Saturday, December 6, 2014

Blended Bloom for JAX STARZ December Blog Hop

Welcome to the JAX Starz December Blog Hop.  You should have arrived here from Sheilah Stampers' blog.  The challenge this month was to use the sketch shown below.

 I decided I wanted to use a much larger stamped image and chose Blended Bloom.  I love this Stampin' Up! stamp and haven't used it nearly enough.  I stamped the image onto Coastal Cabana cardstock and used the Coastal Cabana Blendabilities to color it.  Any guesses on what color Blendabilities I used for the center portion?  Nope, it's not Rich Razzleberry.  I actually used Melon Mambo!!!!!  Using the Melon Mambo on top of the Coastal Cabana cardstock caused it to look exactly like Rich Razzleberry.  That is what I call a happy accident!  LOL


Direction for this card:
  • Coastal Cabana cut 8 1/2 x 5 1/2 for card base
  • White Whisper cut 5 1/4 x 4
  • Rich Razzleberry cut 3 7/8 x 3 3/4
  • Coastal Cabana cut 3 7/8 x 1/4
  • Coastal Cabana cut 3 1/4 x 3 1/4 for stamped image
  • Using Memento Black Ink stamp Blended Bloom image onto Coastal Cabana cardstock and color with Coastal Cabana and Melon Mambo Blendabilities.  Add white dots with the Signo White Gel Pen.  Cut out.
  • Adhere Whisper White & Rich Razzleberry cardstocks together and dry emboss using the Large Polka Dot Embossing Folder.  Glue Coastal Cabana strip over seam.  Glue onto card base.
  • Stamp Hello from A Dozen Thoughts onto a scrap piece of Whisper White and die cut using Bitty Banners framelit.  Also die cut scraps of Coastal Cabana & Rich Razzleberry using the same framelit.  Glue pieces together.
  • Adhere the Blended Bloom and the sentiment using Stampin' Dimensionals.
Supplies needed:

Blended Bloom #135906
A Dozen Thoughts #131059
Coastal Cabana cardstock #131297
Rich Razzleberry cardstock #115316
Whisper White cardstock #100730
Memento Black Ink Pad #132708
Coastal Cabana Blendabilities #131000
Melon Mambo Blendabilities #130994
White Signo Gel Pen #105021
Large Polka Dot Embossing Folder #133739
Bitty Banners Framelits #129267

Your next stop along the way is the fabulously talented Lee Conrey...just click the "Next" button to get there, but if you get lost anywhere along the way following are all the participating stampers.

www.stampingleeyours.blogspot.com

 
Thank you so much for stopping by to visit.  I hope you enjoyed your time here and that you will return again real soon.



Posted by Susan at 7:00 AM
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Saturday, October 4, 2014

Happy Halloween Jacksonville Starz Blog Hop


     


Welcome to the Happy Halloween Blog Hop with the Jacksonville Starz.  You should have arrived here from Lee Conrey's blog. 

It's that time of year when the ghosts, witches and goblins are beginning to prowl and the skeletons are rattling their bones.  Listen closely and you will hear all their moans and groans (oh wait, that's just me!!!!!)  But seriously, don't you just love the Fall/Halloween season?  Finally a reprieve from summer heat, the leaves are changing and Thanksgiving is right around the corner.

My share for the Blog Hop is a trio of very happy Jack-o-Lanterns using the Stampin' Up! Fall Fest stamp set.  All my middle pumpkin needs is a Smokey the Bear hat just like Pharrell and they could all sing Happy.  I know they make me happy, happy, happy! 

 


If you would like to recreate this card I used the following supplies:
That cute little Trick or Treat greeting is from the Good Greetings Stampin' Up! stamp set that you can get for FREE with a $300 workshop or a "book party".  Contact me if you would like to get this wonderful FREE set for your very own.  I would love to help you with your Stampin' Up! needs.
 
To continue on the Blog Hop just click below to go to Lisa Tyndall's blog.
 
                              http://lisatstamps.blogspot.com/2014/10/jax-starz-halloween-blog-hop.html
 
Just in case you get lost along the way, following are all participants in the Jacksonville Starz blog hop:
Susan Best (you are here)

Thanks for stopping in to visit today.  I hope you come back again soon.

Posted by Susan at 7:00 AM
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Friday, October 3, 2014

Stampin' Up! Washington DC Getaway Incentive Trip (Installment 3)

I loved earning this Stampin' Up! Getaway Incentive Trip.  Today is going to be the final installment of photos (unless I find a few later on that I just have to share)

We had other plans for Sunday, but we put those on hold when fellow demo, Susan Rodgers, gave us tickets to Newseum.  I believe Newseum opened in 2007 so it is among the newest kids on the DC block.  

Newseum covers the history of "news" from printed papers to radio to TV to computer.  So many interesting displays are housed here.  We spent the whole day and could have spent a lot more time but they closed down at 5 PM.

Here is the outside of the building where they have displays of 50 newspaper front pages from around the country.  These are changed on a daily basis so if you are lucky enough to have your local paper displayed there you won't miss the front page news of the day.


This next picture was taken in the FBI section of the building.  Couldn't resist having our photo taken with Machine Gun Kelly, J Edgar Hoover and John Dillinger.
 
These are original sections from the Berlin Wall and are the only ones outside of Germany.
 

The section dedicated to 9/11 was as gut wrenching to see now as it was the day it all happened.  This photo is the mangled broadcast antenna from atop one of the Twin Towers and those frames in the background are front pages from various newspapers the day of and day after the attacks. 
 
Again, thanks for stopping by my blog.  Come back again soon.



Posted by Susan at 6:00 AM
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Thursday, October 2, 2014

Stampin' Up! Washington DC Trip (Installment 2)

I'm back with a few more photos from the Stampin' Up! Washington DC Getaway Incentive Trip that I was fortunate enough to earn thanks to all of you.

Day Three found us brave enough to travel by Metro. 

Question:  How many times can you go the wrong direction on the Metro?
Answer:  More times than I will admit to.

I honestly don't know how people who live there can do this every day.  I'm sure after awhile it becomes second nature, but for a newbie it sure was confusing.  There were 6 different lines to get you around the city...Orange, Blue, Silver, Red, Green and Yellow and some of them rode the same rails.  You had to make darned sure you caught the right color train.    

We went to several of the Smithsonian Museums on Day Three.  This photo is the Smithsonian Castle and is the resting place of Englishman James Smithson who funded these wonderful museums. 

James Smithson died in 1829 and although he had never traveled to the US he left an inheritance of $500,000+ to the American government.  President Polk established the Smithsonian Institution as a trust and the establishment of the museums started.  Smithson's remains were moved from Genoa Italy to the Smithsonian Castle in 1904.

It's kind of a strange story, but we should all be very grateful to him for this legacy. 

Here are a few more pictures from our Smithsonian travels.....

This is the Hope Diamond.  Can I have just one of the surrounding diamonds please?

 
This is a modern art piece just outside the original Star Spangled Banner display.
 

This place was where we ate dinner on Friday evening with Chad Richards (from Stampin' Up! home office) and 3 other demos: Rhonda Wade, Jan McClurg and Christine Miller.  It was so nice meeting these ladies and I hope to see them again in January at Leadership. 
 
And this is what I had for dinner.  Chicken Pot Pie and it was awesome!!!! 
 
That's all for today.  Thanks for coming back and reading about my travels.  See you soon.
     

Posted by Susan at 12:00 PM
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Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Stampin' Up! Washington DC Trip

Thanks to all of you I was able to earn the Stampin' Up! Getaway Incentive Trip to Washington DC this year.  I just got back on Monday afternoon and thought I would share a few photos with you.

Stampin' Up! put us up at the Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Avenue.  The hotel was proclaimed by President Truman to be the "Second Best Address" after the White House.  Upon opening in 1925, it was said the hotel had more gold leaf than any other U.S. building except the Library of Congress, and through careful preservation, these luxurious details still tell this Washington, DC hotel's history.   The hotel is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and Historic Hotels of America.

This is me right after check-in on the first day.  I was sitting at the desk with a map trying to figure out a plan of attack.  We only noticed later that I was photo-bombed in the mirror.  LOL.  Love this photo!!!
 
Day One found us just walking and walking and walking around the Dupont Circle area.
 
Day Two - We took a tour at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.  According to this chart, I found out that I'm worth about $1.5 to $1.6 million.  My husband is so excited about that news.   I was hoping for samples at the end of the tour, but my hopes were in vain.  No lovely new money was passed out to the tourists.
 
We also toured the Holocaust Museum the first day.  No photos to share on that one.  Much too depressing.
 
Day Three was spent touring most of the monuments.  Stampin' Up! provided buses for us that day.  The buses dropped you off at street corners and you walked and walked some more.  After one bus stop we decided that just wasn't for us.  So, we hired a chariot for the afternoon.  I'd like you to meet our charioteer.  This young man was wonderful...so knowledgeable about the area and all the monuments.  He served as a Marine and is a history buff so he decided to spend the summer running a pedicab.  He was fabulous and definitely not hard on the eyes. 
 
The next photo is a portion of the WWII Memorial.  I so wish my dad would have been with us to see this.  He served in WWII as a Chief Gunner's Mate.  He would have been so proud. 
 
As you all know, the final photo for today is the Washington Monument and I took this photo from the FDR Monument across the river.  Such a beautiful sight.
 
Thanks for stopping by today and sharing my travels.  I'll stop in again tomorrow with a few more photos and a little commentary.
 

Posted by Susan at 5:58 PM
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Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Festival of Trees

The Stampin' Up! Festival of Trees stamp set is fabulous.  There's such a variety of trees to choose from.  There's a garland to add to the trees or, if you prefer, you can add ornaments. Since the stamps are photopolymer you can easily see exactly where to place these ornaments on your tree.  How about adding a cardinal?  Or place your tree into a pot.  The possibilities are endless.  Best of all....there's a matching tree punch.  Can you say HOORAY!!!!  I love it when things come together so easily. The cards I'm sharing today showcase two of the trees from Festival of Trees and are so simple to create. 

This first card has the stamped ornaments and a few sparkly rhinestones. 

This second card has a very simple branched tree basking in the glow of a star.

If you would like to recreate either of these cards, I used the following Stampin' Up! supplies:

Card #1
Posted by Susan at 10:47 PM
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