Thank you all for your patience as I work through my photography issues. I don't always have a lot of time to take my pictures in daylight and what a difference when you don't. Today I'm showing a card I made in a recent Advanced Cards Class. While the cards aren't always "advanced" they are much more involved and we only make four cards in two different styles or designs.

For this card I used So Saffron, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, inks and papers and Craft White Ink. We used the shading technique to create the following simple, yet stunning card. We embossed the main image from Just Believe with white embossing powder and the back layer was done using So Saffron ink. I can say "stunning" because I cased it from LW Designs http://lwdesigns.blogspot.com.

Since I had extra card sets left over I finished them up, with a twist. I used the beautiful flower from Inspired by Nature with Versamark and white embossing powder. To finish off the card I used the wonderful new word set "Curly Cute" to add Happy Birthday. Same color scheme as before with a little Log Cabin Smooch Spray to finish off. I was really happy with the second version.

Each month I hold a Stamp Club in my home. My club members make a card and a 3-D item. For the card I always try to incorporate a new technique or style of card. This month we made a criss cross card using the Flower Fancy stamp set. I used In-Colors Pear Pizazz and Blushing Bride. I'm also completely in love with our pearls which you can see in the close up of the large flower. For our 3-D item we made a box that we decorated with a sunflower made using two different size scallop punches. The sunflowers were made with Daffoldil Delight and Early Espresso, a couple of my new favorite colors. We finished off the box with our beautiful striped grosgrain Daffodil Delight ribbon.

My friend Uschi recently purchased her first home. In honor of this exciting event I made this frame. I CASED the idea from the Stampin' Up! magazine Stampin Success. The funny thing about the sample in the magazine was it was exactly the colors I had envisioned using. I had been creating this project in my head for a long time before it came to fruition. Uschi had painted many rooms of her house in a sage color and this Nouveau Chic paper couldn't have been a better match. I was very pleased with how it turned out.

This was my second year attending Stampin' Up! convention in Salt Lake City. When I attended last year I just wanted to take it all in and decided not to do any "swapping". This year since I was a seasoned pro, he he, I decided to do some swapping. I swapped 20 cards just so I could share in the experience. This is the swap I made; CASED partly from one I saw on Stampin' Connection. I used a new hostess stamp set Apple Blossoms with my new favorite color combination, thank you Heidi, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso and Very Vanilla. I also used our fabulous new punch Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border and the new 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Early Espresso.

My Advanced Card class is held monthly each attendee makes four cards, two different designs and two of each card. I try to incorporate a more difficult or involved technique. The cards below were made at my class in July. The first card is a pop up card using Crazy for Cupcakes. We also used Designer Series Paper that is in the current summer mini; it coordinates with the Tropical Party stamp set. The inside was stamped with "hope your day is the sweetest ever". Sorry my photography skills aren't the best and the picture is a bit blurry; I'm still learning. The second card we made using our beautiful hostess stamp set Because I Care. The card is a partial CASE from Mary Fish whose blog Stampin Pretty is one I view regularly. The picture doesn't do the card justice. We stamped approximately nine flowers and cut them by hand popping them up on Stampin' Dimensionals.

I hold two different card classes each month. One class makes a total of six cards, three different styles and two of each card. At this card class we generally make simple, quick and easy cards. I try to incorporate upcoming holidays and at least one birthday card. I plan the cards according to what my customers generally like and need. I always take requests but find that generally my customers are happy with anything I plan. The cards below were made during a card class a couple of months ago. We used one of my favorite new sets Vintage Vogue. I am in love with the vintage look, as you can see. We used inks in various shades of brown on the Presto Patterns Specialty Designer Series Paper.

The card below was made with a set from our summer mini catalog called July 4th. We finished this card off with a spritz of shimmer paint in frost white which was mixed with rubbing alcohol. The rubbing alcohol dries very quickly and leaves a beautiful shimmer.

This final card was made from a CASE of my sideline Heidi King who is an amazingly creative woman. She submitted an entry for the Artisan Award this year and was a finalist. You can see her creativity on her blog stampinking.blogspot.com. Sorry the picture is a little fuzzy; my daughter has been helping me out taking pictures and is still learning how to use her new camera.

I can't believe that it has been almost four weeks since I returned from convention and I am just now taking the time to post to my blog. The four weeks have been filled with many classes and events since I returned from Salt Lake City.

While at convention I was able to purchase adorable shopping bags that coordinate with the Play Date Designer Series Paper. I held a class to embellish the shopping bags, decorate a coordinating gusseted envelope and create a wonderful note padholder from the coordinating Play Date file folders. Isn't it just wonderful how everything with Stampin' Up! coordinates. I just love that.

Here are pictures of the notepad holder, gusseted envelope and embellished bag. It is hard to tell in the picture but we used the Big Shot and Circle die cut to cut felt out of coordinating colors. The circles were layered on the flowers and a corduroy button was used in the center. We then hung our initials on the handle of the bag.