The Best Wedding Video Ever?!

     Since we still have 3 whole days to wait before we can order items from the new (and absolutely fah-bulous) Idea Book & Catalog I thought I'd post this adorable video to help you pass the time. 
     Emre and Joya wanted to think "outside the box" for their wedding.  The result: an amazing music video, featuring the entire wedding party, set to the Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)." With the groom in the role of will.i.am, and the bride standing in for Fergie, the party doubles as a dirty dancing chorus for the nuptials.  Check out the video for the full wedding party, condensed into five minutes of music video.

And since there are only 3 days left to order any retiring stamp sets and accessories if you haven't yet ordered you may want to do that soon!  After June 30th at 11:50pm they're gone forever!

For a list of retiring stamps click here.

For an up-to-date list of retiring accessories click here.

Retiring Stamps and a FREE Catalog!

     With the introduction of the 2011-12 Idea Book & Catalog it's time to say goodbye to hundreds of stamps and accessories!

    

Some things to remember:

• Last chance accessories are available ONLY WHILE SUPPLIES LAST
• To place an order I encourage you to use my Stampin' Up website (click here), this will have the most up-to-date information on retiring items.
• Order deadline is Thursday, June 30 at 11:50pm - after that they're gone for good!

Retiring Stamps (click here)

Retiring Accessories (click here)

     On Wednesday I received 2 cases of the new (and absolutely fah-bulous) Idea Book & Catalog!  Sometimes it takes me a while to warm up to new catties but I must admit that I had to wipe my drool off a few of the pages in the 2011-12 book - it's amazing!  I've already got tons of Post-It stickies throughout the book and my list of new stamps/accessories ready to go for the crack of dawn on July 1st.

    

     You can order your copy of the new Idea Book & Catalog directly from me absolutely FREE - all you pay is $4.95 to cover the cost of shipping!  Just leave me a comment and I'll get your copy in the mail ASAP!

Summer Splash Birthday

 Hello!  Today's card was inspired by the Fox & Friends card on page 96 of the 2010-11 Idea Book & Catalog.  I absolutely LOVE Crumb Cake and Bashful Blue together and thought this would be a super cute stamp set to work with.
  
    

Stamps: Summer Splash, Afterthoughts (hostess)
Ink: Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake
Paper: Bashful Blue, Crumb Cake, Whisper White
Tool & Accessories: Scallop border punch, brads, grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

Birthday on the Open Sea

   Hello!  As of 8:20am there are only 10 1/2  more hours of school left... but who's counting, right?!  You know I absolutely {love} my job but for some reason I am just itching for summer vacation to begin.  My big plans? Sitting out on our balcony with a margarita (or two or three) reading as many books as I can (I've recently rediscovered our local library).  Aaron and I do have tickets for a Red Sox game and plan to spend the night in Boston but that's in August.  So until then it's the balcony or the family beach house if the weather's nice!

     Enough about me, on to the card!  Today's project is a quick and simple birthday card.  I stamped the globe image from The Open Sea stamp set in Sahara Sand on Sahara Sand and then stamped the other images in Early Espresso.  The images were punched out and layered.  The blue strip of DSP you see is Nautical Expedition, I just cut the strip diagonally.

Stamps: The Open Sea, Sincere Salutations

Ink: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand, Nautical Expedition DSP

Tools & Accessories: Square punches, brads

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day Dad!

Thanks for being such a great Dad, I love you!

The photo above was taken last year at our combined party last summer.  It was my Dad's 60th birthday combined with my graduate school graduation.  Notice the t-shirt... the day before my family ran a 10k at Gillette Stadium (New England Patriots) in 95 degree weather. 

You can probably tell from the photos below that my Dad has a wonderful sense of humor!

Snow shoeing at the Balsams Grand Hotel.

Getting silly with the camera at a family dinner.

A self-portrait. :)

Dad hamming it up with two of the Patriot's cheerleaders before a 10k road race.  Sorry ladies, he's married!

Sailing Away

      Hello!  I think I've found two new favorite stamp sets - The Open Sea and Sail Away.  I can't put them down!  There are quite a few male birthdays this month and both sets are perfect for a masculine cards, especially when most of my family still lives near the coast.
     The layout for this card came from the SCS Sketch Challenge 327.  I didn't follow the sketch exactly but it was definitely the inspiration for the card.

  To make the main image pop I stamped the image twice; once on white and once on Sahara Sand.  I then cut out the sails from the white and adhered them to the Sahara Sand with dimensionals.  I can't take credit for this idea; I CASE'd it from Mary Fish's Sail Away card on her blog.
     It is difficult to see in the photo but the ledger image from The Open Sea was stamped in Sahara Sand on the left side of the card as well as behind the boat image.  This gives the image a bit more dimension.

Stamps: Sail Away, The Open Sea, Sincere Salutations
Ink: Early Espresso
Paper: Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White
Tools & Accessories: Large oval punch, Stampin' dimensionals

I LOVE My Job!

     I know not everyone can say that but I really do!  One of the perks of teaching in a rural town is being able to take advantage of the local farms and business and bring them into the school for students to get a better understanding of what is in their community.  Every year my school holds Agriculture Day for just this reason.  The event is set up on our soccer field and bee keepers, gardeners, local forest rangers and conservationists, and tons of local citizens who use animals as part of their every day lives are invited to attend.  For many students this is the first time they'll be able to see and actually touch a rabbit or a cow.  It is a bit frightening for some and I always have one or two that hang out at the back of the crowd but for everyone else it's such an enriching experience.  To be honest I don't know who gets more excited about this day - me or my 5 year olds!

Hens... bruck, bruck, cluck!

A two-week old bunny.

A three-week old lamb.

 Goats.

Mini horse.

And my absolute favorite - alpacas!  When my husband and I win the lottery we are buying an alpaca farm!

Lots of Blossoms!

     Hello!  Today's card was inspired by the Melon Mambo card on page 7 of the Summer Mini catalog.  I was so excited to see the new Triple Layer  punches in the Summer mini that I couldn't wait to try them out for myself. 

     I wanted to create a quick and simple card using the punch and since I'm a fan of pink I thought why not go try a card with several different shades. I love pearls (both as jewelry and embelishments) and knew they would look great in the center of the flower.  Although they've been on my "wish list" for quite some time I'm afraid to admit that I haven't yet ordered the basic rhinestone jewels (pg 188, $4.95).  I think the rhinestones would give it a different feel and add a little "bling" to the card!

Stamps: Short & Sweet

Ink: StazOn Black

Paper: Melon Mambo, Pretty In Pink, Rose Red, Regal Rose, Bravo Burgundy, Whisper White

Tools & Accessories: Pearls, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch



Over the River and Thru the Woods

     Hello!  On Saturday I ran in the Concord-Merrimack SPCA "Over the River and Thru the Woods Run for the Animals 5K".  All proceeds from this race benefit the Concord SPCA and homeless animals.  If you follow my blog you may remember that I ran this last fall and placed 3rd in my age category.  I wasn't as lucky this year since there were 250 more participants than last year and my IT band (outside knee) has been giving me some trouble since April. 

     My amazing husband (who is recovering from shoulder surgery due to a work related incident) was excited to join me and served as my photographer.

     The race is a road/cross country race and can be a bit challenging at times.  When crossing the river and running on the wooded path runners are forced to run single file due to the narrow walkway.  In some spots you're only as fast as the slowest runner ahead of you. :(

 

      In the end I was VERY happy with my time: 26:40!!  I placed 10th in my age group (out of 50 runners in the group) and 115 over all (out of 323 runners/walkers).
     If you'd like to help a shelter in the NH area please click on this link (http://bit.ly/xCy7S) to cast your vote for an animal shelter make over.   It's FREE to cast your vote, takes just seconds and could help shelter receive a much needed makeover.

Thinking of You

      While I absolutely love making cards, sympathy cards are the hardest to make.  Thankfully it's not often that I need to create one.  This card was inspired by Karen B Barber's Blissful card over at SplitCoastStampers.
     I loved the black and white colors, layout and stamp set so I decided to change very little on my card.  The background is the flourish image from the Bliss stamp set stamped several times.  The sentiment is from the hostess set Silhouette Sentiments.  I would have added dimensionals to the second layer of card stock but felt that the extra bulk (with the bow) would require extra postage.

Stamps: Bliss (SAB, retired), Silhouette Sentiments
Ink: StazOn black
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Black
Tools & Accessories: Modern Label, Word Window, & circle punches, organza ribbon, pearls, Stampin' dimensionals 

Hello! Goodbye!

  
      It's time to say goodbye! Hundreds of products from the 2010-2011 Idea Book & Catalog and Definitely Decorative brochures are retiring, and now is the time for you to get them before they're gone.

To check out the retiring stamps click here.
To check our retiring accessories click here.

There are some things to remember:

• Last chance accessories are available only while supplies last;
• The accessories list is updated Monday thru Friday at 4pm, please note that due to limited supplies you may not receive all items you order;
• I strongly encourage you to order thru my Stampin' Up! website (click here) as this is constantly updated and will have accurate information.