Song of My Heart Stampers

May's scrapbooking specials are starting EARLY!

Download NatScrapMonth_Flyer_May2011_US

View the entire sale flyer for May 2011 by clicking on the link above, or go to www.lyssa.stampinup.net to view the specials in my online store!

Scrapbooking Sign-Up Specials starting TODAY--April 29th, 2011

Whether you are a traditional scrapbooker, digital designer, or new to scrapbooking all together, May is your month to discover Stampin' Up with the Song of My Heart Stampers! With 30 percent off the Digital+ Starter Kit and the Stampin' Memories Add-On from April 29th-May 31st, who could resist becoming a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, either just for your own enjoyment, or to make a little cash?

The Digital+ Starter Kit has so0o0o0 much to offer! Are you into graphic art, photography, or are you tech-savvy? Wouldn't you just love it to be able to play with all of SU's great colors, stamp sets, embellishments and professional layouts?

Are your photos getting overwhelming? If they never make it off the computer to be scrapped anyway, do you have anything to lose?

Do you have teens or pre-teens who LIVE on the computer?  How about a digital designing tool they can use to access their personal creativity in a very positive and rewarding way?

One of the reasons I love being a demonstrator is the quality and diversity of Stampin' Up! products. I am so glad they got into the digital papercrafting arena, and with such an awesome and well-supported platform.

Right now Stampin' Up! is offering a deep discount on the Digital+ Starter Kit. But for those more interested in traditional scrapbooking, the Stampin' Memories Add-On is also 30 percent off during National Scrapbooking Month! With a stamp set, card stock, Designer Series Paper, and more, the Stampin' Memories Add-On is a great way to add scrapbooking products to your Starter Kit.

BONUS! For the first three people to take advantage of the Starter Kit during April 29th-May 31st, 2011, I will give you a FREE Simply Scrappin' Kit ($19.95 value) when I get that official e-mail from Stampin' Up!

I can answer ALL those questions floating around in your head! Feel free to ask me anything you want about the kit, the add-on, the demo discount, or anything else related to being a demonstrator, and I'll be 100% transparent with you. I am literally having the TIME OF MY LIFE and I'd love to chat with you to see how Stampin' Up could enrich your own life as it has totally transformed mine. Call me! (920) 261-3962, or simply click here to join quickly and easily in about fifteen minutes flat.

Photo Tutorial: Waterfall Tall Card

Today's tutorial is in honor of my mom, whose birthday is today! Happy birthday, sweet one! Love you. Can't top celebrating your birthday last year on the Stampin' Up South Caribbean incentive trip cruise, but I hope you like the present I sent you.

To make this card, which is totally awesome and SO easy, you'll need a piece of 6x12 Whisper White cardstock, scoring tools, ribbon, and stamps and ink of choice. This card fits perfectly in one of our Small Open-End envelopes on page 171.

I used a sneak peek from the Summer Mini JUST to torture you all! Hee hee! This is the Fabulous Florets set done in Poppy Parade and Peach Parfait, with Basic Gray.

Here is a photo of the card opened. The large graphic "Mom" stamp is from Messages for Mom, from the main Idea Book & Catalog (page 50).

So here we go! This is so easy--you're going to love it! Take your 6x12 inch Whisper White and score it at 3, 6, and 9 inches into a quick accordion.

Next, put it in your Paper Trimmer as shown (doesn't matter which side faces up at this point), with the corner in one end and the cardstock pushed as far in as it will go at that angle (you'll see what I mean when you try it). Move the blade to perform the cut.

Now as you fold it along the score lines, you will see a definite front and back side, and then you can stamp it accordingly. Now, for the top card in this post I just stamped the poppy heads all along the upper slope of the card (both sides). For this one, I stamped the leaf stem along the bottom, with the poppy heads (using a sponge to very roughly add bold color). They both look cool.

For this one, I only stamped along the edge of the back side of the card, so that when it was folded shut, you had a cool, almost inter-woven look of the plain side and the stamped side. I also used the Scallop Trim Border punch along that top edge as well. So you'll want to play with the stamping, taking care to make sure that any words stamped will not accidentally appear when the card is closed.

Hope you have fun with this super-easy cut, and a neato-different shape of card. It's fun to shake things up now and again! Let me know if you need the long open-end envelopes, and after May 1st, you can order Fabulous Florets from the Summer Mini Catalog, and start playing with the poppies, too.

Fabulous Florets for my anniversary

I just finished my final Occasions Mini event last night, and it's out with the old and in with the new! I LOVED this Fabulous Florets set when I saw it in the new Summer Mini, and I joyfully "spent" one of my free any-price sets, received as a reward for sales during Sale A Bration, on this gorgeous stamp set. I have made six cards with it thus far, and all have been keepers! Check it out on page 22 and 23 of the mini, or click on my shopping site after May 1st, 2011, and view it online (and the lovely, colorfully graphic coordinating DSP!)

For this quick card, I stamped a piece of Whisper White with every stamp in the set! I used Basic Gray, Melon Mambo, and Pear Pizzazz, and a little bit of Pink Pirouette ink. I layered it on Basic Gray and used a card base of Melon Mambo. Then I tied a knot of Pear Pizzazz Poly-Twill ribbon around it, fraying the ribbon ends all the way to the knot--just for different!

Melon Mambo suits my mood today. It may be raining outside, but inside I have been trying on my clothes for the Alaskan Incentive Trip, and booking shore excursions, and yesterday I accepted an invitation to dine with a Corporate Team member while on board. I am love-love-lovin' the Stampin' Up life! You should join me!! You wouldn't regret it. It's so fabulously fun. I am SO glad I bought the Starter Kit--six years ago today, believe it or not. Happy Anniversary to me!

Sneak peek of new Summer Mini embossing folder!

Love this new Flower Garden Big Shot embossing folder, coming in the Summer 2011 Mini Catalog! Did you get your copy in the mail yet? Let me know if you haven't and I will get you one--you don't want to miss it! Ordering starts on May 1st.

What's extra cool about this Textured Impressions folder is that you can use either side of the impression--either the raised image or the debossed "negative" image--and have it be on either the left or right hand side of the card. Cool!

I colored these poppies with Watercolor Wonder crayons for a soft handpainted look. Love how easy it is to shade with those Aquapainters! And it doesn't take very long because you don't have to worry about staying in the lines.

The sentiment came from a hostess set, Occasional Quotes, which is on page 14 of the current IB&C. Only two months left to earn it!  I accented the card very simply, because of the bold colors used, with just a knot of Real Red narrow taffeta ribbon.

Stay tuned for more sneak peeks from the Summer Mini, and "last looks" from the Occasions Mini, all this week, plus a super-cool photo tutorial, as soon as I get all the photos watermarked.

Occasions Mini Catalog's last week!

Had to share this gorgeous (if I do say so myself!) card that we will be making tonight at Incredible Cards Club. I JUST got Nature Walk (I know, I know, where have *I* been?) as one of my eight free any-price stamp sets earned for sales during Sale A Bration, so I am really enjoying it for the first time. I HOPE that it will be carried over into the next catalog--but no one knows! So if you like it as much as I do, better be prudent and grab it now. The Occasions Mini ends on April 30th, so it's your last chance! Be sure to check out the scrapbook album and matching Designer Series double-sided paper that coordinate with this stamp set. You can peek at Nature Walk here if you don't have your copy of the mini handy, or click here to shop in my online store.

Love the faint Baja Breeze touches here, added by the seam binding ribbon on the corner, the marker-on-stamp inking in the floral spray, and via Aquapainter and Watercolor Wonder Crayons on the eggs. Everything else is neutral and muted, in Soft Suede and Confetti Cream with Early Espresso ink, and that's the PERFECT shade of blue to go with them.

Grandparents' Day

My lucky kids had their paternal grandparents take off work and join them for an entire day of school on Thursday. Here they are enjoying a celebratory dinner with us at The Upper Krust that evening. Daniel composed and read an essay to the third grade about grandparents, and Natalie read the part of Little Late Riding Hood in a first grade reader's theater. I tagged along with all the grandparents and got to see some of it, too!

My son was the only one who paused and hammed for the camera before beginning his essay! We're gonna blame that one on his dad.

Natalie did such a good job with her lines! I was so proud of my little budding actress. It was a really cute adaptation of Little Red Riding Hood, in which the little girl gets distracted along the way to her grandmother's house, with nearly disastrous results.

My parents would have given their eye teeth to be there. So thankful for both sets of loving, Godly grandparents, and our wonderful Christian school. We are SO blessed! Hope you all had a great Easter weekend, remembering the true reason for this season as well as Christmas. It ain't about the bunnies, the candy, or even the duckies in residence in our flower bed... it's all about HIM.

"Life Is Sweet" Big Shot Cupcake Banner

I am just having a little too much fun with the theme for this year's Mother-Daughter Luncheon at our church! We are holding our annual event in conjunction with a baby shower for a crisis pregnancy center this year, and it is going to be a cupcake extravaganza! Stampin' Up has so many wonderful cupcake-related stamp sets and punches and dies that it has been very easy to decorate for this one!

For this banner, I took 3x6 pieces of DSP, folded in half for strength (you could also back the DSP with cardstock, but you will want something besides just the one layer of paper). I trimmed the edges at an angle to create a simple cucpake liner look. I used the Subtles stack for this project. Next, I cut cupcake tops by running cardstock through the Big Shot with the largest Scallop Circle Bigz die, then cutting them in half. The cherries were made with the one inch circle punch.

After the words were cut, also on the Big Shot, using the Simple Letters alphabet dies, the rest was just assembly and decorating! I stamped sprinkles on some, put bows on others, and used Crystal Effects on the cherries. I had to make a bunch of these banners, so I went with Shimmer Spray, but if I were just making one I would have used Dazzlin' Diamonds for extra ka-pow.

You've got to try this adorable banner--contact me to order the Scallop Circle die, if you don't already own it, or order the Big Shot before April 30th and I will throw in the Scallop Circle die for free. Then you can get going on this CUTE project, too! And let me know if you would like to attend the luncheon--it's on Saturday, April 30th at eleven a.m. at First Baptist Church, Fort Atkinson, WI, and admission is a donation of a baby item for the Access Women's center. I would be honored to have you as my guest! zwolaneks@att.net

Have you seen my duck?

Do you see my duck? No? Neither did we until a couple of days ago. No idea how long this sweet little momma duck has had her nest behind our Korean Lilac in the front flower bed.

She is SO well camoflauged! She did leave the nest once that we know of, and we got to see the tips of at least three pale green eggs underneath all the down and leaves she has pulled together to make a cozy nest. Hopefully in another week or two, we'll have pictures of fuzzy ducklings to share. Pray nothing untoward happens to them via the neighbors' dogs, or my kids will be absolutely crushed!

We also have a fat little bunny whom I believe might be living under the porch steps. I haven't caught him during daylight yet so no photos. It's starting to feel like a zoo around here--we also have a bird's nest for the ninth year running in the wreath on our front porch. We have had one in the porch wreath or in one of the potted hanging plants every year since we moved in to this house when Dan was six months old. There is also a male and female cardinal that seem to be taking a fancy to our pine tree this year.

It always feels like a little spring blessing when one of God's little creatures chooses to make their home with us!

Happy Mail

Wanted to share some of the cute things that have come my way lately! Thanks for thinking of me, friends!

Grunge Rock stamp set, card by Angie H

Bring on the Cake stamp set, card by Lori B

Thoughts & Prayers/Just Believe stamp sets, card by Janis D

Crosses of Hope stamp set, card by Tracy Z