I tried to post from my phone yesterday on my way but I guess it didn't work! I arrived here yesterday and went right over to the Convention Center. I love the bag this year (don't we say that every year?) and the displays are fabulous! Just as I thought…lots of paper flowers and a gardening theme. Last night was the Kick-Off party and it was fun. Lots going on, prizes, games and displays. As my downline Priscilla and I walked around, we saw Shelli and there wasn't yet a line a mile long….so we got pictures and she signed our name tags! Then we walked around and watched the demonstrators demonstrating…..just like cooking shows with the overhead mirror so you can from the back. Gotta eat breakfast and head over there! General Session starts today.

How about a chocolate brownie on National Chocolate Day?!  The Pennant Parade stamp set makes it easy to decorate such a simple dessert to make it look special!

However you decide to celebrate National Chocolate Day,

Stampin' Up! can help make it special!

My Digital Studio makes it so easy to digitally scrapbook your recent photos! Here's my kind of crazy fireworks page from last night.  The fireworks photos aren't taken with great photographic skills at all, just good enough to get the idea of fireworks in the sky!  The consensus was that they weren't as good as past years at this location and the traffic getting out was way worse than usual…..but…it's all how about making memories with your friends and family!

Images copyright Stampin' Up! 2011

Again I started with a template already in the program, took some elements out, added more photo boxes, added some star punches and a 4th of July greeting.  The more you work with the program, the easier it gets.  It's really fun to see what you come up with!

To check out the My Digital Studio software, just click HERE.  If you prefer, there is now a downloadable version available, too!

What a fun and what an easy way to create using My Digital Studio!  I started with this card: (hardly appropriate for the 4th of July!)

and changed it into this:

Simple enough to take any template already in the program and change as little or as much as you want to make your own project!  No muss, no fuss….just fun!

Hope you are having a wonderful 4th of July with your friends or family! Our usual fireworks display hasn't been cancelled (as many have) due to the drought since it is over a lake so we will be able to watch fireworks in person with our neighbors!

Happy 4th of July!

Today, July 1st, is the day we have been waiting for, the day the new Stampin' Up! 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog goes live!!  I'm sure you will love the new products in it!

You do have to wait until Noon MT (Stampin' Up! time!) which is 1:00 pm Central time in Houston!  Stampin' Up! will be working to change over their website as well as all the demonstrator websites to be ready for the new catalog.  So they will have some busy time to get  everything ready for us!

At the proper time for your time zone, you can click HERE, which is my website, and hopefully you will be able to click around and see what is new!

Today is the last day to order from the current Stampin' Up! catalogs! Can you believe it?! Do you want anything else?  Do you need to order anything else from the Stampin' Up! catalogs that is on the Last Chance Lists?  If so, this is the last day to get any of those items, only until 11:50 pm MT. Please don't wait until the last minute!

Place your order at my Online Store today!

Stampin' Up! is amazing with all the new digital downloads they continue to make for us to make our digital papercrafting just more and more exciting!

You can view the latest My Digital Studio downloads HERE!

Enter the Stampin' Up! The Great My Digital Studio Express Giveaway!

Click HERE to enter!

Click HERE to learn about My Digital Studio Express!

Memorial Day is a national holiday celebrated on the last Monday of May. It was originally a day to honor the dead of the Civil War by decorating their graves and was known as Decoration Day. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson designated Waterloo, NY as the birthplace of Memorial Day because starting back in 1866 the town had made the day an annual event where businesses closed and soldiers' graves were decorated with flags and flowers.  Memorial Day is a day to honor all veterans who have given their lives in America's wars. At Arlington National Cemetary, a certain unit called The Old Guard place American flags one foot and centered, in front of the gravestones and columbarium niches of every service member. This tradition is called "Flags-In".

Each one of us can participate in a "National Moment of Remembrance" at 3:00 PM local time wherever you are to reflect on the true meaning of the day, a congressional resolution passed in 2000.  We might also think about our ancestry and family history as we perhaps gather with relatives for a family picnic or a Memorial Day parade. And be sure to fly your American flag, although it should be at half-staff until noon.

New My Digital Studio downloads will be released this afternoon! If you don't already own My Digital Studio you need to consider it and start having fun and making projects! It's not just for scrapbooking by any means! And if you might be interested in being a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, then take advantage of the Digital+ Starter Kit available at a discount for one more week only!! There is plenty of training and help available at www.mydigitalstudio.net, a website for customers and demonstrators alike. Some of the Stampin' Up! staff post and talk about their own personal projects as well and how they are learning about the program. Check it out HERE.

Click on the images to enlarge.

Next week my June stamping newsletter will come out! Are you on my mailing list?  Each monthly newsletter has the latest Stampin' Up! news and promotions, stamping techniques, card ideas, scrapbooking ideas, tool tips, other papercrafting ideas….you never know what you might find! If you enjoy stamping, scrapbooking, and papercrafting I invite you to subscribe!

To sign up for my newsletter:

• Find the "Sign Up" box in the upper left hand corner of my blog.
• Fill in your email address and click "Go".
• Fill in the requested registration information.

I send a newsletter out at the beginning of the month and usually another short one mid-month to update you on any new stamping specials or happenings.

We're getting real, real close to Retirement Time and then the new Stampin' Up! catalog so you won't want to miss a moment of the excitement!

Please join us!  We'll have lots of stamping fun!

More downloads will be available this afternoon for My Digital Studio! Sure keeps Tuesdays exciting!!  Be sure you know about My Digital Studio because you just might get interested!  Sign up at www.mydigitalstudio.net, a website for Stampin' Up! demonstrators and customers alike.  You can see samples, watch training videos, ask questions.

Click to Enlarge

Click to Enlarge

After 1:00 pm today, go HERE and click on Digital Designing and then Newest Downloads.

Don't forget….It's National Scrapbooking Month and there are bundles of Digital Downloads available at a discount.  Or become a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator by purchasing the Digital+ Starter Kit at a discount!