Diane DiTullio

Ink About It Classes this Saturday!

If you are in the local MA area and are interested in taking some classes, I'll be teaching this Saturday, May 9th at Ink About It in Westford, MA! Please call 978-392-0321 to register. If you are unable to attend either of the classes, I can also mail class kits. Please email me at dianedi@comcast.net if you are interested.

Ink About it is also celebrating their 5th anniversary this week with fabulous new product and sales. Be sure to check it out!

I'll be teaching 2 classes - a Prima card class and a layout class featuring (3) 12x12 pages filled with tons of product! Samples are in the store. 

Prima Card Class - Sat May 9th from 10am - 12pm  

Join me in creating 5 cards with various themes to include Happy Birthday, Graduation (your choice of boy or girl theme), Wedding, Father's Day and Thank You. (The father's day sentiment can be changed to Happy Birthday.) We'll be using gorgeous new Prima products including new die-cut and signs of spring papers, collage stamps, die-cut felt, flirty little secret journaling cards, flocked transparencies,  lace, pearls and of course flowers! For good measure, we'll also be playing with glimmer mist and glitter. In this class, you will also be receiving one of Prima's new collage stamps to take home with you! Please bring adhesive, scissors, and light/dark brown inks to class. Class is $28.00

        

Prima Layout Class  - Sat May 9th from 1-4pm

Join me in creating (3) 12x12 layouts using various new products from Prima including stunning stitched mulberry paper and various die-cut papers, die-cut felt, collage stamps, jewels, lace, and flowers! Layouts will feature spring colors such as pink, blue, green, yellow and orange. You can customize the titles of your pages using the Prima whisper felt alphabet letters included in your kit.  You will also learn how to transform ordinary white flowers into pieces of art with glimmer mist, paint, stamps, pearls and jewels. Please bring adhesive, scissors, and light/dark brown inks to class. Class is $33.00.

Samples in store...

Easter Scrapbook Sales and Photobooth

A few great sales to share that I've received so far for Easter weekend!

1. A Cherry on Top - One of the best sales that they've ever had!

_{Don't you love a great deal? So we've created ONE Promo Code to do it all! When you place an order of at least $100 (sub-total) and use the WOW Promo code, you will} ...

• Save 20% off your entire regular price purchase
• Enjoy 99¢ Shipping*
• Receive a free gift: Fancy Pants Rub-Ons ($4.99 value)

The fine print: 
*Subtotal amount does not include shipping, digital downloadable products, Gift Certificates, or prior orders. The 99¢ shipping is for US addresses only and excludes Purple Cows, iCube products. International addresses will receive $8 shipping discount. This Promo Code excludes expedited shipping options such as UPS 2nd Day and UPS Overnight, World Wide Expedited/Express. The free rub-on gift may vary from image. Valid on purchases placed April 9-12, 2009.

2. A Million Memories - 20% off sale using code 401 at checkout. Sale ends on 4/12/2009

3. Unity Stamp Company - save 15% off on your order of $15 or more using code: Earthday.

4. Scrap Lovers - 15% off the regular price.

5. Scrapgal - 20% off patterned paper from 4/9 - 4/18/2009 using code April09

I thought I would share some fun photos that we took the other day using the computer! If you have an imac, I used Photobooth as they were looking into the webcam on the computer. The kids could have done this for hours. LOL. Isn't technology amazing? 

 

There goes Lauren again with the peace signs! LOL.

Using the look of mirror's in a fun house, this was definitely Colin's favorite! Me...not so much! LOL.

No school for both of my kiddos today. So, we are off to a playdate! Enjoy the day!

Dances, Soccer, and Easter Eggs!

Well, it's official! Our kids activities have taken over. LOL. We had a fantastic, but busy weekend filled with dances, soccer practice and a fun Easter egg hunt.

Friday night, Lauren and Dave had the Father/Daughter Square dance hosted by the Girl Scouts. We had a great time getting together with friends for pizza before the dads and daughters had to go. Lauren was so excited to get daddy all to herself. At the same time, Colin and I headed back home. I put him to bed and got to enjoy the TV and remote all to myself for an hour and a half. 

About 2 hours later, Dave walked through the door and was absolutely exhausted. He said that they literally squared dance for the entire 2 hour period! No chairs or tables to sit down at either! (I silently chuckled to myself as I got to relax with a nice hot cup of tea and catch up on my DVR recordings). I'm going to suggest that they have more of the father/daughter events in the future!

My question of the weekend? When did this happen? Does she think she is 16? 

Saturday morning was Lauren's first soccer practice and game. As a mother who despises laundry, I was thrilled to see the lovely shade of brown that covered the soccer field. Mud was everywhere! Leave it up to the 20 year old soccer pros to have the kids sit on their knees, kick the ball for awhile and then have them put it on their heads. Yeah, I was thrilled...

Lauren had a lot of fun and I have a greater appreciation for all the parents that want to sign their kids up for sports. Soccer practice is just an excuse to have a social gathering for adults. Dave and I were loving that part though!  Notice the blue shirt hanging out of Lauren's jacket? That is the team t-shirt. I was happy to see that the shirts were just a little big this go around. (During basketball, Lauren's shirt was down to her knees since she is the most petite on the team!)

The town Easter Egg hunt. This is only a small sampling of the eggs thrown out in the baseball fields. Hundreds and probably thousands of eggs were everywhere!

Dave helping Colin with the loot!

I had to tell Lauren to slow down and let the little kids get some more! LOL.

Colin was going for quality not quantity. He had to check and see what was in each egg.

Neither one of them was interested in an "after" photo. They just wanted to check out the loot. 

After the egg hunt, we headed over to the park for an hour to let them burn off some more energy. 

They forgot about the eggs for about an hour and then when we were back home....a mess! Egg halves, cheap toys, and broken pirate eye patches everywhere. The life of a 4 and 6 year old! 

April Fool's Day sales and a few good finds

I've gotten a few emails this morning about April Fool's Day scrapbook sales and some new products that I thought I would share! If you know of any sales, I would love you would leave a comment to point us all in the right direction!

1. Addicted to Scrapbooking - 1cent shipping all day today    

2. Croppin Paradise - 15% off your entire purchase of $30 or more. Use coupon code "Fool09"   

3. Happy N Scrappin - New Clip it Up in a 6" size - I have 2 of the large clip it ups that I use for storage. Now they have come out with a smaller 6" size which would be PERFECT for acrylic stamps. I see one of these in my future. Plus, they have come out with grips that you put underneath the clips so you don't get the small little holes in your embellishments. 

    

4. A Million Memories - check out the new Anna Griffin resin flowers. Wow!

(They also have the only Prima Caboodle flowers that I've seen online (for the ladies who have taken my card class. THESE are the ONES!) 

   

I also found more Caboodles at Scrapbook.com,  a Bunch at All That Scraps, and the cheapest price at Your ATC Store.  (I've never shopped at these places. So, I can't vouch for their customer service.)

6. Scrapbook.com has the Little Darling bunnies we used in class yesterday!

5. Kaiser pearls that I use in class: You can find them here at A Cherry on Top. 

My Mind's Eye goodies!

Thank you to everyone at card class last night! I had a blast as usual! We created Spring and Easter cards with gorgeous new Prima products. I have a few extra kits available which I'll be posting later to

This week, I got to play with the new Bella Bella collections from My Mind's eye at A Cherry on Top.

Here are a couple layouts and a card. Perfect timing too. I got to use all of my latest photos that I just posted about! :)

Lauren and Colin playing hide and go seek. (really should be titled - Stay away from mom with the camera! LOL.)

Photos of my mom and Lauren after her visit last month! Love the vintage feel of these papers! I added some beautiful lace and bow applique that I had stashed away.

A quick card using some of the My Mind's Eye embellishments!

We have a packed day today of swimming, school, homework, and grocery shopping. 

Hope you have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

PS. Happy April Fool's Day! 

First weekend of Spring!

For the first weekend of Spring, the weather wasn't exactly what I was hoping for! Let's see...it was 45 degrees (maybe) with sun one minute and then snow showers the next. So bizarre! But, the kids desperately needed to burn some energy and Dave wanted to get some yard work done. I was having fun taking photos. 

My Public Service Announcement of the day: Ticks are already out and about. We've already gotten 4 off of the dog! It seems early for that, but I just thought I would mention it.

Colin and Lauren's favorite activity of the day was riding down a small hill in the backyard on one of their old cars.

I went to Michael's this week and took advantage of the spring flowers on sale. Our shed needed some color! Loved these!

Lauren and Colin both thought it would be fun to play hide and seek from me while I was trying to take pictures. They kept running behind our shed to see if I would catch them or not. It actually worked out better for me since I captured a lot of smiling faces! :)

Lauren on the run...

Peeking around the corner...

After this year, I'll never buy a monogrammed hat again. I always forget to put the B in the back and then I have to photoshop it off of the photo. Today, I didn't bother. LOL. But, I loved this photo of Colin.

Lauren was still playing hide and seek on the swing, but I caught her with the camera before she could sneak away. 

Give this kid dirt and a truck and he is happy!

or some macaroni and cheese for lunch!

Hope you had a great weekend! 

Gotta Love Sales! Cricut and more...

I have to admit that I am a bargain shopper through and through. I should say that I'm obsessed with sales and getting the best deal. For me, it is about the hunt and the thrill of a challenge. Yesterday, I went to the grocery store and I bought $138.00 worth of groceries and I only paid $53.44.  That definitely doesn't happen every week, but I was pretty impressed with that! 

http://www.acherryontop.comGetting bargains for scrappy supplies is of course imperative since I'd like to get more bang for the buck. I look forward to looking at my inbox in the morning to see if there are any good scrapbooking sales or coupons for the day. Here are a few I thought I would share. 

This morning, I got a email from Linda who has a fabulous blog Just A Scrappin that really focuses on her love of the Cricut. She mentioned a new site that is selling Cricut cartridges for fabulous prices!

1. The site is called Craft-E-Corner.  Craft-E-Corner has the brand new Life's A Beach cartridge listed for $51.95 which is awesome but what's even more awesome is that you can use Promo Code Crafte2 and get 10% OFF that price making it ONLY $46.76. Plus, the other cartridges she has listed are at great prices as well. 

2. Rocky Mountain Hobbies - They have having their annual free shipping sale. No minimum purchase and you get free shipping until Monday March 23rd. 

3. A Cherry on Top - they are having a fantastic clearance sale and surprise giveaway bags with your order. To read the details go HERE. 

4. ACMoore - They are having their fabulous 25% off your total purchase Sunday sale on all regular/sale merchandise. They have their card packs 50% off this week too. So, that is quite a bargain! 

I'm off to enjoy the Saturday sunny weather with the kids and my DH. Although, I wish it was just a bit warmer. I spent ALL day yesterday spring cleaning and putting out the Easter decorations. No more cleaning for this chic this weekend! LOL. 

Thanks for stopping by...

Diane

Get Your Free "Bling" From Prima!

I just wanted to share this awesome offer from Prima! With all of the gorgeous new releases from Prima hitting the stores, I'm sure some of you are eligible! :)

If you have or are you planning on buying $25 worth of goodies from Prima, you can receive a package of free bling from Prima! 

We know that times are tough and every dollar counts. So, to thank you for spending your hard earned dollars on Prima products, we are going to send you a package of our Say It In Studs frame pictured on the right ($3.00 retail value) This offer is valid for scrapbook stores and stores such as Michael's that carry Prima product. 

Here is a link to Prima products available at A Cherry on Top: PRIMA products



How can you participate?
It's easy!

• Just send us your original receipt for $25 (or more) plus the UPC barcodes from your Prima purchases.
• Include a self addressed envelope (we'll pay for the postage to get your prize to you) 
• Please include your e-mail address so that we can let you know of upcoming specials like this in the future.

The fine print:

• Your receipt needs to be dated anytime between March 15th and April 15th.
• Product as pictured while supply lasts
• Prima reserves the right to substitute an item of equal value
• All receipts and UPC barcodes must be original - no mechanical copies permitted
• Prima is not responsible for missing/undelivered entries
• There is no limit to the number of times you can participate!
• Please allow 3-4 weeks processing time
• Don't forget the UPC barcodes:

Send your entries to:

Customer Service 
Prima Marketing, Inc
5564 Edison Ave
Chino, CA 91709

Scrapping my Cancun Travels!

In the beginning of January, my husband and I were very lucky to go to Cancun, Mexico on a trip that he won for work. It was the first time in 6 years that we had gone on vacation without kids. How exciting! I can't believe that we didn't do it sooner. Colin was not very happy the last two days of the trip and we got the cold shoulder until we got home. But, the kids were spoiled rotten by my in-laws while we were away.  

While we were there, I took a point and shoot camera that I had just purchase instead of lugging around my Canon 20D. I was instantly regretting my decision as soon as we landed. I know it was probably the best thing so I didn't have to worry about it, but it would have been much easier with my Canon! I just love that camera. I came home with about 150 quality photos since I was deleting as the vacation went on. I was I just finished editing everything and I wanted to scrap them right away so they didn't get put on the back burner.

Here is one of the first layouts I created using the Making Memories Passport Collection with some Crate Paper PRudence die-cuts thrown in. I love this size of photo to create a stacked grouping of landscape photos. Two of these photos were taken from our balcony on the 10th floor. We had an incredible view of Cancun! We stayed at the JW Marriott which I highly recommend in case you are planning on visiting! They have a more family friendly Marriott right next door which also offers a kids camp and activities for the kids.

 

In this next layout, I wanted to create a collage of photos to highlight from the trip. Using a size of 1.75"x1.75", I could get 17 photos on this layout. This passport strip paper from Making Memories was the perfect backdrop for creating rows of photos. I highlighted 3 different groups of photos: hotel, beach and friends.

 

One of the highlights of the trip was the excursion Dave and I went on to swim with the dolphins at the Cancun Aquarium. What a blast! The program was about an hour and we got to swim in a tank with them while they taught us about the dolphins. They are lot bigger in person at over 500 pounds! We got kisses, did a foot push, made them dance and some other things. Of course, I had to spend the money to get the DVD of the entire thing. The kids have really enjoyed watching it!

 

Upcoming Card Class Schedule

I'm in the process of updating my class schedule and kits. I have confirmed dates for the next several months of card classes. Here is some of the information. If you have questions, feel free to email me at dianedi@comcast.net.

General Info: All class kits are pre-cut and ready to assemble so beginners and advanced scrapbookers/cardmakers are welcome. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required since materials are prepared before class. Class fee includes all materials except adhesive. I recommend a liquid adhesive, or dot roller available at the local craft store. Classes will be held at Riley Hall, Hanover.  If you are unable to attend the class, kits with full color photo and instructions are available.  Classes/Kits are $25.00.

Tuesday February 10th - Valentine's Day

In this class, we will be creating 5 beautiful cards for Valentine's Day! Messages will vary. One will be sophisticated for that special someone and others will be more general to give to family members, friends, teacher etc. 

Tuesday March 3rd - "The Magic of Disney" Card Class

In this class, we will be creating 5 cards using your favorite Disney characters. Cards can be used for the special child in your life or a anyone who if a fan of Disney. Some themes included will be birthday and for you. 

Tuesday March 31st - Spring/Easter Card Class

In this class, we'll be creating 5 cards for Spring and Easter! We'll be using gorgeous shades of green, pink, blue, and yellow papers, wooden embellishments, and stunning ribbons.

Tuesday April 28th - "Mix It Up" Card Class

In this class, we are going to mix-it up and create 5 cards with 5 different themes. Themes to include topics such as Communion, Mother's Day, Wedding. Class: $25.00

Tuesday May 26th - "Let's Make a Wish" Birthday Card Class

In this class, we'll be creating 5 cards with Birthday themes!

On another note, I'm very excited that a few of my photographs that I took from an Elementary School function are going to be featured in the local newspaper this week. I'm not sure how many or which ones quite yet. But, I'll find out on Wednesday. This is one of took of Colin enjoying fruit punch since he doesn't get it at home! LOL.