Happy Anniversary, baby!

One of the nice things about having a hubby that doesn’t spend much time on the internet is that I can blog his anniversary card before I give it to him without any fear that he will see it.  Today marks NINETEEN years that we’ve been married.  How he has put up with me that long, I have no idea, but I’m sure glad that he has!

So here is the card I just made (yes, I waited until 2PM on our anniversary to make a card):

 

That’s a whole lot of retired SU product right there.  Let’s see…. the Bride Specialty DSP is retired.  The Riding Hood Red pleated ribbon is retired.  The silver (Encore) ink is no longer carried and the words are from a hostess set in the 2007 Fall Catalog called “So Many Sayings”.  The hearts are punched out of Riding Hood Red and mounted on Silver Glimmer paper that was cut with the scalloped heart Embosslit (can’t remember the official name, sorry!).  Those are two of the Silver Mini Brads on the Modern Label punched piece of black.  There are a bunch of dimensionals that were used – the DSP is “popped up” off the black mat, the upper heart is popped up, as is the sentiment piece.  It’s simple, it’s classy.  I likey.  LOL

Mother’s Day Card Number 1 is in the mail!

And my new Stampin’ Up! Catalog is IN DA HOUSE!  Woo hoo!  I still have to finish my mother-in-law’s card tomorrow and get it mailed, but it’s pretty much done, it just needs the sentiment stamped inside.  But, since she lives closer, I had an extra day to get that one finishes.  LOL  So, here’s the card:

The stamp is from the retiring Peace Within set.  The blues are Not Quite Navy and Pool Party.  You can’t tell from the scan, but there are little tiny pearl accents in the centers of the orchids.

My new catalog arrived yesterday, along with my new in color cardstock and ink and the DROP DEAD GORGEOUS new Christmas DSP, “Be of Good Cheer”.  I’ll be ordering another package of that, We haven’t carried a Christmas DSP I like this much in several years.  I also got a package of the new Naturals Buttons, which I also like.  I just have a hard time using buttons.  Since most of the buttons are round plastic things, they always just sort of look like either afterthoughts on my cards or they seem to detract from the focal image.  Hoping these new ones, being wood tone and more subtle, will be easier to use.

I spent some time REALLY going thru the catalog today, highlighting what I have and putting little sticky flags on things I need to order June 1 for making Convention swaps.  I already have 2 swaps designed in my head, I just need to get the stamps in hand to see if what I’m picturing in my head will translate onto card stock.  For Angie’s Christmas card swap, I’ll be using the new Star Tree (single) stamp and probably the new DSP as well.  For Stacy’s 3x3 card swap I’m using the new Happy Hour set (can’t imagine WHY I’d go for a set called Happy Hour, right?).  One of the sets I was looking forward to getting, Daydream Medallions, is actually one that we will be receiving at Convention in our Make & Take supplies, so I will have to wait until mid-July before I can play with that.  Oh well.  And while I was very sad to see Triple Treat Flower on the retired list, I am looking forward to using its “replacement”, Quint-Essential Flower.  It’s the same theory, you stamp it multiple times in different colors and punch out and layer different parts of it.  I’m still grumpy about them retiring the 5 Petal Flower punch though.  It was a great shape to use for other things, like leaves. 

Other goodies on my list to order June 1 include more of this pretty In Color Stitched Satin ribbon, some of the new Stitched 1/4” Grosgrain ribbon, the new Vintage Faceted Designer Buttons (remember the old “crystal” doorknobs and drawer pulls in your grandma’s house growing up?  They are reminiscent of those), the new International Bazaar DSP, the new Butterfly punch and a “couple” of new Sizzix items.  One of the truly awesome perks of being a demonstrator is that we get to purchase one item on the first order in our birthday month at an additional discount.  I’m eyeing the new Sizzix alphabet for that since it’s $90.  I’m sure I will spend many more hours going thru the catalog and altering my June 1 order over the next 3 weeks…..

And for those counting, there are 68 days till Convention…..

“Swap Season” is here!

Since my last post, there have been a couple of BIG changes.  First, hubby is back working on someone’s payroll (instead of just consulting), HOORAY!  Second, we decided that I will attend Stampin’ Up! Convention this year after all!  DOUBLE HOORAY!
The new catalogs start shipping to demos this week.  I will have mine in my hot little hands by the end of the day on Wednesday, along with the new in colors (which I am ordering tomorrow).  There are 72 days before Convention.  It’s officially “Swap Season”.  So far, I have *only* joined 4 swaps and am hosting one.  I’m in two groups for two of the swaps.  I’m sure I will probably join the General Swap for the Stampin’ Addicts Meet & Greet as well.  Right now my swap commitment is 60 pieces.  I’m sure that will grow.  I usually end up somewhere around 100.  I also have started working on my roommate gifts for Mary Ann and Janice.  And I’m beading a new lanyard for myself.  Next on the list is to lose 5-7 pounds so I can fit into the pants I wore to Convention last year…..
I got some nice photos last night of the “Super Moon”  Here’s one of the 2 best shots.  The other one I posted on Facebook last night.  This one was taken with the lens at 280mm at ISO 400, f-11 at 1/320 (Canon Digital Rebel XTi):