A "CLEAR" Choice

First of all, sorry for not posting in a long time. There just aren’t enough hours in the day are there? I especially need more hours at Christmas time and during basketball season. This job really cuts into my stamping time! HA! Anyway I know I have been hinting to some exciting stuff for a while and now here it is…drum roll please….

SU! Is going to be offering an un-mounted option for stamps starting with the SAB sets and sets available in the Occasions Mini which starts on January 5^th. They will still be RED rubber but will have a cling mount and clear acrylic blocks will be available for purchase as well. Un-mounted stamps are a great space saver, you can better see where you are stamping through the clear block and un-mounted sets will have a lower price point when compared to wood mount. For all you wood mount traditionalists (like myself) have no fear, the mounted sets are here to stay; you just have the option of mounted or un-mounted now.

Secondly, the punch style will be changing. They are going to a more slim line punch that can be locked closed and can be stacked on top of one another or lined up on a shelf or desk to save space. They also still fit on the IKEA rails if you store them that way. All new punches will be in this design.

Finally, more exciting news; this year for SAB you can not only pick FREE sets (for every $50.00 spent) from the SAB brochure but you can now pick from a variety of stamp sets from the big Idea Book and Catalog as well. This is very exciting if you have earned all of the SAB offerings or don’t care for many or any! Also available in the SAB brochure for the first time is a punch and DSP pack. Both are super cute! Call or email me today to get your copy of the SAB brochure and the Occasion’s Mini!

So now on to the really fun stuff, the projects! I have been busy in my stamp room! And this time not just cards, I’ve been working on a number of home décor/gift items as well as cards. I’m going to be posting a lot of projects today! These are great projects and if you’re making them for gifts you’ll want to make one for yourself as well!

The first project is the easiest. All I did was take a Décor Elements snowflake and apply it to a glass vase. I filled the vase with glass pebbles and added a candle for a simple but elegant candle holder. A word of advice, make sure to clean glass before decorating it, I used plain old Windex. It helps the image adhere better when you get rid of reside and finger prints. The DE’s go on really easy and come with instructions.

My second project was inspired by the magazine us demos receive each month. It’s Santa In A Jar. I just LOVE this guy. I simply stamped my Santa image; water colored, and cut him out and then stamped my trees and cut them out as well. I taped toothpicks to the bottom of each cut out and stuck them down in the jar that I filled with some glitzy filler. Tied an old olive ribbon on the jar and voila! Instant Christmas cheer!

Finally, one more project with DE’s. This time I used the DE décor blocks. They are smooth MDF blocks that come in packages of 4. They are sized 3 inches square. I covered the blocks with old olive textured cardstock and then embellished away. The letters are from a décor element that is available in the Holiday mini catalog. I applied them directly to the paper. I then tied them all together with some more old olive ribbon. I think they are just adorable and can’t wait to make more items with them!

Hope you enjoyed today’s projects! If you see anything you are interested in or would like more information on how to make them, as I said, please contact me!

Stay tuned, I’ll try to get my card samples using the new clear stamps in the next day or two. Be patient and check back often! Contact me by phone or email for more information on any project, to request catalogs, or to book a party or workshop…don’t forget Valentine’s Day is right around the corner!

I love this card Just Beclause

So I've moved on from most things fall and onto Christmas, crafting wise anyway. I was inspired to make this card by Heather from Stamping with Heather (check her out, she has way cute stuff). I am having a hard time with this little guy even though I LOVE him, he is just too cute! When I saw Heather's card I was in love. I love the vintage look and colors, they fit Santa very well. I love her coloring but I must say I'm watercolored challenged so I did my best, hoping to get better one day. I also kept my layout rather simple. The star belongs to the Patterned Pines hostess set from the mini catalog. Colors are creamy caramel (it's so yummy), soft suede and bravo burgundy (I'm really starting to like this color). I stamped santa in stazon on watercolor paper. Hope you like him!


Now go check out Heather's blog:
http://stampwithheather.typepad.com/stamp_with_heather/

Fall Birthday

Hi stampers! Just wanted to share a card with you that I made last night. Today is my mom's birthday so I made a card for her last night. I copied the idea from the October issue of Stampin' Success. It's a little out of the box for me as far as layout...most of my stuff is clean and this is a bit different with circles, but it really cuaght my eye in the magazine. I loved the colors and I think it's great for fall and I think my mom will like the colors too. The card base is textured card stock which I love, it adds that little extra something. The leaf images are stamped and the cut out, which really didn't take too long. Soooo...here is the card:

Stampin' Supplies:
Falling leaves stamp set
Rich razzleberry textured CS, more mustard, old olive, whisper white and chocolate chip CS
Classic inks of the same colors
Circle punches, scallop border punch
chocolate chip taffeta ribbon, stampin' dimensionals

Thanks for looking and happy birthday mom!

Oh...My Digital Studio

So wow, that's all I have to say...wow! I got my copy of My Digital Studio a few weeks ago and it's AMAZING. MDS is Stampin' Up's! new digital crafting tool. It's so much fun to use and pretty easy to use and comes with all of SU!'s exclusive colors and stamp sets! You can easily coordinate your printed project with elements you already have to make a "hybrid" project (meaning you use the digital page and then embellish it with traditional accents).

I don't scrap much because it's time consuming but this is so dang fast!!! I have done a ton of projects in mere minutes! You can print through SU! or any other source such as your home printer or Walgreen's or Sam's type sources. If you do print through SU! you know that your colors will be true, which cannot be guaranteed through other printing sources.

I was totally skeptical when I ordered it...I fear change, but I am IN LOVE! There are already new downloads to purchase on the SU! site as well and they will continue to add content...not that you need much extra, it already comes pretty loaded. There are many "stamp sets", papers, and embellishments to get you started. You can find something for any holiday or occasion.

I will try to post a few projects and also a flyer for my upcoming Holiday Extravaganza class (this blog and I do not get along when it comes to uploading things sometimes). Sign up today. It will be on November 14th at 1pm at my home. Reservations are due by November 7th. Cost is $15.00. Contact me today to regsiter or with any questions!

For now, here are a few cards that I've done recently with a Christmas theme, enjoy!

Lovely as a tree and winter post on sage shadow

A direct CASE from the mini catalog using Cute and Cuddly (so cute) and window sheets, they are cool!

This uses the new petals a plenty embossing folder, it's so elegant!

It's Back! Deal of the Week!!!!

SU! just brought back the special they ran earlier this year, Deal of the Week. Each week there will be a special item or items available at a special discounted price. You can only get that price by ordering that week!

This week there are three punches all available at a discount. The flower trio and 5 petal flower punches are priced at $10.99 and the My way punch is $11.99. Normally these punches sell for $15.95 so this is a great deal and a great way to stock up on punches! You can bet I'll be purchasing at least one;-) These particular punches are also great for scrapbooking! Call or email me today to place your order! Here's a look at the punches (I don't know why it uploads them the opposite way that i want them in order they are my way, 5 petal flower, and flower trio):






The next deal of the week will begin on October 12th and there will be two others announced on the 19th and 26th, respectively. Be on the lookout for new posts when those items are announced!

AND there's still time to sign up for my upcoming Fall Frenzy class. Reservations are due by this Saturday and the cost is only $10.00. It will be on the 17th at 1pm. Contact me today for more details or see my post below regarding the class.

Falling leaves and other new stuff!

Hi all! I just got another order of new stuff last night! It's all super great! I've already made some Christmas tags with the two tags die and they are really cool! The new shimmer paint is so fun to play with and makes everything so sparkly and elegant, can't wait to play some more...that being said, this will be a short post so I can stamp!!!! Below you can see the tags I made and also two other cards.

The first is a Halloween card using Haunting Hill. It's a jumbo wheel and talk about whipping up a FAST card! It would also look cool watercolored (have to try that later!). The other was inspired my one of my SU! publications I get as a demo. It uses the Falling Leaves set and is perfect for fall! These were two very simple cards that took little time and turned out great! Enjoy!

FALL FRENZY!

It's fall frenzy time! No, I'm not talking about football (I have enough football at work!), I'm talking about my upcoming SU! event. For just $10 you will make 6 projects (4 cards and 2 surprise projects). All projects will be geared towards Halloween and Thanksgiving/fall. No stamping experience needed. Just come and have some fun with the girls!

When: October 17th at 1 pm at my home
Cost: $10.00
Please bring scissors and adhesive

As always, I will have a lot of other sample projects for you to look at and inspire your creativity! There will also be lots of catalogs to peruse. The Holiday Mini catalog is HUGE this year and it's full of great stuff.

There will also be opportunities to earn "tickets" for a drawing to win free stuff! You get two tickets just for coming! BUT wait!!!! Bring a friend, place an order, or book a workshop and earn MORE tickets to increase your chances of winning.

RSVP by October 10th. Contact me today to reserve your spot!

And sadly no pics today, I havn't had much time to stamp with work lately BUT the man in brown should be leaving me a big package tonight...so if I have time after work, working out and making dinner (ugh) I'll have some time to play with my new goodies and post pics soon!

Some "SWEET" ideas!

After a crazy work week, I finally have some time to stamp! I was able to go to Target this morning and finally pick up some Halloween candy to use with the Sweet Centers stamp set and sweet treat cups from the new Holiday Mini Catalog! These are the coolest little things ev-ah! They are small round plastic cups with a ring of adhesive around the edge so that they can be filled with stuff and then placed on a card or maybe with a lollipop stick as a treat (backed with CS of course). The stamps in the Sweet Centers set coordinate with the cups. In the set there is a heart and a Halloween square image that the cup goes in the middle of. There is also a hot air balloon (balloon is the cup), an ornament topper (cup is the ornament) and a petal and leaves to make a flower around the cup. And the good news is, you can use all the stamps without the cups as well! And I think the cups will carry over to the next catalog as well and SU! will probably add more stamps to go with them (of course, you can use the cups with other stamp sets as well, making the options endless). Here are the two cards I made today:

Stamps: Sweet Centers, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: Old olive, rich razzleberry, pumpkin pie, basic black, and WW
Inks: classic basic black, razzleberry
Accessories: Sweet treat cups, 1 3/4" circle punch, modern label punch, Halloween M&M's
Uses paper tearing and I took the pad to the paper on the razzleberry in the same color and sponged black ink on the label

Stamps: Sweet Centers, Christmas Greetings, Berry Christmas
Paper: WW, real red, garden green
Ink: Real red and garden green
Accessories: Sweet treat cups, 1 3/4" circle punch, white taffeta ribbon, dazzling diamonds, petals-a-plenty embossing folder

Do remember when you use them that the paper you back the cup with will show through. I forgot this on the H-ween card and you can see a little of the scrap of kraft I used. I like that you can fill them with treats (which unless you do some creative stuff your card will be destroyed to get the good stuff...fine with me but it bothers some) or with stuff like glitter or microbeads. I have some candy corn I want to fill them with next, I need to order some more. Contact me today to get your catalog, place your order, or book your workshop to earn FREE stuff. Which, by the way, free stuff is the BEST way to get started on the paper crafting hobby!

Now just for fun, I'm going to post the punch pumpkin I made with the round tab punch. How cute would these be at each place setting at Thanksgiving dinner. These will most likely be included in my upcoming Fall Frenzy class! Look for details to follow on this class soon!!!! Time to go stamp some more!

Here comes Halloween!

So it's quickly approaching! One of my fave holidays...Halloween (it's a close 2nd to Christmas!). I really need to decide on a costume and get it ordered! No idea what I want to be this year!

I have never made Halloween cards before since I've never had a H-ween set I liked. I'm ordering a few more in Sept and I'm also going to make treats with them for family friends and the kiddos at school...stay tuned for those.

In the meantime I've been playing with H-ween colors and the new sweet treats set (it's so cool, all the stamps have a place to punch a hole and place a "sweet treats cup" in. They are little plastic cups that you can fill with candy or glitter or whatever. I was too tired to play with them last night so I wanted to use the stamps by themselves (and I didn't have anything good to fill them with, they will look UBER cute with candy corn in them!!!!).

I also used the wide striped ribbon for the first time, I love it. It adds so much to the project and it's super soft! I love the combo of green, purple, and orange too. Here are the two cards I made:


The first one uses the new orange in-color called Dusty Durango the second uses good old pumpkin pie. They both use old olive and another in-color rich razzleberry. I did some sponging on both cards too to add some depth and dimension. I think it make it look very Halloween-ie! Stay tuned for more spooky stuff! And contact me today to book a workshop, sign up for a class or club or place an order! There's still time to get your Halloween projects done! We have a ton of cool Halloween stamps and even DSP. Great for scrapbooking, party invites, cards, home decore and more!!!

Christmas has come early...thanks to the man in brown!

I got my pre-order from the Mini catalog yesterday and after working over 12 hours yesterday and then another 5 this morning I FINALLY got to play! I stayed up for over an hour last night mounting everything:-) I got around 8 new sets (I know, I'm crazy) and they are all so cute!

The two sets I used today are called Cold & Cuddly and Just Beclause (no, I didn't spell that wrong, tehehe). I also used a couple of sentiment sets, they are Four the Holidays (4 sayings) and Christmas Greetings (out of the Big IBC).

I also tried my hand at the new window sheets. They are clear acetate sheets (12 X 12) that have snowflakes printed on them. They are super cute and really make a project pop! Would be VERY cute for scrapping! There is also some new stuff called shimmer paints and they will be going on my next order, look SUPER cool! They come in white, gold-ish and silver and will make your holiday projects soooo glitzy!

Hope you enjoy and let me know when you're ready to place your mini catty order, it begins September first! (If you would like a catalog or mini catalog just let me know!) OR you could have a workshop and take advantage of the new hostess promotion and get even MORE free merchandise with a qualifying order. Contact me today to reserve your date! And keep checking back for updates on my upcoming Christmas Card class! And now here are the other two cards (email me for list of supplies used):

Bad Demo!

So I've been a bad, bad demo! I havn't posted a blog in a long time! Well it doesn't mean I havn't been stamping, just busy! Working 40 hours a week 9-5 style (which I do over the summer) is rough on me:-) BUT soon I'll be back to having a couple of mornings off a week which hopefully will leave more time for blogging....it's usually the last thing on the list at night and just hasn't gotten done! I've stamped quite a bit and have lots of things to share, just not all at once.

First the Holiday Mini Catalog is due out on September 1st and BOY IS IT GREAT! It's almost 40 pages!!!!! And it's jam packed with good stuff. ALSO, there are a level one and two hostess set that are available to earn! To earn these sets just host a qualifying workshop or place a qualifying order...you can combine items from the regular catty or the mini or just order out of one or the other! I just placed an order today for my stamp sets from the mini and it was a biggie...and I still didn't get everything I wanted. I hope to be posting creations soon!

And speaking of creations let's move on to my projects. I wanted to demonstrate how one sketch could apply to any number of stamp sets. The Christmas card was inspired from SCS. The birthday card was used to show how another set could be incorporated in the same sketch but with different colors. I really love both color combos! Ruby red and bashful blue look fresh together!





So that's it for now, I think I'll take a nap;-) We are going to the Decatur Celebration and I will need to stay up late....I was fading fast last night! Stay tuned for more of my creations and to find out about awesome specials and products!

A sneak peek!

I've been playing a little withe the products that I ordered from the sneak peek earlier this month. Here are some of the projects I've made with a new stamp set called Circle Circus and then new in colors. The Christmas card is made using a hostess set called Christmas Punch! The only way to get that goodie is to host a workshop with me, as it's a hostess set...and you get it FREE! The new catalog is live for ordering this coming Wed!!! I can't wait, you'll love it, it's great! And now onto the projects. Email me for any details or to order. Enjoy!

LAST CHANCE LIST IS HERE!

The Last Chance list is here! Get your stamps while they last!!!!! After June 30 , these will be gone for-ev-er! To place an order simply email me with Last Chance Order in the subject line. My email is MightyMouse5003@hotmail.com. I don't know how to post the PDF file so email me and I can get you the list likety-split!


Contact me for the last chance accessories list as well, as it's updated daily.

Place a qualifying order from June1-30th and get extra FREE merchandise as well! Ask me for details!

On a side note, the new catty comes out July 1st and it's going to be awesome! I just placed a pre-order today for the sneak peaks and got some really cute stuff! I'll be posting projects soon (well as soon as I can, hope the UPS man gets here fast with my order). If you'd like a new catalog, email me and I'll get you one as soon as I have them in.

5-16-09 Workshop

I had my first workshop on Saturday. I only had 2 girlies in attendance but it was a lot of fun. My two stampers made some really pretty cards! I hope they had as much stamping as I did hosting! I've posted the three cards that we did. The first two cards showcase stamps in the current mini catalog! It's only around until the last day of June, as is the big catty. The new one comes out on July 1! I'll be able to order a new catty on June 1st, so I'm way excited to see what's in it. The retired list, which will now be called the "Last Chance List" will be availabe on June 1 as well. I will try to post it in a timely manner! Remember, any stamp set (or accessory) on this list will only be available until the last day of June! That's it for now, gotta see who wins dancing with the stars tonight and maybe go stamp for a little bit...although I'll probably save it for tomorrow night and opt for some shut eye!

On a personal note, I thought I'd add some pics just for fun. I said we'd been busy and one of the things we did was go to a wedding near Chicago for a good friend of mine, we seem to keep the road hot. The wedding was interesting (my first Catholic wedding....loooonnnng:-) and by the time the reception rolled around we were a little silly and hungry so some interesting pics were taken. It's also fun/funny to hear and see people's reactions to us when they find out we are dating...again. Jon and I dated in high school when I was a senior and he a sophomore for about 6 months and went to prom together and everything. We lost touch for the most part for over 10 years but facebook recently brought us together....and his brother who was a patient of mine in rehab (hello HIPPA violation, hahaha). So it's kind of funny to see people who knew us and think we have been together for over 10 years....um after 10 years together I'd hope we'd be married....like a long time ago, hahaha. We joke that we will just tell everyone we have been together that long at my 10 year reunion that's coming up just to see what people say, hahaha. Anyway I'm going to post a blast from the past....a pic of us at prom in 1999 and then one from this past Christmas. The other one is from the wedding...and us being goofy...we needed some food like 10 minutes ago!!!! Since I can't get them to post in any sort of order, you figure out which is which, haha.

THere is also one of Ellie, my TFT listening to some tunes and me in my rubber room with new rubber....that's what Jon calls my stamp face. Hope you enjoy some of the non stamping stuff!

And speaking of Ellie, I have some friends/family that post about thier kids. Well, I have a furry four legged kid for now, hoping to have the two legged sweet smelling real kind one day (in the no too far but not toooo soon future:-), but I'm going to post about my "baby" anyway. She is just so funny. As I'm sitting in the living room I can hear her in the bedroom, Jon went to bed about an hour ago and she went with him but came out here a bit ago, walked into the front room then back to the bedroom. Then she starts whining....she wants in the bed, I know this, it's what she does...EVEN THOUGH she can jump on the bed whenever she wants to....say if there is hot laundry out of the dryer (oh she KNOWS when that door opens the clothes are HOT HOT HOT) or if we are just haning out in there sitting on the bed. BUT she looses her mind if it's dark, like she can't jump up, she will whine and shake the bed with her front paws...so strange....or smart I guess.....I am wrapped around her little stubby docked (slighlty crooked) tail=) It's so annyoing...especially in the middle of the night but funny and cute all the same. If this is the kind of stuff my dog does, I can't wait for what the little people will do one day:-)

So I just posted, but realized I'm bored and not ready for bed!

So, why not post some more stuff instead of doing nothing. I have some cards to post as well as some random personal pictures, so this could get quite long. First, here are some of the cards I've made to display at my upcoming workshop. All supplies are SU! Forgive me for not including the deets but it's just too many cards. Feel free to leave me a comment if you have a question about a particular card or two.

I can't seem to get this to put my pics after my text so forgive me if things are wonky and out of order!

More to come

Wow, it's been almost a month since I posted last. I can tell I'm not going to be very good at this blogging thing:-) It's a busy time of year for me (as an athletic trainer, when is it not????) so I havn't posted much. I have been making cards and scrapping a bit but not getting it on here. I'll work on it soon, not sure if much will happen with all the Mother's Day activities this weekend.

More cards!

Still working on cards that I can demo/display. Stamped for quite a while last night and these cards are what I came up with, hope you like them. Sets used are garden greetings, Trendy Trees, Pun Fun, Love You Much, and Define Your Life.

Date for the stamp camp/workshop is May 16th! I will demo three cards and then guests get to make each one! Placed a HUGE order today to take advantage of my 30% discount so I'm waiting on that stuff to make the cards that I will actually demo! Going to demo 2 sets from the new mini catty and one from the regular IB&C.

And speaking of the Mini catty, did you know you can earn FREE stamps from the big IB&C if you place a qualifying order from the mini???? For every $50.00 in purchases (before tax and shipping) you can earn a free stamp from the under $10 page in the catalog! This is in addition to hostess benefits if your order is over $150 too! Gotta love SU! Contact me today to place an order or sign up for your spot in the workshop (if you live in the Decatur, IL area:-).

Thanks for looking!