More from SU! Convention ~

It was such a treat to get to get to go to the Stampin' Up! Convention this year. Rod and I went together and enjoyed a little vacation from the everyday routine. He enjoyed biking in Park City and the canyons around Salt Lake City while I was at convention during the day. In the evenings we met up for dinner and sightseeing around the city. Here are a few more pictures from Convention.

This is a tote bag we were able to buy. Love it! It matches my craft room and I have it filled with my basic supplies on my desk, so I can just grab it and go crafting. And there is a matching laptop bag that makes a perfect bag for church.

I loved this display of the new Brights Collection of Stampin' Pads. Aren't these colors gorgeous?

 

This is a picture of me and Becky Roberts. She is a demonstrator from Boise who has a fun, creative blog that I love to read. The orange bag that you see everyone carrying is the bag that each one of us got for attending convention. Yes, I have lots of new bags, but a girl can never have too many cute bags!

 

One of the new products they introduced this year was fabric that matches the Designer Series Papers. There are two collections. Here are a few of the samples they had on display.

And I had to get a picture of this beautiful necklace that Shelli was wearing in one of the general sessions. It is a Simply Adorned Charm with some of the new additions from the Holiday Mini. Love it!

News from Convention ~

I have had such a great time at the Stampin' Up! Convention so far.  The classes have been amazing. I've decided a motivational speaker can pretty much motivate you to do anything. Not only in a craft centered business, but in life in general. Another fun thing has been all of the ideas I've seen. I'm adding a few pictures of some of these creative ideas so you can see what I mean. (I don't have my good computer, so they aren't edited yet.)

Stampin' Up! Convention ~

Hello from Utah!

And if you are new then welcome to my blog. Rod and I are off on a little vacation in SLC. I am going to the Stampin' Up! Convention and he is going Mountain Biking. There are a lot of trails around Salt Lake and up in Park City, so he should be busy enough while I am hanging out with my stampin' friends. I will have my iphone with me to take pictures and add updates, so be sure and check back tomorrow.

Wendy

Summer Vacation ~

I don't think anything helps to relax and recharge you more than going on vacation and then coming home. We just got back from a little trip to Northern Idaho and did just that. Luckily Jennifer, Trever and Kaden were able to come with us. Jennifer was the trip photographer so I had to wait and get her pictures downloaded to my computer before I could share them. So here you go. I little peek of our trip.

 

First night stop at the Pizza Factory.

 

Delicious pizza and rootbeer. Kaden was glad to be out of the car seat. He was a good little traveler.

 

 At the trailhead of the Hiawatha Bike Trail. An old railroad bed converted to an amazing bike trail. The trail is 15 miles one way and then a shuttle back to the top.

 

The trail starts off with a 1.6 mile tunnel. (Helmets and bike lights were required.) The shuttle dropped them off at the other side of the long tunnel, so they got to do it twice.

 

Beautiful mountain views. Jen did a good job with pictures.

 

I love this picture of Jen and Rod. They have been biking buddies for years.

I'm glad Jen found Trever who enjoys going on family bike trips with us.

 

Trever makes friends wherever he goes.

 

Kaden hung out Kristine and I. We took a little walk to the start of the first tunnel and enjoyed the nice cool air at the opening of the tunnel. They say it is about 40' inside. He loved being cooled down and fell right asleep. While Kristine and I were up there taking pictures of mossy rocks, our bikers came out of the tunnel. It was so fun to hear about their ride.

 

Here is Lake Coeur d'Alene. So beautiful right in the middle of the mountains.

 

The next day we went to Silverwood Amusement Park.

 

Here is the fearless crew heading off to conquer the roller coasters. Kaden and I went to buy a refillable sports bottle of ice water, which I refilled many, many times during the day.

  

Here is my little buddy. Rod and I enjoyed the cool grass under a shady tree with Kaden while Jennifer, Trever and Kristine were at the water park.

First trip to the mountains ~

Summer has finally come to SE Idaho and we took advantage of a beautiful day to get away to the mountains.  We were expecting crowds of 4-wheelers and motorbikes, and planned to just enjoy the mountain with all of them, but for some reason there were very few people out enjoying the day. This was Gus's first time out hiking, so we were curious to see what he would do. He loved it. I had him ride up on my lap so we would avoid the carsick episode from our last drive to the canyon. 

When we drop Rod and his bike off, we usually drive straight down to the pick up spot before we start hiking. Today Rod told me about a look out spot that was down the trail a little ways, so we started hiking right there.  He was right, it was beautiful.  Gus loved hiking. He did the typical hound dog nose to the ground hiking and I snapped pictures along the way. I don't trust him off of the leash yet, so he had to stay with me. He would stop and check out every little smell.  After this first hike, we drove down the canyon and waited for Rod to finish his ride. After about 10 minutes I could tell Gus was anxious to get moving again, so we went on another hike up the trail and ended up meeting Rod on his way down. Two hikes in one trip is quite an accomplishment for me and my short dog, but we loved it and can't wait to get out again.

I can't leave this post with out filling you in on every last detail.  Gus did get car sick on the way home so he has earned his new nickname "Barfy". But the good sure out weighed the bad,  (and he wasn't sitting on my lap at the time) so we will do it all again.

New Stampin' Up! Classes ~

The new Stampin' Up! year is starting July 1st. And there is an amazing NEW catalog just bursting with fun new products and creative ideas. I've been planning new classes and can't wait to show you all of the new things. Here is the class schedule.

One fun thing I am adding this year is a monthly crop. It will be $5, or if you come to the class that month, the crop is free. I will have punches, stamps and other Stampin' Up! tools out for you to use while you work on your own scrapbook pages, cards or other projects.

Special Events

Classes start at 6:30 pm.
The class fee must be paid two days ahead to reserve your spot.

July 7             Birthday Cards Stamp-A-Stack - $15 and New Catalog Party - free
August 4       All Occasion Cards Stamp-A-Stack - $15
September 1 Thank You Cards Stamp-A-Stack - $15
October 6      Christmas Cards Stamp-A-Stack - $15
November 3  Holiday Gift Gala - $20


Crops

6:30 pm to 9 pm  - Cost $5 (or free if you attended that month’s class)

July 29

August 19

September 16

October 21    

November 18

December 9

Call or email me to reserve your spot in class. Can't wait to get crafting again.

Stampin' Idea for today ~

I love having a little notebook handy at all times, and these cute little ones are fun to make.  You can use any combination of your coordinating papers to make it your own.

Stampin' Idea ~

In case it is cloudy and rainy where you are today too, and you are feeling the urge to get crafty.  Here is an idea for a fun little card.

Homemade Pepper Jelly ~

I have spent a few days canning this week to get ready for the Canning Party on Saturday and this was my canning project for today. 

And this was my lunch for today too. It is so good. 

I can't wait to share how easy it is to make. And of course we will open a jar for tasting too.

Guest Designer ~

 

It's time to share a fun project that I have coming up this summer. I am one of the designers for UStamp. 

UStamp with Dawn and Friends!! "Early Summer Edition 2010"!! will open June 25th (EDT) and will run through July 16th "Early Summer Edition 2010"!! is going to be a fantastic event!! We will be showcasing Stampin' Up! Sneak Peeks from NEW Catalog releasing in July AND you can be sure that the HOT & HIP NEW COLORS that SU! is debuting, will be here there and everywhere on the projects shared!!

For more information or to sign up go to Dawn's Blog. Be sure to leave her a comment too, because she is doing a drawing for FREE PASSES to USTAMP!

It's a Canning Party ~

~ and you're invited!

I had the chance to host a Ball Canning Party to celebrate their 125th Anniversary.  Of course I jumped at the chance and if you are local, I would love to have you join me.  We will be canning Salsa and Jelly. Of course there will be freebies, samples and goodies to take home.  This will be a great way to learn canning if you are a newbie canner, or a good refresher if you are a canning pro.  So if you would like to join us on June 5th at 2 pm. Leave me a comment, or email me to get on the list.

My To Do List for this week ~

* Birthday Party for Rod!!
* Do binding on Baby Quilt
* Sew a purple net slip for Kristine's formal
* Test two new patterns for ~  Kati Cupcake (This will be fun, they will be for Kymber and Sydni. The new patterns will be released at the end of May so  I'll show some pictures then.)
* Kristine's Freshman Formal Dance
* Kristine Honor Society Trip to Lagoon
* Express the Moment Crop on Saturday

Digital Layout Day ~

In the midst of switching computers and software, it has been awhile since I've done any digital layouts, so here is my jump back into the digital world. There is so much to learn and you really have to keep at it, or you forget everything you've learned. It is so much more fun too, if you have sweet little pictures like this to work with.  I love this little girl! She is so busy and so much fun when she comes to visit.

Time to get Creative ~

In case any of you get a sudden urge to get crafty today, here are a few sample cards to get you going.

Celebrating ~

27 Wonderful Years!

27 years ago Rod and I were married in the Logan Temple. And now, 4 kids, and 2 (almost 3) grandchildren later. I can truly say they have been wonderful years.

Stampin' Up! projects ~

I made these cute little projects to teach at an upcoming class. The flowers are freeform cut from Sweet Pea Designer Series Paper. Crinkle them up and then flatten out and ink the edges. Glue together and either add a magnet to the back for a cute fridge or locker accent. Or you can add them to a card or scrapbook page.  The layout I made is a super simple one that can be done quickly at a workshop or for a class for non crafters.  I made the title with My Digital Studio. That is such an amazing and versatile program. There are new downloads being released monthly.  Check out my Stampin' Up! website link to see what is available.

A walk in the park ~

We had so much fun watching Kymber and Sydni last week when Michelle and Alex left for Hawaii. One afternoon we loaded up their amazing two seater stroller, and Gus and went to get Jennifer.  Gus was so excited to see his friends Molly and Roxie.  I got this amazing picture of them before we went to the park.  What was amazing was that they were all sitting still posing for a picture. We figured two little girls and one dog was enough for one walk, so we left Molly and Roxie and just took Gus.  He was so funny on the walk, when we would get to a shady spot on the path, he would stop and sit down.  I think we wore him out. But it was a beautiful day and Jennifer and I loved getting out.

Baby Shower Projects ~

I've wanted to try making one of these diaper cake centerpieces for awhile now, but the occasion never really presented its self, until now.  Michelle and I are giving a baby shower for Jennifer on Saturday and TaDa, Here is the centerpiece.  It was fun to make and even more fun to decorate.  Now I need to get the Brunch Menu put together and we are ready to have a party.