It's Baby Shower Diaper Cake - But you can't eat it! *laugh*

Today I saw a beautiful Baby Shower Cake that one of my fellow Demo, Jo-ann Pullen, made recently. It reminded me of the Diaper Cake (above) I made for a co-worker's baby shower before I became a demo. I thought I would post how I put mine together to give you guys another idea of how you can make your own. Next one I make will be so much better now that I am an SU Demo as there are so many more things that I can do to jazz up my cake!



I made my cake with 2 packages of diapers. I used cloths pins to hold the diapers together while I was assembling as I didn't have an extra set of hands. I linked them together until I had enough to make a ring (waistband in the middle and fold to the outside). With the last cloths pin closing the circle, I tied my ribbons around the outside to hold them together.

On Jo-ann's cake, she used bright and beautiful selections of SU Designer Series Paper to hold the diapers in place, with a co-ordinating ribbon which was just beautiful.

For the top layer of "cake" I folded the waist band in to reduce the diameter of the top ring to give it the classic cake look. The assembly is the same as the first layer but it's a little trickier with the fold wanting to push everything apart.

If you can't find one of those fancy tinfoiled covered cake platter you can also make your own. I made mine using green ribbon in a box pleat ruffle, stapled to a cardboard circle cut from a box, wrapped with baby wrapping paper (it had little pink, blue, yellow and green foot prints all over it ... can you say "aaaawwwww!"?) Even at this stage, it is a lovely gift, wrap in celo and away you go - a little bit fancier then just a package of diapers in wrapping paper!


Once the layers were assembled, I took it a step further by decorated the whole cake with baby items, booties, toys, lotions and creams, stuffies and onesies! All the little things that New Mom & Dad are going to need with the new bundle of joy. Several girls from the office donated a few dollars each to provide the supples for this cake and I donated my time, did the shopping and all the little extras that made this cake so festive.


I secured the various items to the binding ribbon with thinner ribbon to keep it in place and add a touch more "cute" factor. There was a sweet little green soother in a protective case being hugged by another little frog stuffy on this side.


Even from the back this cake is cute! The little blankie with the teddy bear head was the "icing" between the layers. A cute little outfit and another pair of booties. The sky and your imagination is the limit for this wonderful gift idea. The New Parents are gonna love you for the extra diapers and what ever else you add to your cake.

Give it a try next time you need a gift for an expectant Mom or Dad to be! It also makes a great center piece for the Buffet Table!

Salut for now!

e

Christmas Tag Swap

For those of you that whated to see some of the Tags from the Christmas Tag Swap 2008, hosted by Chrystal!



The first 2 tags in this video are mine (I got them back with the rest of my swaps - hope no-one missed out! *giggle*) I will be adding credits for all the tags that I know who made them. I did have a few no names so if your tag is in this video, please let me know so I can give you credit!

Hugs and thanks!!

Erin

Memories of Our beloved pet ... Dolly

It's a sad time in my little family as our little cat Dolly, also known as Baby, passed away due to complications of her advanced age on Monday night, August 18, 2008.

When I was 19, back in 1989, I moved into a little apartment with my girlfriend Sue. After pestering her for about a month, she finally agreed to let me adopt a cat. I found a "free to a good home" ad in the newspaper for a cat that was about a year old. They weren't sure exactly how old she was as she had been a wild barn cat when they got her. She was a rare cat, being a female orange tabby is almost unheard of and she had extra thumbs. They had called her "Mittens" due to her extra thumbs.

I fell in love with her right away and made sure that her owners were sure that she would be in a loving home. A couple days later, I brought her home to the apartment and renamed her "Meagan" after one of my Grandmother's cats. Now, she was a funny little thing and had some pecurliar habits. She would suck on the tip of her tail, often leaving it forked like a snake's tongue, with twin spikes of wet fur. Mom nick-named her "Baby" when she discovered this habit. She also loved to race at top speed from one end of the apartment to the other down the long hall that intersected it, usually at 2:00 in the morning!

She was pre-occupied with my pet turtle and actually dug through several layers of cheese cloth I had to put over the opening of his bowl to keep her out - found poor Tort, about a foot away from the front door one morning after she'd dug him out again, he had packed his shell and was leaving! *laugh*

Unlike other cats, she was a water baby and demanded to be "washed" with your freshly washed, still damp hands as soon as you got out of the shower every morning. Sue knocked her into the bath with me a couple times, which she wasn't to happy about. But she fell in love with the towel off sessions afterwards. I took her with me everywhere in those days and she would protest up a storm while we drove through town, but settled right down as soon as we hit the highway - a speed demon at heart, I swear!

After living in the apartment for a year, I brought her home with me to my parent's house where she discovered "outside"! Of course, no mouse, squirl, chipmunk, bird or bug was safe in our yard ever again. Several gifts she'd caught in the night were proudly left on the back step for us to find. She was a prolific hunter and fearless, nothing was ever to big or to much for her bravado, despite her unusually small frame! She'd go off on her adventures and that is when she became known as "Dolly" ... it was just to embarassing for mom to call out "Baaaabbbbyyyyyyy" when it was time to call the her back in for the night! *laugh*

Several years later, when it was time to leave the "nest" again, I was told that I was not "allowed" to take the cat with me when I moved. I protested right up until the last minute, but the logic was undeniable - she was an outdoor cat now and cried mercilessly to be let out every chance she got. It just wouldn't be fair to coop her up in a little downtown apartment after having sprawling fields, a yard and three levels of a house to play in. So, as I left the nest .. again, I left my little tailsucking moter boat behind, taking comfort in knowing that I'd see her pretty much every weekend anyway.

I've always thought of her as "MY" cat who just lived with my parents *grin* but it was clear as the years went on that she had become something very special to them. I swear, there are more pictures of them with her than they have of them with me! *chuckle* I've never seen my dad so affectionate with any of the pets we had before her and he would always remind mom to tuck the extra creamers into her purse for "our girl" when we went for breakfast every Sunday morning. He'd talk to her and she's squak back as he cut cheese for a snack for them both. But inspite of his best efforts to keep the tip of her tail out of her mouth whenever she'd curl up in his lap, the tail sucker was just that until the end.

Click on her picture to go to the touching tribute and read what my mom wrote about our darling little girl!




A good friend told me that when cats and dogs pass away, they go to heaven to be with children that never had pets. I like the idea of that ... She will be missed greatly by all those that knew and loved her.

Big Hugs!!

Love,
Erin

Sparkle Daisy Meeting August 13, 2008

Tonight was our Monthly Sparkle Daisy Meeting, this month it was held in the East End! Would be great if we could alternate from East to West every other month or so ... *hint hint*

Anyway, so much exciting stuff is coming around the bend it was mind boggling trying to absorb it all! The Ladies brought back wonderful stories, card samples and so much more from Convention! I hope that I will be able to set aside some money to be able to go next year.


As I've already mentioned, Stampin Up! is looking to expand into Home Decor with their Decor Elements . Here are some examples on how they can be used to jazz up some simple house hold things. Isn't that Zebra darling??

See all the ladies reflected in the mirror? That was the in front of one of the new card front display boards - cameras flashing left and right as we all tried to snap our shots of the latest and greatest card front samples!!


Isn't this box amazing? and the bee!! So cute - would look just darling in a kid's room!! Below, the blue coat hanger with the lolly-pop flowers! So sharp, had to take this shot at an angle as it was right next to the display boards and so many of us were trying to get shots of the cards!



Here are a few shots from the boards with a few sample cards to check out - doesn't this drink set look cute - margarita night anyone?? *chuckle* Oh and I didn't get a shot of it but I can't wait to try it out myself ... a new idea for a card that's "spring loaded"!!















This box set is featuring the New Bella Rose designer paper! Isn't it just adorable??!!

Here are the make and takes that we made tonight! Starting off with Kathleen's really cool Catalog Wish list book mark! So handy with all the new stuff in the new Catalog! I think I'll be filling mine up real soon!!


Sherida and Amanda, had us make a mini album ... it's only 3x3 and the cover and back are actually envelopes! There is a note card tucked into the envelope at the back and we used those pretty duo beads to enhance the sweet little pink flowers - adding some dimension!
















Amanda had the last station too and it's a wonderful card with one of the new floral silhouette stamp sets - heat embossed with white embossing powder! So pretty, might have to add this set to my own wish list *chuckle*


You can have a closer look at these at my open house on Sunday August 24, 2008 (please RSVP so that I will have enough make and take supplies ready for you when you get here!)

Hope you are getting excited about all the new goodies in the Fall-Winter Catalog too!!

Happy Stamping!!

e

P.S. Marlayne surprised all of us with a treat from Convention - these Stampin' Up Cherry lipbalm's! Did you know that this is Stampin' Up's 20th Anniversary?

New Catty Day!!

As you may or may not know, the new Fall-Winter catalog was released today! And it seems that EVERYONE is trying to check it out online! *chuckle* Fortunately for you, you have me, and I have 16 brand spankin' new Catalogs for you're viewing pleasure! Some of you have already put in an order for your very own catalog or booked a party to check it out for yourselves - Good for you! For the rest of you, I will be having an open house to showcase the new catalog with all of the wonderful promotions at my house on Sunday August 24, 2008 - please RSVP if you are interested in coming.

I have put up a link to the new catalog on the right - you may have to try again as the sight has been very busy with all the excitement!

Happy Stampin'!!

hugs,
e

Shoe Box Swap Cards!

This is my sample card for my Sock Monkey in the Grass card. This is the card I created for the Shoe Box Swap organized by my Upline, Sherida. Each of us involved in this even cut and brought all the supplies to make 10 of our cards. We set up our "station" then move to the next available station to make that person's card. Below you will find the cards that I put together at these stations! These Ladies are pretty talented and some of these cards were pretty tricky to put together but we all had a ball and got LOTS of ideas!

This is Sylvia's card and she made each of us that cute little "wonderful" card as an added bonus! Sylvia is quite the lady, lost of wonderful ideas! Her tip of the day was to put one of your dabbers on the end of a marker for ease of use! Fantastic Tip Sylvia, Thanks!!

This is Sherida's card! Her layout was designed by Carole Kisch. I always love her cards they have an element to them that is just so classy and tasteful! I will use this layout in future, it's just beautiful - don't you think?

Deb made this card and I love it! She is not a fan of my beloved sock monkey but that's ok, she made a wonderful card with him, despite his ugliness! You can't love everything right? But when you have Deb's skills and creativity, it's a challenge to work with something you're not crazy about. Great Job Deb! *laugh*

I will have to try out this layout design too. Unfortunately, I didn't catch the name of the Demo that brought this card in for the swap. She did a fantastic job though! Don't you think?

This is Crystal's card and it was a tough one! The scallope behind the "dreams" stamp is actually 10 circles punched out and stuck on around the edge. The 3 pannels were stamped as one then cut into thirds before laying them out on the black backing. Lovely card and I will try it again - Thanks Crystal!

I think this was Amanda's card and I think it's my favorite of the night! I just got the Always Stamp set as one of my "rewards" for Sale-a-bration and this is the perfect card to make with it! So pretty and could be used for so many things!

Don't you just want to eat this card? Those cupcakes (missing their sprinkles - will fix that later!!) are so yummy looking with their thick layer of icing! This is a fantastic card to show off the new In Colours, don't you think??

Here is another example of the Sock monkey set. This time the Demo pre-stamped a texture stamp for the body of the monkey and you had to cut out his white face and paws/tail from another piece of card stock. I did it backwards and cut out the textured body and glued it onto the white card stock instead. I love the subtle banana background on the yellow piece. Great layout!

This is an example of the "chalk board" technique! The Demo for this card made a beautiful card and it's tied for my favourite. The new Designer Series paper Bella Rose, is featured on this card. The small strip of velum paper at the top of the Bella Rose, is so cool!

This is one of the new Hostess Sets that will be in the new catelogue - I should have ordered it! These flowers are so delicate and soft, I can picture so many beautiful cards that could be made with this set!

Thanks to Sherida who organized this Shoe Box Swap! Thank you to all the Demo's that participated, I just love your cards and can't wait to try them again on my own!

Happy Stamping Friends!

e

Introducing my Sock Monkey ...

Hey Stampers!

Look what I got! Yep, it's my Sock Monkey Stamp Set from the Fall/Winter 2008-2009 Catelogue Pre-Order! Isn't he CUTE!!??


I used Going Gray Classic Ink pad and my Aqua Painter to give him his "sock" like texture. First, press the lid down on the ink pad to transfer some into it, then do a light wash of colour all over. Then go back and add shadow and dapples.

The bananas on the left are actually embossed! Hard to see in this picture but glossy yellow that reflects the light and just give it that extra touch!

I made his eyes pop with a dot of black marker covered with a drop of Crystal Effects! Have a closer look ....


I can't wait for you guys to try him out too!!

more to come ..... stay tuned!

Compare the New In Colours with the Classics!

Hey Stampers!

The new In Colours are almost here!! August 10th is the launch of the new Fall/Winter 2008-2009 Catelogue when they will be available for purchase. In the mean time, one of my fellow Demonstrators, Deb Kemp, put these comparisons together and shared them with us. Have a look to get an idea of how they compare to some of the classic colours from the collections.

What do you thing? Please give me your feedback! Love 'em? Unsure?

Riding Hood Red

Tangerine Tango

Baja Breeze

Kiwi Kiss

Pacific Point

Pink Pirouette

I have ordered the whole set and you can get a better look at them in person very soon! I will be having an Open House in August after the launch of the new Catelogue! I hope you will be able to drop by to try out some of the new stamps, in the new colours, have a look and/or pick up a new Fall/Winter 2008-2009 Catelogue! Or book your own party with your friends and family!

Happy Stampin'!

hugs,

Erin

Spring Cut Sneek Peek

Oh my gosh, I am so excited about the new Catelogue coming out in August that I just couldn't wait to share this with you!!

Spring Cut Sneak Peek Promotion!!

Customers:

~ Buy the Fresh Cut stamp set and get the Fresh-Cut Notes for just $5.95
(limit 1 Fresh-Cut Notes at $5.95).
~ Buy just the stamp set for: $25.95.
~ Buy just the Fresh-Cut Notes for $10.75 each.


Hostesses:

~ Place a $525 order (or more) and earn the Fresh Cut stamp set and
Fresh-Cut Notes free.
~ There is not an additional incentive for workshops of $1050 or more.
This incentive is for reaching the $525.

I hope you are as excited about this as I am!!

I'll have some updates to the blog in the upcoming days as the Stampin' Girls Convention is this weekend, Saturday June 31, 2008, and I have been working my fingers to the bone getting ready (that's why I've been so quiety lately!!).

So, what have you been up to this month??

Happy Stamping and hope to see you soon!

cheers,
e

CCC #3 Colour Challenge

I've created a card to try out a Colour Challenge from a fellow Demonstrator's website! Check out CeeCee's blog to see what this post is all about

Here is MY version of this colour combo called "Lazer Light & Flowers" ... I look forward to checking out the other entries for this challenge!



Hope you like my card and I look forward to trying more of these colour challenges in the future - I hope you will too!

Hugs,

e

Look what happened while I was cleaning ...

I don't know about you but I HATE to clean my house! *laugh* I was trying to clear the decks for my Mother's Day Card Class tomorrow. I've been working on a few card projects as well as prepping the kits for my class and my Wow Swap project - 51 of something is a lot you know!! And of course, all of this is all spread out over my dinning room table!

As I moved from work station to work station picking up scraps, cleaning used stamps and collecting ink pads, I was thinking about the April/May Sparkle Daisy Scrapbooking incentive. Well, before you could say "SNAP" I was putting together a 6x6 scrap book page with various left over pieces from my other projects! The pictures are from a magazine as dear hubby hasn't got our printer set up yet but once it is, I'll swap out the stand in's for pictures of family and friends!

What do you think???



The background is Tempting Turquoise, the clouds are Whisper White, torn for a cloud effect, daubed the edges with various shades of blue Pastels to make them stand out. I cut the grass out of some Gable Green cardstock then punched the Scalloped Flowers, 1-3/4" Circle punches of Gable Green for the boarder of the faces, 1-1/4" Circle punches for the "pictures". Layer to your liking and secure everything with Snail glue.

I don't even think it took 10 minutes to put it all together! In fact, I think I'm going to go do another one - RIGHT NOW!!



And here it is, my SECOND scrapbook page!

Ok, so does this make me a scrapbooker now!?! *laugh*

PLEASE add your comments on this one - I need encouragement!!! *giggle*

Sparkle Daisy Meeting - Got the Juices going!!

Wow! What a night. Lots of people back from Cruise with stories to tell! Lots of top earners with bright pink tiaras for the night, and LOTS and LOTS of really lovely projects on the share tables!! I'm going to post a few shots I took of the share tables (hope that's ok!?)



Sorry, this shot is hard to see but it is all the neat things that were part of Cruise 2008! There were 2 whole displays full of cards, samples, 3D objects, and so much more! Cruise sounds like a dream come true, I mean come on, an entire cruise ship full of crafty stampers? The brainstorming that must have been happening .... I just can't imagine it! *giggle*




This is the Loonies for Littles kit that is for sale between April 15 and May 31st in support of the Big Brothers & Big Sisters! Someone was nice enough to bring in some samples they have made with the supplies that come in the kit! Aren't they wonderful??



Lots of beautiful things to see! It gets the imagination going - it's so hard to go to bed after these meetings because all you want to do is CREATE something when you get home!! *giggle*


See the example of the Dahlia Fold on the Carousel Notes from the Occasions Mini? That is just so pretty isn't it?? I'm going to try that one on a card tonight!


So many things to look at ... and we were all crowded around the tables trying to get shots of things and or trying to figure out how they were made! I really liked the pocket photo keepers! Hmmmm, Mother's day gift idea???

There were LOTS of Scrapbook pages! So many of the ladies had brought whole books full of them!

This one is made with Berry Bliss Designer Paper! Ohh! it is so my favorite right now! The pinks and browns are just so pretty and rich together. I love the improvisational heart that she made and I think that is a folded card on the bottom right (I'm not sure the proper name for it though).

Did you know that May is Scrapbooking Month?


Just look at this page for "Sisters" en francais. The creator of this page did a wonderful job!

The bright cheery colours and the lovely photo of the girls playing together - it's is no wonder that people love doing these pages so much!

Just look at the next one - just so darn cute! I love it!! Flowers, ribbon, letters, designer paper viola, a scrapbook page worthy of the memories it holds! Marie-Pier's Mom does awesome work, don't you think?




I'm guess I am going to have to get over my fear of scrapbooking and just get started!!

Maybe with Marlayne and Sherida's class in June??? These amazing Ladies have put together a scrapbooking class for us Demonstrators and our Customers that will have us putting together a 20 - 12x12" pages of layouts for only $80.00! That's amazing!! Do you want to come with me???


I don't know about you, but, I'm just itching to make something right now .... aren't you?

ta ta for now and I hope you'll send me a picture of something YOU'VE created sometime!!

Cheers,
e

I have proof .. Spring IS here!

Friday was such a hard weather day after such a LONG winter - April 4th and calling for rain but all we got was more darn snow! I tried my best to keep a cheery smile and cling to the promise of Plus 15 on Sunday. I was not going to let yet another snow day ruin my spring fever! My reward for keeping my chin firmly up?.... As I walked to my door at the end of the day, despite the ugly look of the treasures the melting snow was beginning to unveil, what did I happen to spot poking up out of the carnage of last year's peonies, fall leaves and half snow locked front lawn? Look closely ... can you see them??


Right there! Behind the lantern! No, no - don't look at the snow! The green .. can you see them?? Here let me zoom in for you ....

TULIPS!!!!

A sure sign of spring if ever there was one! Every day the snow melts a little more and the sun gets stronger and warmer! Even Justin's nose was sporting a touch of pink from his walk in the sun this afternoon!

So, let's ALL keep our chins up and drink in that glorious sunshine that is making things burst forth from their sleepy snow covered beds to bring us, once more into the lovely bright beautiful renewal of spring!

Have you jumped in a puddle lately? *giggle*

Happy Spring Everyone!!

Cheers,

e

Before I became a Stampin' Up Demonstrator ... I was a Stampin' Up Customer!

Here are a few cards that I made in the beginning of my Stampin' Up! relationship ... back when I was just a customer!


This was my introduction to the Stampin' Up! card party! The very first Stampin' Up! card I ever made. Lisa J was the hostess of this party with Susan W. as the Demonstrator! The Stamp Set is 'Simply Said' and it is still a favorite of mine!



This is the second card that we made that night - isn't the froggy cute? *laugh* Stamp Set is "Unfrogettable" (oh ya, I thought the toad stools needed a little something so I used some markers to jazz them up! should have left well enough alone! *giggle* live and learn...)


From Lisa's party, I ordered my first Stamp Set 'My Favorite Bear' now retired! On this card I was experimenting with my Water Colour Wonder Crayons! They are AMAZING! I gave this card to my girlfriend Sheila G. for her birthday!


This was my first attempt at a Christmas Card again with my Stamp Set 'My Favorite Bear' (retired). I actually used my 1/16th" hole punch to punch out all those "snow flakes" and glued them on one by one with a glue pen. I know, I'm crazy! *laugh*


I made this card for the arrival of Mr. Jonathan P. Again I used the Stamp Set 'My Favorite Bear' (retired) and this time I stamped the bear 2x and cut out 3 of his legs/paws and put them back with brads so that they moved like a real teddy bear! I also stitched ribbon down the side of the card with 2 paper heart charms dangling (hard to see in the picture) but a cute effect!


This was the first card at my very first party (as a Hostess) Susan W. was the Demonstrator. It amazes me still how different everyone's cards were. Suzan had all 48 Markers in the Stampin Up collection and everyone pretty much coloured their flowers in with whatever their favorite colour combinations were!


This is the second card we made that night! The snow flakes is "Snow Flurries" and the snowman was from another set that isn't in the current catalogue. I have actually made a version of this card a few times since that night


I have other shot of cards that I have made over the years but this last one is one of my very favorites! It was made with the 'Simply Said' stamp set and the FREE hostess set I got from my first Stampin' Up! party! I made it for my Mom to thank her for all the lovely Stampin' Up stuff that she ordered for me for my birthday! She still has it on her fridge and it makes me smile every time I see it because it is nice to see something you've made cherished by someone you love!

I hope you've enjoyed my trip down memory lane? Maybe this trip will someday lead you to your own Stampin' Up! memories?

Have a ball Stampin'!

e