Missing In Action

**WARNING - Long post**

Sorry I have been MIA for a while, I have been so busy that I hadn't even had a chance to let you know that I was going on holidays!  Too late now though, I am back.  We had an AMAZING time on an Alaskan Cruise.  My grandma has wanted to go on a cruise like this since I was 2 and a couple of years ago 5 of us decided that if she wanted to go, that we wanted to be the ones to take her.  I wasn't really sure about it when we were planning it, but it was very relaxing, we were treated like royalty and I got to spend the whole week with Gram.  I have a LOT of photos that I hope to post a little later.  Right now I will start with this one.
Here is a picture of her and I together on the back of the ship just as we were leaving Vancouver.

I love this lady!  We are just over 60 years apart, but we are so close.  She is my dad's mom, but she is also one of my mom's best friends, so even though my parents are no longer together I get to see Gram at both parents homes when I go to my home town.

I was busy before we went getting ready to go.  I had a swap that I was involved that needed to be mailed before I went, which is why I didn't have a chance to post before I went on holidays.  I will post more about that later, I should be getting the swaps back in the mail soon.

I was also busy getting a few things ready for the cruise.  While on the ship you use your sea pass card for EVERYTHING!  It is your room key, you need it to get off and on the ship at ports, to order drinks and for anything that you wanted to buy while on the ship as there is no cash used on the ship.  Knowing this before we went, I was trying to figure out how I was going to carry this card with me at all time.  It wasn't too bad when we could wear jeans, but when wearing dress clothes (including dresses) and didn't have pockets we needed a way to carry them.  They are retractable ID badge holders and they worked wonderfully for what we needed,  but they weren't very pretty to be wearing with dress clothes.

This is what I came up with.

I made decorative paper flowers to cover the very plain, not so pretty, black retractable hooks.

I used punched 4 flowers - one Basic Black, one Very Vanilla and two Newspaper DSP.  The black and vanilla flowers I put through the crimper, smooshed and peeled the two layers of paper apart so that I had two of each.  I then inked the edges and stuck them together with the new Glitter Brads from the Holiday Mini.  These are my favorite flowers to make right now. 

Then to hide the sea-pass cards, I decided that I would do a Newspaper DSP card, matted with Basic Black and a colored Monogram to match the flowers. 

I cut the letters out with my cricut and then glazed them with a mixture of Glossy Accents and Dazzling Diamonds just to add a bit of extra bling.

I also made these thank you cards to take with me.  Whether they were appreciated or not, I thought it would be nice to make some little thank-you's for the people that served us on a regular basis.  I wanted something easy to make, easy to carry and easy for them to slip in their pocket so I made these 2.5" square cards with the Sweet Scoops stamp set from the Summer Mini and the sentiment is from the Trendy Trees set.

I have lots more to show you, just hope I will be able to find the time to post it all!  I will try to keep them shorter for you, but with being away for so long I just have SO much to say and as always so little time to say it in.

Stamp Club

Onto the post that many of you have been waiting for!  I have been telling you that I would post about the Stamp Club that I am going to have, but just haven't found the time to do it yet, so here it is!

Do you need a few hours to express your creative self?  Love to make handmade gifts, but don't seem to find the time, a quiet spot or enough space at home?  Enjoy time out with friends, including plenty of food and good conversation?   Enjoy Stampin' Up! products, workshops and parties, but can't have a workshop right now? Want to build your craft supply collection, but only have so much to spend?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, my monthly Stamp Club may be for you!

Here is what you get:

• A 2010-2011 Stampin' Up! Idea Book & Catalogue ($11.95 value)
• At least $20 in FREE product and a hostess stamp set during your hostess month.
• FREE make and takes each month; including cards, scrapbooking and fun gift ideas.  I will provide the space, do the prep work and clean up the mess!
• Learn a new technique each month, which can be applied to your card and/or scrapbooking skills.  Even if you don't think you are artistic, I can help you make great projects!

Here's what you agree to:

• Commit to buying a minimum of $25 (before S/H and tax, based on 8+ members) a month for the duration of the club.
• If you can't make the club, submit your order to me before the club date.
• Bring your own trimmer, adhesive and scissors (these will be available for purchase at the first club if needed).
• During your hostess month, provide simple goodies and beverages to snack on while we create and chat.  A perfect chance to share your favorite recipe! 

Please feel free to pass this information on to family, friends or co-workers.  The more members, the more benefits YOU get during your hostess month!

You can sign up by leaving a comment or emailing me.  If you know my number, you can call too!  If you have any questions, please let me know.

Tickled Pinkies Party

This is a *Non-stamping post*, but I have to tell you about the awesome time that I had on Friday night!  It was a great way to spend a Friday evening with co-workers!  Just to let you know, most of the people I work with at this job are women, so we decided to have a girls' night!  The few men involved weren't "man enough" to join in on the fun, but they did get to enjoy the great food - like these cupcakes that my boss' sister made!

They looked like little drinks and tasted like it too!  They were citrus cupcake with icing to die for!! 

The part the guys didn't join in on was the best part!  We had Rea from Tickled Pinkies come and paint our toe nails.  She did an amazing job and even though I know that they will last quite a while, I am still excited for the next time that she will do them!  She is a great lady, fun to talk to and very creative!  I found a few things in "the book" that you choose your designs from that I liked, but I wasn't sure which I liked better so she combined them for me!  Here is the end results.

I LOVE ladybugs!  So she did a lady bug on my big toes and little flowers on all of the rest - she also did a pink background as I told her I am a huge pink person. 

Thanks to Rea for coming to do our nails and thanks to my bosses for putting on such a great staff party...again!

Etching Engagement

This card I made for a very special couple that just got engaged a few weeks ago. I was actually at a workshop when I found out that she said yes, but as soon as I heard I knew exactly what I wanted this card to look like.  She has a damask cover on her phone and I know that she loves the color red!  What could be better than this?

 I used the new Cherry Cobbler and Basic Grey as the colors on this card.  The ring stamp from a $1.50 bin at Michael's, but the rest of the stamps are from Artistic Etchings (clear mount and wood) and the embossing is done with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  I added a bit of extra bling to the diamond with Dazzling Diamonds glitter and a little bit of Tombow Glue. 

Shore Birthday

I feel like an awful blogger lately, my summer has been so busy and is only getting busier.  We don't have a free weekend until the middle of September for sure and possible even the end of September, depending on whether or not the last plans go through.
It is hard to believe that it is the 2nd of August already!!  It has been a great long weekend that we spent with really great friends and their family (they have the most adorable 8 month old twin boys EVER)!  It was a very relaxing weekend and even though one of the boys came down with a cold, I can't think of anywhere else I would have rather been. 
This card kind of reminds me of our weekend.  We didn't spend much time relaxing on a shore, but we did get to go down to the lake for a little while.  I had actually made this card for my FIL and gave it to him in July, but because I hadn't posted and it seems so relaxed I just had to post it tonight.

I always have a harder time making masculine cards, so I CASED this card.  Check out the original here.  I hate to say that for this card the stamp sets are not available through me.  The chair and shore birds are from a retired Stampin' Up! set called Shore Thing.  The "happy" and "birthday" are from two separate stamps sets designed by the amazing Amy Rysavy.  The colors on this card are Pacific Blue, Sahara Sand and Soft Suede. 
Hope you like it!  I will try to get back to post some more cards for you soon.