Timeless Birthday

Today I want to show you a card I designed for my monthly Tri-City Stampers team meeting last night.  Several of my team members had never tried using our Stampin' Around wheels before, so I wanted to come up with a design that incorporated the use of a wheel.  Here is what we did:

Birthday card featuring the Timeless Talk stamp set and Music Notes Stampin' Around wheel.

Inside view with sentiment from A Dozen Thoughts

If you are like my team members and have never used one of our wheels before, let me caution you that there is a bit of a learning curve to get a perfect image.  It isn't difficult once you get that hang of it and with a little practice, you'll be wheeling like a pro!  For this card we used the Music Notes wheel twice; once on the small panel on the front of the card (to break them in gently) and a second time on the inside panel.  We used the Smoky Slate ink pad to ink the wheel...no need for ink cartridges when using the wheel on a card, though if you want to do a larger scrapbook page, you'll want the continuous inking a cartridge provides.  The other thing to be sure of is that you have a straight edge to guide your wheel...it is virtually impossible to get the image perfectly straight without one.  I'm proud to say that every one of my team members managed to successfully wheel the music image on both the front and inside of the card. :D
The rest of the card is straightforward.  The DSP is from the I Am Me DSP pack. I stamped the victrola and the sentiment in Basic Gray and the speech bubble in Smoky Slate.  The sentiment on the inside, from the A Dozen Thoughts set, is also stamped in Basic Gray.  I used the Ovals Collection Framelits to cut out the Victrola image, which gave my team a chance to try out the new Magnetic Platform.  They loved it as much as I do!!  It is so easy and quick to use the Framelits...no more fussing with post-it notes!  Far and away my favourite new product!
On another note, one week from today I will be in Salt Lake City for Convention!!  I am getting so excited!  Be sure to check in here daily, as I will post the highlights for you.  I will also be tweeting live during convention, so be sure to follow me on Twitter (@lgirsa) so you don't miss out on a single bit of the convention excitement!

Shocked and Amazed!!

This afternoon at work I did a quick check of my emails and to my shock and amazement there was a message from Linda Aarhus informing me she had awarded me the...

I sat and read the email several times before it actually sank in and I am still in disbelief that my little blog would ever be worthy.  Knowing all the hundreds, thousands even, of amazing blogs out there in cyberspace I never imagined I would be considered among them.  So a HUGE thank you to Linda!!  Please check out her blog Polka Dots and  Paper...you'll be glad you did!


Now, as a recipient of this award, I have some business to take care of.  The first is to pass it on to eight other blogs I have recently discovered.  So, here is a list of eight great blogs well worth checking out:

Jen Arkfeld 

Sharon Field

Debbi Rippentrop

Lena Paiva

Jeanne Kupsh

Jackie Barfield

Nancy Riley

Lyssa Griffin Zwolanek

I'm also supposed to list eight tidbits of personal info about  myself...here goes!

1)  I've been stamping for just a little less than 2 years but have LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!
2) I just became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator this past July but have also LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!
3) I am a full-time high school music department head which seriously interferes with my stamping time...except during summer break (only 4 more months to go!)
4) I am married to a super guy whom I met online before Internet dating was the "in" thing to do.  Interestingly, my brother also  met his wife online about 4 years later!
5) I am mom to the smartest 3 1/2 year-old-ever (ok, I might be a bit biased!).  He is the  light of  my life and is my best stampin' buddy!
6) Although I am a musician I rarely listen to music myself!  After listening to teenagers wail on band instruments all day long the last thing I want to do is  listen to more music.  In fact, all I want is peace and quiet, which is why I LOVE my stampin' corner...all I hear there is the click-click-click of my SNAIL...music to any stamper's ears!
7)  I am addicted to the Young and the Restless and have been for the last 25 years!  (pathetic, I  know!)  Oddly enough, the storyline hasn't changed!
8) I love to cook and entertain.  I've been told many times I should be running my own restaurant...my answer..."Can't...too busy stamping!"

Now, on to more pressing matters...today's card!!  Actually it is a card and gift bag ensemble I did this week.  I am currently working on designs for my April classes and really like the bright, spring-like colours in this set.  See what you think...

Gift ensemble using Summer Garden DP, So Swirly (retired) wheel and Punch Bunch and Pocket Silhouettes stamp sets.

Just the bag...I made matching tissue with my So Swirly wheel

Cloe-up of focal image on bag.

Cute little gift tag from the Punch Bunch SAB set

Matching card and envelope using So Swirly wheel and Pocket Silhouettes set (on of my fav's)

I carried the butterfly theme from the bag inside the card with the Flight of the Butterfly set.

When I envisioned this set I had thought I would use a brighter ink colour for my wheeled images; however, much to my dismay, the only reinker I had in the colours from the Summer Garden DSP was old olive!  I was a bit worried it would be too dark, but I actually like the darker wheeled image to off-set the brightness of the DSP.  I also love the velllum butterflies...so simple to make with my Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die and my Big Shot!  Add a little colour with some ink and sponges and viola...a pretty accent!  I don't know yet if this set will make my April line-up, but I most certainly will find someone to gift it to!