Throwback Thursday: Going on a Petal Parade

Here's a throwback to Sale-a-Bration 2014 using the Petal Parade stamp set. I loved how easy it was to mask the flowers and the petals, and the color combination of Coastal Cabana, Old Olive, and Cameo Coral was a hit in my book. This is not a color combination I use often. 

Happy Stampin' 

~Cita 

Christmas in July

July seems to be the month where Christmas creeps up on crafters. And with Stampin' Up!, it's not any different. (Hey, us crafters have to have adequate time to create all the Christmas goodness for the holiday season.)

Today, the Seasons of Beauty stamp set is available for your purchasing joy. This stamp set is a little sneak peek from the upcoming 2014 Holiday Catalog. Head on over to my website to purchase this adorable stamp set.

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Throwback Thursday: Love Simple Cards

Sometimes I create cards faster than I can post them on my blog. I thought that once I stayed home and no longer had my day job, I would have more time to blog, but this is not the case. I'm amazed at how much more busy I feel these days staying home with my daughter. The other day I told my husband that I felt like I had more free time when I was working than I do now. This isn't a complaint, just one of the many misperceptions I had when I was working and envisioning my life as a stay-at-home mom. Bottom line: I love staying home with the booger. I do miss work, but I don't miss GOING to work.

Anyways, here's a card made with some now-retired product in honor of Throwback Thursday. I CASEd it from a card featured in Stampin' Success, the awesome bi-monthly magazine I get from Stampin' Up for being a demonstrator. Getting this magazine is one of the many perks of being a demonstrator.  Visit my website to learn more.

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Get all the DSP!!! (but 3 get one free)

Who wants DSP?

I do! I do!

Happy July! This month, when you buy three packages of DSP, you get one package for free! This is a great way to stock up on all that beautiful DSP.

Here's the details:

• There is no limit to the number of free DSP pack you can receive. For each three purchase, you will receive one free!
• To get your free DSP when ordering from my website, enter it in your order separately from the three packs you're paying for. For example, if you want four packs of the same type of paper, put in three you're paying for and the fourth as a separate item. 
• These items don't qualify for the special:
• DSP Stacks
• Specialty DSP
• DSP paper ordered through your hostess benefits (contact me to learn how to get hostess benefits)
• Sale ends July 31!

Where did June Go?

It's June 30th, people.

WHAT?!?

Where did the month go?

At the beginning of the month, I felt like summer had snuck up on me, and now, here we are at the end of the month, almost half way through the summer vacation months. I'm loving it. I'm also super busy. It's amazing how a 30-minute swim lesson can derail a day or how long it takes to recover from a weekend getaway. I'm not complaining, just being real.

I have been crafting lately. In fact, a couple of weeks ago I attended one of the Ladybug stamper's scrapbook weekend. 48 hours of scrapbooking/crafting bliss. (I did have to sleep, take breaks for the restroom, and spend a few minutes with the family when they came to swim). I'm hoping to post more about that weekend in the upcoming days, but don't count on it. Instead, check out  my friend Ruth's blog for her weekend recap of Camp Crop-a-Lot.

And if you are still reading and interested, here are some of the things I did in June instead of blogging.

1) Took this little booger to swim lesson everyday for two weeks.

2) Went scuba diving in Santa Rosa, NM (yes, you can dive in New Mexico!)

3) Attended the Albuquerque Folk Festival where we listened to some amazing music, played instruments, and learned a little bit of Irish Step Dancing.

4) Went to the library for the Summer Reading Program events and to put on puppet shows.

5) Went hiking with friends.

6) Visited Grandpa in the Four Corners area. 

7) Visited the splash park.

8) Played lots and lots and lots of Legos.

 9)Visited the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History.

10) Baked.....and did science experiments....and got incredibly messy.

So there you have it folks - my excuse for not blogging (for not even posting about the new 2014-2015 Annual Catalog) during the entire month of June.

I do post on my Facebook and Twitter pages a lot more. So make sure to follow me for the latest updates. 

 I hope your summer has been just as adventurous and fun as mine. Here's to July!! 

Happy Stampin' 

~Cita 

Made in the USA

Do you believe in Photopolymer Stamps?

At first I didn't. But then Stampin' Up! released the Map it Out Photopolymer Stamp Set and I had to have it. I was sold by the United States stamp alone. So, I took the plunge and I bought the photopolymer stamp set.

Stamping and dealing with photopolymer is different. It's not bad, just different than rubber stamps. They stick very well to the clear blocks and are great for perfect alignment. However, I felt like I had to practice a bit when it came to inking and stamping with the stamp. For this card, I used Staz On black ink because it seemed like the regular Basic Black ink wasn't stamping dark enough with this particular stamp. My photopolymer experiences is limited, so I'm sure there are all sorts of techniques out there for stamping with photopolymer. I need to get used to it, because Photopolymer is here to stay and there's going to be some amazing photopolymer stamp sets in the near future.

Stampin' Tips:

• Color Scheme: Bermuda Bay, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White, Summer Starfruit
• Stamp Set: Map it Out Photopolymer Stamp Set, Express Yourself Hostess Set
• Accessories: In-Color DSP, Kaleidoscope DSP, SAB Summer Starfruit Baker's Twine, Angled Tag Topper Punch, 1" Circle Punch
• Use the Angled Tag Topper Punch to make a 2"x4" piece of Whisper White Cardstock into a tag. Stamp the United States image using Staz On ink onto the tag. Punch out a 1" circle and adhere over the hole of the tag topper and punch a hole through the circle to thread the baker's twine through. 
• Use the heart stamp to place a heart in whichever state your heart lies in. My heart belongs to New Mexico. 

What are your thoughts on Photopolymer stamps? I would love to hear your experience using these new stamps.

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Anniversary Moon

When you get married, you get to go on a honeymoon. And lately, when people are expecting, they like to go on a baby moon, the last hoorah trip before baby comes and takes over their lives. Each year, around our anniversary, my husband and I go on a trip. This year I decided to call this trip our anniversary moon.

Each year, we tend to travel north - Taos, Trinidad, Abiquiu, Jemez Mountains - these are all past destinations for our anniversary moon. This year, we decided to go south to the stomping grounds of my youth, Ruidoso and the surrounding Sacramento Mountains. I grew up in this area and I'm appalled at all the amazing, beautiful things I missed while living there. The Sacramento Mountains are full of beautiful landscapes and hidden springs. I can say the same thing for Ruidoso, although I feel like I had a chance to experience Ruidoso a lot more than the very mountains in my backyard.

I wanted to share some of the highlights from our trip, which was full of adventure and relaxing. If you ever visit this part of New Mexico, I highly recommend visiting these places and experiencing their beauty and fun for yourself. And then, you can use My Digital Studio to document your experience as well. :-)

Bluff Springs
Bluff Springs is nestled deep in the Sacramento Mountains, but easily accessible. There's a stretch of a few miles where you have to drive on dirt road to get to this area, but it's a nice dirt road and won't hurt your car. The entire area is a recreation area and people like to go out there to camp. We like to go and visit the little spring and admire the accompanying waterfall.  This time, my husband was determined to collect water from the spring to drink later (after boiling it of course). I enjoy walking along the little stream that the spring creates and watching the little waterfall as the stream falls over the bluff. You can walk right up to the waterfall.

I love using pictures in a the background for my MDS projects. 

Bonito Trail No. 36
As a kid, my family made many trips to the Bonito Lake area, but I never hiked along any of the trails. As we passed by Bonito Lake, I was surprised to see it pretty much shut down to the public. I felt like you can look, but you couldn't touch in any way. Turns out that the Little Bear fire in 2012 contaiminated the lake and the City of Alamogordo has shut it down. The city can't even use it for drinking water as it has for many years because of all the silt and debris form the fire. Needless to say, the lake still looks beautiful, and despite the burn scars that plague this area, the area is still beautiful.

Bonito Lake. Look, but don't touch.

Bonito Lake wasn't our goal. Bonito Trail No. 36 was our goal. And we made it there and hiked it and loved it! Here's a few highlights.

This sign is very important. It shows that we were on the right trail. We have a habit of getting lost on hikes. 

We found a cave. Husband thinks it may have been a mine or claim at one point.

Water! This was the best part of the hike. 

This post is already longer than I thought. I'll stop here and share the rest of the Anniversary Moon highlights another time. I may get a chance to continue documenting our trip in My Digital Studio. 

~Cita 

Thanks in Pink and Black

One of my favorite things to do when making quick and simple cards is to use the Whisper White Notecards and Envelopes (131527, $5.95). This pack comes with 20 envelopes sized 5" x 3-1/2" already scored and ready to be designed. I don't know what it is, but I absolutely love this size of card. I make most of my simple cards using these cards, and I tend to love to use DSP as backgrounds instead of shying away from using so much as a background. It's weird. I tend to hoard DSP. Do you have this problem too?

Stampin' Tips: 

• Color Scheme: Basic Black, Whisper White, Strawberry Slush, and Coastal Cabana 
• Stamp Set: A Million and One
• Accessories: Modern Medley DSP, In Color Boutique Details 
• Don't be shy to use your DSP as background. One 12x12 sheet of DSP can go a long way with the notecards. 
• Use a glue dot to adhere the In Color Boutique Details embellishment.

Happy Stampin' 

~Cita 

A Colorful Happy (big) Day CASE

I've mentioned before how much I love to CASE other people's work. I rarely ever stick strictly to the original design, but it's a great jumping off point when my creativity is stuck somewhere, and lately I think allergies have been inhibiting the creative juices from flowing. Yay for "Spring" in New Mexico. 

While browsing on Pinterest, I found Carol Lovenstein's cute birthday card and because it used Candy Dots (I had almost a million to use), it caught my eye. And then when I started to make it, I realized this card is a great card to use scraps! After I finished making this card, I looked back and thought: wow, this is a fun card! 

I originally made the card in the landscape orientation, but tried it out in the portrait orientation and liked it so much better. There's all sorts of variations you can do. Go ahead. CASE it!

Stampin' Tips:

• Colors scheme: Island Indigo, Crushed Curry, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Cajun Craze, Crushed Curry, Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green 
• Stamp Set: Chalk Talk
• Accessories: Chevron Embossing Folder, Petite Pennants Builder punch, Chalk Talk framelits, Regals Candy Dots 
• Frame your Whisper White cardstock by cutting the Crushed Curry cardstock 1/4" bigger than the Whisper White. 
• Use the non-scalloped pennant from the Petite Pennants Builder punch to cut out the triangles. Position the pennants on the card stock and arrange them to your liking before adhering. I started by positioning the middle pieces (Island Indigo and Cajun Craze) as a starting point. I then positioned the rest of the pennants around these. 
• Stick a coordinating Candy Dot on each pennant. 
• Stamp the "Happy Big Day" greeting in Island Indigo and use the coordinating framelit from the Chalk Talk set to cut it. Adhere over the pennants using a Dimensional. 

Another thing I love about this card is that it's a versatile card due to the "Happy Big Day" sentiment. I'm thinking it can be used for graduations, weddings, birthdays, retirements, etc. People have all sorts of big days and I hope they are all happy. 

Happy "Big Day" of Stampin', 

Cita 

Sale-a-Brate a Birthday

I loved this year's Sale-a-Bration stamp sets. And although Sale-a-Bration is over, many of you probably have these amazing sets, like the See Ya Later stamp set, which provides a variety of stamps for different occasions. This was my favorite set this year and I used it on several cards. I love how if you designed one card, you could basically interchange the stamps in this set using the same design.

Stampin' Tips:

• Color scheme: Marina Mist, Calypso Coral, Whisper White, Strawberry Slush
• Stamp set: SAB14 See Ya Later
• Accessories: Apothecary Accents Framelits, SAB Calypso Coral Baker's Twine, Stampin' Write Markers, 5"x3-1/2" Notecards
• Designer Series Paper: SAB14 Sweet Sorbet
• Use Stampin' Write Markers to color the stamp. Make sure to give it "the breath of life" before you stamp to moisten the colors. Use the Apothecary Design framelit to cut out the image. 
• Cut out another Apothecary Design in Marina Mist. Cut this in half and adhere to both ends of the stamped imaged for a layering effect. Adhere these layers to the DSP using Stampin' Dimensionals. 
• Adhere the Sweet Sorbet DSP to a Marina Mist layer. Before adhering it to the Whisper White card base, wrap the Calypso Coral Baker's Twine around it and finish off with a bow. 

Super simple card on my favorite 5"x3-1/2" Notecards. 

Happy Stampin', 

~Cita 

Yay for Banners

Banners are quite the paper crafting trend lately, and I was slow (as usual) to jump on the bandwagon. But once I bought the Banners Framelits Dies, I was a believer. The reason I broke down and bought this set of framelits was because I really wanted the Perfect Pennants stamp set and you can get both in a bundle for a discounted price (Perfect Pennants Clear-Mount Bundle, 134816, $41.50). I'm a sucker for the bundle & save tactic.

Stampin' Tips: 

• Colors: Coastal Cabana, Whisper White
• Stamp Set: Perfect Pennants, Gorgeous Grunge
• Accessories: Whisper White Baker's Twine, Retro Fresh Washi Tape, Banners Framelits Dies
• Stamp several of the splatter stamps from the Gorgeous Grunge stamp set in Coastal Cabana ink on Coastal Cabana card stock to create the background. 
• Use the Retro Fresh Washi Tape to create a little more to the background. Using uneven lengths and making your edges tattered is ideal. 
• Use washi tape to make the banner flags. Wrap a piece of washi tape around Baker's Twine and then use snips to cut an indent in the bottoms of the washi tape. If you would like to securely position your banner flags, use a glue dot to adhere them in place. 

Happy Stampin'

~Cita

Quick Creative Tip #5

Every time I see a Ring Pop, I sing to myself: If you like it put a ring on it.

Anyways.

As always, I insisted to my daughter that we make her Valentines for her classroom party. Over the years I've come to realize that preschoolers don't really care if something is handmade or pretty, they just want the candy. So this year I kept it simple and quick, and you can too if you Use a Banner Framelit to top a Ring Pop for a simple Valentine. Of course, you should add some sort of greeting. I used the Happy Heart Day sentiment from the Tags for You stamp set and punched it out using the Bracket punch. Staple the banner to one side of the Ring Pop (I found that the non-sucker part of the bag is preferable) and use a Dimensional to adhere your sentiment over the staple. So easy, a four-year-old can do it (maybe not the stapling part, but most everything else). The DSP? It's retired (I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but these are going to preschoolers.) I can't remember the name of the DSP that it came from, but I do remember it's a retired Christmas pack. Let me know if you know the name of the DSP. I'll send you a surprise. :-)

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Quick Creative Tip #4

Last week was a crazy week and because of it I didn't post a Quick Creative Tip. My husband got extremely sick and I'm amazed at how taxing it can be when I lose my team mate. One of the many reasons I love being married is having a partner in everything, and when he gets sick, he checks out and it's hard to function solely by myself. But alas, I made it, and here's this year's fourth Quick Creative Tip: Pierce the petals of a scallop to add additional decoration. 

I love layering circles on top of scallops, but it's so hard to just leave the petals of the scallop blank. I have a habit of piercing the scallop's petals to help make it look a little better. It looks so bare without the piercings. If I can't find my paper piercer (which happens quite frequently), I take a marker the same color as my card stock and mark a dot on each petal.

Stampin' Tips:

• Color Scheme: Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Chocolate Chip, Strawberry Slush, Pear Pizzazz, and Whisper White
• DSP: SAB Sweet Sorbet
• Stamp Set: SAB You're Lovely
• Accessories: 2-3/8" Scallop Punch, Paper Piercing Too, 1-3/4" Circle Punch, Stampin' Dimensionals, Blender Pens
• Stamp the "I think you're lovely" sentiment in Chocolate Chip ink. You will notice that this image is more than just the circle featured in my card. Use Blender Pen with the Pear Pizzazz and Calypso Coral ink pads to color the leaves and flowers. Punch out the circle using the 1-3/4" circle punch and adhere it to the scallop using a dimensional. 

Remember that Sale-a-Bration is happening until March 31, 2014. You can earn the DSP and the stamp set you see on this card for FREE with a $100 purchase. 

Happy Stampin' 

~Cita 

Time to Sale-a-Brate

Happy Sale-a-Bration!!!

Today begins one of my favorite times of the year - Sale-a-Bration! There are three ways you can get free product during Sale-a-Bration, and all three are super easy.

During Sale-a-Bration for every $50 (US) you spend (you can choose one free Sale-a-Bration (SAB) item from the SAB Brochure. This year, there are 13 different items you can choose including stamp sets, DSP, a coordinating punch and embossing folder. The best part, there is no limit to how many you can earn. If you spend $100 you can choose 2 items, if you spend $150, you can choose 3 items, etc.! Sale-a-Bration runs through March 31, 2014.  

Host a class during Sale-a-Bration and when your sales reach $300 you'll earn an additional $30 in shopping money for a total of $80 to shop with. Contact me if you and your friends would like to host a class. 

Ever thought about joining Stampin Up! as a demonstrator? Now is the time to do it! Join my team of Stampin' Up! demonstrators and you can get $150 of product in your starter kit for just $99. Your kit is also fully customizable. Contact me for more information on how to become the newest Stampin' Up! demonstrator. 

Happy Sale-a-Bration!!!

~Cita 

Quick Creative Tip #3

I forgot to mention that the beginning of January was my five year anniversary as a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator. It has been an amazing five years as I have learned so much about papercrafting, met incredible ladies, and have achieved several promotions and incentives I didn't think were possible. One of my favorite things that has happened in the past five years is the amount of techniques, tips, and tricks I have learned to apply to my papercrafting projects. One of my favorite tricks is this week's Quick Creative Tip: Use a bone folder to curl up the petals of a paper flower.

I believe I was at a Ladybug Ink meeting (my group of SU! demonstrators) when I learned of this nifty tip. My world was changed as I saw my fellow Ladybug Stamper curl up the petals of her flower and give it a dimension that made it pop on the card she applied it to. Since then, I have grown addicted to this tip. My flowers can no longer lay flat, I have to add dimension!

One of the great techniques of the bone folder is to use it to curl paper. Here I curled the petals of a flower, but you can also curl banners, leaves, edges of paper. The opportunities are endless. It will not, however, work for curling your daughter's hair. Don't try it.
Happy Stampin',
~Cita

Quick Creative Tip #2

Quick Creative Tip #2: Put a small glue dot on the back of a banner to keep it in place on your card.

I love making cards with cute little banners on them, but I have two gripes about making them: 1) stringing the flag onto the ribbon or twine, and 2) getting my banner to stay in place so it will stay looking cute. Here's my fix for the second problem: add a glue dot to a couple of the flags of your banner to keep the entire banner in place. In this card, the flags with the multi-colored vines are adhered to the card with a glue dot. The chevron and "love" flags are just hanging loose. Adding the glue dot made all the difference in keeping the banner in place.

Side Note: I used two new Stampin' Up! items that will be available at the end of the month. Can you spot them?
See the perfect shapes of the flags on the banners? That's a punch! Making flags for banners is getting way easy these days.
And do you see that "love" banner? That is a stamp from the SAB Blanner Blast stamp set that has ten fun stamps that coordinate perfectly with the Banner Punch and the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack (which is already available in the annual catalog). Just two more weeks until Sale-a-Bration starts and you can have this stamp set and coordinating punch for FREE!

One more thing that I want to point out. See the "Big Hug" sentiment? I made that!!! I did some cool tricks with the Silhouette (and followed a tutorial) and came out with this perfect sentiment. In our family, we don't just give hugs, we give Big Hugs!!

Happy Stampin'
~Cita

Another Heartbreak

I know I committed to posting a Quick Creative Tip each Tuesday, and I have one ready for you, but my heart is dark today as I'm thinking about the kids and families in Roswell, NM who are being affected by the school shooting at Berrendo Middle School this morning. As of right now, the news is reporting that two students are injured. I have quite a bit of extended family down there and have confirmed that all are safe, but please join me as I pray for the injured students and all the families affected by this cowardice act in Roswell today.

May the Lord Protect you in all you do,

~Carmelita

A New Love

This year, I fell in love with an e-cutter called the Silhouette. After months and months of talking about it, I found an amazing Black Friday deal online and decided to purchase the e-cutter. It came in right before the onslaught of Holiday happiness/madness, and I just recently had the time and energy to sit down and play with it. This card is the result of that play session.

One of the many reasons I fell in love with the Silhouette is because it plays well with imported .SVG graphics. In other words, many images that I purchase as My Digital Studio downloads can be imported to the Silhouette software to be cut. (Also, if you are an Adobe Illustrator fan, you can do all sorts of fun stuff). The "love" in the above card is actually an image from the Hello Fall Pocket Cards download. I was able to crop the MDS image to just use the "Love" part of the image. The arrow is from the Labels Thinlets die. Seriously, this e-cutting business is super fun!

Stampin' Tips:

• Color Scheme: Summer Starfruit, Strawberry Slush, Bermuda Bay, Basic Black, Whisper White
• DSP: Kaleidoscope DSP (Occasions Mini)
• Accessories: SAB Summer Starfruit Twine (available January 28), Label Cards Thinlits Die

If you have been on the fence about purchasing an e-cutter, I highly recommend a Silhouette, especially if you are a My Digital Studio user. There is a learning curve, but it's worth it and SO MUCH FUN!!!

Happy Stampin'!

~Cita 

Creative Quick Tip #1

Welcome to your Tuesday Quick Creative Tip. I come across all sort of fun creative ways to do things in life, and I want to share them with you. So, I decided that in 2014, one of my goals for my blog (other than to increase the frequency of my posts) is to post Quick Creative Tips each week. Check back each Tuesday for a new tip. You can also submit your creative tips by leaving a comment. Be creative!!

Happy Stampin'!
~Cita

Hello New Occasions Catalog!

What a great way to start the new Occasions Catalog, packed full with great ideas and products for spring entertaining, crafting, and memory-keeping. Check out the catalog and then head over to my website to place your order!

Happy Stampin'
~Cita