It’s been a busy, yet productive week around here. Monday we helped my “little” brother finalize some of his college preparations, went grocery shopping, and visited the service department at our local Saturn dealership (for my mom – the only non-productive part of the day). On Tuesday I made 2 loaves of banana bread and a sympathy card (unfortunately 2 of DH’s coworkers passed away last weekend – my heart and prayers go out to both of their families), as well as tackling Mount Washmore. On Wednesday, Nadya and I went to swimming lessons and dropped the bread and cards off at the funeral home. Yesterday, Nadya and I took one of our neighbors to Costco so she could check it out – we had a lot of fun and enjoyed the visit – plus my friend Del donated her Costco coupons to me – so we stocked up on a few things and saved some $$ too! Hooray! I also finished the 2nd sympathy card that will head-out via mail today. I think Yasha will be able to attend the service tomorrow as he was unable to attend the one yesterday. This morning I finished 1 of the 2 cards I’m working on for a “blue” swap. Lots of activity but lots of fun too!
Here’s a little peak at my creative ventures this week:
The image is Pansy corner from Serendipity stamps that I stamped onto Whisper White CS (SU) with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. Instead of markers, I used my Prismacolor pencils (note to self – need the 12 new colors too) to color the flowers and then stippled Vintage Violet (SU) onto the CS and used a fantastix bullet tip to add the ink to the edges. Then I trimmed with my large rectangle and scallop nestabilities and mounted onto Elegant Eggplant (SU) CS. I used a piece of shimmer patterned vellum from my stash and drew the border on it with a dark. purple sharpie marker. The lace is from my stash, but I’m pretty sure it’s from JoAnn’s. I then layered and adhered everything onto a 5×7 card made from Whisper White CS. I stamped the sentiment (SU) in Vintage Violet.
For the inside of the card, I layered the remaining piece of vellum onto an an Elegant Eggplant mat. I printed the verse (found on the internet) onto shimmer CS and then trimmed with my Top Note die (SU). I made a coordinating envelope – white on the outside with a purple liner.
For this card, my husband asked that I keep it simple, so I stamped the tree (Lovely as a Tree, SU) in Always Artichoke onto Naturals Ivory CS (SU). I trimmed the image with my long rectangle nestabilities. I inked the edges with Always Artichoke and another fantastix applicator and mounted onto Old Olive CS (SU) that I scalloped. I used my SU 1/4” circle punch and tied a piece of ivory grosgrain craft ribbon (Hobby Lobby) through the hole. I ran my Naturals Ivory card base through my Big Shot with my SU Flourish texture plate and stippled Always Artichoke lightly across it. I added a bit of of Gold Magic Mesh before adhering the tree.
I layered old Olive Panels on each side of the inside and printed the verse (again, found on the internet) onto Naturals Ivory CS (SU). I trimmed it with my labels nestabilities and inked the edges. I repeated the process with another piece of Naturals Ivory CS, but instead of printing, I stamped the Sentiment (SU) in Always Artichoke.
For my last bit of creativity, this is one of the cards for my swap submission. The guidelines were that I had to use blue as the predominant color and that the card had to be a 4×4 square. So, this little cutie (and an attempt at working with a hybrid approach) was born. She’s a digi-stamp from Inky Impressions (they gave her away as a blog freebie and they’re also having a Design Team Call). I printed her onto white Georgia Pacific CS (Sam’s) – I made the sky background paper myself in Photoshop (thanks Bunny – I loved the overlay) and the grass is a digi-paper from Garden Greens by Kim Broedelet. She’s colored with a mixture of mediums, including Copics (E00, E02, E33, RV11, G09), Spica pens (Clear, Black, and Blue), and SU Markers (Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, Green Galore, and Close to Cocoa). The little flowers are Prima with Silver Stickles centers. The blue bauble is from Suzanne at the Crafting Connection (soon to have her own store). I trimmed and mounted her onto blue gingham DP from The Paper Studio The Basics 12×12 pad (Hobby Lobby). The base CS is DCWV The Spring Cardstock Stack.
Whew – I told you I’d been busy! I still have a couple more in the works, but that’s be another post! So, I’ve covered the’ “cards” part, now let’s move to the candy! La-La Land is opening a new store, having a Design Team Call and giving away some fabulous animal-themed candy including the SU punches and 3 new Magnolia stamps from the Summer kit (deadline is August 5)!!! 
Now, for the and more…lots of new stuffies in the DSO store, and tomorrow all of the new challenges will be up! Hooray! Just look at what the team has been up to (and keeping the QA team on their toes)! 
Ok – I’m heading out! I found a Dell Studio laptop for an absolute steal at Staples, so I snagged it for my little brother (it’s a surprise for college and he doesn’t know about it yet). I ordered MS Office Pro 2007 for him and need to get it and his new printer (another surprise – there goes my crafting budget) drivers installed. Have a fabulous weekend and give someone you love a hug!
So, let’s just dive right in shall we? 
from the DSO Design Team!
Disney DVD