Is here – and you DON’T want to miss out! Each bag is stuffed full of Personal Use goodies and at only $3 each – a fabulous bargain too!  So what are YOU waiting for – head on over to the store and check them out for yourself!

Although, not part of Grab Bag Week, Renee has an awesome CU Bag out as well – lots of fabulous Overlays for only $5!!! Like all DSO products, these have been quality-checked, so you can buy with confidence!

That’s all from me for now – lots to do and lots to post, but that will have to wait for a bit. Have a fabulous fabulous Friday!

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!

Well, I guess more accurately, I should say a card making morning.  We have a birthday party to attend this evening – the daughter of one of Yasha’s coworkers is turning 4.  I don’t know the little girl or her family, so I wanted a kid-friendly card that was personal but not too specific – if that makes sense. After rummaging through my stash of stamps and not finding the “perfect” one, I turned to my trusty EHD and found an adorable dragon digi-stamp by Dustin Pike just waiting to be used (I just  last week discovered Dustin’s blog – he has several “free” stamps to whet your appetite with – a lots of adorable and well-drawn stamps available for purchase).

The card base is from Bazzill – I loved the color and that it was already textured for me; the mat is from DCWV Spring Glitter Mat Stack (some Joann’s stores may have them on clearance).  I printed Dustin’s digi-stamp on CS from Georgia-Pacific (I got it at Sam’s).   I drug out my Copics (G02, G07, G21, RV14, V12, Y21) and Spica pens (Clear, Blue, Green, Pink and Yellow) and enjoyed coloring this cute lil guy (or girl). I used my Stampin’ Up Small Corner Rounder Punch too.  The sentiment is written with my Pink Passion Stampin’ Write marker.  I added the pink, green, and blue flowers from Prima’s Got Flowers Mini-Petals (I snagged them as part of a bundle at Overstock.com) and used Ranger’s Crystal Stickles to create the flower centers.  The inside of the card has the same theme and reads “To Wish You a VERY Happy Birthday”.

Products I Used:

Spica (On-Sale for 20% off right now)

Ranger and Prima

Stampin’ Up

I guess that’s all from me – Nadya has had a horrible cough all week (and NO she’s not contagious). Two trips to the DR and she finally got a steroid shot and is still doing breathing treatments.  Apparently when she was so sick in January, she had some strain of RSV and it scarred her little lungs.  We’re just hoping that the damage isn’t permanent and that she won’t develop full-scale asthma later.  I have it and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone!  So, it’s time for another treatment and maybe a nap! Have a fabulous weekend!