Twice in one day?

Yes! I'm posting twice in one day. Why you ask? Well because I went over to one of my favorite stampers blogs and I found a challenge there and was totally inspired! You can check out Ilina's blog here

For this challenge I used the SAB set Good Neighbors. Her pillow inspired the colors and the layout! It uses Bashful blue, mambo melon, elegant eggplant and old olive. The roofs are popped on dimensionals as well as the image panel. I used the sanded background stamps for the "grass" to give it some depth. Hope you all like it and hope Ilina likes it! Go and play along!!!! It's fun!

Feeling Blue...

(I apologize in advance if the pics don't work, blogger seems to be wonky today and I have no idea what's up with it, so I'm going to cross my fingers and post away)

So with the crummy weather lately (anyone else been feeling like we are living in a Harry Potter movie with the Dementors????) my cards today have a theme....blue:-) Thank goodness the sun is out today even if there is some more white stuff on the ground! I have two cards to share today. One is a Valentine that doesn't use pink! The other could easily be reworked to become a Valentine since it uses hearts!

The loads of love card was fun! This is one of my most loved sets, it's the first one I ever got and can be used for SO MANY occasions. There is also a couple of accessory sets you can purchase to make it even MORE versatile! I used watercolor paper to color the truck, watercolor paper really does make your image better when using the aquapainter! It was easy peasy to stamp the hearts too, the trick is to stamp the truck and then I just put a sticky note right up to the line at the bed of the truck and then stamped the hearts on and peeled off the sticky! The little pennant was just cut out free hand, too easy! Inspiration for this card came from a stamper on Splitcoast...thank you! So here it is:



Stampin' Supplies: Ink - Rich Razzleberry, Bashful blue, Staz-on, old olive
Paper - watercolor, bashful blue, old olive, rich razzleberry
Stamps - Loads of Love, sanded (background stamp)
Accessories - Mat pack/paper peircer, brad, linen thread dimensionals

The next card is more turquoise than blue but still in the same color family I guess. It uses Hello Again, the cutest little set that you can get FREE during Sale-A-Bration with a $50.00 order...but more on that later. The card is UBER simple. The heart with hello was stamped once in the top corner then stamped again in the bottom WITHOUT re-inking so that it's a bit lighter. This is called "stamping off". The ribbon is simply folded in half and secured with a glue dot then adhered to the cardstock. It's a great way to use ribbon without adding bulk to your card (ensuring mail-ability) and without having to tie (the bane of my existence). Again, this card was inspired by someone on Splitcoast. Those women are so talented!




Stampin' Supplies: Bermeuda Bay, soft suede, whisper white, crushed curry
Ink: same
Stamps: Hello Again
Accessories: Ribbon, glue dots

Now, on to a little blurb about SAB. From now until March 31st every time you spend $50.00 before shipping and tax you can get a FREE stamp set! And for EVERY 50! There's NO LIMIT! It's a great time to order or have a workshop!

I'm also looking for stampers to fill a club. In a club we meet once a month or maybe once every other and you learn a new technique and get to stamp with friends. You have a minimum order each meeting and it's a great way to budget and build your stash. The best part is everyone in the club gets a turn at being the "hostess" which means you get the hostess benefits when it's your month! Let me know if you're interested. The more members, the cheaper it gets for you each month! And I'm going to teach you some really fabulous techniques! Try to stay warm and Happy Stamping!

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.