Twitterpated - Early Twitter

I am pretty old. I actually grew up in the time when we only had one phone in the house. It was a standard black rotary dial that had a cord long enough to reach the chair in the corner of the dining room.

I'm pretty sure that I had some serious conversations on that phone. You know, life changing conversations like what did you put for #9 on your math homework, did you hear who got caught smoking in the bathroom, what I was wearing to the dance and who my best friend was going with.
I'm more than sure that I had my first phone call from "a boy" on that phone and I know without a doubt that my parents were in the other room, listening intently then making me hang up once the clock hit 8 pm.

That phone sat on an old desk in the corner of our dining room that my Mom had painted yellow - it was the 70's, ok? - and it coordinated with the lime green carpet and mirrored tile room divider. I don't remember the curtains, but I might be repressing that image.
Anyway, I remember pretty well that we never answered the phone during dinner, and hold on to your hats - we didn't even have an answering machine! We knew that people would call back if it was important, and if it wasn't, well, we didn't miss anything now, did we?

What I really remember is that our lives weren't as frantic then. I'm not sure how much of that peacefulness came from the lack of phone communication, but I do know that there are days now when I'm not always thrilled to be so connected all the time.
Don't misunderstand, I LOVE my iPhone. I enjoy Facebook. I have a Twitter account, but don't really "get" it. Maybe that's a good thing??
I guess what I'm wondering is how we got to this point in the first place. This "need" to always be connected. I didn't feel like I was missing anything before, but now, God help me if I leave my phone at home. Isn't that crazy? I mean, if it rings when I'm in line at Target, I get annoyed. If I get a text when I'm driving to the rink, I can't answer it and I get annoyed. And goodness knows, if I text or call someone and don't get them, I really get annoyed. Yeah, it's true.
If it's more of an annoyance than a "convenience" why do we use the darn things anyway? Would it really kill us to miss a message from time to time? After all, if it's important, they'll call back, right?
Just a thought. I feel like Andy Rooney this morning!

So, I know you didn't come here for an essay, you want to see a card!
Well, alrighty then! Here you go:

I created this for my sweet friend Diana Gibbs' swap a couple of weeks ago and the best part was that it made my daughter laugh out loud when she saw it. If she "got" it, then I figured everyone else would too!

I chose the You're My Type stamp set to work with for this swap - it's one of my favorites in the new Occasions Mini Catalog. I think it has great creative possibilities!
I don't know where the "Early Twitter" idea came from - it just occurred to me one evening while I was pondering a design. I thought how funny it would be, so tongue in cheek.

The swap card has a base of Riding Hood Red, layered with Whisper White and then a layer of the text paper from the Neutrals Designer Paper stack. I used the Basic Gray color.
A strip of the Twitterpated Designer Fabric was torn off the piece and used for my ribbon wrap and bow -you know I don't sew, so since I love the matching fabrics we have, I have to find another way to use them!

The focal image typewriter was stamped in Basic Black onto Whisper White and it's layered on another piece of Riding Hood Red. I used the little bird from the "Best of Everything" stamp set and stamped him in Baja Breeze then trimmed him out with my Paper Snips. He's popped up on a Stampin' Dimensional and is tweeting "Hello" on the typewriter paper.

The layered punch greeting was made on my computer. I just found a font that was close to the stamp set and matched the color to Riding Hood Red as best I could. it's punched out with the Word Window punch and layered on a punch out from the Modern Label Punch.

I really, really love this card, maybe because I love the stamp set so much, but yeah, this ones a keeper.
Here's another photo with a version I did with the Blushing Bride Designer paper.

You've kind of got masculine and feminine options, right?

I'm off for another busy day today - I'll get some stamping done, no worries, but Mark and I are starting Weight Watchers today and we have skating tonight. I'm hoping to have my pieces cut so I can assemble Leadership swaps at the rink. I'm so behind the 8 ball on those!

Have a great day everyone, maybe you'll find a way to be unconnected for a while today. Might give you some time to stamp!
~~Robin

Place your order for your Stampin' Up! supplies at this link here: Robin's Online Stampin' Store
Simply click the SHOP NOW button at the top right corner to get started!

Mixed Bunch Bridal

Well, the snow turned out to be a blessing.
It actually was really beautiful and the best part was that it didn't mess up the roads too bad. I had to drive Emma to skating yesterday at the height of rush hour and I won't lie, it was a little hairy on the way to the rink.
But coming home, we took a back road to avoid some of the traffic and it was so stunningly beautiful seeing all the snow hanging in the trees along the road. I wish I'd stopped to take a photo to share because it was just so soft and lovely. On that drive home, there was no inkling of the frenzied, crazy traffic problems that we usually encounter on Mondays. Emma kept saying "Oh, Mom, look how pretty it is! No! Don't look, you drive!" Ha! She cracks me up, but I love that she takes the time to appreciate the beauty around her.
The last month or so of my life has simply been overwhelming at times, for many different reasons, but last night, on that peaceful drive home in the snow, I felt a calm in my spirit that hasn't been there in quite some time. It was like God was putting a blanket around my shoulders and reminding me that He was walking with me. That He was my comfort and strength.
He always knows just what we need, doesn't He?

Today's card kind of reflects the soft, peaceful feeling that the snow brought me last night. I actually made it the first week of December, the day my order arrived from the New Mini Catalog.

Again, I used the Mixed Bunch stamp set, but this time, I chose the vintage image in the set. It's embossed on Blushing Bride cardstock with Pewter Embossing Powder. There are three flower layers, all punched out with the Blossom Punch - the embossed piece, vellum cardstock and another layer of Blushing Bride. They are adhered together with Stampin' Dimensionals and I curled the petals with my Bone Folder. One of the new Large Pearls adorns the center.

The card base itself is Very Vanilla that was trimmed and embossed with the New Adorning Accents Edgelit and Adorning Accents Embossing Folders. I love that these work so easily together. I used my Paper Piercer to add a little hole in each scallop, making it look more like lace.

I used my Blushing Bride Smooch Spray to splash up the background - it dries into a lovely, shimmery pink and was perfect for this wedding card. A piece of Twitterpated Designer paper is attached to the card front bottom. I added it with the scallop pattern down, so it continues the scalloped edges of the Vanilla cardstock.

The final touch was a piece of Very Vanilla Seam Binding tied around the card front in a bow. I frayed the ends and added the greeting from Tiny Tags, punched out with the Jewelry Tag punch. The little safety pin is from the Vintage Trinkets.

Well, that's it for this card! I'm headed down to the studio to get back to work on projects for my card classes and my Valentine's class this weekend. I did a stained glass card and a collage card yesterday, so who knows where my brain will take me today~!!

Stamped blessings,
~~Robin

Place your order for your Stampin' Up! Supplies at this link here: Robin's Online Stampin' Store
Simply click the SHOP NOW button at the top right corner to get started!

Mixed Bunch Marimekko

It's snowing.
I knew it wouldn't last all winter long, these wonderfully warm temperatures, but I was REALLY hoping that the snow would miss us altogether this year. After being bombarded the past two years, I'm just not excited to see the white stuff coming down.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate snow, not at all, it's lovely to look at and normally I'm happy for a snow day or two for our family. It gives us a chance to be lazy and curl up by the fire with a good book or a movie on the tv. I think I'm just snowed out for a little while.
Even our trip to Lowell this past weekend was snow free. Not a flake on the ground anywhere and the temps were in the 50's. That was awesome!

Emma's team skated beautifully, but still ended up placing 8th out of 11 teams. Frustrating, but they knew that they'd skated well, and honestly, that's what you hope for - that they are satisfied that they did their best.
I was way too busy to even think about posting while we were gone - sorry about that - but you guys know, the Mom stuff comes first!

So, because of the snow, today's card(s) are bright and cheerful and put me in mind of Summer - which I wish was here already!
Here, take a look:

The new stamp set, Mixed Bunch has so many design possibilities - I can't wait to really get some quality time playing around with it. There is a new matching punch that coordinates with all four of the flower images in the set too. Love that!

The cards I'm showing you today came out of my love for the Marimekko design style. If you're not familiar with them, they are a company based in Finland that deeply influenced design and fashion in the 60's and 70's. They are really known for their bright, bold design schemes. Most consider their style to be contemporary, but I consider it more eclectic because of it's ability to work in many design schemes.
Anyway, when I saw the boldest image in the stamp set, I knew right away that it would be killer done in some bold jewel tones, so I got busy creating!

The first card uses Concord Crush, Whisper White and a touch of Daffodil Delight - I've always loved purple and yellow together, how about you?

You can't see it, but I embossed the punched out flower with the New Melon Scented embossing powder. I stamped the flower using Elegant Eggplant Craft Ink, which coordinated nicely with the Concord Crush. Once I embossed it, I punched it out and layered it with Stampin' Dimensionals on the punched out Daffodil Delight Flower. I added a Basic Rhinestone to the center for a little bling. The Concord Crush Twill Ribbon is wrapped around the front of the card and tied off in a knot on the left.

I loved the design so much that I couldn't stop there, I had to make it again in another color combo.
Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight.
Honestly, I can't decide which I like better. Opinions?

Here's a close up of the focal point:

So, there you have it - some bright, flowery fun for a cold, snowy day. I hope it's made you feel a bit sunnier today!
You can be sure you'll be seeing a lot of this stamp set here over the coming months. I know SU! has a lot of floral designs, but this one has a little bit of several different styles and the creative possibilities are intriguing to me.

Have a great evening everyone!
~~Robin

Place your order for all your Stampin' Up! supplies at this link here: Robin's Online Stampin' Store
Simply click the SHOP NOW button at the top right corner to get started!

The "U" in Us

Hey stampers!!
Keeping this post short and sweet - I'm in the middle of packing up and movin' out - headed up north again to Lowell, MA for Emma's next skating competition.
Her team competes on Friday at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell in the Colonial Classic Synchro Competition. It's a pretty big event - there are 24 teams at her level alone - but it's one we enjoy a lot each year! LOTS of great skating to be seen.
If you've never seen Synchronized Skating, it's AMAZING! I can barely stand up on skates, but the things these skaters do, all in sync, feet oh, so close together is mind boggling.
There's a bunch of videos on You Tube so you can get a feel for it. Way cool!

Anyway, just sharing another version of the super simple card I posted a week or so ago. I added a few layers to this one and switched up the colors, but it's still super simple! Love that!

I combined Very Vanilla and Island Indigo for a little more male friendly card.
Yes, I know, it's still got glitter, but hey - it's a Valentine for goodness sake! Ya gotta have a little glitter!!
The stamp sets I used are from the NEW Occasions Mini catalog - Take it to Heart and P.S. I Love You.
The new Hearts Framelits cut out that heart shaped image perfectly and I love the hearts impression from the Adorning Accents Embossing Folder set.

I did this card for my GoDivas swap group - I hope they like it. It's a little more clean and simple than I usually do for these gals, but it was what I was feeling at the time so I went with it. :)

Have a great day everyone and send us some good wishes for safe travel and a GREAT competition!
I'll update here as I have time!
Go National Blades!!

~~Robin

NEW! Occasions Mini Catalog Product Shares!!

Hey! It's TODAY!!!
The start of this AWESOME New Mini Catalog!
And you are gonna flip your lid over all the fantastic goodies inside!!

In fact, there is so much crafting candy jam-packed in there, I've decided to offer some sampler packages for you just to help you get a taste of all the fun NEW accessories in this little beauty!
I sent this out to my e-mail newsletter stampers last week to give them a heads up on what was coming, but now that I can publish the images from the catalog, I'm sharing it with you here too!

Click this link to download all the details!
Robin's Occasions Mini Product Shares

There are Four Shares to choose from:

Ribbon - $11.43 (plus $2.00 shipping)
1 yard each of all four Pleated Satin Ribbon colors

2 yards of the Pool Party Seam Binding

5 yards of all 5 New Baker's Twine colors

Buttons, Brads and Do-Dads - $12.32 (plus $2.00 shipping)

Twitterpated Buttons - 3 each of 4 designs

Large Pearls - 10 pearls

Jelly Bean Brads - 1 each of 4 designs

Attic Boutique Side Notes - 1 each of 12 designs

Sweet Shop Stickers - 1 each of 2 different design sheets


Designer Series Paper - $10.07 (plus $2.00 shipping)

Twitterpated - 2 pcs. 6" x 6" each double sided design

Attic Boutique - 2 pcs. 6" x 6" each double sided design

Sweet Shop - 2 pcs. 6" x 6" each design (2 raised, embossed designs)

and the "I Want It All" Package! - BEST VALUE! $33.82 (plus $2.00 shipping)

EVERYTHING listed above in ONE Sweet package!

When you e-mail me at stampwithrobin@yahoo.com to place your order, I will send you an e-mail with PayPal links in it to make it easy and quick for you! (Using PayPal adds a $1.00 fee per transaction.)

I'll be submitting the first Share Group orders on Friday, another set of group orders next week!
Happy Stampin'!
~~Robin

Twitterpated Meets Waffle Paper! Results in Happy Dance!!

And it was love at first sight!

Two things before I start yammering on about this project - 1) If you are signing up for my Very Valentine's Class on January 14th - THIS is one of the projects you will be making! And spaces are already filling up. Better get a move on if you want to come!
2) Laura (Petunia) - We are using Waffle Paper!!
(That's an inside thing - but she knows........heehee!)

Ok, so last night I was spending quality time in the studio working on projects for the Valentine's class while Mark was finally putting the chicken wire in my painted antique frames. Love that man! Anyway, I'm surprised you didn't hear the whoops and hollers as I was doing the Stamper's Happy Dance after finishing up this banner!

Wanna see??
Ok, enough chatter, here you go -

I am in love, love, LOVE with this banner!
Honestly, I started with the idea that I had to find a way to use the New Dresden Designs Big Shot Die other than with fabric. You guys know I don't sew!
So I looked at the die and thought "Hey, I could use those layers to make a banner." So, I pulled out a few things, co-ordinated a few designer papers and colors and off to the races I went.

This banner uses the New Twitterpated Designer Series Paper combined with Island Indigo, Riding Hood Red and Blushing Bride cardstock. I took those colors directly from the DSP - love how SU! makes it easy to co-ordinate everything!

All the pieces are cut out using Big Shot Dies - Perfect Pennants for the scalloped circles, Serif Essentials Alphabet and of course, Dresden Designs.
Here are close ups of each panel:

It's hard to see in these photos, but each letter is stamped with the floral spray from the New stamp set Bordering on Romance. I used Riding Hood Red ink for a tone on tone effect.

All the cardstock and DSP pieces are also sponged with Crumb Cake ink to give it a bit of depth. The unintended effect was to make each piece look like a vintage apron. Don't you love it when something cool happens like that??

I used Tombow Multi-Adhesive to adhere all the pieces together, but each letter is popped up on Stampin' Dimensionals. This is a great use for those edges of the dimensional sheets. Just cut them apart to give you long dimensionals! Perfect for these letters!

I used 1" wide strips of Waffle Paper and adhered them to the back of each banner piece with SNAIL. Worked like a charm!
The ribbon bows on each end are Baja Breeze Seam Binding and are attached with Mini Glue Dots. I used the 1/8" Very Vanilla Taffeta Ribbon for my banner string. About a yard I guess. I didn't measure it last night.

I'm thinking I may add some Twitterpated Buttons to it today, but both Mark and Emma voted for NO glitter! They liked the vintage apron look of it just like it is.

So, there you have it - the project that rocked my world last night! I can't wait to make it in class on the 14th with all my stampers! Are you coming??
I guess I can add another class if I need to. Let's see how quickly this one fills up.
The banner isn't going to be the only project we do. There will be something with chocolate; something with glitter and a couple of great cards!

I'm also posting in another post today the info on my Product Shares from the Occasions Mini. Be sure to check that out! It's a great deal for those of you who want a little sampling of lots of fun accessories!

Happy stampin'!
~~Robin

Place your order for Stampin' Up! supplies at this link here: Robin's Online Stampin' Store
Simply click the SHOP NOW button at the top right corner to start shopping!

Time to Get Moving Again!

Well, the Christmas break is well and truly over today.
My house is so quiet right now. Mark is back to work. Emma is back to school. Aaah......love the sound of quiet.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE having my family home and getting to spend time with them, BUT, I also love the absolute peace in this house when it's just me and the dogs. I feel like I can think again. Know what I mean?
Since my "office" is in the house, sometimes my work life and home life get muddied and frankly I struggle with that. I think it would be easier sometimes to have an "office" to go to. That I have to physically leave the house to get to. But, then I remember why I work from home in the first place and I'm grateful all over again for that HUGE blessing.
Yes, sometimes it's true. I am the blogger sitting at the computer in my pj's. Ha!
And NO, I won't post a picture of that! I'll spare you, k? :)

So, now that Christmas and New Years are behind us, I'm checking out my January calendar. It's kinda like December all over again! We have skating travel to Boston this weekend, leaving Thursday. (Emma is ecstatic that she only has school two days this week!)
We have skating travel to Hershey, PA at the end of the month for four days and I'll be traveling to San Antonio, Texas for four days for the Stampin' Up! Leadership conference.
Add into that mix, six Stampin' Up! events, skating practice galore and being part of a new church plant in our area, I've got a busy month ahead!
Maybe I'll schedule in some Naps!!

One of the highlights of my trip to San Antonio is the annual Advisory Board Reunion meal. This year, it's a luncheon, which pretty much guarantees that I won't oversleep and be late for it.
Oh, yes......I did.......sigh.
Here's the gorgeous invitation that came in the mail a few weeks ago. It has a little sneak peek of a new Occasions Mini product on it too:

Isn't it gorgeous?
So, can you guess the sneak peek product? If you have your new mini, you should be able to figure it out pretty quickly!

If you don't have your new mini catalog yet, let me know and if you're not working with a local demonstrator, I'd be happy to send you one!
My Product Shares begin tomorrow too. I have four different options to choose from: Ribbon; Buttons, Brads and DoDads; Designer Series Paper and the "I Want It All" Collection.
The "I Want It All" Collection contains everything in the other three shares for only $33.82!! (shipping to you is $2 extra)
My clients received the information in an e-mail over the weekend and those who attended my Open House last week got to see the new products up close and personal. So, needless to say, share groups are filling fast so don't miss your chance to get a fun sampling of the great new accessories in the Occasions Mini!
I'll be posting complete details and photos tomorrow, but if you want the info today, simply e-mail me at stampwithrobin@yahoo.com and I'll forward my client newsletter to you.

Happy back to work and school day everyone!
Here's a fun video to help you get up and moving today. It's a cool, toe-tappin' song collaboration by Mandisa and TobyMac. You'll love it!
Happy Stampin',
~~Robin