting was twice as many for the blue as for the blush, I made twice as many blue as blush! :-D
This is a card that I made for my niece. She turned 10 a couple of days ago. I was trying to figure out what flower would look good with this retired DSP Confetti. I think this flower from So Much did a reasonable job. The balloon was made with my SU! glitter and my 2-Way Glue Pen. I cut it out for smooth lines and mounted it on the stamped image. The happy birthday sentiment is from the new stamp set Teeny Tiny Wishes. I really love this word set! It really covers pretty much all occasions that you would want a card for and it fits nicely in the word window and modern label punches.
This is a card for my BIL and SIL. Wedding sweet is stamped in the background with Sahara Sand on Sahara Sand C/S. Happy Anniversary is again from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set. The DSP Sweet Slumber is retired, but I really love it! The ribbon is 1/4" Artichoke Grosgrain. The DSP was cut out with the Top Note Bigz Die and the layer behind the sentiment was cut out with my add on kit for the Movers and Shakers XL Die. A bow in white Organza and a mini glue dot to adhere it finishes off this simple, yet interesting card.

Thanks again for stopping by the Stamping Station. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Blessings,
Julie

!!!!Blog Candy!!!!

To celebrate 10,000 blog hits, I'm giving away candy! Yahoo! No, not real candy, blog candy. Get your mind out of the chocolate! Ok, yes, there's no picture. Why? My camera didn't download it, it's 1:35 a.m. and I'm due to rise at 4 a.m. to catch a plane for convention. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!! So, sorry, but you'll have to due without the photo this time. Lame, I know...but what's a girl to do when she needs to leave on a jet plane?

The last blog candy that I offered during the blog hop went unclaimed, so I'm adding it to this one. Here's what we have:

Orchid Wide Organdy Ribbon
Tag Punch
Best Yet stamp set
Mon Ami stamp set
Patterns Pack III designer series papers

non-SU! lacing card kit "dreams"

So, want it? Just leave me a post here by August 10th 12 noon. I'll use Random.org to find out who's the winner. Please only entries for US and Canada.

I'm off to Salt Lake City for the first time. Convention should be a hoot. If I have a chance, I'll try to post from there. If you have any questions, my DH is home and will be able to give you my cell.

Until next time, have a wonderful one!

Blessings,
Julie