JoyOfStamping

Just wanted to wish everyone a very fun and SAFE Halloween! :)  I can’t believe how fast time flies by.  It’s already Halloween?

Here is a card using OCL’s Spooky Nights:

(close up of the Sparkly Fluff and Sparkles)

Have a great day!

WOW!  What an experience!!!!  So much work… but so much fun!  The experience was amazing.  Just wanted to share some pix I took…. sure wish I took more. (Click on any of the images for a slightly larger view)

 This is a picture of our Make and Take Table.  Cami, Marianne Walker, and Debbie Olson rocked with showing very cool coloring techniques.

 Kimberly rocked it, too! :)  Isn’t she just the cutest?

How fun was it to see our stamps in the store.  Here are my co-owners with me. (Kimberly, Me and Cami)

It was great to see some of my favorite vendors.  Nicole from Imaginisce is just too cute.  And it was great having a table right next to Fancy Pants.  I was able to trash talk about sports with Jared.  Him and his adorable wife are the owners of Fancy Pants.

Everyone from Archiver’s was so helpful and so sweet.  Amy was one of my favorites.  She always went above and beyond to make sure that we had whatever we needed.  We *heart* Amy!

We got to meet a lot of cool customers.  There were a few that we ran into quite a bit.  Natalie was everywhere… even the bathroom.  She named herself the Bathroom Stalker.  Her and her mom were so cute!

But, the best part of the trip was hanging out with friends.  Having dinner with everyone and even meeting the sweetest waitress that made you smile every time you looked at her.  She was so great that we had to go back the next night to see her again! :)  Boom Boom and Blue cheese all around!

 I am already looking forward to next year!

It’s crazy to think that a year has already gone by since Taylor Released her first stamp sets?  I remember that fun day of getting together with her a few friends packing orders.  I think I got the most “extra credit” points that day…. yeah, I’m Taylor’s favorite…. jk! :)  I’m so proud of what she has accomplished.  What an amazing girl!

(my aplogizies for the bad picture…. of course there was no natural light when I finished my project.  LOL!  I’ll re-take and re-upload! Ü)

The Places You’ll Go is the 3rd stamp set in The Taylored Expressions Giving Tree Program designed to donate proceeds to a different charity each quarter. For each The Places You’ll Go stamp set sold during September, October, November, Taylored Expressions will donate $7.00 to the Books for Kids Foundation: http://www.booksforkidsfoundation.org/. Note: This set is the same deeply etched rubber you have come to love! However, in order to cut down on manufacturing costs and donate more to charity, The Places You’ll Go set will need to be trimmed when the customer receives it.

Happy Birthday Cuppie and Stamp a Sweet Impression! :)  To celebrate, check out some other girls with some other awesome samples:

Bonnie Sharp www.theluckyclucker.blogspot.com

Cambria Turnbow www.cambriaturnbow.blogspot.com

Carolina Buchting http://creativepad.typepad.com/

Debbie Olson http://debbiedesigns.typepad.com/

Jenn Balcer http://jbalcer.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Joy Kennedy  http://joyofstamping.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Lori Craig  http://loricraig.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com

Sherrie Siemens http://sherrie-cardcreme.blogspot.com/

Every year, there is one thing I look forward to most during my summertime….. and that is the annual shistah retreat in Chippewa Falls, WI.  These friends are some of the most amazing people you will ever meet!!!!  I am so fortunate to have friends like them.  They are there for me through thick and thin.

 Check out this AWESOME digi page that my friend Fabby put together. She taught a digi scrapbooking class and I am so scared that I am gonna get hooked on it.

She also made this cool one of Daisy and me!

We played with Ten Seconds Studio stuff.  Look what MY made.

Here are 2 of my crazy roommates from the “Party Room” and two of the girls from “Kookie’s Kupcake’s” (yes, possessive) reapplying lipstick!

Can’t wait until next year!

Can you believe that its already time for another OCL Release?! :)  This one is so fun and exciting.  I am really really diggin’ this release.  It’s hard to pick a favorite because there are just sooooooo many cute sets.  But, I would have to say, that this set is my absolutely favorite!   Do you ever get an idea in your head of a stamp set that you’d like, but not really know exactly how you would like it?  This is one of those sets for me.  I always see witches’ shoes, witches’ hats, etc…… so, I thought a witches closet would be cool.  We let Debbie run with it….. and this set turned out better than I had ever envisioned! :)  Witch to Wear will come in both Rubber and Clear.  I can’t wait to be able to play more with this set!

For more sneak peaks, be sure to check out the OCL Blog.  And for chit chat about the the sneak peaks, come hang out at the lounge (OCL Forum).  We have 31 new sets releasing.  Today through Wednesday, you’ll see sneak peaks from some of your favorite designers! :)  Then, on Thursday, we will have our big blog hop where we will be giving away 31…. yup, that’s right…. 31 stamp sets.  Till tomorrow…..

It has been a pretty stressful week, with work, eP, OCL…. all of it has been busy, busy, busy…. go go go….. But, I had an AWESOME weekend.  This is where I feel I am right now!

 I  know this isn’t my usual style, but I am getting so addicted to this “dirty” look.  I am also addicted to the crackle paint!  Check it out closer!

This is made with Sandy Sunsets and I masked the tree with eclipse tape roll (punched a circle) before running the foam applicator over it with distress inks.

 The weekend was exactly the relaxation I needed.  I got to go to an NKOTB concert on Saturday night.  It was amazing to go see them after 20 years.  They are still as hot as when I was in Jr. High!  My sis and I had such a great time.  I felt like a kid again.

Then, this weekend, I got to spend lots of time with Daisy.  We went to the Carson Stamp Convention and got to meet some really cool people. (Hi Jennie)  And we got to hang out with some friends.  That is always the best.  We also…. got to take home some of tim holtz and Wendy Vecchi’s new stamps! :)  Looking at their artwork is so amazing! I’m gonna download the pix from my camera and share some of my favorite samples.

Have a great day everyone…. back to the grind!

I loooooooooooooooooove Copics! :)  These new colors are sooooooo pretty! I can’t wait to spend some time with them….  (after we get these order out)

Sharon Harnist has a great comparison of the new colors on her blog!

Sherrie Siemens has a cute card made with it.

Debbie Olson made a gorgeous card.  I’m sure she is lovin’ the new pale colors.

For those of you who purchase them, I would love to see what you create with them!

Every year, I get soooooooooo nervous before the trip…. and actually DURING the trip.  But, after it is all said and done, I can’t stop thinking about how much fun it was!!!!! King’s River Expedition puts on an amazing program.  The staff/guides are absolutely amazing.

The water was crazier than I have experienced.  And because it was the first hot day on Friday, it melted a lot of snow and the 2nd day was even CRAZIER.  Here are some pix from the first day.

Group Shot:

Front Row: Nephew Anthoni, Me, Brother-in-law Damon

Back Row: Dawn (she popped out of the raft at one point going down the rapids), Brother Jay, Guide Jason (he was a rookie), Kurt

Here are some pix from the rest of the day.  You can click on the images for larger view!

Can’t wait for next time…….

Well, as I sit at Disneyland waiting for a parade, I am so excited for what the weekend has in store for us! :)  Today is a perfect day…. Sun is out…. I’m at the happiest place on earth.  They are having a victory for Kobe and the Lakers.  What could be better than Lakers AND Disneyland? Being from SoCal and being a sports freak, I grew up watching Magic Johnson and the Showtime Lakers.

Here is a pic from my birthday party last year…..

Then, after the parade, we are heading to go white water rafting.  You can see more pix from this blog post…..

Wish me luck and hope I get back in one piece!  LOL!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Today is a special day for one of my dearest friends. It is Taylor VanBruggen’s Birthday.  Not only that, but is the start for her new adventure of working on Taylored Exppressions full time. What an exciting adventure for her. I wish her all the success.  I know she will succeed…. she is one of the sweetest, most caring, hardest working people I know.  I will miss hanging out with her here in Southern California.  She has been my support system many a times.  I know that she is only a phone call/e-mail away, but I can’t imagine not seeing her pretty face every so often.  I will miss hearing my nephew call her “tay-or”.  MAN!  I’m getting teary eyed just thinking about it…..  Please be sure to stop by her blog and wish her a happy birthday!

I used some of her CUTE images from the  “For the Love of Cupcakes” stamp set.  I know how much Taylor loves cupcakes! :)  I used some My Mind’s Eye Paper with some Basic Grey Buttons.  I colored the cupcake with Copic Markers,  added some Cotton Candy Sparkly Fluff to the frosting and Glossy Accents to the cherry.

This was a fun cupcake sketch challenge.  Be sure to check out Taylor’s blog for the fun sketch.  And have fun playing along!