RAK Thank You

My best friend, Mary, sent us this card to thank us for holiday gifts we shared with her family. Mary designed it using items she had on hand and I just love it! Really shows off her style.

The color combo of purple and yellow is classic and fresh at the same time. The flowers are stamped in Purple on White paper and watercolored. The leaves are stamped in green. The sentiment is stamped in purple and layered on light a purple mulberry paper scrap (from the Soft Subtles pack I believe). The background is the Canvas Background Stamp, not sure what color Mary used, but it's in the gold family. All images are Stampin Up!

This layout is very easily duplicated - stamp a background, repeat a favorite image twice, slightly offset from one another, add a sentiment with a little embellishment and you've completed a lovely card!

Thanks Mary for this great idea!

Login Successful!

I'm back!!! Thx to a wonderful computer tech here in East Greenbush, I am back online and able to sign into Blogger. Just a little tiny problem with my modem and internet company, oh, not talking to each other!

I'll post in a short while some RAK cards (Random Acts of Kindness) that I found while scrapbooking some holiday 2006 pages.

"Talk" to you in a few!

Trouble Logging In

Hi All! Haven't been able to log in to my blogger account since October 4th, so I decided to try from a different internet connection - and viola! I can sign on, but I don't have any of my files on this computer (as it's not mine!)

In the meantime, I'll be contacting blogger.com to see what I have to do to be able to sign on from my own computer once again. Until then, I appreciate your patience!

I'll have something great to post when I can finally log in....thanks!

Gift Card in a Pinch

Good afternoon!

Had to come up with a fast baby gift card today, and it was so easy! I used SU!'s new textured 3x3 note cards (So Saffron) and their Very Punny Set and it came together fast.

Stamp the image in Stazon Jet Black and color with watercolor pencils and your Aquapainter. I used generic colors as the card is for a friend who is newly pregnant and it's too early to know girl or boy. Punch out with Creative Memories' Square Maker (1-1/4") and mount with a SU! DP Almost Amethyst Square (1-1/2"). Mount a scrap of SU! DP Certainly Celery across card, add white grosgrain ribbon with sticky tape and add the image on top with a pop-up glue dot. I find these glue dots work well when there is ribbon underneath. Personalize the inside to fit the gift recipient and you are DONE!

Enjoy your day...as my friend Tina often says ~ onward!

5-Minute Layout

Hi! I am so excited! Today I took a few minutes while Jewels was at preschool to work on some sample pages using Creative Memories (CM) new products for this month. I LOVE the Starry Night Album Kit and matching Starry Night Perfect Fit Paper Pack!!!! I used it here in this layout (recipe CASE'd from Splitcoatstampers about a year ago, didn't write down artist, so sorry!)

The scan came out kind of dull - look at the papers on my site at http://www.mycmsite.com/sites/cgraziano/catalog-index?event=productdetails&eventId=701&productGroupId=&categoryId=118&categoryIdParm=%7C118%7Cprod701%7C&pageTitle=Starry+Night+Album+Kit&relatedItem=N&qtyOrdered=&productId=&itemSku=&act=to see the true colors...they are just spectacular! I like the patterns and how they are subtle, but add a ton on texture and depth. I used the pink sparingly just to make the layout pop. The stickers saying "Warms the Heart" is from CM's Vintage Jumbo GL Titles Stickers.

Can't wait to try these papers for cards now!

Two Color Combo

Here is a quick card that I made up for my friend, Nerissa's, birthday (of course, I've missed her special day by a week - have to work on my timeliness!) This layout can be used in any color-combo, just pick two you like and go for it!

Supplies are easy (by Stampin Up! unless otherwise noted): Three for You punch box, Wild Wasabi cardstock and classic ink, Purely Pomogrante Ink, Purely Pomogrante double-stitched ribbon, adhesives you like...I used Mini Glue Dots, Sticky Tape, and Creative Memories Tape Runner.

A Stamp-a-mi-jig is handy to line everything up and using the punched out flowers on the card front adds unexpected dimension. Hope to whip up a few more (I made 2 of these) once Juliana takes a nap (maybe) this afternoon. I'd like to have some on hand for times of RAK (random acts of kindness).

Memory Walk 2007

My family and a bunch of our Creative Memories team walked yesterday to raise money for Alzheimer's Research. Sal and I raised $340 and the donations are still coming in (if you'd like to donate, you can until 11/20/07 at https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.aspievent=225641&lis=0&kntae225641=52CC67402AFE4148A7C6D2560DE2BC6A . Every penny raised will help others keep their memories and family stories alive, as well as maintain the victim's physical health. We often forget that Alzheimer's not only destroys the mind, but also the body.

We walked all around Saratoga, just over 3 miles, from the Saratoga Harness Track around Broadway, through Congress Park and back.

Making a difference is what I strive to do - in my work with Creative Memories, and in raising money to fight Alzheimer's. The Memory Walk theme this year "MOVE" really hit home. We need to MOVE to make things happen on small and large scales. Nothing will happen unless we MOVE to make it happen.

We MOVED yesterday in a big way to raise money to fight a monster. Tomorrow I'll MOVE in a small way and get some things created to post on my blog to inspire and MOVE you!

Every little bit counts.

So Easy with StoryBook Creator Plus!

I just started playing around today with CM's new digital scrapbook software, StoryBook Creator Plus and WOW! It is so easy to use. It only took me minutes to create these two pages of Juliana's first day of preschool....about 20 minutes TOTAL! It astounds me that is came together so fast!

To create the pages I used the Mod Customizable Templates for a 12x12 book. I used these templates because a suggestion of where the text and photos should go is already there. You then add or take away what you need to tell your story. One the first page I re-sized the text boxes bigger and moved the circle photos out a bit from the center photo. All done by clicking and dragging - easy. I then dragged and dropped my photos in and typed the test and title. Done.

On the second page I added a text box (the smaller one with Juliana's friends names in it) and added the top right-hand photo. Again, so easy! Yes, I had to play a little to see what I liked and didn't, but not too much. Done.

I plan to print the "friend" page and display it for Juliana in her room in CM's Page Frame (or maybe the black Everyday Display..not sure which yet.) She'll love seeing herself and her friends outside of school.

The other cool thing is if you don't want to buy this software, you can do similar things in the FREE downloadable version called Storybook Creator 2.0. It really is free and you can play and play and play. Find the link to download it at: http://www.cmphotocenter.com/.

You'll need to create a free account with the photo center (when it prompts you for your consultant's ID number enter 23113287 for me). Don't worry - you won't get any advertising emails from them or me! The link to download the FREE software is on the top right side.

Have fun and let me know how you do!

Keeping it Simple

Sometimes I think that more is better. Recently I realized I'd be seeing a student (and friend) that just retired, I had to make up a card - fast! Since I pride myself on quality, immediately, I began pulling out everything to make one card. It was important to me that it be meaningful, but did I need all of my supplies, inks and papers to convey that? Not at all....

Once the dust settled, I pulled out a few Amuse supplies (I've just recently discovered this comany) and a Stampin Up! set. I had a completed, lovely card in under a few minutes - no kidding! Auntie Em loved it, and I loved watching her open it with delight.

Remember, less really is MORE!

How did I do this card? Using the SU Springtime Stems set, I stamped the pre-decorated Amuse card with SU Pale Plum background circles, then overstamped the circles with SU Perfect Plum flowers. I did the same on a scrap of Whisper White cardstock, and then punched it out using a Creative Memories mini circle maker. I stuck this circle to an Amuse creative candy clear sticker and then applied glitter to the back. Using a Pop-up glue dot, I adhered the sticker to the card front. Stamp the sentiment with Perfect Plum and it's done! This card also made an beautiful wedding card, too. Just change the sentiment.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog - did I actually just type that? I am so in the 21st century - first an iPod in May and now a BLOG - stop me now before I too out of control!

Since I am home with my 3 year old, and teaching less classes than ever, I felt I needed a new way to share my ideas and creations. Hopefully, this blog (still can't believe I have one) will inspire and motivate you to take risks and have some fun.

Let's see what happens...maybe I'll even start up weekly challenges? Wouldn't that be fun???

Stay tuned for more....