My Blog
9/6/09
I have been working on updating my website to reflect all the current product lines that Stampin' Up! is offering. It's taking me a long time to upload everything, so keep checking back for more listings.
Kendall Simone was born on Monday, 8/31, and I am so happy that everything went well. We came home on Wednesday, and my in-laws arrived that day as well. They have been a big help in taking care of Gwen this week, and it will certainly help in the transition from one child to two. I'm really going to miss my in-laws when they go!!!
I'm currently planning the projects for the first hostess club on Sept. 20. I'm glad I got a lot of it done before Kendall was born, because we've been pretty busy since. Thankfully, all Kendall does right now is eat and sleep, and she's been sleeping for 2-3 hours at a stretch. Matt and I have a good system for getting her up and back to bed, so both of us are getting a reasonable amount of sleep. I feel so lucky!
8/27/09
I love the new Decor Elements growth chart that Stampin' Up! is offering right now. While it was a bit tricky to get so many pieces on a textured wall, the patience and determination were worth it. Gwen has already enjoyed measuring herself next to it several times, and in the past 3 days has said that she has grown.
I took some pictures of the final design and the modifications I made to it. Firstly, I didn't use the centimeter measurements, as we Americans don't really use it. Next, I used my Big Shot to cut out letters for Gwen's (and soon to be Kendall's, too) name from the Decor Elements Sheets in Chocolate. Then I used the My Way punch to form the arrow and wrote the date of measurement on it.
Kendall is due to arrive on 8/31, and after we settle into the routine of having a new baby, I will be updating my blog much more frequently.
11/12/08
Couple quick posts, as life has been crazy hectic here. The first of three craft fairs is this Sat., and between swaps, meetings, camps, and hostess club, I barely have time for the family.
I took second place in the card swap contest for our autumn SBStampers meeting. You can see the card below:
That's now 3 top-3 finishes in a row. Maybe I should start sending these in to Stampin' Up! and see if they like any of them...
Hostess Club project will be making a decorated glass ornament and a box with a paper bow on it. Pics are below:
Because it's not a real Denise party if there isn't glitter involved... ;)
8/25/08
So today was SB Stamper's quarterly meeting, and as usual, there were some fantastic cards and uses of Stampin' Up! products shown. I always get re-energized by seeing other people's creativity and learning from it. Now I may have to switch around my wish list to accomodate some of the stuff I want to buy as a result of today's event!
At these meetings we do a card swap, and if we choose to participate in the swap, we can sumbit our cards for a swap contest. Everyone in attendance at the meeting then votes for their favorite, and the winner is determined by the highest number of votes. The first couple of meetings I attended, my swap cards were not very good. In fact, I think about the duds I handed out and how some people must have been disappointed when they received my card. Over the past few months, though, I feel like the quality of my cards has improved. I'm by no means a skilled artisan or can come up with the most amazing uses for a product, but I can hold my own and be creative when I'm in the right mindset.
I was fortunate enough to have won 1st place at March's meeting using a derivation of Gwen's birthday invitation (of course I don't have a picture of it to post, as I had none left), so I decided to go for the gold again this time. I was already frustrated because I didn't get my stamps until late Wednesday night, and I have been facing a huge creative block for a couple of weeks now. On Thursday I got my open house cards designed, but I could not think of anything for my swap. I couldn't sleep Thursday night, and while I was lying in bed, desperate to get some sleep, the creative spark just came to me. I worked all day Friday to get the cards made, and here was the final product:
Stamps: Humor in High Heels; Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Summer Picnic DSP; Ink: Staz-On Black, Versamark; Accessories: Punches Plus Classy Brass Template, Crystal Effects, Dazzling Diamonds, Ticket Corner Punch
Sadly, I tied for 3rd place. :( I'm still pretty happy with my final design, as I had a number of people seek me out to swap with me after seeing it on the display board. In the current spirit of the Olympics, I at least got to the podium again. I enjoy making cards that are worthy of going on my display board and am always excited when I receive cards of equal or better quality than mine. And I will continue to work on unique yet simple cards in the hopes of winning again. I am a pretty competitive person, after all!
8/16/08
Well, if I am actually able to find time in my hectic life, this is where I will post occasional updates of projects I am working on, challenges I am facing, and overall appreciations for other people's artistic creations.
I have spent the better part of today working on updating this website, and now I need to move onto my "official" Stampin' Up! website - http://stampwithdeniserolak.stampinup.net - to update all of the calendar changes I have made. Gwen is down for a nap, and it's too hot to do anything outside, so it is a good weekend to downshift and actually focus on my stamping for a while. I am DESPERATELY waiting for my box of new stamps to arrive from Stampin' Up! 1-2 days to pick - WHATEVER! I submitted my order on 8/11, the first day to submit, and they are still only picking my box. Ugh. I know this means I will be really busy in the latter half of next week getting ready for my open houses. So I'll get other stuff done in the meantime..