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

My Easter Card vs. a blast from the past!

I know, I know, Easter has passed but this card is so cute and I wanted to share! I didn't post it earlier as I didn't want my family to see the Easter Card until after Easter ... didn't want to spoil the surprise! *laugh* This card was made with the "A Good Egg" stamp set on the in colours Sky Blue DS & CS, and Blue Bayou with Purely Pommagranet as the accent! I used my pastels and blender pens for the first time on this card, I think the blue shading of the egg shells give it a little something extra don't you?

I am lucky enough to have a friend who was willing to loan me her "A Good Egg" stamp set so that I could make this card at my very first party as a Demonstrator! Julie, you are a doll and I love ya!

This Easter Card was my first "original" designed card that I used for my very first Stampin' Up! party as a Demonstrator! Ok, I took a little tip here and there from some very tallented card artists, Marlayne & Sherida, but mostly, it was my own design! *giggle*

I've come a long way since my very first card made with ALL of my brand new Stampin' Up! supplies from my very first order back in 2005! Check it out ... *laugh*



It was my first attempt, in a hotel room, without anything else but the supplies from my order: Bold Bright Stampin' Spots, Very Vanilla & Assorted BB Paper, BB Water Colour Wonder Crayons, 'My Favorite Bear' Stamp Set (now retired), 2 anywhere glue sticks and a package of clear envelopes! No scissors, no ribbon, no other little embellishments, just the overwhelming desire to make SOMETHING with my cool new stamping supplies!! *laugh*

Stay Tuned for my next post because I found this picture amoung several other shots of cards I had made that I had taken with my digital camera. The pictures had been saved into the memory of the camera and not on a memory card, I thought they had been lost long ago but they had been locked in the camera all this time! Anyway, I finally figured out how to move them from the camera's memory to a memory card and voila, I uploaded them directly into the computer and now I want to share them with YOU.

Until next time ... Happy Stampin' Everybody!

e