OOPS!

Just realized that March 31 is Wednesday, not Thursday as I posted yesterday. Wow, taxes are getting to me!!!!! SO, if you need to order, please do so before Wednesday!! You can order online until late Wednesday night (11:50 MT), but if you're contacting me, please do so before 3 pm Wednesday. Thanks!!!!

Reminders!

Hey, all! No time for stamping lately, it's crunch time for taxes!!! But I thought I'd take a few minutes and remind you that Sale-A-Bration is quickly coming to an end! Don't miss your chance to earn awesome FREE items with each $50 purchase. Wednesday, March 31 is the LAST DAY of Sale-a-Bration!!! View the Mini Catalog here. Contact me with your order, or click here and then the Shop Now button to Show NOW!!! Oh, and don't forget: the last page of the SAB Mini has a list of sets from the Idea Book & Catalog that you can choose instead of the SAB exclusive items.

The Occasions Mini catalog is in effect for one more month! Make sure you've gotten everything out of there that you 'NEED'! No guarantees that anything will make the next Idea Book & catalog.

Looking for some extra income? Need a creative outlet? Need something for YOU? Then don't wait-join the SU! family TODAY!! The starter kit is also only on sale through Wednesday, March 31! $169 plus ANY current set FREE is an AWESOME DEAL!!! Contact me for more information, or if you're ready, click HERE and the "join now" button is on the left side. The password you will need from me is 1sunflower.

Back to taxes for me, but hoping to hear from YOU!

Mark Your Calendar!!!

I'm on the Royal Blog Tour! It's launching April 30 through May 3. I'm so excited I've been chosen to be a Princess! I hope you'll become a Royal Tourist and ride along in a Royal Coach. Please come and visit my castle during the tour! For more information, please check out these links!



Website: RBT Website


Home Blog: RBT Home Blog

SSC143 Masculine Birthday

Squeaking this one in right before their deadline, but this is for the Stamping 411 Saturday sketch. Here is the sketch

And here is what I did with it, after turning it sideways! I started by looking through my stamps to see what would work and landed on the pheasant from Autumn Days because I hadn't used it for quite a while.

It ended up as a very nice masculine card. Card base is Soft Suede, background is a DSP print from the Autumn Traditions pack. I stamped the wheat image on the background with More Mustard, some full strength, some stamped off once. A strip of the barb wire print of DSP is behind the pheasant and an Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon. Hadn't tied a bow for a while and I'm amazed it came out great on the first try! I attached the strip of ribbon between the layers and tied a 2nd piece around it for the bow. The pheasant was inked with Soft Suede and thumped with the Elegant Eggplant & More Mustard markers. I also stamped the wheat image behind him a few times very lightly. I stamped it off once & twice. Happy Birthday from Teeny Tiny Wishes finishes it off.

Wish me luck today-trying to get our taxes near done. Hoping to stay focused!!!

Chocolate Bunny Easter

Sorry for the long break! My oldest son competed in a robotics tournament Friday and Saturday and I didn't have any time for stamping. And I had a workshop yesterday so any time I did at home have went to prepping that. But, here is the project from the workshop. They had their choice of a 6x6 Easter page, or a 6 x 3 card. Same supplies, just folded for the card.

We started with a 6x6 pieced of So Saffron, a strip of DSP (either blue or pink) from the Sweet Pea pack, Old Olive for the scallop edge and Whisper White to stamp and punch the Happy Easter. Both edges of the Old Olive were scalloped with the Scallop Trim Border punch. The Bunny was embossed using Chocolate Chip craft ink on Close to Cocoa paper and clear embossing powder. We layered the DSP onto the Old Olive and attached near the bottom. The bunny was added with dimensionals. The Happy Easter was stamped with Chocolate Chip, punched with the large oval and sponged with So Saffron before attaching with dimensionals.

Same thing here for the card, we just folded it in half first, placed the strip as desired before adding the bunny and Happy Easter.

Fun fun!!

Something Sweet Baby Rattle

Here is the 3rd card from Club. I decided it was time (finally!) that we give the Sweet Treat Cups a try, and since Easter candy and it's pastel colors are in season, I decided to go with a baby card. The stamp set used is Something Sweet from the Occasions Mini Catalog. Please contact me if you have ANY questions! I don't normally get this detailed with my posts and I'm sure I'll leave out a relevant step or two!! And I'm sure there are other ways out there to do this, but this is what I came up with late Saturday night, or was it early Sunday??!

Here is the card from the front. Sweet Treat cup in the center full of M&M's. Note the heart on the side right side near the purple scallop. That is your tab to access candy without ripping the card apart.

Here is an angled view from the side to see the cup a little better. Card base is Lavender Lace, background is Whisper White that was put through the Big Shot using the large dots Texturz plate.

Here we go, step one. We need the hole to go through all layers. First attach your dotted Whisper White to the card base. Then using the 1-3/8" circle punch from the top, center insert the cardstock as far as possible and punch through both layers.

Next we want to temporarily adhere our next two layers to each other & to the card front. First up is a Lavender Lace piece that started at 5-1/4 x 3. Use the Scallop Trim Border punch on each edge. The Whisper White layer is 5-1/4 by just under 2-1/2. We used Dotto adhesive. It is repositionable and actually you can rub off the dots when you're done with the "temporary" step.

Grab a pencil and on the inside of the card, make the inside of the circle.

Remove your temporary layers and grab your 1-3/8" punch again.


Leaving the White & Lavender together, punch through both layers with the punch around the pencil marks.


Next, remove the white from the lavender and grab the 1-3/4" circle punch. Punch over the existing hole so that you have a large enough circle to insert your Treat Cup.

You want to stamp your words on the Whisper White layer around the large punched circle now, the "Sweet Little Baby". You can eyeball it, or use the SAMJ. I had about the same luck either way! One hint though that does help is to stamp the top one first, then each side and the bottom last. Put permanent adhesive on the back of your White layer now and insert the Treat Cup in the hole. Remove the adhesive from the cup and attach the cup & layer to the Lavender Lace.

Attach the layers to the card front without using adhesive on the upper right side where the tab will be. I had the girls go across the top, bottom & left side, and the right side from just under the cup down to the bottom.

You will need one more piece of Whisper White, or enough scraps to get three things out of: a tab punch, the rattle handle (or bat as my girls were calling it), and the saying & heart for the bottom of the card. I cut a piece 4 x 2-1/2 and we got all 3 out of it. Punch the tab first, then stamp the handle, then stamp the saying & heart and punch with the large oval punch. Cut out the handle & attach with dimensionals to the card front right under the treat cup. Snip a small piece of White Taffeta ribbon, tie in a knot and attach with a glue dot to the top of the handle. Attach the Large oval with saying to a Lavender Lace punched scallop oval and attach to the card front with dimensionals near the bottom.

Fold the tab punch out in half and stamp the heart again on the top edge. Attach to a 2x2 square of lavender lace as shown.

Insert the tab at the right edge from the front view just enough that it catches. Open the card and fill the cup with candy.



Push the tab far enough in to close it.

What a cool card to send someone!! I can't wait to play and come up with other varieties for other occasions!! Again, let me know if you have questions!! Enjoy!!

Abundant Hope Easter

The second card from club used the Abundant Hope from the Occasions Mini Catalog. It is similar to another I did with this set for a swap, but I wanted a more authentic looking daffodil for this one so I chose Crushed Curry & So Saffron with Mellow Moss for the colors.

Card base is Crushed Curry. The background layer is Naturals White that was put through the Big Shot with the new Pretty Polka Dots folder with the wooden craft frame so that the center is dot embossed. Perfect for this set!!! The image was stamped with Black Stazon ink-that is the best choice for coloring. We used markers to color: Crushed Curry inside the daffodil, So Saffron on the petals, Mellow Moss for the stem/leaves. So Saffron was sponged around the edge & the corners rounded. Crushed Curry ribbon was tied around the bottom. The saying was stamped in Black on So Saffron, punched with the Modern Label punch and layered onto the larger Modern Label cut with the Movers & Shapers die for the Big Shot.

This could be used for any occasion-just change out the saying on the top. Get this set NOW-it's only guaranteed to be available through April.

Hope you've all had a good Monday. Not very productive here but that's pretty typical. Card 3 will be posted sometime this week! It's a little more involved and will require some extra effort. Thanks all!!

My Stampin' Up!® Story

I wanted to take a minute and tell you all the story of how I came to be a Stampin' Up!® demonstrator and why I continue to enjoy it.

I got started stamping back in 1999 with a friend. We were both stay home Moms who met through a Moms Club in Lincoln. We only lived about a block apart and had boys of compatible ages. Well, the older two were compatible, the younger two were like oil and water, but that kept it interesting! She was a demo and after I attended a workshop for a mutual friend I was hooked. I remember the first thing I stamped were bagalope valentines for my son's preschool class.

We spent alot of time after that in her basement stamping while the boys played. I built up my basic supplies buying from her. When she had to move away in 2000 I knew I had to become a part of the SU!® family. I signed up in August 2000. We lived in Lincoln at the time and I started by hosting a workshop for neighbors and friends and booked a few workshops. I settled in to doing monthly Stamp Camps (4 projects for a flat fee) and the occasional workshop. Things changed after moving to the country and I was my own best customer for quite a while.

Stamping has always been my sanity though in a busy world and that holds true to today. A year or so after moving to the country I started attending a stamp group and things started rolling again. A few workshops were booked and a club was started. While I still don't do a lot of workshops I have a great base of customers all of whom I consider friends. My stamping club has become my closest group of friends. We all look forward to the monthly gathering! The most important elements of this for me are the sharing of the knowledge and techniques and the building of friendships. It's a great feeling when the girls ooh and aah over a card I pull out or when I show them something new.

Stampin' Up!® is a flexible business; it can be whatever each independent demonstrator wants it to be. I've been able to build wonderful friendships doing something I love through many changes in my life. As I approach my 10th anniversary I can't imagine not having had SU!® in my life.

To LOVE what we do

and SHARE what we love,

as we help others enjoy CREATIVITY

and worthwhile accomplishments...

in this we make a DIFFERENCE!

-Stampin' Up!® Statement of the Heart©

Why am I sharing? Because it helps you all to know me to know why I do this. Why now? Because anyone can do this and it is always a GREAT time to join the SU! family. Contact me if you would like more details on how SU! can become a part of your life!

Featured Princess

The Royal Blog Tour is coming up again, April 30th to May 3rd. They are featuring all Princesses before the tour and mine was posted yesterday. Click here to view. Bookmark the blog to meet all the Princesses before the tour and to stay current on tour information! More details will be posted as we get closer to the dates!!

Happy Moments For You

Had club today and as usual it was a GREAT day with the girls! First up was a card inspired by a sample in the Sale-A-Bration Mini catalog (p. 2, inside front cover).

Card base is Bermuda Bay. Accent piece across background is a Bermuda Bay piece of DSP from the Welcome Neighbor DSP pad from the SAB Mini catalog. One of the FREE items you can earn during Sale-A-Bration. Time is running out-get those orders in NOW!!! A strip of black was edged with Scallop Trim Border punch (another FREE item) and layered under a strip of Old Olive. Across the top edge of the Olive I stamped the "for you" stamp. Black Gingham ribbon was tied around the strips after layering them together, then adhered over the bottom edge of the Bermuda DSP.

For the main image I stamped the flowers in Black Stazon on Naturals White cardstock. The image was colored using a Blender pen & the Classic Bermuda Bay & Old Olive ink pads. I use the blender pens to achieve a lighter tone than what a marker gives. I did use the fine tip on the markers for accents inside the flowers, stems & leaves. The "for you" was also stamped in the bottom corner. The top corners were punched with the Tag Corner punch. The flowers were layered onto Basic Black. A staple was used at the top to attach a strip of the ribbon. The tag was attached with dimensionals over the background accents. Lastly, Crystal Effects was applied over the flowers and Dazzling Diamonds glitter sprinkled over.

SSC142 Cottage Flower

A little mojo jump start for me this afternoon. I need to be creating Club projects for tomorrow but can't seem to get rolling. So I decided to do a card first for the Stamping 411 sketch challenge of the week.

I reached for my favorite DSP-Cottage Wall and a new to me set, A Flower for All Seasons. It is one of the catalog ones you can get free during Sale-A-Bration and perfect for this sketch!! Card base is Rich Razzleberry, background & all squares are DSP. I stamped the pot & frog image with Stazon on Whisper White and colored with Classic ink, mostly with my blender pen. I layered that onto Rich Razzleberry and attached with dimensionals. Quick and easy and perfect for the smaller image stamps!!

SSC141 Melon Mambo Good Egg

I wanted to play along with the Stamping 411 sketch of the week, so I chose an Easter set I haven't used much, A Good Egg, and a new (to me) pack of Patterns Melon Mambo DSP. This set works well with, and actually seems to need paper piecing for the proper dimension!

Card base is Melon Mambo with a close layer of Whisper White than a background of Patterns Melon Mambo DSP in one of the "Melon" prints. The upper left & bottom right are rounded per the sketch. Same on the layers for the main image, the upper left & bottom right are rounded. For the main image, I stamped the large oval "egg" on both the Whisper White and a "white" print of the DSP. I cut out the DSP egg & and stamped the chick image in black on it, and on a "melon" print and a piece of Whisper White. I cut out the chick from the White and the egg shell from the "melon" print. I cut a second shell from the Melon DSP for the top right corner accent piece. I layered together the chick and grabbed my Melon Mambo marker to trace around him for accent. The 'happy easter' was added under the egg, using the Stamp-a-ma-jig for proper placement. A small strip of "white" print DSP was added behind the focal image layers.

Happy Thursday all! Hoping for a productive day here around the house, but not betting on it!!!

Masculine Good Luck

Masculine was the swap theme this month, and that is always a challenge! I literally went to my shelf and started shuffling through all my sets to see what could work masculine. I ended up going back to this color combo discovered recently, Not Quite Navy & Soft Suede and used the Wanted set. Here is what I came up with

The card base is Soft Suede. The background Not Quite Navy layer was textured in the Big Shot with a Texturz plate. I sponged the edges of the NQN with Soft Suede. The horses were stamped on Naturals Ivory by inking the stamp, starting on the right edge of the cardstock and inking full strength, then shifting left and stamping again without reinking. I stamped the horse 4 or 5 times, depending on the spacing. Most of the last one is under the saying. For the "good luck" I stamped with NQN ink on Naturals Ivory and punched with the Designer Label punch. I sponged the edges with Soft Suede before layering onto a 1-3/8" NQN circle and then onto a Wide Oval of Soft Suede. A Soft Suede ribbon is layered under and attached to the Naturals Ivory cardstock before layering onto Soft Suede. Lastly, a Star was stamped in NQN on a scrap of Naturals Ivory and punched with the Star punch. A vintage brad was put through the center and attached with a glue dot.

Hope your week is going well! Too much mud here, but otherwise not too bad!

Pretty en Francais

Didn't get much stamping done this weekend, sometimes the mojo just isn't there. Did get some house cleaning done today though and that always makes me feel better! Gotta stamp tomorrow-have a swap due this week!! Did manage to create a card tonight, based on the Diva Coffee Break sketch of the week. I just got the En Francias background stamp and this idea popped into my head. Quick and easy, and any color would work!

Card base is Melon Mambo. I'm obviously still in the mood for Spring-any color outside would be appreciated right now-LOL!! Background is Whisper White stamped with the En Francais background. Corners were rounded & edges sponged. Center layer of Melon Mambo has a Thank You from Kind Thanks stamped at the bottom in Melon Mambo on Melon Mambo. The large flower from the pretties kit was stamped with En Francais in Melon Mambo and the edges sponged. I punched a 3/4" circle of Melon Mambo and attached in the center. I then added a Pop-Up Glue dot in the center and applied Micro Beads.

Have a good week all!!

CCJC8 Happy Moments Vase

I played along tonight with the Create with Connie & Julie Challenge for the week, a color challenge to use Orchid Opulence, Certainly Celery & So Saffron. I don't have the DSP that has these colors, so I had to come up with something else. I am definitely in the mood for Spring-more potted flowers!!!

This layout is basically the same as my Chocolate Bunny from club last weekend, I just switched the elements around a bit. Card base is Certainly Celery. Background is So Saffron textured with the Perfect Polka Dots folder. The flowers from Happy Moments were stamped twice, once on the layered focal piece, once on scrap paper. I added the color to them with a sponge dauber. The "scrap" image I cut out and layered over the focal with dimensionals. Next I added Two-Way glue and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. The Orchid Opulence layer was edged with the Scallop Trim Border & Corner punch. The "pot" was made with the Large Oval punch. Just trim off the top and bottom and add a few accent dots with Itty Bitty Backgrounds. The saying is from Whimsical Words, a FREE SAB set, layered on a Certainly Scallop Oval.

Happy Friday all! Thanks for stopping by!!!

Royalty Inspiration

Tonight I played along with the Stampin' Royalty challenge for the week, an inspiration challenge. When I looked at the picture, the plants in their colored pots caught my eye.

And I've seen pots made with the Ornament punch a few times and figured it would be fun to try! Here is what I came up with:

Card base is Not Quite Navy, background Textured Whisper White. The stem images from Natures Silhouettes were stamped in Old Olive, and the "pots" were punched from Summer Sun, Not Quite Navy & Ruby Red. I gave the pots some texture with the splatter stamp from Itty Bitty Backgrounds. The edges of both white layers were sponged. Old Olive Brads were added using the Mat Pack guide for perfect placement. I didn't have much room for a saying of any sort, so I added the 'friend to friend' from the Natures Silhouettes set on the Ruby Red pot in Not Quite Navy.

The Ornament Punch is from the Holiday Mini, but is still available. Contact me TODAY if you "need" to order one!

Butterfly Birthday

Here is the last card from Club this weekend! Quick, Bright & feels like Spring! We're needing some of that around here-it's been a LONG winter!

Card base is Bermuda Bay. Whisper White layer cut with Top Note. Stamped in Green Galore with the grass from Inspired by Nature. Flowers from Flight of the Butterfly stamped in Crushed Curry & Bermuda Bay. Saying from Well Scripted stamped in Bermuda Bay on a scrap of Whisper White and punched with the Wide Oval. Edges of the oval & Top Note sponged with Bermuda Bay. The butterflies were cut with the Beautiful Butterflies then textured with the Perfect Polka Dots folder. Bermuda Bay ribbon tied around the bottom for the final accent.

This was inspired by something I saw online last week, not sure who or where! I will see if I can track down who. If it was you, let me know and I will give you credit.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Chocolate Bunny

Here is the second card from club on Sunday. This little Chocolate Bunny has been quite popular so far this Mini Catalog period, but I hadn't played with it yet! I figured it was now or never as Easter will have come and gone all too soon! The Chocolate Bunny is an individual stamp for just $7.95. You will find him on the last page of the Occasions Mini catalog. Don't miss your chance to own him!!!

The card base is Certainly Celery, chosen so I could use my new Certainly Celery Satin ribbon. LOVE IT!! All the great new colors are awesome! Again, in the Occasions Mini, page 27. The background layer is Whisper White that I ran through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots Impressions Folder. We rounded the corners and sponged the edges with Apricot Appeal before tying the satin ribbon around. The Rose Romance layer was scalloped using the Scallop Trim Border punch and coordinating Scallop Trim corner punch (Occasions Mini p. 11). It takes a little practice, but when it comes together the result is AWESOME. Gretchen Barron has an awesome tutorial on which sizes work best for squares and rectangles with these punches. The layer behind the bunny was done using the Inspired by Nature "grass" and the flower and small butterfly from Flight of the Butterfly. The Bunny was stamped with Chocolate Chip craft ink and embossed with clear powder on Close to Cocoa cardstock. Cut him out and attach with dimensionals. The Happy Easter (LOVE that script!) is from the Well Scripted set in, you guessed it, the Occasions Mini. The saying was punched with the Scallop Oval punch, and layered on an Apricot Appeal Scallop Oval from the Punch Windows set (for the Big Shot).

That sounds much more complex than it really is! Once you get the scalloping done, it goes together very quickly! Happy Tuesday all!

Mambo Orange Butterflies!

Ready for a little Spring?? I had my club group yesterday at Mary's after being delayed last week because of weather. Decent day yesterday and a great time! Mary's daughter is getting married next year and is using Melon Mambo & Only Orange for her wedding colors. When Mary asked me what I thought, my first thought was "bright". But, then I was intrigued and had to play with them together. So, "Colors by Sarah"!

I hadn't played yet with the Mini Milk Carton die from the Occasions Mini so I decided to give it a whirl after finding a great little holder online last week. Here is the original post with the pattern for the holder, by LeeAnn Greff. The holder is very quick and easy to put together. Here is what I came up with:

And here are just the milk cartons by themselves. The clips hold the cartons shut so that they can be opened without ripping.

The holder was done with Only Orange cardstock per LeeAnn's pattern. Quick and easy to score, cut & put together! I ran a strip of Melon Mambo ribbon around the bottom and attached with Mini Glue Dots before adding Butterfly accents cut with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit. I cut one of Only Orange, and one of Melon Mambo and mixed up the butterflies between the holder and 2 cartons.

The Mini Milk cartons were cut from Melon Mambo paper. We stamped the small flourish from Priceless on each side with Melon Mambo ink, and the small flower around it for accent. The carton is held together with Sticky Strip on the bottom, side tab and back top flap.

Hopefully these brighten your day!! Think of all the fun uses for these cute little cartons and all the different ways you can decorate them! Contact me today to order your die and get to creating!!!