Bloomin’ June

Posted on June 1, 2014 by mauistamper

Although parts of the country were extremely dry this year, we had more rain than usual on the Valley Isle. As a result, it seems that anything that could bloom is blooming. That includes my June calendar:

I’ve been slightly obsessed with birds recently. This one is looking for a little snack beneath the flower bed.

I used Petite Petals and Everything Eleanor for this calendar page, and did a little bit of masking to create some dimension amongst the flowers. These calendars are fun precisely because the area to embellish is small, and it’s more of a challenge than you might think to get the image balance right. A little sparkle makes it all work out…

You may be wondering where I’ve been…it’s been a while since I’ve posted. My family is literally spread across the world from Western Australia to Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Maui Stamper and I got it into our heads that we should have a reunion, and that a nice middle spot would be in England. We had a fabulous time with the family, including loads of sight-seeing, great food, and of course photos. My son was tremendously amused when I tried to take a selfie with the Tower Bridge in the background, and once he started taking pictures of me taking pictures of myself…well, it was pretty hopeless:

At least I ended up with a photo – or three – of myself with the Tower Bridge in the background.

There are three of us posting these little calendar pages today – take a look and see what Cheryl and Crystal have done with their calendars this month. I’m pretty sure they’re not posting selfies.

Memories and messages from the guests

Posted on February 13, 2013 by mauistamper

My daughter’s wedding was a very personal event. She and Clarence had many choices to make, but each of them had a very personal touch. They were looking for a different sort of guest book – not the traditional “sign your name” variety. Since everything had to go back to Australia (boo!) after the wedding, we didn’t think one of those big photo mats would work. I came up with the idea to encourage each guest to write a little “love note” to the bride and groom, and of course they couldn’t write those notes on scratch paper:

Once again the fabulous Needlepoint Border TIEF added just the right touch!

I used stamps from the Summer Silhouette, Loving Thoughts, and Everything Eleanor stamp sets to embellish the cards. One was at each place setting along with a sign designed by Crystal:

These signs were printed 3×5 inches on Very Vanilla card stock and were put on small table tents, two per table. The guests drew, told stories, gave advice, and created a wonderful reminder for the bride and groom. I didn’t get a photo before they left, but when all the cards were gathered together I created a front and back cover and made a book to hold all these wonderful messages.

Don’t know who Eleanor is, but I like her!

Posted on April 18, 2012 by mauistamper

I’ll tell you about Eleanor in a moment.

Yesterday morning while on my favorite walk, I spotted a new family. It was a mother Francolin with her flock of babies, and judging by their size they are fresh out of the shell. She was only 7 or 8 feet from the walkway that runs between the edge of the resort and the landscaping that keeps unsuspecting tourists from plunging down the rough lava rock to the coastline below, and she was making those “tsk tsk” noises that all mothers make when their assorted offspring start wandering off.

By my count there are five, including one who doesn’t want to stay with the group. (This isn’t the best photo I’ve ever taken as I had only my phone camera with me.) I was a little surprised to see mom on her own with the brood, as Francolins generally travel in pairs or even trios. However, once I resumed walking and got on the other side of the low vegetation you see here, I spotted dad watching vigilantly – and he spotted me. He immediately gave the warning and the whole family tucked quickly into the landscaping. I’ll be watching for them all week.

Now…on to Eleanor. She came home from San Antonio with me. She’s due to be released with the new catalog on June 1, but leadership attendees were given the chance to get to know her a little bit early. Since she hasn’t been formally introduced I’m not allowed to show you a picture of her, but I am free to share projects I make using Everything Eleanor:

SOMEONE (not me!) has been pinning a LOT of vintage projects on Pinterest lately, and you can see the results. This is the Petite Pocket Bigz XL die, and as of this exact moment it is not in my Big Shot Stable – but I’m going to fix that.

I think I like the Crumb Cake version better, although I’m still not sure about that torn Soft Suede cardstock behind the flower image. Eleanor is easy to please though – she doesn’t mind it either way.

The new catalog is coming a month early this year – don’t be caught by surprise. Let me know if you’d like a copy.