Color Refresh and a Video

                  

    I thought I would give you a shout out again about the new

 Color Refresh. 

 

I personally love what SU! has done. Bringing back some old in colors and adding some recent ones to the Color Families. I wish you could see them in person. Oh wait, can on May 31st.

  Just CLICK on the side button that says, SHOP NOW and they will be delivered right to your door by one of those sweet UPS men... 

           

Guest Designer

 I'm on my way to North Carolina today, so I had asked one of my downline members, Sandy Farley, if she would create a card for my post.

 She was gracious enough to accept and did a beautiful job 

and it shines through in this card she created.

Sandy just became a demonstrator in February and is really enjoying the creative  process and benefits of belonging to the Stampin' Up! family.

RECIPE for Sandy's Card

PAPER

NEW  Pistachio Pudding #131294

 NEW  Baked Brown Sugar #131296

STAMPS

 Blooming with Kindness #126422

 Serene Silhouettes  #127324 

Perfectly Penned stamp #122892

INK

NEW Baked Brown Sugar #131174

SWEET ADDITIONS

Apothecary Accents Framelits #127003

Honeycomb Folder #129378

If you get a chance, I know she would love to hear from you. 

Just drop a comment here and I'll make sure she reads it.

Have a great and CRAFTY day!

Bernadette and Sandy

  

A little about me - A Time of Transition

 Although I don't usually post on Sundays, today is an exception.

The photo above is the house we called HOME for 16 years in North Carolina.We raised 4 of our 7 children here and we were truly blessed in the community we lived in.

In October 2008 my husband Steve was laid off from a job he had been employed at for approximately 18 years. He was blessed to secure another position as a Contract Engineer for 9 months, but it was in Scottsdale, AZ. Okay, not a bad place to go. So we packed up our Motorhome, rented our home to my daughter and several of her  friends, and headed West. 

 

Little did we know that the Lord had other plans. Steve's job went from 9 months to almost 4 years! During the interim, we made the decision to sell our home in NC. It was a difficult one for me, but it was the right time and we sold it to a lovely young couple who LOVED our family home.

Needless to say, a husband, wife, and little dog living in a 34 foot Motorhome with NO SLIDES, you folks who own one know what I'm talking about, wasn't cutting it. Although I did manage to use every available inch of space for my crafting hobby! Who needed food? 

There were restaurants in Scottsdale, right?

A yearly event for us, was to go looking at motorhomes. We happened to go to the right place at the right time, and were able to buy a beautiful 2008 Holiday Rambler Endeavor with 4 slides. Now we could be more comfortable.

WELL, at least we thought. We did live in this beauty for 2 years. Unfortunately, AZ desert summers are not conducive to MH living. In the 105+degree days during June through August and sometimes even longer, we were struggling to keep our inside temperature below 87-90 degrees. Even with two air conditioners going and sun shades on the windows.

Well, Mama wasn't happy. So we purchased an older Mobile Home (circa 1983) in the park we were living in in July of 2010.

We did a little remodeling, kept the inside nice and cool and were settled in for at least awhile. On November 28th. 2012, we got the infamous notice the contract job my husband was on was finished and so was he.

Again, the Lord was faithful and within 2 weeks my hubby secured a full-time position, but this time in Southern California. 

What? This East Coast girl moving to "crazy" California? Didn't the Lord realize I had absolutely no desire to move or even visit California. But He prepared my heart, and I have grown to LOVE it here in these few short months.

Back into the Motorhome again...

We are now preparing to change our living quarters from here in Oceanside 

to San Marcos in approximately 2 1/2 weeks.

This is are "not so completed" manufactured home. It is progressing. The inside is complete, and the new driveway is in. There is still the awning to be attached, the skirting, shed to be built, air conditioner to be set and landscaping to be done. AND we need to move in!

AND THE REASON FOR THE POST IS???

Now after that is all said and done, and hopefully, your still reading this, the reason for the post. I am going to NC for 8 days to empty a 10'x20' storage unit that we have had filled for 3 1/2 years ( I have no idea what's in there, by the way) and love on my grand babies while I'm there.

After returning to California, I will need to empty my 40' motorhome into the house, clean the MH, buy furniture, make a trip to Scottsdale to bring back "stuff" and of course, make a trip to IKEA to furnish my new studio. 

Can I say, I'm doing the Happy Dance on having a designated Studio?!?!

 My posts will be a little sparse until those things are taken care of.

I am hoping to get back into full swing by the middle of June. I still love being a Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator and sharing my love of paper crafting.

As Arnold Schwarzenegger, the famous Californian once said,

 " I'll be back"

 I appreciate all of you who have stopped by or left words of encouragement 

on my projects. I truly hope you will continue to follow

 me as I add little tibits and projects as I get them done. I know 

I'll be having the "crafting itch" probably sooner then later.

 Thank you so much for being understanding.

As always have a wonderful week and stay CRAFTY!

BERNADETTE

Masculine Graduation Card

 

 

I decided to play along with the Retro Sketch Challenge this week using retiring papers and stamp set for a masculine Graduation card. I love the softness and natural elements of French Foliage, one of my favorites and I'm sad to see it leave. 

BUT the good news is, it still can be yours by 

clicking here,  French Foliage  through June 3rd. But I would hurry. There is only a few more weeks that it will be available.

Retiring Products used

French Foliage

Parker's Patterns, Not Quite Navy, More Mustard

Not Quite Navy Ink, More Mustard Ink

Returning Products

Fabulous Phrases 120501

7/16" Trim 129287

Itty Bitty Punch Pack (circle) 118309

Stripes 123128

Stampin' Dimensionals, SNAIL Adhesive

Have a wonderful and CRAFTY weekend!

BERNADETTE

TNT Thursday

When is a Graduation gift not a Graduation gift?

My thought when I was planning on doing a small photo album was to make this for a niece who is graduating next month. 

After I had selected the papers and was putting it together, my focus changed. I decided to make this particular one for my granddaughter. She is just finishing up preschool and was telling me recently about her friends. 

These papers are just so girly and remind me of her. So this is going

 to be sent off to my little sweetie.

I used retiring papers on this album, but the stamp set and framelits will be carried over into the new 2013-2014 catalog.

4" x 4" Mini Flip Album

* I found the inspiration for this album over at stampingschool by Vil Maldonado.

Vil's album was 6x6, but I wanted a 4x4 and adjusted the measurements.

  1. You will need 3 pieces of CS cut at 

     4"x 8" then scored at 2" and 6"

*This is how your pieces will look. Similar to a a gate fold card

2. After theses pieces are scored , you will assemble them as the picture below shows.  It's just attaching the backs of each section together to form the album.

I used Multipurose Liquid glue for this entire album. It allows more slip to get things lined up. SNAIL is not strong enough and I don't like working with Sticky Strip.

*This is how the finished base of the album should look with all 

3 sections glued together.

3. Fold the album up to decorate the front with ribbon and paper.

All papers for the cover and back plus inside middle sections 

are cut 3/3/4" x 3 3/4"

Side panels are 1 3/4" x 3 3/4"

Cut a 20" piece of ribbon for the closure.

 

Place the ribbon around outside centering it and making sure the ends are even. I place a small bit of adhesive under the ribbon to keep it in place. 

 

4. Now adhere your DSP to the front and back cover and finish it off by adding 

your choice of embellishments.

5. Open your album and add the paper square to the first page,

 which is the back of the cover. 

 Add your DSP squares to middle all 3 sections. You could also add photo mats at this time (3"x3")

 6. Take the cut panels and add them to the side panels and embellish. I used some embossing folders and left some blank for jouraling.

The small photos below are picture of how I embellished my mini.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and will give it a try. They are really so much fun to put together and a great way to use up the retiring SU! papers.

If you have any questions about this tutorial, please don't hesitate to contact me here on my blog. Have a wonderful day and stay CRAFTY!

 BERNADETTE

Pool Party Happy Birthday Sneak Peek

My card today is using the MOJO293 sketch and the 

NEW Quatrefancy Paper DSP from the 2013-2014 Stampin 'Up!Catalog. I'm really in love with this new paper. So beautiful and bright.

RECIPE

Pool Party 122924, Island Indigo 122923, Whisper White 100730

NEW Quatrefancy Speciality DSP 130141

NEW Label Love 130622, NEW Mosaic Madness 130249

Island Indigo Ink 126986

NEW Artisan Label 130920 , Perfect Polka Dots 117335

Finishing Touches Edgelits 127010, Circle #2 Originals 114526

 Pearl Basic Jewels 119247

Island Indigo Ribbon (SAB), Multipurpose Liquid Glue

Stampin' Dimensionals, Glue Dots

 Thank you for stopping by and stay CRAFTY!

BERNADETTE

Simply Sent

I thought I would send out this quick reminder of a fun application for your iPhone or Android system phone which had been released several months ago. 

 I received a Samsung Note II for my birthday in April which I absolutely love, by the way. I had this app installed on my previous smart phone but forgot to load it onto my new device. I guess when you have 75+ apps it's easy to forget!

It's in there tonight!

Why not give it a try and let me know how you like it. It really is such

a fun way to stay connected.

 

             Not an artist? You are now. Simple. Easy. Connected.

· Design and send e-cards directly to those you love—for free!—via your favorite photo sharing apps!
· Use our templates. They make designing the perfect greeting a snap.
· Design your card without templates if you like—look at you go!
· Add photos, choose your font, and pick the backgrounds that you love.
· Create cards easily with our intuitive tools.
· Send cards for any occasion.
· Stay connected to the people you care about.

Download from iTunes App Store 

OR

Download from Google Play Store