I'll Never "Froget" You....

I am so going to miss this little guy. My little "Unfrogettable" frog. In a sea of floral and princess stamps I own, he is my "Go To" little boy set.

Froggy is retiring in August and so are a few of my other friends. You can browse the list HERE and email me on the link in the sidebar ----------> to find out about the special discount I am ofering on retiring sets ordered before August 8th.

Stampin' Up! is also offering some of the retiring accessories at a 25% discount. You can view that list HERE and it is frequently updated now to reflect sell outs.

It's hard to say good-bye to so many favorites -- but get the goodies while you can at a discount!

Stamp Set: Unfrogettable
Paper: So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Wild Wasabi Designer Prints (also retiring)
Ink: Wild Wasabi (retiring, snifff... snifff....) Black Staz-on
Accessories: Wild Wasabi Stitched Ribbon (on the way out -- get it at 25% off!), Scallop Punch

A Library of Memories

 

Since you have to have a "little" project while waiting for the new Stampin' Up! catalog year to begin I decide to organize all the pictures I have ever taken. Really.

If you know Joe, then you know that my photos are all in containers and behind closed doors. The only problem is he just likes things put away -- he is not interested in grouping like items together. (I'm funny that way. The coffee supplies are in the cabinet directly above the coffeemaker. The ziploc sandwich and snack size bags are just below where I pack lunches. That kind of thing.) So imagine my horror when I discovered multiple containers of photos stashed around the garage. They were in cabinets and things -- but spread out everywhere. And I never would have made the connection that a box he marked "garage pics" was in fact a box of boxes of pictures he was storing in the garage. I have walked past it for 2 years thinking it was pictures OF the garage without processing it fully.

But I digress.

Since I am a Stacy Julian devotee -- think Big Picture Scrapbooking -- think Simple Scrapbooking -- I knew that her latest work Photo Freedom was just what I needed to corral my out of hand photographs and make them into a system. So that when I am inspired by great supplies or pictures in the new catalog to create a memory item or a scrapbook page I will know where to find the photos. And they won't be subjected to the humidity of the garage.

So I took Joe by the hand and together we scored all the known photos in our home. Just as Stacy says I piled them all in one place. (The dining room. He nearly died. I like the table space.) Then I began the process of sorting and more importantly friends, PURGING. (Why oh why did I ever order all those doubles? And who needed 14,000 pictures of my three cats??? Why keep photos of boyfriends from way back???) I tackled the 1990's first. When I was done the boxes had melted down into a few piles and multiple trash bags were full. I tied them and ran them outside quickly so as not to be tempted to go back through them. I have one album of photos ready to be scrapbooked. And I am making dividers for my 4 storage drawers to keep pictures I might work with again. I am already feeling so much better!

I am tackling 2000 next which is a different animal because that includes digital. I take too many pictures -- I don't edit enough -- don't print enough -- and save too many. Heck, I've got one hard drive stashed in a closet with 11,000 pictures on it! Wish me luck.

Berry Fun Layout

The new school year begins again in the morning and I can already feel just how much more crafting I am about to get done!

I got a quick fix in this weekend while (tap, tap, tap) waiting for the new Stampin' Up! catalog year to begin.

This layout uses the Summer Picnic Designer Paper and the Tart and Tangy Stamp Set from the Spring mini catalog. I just LOVE this paper and the stamps!

Stamp Sets: Tart and Tangy, Big Deal Alpha, Short Order Alpha
Paper: Real Red, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, summer Picnic
Ink: Real Red, Old Olive
Accessories: Real Red Striped Grosgrain, Bashful Blue Striped Grosgrain, Old Olive 5/8 Grosgrain, Scallop Punch, 1 3/4" AND 1 1/4" Circle Punches