My Digital Studio

I LOVE Stampin' Up!'s new digital paper crafting software! You can create so many great projects and have them professionally printed and sent right to your door! The software focuses on cards, scrapbooks, calendars, and multimedia projects (interactive slide shows, movies, DVDs, etc). A couple of things that I like most about this software:
-Perfect coordination with Stampin' Up! products (you can make hybrid digital and traditional projects)
-the ability to pre-conceptualize. Sometimes I don't want to sit down and try to come up with a project because I'm worried that if it doesn't turn out right I'll have wasted a lot of supplies, but with MDS I can plan out a project digitally, and then make it perfectly on the first try.
-Ease of use. Seriously user friendly.
-Customization. You can choose to completely create on your own, or start from a pre-designed template. Even if you use a template all of the elements are customizable!
-Frequent new downloads. Stampin' Up! has new images to download frequently, so you always have something new to try.

Here is one of my first projects I created with MDS:


I am currently working on a calendar for 2010, I'll post pictures when I am done.

Let me know if you are interested in purchasing this software.

Happy Birthday Pop-Up Card

Several people have asked me to share more of my personal projects on this blog, so I thought I would start with a birthday card I made a while ago.

The supplies I used to make this project are all Stampin' Up! except for the random bit of brown ribbon I found in my drawer. I believe I used pretty in pink, certainly celery, and chocolate chip for the exterior of the card. The clip comes from the mini library clip assortment. The stamp sets I used were Heard from the Heart and Party Hearty. The cake is made out of the retired paper from the 2009 Sale-A-Brations mini, and was made using the pop-up cake die and the Sizzix for Stampin' Up! Big Shot die cutting system.

An update, sort of

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, this semester has been more than hectic. I can't think of too much that has been exciting, except that we have been able to have 4 of Jason's 5 siblings (and their families) over individually within the last month! We love having people over. (Hopefully Richard and Rachelle can come visit us sometime soon as well, we miss you guys!

Dolly's Spaghetti 'Stache

I thought this was just too cute not to post!

4th of July

Over the 4th of July weekend we went down to St. George for Ryan Manwaring's blessing (Robert and Kortney's son). We had a lot of fun playing games with everyone, and really enjoyed dinner on Sunday with the Warburtons. We are grateful for their hospitality. While we were there I was able to give Ryan the blanket I made for him (I have made a baby blanket for each niece and nephew that is born). I think it turned out well! I paper pieced the stars. I think I am most proud of the mitered corners on the binding.

Visit from Robert and Kortney

A while back Robert and Kortney (and Kaylee and Ryan and 2 of Kortney's sisters) came to visit. They were just passing through on their way to Idaho, but it was really fun to see them! Jason made scrumptious homemade meatballs to go with spaghetti, and we played RockBand together. Thanks for stopping by Robert and Kortney, please come again soon!

Haircut

Another thing I meant to blog about a while ago..
Also at the end of May I got my haircut. Really cut. I think I lost 7 inches. I like it a lot! It's been a year since I've had short hair, and it's been really nice this summer.

STYX, REO Speedwagon, .38 Special

I meant to blog about this weeks ago, but as (I hope) you can relate to, I got buried in a million other things.
On May 30th, I got to see my FAVORITE band perform at Rio Tinto stadium. I have seen STYX 9 times now (I think)! It was fun to see REO Speedwagon again (they perform with STYX quite often) and it was cool to see .38 special (this was the first time I've seen them). It was an awesome concert. During REO's "Roll with the Changes" American Idol finalist David Archuleta came on stage to sing with the band. This is one thing I really like about both STYX and REO Speedwagon. They frequently bring people out to sing with them. A couple of concerts ago at the state fair they had Govenor John Huntsman Jr. come out and play a jazz tune with thtem at the end of the show.
My wonderful dad bought my ticket, and my littlest brother accompanied me as my "date" since rock concerts still aren't Jason's favorite thing in the world. (Don't worry, I'll wear him down eventually). :) Thanks again Alan for being such a great date!
One thing that made this concert really cool was that at the very end of the concert STYX and REO came on stage together to perform a brand new song that the 2 bands wrote together titled "Can't Stop Rockin'!" It's a really cool song! Also as a sponser for the concert, RockBand released a track pack of 7 songs including 3 STYX, 3 REO, and their new song! Needless to say, this induced me to buy the RockBand game.
I look forward to seeing them in concert again soon!

Weekend Getaway at Lagoon

For our vacation this year, Jason and I decided that we would spend the weekend up at Lagoon. We had a ton of fun riding all of the rides. I especially enjoyed sharing with Jason all the rides that were a big part of my childhood summers. A couple of our favorite rides were the

Rock-O-Plane



Jason especially liked making me scream on this ride which is like a Ferris wheel where you can control whether you spin end over end or ride upside down!







The Roller Coaster



This one is a classic. It was built in 1921 and is still running great!









Wicked





This is one of the newest rides at Lagoon. Check out the huge rise and drop, straight up and straight down!













The Samuri



This was our most favorite ride in the park. Each of the arms spin as the whole ride rotates in an arc. It is hard to know which way is up on this ride!













All in all this was a great weekend, and we look foreward to going back soon!
(Pictures from Lagoon's website)

Dolly's Cloud

Over Christmas vacation I made a custom dress form (sewing mannequin) with some friends from school. Unfortunately the fiberfill stuffing fell out all over the office floor. Before I had a chance to clean it up, however, Dolly decided that it would make a lovely little nest and promptly nestled in to take a nap. I almost didn't have the heart to clean it up at all, as it was so cute to see her all curled up like she was laying in a fluffy white cloud, but it was a horrible mess as it got caught in the carpet and I am still (3 months later) finding bits of fluff that have held on. Oh, well.

Midnight Steak Feast

Not long ago I was craving steak dreadfully . I mean REALLY dreadfully (and no this strange craving does not mean I am pregnant). The only problem is that we had no steak, and it was close to midnight. So, being the free adults that we are, we headed to Wal-Mart. As we were driving we decided that it would be a great shame to have steaks by themselves, as steaks are such a treat that they really deserve to be accompanied by a decent meal. So, the great midnight steak feast was planned. Jason grilled the steaks, and also some onions and mushrooms, and I made some wonderful bruschetta, and then Jason wanted to make something like an olive patte to have with the toasted baguette for the bruschetta so he made that. It was the most wonderful feast!
Yum!!

Gingerbread Cookies

I know what you must be thinking... Gingerbread cookies in May? Well, I am extremely fond of gingerbread cookies (at least the way I make them where they are deliciously soft for weeks), and I think that it is a tragedy to only have them once a year. Thus, I made gingerbread cookies half a year before I am supposed to. What a silly rule, really, to only allow them once a year. Anyway, I made all sorts of shapes. (Thanks to mom for the big bucket of 100 different cookie cutters for my birthday!) These are some that I surprised Jason with. I love being behind a good surprise!

Back from a long break

I'm sure it seams that we have fallen off the edge of the earth. The only excuse I make is a long and wearying semester, which is now over, and normal life can now resume. No promises to the frequency of future posts, as such promises tend to broken often, but surely it will be more often than I have in the past.