Saturday, October 25, 2014

October PLxSU Blog Hop


Welcome to the October Project Life by Stampin' Up! Blog Hop. Each month, a group of us PLxSU enthusiasts link our blogs together to share our latest work with Project Life. 

I've talked about how my goal is to use Project Life to do something with all my pictures from high school and college that are sitting in boxes. My first group of pictures are from my congressional internship in Washington, DC. This internship was such an amazing experience. I got to glimpse at how our government works while gaining amazing professional experience and wandering around our nation's capitol during my down time. My internship was ten years ago. TEN YEARS AGO!!! And I'm just getting around documenting this amazing period. Project Life is definitely making it easier. 

For some reason, I shot a lot of rolls of film (do you remember those?) in black and white while exploring the National Mall. I thought the Love Story Card Collection would be perfect for these pages. This entire collection is black and white, but it's so easy to add a splash of color, such as I did for my journaling card. I used an aqua painter and stamp pads to color the flowers on this journaling card. I loved loved loved how the color made this card pop. 



I also dug out some old Stampin' Up! specialty DSP to use on my pages. I cut the pages to 4 x 4 squares and used the corner rounder punch to round the corners. You can use any card stock or designer series paper to make your own pocket cards for you Project Life layouts. Of course, it's extra work, but it's a great way to use old DSP or make things match even more. 


Using those themed stickers you can usually get at tourist shops and big box stores is a great way to add more embellishment to your pages. I bought several sheets of Washington DC related stickers and they are so easy to use on my Project Life pages.

Thank you for stopping by my blog today. Hop on over to Sharon Armstrong's blog.

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

PLxSU Blog Hope Lineup
Loving Life's Little Blessings - Katina Martinez 
Today Kelsey Is - Kelsey
Stampin' Cita - Carmelita Wasson
TxStampinSharon - Sharon Armstrong
StampinbyHannah - Hannah

Friday, October 17, 2014

To the Moon and Back



I love Project Life by Stampin' Up! to the moon and back! I also love my husband, the booger, my family, candy corn, walks in the Sandia Foothills, and sleep. 

The PLxSU Card Collections provide so many cute and versatile cards that can be used on a variety of projects. I got a little carried away using the cards to make greeting cards, and it was so simple because the PLxSU sets coordinate perfectly with all the Stampin' Up! colors and accessories.  Using the card collections on cards help make quick and easy cards. Have you tried this? If so, I would love to see your cards! Head over to my Facebook page and post them there. 


I grabbed the "I Love You to the Moon and Back" card from the Playground Card Collection. Of course, all PLxSU card collections come with an accessory pack. That's where this cute clear star comes from. I thought it was a perfect addition with baker's twine adhered to it. You should see how cute these stars look on a Project Life layout (stay tuned for that post in a a few weeks). 

Stampin' Tips:
  • Color Scheme: Island Indigo, Crushed Curry, Pool Party 
  • PLxSU Supplies: Playground Card Collection, Playground Accessory Pack 
  • Accessories: Perfect Polka Dots TIEF, Big Shote, Glue Dots
  • Tie a small bow using the baker's twine and adhere it to the clear star using a glue dot
  • Adhere the pocket card to a piece of pool party card stock, and the adhere this to the card using a Stampin' Dimensional
See? Super simple card. Super quick and easy. Visit my store to see all the PLxSU card collections.

Happy Stampin' 
~Cita   

Monday, October 06, 2014

Woohoo for Pinwheels


Project Life! Project Life! Project Life!

These days, I'm obsessed! I've been playing with and thinking about PLxSU so much that I have been having dreams about it the last several nights.

One of the fun things you can do with the PLxSU Card Collections is use the cards on.....wait for it....cards!!!

This card was one of three cards we made during September's Craft It Night. Everyone got their own Playground Card Collection and coordinating accessory kit that they used on the three cards as well as their own PLxSU layout. It was a great night. You can join me for the next one on October 10.

Stampin' Tips:

  • Color scheme: Island Indigo, Calypso Coral, Whisper White
  • Stamp Set: Big News 
  • Accessories:  Playground Project Life Card Collection, Stampin' Dimensionals
  • Cut the pinwheel card to 3.75" x 5"
  • Stamp the "woohoo" stamp in Island Indigo on Whisper White card stock. Use paper snips to cut out the banner and use a Stampin' Dimensional to adhere it to the card. 

Friday, October 03, 2014

September Craft It Night Featuring Project Life by Stampin' Up!


I am so excited to announce my Craft it Nights featuring Project Life by Stampin' Up! I was inspired to host these evenings during convention, and finally in September I was able to hold my first Craft It Night. I have four wonderful ladies join me for an evening of memory keeping and crafting.

I started the evening off by offering an overview of Project Life by Stampin' Up! (PLxSU)and showing how easy it is to create a page using this great memory keeping system. Next, I showed how you can use PLxSU products to create cards. And then we crafted! All four ladies created their own 12 x 12 layout using the Playground Card Collection and Accessory Pack. For three of the ladies, this was their first layout using PLxSU. (The fourth lady is already obsessed with PLxSU and has over half an album done. She started using the product in April.)

After everyone created their layouts and cards, each lady busted out their own crafting project. One lady worked on making jewelry, while another lady worked on knitting her son's halloween costume. That's the beauty of Craft It Nights, it's all about crafting and being creative. We were done around 11:40 pm. Late night crafting is the best.

My next Craft It Night will be October 10. If you are in the Albuquerque area, contact me for information on how to attend this fun evening.

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Wednesday, October 01, 2014

Stamp Stock and Save


Stampin' Up! is so excited about this year's World Card Making Day, that they're having a ridiculous 15% off sale on some of your favorite products! From October 1-6 , you'll be able to purchase select ink, paper, envelops, and adhesive-all at a 15% discount! Select stamps are 20%!

Check out all that is included!



Make sure to head on over to my website and stock up on all your supplies for making cards. The sale is only available until October 6. 

Happy Stampin' 
~Cita 

Saturday, September 27, 2014

September Project Life by Stampin' Up Blog Hop

Hello! Welcome to my blog.

This is my first month participating in the Project Life by Stampin' Up! (PLxSU) Blog Hop, and I'm super excited. Further, this is my first time I'm sharing one of my PLxSU creations on my blog.

I've been a closet Project Lifer for about two years, but it wasn't until this past April when Stampin' Up! announced their partnership with Project Life that I fully jumped on the bandwagon and went public. At this point, my primary goal is to use PLxSU to keepsake the hundreds of pictures and mementos from high school and college.


This month, I'm using the Playground PLxSU kit and accessory pack to highlight some of the fun get togethers I had with friends in college.




I love how simple PLxSU makes journaling. The kits come with great journaling cards that can be added to the 4x6 cards and embellished with the stickers from the accessory pack.


I also like the generic decorative cards that add so much color to the page. The Playgound kit highlights Island Indigo, Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral, and Pool Party.


Finally, I love "Title" cards, and the letter stickers in the Playground accessory kit make adding a title to my pages super easy. I tend to be deficient in lining up my letters straight, so I like to stagger the letters.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. Head on over to Susan Wong's blog at Stamping Susan for some great inspiration.

Or check out the rest of the PLxSU lineup.

Loving Life's Little Blessing - Katina Martinez
PrettyPaperMakers - Maria Leon-Villanueva 
Elmer Stamper - Kristin Kortonick
You are here Stampin' Cita - Carmelita Wasson
Stamping Susan - Susan Wong
Stamping with Karlie - Karlie Yardy
Kelsey Is - Kelsey Noble
Earthy Scrap - Jennie Garcia

Happy Stampin' 
~Cita 

Sunday, September 21, 2014

CASEing the Catalog: Fright Night



CASE - Copy and Share Everything. A great way to be inspired and compliment those other crafters whom you copy. 

This year for my Stamp Club I decided that we are going to CASE the catalog. The Stampin' Up! Annual Catalog is a great place to start for inspiration if you are having trouble getting started. The catalog is full of replicable projects that are easy and simple using the great products Stampin' Up! offers. In some cases there are QR codes that you can use to watch videos on how to make certain projects. 


This card is CASEd from a cute card on page 44 of the Annual Catalog. The card in the catalog uses the Amazing Birthday stamp set and Confetti Celebration DSP. Believe it or not, but the Halloween card also uses the Confetti Celebration. I was so excited when I noticed the Tangelo Twist and black papers in the pack and how great they look together. When I look at the Confetti Celebration set I think more about birthday cards. I love how it offers a little versatility. 

Stampin' Tips for Halloween Card:
  • Color Scheme: Tangelo Twise, Basic Black, Basic Grey, Crushed Curry, Whisper White
  • Stamp Sets: Project Life Holiday Cheer, Amazing Birthday
  • Accessories: Basic Black 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Confetti Celebration DSP, Banners Framelits
  • Cut out a banner using the Banners Framelits. Stamp the "Surprise" greeting in Crushed Curry on Whisper White and then use the 1-1/4" punch to punch out the greeting. 
  • Stamp the "Fright Night" greeting in Whisper White Craft Ink on a piece of scrap Basic Black card stock. Use the Banner framelits to cut out the greeting. Place the banner over the "Surprise" words using a Stampin' Dimensional. 
Happy Stampin' 
~Cita 


Sunday, September 07, 2014

Mingle all the Way




Have you had a chance to browse through the new Holiday Catalog? I hope you have. And if you have not, take some time for yourself and escape into the happy holidayness of the catalog.

One of the first stamp sets that caught my eye in the catalog was the Mingle all the Way stamp set and it only sat on my desk for over a month before I finally sat down to use it. Do you have that problem too? You buy a stamp set and are all excited to use it, but it takes days, weeks, or even months before you sit down and use it? I feel like this is happening more and more to me lately. Maybe I need to prioritize my time better?

Anyways, this super easy card takes advantage of my favorite 3.5 x 5 inch note cards. You get 20 pre-scored cards with envelopes for only $5.95 (item number 131157).

Stampin' Tips: 

  • Color Scheme: Whisper White, Smoky Slate, Lost Lagoon 
  • Stamp Set: Mingle All the Way 
  • Accessories: Rhinestones, Whisper White Embossing Powder, Embossing Gun, Versamark Ink, All is Calm DSP, 2-3/8" Scallop Punch  
  • Punch a piece of 3 x 4.5" piece of All is Calm DSP using the 2-3/8" Scallop Punch. Holding the DSP in portrait position, center the punch form the top of the DSP and push down the punch until the paper can not go anymore. Punch the scallop. 
  • Place the DSP over the Smoky Slate card stock and stamp the Mingle All The Way stamp in Versamark Ink in the scallop. Cover with Whisper White embossing powder. Use the embossing gun to heat emboss the image. 
  • Apply Rhinestones to the snowflakes once they are embossed. 
I couldn't decide which side of the DSP I liked better for this card, so I made a card using both sides of the All is Calm DSP. Which side do you like best?



Happy Stampin' , 
~Cita 

Thursday, August 28, 2014

2014 Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog is here!


It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....well, kind of. The new Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog is live! Go check it out and place your order. It's a great catalog this year and I'm excited about all the great projects and cards I'll get to make this season. 

Happy Stampin' 
~Cita 

Friday, July 25, 2014

Inspire. Create. Share. 2014: Awards Night and After Party


Ok, so I have a little confession to make. I had EVERY intention of going to Awards Night and being there from beginning to end, but I missed about three-quarters of the night because I got sucked into the City Creek Mall. We went there for a quick dinner at the food court (my roomies had to indulge in Chic-fil-A because there is not one in their town) and some quick shopping. I checked out a few stores and then realized I was experiencing child-free shopping!!! I could concentrate and take my time and not worry about a bored little four-year-old wanting to touch everything or hide in the clothes racks. I lost track of time and was super late for Awards Night. 

However, I still got to see some amazing women celebrate their amazing achievements. I was excited to hear that that the Getaway is going to be to Newport Beach, CA. And then it was exciting to see the new Artisan Team, which now includes members from all over the world. I'll be looking forward to seeing their amazing projects over the next year. 

Finally, they announced Founder's Circle. I saw lots of names I recognize because of their online presence, but I also saw my up-up-upline Karen's name on the screen and got super excited as she walked across the stage to celebrate her achievement. I watch Awards Night every year (oh wait, I skipped it one year. Ikea was calling my name), and I rarely get super excited, but seeing Karen make this great achievement was worth getting excited for. 

Ok, now on to the Awards After-Party, which I fully participated in. It was hard not to because it was just THAT amazing!


  The theme of this year's after-party was County Fair, and it was probably just as fun as all the county fairs I have ever attended. 

They party featured nachos, funnel cake-like fries, a live country band with line-dancing (and instructors), face painting, bull-riding, fishing, and just plain ole' fun. I've been to several after-parties, and last year's was my favorite, but this year certainly gave the last one a run for its money. And my roomies were great companions to this great party. 

 The energy walking into the after-party was high. The band was great, the food was good, and the company was amazing.
 This was early in the evening when people were probably still trickling in and throwing a munch before hitting the dance floor.
 My roomie, who I might add is 80 years old, drug us all out onto the dance floor. I want to be like her when I grow up.
 I totally felt like I was a 10-year-old girl with how giddy I got over the face painting.

 About 8 minutes later. Wa-la, I have a sparkly flower on my face.

I wasn't the only one that got my face painted. All of my roomies indulged in this fun event. 

I left the party toward the end, but not too late because I had a FaceTime Date with my daughter and husband, who were left at home to fend for themselves. Thank God for great husbands who hold down the fort when the mommy leaves.  

There you have it. I have now officially blogged all about my day 2 at Inspire. Create. Share. Stay tuned for more of my experience in the upcoming days. 

Happy Stampin' 
~Cita 

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Inspire. Create. Share. 2014: Afternoon of Day 2

Friday afternoon was all about the make-and-takes for me. I was excited how Stampin' Up! organized this year's M&Ts, and as of today, for the first time ever in my convention attendance history, I completed ALL my M&Ts before leaving convention. woo-hoo!

Before I jumped into M&Ts, I attended Bonnie Thurber's "We're Glad You're Here" breakout class. Stampin' Up! employees like Bonnie are one of the many reason I love attendee Stampin' Up! events. Every presentation Bonnie does I absolutely love. She could probably sit up there and read me her grocery list and I would love it, laugh at it, and be inspired. If you ever get a chance to see Bonnie's presentation, run, don't walk. :-)

After I stuffed my face with lunch during the breakout class and laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes, it was M&T time! Yahoo! My amazing convention roomies joined me through the afternoon. Stamping with others is so much fun and enhances the experience, in my opinion.

First M&T was the Kinda Eclectic Craft Journal. Super cute and super easy!



Second was the Seasonally Scatter Takeout Box using an upcoming stamp set from the Holiday Catalog. I can tell this stamp set is going to be one of my favorites. Because I was travelling back on an airplane, I just made my the tag to the box and will construct the box later.




I was looking forward to the last M&T because it was a Project Life Scrapbook Page. Are you onboard with Project Life? If not, check it out. It has made memory keeping so much simpler for me since jumping into this form of scrapbooking. It's perfect for the busy mom, business woman, or student.




After the mini M&T sessions I wandered around the Gathering Place and then ended up in the Inspire. Create. Share. Workshop Session 2, where we got to sit through a mock stamp club and create another amazing M&T. This one was super cute and I loved the simplicity of it.




While stamping, I accidentally plunged my finger into the Real Red stamp pad. My roomies and I were laughing at how much it looked like a really bad craft wound.




During the evening I attended the Awards Night and the oh-so amazing Create. Share. Celebration (aka after party). I'll write all about it in my next post.

Happy Stampin'
~Cita





Friday, July 18, 2014

Inspire. Create. Share. 2014: Morning of Day 2

I am so exhausted! It has been a very great and overwhelming (in a good way) day.

We began our day just like we always do: in General Session. As always, it did not disappoint. 

Remember how I mentioned yesterday how the Stampin' Up! employee greeting line was missing yesterday? Well, today they were present and I was super excited. I think it was the energy spark that I needed to fully wake up this morning (I had skipped my cup of coffee). This may seem silly, but I really look forward to my high fives from the SU! employees each year.


Ms. Sara Douglass greeted us this morning with a super fun announcement: The Grand Vacation is going to be a Mediterranean Cruise porting in Spain, Italy, and France. Seriously?!?! The video (which we watched twice because it was that good) portrayed a jam-packed, luxuriously exotic cruise. I want to go to there. 

Next, Donna Griffith came out to make me (and probably many other demonstrators) a believer in Blendabilities. Although I'm still a little intimidated by this super fun product, I am more confident in its abilities and am looking forward to playing with them when I get home. 

Donna talked about all the things you can use Blendabilities on. Here's a break down:
  • On Whisper White card stock
  • On colored cardstock
  • On mini muslin bags
  • On embellishments (we also got a word of warning for coloring embellishments - these may damage the tips of you Blendabilities).
  • On Window Sheets
  • On Cellophane Bags
  • On B&W photographs







At this point, I became a believer. 

After Donna, Rich Juntkins took the stage and decided to stamp his presentation. What a great idea. If I still worked for a corporation, I totally would be tempted to try ways to stamp in my presentations. PowerPoint is so overrated. Anyways, Rich even had this amazing shirt to help his creative juices flow.




During Rich's presentation, he quoted Rob Hill, Sr 
Sometimes when you think the storm is coming to rain on your parade
it's actually there to water your garden

I think this is my favorite quote now. 

This post is getting way too long. :-) Probably because the day was jam-packed with inspiration and all-around Stampin' Up! goodness. I'll continue my Day 2 highlights in another post. Till then, here are a few more pictures to highlight my morning.

Woke up early again to do some walking with the roomie. Today we found the Utah State Capitol building and walked around the beautiful grounds.

Hanging out with the roomies before this morning's General Session. 

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Inspire Create Share 2014: Day 1

Inspire. Create. Share. 2014: Day 1

Phew. What a day! The official first full day of Inspire Create Share started (for me) at 545 am. Yes, that early. But only because I wanted to run in beautiful downtown SLC, and my roomie was so gracious to join me.
And then of course I wanted to get to the Salt Palace early to start swapping and stand in the (very long) line for General Session. 

General Session started a little differently this year. Usually, Stampin’ Up! employees cheer us as we enter the Main Stage area, but this year they were absent.  While waiting for General Session to start, I wandered around, swapping and making my way to the very front of the room to get a closer look at this year’s beautiful stage. 




Finally, with heightened anticipation, General Session started and I soon learned where all the Stampin’ Up! employes were hiding - they were back stage. For the opening, they went through the Statement of the Heart while introducing each department in between sentences. Global Operations, Human Resources, Demonstrator Resources, Training (I can’t remember all the official names of each department) - each department made their way on stage and we applauded them. For so many years, they have applauded us demonstrators as we started convention, and even though I missed that grand entrance, I felt excited to cheer for each Stampin’ Up! employee. I appreciate these people. They provide so much for me as a demonstrator and sometimes I take them for granted.  

Oh, and as each department exited the stage a few fireworks went off. I don’t remember pyrotechnics ever being present during convention, but it was a fun touch and added to hype of the opening. 

Finally, Shelli Gardner, Cofounder and CEO of Stampin’ Up!, rotated her way on stage and was beautiful as ever. I want to look like her when I’m heard age. 

As we were sitting down, we were surprised by a sneaky all-attendee giveaway. They didn’t announce it like they usually do, but rather just started handing out stamps. (It was a dream come true!) We each got one of six individual stamps. 



Shelli gave a great talk, encouraging us to Inspire Create and Share with all people around us. She included a story about a recent adventure she had while talking to strangers about stamping and hosting workshops. 

After Shelli, Ms. Pam Morgan took the stage and made me all giddy with excitement as she introduced us to the new Holiday Catalog, highlighting some of the new products, stamps, and ideas. Many people know that I get a little grumpy with new catalogs because I can get so overwhelmed, but I’m pretty excited about this catalog. 

Per Stampin’ Up! policy, I can not post pictures of the actual product, but I can post pictures of projects using the new products. I’m going to be an obedient demonstrator and just post projects. But you’ll get to see the cuteness and versatility of all the great products. Can you say box punch board? Snowflake embellishments? And lots and lots of framelits! 

Toward the end of General Session the amazing Becky Higgins joined Shelli onstage to talk more about Project Life and tell us more about herself. Have I mentioned that I love Project Life and I am so excited that we now offer Project Life by Stampin’ Up! It was great to hear from Becky and welcome her to the Stampin’ Up! family. 



The rest of the day I wandered through classes and the gathering place, where I took lots of pictures of the samples and product boards and even resubscribed to Paper Pumpkin. They allowed us to peek at the upcoming Paper Pumpkin kits and they are so great I just had to have them. We couldn’t take pictures. There was even a guard there. I didn’t want to lose my camera or my phone. 

Here are some more highlights from my day.  


One of my favorite places at convention is the Product Playground. If there is an item I am on the fence about purchasing, the product playground usually where I make my final decision. I didn't make it to the playground today because I got stuck at the display boards.


Hello!!! It's Elsa's dress. I think this has made it's rounds on Pinterest but it looks so beautiful in person. It took everything in me to not cross the barrier and steal it. (This is a joke, I don't steal from display boards.)



I love how they are doing Make & Takes this year. We sat through a workshop given by a fellow demonstrator and then made these two beautiful cards.

 Those are my swap in a cute Thirty-One Littles Carry-All, one of the my favorite Thirty-one product. Confession: I am also a Thirty-One consultant, but Stampin' Up! is my first love. This thing is great for holding swaps.

 Dinner with my random roomies. I came to convention alone because all the other Ladybug stampers had more important things to do than come to convention this year. So, I took a risk and met these ladies online who were looking for a fourth roommate. I have to say that these ladies are amazing and I'm so excited and blessed to be rooming and hanging with them. One of the MANY perks of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is meeting amazing ladies who all share the same passion for stamping and paper crafting.

 I didn't win this morning, but I still enjoy the heightened rush of anticipation as you wait for the presenter to call out the winning color. Send good thoughts to Crisp Cantaloupe.

 I loved this display of the new 2014-2016 In Colors. I wonder if my husband will allow me to CASE this display on our living room wall.

 I don't know how long I stood and admired this beautiful flower.

 Here's a little sneak peek of some of the upcoming Holiday Catalog products. I am really looking forward to this paper. A little secret, it's a one-sided DSP, but it's beautiful.

 Another sneak peak. There's going to be a tree set with a coordinating punch. It's going to be produce lots of cute Christmas cards this year, I just know it.

 During the workshop, the demonstrator demoed these cute, but super simple Thank You cards. I may be CASEing these in the near future.


Although running out of steam at the end of the day, I still found myself at the MDS Unplugged class taught by Holly Linford. She showed us how to make some of the beautiful decorative items featured in the Annual Catalog using MDS. She encouraged us to not be afraid of using the MDS digital downloads. I'm anxious to get home and use my e-cutter with some MDS downloads. 

I'm excited for tomorrow. Another general session. Another set of Make-and-Takes. Several more classes. More time in the Gathering Place. And I'm ready to party at the Awards After Party. Remember to follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more real-time updates. 

Happy Stampin' (and good night), 
~Cita

P.S. I really need to go to bed, so I'm posting this without thoroughly proofing my text. Future employers, please disregard this post. I usually proof my posts. 

Snowed In

It's like we were destined to not go to school today. I woke up to a beautiful 6 inches of snow in my yard. We are in the lower elevatio...