Lexi's Homecoming Pictures

For my first My Digital Studio project, I decided to make two scrapbook pages for my cousin Lexi. I decided to create my own pages rather than using the pre-designed templates offered in the program. This took me a little longer, but Lexi was happy with the results.


Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stamping!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

MAY YOUR STUFFING BE TASTY, MAY YOUR TURKEY BE PLUMP.
MAY YOUR POTATOES 'N GRAVY HAVE NARY A LUMP,
MAY YOUR YAMS BE DELICIOUS,
MAY YOUR PIES TAKE THE PRIZE, AND
MAY YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER STAY OFF OF YOUR THIGHS.
Happy Thanksgiving!

New Layout ... New Energy

First of all, I have to say that I LOVE My Digital Studio. The new banner and background is thanks to this program. I have some projects I will be sharing in the days to come that will show you just how much fun you could be having!

For now, I want to thank Patty Bennett for taking the time to put together this tutorial (as well as others) that shows you how to make your own banner with My Digital Studio. I had been tinkering with it, but this helped me to finalize my work. Don't be suprised if my banner changes often as I get to know the program better!

Back to taking photos and getting them uploaded!

A quick apology

I want to apologize to anyone who has visited my blog in the last month and noticed the lack of anything. My computer directory files became corrupt and I had to reformat my harddrive and then re-install the operating system. There are still some things that I haven't been able to recover, but I'm almost done re-installing all my important programs.

I do have some things to share, and will start posting again soon! I've got some great Christmas cards to share!

Halloween Treat Card

I promised I would work on a card using Sweet Centers until I was happy. This card is it!

I decided to make a treat card, but I wanted to make sure that the card would not be destroyed to get to the candy. This technique doesn't give the option to refill the treat cup but for those people who like to keep cards for inspiration or for sentimental reasons, I think this will allow that. I added the ribbon so it almost looks like a treat bag.

I used Sticky Strip on the ribbon to attach the ribbon between the cardstock for added stability. I also decided to emboss the image to give it some texture. I used Green Galore craft ink and clear embossing powder.

This is a back view of the treat card. You'll notice I perforated the back where the candy can be found.

This was a really easy card to make, which is good because I plan to make several of them for co-workers.




I hope you enjoyed my share! Happy Stamping!

Candy Flower

As promised, I'm sharing a card created using a stamp set from the new Holiday Mini. This card was made using the stamp set, Sweet Centers (pg 6/7, #117639) and the corresponding Sweet Treat Cups.

I have to admit, I'm not 100% happy with this card. However, I did design and create this all by my lonesome, and that makes me happy. I'm still learning a lot and trying to find that creative part of me that can look at papers and stamp sets, and just put things together. I do have to say that I found I loved the colors together.

I will tackle this and make myself 100% happy with the results. I've got more ideas floating in my head and will be playing this weekend. I work for the State of California and therefore will be "furloughed" tomorrow. My plan is to spend that day crafting. :)

My goal is also to make my card so that it doesn't have to be destory to get to the candy. I will share full details on how I accomplish that when I share my next project.

Till then, happy stamping!

The New Holiday Mini Catalog has arrived!

I'm very excited to share that the new Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog is now available! From now and until January 4, 2010, you will be able to order some wonderful items for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and more!

I have some projects in the works that I will be sharing with you in the coming days. If you haven't received a copy of the mini catalog, just contact me and I will be sure to get one to you.

You can also view the pdf version of the catalog by visiting my Stampin' Up webpage here.

Royal Blog Tour - Welcome!

Hi there and thanks for stopping by! The projects I'll be sharing with you today were made using the stamp set "Lots of 'Bots" (pg 82, #115293) from the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and Catalog 2009-2010.

I have created three projects to share with you today, each one made using the designer series paper Razzleberry Lemonaide (pg 162, #115675) and the new in-colors (pg 154) that correspond with the DSP. I've really enjoyed making these projects to share with you and I hope that you enjoy them as well.

Our first project is a simple bag made from a 12x12 sheet of paper. I scored each side at two inches to make it a long bag.

This size bag is perfect for several things, such as those specialty lotions at places such as Bath and Body Works. It is also the prefect size for a small baby shower gift.

To embellish the bag, I stamped the image on whisper white cardstock and colored him in using the neutral water color crayons (pg 154, #106746) with a blender pen (pg 192, #102845).

I added a little touch by cutting down a piece of rich razzleberry cardstock and punching it with the scallop edge punch (pg 187, #112091).

I closed the top of the box off with a scallop circle pierced through and tied off with a bit of 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon in Apricot Appeal.

The second project I have to share with you today is a simple treat holder using the Pillow Box diecut (pg 199, #113466).

I wrapped it with 5/8 inch grosgrain ribbon in very vanilla. I made a small tag by punching the image on whisper white cardstock and matting it against the in-color, melon mambo. I then used the Tag Corner punch (pg 186, #107215) on the top corners to give it a tag look. I attached it to the ribbon.

The third project I made for you today is a cute gift card holder.

This card holder is made with two no. 3 coin envelopes, which can be purchased at any office supply store. I stamped the image of bolts across the Dusty Durango cardstock to create my own background. I also stamped them across one of the coin envelopes to blend it in better with the rest of the holder. for the image on top I used my Stampin' Write Markers in both neutral (pg 154, 109126) and in-color (pg 155, #116329) and colored directly onto the stamp. I then used the going gray and bermuda bay ink pads with my blender pen to color him in. I also used the rich razzleberry ink pad to color in the balloon. Using the masking technique, I stamped the bolts and binary images in crushed curry over the whisper white and robot image. Still using the masking technique, I stamped "Happy Birthday , Human" in Dusty Durango. For a little bit of fun, I stamped another image of the bolts in Dusty Durango and cut it out, adding it to the image with a dimensional.

As an added treat, you can create a small note to place inside the holder. :)

I hope you've enjoyed your visit and the samples I've share with you using the "Lots of Bots" stamp set. Enjoy the rest of the tour!

Thank you,

Raberta

Sacramento, CA

Deal of the Week

Every week, Stampin' Up! is offering a new deal.

This week's deal is: Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware!

Styled Vanilla Hodgepodge Hardware, item #112454

Regular Price: $29.95

Special Price: $18.99

This deal is only good from July 20th through July 26th. 

Don't lose out on this great deal! Be sure to head over to my Online Store!

Please check back next Monday to see what new deal SU! has to offer!

Our next Royal Blog Tour!

Be sure to sign up to ride our next Royal Blog Tour!

I am very excited to announce that our blog tour is only a few weeks away and the team is hoping to bring you a fantastic tour of creativity and fun! If you haven't signed up to ride the tour yet, you should stop by the blog as we have posted some fantastic interviews of some of your favorite stampers! There will be more to come and lots of surprises, so make sure you sign up to follow the blog today!

New Catalog, new Sample

Good Morning my friends! Its going to be another beautiful sunny day here in Sacramento. Its also going to be another HOT day. :)
Here is the first sample I'll be sharing with you, using a stamp set and DSP from the new catalog. Isn't it cute!? The stamp set is called Animal Stories (page 88, #116716) and the DSP is Razzleberry Lemonade (page 162, #115675).
All the paper uses the new In-Colors. For this card I used the Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry and Rich Razzleberry. So far I think the Rich Razzleberry is my favorite. For the cute little giraff, I used Crushed Curry, first inking the stamp with a versamark pad, then the ink. I then embossed the image with clear imbossing powder to give it texture, before cutting him out.
This is just the first of many ideas I have in store for you! Keep checking back here and my project gallery on my online SU! store for more ideas. I'll be posting a sample of this project there later this evening.
Thanks for visiting and Happy Stamping!

Raberta

Sacramento, CA

Shoebox Swap

Hello everyone, and Happy Monday!

It was a beautiful day in Sacramento, summer is definantly making an appearance.

Last week I attended my first ever Shoebox Swap. I knew about it a month in advance, and I'll be honest that I fretted the whole time. I've been a demonstrator since September of last year, but I've been more of what is referred to as a "Hobby Demo" and haven't hosted a workshop yet. I wanted to make sure my card was demonstrator quality, something that would be liked by all and easy to make. It wasn't until the Monday before (it was on Thursday) that I was sure of what I was going to do. And here it is!

The Top Note die-cut is one of my favorite of the dies that Stampin' Up! offers. Its extremely versitile and easy to use. I decided to use it and also to showcase some items that are (*sniff*) retiring as of the end of June. That would be the Kiwi Kiss paper and ribbon.

For this card I stamped the image with versamark and then used my dauber to dab chalk onto the image to make it appear. Its one of my favorite techniques because it feels like a bit of magic is happening as the image just appears! :) This whole card was made without using one color ink pad!

To get a full list of items used, please visit my SU! Online Store in the Creative Projects section. Click here to go directly to the project details.

Thanks for visiting!

Time for a new look ... what do you think?

For a while now I've been wanting to change things up on my blog. I like clean and simple layouts with a little bit of color. Something that is easy to read and navigate.

Money is really tight right now, so I can't afford to pay a professional to do this for me. But I was determined to make it better.

I'm not an expert at html or css ... and my skills at graphic design are very mediocre. So after many hours of tinkering with code and trying my best at making a banner, I am happy to share with you my new blog.

What do you think? :)

Mojo Monday #91 - My Sketch

I've finally had some time to try my own hand at a Mojo Monday sketch, this week being #91!

I'm happy to say that this card was made using 100% Stampin Up! products!

I used:

Stamp Set: Simply Said

Cardstock: Rosered, Regal Rose and Whisper White

Designer Series Paper: Patterns Pack II (hostess set that is retiring at the end of June)

Ink: Rosered, Certainly Celery

Accessories: 1/4" grosgrain ribbon in certainly celery, flower brad, clear embossing powder

To add an extra touch to the card, I dipped the flower brad into my certainly celery craft ink pad, then dip it into some clear embossing powder. I used a heat glue to make the color stand out and stay.

I hope you enjoyed this share! Happy Stamping!

Cute Baby Card

One of my favorite hostess sets from the current catalog has been Goody-Goody Gum Drops. This set has been pretty versatile for several occasions. I'm sad to say that this set will be retiring at the end of June.

I'm on a role with my aqua painter and I'm really enjoying the look of my projects when I color with it. I find that I like using my water-color crayons the best with the aqua painter. Don't those duckies just stand out!

Birthday Card - Crazy for Cupcakes

Its been a while since I last shared, so its definitely time!

The picture doesn't do the card much justice, I'm still learning the best way to use a camera to take photos like these.

I used a paper weaving technique, showcasing one of the retiring designer series papers Raspberry Tart. This also gave me an opportunity to play with my aqua painter and work on improving my water-coloring technique.

Thanks for letting me share!

Last Chance stamp sets and accessories on sale!

Its time once again to say good-bye to a few stamp sets and accessories. A new catalogue will be released on July 1st. Until then you've got a little time left to get those things you've been wanting but haven't purchased yet.

Click the image to the left to see a list of retiring items that are reduced by 50%!

Click the image to the left to see a list of retiring items that are reduced by 25%!

Click the image to the left to see a complete listing of all retiring products.

Happy Shopping and Stamping! You can visit my online store any time to purchase any Last Chance items that are a must have. Please visit here: http://rabertagannon.stampinup.net/ to visit my online store, or log in and select me as your demonstrator.

Summer Fun: Hostess Bonus Promotion

To learn more, visit here. If you would like to set up a workshop, please either email me at rabertag @ gmail . com, or click the image above.

There is still some time left...

For the Month of May ... for every 3 packs of Designer Series paper you purchase, you can choose a fourth for free! This is perfect for scrapbookers!

Click here to visit my online store and order your DSP today!

The Blog Tour has begun!

Welcome to Stop #3 on your Blog Tour! Thank you for visiting me here in Sunny California!

Today I'll be sharing two cards I made using the stamp set "Great Friend" (item #113792, page 5) from the Occasions Mini Catalog.

This is perhaps my favorite set and can be used in so many different ways. I decided to only use the stamps within the set itself just to show you that you can come up with two completely different ideas using the same stamps.

My first card was made using the "Walk in the Park" DSP (Item #115123, page 9). This paper uses the colors Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss, Cameo Coral, Baja Breeze and So Saffron. I decided to go with just Basic Gray and Kiwi Kiss, adding a little Going Gray to help make it pop a little. I used the new eyelet border punch from the main catalogue (Item #113692, page 184) and used the Kiwi Kiss/Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon (Item #111879, page 179), being sure to tie in so that only the Kiwi Kiss side showed. The butterfly is stamped in Kiwi Kiss and the "For You" is stamped in going gray.

My second card uses the DSP Raspberry Tart (Item #113975, page 160). This paper uses the colors Real Red, Rose Red, Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink and Kiwi Kiss. Of these colors, I chose to use Rose Red and Cameo Coral, making the base of my card using the Rose Red cardstock.

If you use your Color Coach (Item #105796, page 153) you'll see that Rose Red has coordinating colors of Cameo Coral, Barely Banana and Certainly Celery. I decided to add Certainly Celery to the mix.

Using my Big Shot (Item #113439, page 193) and the Top Note Die Cut (Item #113463, page 196), I made two top note dies, one in Cameo Coral and one in Whisper White. I cut down the whisper white at the perferated area so that it could mat against the cameo coral. I used 1/4 inch grosgrain ribbon in certanly celery (Item # 109031, page 179) to make the bow in the middle. I stamped "For You" on whipsper white and punched it out using the Scallop Oval Punch from the Occasions Mini (Item #114889, page 8). I edged it cameo coral to make it stand out a little and used Stampin' Dimensionals (Item #104430, page 191) so it would stand out more. I stamped the butterfly in Rose Red and the twigs in Certainly Celery.

And this concludes Stop #3. I hope you've enjoyed your visit. I'd love it if you left me a message and perhaps any suggestions on things you'd like to see in the future.

The link to the next stop on the tour has been removed as the Tour is now over. Thank you to everyone who visited! I hope you enjoyed the tour.

Happy Stampin'!

Raberta

Free SU! Blog Tour - Hop on the Bus!

April 27, 2009

Here is your ticket to ride! Please check back on Monday, April 27th for a real treat! Myself and 19 others will be creating a route for you to transverse to view several great ideas using the new stamp sets being offered in the Occasions Mini Catalogue.

I've decided to show case the set titled "Great Friend". I previously posted a card using the same set, however There are so many things you can do with this set, that I wanted to try another idea! You'll get to see it on the 27th.

On top of that, I will be linking to the next stop in the tour! We'd like to be a big suprise, so I won't share more than that for now. Just make sure you check back!

RAK - Random Act of Kindness

I sent out some "RAK" cards last week. This was probably my favorite of the bunch.

I actually sent out a total of 4, here are the other three:

Occasions Mini - its that time again!

From April 1st to June 30th the Occasions Mini Catlogue is in effect.

There are some great sets available this year. I've already show-cased a card using one of the sets from the mini, this weekend I'll be show-casing another.

Be sure to check out the promotional information being offered for the month of April here. For every $40 you spend from the mini catalogue, you can earn a free stamp set from the $10 and under page in the main catalogue located on page 208!

Mojo Mondy #80

One of my co-worker's is retiring this month and so I wanted to make a card for everyone to sign, but I wanted it to be big enough for the whole office (we're a rather large Division). So I took advantage of the Mojo Monday #80 sketch to come up with this card.

Occasions Mini Swap

The Occasions Mini Catalogue will be launching next week on Wednesday and will run April 1st to June 30, 2009.



Some of the ladies from LNS decided to do a swap and exchange some ideas. I took one look at the Great Friend set and decided, I had to have it.



Now that the cards are in the mail back to us I figured it was okay to share my creation. There was one slight change from the card I made for the swap and the one I ended up using as a bday card to a good friend. I have been trying to spice up my cards and so I did this to the inside:

Blog Candy

I don't currently have blog candy, but I've started to see it on blogs I visit. When I can, I'll share links to those blog candies I find.

Last night I came across this blog candy and had to share ... not because it asked me to, but because there was some great stuff in it. :)

You can find it here: http://jennifer-phoenixcrafts.blogspot.com/2009/03/easter-blog-candy.html

Good Luck with her Blog Candy!

The Winner has been chosen! Click here to find out who was the lucky person.

LNS Challenge #12

This week's challenge was "Feeling Sassy!" and was a Stamp A Stack Challenge. I'd been having a creativity block the last couple weeks and so this was the first time I'd participated in a while. There were so many wonderful entries that mine doesn't really stand a chance, but I submitted it anyway.

It was nice to be able to just sit down and stamp again. Hopefully I'll be able to keep this up.

Gift Box

I love boxes, and I love making them. I've got a lot of paper and ribbons from Sale-A-Bration, so I decided to make a box.

Normally the pattern for this box is better made with a 9x9 piece of paper, but I didn't have any 12x12 paper in the shades I needed (on my list for my next order :). Therefore I adjusted the measurements down (took me a couple tries till I got the right numbers).

I believe I ended up with an 8 1/4 x 8 1/4 square and scored at 2.75 and 5.5. You then want to score diagonally in the four corners so that the corner is easy to fold over. I stapled the paper there and covered it with the patterned paper.

The top and the bottom are three layers with the base a 3 3/8 x 3 3/8 square. The 2nd square is is 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 and the 3rd square (using DSP) is 3 1/8 x 3 1/8.

For the lid, I made a 5x5 square, scalloping the edges and scoring at 1 inch on all sides. I folded the sides in and attached it to the top base. I think next time I make this box, I will make the lid slightly smaller, perhaps a 4 7/8 x 7/8 square so it fits a little snugger on the top.

I secured the ribbon between the bottom base and the box and using the horizontal slit punch, made a slot big enough for the ribbon to slip through. This was to secure the lid to the top and also because I think it looks cute. :)


Thanks for letting me share and happy stamping!

Raberta "Berta" Gannon

Perfect Bows

One of the areas that I have the biggest problem with is tying bows. While searching Youtube for some tutorials for distressing paper, I came across this video.

This is a GREAT video with 3 different techniques for tying bows. Definantly going to be using one of these soon. Don't be suprised if you see it show up later this week.

LNS: Challenge #9 Entry

Late Night Stampers, a yahoo group for SU! Enthsiests (we just recently opened ourselves up to non demonstrators) has their weekly Design Team Challenges. This week we were given a sketch to make a card from (See Above).

I actually struggled a little with this. Not because I couldn't come up with any ideas, but because all my ideas required one item I didn't own. Each time I place an order, I generally need specific things and so I can't be as spontaneous as I'd like. Be that as it may, here is the card I came up with.

I sometimes get intimidated by some of the cards that are entered for these challenges, there is a LOT of talent in this group. I keep self-talking myself to not be intimidated but to use it as a means to motivate myself to be better than I am.

To that end, I wanted to change up my card a little and so its not a standard side or bottom opening card.

So I made it open in the center of the card. :)

Mardi Gras and the March of Dimes

You might ask, what does the March of Dimes have to do with Mardi Gras.

Well, I am one the March of Dimes representative at work and tomorrow we are doing a fund raiser for the department using Mardi Gras as the theme.

As the meeting this morning, I offered to make little water bottle hangers to put a "on the go" type drink pouch. This was to see if anyone would be interested in buying. If they went well, I'd make a bunch for next month's Book Sale to try and raise more money.

Here is what I came up with. I tried to use Mardi Gras colors. This piece also happens to fit with Challenge #8 at Late Night Stampers ... Whats Mardi Gras without a party!?

Cute Gift/Candy Bag

To start off the Sale-A-Bration, the group of Demos I belong to created a cute Gift/Candy bag to give out to new customers who showed up to the Stamp Camp. I wasn't able to participate, however during the last team meeting, my Upline shared with me how they made the bag, and she put her own touches to the sample. The following two pictures are the outside and inside of the bag.

Notice that one of the jars doesn't have a flower on top? Thats because I took this to a friend's to show her and her son snagged one of the jars when we weren't looking and tried to get to the M&Ms. :)

Change to Catalogues...

Change in Catalog Program Announced
February 20, 2009

During Shelli's teleconference Wednesday night, it was announced that we will be moving back to an annual catalog. We have been evaluating our catalog strategy for some time to determine what is most effective for you, and based on what we've learned and the feedback you have provided, we have decided to return to an annual catalog.

Because of the lead times involved in creating a catalog and the products that go into it, we had originally planned to make this change in July 2010. However, after considering the current economic situation and the effect it is having on your businesses, we have re-evaluated the timeline for this change and decided to launch the annual Idea Book & Catalog this coming July 2009.

What does this change mean to you?

• Beginning in July 2009, we will go back to an annual catalog.
• The US Hispanic supplement will also become an annual catalog.
• The Décor Elements catalog will continue to be separate from the Idea Book & Catalog, and will come out twice a year.
• The mini catalog program will change to include three mini catalogs a year, each lasting for four months.

In addition to the changes mentioned above, we will be introducing a small selection of hostess sets in each mini catalog. This will give your customers even more reason to host multiple workshops throughout the year.

We know that you will have lots of questions about these changes, and we will be providing more details in the coming months. Look for even more information to come as we get closer to the release of our new annual catalog in July.

We are excited about these changes and the benefits your businesses will see from them. Going back to an annual Idea Book & Catalog will decrease your cost of doing business and will simplify the catalog program--allowing you to focus on doing and sharing what you love.

At long last...

As promised, here is something I've worked on recently! A few months after I became a demonstrator (so like a month or so ago :)) I joined a group of other demonstrators who share ideas both on card-making and running their SU! business. With Sale-A-Bration having just started on February 1st, one of the ladies on the list decided to run a swap using only new stamp sets from either the catalogue or from the Sale-A-Bration brochure.

The above card is what I submitted to the swap!

The card actually started out as a birthday card for a co-worker. After finishing it, I loved it so much, I made 20 more and sent them off. I'm excited and can't wait to see what the other ladies in the swap make.