Embrace Life

Here is a sample using one of the sets from the NEW catalog! I got it today BTW, and it's great! Didn't have a whole lot of time to look, but what I saw is very cool!

Anyway, back to the card using the Embrace Life set. This is one featured in the Preview Catty.

Colors are Basic Black, Elegant Eggplant & Very Vanilla. For the background I used the "leaf" image, first in Elegant Eggplant and then over that, offset, with Craft Vanilla. The "flower" image is stamped with Black Stazon and colored with Elegant Eggplant ink using the blender pen. I applied Dazzling Diamonds glitter using 2-way glue. 'embrace life' was stamped on the black layer also using Craft Vanilla. Eggplant ribbon was tied around the black layer, and a cream ribbon tied around the know.

Have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

I'll be back sometime between then and New Years, hopefully with more new creations! I have several of the sets and new DP from the Preview!

Retiring Accessories List

ETA: 1/2/08, 2:14 pm. I have removed the retired Accessories list and accompanying notes as we are now past that sales period. If you have any questions about it, please contact me as I have a saved copy.

Thanks!

Christmas Current, Year 9

Wow, I've been doing this 9 years?!? I've already posted this year's card, but I'll do it again here. It was my creation for the Holiday Mini swap, using the Snow Burst set.

This color (Purely Pomegranate) is absolutely wonderful, and I LOVE this wide satin ribbon. I hope we see more of it in the future! The white layers here are Shimmery White. I randomly stamped the smallest 4 flakes from Snow Burst around the top 3/4 of the card. "Season's Greetings" is stamped at the bottom. The Large Snowflake in the center was also stamped on Shimmery White. First I did the Bold image snowflake using Purely Pomegranate. Next I stamped the larger Outline snowflake using Versamark and heat embossed with Hologram Highlights. Too bad the "sparkle" doesn't scan well! I added a Half-Pearl from the Pretties kit in the center. Tied the ribbon around the Shimmery White layer using a square knot.

I am doing half in Vanilla and half in White for the cards we're mailing. The Pretties kits come with both Vanilla & White pearls. SU! doesn't have Vanilla Shimmery CS, but it is available other places!

Hopefully you've enjoyed all these Holiday cards! I produce these each year assembly line style. Once your card is determined, just break it down into manageable steps. For instance on this one, I started by cutting the White (and Vanilla) layers. I then took the smallest layer and stamped the Bold Purely Pomegranate snowflake, then went back and embossed the second flake. Next I cut all the PP CS in half for card bases, folded each in half, and stamped my "Hand Stamped By" on the back. Seasons Greetings was the next step on the larger White (and Vanilla) layers. Currently I'm working on the random snowflakes around the top. Ribbon will be next, followed lastly by pearls. I will stamp a greeting of some sort inside (haven't figured that out yet!). Address labels will be used on Shimmery envelopes, and most will include a family picture and computer generated Holiday message.

Seasons Greetings to you all! Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas Flashback-Year 8

Last year, 2006. Inspired by a card received in a Holiday Mini swap.

The card base is Real Red, the blue is Ballet Blue. On that layer, I stamped the Dotted Background with Craft White. I overstamped some of the dots with flakes from the Snow Flurries set with Ballet Blue. The White is layered over the Ballet Blue, and was cut free-hand with the Cutter kit. I had never tried this before, but once you get rolling it goes pretty well. Each will be just a little different! I stamped the Merry Christmas in Ballet Blue, and tied the Red Gingham ribbon around the top of the White layer. I added 3 Snow Flurries where the white & blue meet. I first stamped the Flurries (2 red, 1 blue) and punched with the 3/4" circle punch. I then stamped more Flurries (2 blue, 1 red) and punched with the 1/2" circle punch. I layered the 1/2" onto the 3/4" of contrasting color with a dimensional.

Christmas Flashback-Year 7

2005. Again a set from the mini, and I can't think of the name at the moment. I'll dig up a mini (it didn't make the catty) and edit that in. This was the year that SU! changed our colors, so I went with one of my new favorite combos-Certainly Celery & Elegant Eggplant.

The card base is Elegant Eggplant. The Certainly Celery layer is stamped with the On the Spot background stamp. The tree was stamped in Certainly Celery on Shimmery White CS. This set was a two-step with several options for decorating the tree. I first did the dots by stamping Elegant Eggplant Craft and embossing with Hologram Highlights. Next I did the "garland" by using Versamark and Silver EP. A silver star eyelet was added at the top. The tree was layered onto Elegant Eggplant and a Celery organdy ribbon tied around the Eggplant. I added just a bit of Metallic Silver ribbon into the knot.

Christmas Flashback-Year 6

2004 was our first year out here in the country, and I went a very different way this year (no snowflakes)! That was the year that SU! had the metallic cards available, in Silver, Gold and Copper if memory serves. I went with the Silver for the base.

This one is very sparkly in person, but that doesn't scan well! The stars and swirls on the Night of Navy background are from a jumbo wheel (Swirling Stars) that I rolled across the top and bottom and embossed with Hologram Highlights EP. The silver edged tag has the star block from Happiest of Holidays layered on in Night of Navy. I embossed "tis the season" across the block with Silver EP and added a silver star eyelet near the corner. The tag is tied onto the card around the Night of Navy layer with Silver organdy ribbon. I did secure the tag with a dimensional near the bottom corner.

This year started a new trend where I used a set from the Holiday Mini catalog. I usually do a swap for that mini, and either the card I come up with, or an inspiration from one of the ones I receive ends up being "THE" card! Guess that is why we swap-for inspiration!

Christmas Flashback-Year 5

2003 brought more snowflakes! Seems like a pattern?? I went with blue this year, and the Flaky Friends set.

The card base is Brilliant Blue, wheeled again with the Blizzard wheel, using White Craft Ink. The snowmen are stamped in Basic Black on a layer of Glossy White Cardstock that had been brayered using the Blue Frost spectrum pad. Behind the Glossy layer, is a layer of Sticker paper . I punched the swirls thru the glossy before adding the sticker paper to the back. This meant I could then apply Dazzling Diamonds glitter and have it stick just to the swirls! I don't believe we still have sticker paper,but you could get a similar result just by using Two-Way glue in the punched area.

Snowflake eyelets (non SU!) were set above the embossed Happy Holidays and a double-strand silver cording bow was tied.

Flaky Friends is also on the Retirement list! Get it now! Who doesn't need a saying that says "some of my best friends are flakes"??

Christmas Flashback-Year 4

Year 4 was 2002. Repeated theme of snowflakes, & embossing, but a very different look!

The card base is Pale Plum, and was rolled in Perfect Plum ink with the Blizzard wheel. The white layer was first stamped with Warm Winter Wishes in Perfect Plum. The large snowflake from the Snowflakes set was then embossed over it with clear EP. Pale Plum ink was then stippled over the snowflake. The corners were punched with the Deco Corner punch, and a silver cord bow was added at the top left.

Christmas Flashback-Year 3

Year 2 (2000) is not to be found apparently as I've checked boxes of cards & old computer files too! I can tell you what I did though. I used the Celebrate the Season set and embossed the large Celebrate the Season in gold on Forrest Foliage CS, and used Versamark to add branches around it. A simple gold organdy knot bow was added.

Year 3 (2001) I may have been insane!!! I do still love the card though, but it was lots of work!

The card base is Not Quite Navy, the layer under the vellum is Going Grey and is stamped on the edge with large snowflakes & swirls in Not Quite Navy. The vellum has been rolled with white ink using the Snowflake wheel. Then I embossed Frosty & the Happy Holidays onto the vellum. And Frosty was colored with markers to get the different color effects! Lastly the white organdy bow ties the vellum to the Going Grey layer.

I must admit that I traded Frosty not to long after completing these cards! I just couldn't bring myself to use him again! But he is such a happy snoman isn't he??? He's on the current retirement list. If you don't own him-get him NOW!!!

Christmas Flashback-Year 1

I found almost ALL of my previous year's Christmas Cards! Year 2 seems to be AWOL, and last year, but all others have been accounted for!

Let me first start by explaining that I mass produce one card each year. And our "list" averages right around 100 people. With family, co-workers, college friends, neighbors, etc. it adds up fast! Creativity is the biggest challenge, and I tend to me a "Last Minute Lucy!", so multiples of 1 idea works best for me! I believe these cards are from 1999. There are 3 versions, with the background being different one each one.

Let me also point out that I was not a demo at this time, and I'm pretty sure this was my first year stamping. I attended a workshop early in the year, and started with Valentine's project for my older son's preschool class. It snowballed from there!

The set was called Stitched Santa. I parted ways with him long ago, but I would bet he's still available out there somewhere! Colors are Glorious Green and Real Red, or was it "Rocket Red" back then??? Santa was stamped in Green, and accents were done with a marker. The ribbon must have been from Michaels or Hobby Lobby.

Enjoy! Year 2 is missing, so I'll be back tomorrow with Year 3!

Elf Names

I should be working on Christmas cards, but I took a little break and picked up the computer (it's a laptop!). Found this on another blog, thought it was cute so I thought I'd share!!

Your Elf Name Is...

Minty Mc Flurry

What's" Your Elf Name?

Give it a whirl!

And, here's a hint: if you don't like the name that comes up, back up and try again!

News Update

I have nothing stamped to share, can't seem to find the time, but thought I'd pop on and share some things that Stampin' Up!® has going on right now!

We are approaching the end of the current catalog and the retirement list is available. You can see it here in the alphabetical format, or here numerically by page number. These items are available thru December 31. A list of retiring accessories will also be available on Monday, December 10. Check in here on Monday, or at the Stampin' Up!® website for the list!

The Preview Mini should be arriving in your mailboxes. This a sneak peak of new sets that will be available in the new catalog. You can view it online here. These items are not available until January 2, 2008.

The Holiday Glitz kits are only available thru December 15. Get your order in NOW if you're interested!

If you need a project idea, check out the Stampin' Up!® customer home page. They have changed the format and are now featuring a new project each month with a supply list! This month is Dashing Decorations. Check it out!

Need a gift idea? Under $25? Click here-Stampin' Up!® has some suggestions for you!

I hope to be back soon, but I'm not making any promises! I'm way behind on Holiday things this year. My cards aren't made yet, no decorations are up, etc. We've undertaken a room cleaning project with the boys and we're hoping to motivate them by telling them no decorations, etc. until the rooms pass inspection! And, I decided to reorganize my stamp room a bit. I stumbled onto some storage cubes at Michaels last week and I've put them to good use, but that means lots of chaos as I move things around. All of this means I've had no time to stamp! I did find a couple of my old Christmas cards though that I do plan to share this weekend if not before. I was hoping to find them all, but so far have only located 2.

Weekend of Tiles

I mentioned on Friday that I had to go get some tiles to make. Lee has convention next week and needed speaker gifts. I did some of these last year, and his fellow staff members requested them for this year. A little more notice would have been good, but at least I had a few extra days this weekend!!! Did I mention that it was 70 tiles??? Actually turned out to be 72 good ones, or 36 pairs!

I started the process on Friday by running into Lincoln to buy the tiles! They come out of the box VERY dusty, so I started by rinsing them off and letting them air dry. Saturday I stamped them in three different groups. I have 4 cookie sheets that I rotated thru. Thank goodness for that double oven!! Here they all are setting on the coffee table after Lee applied the felt tabs on the bottom.

Here is a close-up of the two versions. These cattle stamps are by Sutter Stamps. I happened across them a couple years ago after a LONG TIME of looking for realistic images! The logo stamp I had made last year.


I stamped the tiles with Jet Black Stazon ink and heat set in the oven for 30 minutes. Don't think that's absolutely necessary with Stazon, but it lets me know they are set and dry!

Here are all 36 sets wrapped in tissue and ribbon ready to be boxed up! One big project off my to do list! Now, for the boys' rooms...

News & Notes

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was good. I chose NOT to join the masses out shopping today, even though I do need to get some done. I do have to run to Lincoln this afternoon and pick up some tiles to stamp. I'll show those later!

I wanted to share some of the specials that SU! has going on right now. We have lots of good deals right now to help your holiday preparations!

First, for the month of November, we have the Pretty Papers Special. Buy any 3 packages of Designer Series Paper, and get a 4th FREE!

Next, we have the Holiday Glitz kits available. If your time is limited to created Holiday cards, this is for you!!! Each kit as all the items, and everything precut to complete 15 cards! Available while supplies last

Finally, is the Wrapping up the Holidays special that starts today and continues thru December 15! This includes the following:

**Designer Gift Cards (p. 7 in the Holiday Mini) $4.55 for set of 6, 2 each of 3 double sided designs
**Tin 3-pack (available for this special only!) $9.95
**Satin Ribbon (p.22 in the Holiday Mini)-Buy 1 Get 1 FREE!!! Regular 9.95 per roll
Both the Chocolate Chip & Purely Pomegranate. This is a GREAT deal-this ribbon is AWESOME!
**Tags for All Stamp set (p. 13 in the Holiday Mini) normally 30.95, now 20% off at $24.76!!
**Hand Selected Accents & Elements (p. 12 in the Holiday mini) normally $10.95, now 25% off at $8.21!!
**Holiday Tag Bundle (limited time, special assortment) ONLY $4.95
30 pieces Whisper White CS 2”x4-1/4”
15 pieces Real Red Textured CS 3-1/2”x4-1/4”
15 pieces Soft Sky Designer Paper (Dotted Diamond) 3”x4-1/4”
15 pieces Real Red zigzag twill tape 3-1/2”

Several of these items are in the Holiday Mini which ends November 30. They are being made available after that date, while supplies last!

Click the links above for details and project ideas for all the specials. Contact me if you have any questions!!!

I'm also doing a customer appreciation special in honor of my birthday next week and in the spirit of Thanksgiving: all orders placed thru Friday, November 30, with a merchandise total OVER $35 will receive FREE SHIPPING!!

Hope you all find some stamping time this holiday weekend! I hope to be back later today or tomorrow with something to share!

Stamped Plate

I was given this plate several years ago by my friend who got me into stamping. When she saw it at a Southern Living at Home party, she knew I'd love to stamp it! and I do. I change it seasonally and have it sitting on the bar in my kitchen, usually with a "welcome" on it. Not that anyone ever comes to see it, LOL! Here are two pics, the first from the summer version, the second from fall. Sorry that neither is a very good pic! It's hard to photograph as it reflects the flash! and I never think about it when I have good daylight light!


I never really liked this one because there wasn't enough contrast from the ribbon. It was a little too Blah! I like a little pop! This second one is better.


This one has great contrast from the ribbon, and it looks very good with my kitchen counter top that is a green/brown/tan spec pattern. It's about time to change it though, either for Thanksgiving, or Christmas! I'm SOOO not ready for the Holiday Season!!

PS. I have NO IDEA if this is still available! I believe it was called a Ribbon plate, or something like that. I've had it since 2002 or 2003, I can't remember. It's very fun to stamp though, just use Craft Pads! The Classics run (bleed) on the plate's finish!

Gift Swap Project

Friday night was the Christmas party at Stamp Heaven. For those of you not familiar, Stamp Heaven is a group of ladies that gather monthly (except December) to stamp. Usually we have demos, card swaps, and lots of fun things going on! Each year we have a Christmas party in November and we have a stamped gift project swap for 40!

This was what I chose this year. I have to say it was a fairly quick project, but don't wait until you only have two evenings left to work on them! I had a couple late nights! If you haven't seen these before, they are chipboard coasters like restaurants use. These were plain, but you can sure "borrow" restaurant ones too! I covered the coasters with Designer Paper and sanded the edges with a file. This eliminates the paper edge and blends it into the coaster. A little messy though, and dusty-be careful if you have any asthma or breathing issues! I found myself coughing.

The flowers were dyed by dipping them in cups of water with reinker. I didn't have time to paint each individually, so I dipped them like Easter Eggs! Worked pretty well. They are lighter than if I had colored, but it worked fine with these papers. I punched a hole thru the chipboard with my Crop-A-Dile and mounted the flowers with a Rhinestone brad. The calenders were added-they have the tear off pages for the entire year. The tag is punched from coordinating CS with the Small and Regular tag punches. The saying & flower are from the hostess set Vases in Vogue .

Lastly I added magnets to the back so the calendar can hang on the fridge, in a locker, on a file cabinet... Enjoy!

Hope you're all having a good weekend! So far, ours has been busy-filled with football. K-State suffered a miserable loss to Nebraska today. Luckily we were not at the game, just a tailgate/party. YIKES! But, our local high school team won their semi-final game and is headed to the State Championship-Go Cardinals!!!

Spot Background Snowman

The theme for the monthly swap that I participate in was your favorite technique. Not sure it's my favorite, but it came to mind and didn't seem to complicated for my limited time schedule. I did the Spot Background technique again and made this card.


Supplies: Jolliest Time of the Year set, Whimsy Jumbo wheel; Real Red, Bordering Blue, Night of Navy & Glossy White CS; Night of Navy Classic pad, Bordering Blue, Ballet Blue, Brocade Blue & Night of Navy classic spots, Craft White pad; Ticket Corner Punch, Wide Red Grosgrain ribbon

If you have any questions, please let me know! It ended up being a quick and easy swap! I like the spot background, and this was the first time I'd used all the same "tone" colors. I like the way it turned out!

Still Here!

Yikes! I didn't realize it had been THAT long since I posted! I haven't been busy with my new car all this time, we've hit a really busy stretch around here. Harvest arrived. We don't do the actual farming, but we do help out when we can. The boys have had a few activities at school, scout meetings, High School football games-our team is in the State playoffs. We went to Kansas last weekend to the KSU football game. Unfortunately, stamping takes a back seat to family, school, activities & work! I did find some time to stamp this week, had to actually, for a workshop last night. THANK YOU to all the ladies who came! It was a great time, and Stacy has a WONDERFUL party total.

Supplies used on this one: Old Olive, Real Red & Very Vanilla CS, Dashing Designer Series Paper; Craft Old Olive ink, Hologram Highlights Embossing Powder, Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon, Pewter Build-a-Brad, 1/2" circle punch, ticket corner punch, Lovely as a Tree & Hugs & Wishes sets.

The Build-a-Brad was a hit! If you haven't tried them yet-order some!!! Very quick and easy, but a wonderfully unique accessory.

Supplies for this one: Blue Bayou CS, Classic Pad, Prints Designer Series Paper, Double Stitched Ribbon; Flaky Friends set; Shimmery White & Basic Black CS; Stazon Jet Black, Blender Pens

Enjoy! I'm off to do chores, laundry mostly! Have a great weekend!

Why I'm NOT stamping!!!

Once again, Blogger is acting up! I hope this isn't becoming a common theme. I started this post last night, but couldn't upload the pics!

Our new vehicle has arrived!! It arrived Wednesday, but we picked it up early Friday morning!! I keep calling it the car, but it really isn't. It's not a truck, not even technically an SUV. Crossover is the official term. Car works much easier though in everyday conversation!! Here is our Buick Enclave!

The color is "Cocoa Metallic". It will always be dusty because of our road, but that would happen with any color vehicle! We liked this-it's unique. I have yet to even see another of these one the road, much less one the same color! It is "All Wheel Drive" and will seat 8. So far, we are loving it!!! It's very nice to have "our" vehicles back! I've been driving hubby's truck while waiting on this one. We had a van that we were trading in, so we wanted to put the miles on it and save some on his truck. He drives 30 miles into Lincoln everyday, so they add up fast! I do enough out here just running between home and town and around, but thankfully not 60+ a day!!!

So, no stamping on Saturday! Between commitments, I spent time tinkering with it-learning what all the buttons and such do! And no stamping yet today either. Our "farmers" made it here today and have started getting our beans out. YEAHHHHH!!! It's been a very rainy fall here, so farming has been difficult! There is a little in the forecast for today,but we're hoping it doesn't happen! You don't often hear us say we don't want rain!

Hope everyone has had a great weekend! I'm getting a few chores and such done, so maybe I can stamp something tonight.

Boss's Day

This is the card I made for us girls to give to the Boss yesterday. It's pretty simple really, but I was trying to be masculine without the full "western" feel of this set. I think it worked, hopefully he liked it!

Sunday Challenge

I made this Sunday, but didn't have time to post til last night. Then, Blogger wasn't working right and I couldn't upload the pic! It seems to be working now though!!

This is the card I made for the Sunday Featured Stamper Challenge from SCS. The featured stamper is StamperTammy and this is the card I chose to case.

I used my True Friend set, Blue Bayou & River Rock. Overall, I like it. It didn't quite WOW me like Tammy's did though! I may have to try again when I can find a few minutes!

And good personal news---our new Enclave is HERE!!! Finally!!! It's been along wait, but worth it I hope. We have arrangements to pick it up Friday am-I hope I can wait that long!!! The dealership needs to do their "thing" to it. I'll post a pic this weekend!

Sketch Challenge Sunflower

I was looking for inspiration last night, so I went to SCS and checked out the Sketch Challenge for the week. Click here to see the posted challenge. I loved the layout and knew it would work perfectly with the sunflower that I wanted to use anyway. I had the Give Thanks set out from the apple buckets I did last week and I wanted to use the sunflower on something before I put it away.

Here is what I came up with. The base is Chocolate Chip. The front edge of this card is trimmed by 1" so the inside of the card shows. I used two different pieces of the So Saffron Prints Designer Paper on the front and inside. Always Artichoke is the accent layer. I watercolored the sunflower with So Saffron, Always Artichoke & Chocolate Chip classic ink by applying with my blender pen on watercolor paper. The stem bled just a little outside the lines, so that shadow got a little darker than I intended! I used my Crop-A-Dile to set Jumbo eyelets so I could thread a piece of ribbon thru. The ribbon is from the Theater Ribbon Originals set.

Watercolor Apples

Am I the only one who tries new things when you're on a deadline? I was inspired to do this card by 2 wonderful and funny stampers, Laurie Haskins & Patty Edwards, at the NEMC a few weekends back. They had a card very similar to this and I knew my upcoming swap theme was background stamps. Even though the main image is watercoloring (which I NEVER do-I prefer the quick gratification of stamping), I was inspired to use my new Sanded background and give it a whirl! They demo'd coloring with water, and picking up ink from the pad (add a drop or two of reinker to your lid). I just can't do that much water! I did try it that way, but my colors all bled together. I did better with my blender pen.

I stamped the bucket on Watercolor paper in Jet Black Stazon. First, I colored Creamy Caramel very lightly under the bucket. Then I colored the bucket with Blue Bayou. I then did use the water method and applied Summer Sun with my large watercolor brush VERY lightly all around the bucket, top and bottom just for a little contrast. I took the Wild Wasabi next and again, very lightly, went right next to the sides of the bucket and above the apples. Apples were last, first with Wild Wasabi and then Real Red. My blender pen was very saturated by the time I was done, and some of the apples did bleed a little on a couple of the cards. I'm guessing I need to not accumulate SO much ink in the blender, or let it dry more between colors. All in all, I liked it! The colors are very bright! What I like is that by using the watercolor paper, you can move the ink around with the blender pen, even lightening it up if need be. You can't do that on cardstock because it gets fuzzy! That will happen eventually with this paper, but it takes lots longer!

My last hint-if you have to make 21 of these, don't wait til Monday night to start them when you have to mail no later than Thursday! Especially when those days are filled with work, kids, dinner, etc.! Thanks for stopping by! I'm off to plan projects for Stamp Heaven tomorrow night-I will share them as soon as I can!

Great Make-N-Takes!

Since I'm having trouble creating anything this week, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorite make-n-takes from last weekends NEMC. These were designed by Kevin Theesen & Susan Nickerson for us of all to create. Stamping doesn't get any easier than that! Everything precut, with a color guide and instructions! We used the In-Color colors from the current SU! catalog, and the Priceless set. Very cool!

On this one, we used the Groovy Guava cardstock base, a Chocolate Chip layer and a piece of the Groovy Guava Prints Designer Paper. We "hand stitched" the white around the Chocolate Chip layer with the White Gel pen. The white flower is a chipboard flower colored with the Craft Whisper White ink. Scallop punch in Chocolate Chip, Circle punch in Groovy Guava, cut-out flower & brad. Attach all together with a brad. Stamp So Kind in Chocolate Chip, add a piece of Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon and you're good to go! This is a 6 x 3 card. I always love the way this size of card looks, but never seem to do this much on my own!

For this one, we used a Blue Bayou card base, with Whisper White layers, and Purely Pomegranate & Soft Sky. White craft ink "swirls" behind the Thinking of You, and a background image on the Purely Pomegranate. I think the butterflies could use a shot of glitter but I haven't taken time to add it yet! Don't forget the ticket corner! One of my favorite accessories!!

That's going to have to do it for tonight! Thanks for stopping by! I hope to be creating something to share this weekend. Happy Friday everyone!!!

SPECIALS!!!!

There are a couple things going on at SU! right now that YOU should know about!

First, WHILE SUPPLIES LAST is the Holiday Glitz Promotion. Stampin' Up! has put together some Card Kits to make your life a little easier at this very busy time of year! The kits contain precut card stock and Designer Series paper, festive zigzag ribbon, and Rhinestone brads to make 15 cards super easy!!! Especially since it includes full-color instruction sheet!!

There are two ways to take advantage of this fantastic kit while supplies last:

*Purchase one of holiday stamp sets (below) and get the Holiday Glitz card kit for the special price of $24.95, or

*Purchase the Holiday Glitz card kit for $28.95 with no additional purchase required.

Qualifying stamp sets include:

109234 Snowfall $23.95
106786 The Snowflake Spot $20.95
109266 Big on Christmas $18.95
110359 Love & Joy* $23.95

* Holiday Mini Collection 2007

Contact me TODAY to order your kit! I did say WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!!!

Second, is a special for World Card Making Day, this coming Saturday, October 6. Of course, I didn't have time to put anything together, but SU! is giving EVERYONE the chance to purchase the Simply Sent kits at 20% off!!! Good only from October 4 thru October 8.

We have 5 kits available in this catalog:

Happy Day

Sending Happy Thoughts

Friendship Shapes

Simple Delights

Three Thoughts

Click the links to view the details about each set. Remember that each has a DIE CUT stamp set and enough supplies PRECUT for you to make 20 cards, 10 each of 2 designs. The catalog prices are either $42.95 & $54.95. Sale prices are $34.36 & $43.96. Quick and Easy---My kind of stamping!

Contact me today to place your order, for any of these GREAT kits!

Stamping Weekend

Hello all! I just got home from the 5th Annual Nebraska Mini Convention hosted by Kevin Theesen & Susan Nickerson. They do an awesome job! A weekend packed with stamping fun and ideas! I'll share more of that in the coming days (probably weeks!), but wanted to share my shoebox creation.

We were able to participate in a Shoe Box Swap in groups of 15. The only requirement was that it be a 5 minute card. In groups like that if you do very complicated cards it takes ALL day (or night!). This year was a great group of cards and none in my group were overly complex. I think as demonstrators we sometimes tend to get carried away and forget that simple and sweet is always good!

If you read my last post, this probably looks familiar. I went with very similar colors and layout. The ribbon is the Wide Satin in Chocolate Chip from the mini catalog. This was my starting point. I received a swap in the mail Thursday where the ribbon had been done this way. Love it! For those of you who have trouble tying the bow (like on my last card), try this! It's just a knot in the center of a piece of ribbon. The ends of the ribbon are secured between the layers of cardstock. For the leaf on this one, I stamped in Chocolate Chip on Naturals Ivory CS. I then used my blender pen to pick up ink from the More Mustard & Always Artichoke pads. The Chocolate Chip ink blended with the More Mustard & Always Artichoke to give it a great fall look. Pick up as much color and blend as much as you want! Just don't get the paper too wet or it will warp and possibly tear!

This card was created by my roommate & stamping buddy for the weekend, Sue Johnson. She layered vellum over designer paper (Blue Bayou Prints) for a very elegant look. The card Base is Blue Bayou, the accent layer is River Rock. The "joy" is from the Love & Joy set in the Holiday Mini. She used the snowflake punch also on the Blue Bayou Prints designer paper. Very pretty!

I won some of the Prints DP in Pumpkin Pie. Guess what I'll be using to make fall cards very soon?!?!? Hope you've all had a good weekend. I'm off to rest & do laundry!

Workshop Samples

I have a workshop this afternoon and these are the cards I came up with for everyone to do. I generally ask my hostess what she'd like to see, and this one had very specific requests! That actually made my job lots easier! I had a starting point!

This first one used the Spotted Background technique. Click this link to see the tutorial on SCS done by Beate. It's quite simple and fun to see what different combos come out looking like. To achieve a fall look, I chose spots in More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive & Close to Cocoa. I stamped over the background with the Timber Brown Stazon pad using the large leaf from the With Gratitude set. I stamped Old Olive leaves on the Old Olive layer, and added With Gratitude in Timber Brown at the bottom. The ribbon is the fantastic wide grosgrain in Chocolate Chip.

The request that generated this sample was glitter. Of course you can't see it very well, but there is lots on there! All the white areas on Santa-beard, cuff, hem, & hat are covered with Dazzling Diamonds using the 2-way glue pen. I stamped Santa on Shimmery White using my Jet Black StazOn pad. He is colored using the Real Red, Blush Blossom, More Mustard & Pretty in Pink Markers, and Going Grey & Basic Grey using the Blender pen. I chose to back it the Shimmery layer with the Basic Grey cardstock instead of black-it's a little softer! Lastly, I added Red Gingham ribbon using the slot punch.

Well, I'm off to finish getting ready so I can hit the road shortly. Have a great day!

Groovy Flower!

This is a card I came up with for a demo that my downline (& wonderful friend!!) Diane & I are doing Friday night with the local stamp group. If you're from Stamp Heaven and want to be surprised-don't go any further! LOL!

It really isn't anything complex. We hit on an idea to show them how to color the Prima type flowers. I personally love that I can color them to match my SU! supplies. After all, we have the BESTEST colors around!!! We'd also talked about showing faux-stitching. We stumbled upong a sample (that I don't have handy to give the creator credit) that used faux-stitching for a stem. So we decided to put the two together! How cool is that? 2 for 1!

I started by coloring my flower with my Aquapainter & Groovy Guava ink. While that was drying, I punched the stem free hand with the large needle (my piercing tool is bent or that would work too!) and guide from my Crafters' Tool Kit. I didn't have a pattern, just eye-balled it! You could draw it with a pencil and follow that. I connected the dots with my White gel pen. I added the "wonderful" off to the side with White Craft Ink and sponged the edge of the Wild Wasabi layer. I stamped the square of dots on the flower with craft ink and sponged the edges of the flower just a tad. I attached the flower with a Rhinestone brad and layered the Wild Wasabi onto a River Rock card base.

P.S. If you're in the SE Nebraska or NE Kansas areas and haven't heard of Stamp Heaven (in Beatrice, NE) contact me and I'll hook you up!

A Day Late

and a dollar short is the old saying isn't it??? Well, that's me!!! I'm a last minute stamper and can't seem to do it any other way! I promised this yesterday, but tonight will have to do! Good news is that all 21 are ready for the mail tomorrow leaving plenty of time to arrive by their Monday deadline!

Bad news is that sparkles don't scan well! Guess I need to try a camera, but it's dark now and I don't think that would work either. But, trust me when I say-it sparkles! All the snowflakes & the "Cheers" are embossed with Hologram Highlights EP. I'm a little tired of embossing, but do like the way this came out! Color is Soft Sky.

I have several other projects on my agenda, so stay tuned for more creations in the next few days!

Sparkly Snowman!

Got a little play time today, actually I guess it was work time as I was trying to come up with a swap! This was my first attempt, and I do like it. But, I don't have enough Chocolate Chip CS to do it!

The swap hostess asked that we do "Something that Sparkles". Sparkles don't scan very well, but trust me they're there!

I used the Bold Snowflake jumbo wheel first in Bashful Blue across the Bashful Blue CS. Then I went over it again with White Craft ink and embossed it with Hologram Highlights EP. For the snowman (from Jolliest Time of Year), I stamped in Black Stazon on Shimmery White. Gave a few colored accents with the blender pen in Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip & Only Orange. Then I pulled out the Stamp-a-ma-jig and stamped over the exact image with the Versamark Pad, followed by HH EP again. Sparkle! Layering it together, I added a strip of the Chocolate Chip satin ribbon (from the Holiday Mini) and a strip of the Bashful Blue Taffeta. I probably should have cut the corners of the snowman to match the Bashful Blue, but I didn't think about that 'til now! Oh well!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back either later or tomorrow with the swap card! I do have it figured out, just need to go mass produce!

Play time!

What's a holiday weekend without a little stamping time? I had a little trouble finding my mojo, but finally got rolling tonight. I ordered some ginormous flowers a while back and have been itching to try this! I was looking for flowers comparable to the large ones in the Pretties Kit from SU!. I found Heidi Swapp ones from Joann's in almost the same size. But, along with those, I found these huge ones! I got white, of course, so I could color them to match my SU! paper!

The idea that came to me with these was to try a background stamp. Wha-lah! It works! I used the Paisley here with the Purely Pomegranate ink & cardstock. I did the huge flower first, then added a smaller one colored with PP ink. It still seemed a little bare so I dug out a small white flower from the Pretties Kit and layered it all together with a brad in the center. I did sponge the edge of the huge flower with some PP ink. Not too bad!

I tried again with the Fine Lace background and Elegant Eggplant ink. This looks a little dark in the scan but isn't so IRL. I did the background on the EE cardstock, as well as the huge flower. I added a smaller flower with brad for the center. I like this too, but a brighter color may have been a better choice! I'll keep playing-I have 98 more flowers!!!

I've had one more thing I've been meaning to try-and I finally made time tonight! Chipboard! I've had some hanging around here for quite a while, but never accomplished anything with it! For this card, I started with the new textured CS from SU! You can't really see that in the scan, but it's there. I like the look it gives! I took the chipboard flower and covered it with Lavender Lace CRAFT ink, then dumped on the Hologram Highlights embossing powder and heat set. Love it-VERY sparkly! I added a brad to the flower, a simple stem saying and a small bit of ribbon. Simple and Sweet!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to be back soon! I'm trying hard to get back in my routine of making something each evening.

Fall Frenzy!

Stampin' Up!® has announced the September promotion. For each $30 in regular priced catalog merchandise you purchase, you can purchase all of the following 6 sets at 30% off! Woohoo!

• pg. 26 Bitty Boos Too $12.57
• pg. 29 Haunting Halloween $13.27
• pg. 30 Thoroughly Thankful $16.07
• pg. 91 Elementary Essentials $19.57
• pg. 108 Autumn Fest $16.77
• pg. 17* Stem Silhouettes $22.37

*Holidy Mini. Prices listed are discounted prices.

Book your workshop TODAY! Note that I did say for each $30 you spend, you can choose to purchase ALL the discounted sets at their reduced price.

Hope you've all had a good few days. I haven't had much stamping time, and tonight was too stormy. We've had quite the lines of thunderstorms rolling through! There was the possibility of a tornado earlier too. That was scary! Normally we don't have that threat this late in the year! Thanks for stopping by!

NOTE: This post was corrected on 8/27. I apparently misread the promotion! When you spend $30, you can choose to purchase ALL the discounted sets at 30% off. WOW! If you spend $60, you can choose 2 of each! Maybe we should all be Christmas shopping at these prices!?!

Birthday Card

I made it back! Two posts in one day-that must be a record! Here is the re-creation of the card I did last night.

I still had my Purely Pomegranate ink pad & cardstock on my desk, so I chose that color again. These are the first few things I've really used it for. It's very bright, but rich. It works well with a variety of stamp styles.

OK, to the card. I used the Fine Lace background, Happy Everything, the hostess set (Level 2) Garden Silhouettes & the punch & small circle stamp from the Three For You Punch box set. Don't forget the Punch box is part of the special this month! I stamped the flower branch stamp in Wild Wasabi on Shimmery White (also still on my desk!). I then layered the punched flowers over the flowers on the image. Next, I added the small circle to each flower with Versamark™ and embossed Hologram Highlights embossing powder on them. Lastly I added a small piece of the NEW dotted Purely Pomegranate ribbon from the Sherbet Ribbon Originals™ to a Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware® accent. Once again, I must say, you've got to love how all these items go together! SU!® does color coordination VERY well!

August Specials

I'm very late in getting the word out about these, but Stampin' Up!® has two specials currently going on. With both you get something FREE! It doesn't get any better than that.

The first is the Punch A Bunch promotion. If you purchase the Three for You Punch Box set, you get a package ($12.95 value) of 30 textured Love Notes in the colors Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi & So Saffron.

Secondly is the Choose Your Family promotion. If you've ever considered becoming a demo, this is the time! When you purchase the starter kit at it's regular price of $199 (product value $355), you get to choose FREE a complete color family of 12 ink pads. The value of these pads is $57.95. WOW! That is a total product value of $412.95 for only $199!

Contact me if either of these interest you! I'd love to help you out.

I hope to be back later today with a card. I made one last night, but forgot to scan it before mailing it. It was late and I was so surprised to actually have a birthday card ready to mail. I hope to recreate it tonight!

Back to Stamping

Where does the time go?!? It's been so hot & humid here you can't think straight. I know we aren't alone in that this time of year, but it's been brutal. Some rain along the way, but never enough! We had county fair last week, so were busy before that getting things ready to enter. We don't do alot, but have fun with it. The boys each did a rocket, an electrical project, woodworking & photography, and took peppers & gourds from the garden. They did well on most everything and have 2 things going to the State Fair at the end of the month.

The boys started school on Monday. That 12 weeks off really went fast! So far with school, so good. It's always an adjustment though getting them back on schedule. And each new grade brings new challenges. I really can't believe that I have a 7th grader & a 5th grader. Where does the time go?!?

OK, to the stamping! I haven't been doing much, but finally hit on an inspiration tonight. Here is a card I came up with for a swap I need to mail this week. Still not sure that's going to happen, but I'm going to give it a shot. The idea is always one of the biggest challenges! I've thought about it for several days unsuccessfully! Finally today something clicked.

The set is Snow Burst from the upcoming Holiday Mini. Paper is Shimmery White & Purely Pomegranate. Isn't that new ribbon FABULOUS!!! It's also in the new mini. Watch your mail or contact me if you need one! LMK what you think of this card.

Oh, a bit of good news. Well, sort of. The new vehicle we picked out is a 2008 Buick Enclave, but they are not well stocked yet and we were not able to find one locally. So, we are ordering one from GM and it should be here sometime after mid-October. We're actually saving quite a bit by doing this because we could take off the expensive options like DVD players and fancy wheels. The bad news is the wait. It's going to be hard but will hopefully be worth it!

Thanks for stopping by, I'm headed back to stamping!

Vacation

Sorry for no words or posts from me lately! We've been on vacation. We left last Wednesday and headed to St. Louis where we had dinner with friends from college. On Thursday we took in the arch, and did a tour of Budweiser.


Both are very neat. The Arch for it's obvious history, but Budweiser too for it's history and the current process. Not just because of the beer sample(s) at the end!

We headed to Indiana Thursday afternoon, with our ultimate destination being the Brickyard 400 NASCAR race on Sunday. Friday we spent looking at the many covered bridges of Parke County, partly in the rain! It rarely rains here in Nebraska, so it was neat to see it there.


Saturday we took in the museum at Indy and qualifying. Sunday we were a few of the many thousand who watched Tony Stewart win his 2nd Brickyard. If you're not a NASCAR fan, I'm sorry this will all mean nothing to you! I was raised around cars though, and my Dad got my boys into NASCAR when they were little. They had an absolute BLAST! and have already asked to go back.

Give me a few days to get back on track and I'll hope to be stamping by the weekend!

Sketch Challenge

I made a card tonight using the weekend sketch posted by Beate. See her creations and the sketch on her blog Fresh & Fun. I love sketches and need to try more of them! It takes the hard part out of the card! Here is what I came up with.


This one begged for an oval punch, so I dug out my Giga & Mega ones from Marvy. I also dug out my new Basic Gray cardstock and Charbon paper. I added accents to the paper with my Lavender Lace marker. I also used the new Taffeta ribbon in Basic Gray and added vintage brads in silver to two corners. All in all, I like it!

Stamping Under Pressure!

I've always been a last minute kind of stamper, and I know I'm not alone. It was another one of those weeks here, maybe more than usual because it's been SOOOO hot! Anyway, I have a workshop tomorrow night (I have to work ALL day), and I just started seriously working on it tonight around 8. I'm just about to crash now, but thought I'd share these quick first. Hopefully I'm not ruining it for anyone who might be attending.


This first one uses a couple flowers and a rhinestone brad from the new Pretties kit. I dyed the flowers with an aquapainter and reinker. Colors are the new Purely Pomegranate & Blue Bayou. It was pretty wet and took a little time to dry the flowers. I actually picked up my heat tool and sped up the process. I was very careful to keep it moving and NOT burn them! The set used is Friendship Flowers which I recently acquired. I've been looking at it since a dear stamping friend sent me a card made with it last year.

This one uses Garden Whimsy. It was still on my desk, so why not? I incorporated the new Cutie Pie paper and coordinating colors-Rose Red, Bashful Blue & Certainly Celery. Pretty simple and easy!

Enjoy all! Happy Friday. I'll be very carefully driving to my workshop tomorrow night. We got word today that my Blazer is totaled, just as we figured.

Thank you Stamping Friends!

Look what I received in the mail yesterday from the ladies I was supposed to be meeting Friday night.

It's so pretty IRL! And the little envelope opens up and has a saying inside. Too cute! Don't know what the stamps are, but doesn't matter! It's the thought that counts. And, I may have to copy that saying on front "One-of-a-kind people deserve one-of-a-kind cards." Love it!

If anybody reading this know, please LMK if that's an actual stamp, or a personalized one somebody made up. I think I need one!

Thanks again ladies for thinking of me! I'm still sorry I didn't make it down. I considered having my husband drive me, but I was a bit shaken, and covered in Taco Dip! Lesson learned: don't travel with a 9x13 of dip on the front seat!